Country music’s Possum has headed up to take the Grand Tour.  The announcement of a George Jones death was a surprise to many.  George Jones died this morning at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after being hospitalized April 18 for irregular blood pressure and fever. He was 81.

Artists Respond to George Jones Death

Our current crop of country stars took to various traditional and social media outlets to offer condolences on the George Jones death.   Here’s a sampling:

Jason Aldean: “So sad to hear about the passing of George Jones. Country music has lost one of our pioneers & legendary icons. You will never be forgotten.”

The Band Perry: “Country music and the world lost a true legend today … Mr. Jones, you will be greatly missed.”

Garth Brooks: “The greatest voice to ever grace country music will never die, Jones has a place in every heart that ever loved any kind of music.”

Luke Bryan: “George. You will be deeply missed. Thanks for the beautiful memories.”

Ronnie Dunn: “The greatest country blues singer to ever live.”

Faith Hill: “We lost one of the best voices God created this morning. Our hearts are saddened to hear that George Jones has passed away … Our thoughts and prayers are with Nancy and all of the family.”

Toby Keith: “George Jones has passed. Damn. Thought he’d live forever. Let’s break out his catalogue and play it all day. Godspeed possum and family.”

Little Big Town: “There will never be another George Jones. You are and always will be country music. Rest in peace.”

Loretta Lynn: “It’s a sad day for country music and a great loss for those of us who knew him. I was blessed to call George my friend. He was one of the best country singers there ever was. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Nancy, and all of his family. It’s a sad, sad day.”

Barbara Mandrell: “I believe if you ask any singer who was the greatest country music singer of all time, they would say George Jones. He was without question and by far the BEST! I first met and worked with him when I was 13 years old; I am so very grateful that he was my friend.”

Martina McBride: “So sad to hear about George Jones. His voice and music will be with us forever. Thoughts go out to all his family, friends and fans.”

Tim McGraw: “Gone … George Jones … man he was country music.”

Kacey Musgraves: “That angel choir just got a whole lot better this morning.”

Brad Paisley: “My friend, the greatest singer of all time, has passed. To those who knew him, our lives were full. To those of you who don’t: discover him now.”

Hillary Scott: “Saddened by the passing of George Jones Sending prayers up for his wife and family Country Music will never be the same.”

Blake Shelton: “Really REALLY bad news. We’ve lost a country music legend. And I’ve lost a hero and a friend. Goodbye George Jones … ”

Carrie Underwood: “Happy memory of me and George. You may have left us, but your music and your legacy never will. #Legend.”

Keith Urban: “If I’m blessed enough to make it there, I look forward to you giving me the grand tour. Rest in peace George Jones!!!!!” Urban payed tribute to Jones with a YouTube video performance of “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

George Jones death makes the country world sad today.  RIP Possum.

Sunny Sweeney is best known for her recent country hit titled “From A Table Away.”  She continues her musical journey as an artist while performing shows across the country including Las Vegas where we caught up with Sunny Sweeney Live at a performance for the Academy Of Country Music (ACM) during awards week.  She talked backstage at the Freemont Street Experience stage.

TNA Wrestling sensation Mickie James has a new country recording on iTunes and she talked to Country Songs Online and Twangz on the music and her fans.  The beautiful singer songwriter wrestler describers her music and her activities in social media.

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TwangZ is a short-form, country music news series decicated to breaking country music news and album reviews. We release short news diget updates weekly on Fridays. The channel also features long form interviews with new and established country singer songwriters.

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Chris Janson is a new singer songwriter on Bigger Picture Records and he performs a rowdy and unpredictable live show.  His new country radio single is called “Better I Don’t” and he plays a mean harmonica too.

We caught up with Janson backstage just before his crowded Freemont Street Experience show in LasVegas for ACM week.

Watch (rate/comment/subscribe) to see his thoughts on performing live and his killer band.    He never performs the same show twice and you can see the rowdy results at this live concert.

Twangz is our weekly video show featuring the brightest acts in country music.   See more HERE at TwangzTV on YouTube.

Jaida Dreyer releases “I am Jaida Dreyer” and Half Broke Horses on Streamsound Records Produced by Byron Gallimore. She talks about her first onscreen kiss and videos with horses and underwear models!

Bigger Picture recording artist Craig Campbell is back on the scene with his latest newsongs and a new hit making attitude.  He broke into the mainstream with two songs recently.  The first “Family Man” is an ode to fatherhood and regular guy family life.  The next hit “Fish” was a controversial and fun romp.   His follow up to his self titled debut album, Craig Campbell features the latest newsongs Outta My Head and  My Baby’s Daddy.

We talked to Campbell at 2013′s Country Radio Seminar where he had just wrapped recording the new video (watch to see what his wife thinks of Craig kissing another woman in the video) and told us about his affinity for Google Maps and Words with Friends.

Campbell grew up in small town Lyons, Georgia and after moving to Nashville attained a key spot at one of the towns mot sought after clubs.   Lately he’s been traveling internationally where his music and shows have been well recieved.

Campbell says among the albums he’d most like his music to be compared is Clint Black’s Killin’ Time and Tracy Lawrence’s Sticks and Stones.

His collection of his five latest newsongs including the song Outta My Head are available now at iTunes.

Dean talks to Twangz

Country Singer Songwriter Billy Dean and his songs are on the road to a comeback in country music.  The “Let Them Be Little” singer (he says that’s his favorite of all his hits) has released a new single to country radio called “I Can’t Leave a Good Thing” from his album A Man Of Good Fortune. In fact Dean has had a lot of good fortune over the years.

