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ARTIST NEWSFLASH

■ TAYLOR SWIFT’S ‘FEARLESS’ RECOGNIZED AS MOST AWARDED ALBUM IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY: Taylor Swift’s 6X-Platinum FEARLESS album was officially recognized as the Most Awarded Album in the History of Country Music this week at a private dinner in Nashville.  FEARLESS is the only album in history to win the all-genre Album of The Year GRAMMY, plus Country Album of the Year Awards from the GRAMMYs, the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music and the American Music Awards.  Representatives from NARAS, The American Music Awards, The Country Music Association, and the Academy of Country Music all joined Big Machine Records Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta for an unprecedented group presentation honoring Taylor for her achievement.  FEARLESS, released in 2008, has won every album award in the country music genre, and was named all-genre Album of the Year at the 2010 GRAMMY Awards. Taylor, who turned 20 in December, was the youngest artist in history to win the music industry’s coveted top prize and she is also the award’s first-ever solo female country winner, and the first solo female winner in more than a decade. Taylor wrote or co-wrote every song on FEARLESS.  “We tend to always look forward when it comes to Taylor, but tonight it was time to stop for a moment and look back on one of the most successful music works of all time,” said Scott Borchetta of the historic evening. “The 18 months of our lives known as the ‘Fearless’ era have been history-making, euphoric and triumphant.  The sales, the airplay, the accolades and the awards have all just been incredible. But , most important to me is that my friend Taylor and her collective team of family, record label, management and her road family continue to raise the bar with work ethic, achievement and enjoyment.  Dreams do come true.”  Taylor was also honored at last night’s event for: (1) More than 13 Million in total record sales; (2) More than 25 Million Digital Downloads; (3) The 6X Platinum (6 Million) Certification of FEARLESS; (4) FEARLESS as the #1 selling album in the US in 2009; (5) 5 million sales of Taylor Swift; (6) The #1 and #2 positions atop Nielsen’s BDS 2009 Top 10 Most Played Songs chart (all genres), with “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story”; (7) The #1 spots on both the 2009 Top 10 Artist Airplay chart (all genres) and the Top 10 Artist Internet Streams chart; and (8) Her four most recent #1 singles (“Should’ve Said No,” “Love Story,” “White Horse,” and “You Belong With Me”).  Taylor is currentlynominated for four 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, and this week she returned to her home state of Pennsylvania to continue her FEARLESS 2010 Tour with the first of two sold-out shows at the Wachovia Center. Presented by American Greetings, the 40-date tour visits arenas and stadiums in 32 cities in 26 states and provinces in the US and Canada over the next 3 months.  Check out the all-new Taylor Swift media page at: www.taylorswift.com/media-page

■ STEEL MAGNOLIA’S MEGHAN AND JOSH FEEL SUPPORT FROM FAMILY WHILE ON THE ROAD: Steel Magnolia’s Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones each come from a strong family, and during the months away from loved ones, the support they feel from afar is essential to keeping them going.  “I think you need that support when you are out on the road and going through a lot of changes,” notes Meghan.  “Being reminded of where you come from by the people back home keeps you grounded.  It’s really great to pick up the phone and call your mom and feel normal, and get grounded in the things that matter most in life.”  Josh chimes in: “If you forget where you come from you stop growing, and we don’t ever want to do either.”  The duo continues their chart climb this week with their Top 15-and-climbing debut single “Keep On Lovin’ You”.

■ JARON'S CONTINUAL ENGAGEMENT WITH FANS ONLINE CONVERTS ‘PRAY FOR YOU’ SUCCESS INTO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP: As Jaron of Jaron And The Long Road To Love’s current single “Pray For You “ continues its chart climb this week, earning Billboard’s BREAKER status and currently sits at #14 on the iTunes Country sales chart, Jaron loves hearing direct feedback from fans about the song and myriad other topics on his facebook page.  “The beauty of social media is that it’s a channel of dialogue. It's not just me speaking to them, but them sharing with me as well,” notes Jaron.  “On social media, we all have an equal voice.  We're like a bunch of friends hanging out.  Its like The View but with thousands of people and not just women.  People ask me, ‘How much time do you put on Facebook?  Doesn’t it drive you nuts?’  I’m like, ‘These people are awesome and no, it doesn’t drive me nuts.’  I look forward to hanging out with them online. I call them myfrans because I consider them part fan, part friend."

■ JACK INGRAM PAYING TRIBUTE TO TWO MUSICAL HEROES: Jack Ingram has been in the studio recording tracks for upcoming tribute albums for Waylon Jennings and Guy Clark.  We asked the singer-songwriter what makes these writers so revered.  “Waylon Jennings and Guy Clark are no doubt great writers, but what I think makes them so respected are their unique styles,” says Jack, who returns to his Acoustic Motel Tour Tuesday night in Atlanta.  “If you listen to their records, you hear one fantastic song run right into the next.  In both cases, it is about a body of work, but it’s also about the ability for one song to stand out to a listener and absolutely hit the mark.  As songwriters, we all have these epiphanies of truth.  It happens in a moment, and to be able to capture that moment lyrically in a song--to be able to face the truth as a songwriter—takes resolve and talent.  The reason I think Waylon and Guy are so great is that you see these men, as writers, face their own truth in the music.”  Look for both albums to be released later in 2010.

■ MELISSA PETERMAN’S CMT SPECIAL A RATINGS WINNER; ACTRESS TALKS ABOUT HER INFLUENCES: Melissa Peterman’s first-ever stand-up comedy special, Melissa Peterman: Am I The Only One?, was a ratings winner following its premiere last weekend on CMT.  As the host of CMT’s #1-rated The Singing Bee, Melissa learns a lot about contestant’s musical influences when it comes to Karaoke, but we we’re curious just who Melissa’s heroes are when it comes to comedy.  ”I’ve got quite a few comedy heroes, but Carol Burnett is probably the number one [influence].  That woman is hilarious!” notes Melissa.  “And I actually got to meet Carol Burnett once, which was awesome. Gilda Radner, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey…there are a lot of [great] women out there and I feel this is my chance to represent,” Melissa says of her first stand-up television special.  In case you missed the premiere, click here to watch the full episode.

■ RANDOM NOTES: This week marks Taylor Swift’s 10th consecutive Top 10 Country single as “Fearless” enters the Top 10, and with thatshe becomes the only female artist in the 66 year history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart to score at least five Top 10s apiece from her first two major album releases…Steel Magnolia and Edens Edge are scheduled to perform during Tin Pan South, Nashville’s premiere songwriting event.  Steel Magnolia is performing at The Rutledge at 9pm on March 30^th and Edens Edge is performing at The Listening Room at 8pm also on March 30^th…Legendary artist Peter Max painted a portrait of Taylor Swift and it was delivered it to the superstar during a concert stop in Tampa.  Of the painting, Taylor told the Tampa Tribune "The colors were so vibrant and beautiful!  His art is like another world to me, and I can't even explain how much it means to me that he did my portrait."  Click here to see the portrait…NARM (National Association of Record Merchandisers) will honor Taylor Swift with the Artist Of The Year Award during the Awards Dinner Finale at the 2010 Convention in May it was announced this week.  For more information, click here…Taylor Swift will be the focus artist in the next installment of GAC Superstar Sessions, a fan-voted video countdown show featuring Taylor’s most popular videos as ranked by the fans.  Voting ends on March 29^th and the premiere of the countdown will be on April 6 at 8p ET.  Fans can vote at www.gactv.com/superstar.