NEWS

On Monday, May 20, the New York Times reported that Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion (built in 1939) in Memphis, Tennessee, was scheduled to be auctioned off at the Shelby County courthouse on Thursday. A notice from the Shelby County Courthouse stated that Graceland and its surrounding property would be sold for cash to the highest bidder. Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC was foreclosing on the property, saying Lisa Marie Presley used Graceland as collateral to secure a $3.8 million loan in 2018, and she failed to pay it off before she died. (more…)

NEWS

Randy Travis has a song on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart for the first time since 2009, when he and Carrie Underwood reached No. 2 with “I Told You So.” The AI-generated recording of “Where That Came From” debuted at No. 45 on May 10, one week after the song’s release, with over 3.3 million global streams. A press announcement from 117 Entertainment explains how the song happened. When artificial intelligence exploded in early 2023, bringing concerns about copyright infringement and protecting artists’ rights, Warner Music Group executives discussed what “AI for good” would look like. Cris Lacy, Co-Chair & Co-President of Warner Music Nashville, said, “AI for good would be giving Randy Travis his voice back.” She contacted Randy and his producer of forty years, Kyle Lehning, and they agreed to try. They chose the song, “Where That Came From,” written by Scotty Emerick and John Scott Sherrill and recorded by James Dupre, who does the singing on Randy’s More Life shows. (more…)

Happy birthday to Randy Travis on Saturday.

CD REVIEW– JOHN MCEUEN’S THE NEWSMAN: A MAN OF RECORD

One of the musicians who founded the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1966 was John McEuen. Other than a 15-year hiatus for a solo career, he stayed with fellow founding members Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden until the completion of their 18-month anniversary tour, 50 Years of Dirt, in 2017. The multi-instrumentalist plays banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, piano, and accordion, in addition to singing. A native of Oakland, California, he is now 78 years old and his spoken-word album, The Newsman: A Man of Record was released on April 12.