Big Machine RecordsTim McGraw has signed on to perform at the 19th Annual Music Festival for Mental Health at the Staglin Family Vineyard in Napa Valley, CA on September 8. The year event raises millions for research to find cures to brain disorders, and that cause hits close to home for Tim. He is the honorary chairperson of the Tug McGraw Foundation, an organization raising money for the fight against brain cancer, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Tim says, "I meet returning troops every night out on the road and a lot of them are living with invisible wounds like PTSD or other traumatic brain injuries. The Tug McGraw Foundation is doing great work to help combat these disorders and the stigmas attached to them."
For more information, go to Music-Festival.org.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Stoney Creek RecordsThompson Square's Keifer Thompson is recovering nicely from some vocal problems that forced the duo to cancel several shows. A hemorrhage and polyp on Keifer's vocal cords has sidelined the duo for the last few weeks, but his doctor says he's making big strides in his recovery after two weeks of total silence.
Keifer says, "I had a really bad hemorrhage, and it's completely healed, resolved, and the polyp is about 70 percent down, so they don't want to do surgery now."
His vocal problem had been mounting for the last 10 months, but Keifer ignored the pain in his throat on night after night thanks to the energy he got from the fans. Eventually, Keifer said the pain got so bad after a full concert, it felt like someone was stabbing him in the throat after a show.
"I've never had any formal training or anything like that," Keifer explains. "So, I've kinda just done it on what my heart felt like, and it wasn't always right, apparently. After doing it for so many years and so many hours and songs, it just catches up with you, you know?"
Keifer is now working on getting rid of a few bad vocal habits and learning to sing properly.
He says, "You can still sing soulfully and with power and not scream and grow polyps."
Fortunately, Keifer had a few singing friends like Keith Urban and Gary Allan who have been through similar vocal issues. Their advice and encouragement helped him through this rough patch, and he's grateful to them for reaching out.
Living with Keifer while he was silent for two weeks was quite an adventure for his wife and duo partner, Shawna Thompson. They even had a system in place in case they got separated from each other in a big place like the grocery store.
Shawna says, "He would be far away from me, and I couldn't find him 'cause he couldn't speak, and I couldn't call him. So, we had this whistle thing that we would do as we walked around the store to find each other."
Keifer says with a laugh, "It was like Marco Polo."
Ironing out disagreements was interesting in the two weeks Keifer was silent as well.
He explains, "What's fun is fighting when you can't talk. That's pretty funny. You get really animated."
Keifer expects his doctor to tell him Wednesday when he can perform again. We'll keep you posted when Keifer and Shawna return to the road.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Capitol NashvilleKeith Urban is a busy, busy man these days. He's feverishly working to finish his new studio album, Fuse, before going into tour rehearsals for his Light the Fuse tour, launching July 18 in Cincinnati. Wrapping up the recording process isn't just a matter of Keith buckling down and getting it done: he has to coordinate a lot of other musicians' schedules too.
Says Keith, "The challenge has been in trying to finish an album that is complex in its collaborative, in the amount of people that I've collaborated with. I've got to land the plane."
Luckily, Keith has great people on his team to make sure the tour rehearsals go smoothly in the next few weeks.
"My musical director, Chris McHugh, is fantastic," Keith says. "Travis Shirley, who is the production designer for this tour, is excellent. We just toured Australia together, so he has a lot of components that we had in that tour that we can use in this one."
Even though Keith worked out a lot of elements for his U.S. tour while Down Under, he still leaves room to add new elements to his show, right up until he hits the stage.
Says Keith, "Historically, we put something together, and I'm like, 'That's the tour. It's perfect.' And then a week before the tour, I get some crazy idea that I want to do this, or do that and do this. So, I've learned that it's best to have a malleable production that can accommodate those things at a moment's notice."
Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch join Keith on the Light the Fuse tour this summer. The lead single from Fuse, "Little Bit of Everything," is now climbing the country chart. The album will be in stores September 10.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Big Machine RecordsTim McGraw has signed on to perform at the 19th Annual Music Festival for Mental Health at the Staglin Family Vineyard in Napa Valley, CA on September 8. The year event raises millions for research to find cures to brain disorders, and that cause hits close to home for Tim. He is the honorary chairperson of the Tug McGraw Foundation, an organization raising money for the fight against brain cancer, traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Tim says, "I meet returning troops every night out on the road and a lot of them are living with invisible wounds like PTSD or other traumatic brain injuries. The Tug McGraw Foundation is doing great work to help combat these disorders and the stigmas attached to them."
For more information, go to Music-Festival.org.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Stoney Creek RecordsThompson Square's Keifer Thompson is recovering nicely from some vocal problems that forced the duo to cancel several shows. A hemorrhage and polyp on Keifer's vocal cords has sidelined the duo for the last few weeks, but his doctor says he's making big strides in his recovery after two weeks of total silence.
Keifer says, "I had a really bad hemorrhage, and it's completely healed, resolved, and the polyp is about 70 percent down, so they don't want to do surgery now."
His vocal problem had been mounting for the last 10 months, but Keifer ignored the pain in his throat on night after night thanks to the energy he got from the fans. Eventually, Keifer said the pain got so bad after a full concert, it felt like someone was stabbing him in the throat after a show.
"I've never had any formal training or anything like that," Keifer explains. "So, I've kinda just done it on what my heart felt like, and it wasn't always right, apparently. After doing it for so many years and so many hours and songs, it just catches up with you, you know?"
Keifer is now working on getting rid of a few bad vocal habits and learning to sing properly.
He says, "You can still sing soulfully and with power and not scream and grow polyps."
Fortunately, Keifer had a few singing friends like Keith Urban and Gary Allan who have been through similar vocal issues. Their advice and encouragement helped him through this rough patch, and he's grateful to them for reaching out.
Living with Keifer while he was silent for two weeks was quite an adventure for his wife and duo partner, Shawna Thompson. They even had a system in place in case they got separated from each other in a big place like the grocery store.
Shawna says, "He would be far away from me, and I couldn't find him 'cause he couldn't speak, and I couldn't call him. So, we had this whistle thing that we would do as we walked around the store to find each other."
Keifer says with a laugh, "It was like Marco Polo."
Ironing out disagreements was interesting in the two weeks Keifer was silent as well.
He explains, "What's fun is fighting when you can't talk. That's pretty funny. You get really animated."
Keifer expects his doctor to tell him Wednesday when he can perform again. We'll keep you posted when Keifer and Shawna return to the road.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
Capitol NashvilleKeith Urban is a busy, busy man these days. He's feverishly working to finish his new studio album, Fuse, before going into tour rehearsals for his Light the Fuse tour, launching July 18 in Cincinnati. Wrapping up the recording process isn't just a matter of Keith buckling down and getting it done: he has to coordinate a lot of other musicians' schedules too.
Says Keith, "The challenge has been in trying to finish an album that is complex in its collaborative, in the amount of people that I've collaborated with. I've got to land the plane."
Luckily, Keith has great people on his team to make sure the tour rehearsals go smoothly in the next few weeks.
"My musical director, Chris McHugh, is fantastic," Keith says. "Travis Shirley, who is the production designer for this tour, is excellent. We just toured Australia together, so he has a lot of components that we had in that tour that we can use in this one."
Even though Keith worked out a lot of elements for his U.S. tour while Down Under, he still leaves room to add new elements to his show, right up until he hits the stage.
Says Keith, "Historically, we put something together, and I'm like, 'That's the tour. It's perfect.' And then a week before the tour, I get some crazy idea that I want to do this, or do that and do this. So, I've learned that it's best to have a malleable production that can accommodate those things at a moment's notice."
Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch join Keith on the Light the Fuse tour this summer. The lead single from Fuse, "Little Bit of Everything," is now climbing the country chart. The album will be in stores September 10.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio