LISTEN: Great Profile Of Country Music Co-Writer Extraordinaire Hillary Lindsey On NPR

We love sharing country music reports from far and wide. Heard this on NPR's Morning Edition this morning while stuck in traffic on the 202.

Here's the 5:45 profile of country music songrwriter Hillary Lindsey, pinned to her recent co-writing efforts with Lady Gaga.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did - without the fumes!

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WATCH, TV ALERT: Kenny Chesney on Tonight Show (Fallon) TONIGHT! (Subplot: Will Russell Crowe perform another Johnny Cash song?)

Kenny Chesney follows up his ACM performance tonight with an appearance tonight on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show.  He'll be on at approximately 11:30pm, on Channel 12 in Phoenix and Channel 4 in Tucson.

Can't find any video of Chesney's last performance on Fallon (in Late Night days).  BUT, also on tonight's show is Russell Crowe, and here is a clip of Crowe and Fallon singing Folsom Prison Blues!

Alt Country Possibilities Streaming Live From Coachella This Weekend

There'll be a few opportunities to stretch the boundaries a bit from Coachella this weekend.  YouTube is live-streaming many of the performances - three channels' worth.  Here are a few we're going to try to catch:

Sunday, at 4:20, on Channel 2: Sturgill Simpson

Sunday, back-to-back, 5:35 and 6:35, on Channel 1:  Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams. (They've played together before, too.)

Jack White is headlining tonight (Saturday), 9:15pm (Channel 1), and you never know when he's going to confound festival-goers and rip into some Hank Williams, etc.



(Remember, these same acts are also scheduled to perform at #Coachella2015 NEXT weekend, as well.)

SOLD OUT: Mary Chapin Carpenter @ MIM

Glad to see Mary Chapin Carpenter (and Aoife O'Donovan) have sold out both of their shows - tonight and Sunday!

OFF TOPIC: Give your family the gift of DIAMOND(back)S! Great seats! - $636 (2seats in 2nd row over home plate!)

You have Diamondbacks fans in your family! (Heck, maybe even YOU.) Get&give the gift of sharing in one of the original Diamondbacks ticket groups, with some of the best seats in the partk!

Share Diamondbacks season tickets - BEST value in ballpark! - $636 (2nd Row! MVP Box 314, over homeplate!)

The baseballs will be flying in the 2015 Diamondbacks season. You're going to want to spend several cool days in Chase Ballpark this summer, and I have an extra share in our Diamondbacks' season ticket group. 

We have GREAT SEATS, the best value in the park! They're right over home plate, in the MVP Box area. 2nd row, Sxn 314. 

We have 2 tickets, and we split them into five "shares". We split the tickets up equitably, and you'll have a good cross-section of primo games, weekends, weeknights, etc.

The D'backs have made things a lot better for season ticket holders recently. They've long had the ability to "redeem" tickets that go unused -- you can trade in the otherwise-worthless tickets for comparable tickets for one of 10 (reasonable) games during the balance of the season. Newer is that they let you trade in tickets that you will not be able to use, and get tickets for any other game, with just either no charge or a minimal charge; I use that one a few times each year.

Other benefits are listed on the D'backs website; chief among 'em would be sharing the playoff tickets WHEN we get there. Also, we have early entry to the park, discounts at the Team Shop, etc.

Let me know as soon as possible if you have any questions or if you want to snap this up! (Of course, if you know someone else who would be interested, put them in touch with me.)

Thanks!!!

Text me at 6.0.2.  9.0.8. 9.1.3.2.

WATCH: Loved Seeing Jimmy Kimmel Step Into Iglesias' Shoes To Duet With Willie

The song to cap off Kimmel's late night week in Austin was dedicated to Willie's bong (Willie should've sung "Jimmy's" at same moment).

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Not ground-breaking, but a fun song parody that captures Austin vibe nicely.

ICYMI: Links To Upcoming Toby Keith, Tim McGraw Concerts, Emmylou Harris/Steve Earle/Kris Kristofferson/Gillian Welch/More Johnny Cash Tribute

Recapping some of my weekend poking around on the internet:

1) Here's link to info on the @TobyKeithMusic concert in Laughlin: http://bit.ly/1sNRHoO ! @TobyKeithPeoria @TobyKeithsUSA

2) Brad Paisley joins Hunter Hayes on the list of artists who will go through more than two years worth of touring without setting foot in Arizona.  Paisley last played here was in October 2012 (the same week that Carrie Underwood/Hunter Hayes appeared).

Come on, Brad, you KNOW the suits DON'T want you to schedule a concert here!!!

(If you would like us to call out your country music fave in this list, send us an email.)

3) Here's show/ticket info for @TheTimMcGraw concert in Laughlin 11/8: http://goo.gl/oEr3R9

4)  New album coming out next week will tribute the 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash's "Bitter Tears" album. Link to the new Cash CD 8/19 by @SteveEarle @EmmylouSongbird @gillianwelch Kristofferson +more @FTCountryRecord: http://amzn.to/1sDJHpb