Mammoth Blog

Drummer for Jimi Hendrix found dead, officials say

Authorities say Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s, has been found dead in his Portland hotel room.

Erin Patrick, a deputy medical examiner, says Mitchell was found dead a little after 3 a.m. Wednesday in his room at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland.

She says Mitchell apparently died of natural causes at 62. An autopsy is planned.

Mitchell was touring with the Experience Hendrix Tour, which performed Friday at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. It was the last stop on the West Coast part of the tour.

Hendrix died in 1970. Noel Redding, bassist for the trio, died in 2003 Source>>>

They asked not where he had been or what he had been doing. Instead thousands of jubilant devotees simply trudged to the remote jungle spot in south-east Nepal where a teenage "Buddha Boy" reappeared to preach to villagers, more than a year after he went missing.

Ram Bahadur Bamjon became famous three years ago when tens of thousands of people flocked to watch him sitting cross-legged under a tree for almost ten months. His followers - who say he is the reincarnation of Buddha - claimed that during this time he neither ate nor drank.

Then, last spring, his supporters said that the teenager was planning to go away and meditate for three years in an underground bunker. He was last seen in August 2007, preaching to crowds in Nepal's Hallori jungle, around 100 miles south of Kathmandu.

Whatever encouraged Mr Bamjon to re-emerge is unclear, but police said that on Monday he appeared, long-haired, dressed in white and looking in good health, and preached to villagers for around 45 minutes. Local officials said he plans to speak to people for an hour a day for another week.

"Hundreds of devotees, including many from neighbouring India are trekking the five kilometres to see him," said one police officer, Prakash Sen. "He spoke to the devotees standing near a temple in the forest. He had shoulder-length hair and had his body wrapped in a white cloth. Since many people are walking to see him, I think he has some of the qualities Lord Buddha had."

When Mr Bamjon first became famous reporters filmed him eating, even though his supporters said he could go without food or drink for days. He was also spotted sleeping when his followers said he was meditating in private. However, a number of witnesses spoke of the young man's ability to sit fixed in one spot for hours on end.

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Country star Jo Dee Messina has begun to assemble dates for a tour next spring as she anticipates the impending arrival of her first child and the release of her new album.

The Grammy-nominated singer shows a few obligations in December, including a three-night Dec. 12-14 stretch in Las Vegas, before she takes a break from the road to concentrate on becoming a mother. Messina has slotted a March 16 date in Verona, NY, as her initial return to live performing, with six shows in all currently lined up for the spring trek. Details are included below.

Three production teams worked with Messina on her forthcoming new studio album, "Unmistakable": veteran country producer Dann Huff and Rascal Flatts' Jay DeMarcus; Jerry Flowers of Keith Urban's band; and producer Chris Farren.

"My management, at the time, thought, 'Let's get these guys together and we'll get the best material out of all of them,'" the singer told LiveDaily earlier this year. The album was originally scheduled to drop late last year, but was shelved indefinitely and still waits for a firm release date.

The singer is currently expecting her first child with husband Chris Deffenbaugh. "I am in my third trimester now," Messina told People Magazine last month. "We knew we wanted to have kids, but we just said, 'Whenever it happens, it happens.' And it happened!" The singer added that she'll be taking the newborn (she's expecting a boy, she told the magazine) on tour with her next year.

TOUR ITINERARY

December 2008
2 - Cleveland, OH - WGAR St, Jude Jam
3 - Akron, OH - Tangiers
12-14 - Las Vegas, NV - The Orleans Hotel and Casino

March 2009
16 - Verona, NY - Turning Stone Resort & Casino
18 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak
19 - Ridgefield, CT - Ridgefield Playhouse
23 - Concord, NH - Capitol Center for the Arts
24 - Kingston, NY - Ulster Performing Arts Center
25 - Collingswood, NJ - Scottish Rite Auditorium

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Rascal Flatts have confirmed dates and venues for the final leg of the group's long-running "Bob That Head" tour, with the trek set to launch in mid-January.

The country trio kicks off the tour Jan. 17 in Kansas City, MO, the first of 20 cities the band will hit through early March. Singer/actress Jessica Simpson will open all shows, according to a press release, and tickets will begin to go on sale this weekend.

Details on the outing are included below; on-sale and pre-sale information for specific date can be found at the trio's website.

Rascal Flatts have been out for more than a year supporting their platinum-selling release from last September, "Still Feels Good," which has spawned the hits "Take Me There" and "Winner at a Losing Game." The album's latest single, "Here," peaked at No. 9 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in September.

The set, which follows 2006's "Me and My Gang," marks the group's third consecutive album to debut at No. 1.

The group, which has sold more than 17 million albums and scored nine No. 1 singles since forming in 1999, released its first greatest-hits collection late last month. "Greatest Hits Volume 1" features 13 of the band's biggest hits, including "Prayin' for Daylight," "These Days" and "Mayberry."

Early shipments of the album will come packaged in a foil-embossed, 2-disc package with three newly recorded Christmas songs as bonus tracks.

January 2009
17 - Kansas City, MO - Spring Center
18 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena
22 - Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center
23 - Winston-Salem, NC - Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum
24 - N. Charleston, SC - North Charleston Coliseum
29 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
30 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
31 - Charleston, WV - Charleston Civic Center

February 2009
5 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
6 - Champaign, IL - Assembly Hall
7 - Madison, WI - Kohl Center
14 - Rochester, NY - Blue Cross Arena
25 -Nampa, ID - Idaho Center
26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Energy Solutions Arena
28 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center

March 2009
5 - Memphis, TN - FedEx Forum
6 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena
12 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
13 - Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
14 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

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The New England Patriots host the New York Jets on the NFL Network Thursday night in a battle for first place in the AFC East. The Patriots earned a big division win last Sunday over the Buffalo Bills to keep pace with the Jets in the division. While they dominated the Bills, there was more bad news as two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas went down with an arm injury and will likely miss the rest of the season. Even without him, odds makers have listed the Patriots as 3-point favorites with the total set at 42.

Thomas was the Patriots team leader with five sacks and joins the likes of Tom Brady, Laurence Maroney and Rodney Harrison of star players to go down for New England this season. New England has been able to get the job done in spite of the injury problems and it was evident last week when they outgained Buffalo 370-168 en route to a double digit win. QB Matt Cassel continued to fill in adequately for Brady, completing 23 of 34 passes for 234 yards and helping the offense control the football for nearly 38 minutes last week. New England has now won three of its last four games to put itself in position to win its sixth straight AFC East title. Cassel has been getting lots of credit for his work in filling in for Brady but the play of BenJarvus Green-Ellis also deserves to be praised. Injuries to Maroney, Sammy Morris, and LaMont Jordan have opened the door for Green-Ellis to take over the starting role and he has made the most of his opportunity. Green-Ellis carried 26 times for 105 yards and a touchdown last Sunday. Not too bad for an undrafted player who began the year on the practice squad. If you think New England can continue to persevere, bet the Patriots at -3 at BetUS and receive up to a 50% sign up bonus.

The New York Jets are coming off their most lopsided win in franchise history, beating the St. Louis Rams 47-3 last Sunday. This game against New York's bitter division rival promises to be a much tougher contest. One key to New York's success will be getting running back Thomas Jones on track. Jones gained 149 yards and had three touchdowns last week. New York it saying they want to win now in every way possible. The Jets just signed five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law, a 10-year veteran with the Patriots, on Monday to bolster the defensive backfield and to put even more fuel in the fire of this rivalry.

