Sound & Speed Press Room
Concert Lineup Set for Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust:Montgomery Gentry featuring Rodney Atkins with Special Guest Julianne Hough
Posted: Friday December 19, 2008
NASHVILLE (December 19, 2008) – Curb recording artist Rodney Atkins and Mercury Nashville recording artist and two-time Dancing with the Stars champion Julianne Hough have joined the Friday-night concert lineup headlined by the award-winning country music duo Montgomery Gentry (“Roll with Me,” “My Town,” “Back When I Knew it All”) that will kick off the fourth annual Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust celebration of music and motorsports Jan. 9-10 in downtown Nashville.
The two-day extravaganza, which brings together the stars of NASCAR and country music for autographs, storytelling and question-and-answer sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 10) at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, features drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Michael Waltrip, and artists Josh Turner, Jason Michael Carroll and Richie McDonald, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Friday night’s (Jan. 9) Montgomery Gentry featuring Rodney Atkins with special guest Julianne Hough concert is set for 8 p.m. at Nashville’s Sommet Center.
Atkins boasts four consecutive No. 1 hits off his platinum-selling album If You’re Going Through Hell – two of which were also named most-played songs of the year according to Billboard and Country Aircheck: “Watching You” in 2007 and “If You’re Going Through Hell” in 2006. The album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Top-200 Albums Chart, was certified platinum in 2007. Atkins was nominated for this year’s CMA New Artist of the Year and earlier this year scored a personal high of six ACM nominations, including Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year for If You’re Going Through Hell, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for “Watching You.” In 2007, he was awarded ACM Top New Male Vocalist, nominated for CMA Horizon Award and won the Gospel Music Channel Video Awards Best Country Video for “Watching You.”
Hough recently topped both the Country and Top 200 charts with her self-titled album, as well as with the infectious debut single “That Song In My Head.” She toured with Brad Paisley in 2008 and will open for George Strait in 2009. The multi-talented Hough has been awarded an Emmy nomination, performed on the stages of Good Morning America, The View, Dr. Phil and for President Bush. She has also topped Maxim’s Hot 100 list and graced the covers of CosmoGirl, Shape, USA Today and People. Hough sings “The Taste Is Gonna Move Ya” jingle for Wrigley’s™ Juicy Fruit gum, and supports Clothes Off Our Back, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and St. Jude charities. Her current single is “My Hallelujah Song,” and her first holiday record, titled The Julianne Hough Holiday Collection is currently available exclusively at Target.
Tickets for the concert and the Sprint Sound & Speed Festival Presented by Suntrust are available through TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and through the Web site www.soundandspeed.org. Concert tickets are priced at $35 (Level 1), $25 (Level 2) and $17.50 (Level 3). Festival tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. Combination tickets, good for the concert and the fan festival, are priced at $50 (Concert Level 1), $40 (Level 2) and $35 (Level 3).
At Saturday’s Fan Festival, fans of racing and country music will once again have the opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with drivers, team owners and top-name artists. The blockbuster event will also feature show car and sponsor displays, as well as a charitable auction with memorabilia from the racing and entertainment industries. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series show car lineup includes the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (driven by Joey Logano), the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing (Kevin Harvick), and the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet for newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing (Tony Stewart).
Country music’s Turner (“Long Black Train,” “Firecracker,” “Everything is Fine”), Carroll (“I Can Sleep When I’m Dead,” “Where I’m From”), and McDonald (“I’m Already There,” “Amazed,” “How Do I Just Stop?”) will be joined in autograph and question-answer sessions at the Saturday Sprint Sound & Speed Fan Festival Presented by SunTrust by members of Diamond Rio (“Unbelievable,” “Meet in the Middle,” “One More Day”), and newcomer Rick Huckaby (“Ain’t Enough Blacktop”).
Among the NASCAR celebrities already scheduled to join Earnhardt (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) and Waltrip (No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota) at the Festival are Kyle Petty (No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge through 2008), Ray Evernham (Gillette Evernham Motorsports team owner), Reed Sorensen (No. 10 Gillette Evernham Motorsports) and David Stremme (No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge). Sports prototype road racing stars Wayne Taylor (three-time champion and owner of the SunTrust Racing team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series), Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle (co-drivers of the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Ford Dallara) also are part of the lineup.
Headlining this year’s Friday-night concert, back by popular demand for their second appearance at Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust, are the ever-popular Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, known as the chart-topping duo Montgomery Gentry. Their past 10 years in the limelight have produced more than 20 charted singles, five No. 1 singles, gold and platinum albums, CMA and ACM awards, as well as a Grammy® nomination. According to Billboard and Radio & Records year-end rankings for country radio airplay, Montgomery Gentry was the No. 1 duo. With anthems such as “Lucky Man,” “Hell Yeah,” “If You Ever Stop Loving Me” and “Something To Be Proud Of,” Montgomery Gentry have become an indelible part of the honky-tonk landscape.
For the fourth consecutive year, charitable beneficiaries of Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust are Victory Junction (a year-round camping environment for children, ages 6-16, with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses) and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The first three Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust events drew an estimated 40,000 fans and raised more than $800,000 for its designated charities.
For more information, visit www.soundandspeed.org.
ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL:
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 51 million customers at the end of the third quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
ABOUT SUNTRUST:
SunTrust Banks, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the nation’s largest banking organizations, serving a broad range of consumer, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. As of September 30, 2008, SunTrust had total assets of $174.8 billion and total deposits of $115.9 billion. The Company operates an extensive branch and ATM network throughout the high-growth Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states and a full array of technology-based, 24-hour delivery channels. The Company also serves customers in selected markets nationally. Its primary businesses include deposit, credit, trust and investment services. Through various subsidiaries the Company provides mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage, investment management, equipment leasing and capital markets services. SunTrust’s Internet address is suntrust.com.
ABOUT VICTORY JUNCTION:
Victory Junction is a year-round camping environment for children, ages 6 to 16, with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam, the camp is located in Randleman, N.C. with a second location opening soon in Kansas City, Kan. Victory Junction offers programs for 24 disease groups and maintains strong relationships with 22 partner hospitals. Victory Junction’s mission is to provide life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous donors to provide this experience at no charge to children and their families. For more information, visit www.victoryjunction.org.
ABOUT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME® AND MUSEUM:
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit 501©(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum’s First Library and Archive, the CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B and Hatch Show Print. The educational programs of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum are funded in part by grants from the Metro Nashville Arts Commission and the Tennessee Arts Commission through an agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts. Preservation of Historic RCA Studio B made possible by the Mike Curb Family Foundation. More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.com or by calling (615) 416-2001.
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