AP-AM Prep-Country

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! COUNTRY !

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ERIC CHURCH - AND HIS FOOT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Eric Church has been dealing with his broken foot since September 4. That's a lot longer than the usual "6 to 8 weeks" it sometimes takes to get back on your feet after a break. He broke it during a gig when he was stomping his foot on a concrete stage. Church admits he hasn't taken the "time to sit around and let it heal." So, it's not healing as fast as it might. Church says he needs to start following doctors' orders. Now, comes the excuse. He says he's had such a busy and successful touring schedule, with five or six shows a week that he hasn't had time to follow those orders. So he says he's "just going to keep playing, and it will either fall off or heal at some point in time." He says: "that's my plan. Not a good plan, but it's my plan."

Sound:

<<CUT …016 (12/01/09)>> 00:18 "for that bone"

Eric Church, musician

Eric Church says he's active on stage and that led to the foot injury that's plagued him since September 4th.

<<CUT …017 (12/01/09)>> 00:17 "on the stool"

Eric Church, musician

Musician Eric Church says after he broke his foot he'd use crutches to walk on stage.

<<CUT …018 (12/01/09)>> 00:17 "it's my plan"

Eric Church, musician

Eric Church says he knows he needs to follow doctors' orders and stay off his foot but he doesn't see that happening.

<<CUT …019 (12/01/09)>> 00:43 "''

Excerpt of "Love Your Love the Most"

This is Eric Church performing "Love Your Love the Most." ((Note: cut contains word "hell"))

MORE STARS ADDED TO GRAMMY NOMINATIONS TV SPECIAL

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tomorrow's Grammy nomination TV special will include a performance by Sugarland. Also on the special, but not performing, is Dwight Yoakam. He'll announce one of the categories. Same with Ringo Starr and George Lopez. T-Pain, who we know from "Thug Story" with Taylor Swift, also will announce one of the nominations. Tomorrow's hour-long nominations announcement and concert is on CBS. The Grammys themselves will be awarded January 31.

''CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER" - JO DEE MESSINA

NEW YORK (AP) — When the huge evergreen lights up in front of the real 30 Rock tomorrow, Jo Dee Messina will be singing. She's part of the annual "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special on NBC. Messina joins Rod Stewart, Rob Thomas, Michael Buble (boo-BLAY'), Aretha Franklin, Jose Feliciano, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, The Roots, Shakira and The Radio City Rockettes. Performances include current hits and holiday classics from stages set up around Rockefeller Center in New York City.

CHURCHILL DOWNS - MUSIC FESTIVAL

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, isn't just for horses. It's also becoming the home of a three-day music festival. The first "HullabaLOU Music Festival" is set for July 23-25 and will feature Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, the Zac Brown Band, Gloriana, Dwight Yoakam, Loretta Lynn and many more. Tickets go on sale Friday.

CHARLIE AND THE "MTA" CO-WRITER OBIT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The woman who co-wrote the Kingston Trio hit "M.T.A." has died. Bess Lomax Hawes was 88 and died of natural causes on Friday in Portland, Oregon. Hawes was the daughter of folk musicologist John Lomax. She grew up helping her father collect and transcribe field recordings of folk musicians for the Library of Congress in the 1920s and '30s. In the 1940s, she had joined Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, her husband, Butch Hawes, and others in a popular folk group called the Almanac Singers. In the late 1940s, Hawes and Jacqueline Steiner co-wrote "M.T.A." It's a banjo-driven tale of a harried commuter named Charlie who gets on a Boston subway, learns he doesn't have the new exit fare and never is allowed to get off. Often called "Charlie and the M.T.A.," it became a hit for the Kingston Trio in 1959.

Sound:

<<CUT …025 (12/01/09)>> 00:54 "''

Excerpt of The Kingston Trio

This is archive audio of the Kingston Trio performing "M.T.A.," which was co-written by Bess Lomax Hawes, who passed away November 27.

by Rosalie Fox