Three Billy Dean Song Facts That may Surprise you:

He’s charted twelve top ten Billboard Country singles but it was his vocal work in Kenny Roger’s “Buy Me A Rose” that nailed down his first number one single.   Many of his biggest hits like the early ’90′s “Somewhere In My Broken Heart,” “If There Hadn’t Been You,” and “Billy The Kid” are still heard on the radio Today.

He says his favorite song (most important to him) is his 2004 hit “Let Them Be Little.” “That song just meant a lot to me inside and out…” says Dean. “I think the family unit is something that’s really under attack in our country and it’s really the fabric of what this country is made of. So that song has a lot of layers of meaning for me…Let ‘em laugh let ‘em giggle let ‘em sleep in the middle. Let them be little.”

He says he almost missed the social media revolution. “Lucky for me I got in early and I saw it wasn’t gonna go away… I was really worried about how we could market music though at a time when everyone was sharing music for free… But we really got a good following going now.”

Dean is an April Fool’s Day baby.  Born 4/1/62 in Quincy Florida the singer is blessed with the rugged good looks (and great hair) of artists decades younger than him.

Watch our TwangZ interview for more with Billy Dean Here and get more from Dean’s official site BillyDean.com.

Lisa Matassa and Marie Osmond
Credit: Jeremy Lee

Country singer song writer Lisa Matassa makes her national television debut on the Hallmark Channel’s MARIE show March 13. Watch for Lisa and her band to perform her current hit single, the high-energy “Somebody’s Baby,” and Lisa and Marie chat about the “adventures” involved in mixing a music career with motherhood.

Twangz also just caught up with Matassa at Country Radio Seminar where she revealed thoughts on her favorite tunes ( I Will Always Love You) and how she got connected with Country Music.

The Long Island singer is off to a roaring start with over 6 million YouTube video views (including 3 million views of “Somebody’s Baby”) and two #1 videos on CMT.com, Lisa is no stranger to Country audiences. She has shared the stage with Dierks Bentley, Leann Rimes, Eric Church, Ronnie Dunn and most recently, Lee Brice.

Her current CD, SOMEBODY’S BABY, reflects her musical journey through a collection of songs that are both personal and dynamic. The “Somebody’s Baby” single is currently #1 on iHeartradio/Country Chart and has been for the past three weeks. It is also moving up both the Billboard/BDS Indicator and MusicRow charts. In addition, the second cut off the EP, “Wouldn’t You Like To Know” is currently #2 on iHeartradio/Country Chart. Radio.com is playing “Somebody’s Baby” on three of its channels and Aol Radio “New Country First” is spinning it in heavy rotation. The video can be seen on AOL, The Country Network (TCN), Yahoo! and YouTube.

Fans can catch up on all the latest news at www.LisaMatassa.com; additional social media outlets include:

www.facebook.com/lisamatassafanpage
www.twitter.com/lisa_matassa
www.reverbnation.com/lisamatassa
www.youtube.com/lisamatassamedia

Tracy Lawrence / Southern Arkansas University

Tracy Lawrence is back to putting out new music.  After a break for a special acoustic project he’s set to release a new album and single called “Stop Drop and Roll.” It’s been 20 years since country music singer / songwriter Tracy Lawrence released the hit Alibis to country radio and he’s been at it ever since.

Lawrence has made it through the changing media world strong getting active in social media and locking into the Mac world. The Paint Me a Birmingham singer is a true American country music singer songwriter who began his career at a small club/restaurant named “Live At Libby’s” owned by Libby Knight. Knight helped new local talent get a break in the country music world.

Lawrence was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 27, 1968 and was raised in Foreman Arkansas. He made headlines in 1991 over a shooting incident and has since fully recovered.

Tracy Lawrence’s first hit was the number one Sticks and Stones released in November of 1993. He later charted over 20 top ten hits including at least seven Billboard number ones including Alibis, Texas Tornado, and Time Marches On. In the early 2000′s he released a unique collaboration song called “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”  The album cut featuring guest appearances from Tim McGraw  and Kenny Chesney became another big hit.

Edwards and Moore / Photo: Justin Moore

Country music singer songwriter Justin Moore is ready to take on Daytona.    The Valory Music Group star is headed to the big race to support a special concert to honor heroes and officially launch Crown Royal’s search for the individual who will receive naming rights to the 2013 Brickyard 400. Every year the whisky brand names the July race after a deserving hero through its “Your Hero’s Name Here” program.  Head to CrownRoyalHeros.com for more.

 Justin Moore’s Nascar Connection

Justin Moore is also ready to get into the new NASCAR season.   He names Carl Edwards as a good buddy and featured him in a recent video for the hit “Bait a Hook”  See it HERE

As for his race picks, “My picks… whoo.. I’m a Carl Edwards fan we’re kinda rootin for him… but he got a little dinged up in practice yesterday, I don’t know what the situation with the car is, but my gut tells me Tony Stewart, his cars been really good this week, Danica being on the pole is an example of that but he’s always had this race elude him for whatever reason.  He’s always ran good at Daytona and other races so I think he gets the ever elusive 500 win this week.”

Moore’s New Country Song and Tour

Moore’s been busy lately.  He just ended a run as the opener for Eric Church’s tour, earned his second Gold certified album and – off the success of his latest number one radio single “‘Til My Last Day” – announced his first headlining tour dubbed Outlaws Like Me.

He says his new single is called “Point Of View” and it’s another love song.  ”I’m excited this song’s a tough, rockin’, tempo love song.” He say, “Hopefully you guys are ready for it as well.”   Look for it as part of a new album expected this summer.

While at the Daytona 500 Justin will kick off the entry period, submit the first official nominations for the Crown Royal Search and do a show with his biggest songs in the Crown Royal footprint (in the Fan Zone outside the track) on race day at 10 a.m.