As if this rivalry wasn't bitter enough, Jets coach Eric Mangini, former assistant to Bill Belichick, ratted out the Patriots for videotaping signals last season and Spygate was born. The Jets have already lost to New England this season, a 19-10 defeat in Week 2, and they know it's time to start evening the score. The Jets have lost 13 of the last 16 meetings in this series. The Jets have gone 5-2 since that loss and have won three in a row as QB Brett Favre gets more and more comfortable with the offense. New York has emerged as one of the most potent offensive teams in the league, leading the AFC with 255 points and averaging 32.1 points per game over its last seven contests. Brett Favre was a very efficient 14 of 19 for 167 yards and a touchdown against the Rams but he will be called on to hoist it up a lot more in this one. If the Jets are able to pull off the win, they will post their first four-game winning streak since 2004. If you think New York is primed and ready to get its revenge over the Patriots, bet the Jets at +3 at BetUS. source>>>

The Eagles have extended their in-progress "Long Road Out of Eden Tour" into next year, and fans who purchase tickets for some of the upcoming shows won't get whacked with additional fees.

The group's current round of shows wraps up in early December, and the band will then dig into its first dates of 2009 with a dozen January concerts scattered throughout the eastern half of the US. Details are shown below.

Tickets for stops in Hampton, VA; Charlotte, NC; North Charleston, SC; Greensboro, NC; Greenville, SC; and Birmingham, AL, will be sold at the advertised price, and the final total will not include any additional Ticketmaster convenience fees, the company announced today (11/12). (Ticketmaster is LiveDaily's parent company.)

The no-fee ticketing move comes just days after Ticketmaster's announcement that it had acquired a controlling stake in Irving Azoff's Front Line Management Group, whose roster of acts includes the Eagles. Azoff himself is now the CEO of the new entity, dubbed Ticketmaster Entertainment.

"The Eagles use of 'all-in ticketing' is the first step in Ticketmaster's transformation to an all-encompassing entertainment company to allow artists to connect to their fans in both new and innovative ways," Azoff said in a prepared statement.

"Ticketmaster is testing this program and is consulting with all our clients in the hope of rolling out the 'all- in ticketing' program for events nationwide," Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty added. "We are honored that the Eagles are the first to kick off this unprecedented fan-friendly Ticketmaster program."

The Eagles' ongoing tour finds Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit performing classic Eagles songs, hits from their solo careers and tunes from last year's "Long Road Out of Eden," which marked the band's first collection of new material in 28 years.

"Long Road Out of Eden" topped The Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart last November, and has gone seven times platinum with the help of hit singles "Busy Being Fabulous" and "How Long," the latter of which scored the Eagles a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Tonight (11/12), the Eagles will perform at the 42nd Annual CMA Awards, which will air live on ABC from the Sommet Center in Nashville. The group is in contention for Vocal Group of the Year.

The quartet is also vying for American Music Award trophies in the Artist of the Year; Favorite Band, Duo or Group - Pop or Rock Music; and Favorite Artist - Adult Contemporary Music categories, while "Long Road Out of Eden" is up for Favorite Album - Pop or Rock Music. Winners will be named during a Nov. 23 ceremony that will also air live on ABC.

TOUR ITINERARY

November 2008
13 - Springfield, MO - MSU Arena
15 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
16 - Memphis, TN - FedExForum
18 - Cincinnati, OH - US Bank Arena
20 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
21 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mellon Arena
23 - Hershey, PA - Giant Center at Hershey Park
25 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
26 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center

December 2008
1 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center

January 2009
12 - Hampton, VA - Hampton Coliseum
14 - Charlotte, NC - Time Warner Cable Arena
16 - North Charleston, SC - North Charleston Coliseum
17 - Greensboro, NC - Greensoboro Coliseum Complex
19 - Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center
21 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson Boling Arena
23 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Arena
24 - Birmingham, AL - Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex Arena
26 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
28 - Jacksonville, FL - Jacksonville Veterans Memorial
29 - Tampa, FL - St. Pete Times Forum
31 - Orlando, FL - Amway Arena

Source>>>

Billy Joel and Elton John will reprise their wildly successful co-headlining concerts beginning in March of next year.

John confirmed the duo would work again together yesterday (Nov. 11) on "The View," adding that they could be on the road for "at least" two years. But sources say the extent of the pairing is still being determined.

At first, Joel and John will play "select cities" in March and May. Details of initial on-sales will be announced soon.

