Brooks delays Buffalo sales
Country superstar Garth Brooks announced Monday that he is postponing the sale of tickets to his Highmark Stadium concert out of respect for Buffalo after a mass shooting that killed 10 people and injured three others in a Tops supermarket.
“At some point, the healing in Buffalo will begin and the city will sing again. But for now, we pause out of respect for what the great community of Buffalo is going through, and we stand beside all of those who are hurting and confused by such an unthinkable act,” Brooks said.
The concert date of July 23 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park remains the same. Tickets were initially going on sale Friday. A new on-sale date will be announced in the coming weeks. Seating will be in the round and tickets are $98.50.
This is the first time Brooks has performed in Buffalo in more than seven years. He twice did a string of six concerts in Keybank Center — in 2015 and 1998. In 1998, the singer and his now-wife Trisha Yearwood performed a song that was broadcast live on the Country Music Awards.
— The Buffalo News
Wynonna to honor Naomi with tour
Wynonna Judd’s concert tour will go on following the death of her mother, Naomi Judd, whom she was scheduled to perform with later this year.
The country music star, 57, made the announcement Sunday night at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., where a memorial service for Naomi took place.
“After a lot of thought, I’m going to have to honor her and do this tour,” an emotional Wynonna said, according to People.
“The show must go on, as hard as it may be, and we will show up together, and you will carry me as you’ve carried me for 38 years . ... So we will continue this spectacle. That’s what she would want, right?”
Wynonna and Naomi made plans for a 10concert tour, with the first show scheduled for Sept. 30 in Grand Rapids, Mich. It would have been their first tour together in more than a decade.
Naomi died April 30 at age 76, with daughter Ashley Judd saying on “Good Morning America” last week that her mother died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
“My mother knew that she was seen and she was heard in her anguish, and she was walked home,” Ashley said. “When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease. It’s very real, and it lies. It’s savage.”
Naomi and Wynonna won five Grammys together as the country duo The Judds, and were known for songs such as “Have Mercy” and “Why Not Me.”
The Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a day after Naomi died.
— New York Daily News
Carlile, Yola, Russell lead nominations
Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell and Yola are the leading nominees for the 2022 Americana Honors and Awards, with each one up for album of the year, artist of the year and song of the year.
The nominees were announced Monday in Nashville, Tenn., at the National Museum of African American Music.
Carlile is a six-time Grammy winning artist and producer and an Americana music favorite, having won artist of the year at the awards show twice before. She is nominated for album of the year for “In These Silent Days” and song of the year for “Right On Time.”
Russell’s debut solo album “Outside Child” is nominated for album of the year. The Canadian-born musician’s song, “Persephone,” is up for song of the year. British-born singer-songwriter Yola’s sophomore record, “Stand For Myself,” is nominated for album of the year, and she is nominated for song of the year for “Diamond Studded Shoes.”
Also nominated for artist of the year are Jason Isbell and Billy Strings.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ record “Raise the Roof ” and Adia Victoria’s “A Southern Gothic” are also nominated for album of the year.
Plant and Krauss, who previously worked together on the Grammy-winning album “Raising Sand,” are up for duo/group of the year, along with The Mavericks, Los Lobos, The War and Treaty and Big Thief.
Sturgill Simpson is up for song of the year for his duet with Willie Nelson, “Juanita,” and James Mcmurtry is nominated for song of the year for “Canola Fields.”
The ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 14.