I'm looking forward to hearing the songs!!!!

Time for another blog for Ol Uncle Rock, first off....get those vocal cords ready for Monday morning (4/28/08), we'll be starting to take calls for you to sing your songs to win that BIG OL TRIP TO NASHVILLE FOR THE CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL!!!! I would personally like to thanks Thornhill GM Superstore for making the event possible. Which leads me to the best thing since BBQ Ribs.....COUNTRY MUSIC!!!! Lady Antebellum's self-titled CD debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart this week with first-round sales of 43,384 units. Making this sunny achievement all the more remarkable is the fact that the Capitol Records trio has yet to score a Top 5 single to give its album a big airplay boost. "Love Don't Live Here," Lady Antebellum's first single, currently sits at No. 9 after 29 weeks on the chart. On the songs list, George Strait racks up another chart-topper with "I Saw God Today," which reaches the summit just 11 weeks after its release. The only other new album this period is Yonder Mountain String Band's Mountain Tracks: Volume 5. It enters at No. 67. Joe Nichols' Real Things returns to the chart at No. 70. There are five new songs to report, all of them rather low on the chart. Chuck Wicks' "All I Ever Wanted" bows at No. 50, followed by Darius Rucker's "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" (No. 51), Eric Church's "His Kind of Money (My Kind of Love)" (No. 55), Rissi Palmer's "Hold On to Me" (No. 59) and Kevin Fowler's "Best Mistake I Ever Made" (No. 60). Trailing Lady Antebellum within the Top 5 albums are Strait's Troubadour, Taylor Swift's eponymous juggernaut, James Otto's Sunset Man and Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride, in that order. Parading directly behind Strait's top song are Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This," Otto's "Just Got Started Lovin' You," Swift's "Picture to Burn" and Phil Vassar's "Love Is a Beautiful Thing." That's the buzz for now. Until next time,

Uncle Rock
--"if you wanna make it, you can't fake it...you gotta LIVE IT!!!"

BIG OL NEWS MONDAY MORNING ON THE BIG OL MORNING SHOW

Howdy Coal Country! It's time once again, for another blog from Ol Hop Along Rock. Just a couple of things before I get into the country music news...Be sure to check out the Big Ol Morning Show this Monday (4/21/08) for a huge announcement about the CMA Music Festival! I'm not at liberty to say a whole lot about it, but it's HUGE...so be sure to tune in for the big announcement! Also, I would like to thank the staff at Dollywood for being so kind to my co-host Tia last week. She went down for the tribute to Porter Wagoner, she brought back some great pictures and even a couple of things that you are going to be hearing during the Big Ol Morning Show. You will see pictured about Miss Dolly Parton and her huge......talent! Moving right along to Hillbilly Days, I have lived in Southern West Virginia all of my life but I never made the trip to Pikeville for Hillbilly Days. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. Good food, good music and PURDY women! What more can a man ask for? Now on to what makes the world go around... COUNTRY MUSIC!!! All hail, King George! George Strait's Troubadour tops both Billboard's country and all-genres album charts this week with first-week sales of more than 166,000 copies. That's quite an achievement for a guy who first began charting 27 years ago. Trade Adkins looms on the peak of the song chart for the second straight week with "You're Gonna Miss This." In so doing, he holds Strait's "I Saw God Today" at bay in the No. 2 niche. Five other albums make their first visit to the charts this period. Entering at a very impressive No. 4 is Josh Gracin's We Weren't Crazy, followed by Aaron Watson's Angels & Outlaws (No. 28), Willie Nelson's One Hell of a Ride (No. 46), Kathy Mattea's Coal (No. 64) and the various-artist assemblage, The Very Best of Outlaw Country (No. 65). Nelson, by the way, has been charting since 1962 and Mattea since 1983. Only two new songs crack this week's listing -- former Trick Pony member Heidi Newfield's "Johnny & June" (No. 46) and Lonestar's "Let Me Love You" (No. 60). After its quick on-and-off debut, Dolly Parton's "Jesus & Gravity" returns at No. 56.Among the week's remaining Top 5 albums, Taylor Swift's self-titled CD simmers at No. 2, Alan Jackson's Good Time at No. 3 and Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride at No. 5. Trailing Adkins and Strait within the Top 5 songs, in descending order, are Chris Cagle's "What Kinda Gone," James Otto's "Just Got Started Lovin' You" and Swift's "Picture to Burn." Until next time,

Uncle Rock
--"if you wanna make it, you can't fake it...you gotta LIVE IT!!!"

PS Don't forget about the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT Monday morning on The Tri-States Coal Country & More 965!!!