Regarded as the top-grossing co-headliners of all time, John and Joel first worked together in 1994 and last toured together in 2003, when they grossed $45.8 million from only 24 sellouts, an average of nearly $2 million per night, according to Billboard Boxscore.

The pair have played stadiums as well as multiple nights at arenas, but all upcoming shows will be in arenas. Sources say the format will be similar to 2003, when the artists played songs together and individually.

Ticket prices will be similar to 2003, when the top price was $175. "It's two people for the price of one," John said on "The View." "Our ticket prices are the same as you'd see anyone else, but there's two of us. In this day and age, we hope to be getting people value for their money."

It is believed the tour will work with individual promoters in each market as opposed to a national touring deal. John is booked by Howard Rose at the Howard Rose Agency, and Joel by Dennis Arfa at Artists Group International. Source>>>

Could the Faces be rising again after a 30-plus year split?

According to RayGigs.com, original members Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, along with Stewart touring bassist replacing the late Ronnie Laine, will have a rehearsal next Monday (Nov. 17) "just to check if they can remember the songs."

If the musicians are pleased with the results, the Faces may return to live duty next year, although a source in the Stewart camp tells Billboard, "nothing is definitive yet."

There have been a handful of near-Faces reunions since the band split in 1975, including at a 1986 Stewart concert at London's Wembley Stadium. The surviving members have performed together in various incomplete incarnations in recent years, including Wood and McLagan with Stewart at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2004.

"It'd be great to put the band together for charity [or] a one-off event," Stewart told Billboard in 2006. "Ronnie is always up for it. So's Ian and Kenney. We'd just need to find ourselves a bass player." Source>>

By now, it's obvious that the 49ers were totally confused by how to conduct themselves efficiently inside the red zone in the final minute of Monday night's 29-24 loss to the Cardinals.
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San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz. View More Images
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Nancy Gay

* Martz takes fall for foul final call 11.11.08
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* SUNDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK Goodbye, NFL ... eh, maybe not 11.08.08
* Unsavory cats Jaguars coach Del Rio tries to avoid dysfunction junction 11.06.08

More Nancy Gay »

Everyone, it seems, except starting quarterback Shaun Hill.

Say what you want about Hill's three second-half turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble). Yes, he looked at times like a quarterback who had been banished to clipboard duty, fairly or unfairly, since last season.

At other times, Hill also looked very much like a playmaker and a smart quarterback who managed the game well in what was his first NFL road start.

Hill has endured a heap of criticism from frustrated 49ers fans because 23 valuable seconds elapsed from the time he completed a 14-yard pass to Jason Hill - a play that drove the team to the Cardinals' 1-yard line - until he spiked the ball to stop the clock with 20 seconds remaining.

Fact is, the quarterback did the smartest thing possible by waiting until his teammates - frantically trying to determine which package was being called from the sideline - were set at the line of scrimmage.

On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Mike Martz confessed he screwed up that sequence.

"There was some chaos that I created on the sideline. I did a bad job there," Martz said. "We were trying to spike it there and I called a personnel change and the personnel change went in when we were going to spike it and there was a lot of confusion. I just went too fast with everything, and it created too much confusion. That's my fault more than anything else."

But why didn't Hill simply spike the ball anyway, many readers have asked, to save valuable clock time, and simply absorb 5-yard penalty for illegal procedure?

Mike Pereira, the NFL's vice president of officiating, clarified Tuesday that had Hill done that, the 49ers also would have in- curred a 10-second runoff in addition to the 5-yard loss because the play occurred with less than a minute left in a half.

"Here is the rule on hurry-up inside of a minute," Pereira explained. "The one thing you have to do is get set. Everybody has to get set for the full second. If you don't get set for the full second, then what would be an illegal formation (penalty) converts to a false start."

A false start play incurs the 10-second runoff; illegal formation does not.

"Once you get set and then you're in illegal formation, you're absolutely right - then it's no 10-second runoff and the play goes through and the whole ball of wax," Pereira said. "But if you never get set, the play shuts down immediately at the snap and is called a false start."

Martz clearly felt bad for Hill because of the chaos happening along the 49ers' sideline.

