Monday, March 2, 2009

Great News... it should be very big...

This is HUGE and should be a great boost to our Tourism industry particularly in these economic times and on the face of it doesn't seem like a big expense for the Government to invest $200,000.00 into these international names. The location should be great for both Charlottetown and Summerside to pick up some of the spill over crowd and help with some "room nights" for the City's hotels.... I like the idea of the three day concert and the Country theme should be a big sell to the family market and probably far better than heavy rock.... Ticket sales should be brisk and hopefully there will be lots of additional Maritime talent as well...
Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire coming to P.E.I. in July
DAVE STEWART
The Guardian
Country music legends Tim McGraw and Reba McEntire are coming to Prince Edward Island this summer to headline the Island's big concert.
A formal announcement is expected today for a three-day country music festival to take place in Cavendish, with McGraw expected to perform on Saturday, July 11.
The Guardian has learned that the country-music festival will take place on the field behind Avonlea Village in Cavendish and is being put together by a local group which includes Al Stewart, Jeff Squires and Scott Linkletter.
Contrary to speculation, Kevin Murphy of the Tourism Advisory Council was not part of the bid process to bring McGraw to the Island.
The provincial government is contributing $200,000 to the festival, part of a new concert policy announced recently. That is considered to be on the low end of what governments in Halifax and Moncton give to their shows.
The Halifax Regional Municipality, for example, is contributing $150,000 alone in in-kind services, such as security and transit, for the KISS concert on the Halifax Commons July 18.
Today's announcement might include more names associated with the lineup for the McGraw country festival.
In terms of concert size, McGraw may not be as big a name as Aerosmith was. Aerosmith played the Charlottetown Driving Park Entertainment Centre in 2006 to more than 30,000 people. The legendary rock band has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.
However, McGraw is about as big as it gets in terms of country.
He has charted 30 career number-one singles and sold 40 million albums and singles worldwide. His awards to date include three Grammys, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards, 11 Country Music Association awards, nine American Music Awards and three People’s Choice Awards.
Now, one of the big questions on everyone’s mind is whether McGraw’s wife, Faith Hill, will be making an appearance in Cavendish. The two have toured together in the past but she is not expected to be a part of the P.E.I. show.
McEntire, 53, boasts 33 No. 1 hits, 12 Academy of Country Music Awards, seven Country Music Association awards and is the most nominated female artist in CMA history.
In 2007, McGraw and Hill made history as they ended their two-year ‘Soul2Soul Tour’ with a staggering total box office gross of $142 million and established it as the best-selling multi-year tour in North America in country music history with some two million fans attending 117 shows in 92 cities and two countries.
McGraw is currently supporting his latest CD, Let It Go, which was released in 2007. It debuted at number one on both the pop and country album chart and has now reached platinum selling status for sales of one million. Hill joins McGraw on two tracks, I Need You and Shotgun Rider.
His last album, Reflected: Greatest Hits Volume 2, debuted at number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart and has gone on to sell two million copies.
McGraw stepped into the rock music ring early last year, appearing on the Def Leppard single and video Nine Lives.
McGraw is also an established actor.

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