The Twang Town Lowdown: Monday, April 25th

 

MORE DETAILS ON STRAIT TO VEGAS SHOWS:



George Strait kicked off his Strait to Vegas concert series over the weekend with two shows at Sin City's new T-Mobile Arena. 

During opening night on Friday (4/22), King George performed for over two hours, entertaining a record-setting crowd of more than 19,000 fans. Strait couldn't be more thrilled about his return to the stage, telling the crowd, "I've missed you guys and I'm looking forward to being here a few more nights this year." 

George still has 4 shows scheduled at the T-Mobile Arena in September and December as well as two concerts in February of 2017.

Aside from playing some of his biggest hits, Strait also took a moment to pay tribute to the late Merle Haggard, who was not only a country legend to Strait but also a friend. 

"We'll never get to hear Merle play live again, but his music will live on forever," George said before launching into a medley consisting of "Mama Tried," "Fightin' Side of Me," and "My Life's Been Grand."

CHASE RICE GOES BACK TO HIS COLLEGE:



Chase Rice recently returned to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, to perform a show on his "Back to College Tour." 

Rice's return to UNC marked his first concert at the school as a headlining artist and was a homecoming he'll never forget. He says, "Carolina will always have my heart. I will always be a Tar Heel, and that makes this particular show really special to me."

Chase says the lessons he learned at the school weren't just about being a student or a football player, but also about getting injured and losing his dad during his senior year. Rice shares, "Those experiences changed my life forever. Ultimately, they brought me to music and so it's really cool to bring it all back to where it started."
Chase's return to UNC Chapel Hill was featured in a new episode of CMT Hot 20 Countdown that premiered over the weekend.
Rice's next stop on the "Back to College Tour" will be this Friday (4/29) at East Georgia State College in Swainsboro, Georgia. 

BLAKE SHELTON SHARES DUET DETAILS



Blake Shelton is opening up about his new duet with girlfriend Gwen Stefani titled "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," which appears on Shelton's new album, If I'm Honest. Blake tells Entertainment Tonight, "(The song) is very personal for us both because, you know, we obviously have this bond that is remarkable together." And the fact that they even wrote the song together is a rarity, says Shelton. He shares, "I don't co-write that much because I'm very insecure about it I guess and (Gwen's) kind of got her circle of people that she writes with. But for us to reach out to each other as writers, it may never happen again, who knows."

But rare or not, Shelton's very proud of how their collaboration turned out. He says, "I hesitate to brag on it too much but I really think that it's as good of a song as I've ever written in my life."

Gwen nearly broke the internet last week when she tweeted a picture of the back of Blake's new record, revealing their duet.

RAISING MONEY FOR HOMETOWN HOSPITAL – JASON ALDEAN


Jason Aldean returned to his hometown of Macon, Georgia, on Thursday night (4/21) for an intimate concert to benefit a good cause. Aldean took the stage at the at the city's historic downtown Grand Opera House and treated his hometown crowd to intimate stripped-down performance. The sold-out concert raised more than $500,000 for Children's Hospital, Navicent Health, which is a pediatric facility in central Georgia that enhances the lives of children through patient care, research and education.

Aldean was overwhelmed by the amount of money raised by the community on Thursday night, and he couldn't more proud to call Macon his hometown. Jason shares, "Every single penny helps an organization that means a lot to me and I can’t thank everyone enough for helping these kids. Emotions were running high seeing all those faces familiar faces come out to support."