"And then poor Shaun (Hill) is standing there. He's waiting for everyone to get off the field and there's just so much confusion," Martz said. "That's just a bad job of coaching on my part. I knew what we wanted to do. I called out two different things at the same time. It all happened at the same time, and we don't want that."

Interim head coach Mike Singletary and Martz both took exception to the conduct of the NFL's officiating crew in the waning seconds, claiming the officials - led by referee Tony Corrente - did not clearly communicate to them where the ball was being spotted following the booth review of Frank Gore's run off left tackle on 2nd-and-goal.

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Lil Wayne is coming to the American Airlines Arena on Dec. 14. But tickets for that show go on sale this week.

The popular rapper has been labeled the Best MC by Rolling Stone Magazine and Best Rock Star Alive by Belnder Magazine.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Nov. 15 through Ticketmaster. They cost between $39.50 and $79.50. source>>>

The last time Oregon State spent New Year's Day in Pasadena, in 1965, Joe Paterno was a year away taking over at Penn State.

What's the connection?

If No. 23 Oregon State and Paterno's seventh-ranked Nittany Lions win out, the Rose Bowl will be a rematch of Penn State's 45-14 rout of the Beavers in State College on Sept. 6.

It's enough to make Rose Bowl organizers contemplate jumping from the highest bridge over the Arroyo Seco.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley has other things to think about first -- namely, a closing stretch against 6-3 California, 6-3 Arizona and 7-3 Oregon. But he wouldn't dread a rematch with Penn State.
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"I think our players should have learned a ton more about themselves now," Riley said. "You know, that was a thorough beating, so it would be a great lesson in the rematch. There would be a ton of respect, but I don't think there would be fear in our team, which would be a good thing because we have been through a lot since then."

The Beavers are 6-1 since the wipeout in (un)Happy Valley -- and the loss came on a last-second field goal at Utah, which has climbed to No. 7 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

___

PAYBACK COMING? Revenge is on the minds of California and USC as they hit the road this weekend.

Cal will visit Oregon State, which denied the Golden Bears a shot at No. 1 in a 31-28 victory at Berkeley last fall.

After No. 1 LSU lost earlier in the day, second-ranked Cal stood to climb to the top of the polls for the first time in 56 years.

But the turnover-plagued Bears fell just short, their last hope dying when quarterback Kevin Riley tried to run for the winning touchdown instead of throwing the ball away and settling for a potential tying field goal. He was tackled at the 10 and time ran out.

That loss started a 1-6 tailspin. But coach Jeff Tedford said the loss to Oregon State, as galling as it was, didn't ruin Cal's season.

"We didn't really reflect back too much on, 'Hey, if this would have happened, we would have done this,' because you just never really know what would have happened after that anyway," Tedford said.

In an ironic twist, Tedford has picked Riley his starter against the Beavers on Saturday.

Meanwhile, No. 6 USC visits Stanford in a rematch of one of the most stunning upsets in college football history.

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I uploaded a short video of my kids playing the Wii the other day on Flickr, and I noticed that I could use HTML in the description of the video.

So a lightbulb went off - I figured this could be an opportunity to upload pictures and videos that are tagged well, along with a good title and description with an affiliate link included.

I titled the video "Nintendo Wii Outdoor Challenge," which is the name of the game they were playing. And then I created an Amazon affiliate link to the game in the description.

A couple days later, the video has hundreds of views and dozens of clicks for the affiliate link.

Now, I am not sure how popular this game is with the Wii, but I think this could be an interesting method to market affiliate links if you ride the trends with relevant content leading to Christmas.

Think of the prospect of breaking into Google Universal Search results with your Flickr action. Also, if you do this, you can tie it to Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, etc.

Note to the link spammers, the Flickr links are nofollow. source>>>

Let's look at various ways you can add additional streams of affiliate income to your home internet business website.

1. You will find that most home internet business marketers earn affiliate income from selling products on their site. These can be physical products or digital products. You will earn commissions on every sale with digital products you. Affiliate merchants abound on the internet and they are all looking for internet marketers to sell their products for them.

