Travis Tritt, country music`s hottest young rocker, spent six years working in nightclubs before his first record was released, and he says being familiar with grass-roots venues is a highly valuable asset.
Tritt notes that both he and Marty Stuart, who teams with Tritt on the new and increasingly popular ”No Hat Tour,” have played innumerable bars, and he isn`t ”sure you can be as valid an entertainer” without that kind of background.
”It gives you a great education,” Tritt says, ”because you have to learn how to capture people`s attention.
”In a barroom or honkytonk, a place where they`ve got a jukebox and dart games on one wall and pinball machines on another, and you`re dealing with the alcohol factor on top of that, people really don`t care whether you`re on stage performing or it`s the jukebox. They`re there to be out drinking and honkytonking and doing the things people do in bars.
”So you have to do something out of the ordinary to make them give you their attention, and I think learning how to make them do that is a great training ground. It`s what makes me work hard onstage now. Although I don`t have to work as hard now to capture the people`s attention, I feel like I do.”
Tritt, Stuart and string virtuoso Mark O`Connor are booked to bring the
”No Hat Tour” on April 1 to the Odeum in Villa Park.
On the record: Vince Gill, Alabama, Chet Atkins, Anne Murray and Dinah Shore join Eddy Arnold on Thursday at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville for the videotaping of a special on the Nashville Network titled ”A Celebration of Eddy Arnold.” Arnold has been recording hits for 50 years and has sold more than 85 million records. The production is to be broadcast in mid-May. … Patsy Cline`s recording of ”Crazy,” jazz artist Miles Davis`
”Kind of Blue,” Count Basie Orchestra/Joe Williams` ”Everyday (I Have the Blues),” Nat ”King” Cole`s ”Mona Lisa” and Maurice Ravel/Lamoureux Orchestra`s ”Ravel: Bolero” recently were named inductees into the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences` Recording Hall of Fame. … Grand Ole Opry performer Jimmy C. Newman is nominated for a Grammy for best traditional folk album for his Cajun-style Rounder Records album ”Alligator Man.” Grammy winners will be announced on Feb. 25. . . . Song title of the week: ”Here Today, Here Tomorrow” by B. DiPiero, J. Sherrill and G. Fox.
Restless Heart lead singer Larry Stewart has left the group to pursue a solo career, but both he and the group remain members of the roster of RCA Records.
”I`m very proud of what Restless Heart has accomplished over the last eight years,” says Stewart, who is assembling material for his first solo album.
”I think we were really able to achieve what we set out to do. But recently the timing just felt right for me to pursue my own musical ideas. After many conversations we all agreed, and I thank the other guys for their support.”
Restless Heart members John Dittrich, Paul Gregg, Dave Innis and Greg Jennings say in a joint statement:
”Restless Heart has always been about doing something different, and this is another new change. We`re as excited about the future as we are proud of our work with Larry Stewart.”
On the road: Collin Raye, who has a hit with ”Love, Me,” got some home- state appreciation opening for George Strait and Kathy Mattea on New Year`s Eve in Texas, and he is scheduled to work with Strait again Feb. 14 and 15 at Pheasant Run in St. Charles. … Rodney Crowell is scheduled to perform March 6 at the Vic. … Nashville`s annual ”Fan Fair,” which attracted 24,000 people in 1991, is scheduled for June 8 through 12 this year. ”Fan Fair”
features more than 35 hours of concerts by many of the industry`s top stars. For information, call 615-889-7503.
The second annual ”Magic of Christmas” tour took the Oak Ridge Boys and Marie Osmond to 13 cities in 1991 and again benefited the international relief organization Feed the Children. Audience members were asked to bring non-perishable food items for distribution to community food banks.
Over the last two years, the Oaks/Osmond effort has brought in more than 2 million pounds of food. In Detroit, the 1991 show simultaneously raised $14,752 for St. Jude`s Children`s Hospital of Memphis.
Et cetera: The Bellamy Brothers recently signed Canadian singer-songwriter Randy Hiebert as the first songwriter with their Bellamy Brothers Productions. The brothers met Hiebert when they went to one of the Winnepeg native`s shows on a night off during the brothers` tour of Canada. . . . The Country Music Association recently hired Joseph Aniello, who is from New York, to a new position as marketing director.
Speaking of the association, the Sept. 30 date of its 1992 awards show on CBS-TV has been changed-at least temporarily-to Sept. 29 to avoid conflict with a possible debate of presidential candidates.
”In our initial scheduling, we had to move the CMA Awards to late September (from its traditional first-week-of-October date) because of baseball playoffs, the World Series and election coverage in October,”
explains Ed Benson, executive director.
”Now there is a strong possibility that a presidential debate will take place on Sept. 30. CBS asked us to move up a day, and we were happy to accommodate that request to preclude being pre-empted. However, if the political parties don`t agree to a debate on Sept. 30, CBS television has agreed to put us back on that date.
”We should have a firm date soon.”
