■ SCALING BACK PROVES TO BE A WINNING APPROACH FOR REBA: While Reba has always remained true to herself on her previous albums, she presents her most authentic self to date on her current #1-selling collection Keep On Loving You, which she co-produced with Tony Brown and Mark Bright. “I have scaled down,” she says of her musical productions. “I always thought bigger was better, but I like the intimacy of staying out there onstage with my fans instead of going back and changing clothes fifteen times. I like that fourth wall being broken.”  Reba continues: “I like what I’m wearing and how I’m wearing my hair. I wear my cowboy boots and they are more me than any other look I’ve ever had in my 33-year career. Everything that we’re doing now is more Reba than it was in the past. The things I did in the past were things I wanted to do to entertain me.  After getting to do movies and TV, I realized the real me was just the simple Reba.  That is the same Reba, the Reba that is on the ‘Reba’ TV show.”

 

Jimmy Wayne spent time with KSON/San Diego PD John Marks and his significant other Collen Lelis, pictured above, following a concert.

■ JIMMY WAYNE’S RESPECT FOR SONGWRITERS RUNS DEEP: “My respect for songwriters runs very deep. It's where it all begins,” states Jimmy Wayne.  “I was able to give my thanks to songwriter Jill Colucci, who wrote the hit ‘Anymore’ for Travis Tritt, at a recent fundraiser.  I told Jill that I used to visit the prison once a week and sat on the mid-yard with a convict who had previously visited my high school.  He was in the Think Smart program and spoke to the entire student body, then played a song on a guitar that belonged to the state prison. I knew then I wanted to be just like him, with the exception of going to prison. I bought a guitar at a yard sale a week later and began practicing. I put my poems to chords and called them songs. I was visiting the prison one day and this convict said ‘I think they're gonna let me come back to your school and play a concert.  Do you wanna get up there and sing?’  I might have been sitting in a prison yard surrounded by murderers, but I was more afraid to sing on stage in front of my peers.  We learned the song ‘Anymore’ and eventually performed it at my high school.  The warden walked up to me one day as we were rehearsing the song on the mid yard and said ‘I've been watching you. If you want a job after college, call me.’  I called him the day after I graduated college and worked at the prison four years until moving to Nashville.  In some ways I did end up just like that ole boy,” Jimmy concludes, laughing.

 

■ LIFENOTES – JUSTIN MOORE LOSES GRANDFATHER & AUNT IN SAME WEEK: As we told you last week, Justin Moore’s grandfather, Tom Moore (Justin’s dad’s father) passed away last Wednesday from cancer that was only diagnosed about 6 months ago.  He was 72 years old, retired Navy.  Both of Justin’s grandfathers were the subjects of his song “Grandpa” on his self-titled debut album.  Early this week Justin learned that his Aunt Glenda (Justin’s mother’s sister) also passed away from a long battle with cancer.  According to Justin’s manager Pete Hartung, Tom and Glenda were two of the most important people in Justin’s life.  He always referred to Glenda as his Second Mom, and Tom was the one who taught him how to hunt and fish.  Tom had Justin in a deer stand when he was 2 years old.  Our thoughts and prayers remain with Justin during this very difficult time.

 

■ JEWEL REMINISCES OF CHRISTMASES PAST—AND PONDERS LIFE’S ‘ESSENTIALS’: Jewel’s youth was mixed with many twists and turns, and as Christmas approaches, the superstar recalls what keeps her grounded in what has become a material season is the knowledge that as long as she has life’s essentials, she’ll be fine.  “My dad taught us to make things. We would take what we had around us and make gifts,” recalls Jewel in her blog.  “I remember turning the drift wood into wind chimes for my dad, or my brother wrote us a poem.  We would make drawings for each other and each gift meant something special.  Now that Ty and I can afford any gift we want- surprisingly we don’t really buy many gifts for each other.  Ty and I to this day make presents for each other, and it means way more than any other gift we could get. The fact that he took time to make me something means a lot, and it makes me cherish it not as an item of merchandise, but as an actual gift that will warm me again and again each time I see it.  No matter how poor a person is, if we can have our essentials covered, then that is a lot. Like when I was living in my car- I was able to eat every day, and I slept at night. I was happy for that. I didn’t let myself want frivolous things, because they wouldn’t make me any happier. I didn’t want a new car, or jewelry, or anything- and if there was something I wanted, I made a plan to get it, and with a creative solution. I would make my own dress, or finding something similar at the Goodwill store. I see rich people every day that still think if they just have one more material thing they will be happy, but they aren’t happy at all. They are like drug addicts that need the thrill of a new purchase, but they have no idea how to be happy or satisfied. I’m learning how to be happy, and that is the most important thing- and that can happen for a person if you are poor or rich.”

 

■ RANDOM NOTES: CBS’ Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson will air a never-before-seen performance of Reba’s hit “Strange” on December 14th…Justin Moore’s “Small Town USA” is the #10 ranked song on AOL Radio for 2009, based on listener ratings…Country radio is being offered two holiday radio specials hosted by Valory artists: Jimmy Wayne anchors ‘An American Christmas’, a one-hour show featuring Christmas favorites and exclusive audio from hitmakers, while Reba hosts ‘Consider The Decade Gone’, a New Years countdown of the best leavin’ songs of the last ten years.  Click here for more information on both programs…In case you missed it, check out interviews with Reba for the New York Post here and FOX Business Network here.

Justin Moore recently performed a concert at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, MI.  Justin is pictured above with WBCT/Grand Rapids on-air personality Jillian.

Jimmy Wayne visited with KNIX/Phoenix on-air personalities Ben & Matt, pictured above, during the recent CMA Week radio remotes.

Prior to a recent concert in Albquerque, Jimmy Wayne spent time with KRST/Albuquerque APD/MD Kristina Carlyle, pictured above.

Jimmy Wayne recently visited with WRNS/Greenville APD/MD Tommy Garrett and his wife, pictured above, prior to an area concert.