2. Another way to earn affiliate income is by selling advertising in a pay per click program. A good example would be Google Adsense which offers a program where you earn income every time someone clicks on an ad that you place on your website.

You will be rquired to place html on your site, provided by Google Adsense, which displays relevant advertisers based on the theme of your web page. This is a very easy way to earn an extra stream of affiliate income from your home internet business website.

3. Selling leads is another way to generate affiliate income. Again you just have to join a merchant affiliate program and place banners or text link ads on your website that point to a lead capture form. Every time somebody fills out the lead capture form you will earn a commission.

4. Another popular form of earning affiliate income is two tier affiliate marketing, where you recruit affiliates and earn money on their sales. Social networking is extremely popular and two tier affiliate marketing ties in well with that. You can make good affiliate income as a two-tier marketer If you are able to teach people to duplicate what you are currently doing.

5. Joining affiliate marketing programs that offer residual income may appeal to you if you don't want to work for the rest of your life. For as long as a customer remains subscribed to a program you will earn residual income over and over. It just takes one sale to generate a stream of regular affiliate income.

A good example of residual income programs is Niche membership sites and they are extremely popular right now. The membership sites provide training and access to information products to their members for a monthly subscription, so that they can create a product of their own and put into practice what they have learned.

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The Mount singers will perform in concert on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall at the College of Mount St. Joseph. The select women's choir consists of nine Mount students and alumna accompanist Missy Surman, under the direction of Tiffany Owens, MM. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature a variety of songs including "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat, "Listen" from Dreamgirls, traditional folk melodies and selections from Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo, as well traditional Christmas carols.

For more information about the concert, contact the music department at 513-244-4863.

The Mount is located at the intersection of Delhi and Neeb roads in Delhi Township. Directions are online at www.msj.edu/directions. Free parking is available on campus. source>>>

The 56th Annual BMI Country Awards celebrated the genre's elite tonight at the performing right organization's Music Row offices in Nashville. Hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Nashville Jody Williams, the black-tie ceremony toasted the writers and publishers of the past year's 50 most-performed country songs in the BMI repertoire.
Casey Beathard earned his second BMI Country Songwriter of the Year crown, while Taylor Swift's smash "Teardrops on My Guitar" garnered Robert J. Burton Song of the Year honors. Publishing powerhouse Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville claimed its seventh consecutive Country Publisher of the Year title, and an all-star tribute recognized Hank Williams, Jr. as a BMI Icon.
First named BMI Country Songwriter of the Year in 2004, affable hit-maker Casey Beathard co-wrote five of the songs in the most-performed list to claim his 2008 Songwriter of the Year title: Rodney Atkins' "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)," Kenny Chesney's "Don't Blink," George Strait's "How 'Bout Them Cowgirls," Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus's "Ready, Set, Don't Go" and Tracy Lawrence's "Find Out Who Your Friends Are," featuring Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw.
Song of the Year "Teardrops on My Guitar" was co-written and recorded by Taylor Swift and published by Sony/ATV Tree. The song earned iTunes' no. 1 country song of 2007 bragging rights as it achieved RIAA Digital Platinum certification in early 2008.
With 15 songs among this year's top 50, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville (through its companies Sony/ATV Acuff Rose, Sony/ATV Melody and Sony/ATV Tree) picked up its seventh consecutive BMI Country Publisher of the Year win. The publishing giant accumulated the highest percentage of copyright ownership thanks to award songs including "Never Wanted Nothing More," "Famous In a Small Town," "Watching Airplanes," "Long Trip Alone" and "Love You."
The 2008 BMI Country Awards also honored hit songwriters Brett Beavers, Shane Minor, Rodney Clawson, Marv Green, Ed Hill and David Lee, along with recording artists/songwriters Luke Bryan, Sugarland's Kristian Bush, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban, who each contributed two songs to the top 50 list.
Broadcast Music, Inc.(R) (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. BMI's latest financial results, $901 million for its 2008 fiscal year, are the highest performing right collections for any copyright organization in the world. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for over 65 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents. source>>>