Artist Updates (4-5-13)

Travis Tritt

Travis Tritt will sing the National Anthem prior to the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship game April 8 in Atlanta. Tritt’s April performance adds to a resumé that includes two Super Bowl performances, a World Series game, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the opening of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and the final Braves game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. May 3 he’ll play the Barnstable Brown Gala at the Kentucky Derby, his 15th consecutive appearance at the benefit for diabetes research.

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Pictured (L-R): TBP’s Neil Perry, Gigi’s founder Gina Butler (aka Gigi), TBP’s Kimberly Perry and Reid Perry/ Photo Credit: Ben Krebs

The Band Perry now has a Gigis Cupcake named after the group. The new cupcake, called Very Perry Chocolate Cherry, was inspired by The Band Perry’s song called “I’m A Keeper,” from the band’s latest album Pioneer.

Kimberly Perry explains, “When we heard that we might have a Gigi’s cupcake named after us we knew right away what the flavor would be. There is a song on our new album that has a line in it that says, ‘I’m gonna change my name to Cherry….,’ so we decided that the cupcake had to be some kind of a cherry cupcake.”

“I’m so excited to be working with The Band Perry! They are very talented and we had a blast creating the Very Perry Chocolate Cherry cupcake. Our fans are going to love it- just as much as Kimberly, Reid, and Neil do!” says Gina Butler, “Gigi.”

Gigi’s will be selling Very Perry Chocolate Cherry two days a week in all of their stores nationwide, and will be selling the trio’s album Pioneer in the stores.

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Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs

Kellie Pickler announced today on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she and her dance partner, Derek Hough, will dance to a very special song on Monday night’s Dancing With The Stars. In honor of the show’s theme of the week, “Most Memorable Year,” Pickler chose to dance to one from 2011— the year she married her husband, Nashville songwriter, Kyle Jacobs.

Pickler and Hough will dance the rumba to “Say I Do,” a romantic ballad written by Jacobs for Pickler shortly before their wedding day – and to top it off, Jacobs will perform the song in person on the show Monday night with the help of the Dancing With The Stars house band.

“It’s going to be an 100 percent emotional moment, and I’m just hoping I can keep it together,” Jacobs says. “Kellie’s doing so well on the show, and she’s having so much fun. The fact that she’s dancing to this song, our song, means so very much to both of us… it honors the love that we have so much.”

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The Country Music Hall of Fame ® and Museum presented Country Sunshine: Remembering Dottie West on Saturday (March 30). The panel discussion featured Steve Wariner, Jeannie Seely, songwriter Red Lane and Shelly West as they shared their memories of the vibrant, Grammy-winning artist. West, known for her hits “Here Comes My Baby” and “Country Sunshine,” died in 1991. The panel was presented in support of the spotlight exhibit Dottie West: Country Sunshine, currently on display at the museum.

Pictured (L-R): Shelly West, Red Lane, Jeannie Seely, Senior Historian John Rumble and Steve Wariner.