Blog posts

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  Aug 31, 02:27 PM

  Diamond Rio To Perform At Pep Boys Auto 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Event on Sept 6

   

  DIAMOND RIO TO PERFORM AT PEP BOYS AUTO 500 NASCAR SPRINT CUP ON SEPT. 6

   

  Multi-platinum Selling Group to Perform Pre-Race Party Concert and National Anthem

   

  Nashville, Tenn. Aug. 31, 2009.... Diamond Rio will be the first act to perform at Atlanta Motor Speedway in conjunction with a NASCAR event this Sun. Sept. 6 as the GRAMMY ® nominated band performs the pre-race party concert and the National Anthem. This race will mark the Inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Night Race at the speedway.

   

  Fans will experience a lot of ‘firsts' next weekend in addition to the Diamond Rio concert, including night racing and nightly firework shows.  Go to www.atlantamotorspeedway.comfor tickets and other information.

   

  After two decades of making music, acclaimed six time vocal group of the year and GRAMMY ® nominated Diamond Rio are unveiling their 11th album and first full length Christian record The Reason on Word Records on Sept. 22 as well as their first autobiography from Thomas Nelson titled Beautiful Mess on the same day as well.

   

  # # #
  
  www.diamondrio.com
  twitter.com/diamondrioband
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  Mar 30, 03:04 PM

  Diamond Rio's Response Regarding A Federal Lawsuit Filed Against a Florida School District

  In response to the recent controversy involving Diamond Rio's patriotic anthem, "In God We Still Trust" and the lawsuit filed against Webster School's school board in federal court, the band was surprised by the news and terms of the filing, but stands firmly by the message of the song. Though the song was not a chart-topper, "In God We Still Trust" has risen to unparalled heights of popularity through viral emails, fan videos and live performances met with standing ovations. Diamond Rio front man Marty Roe adds, "This situation is exactly the kind of thing that ‘In God We Still Trust' addresses. The song is about the time-honored values on which our forefathers founded this country, acknowledging the sovereignty of God. These values are reflected in America's monuments, our courtroom procedures, our money, and at one time, were reflected in our schools. Now, we live at a time in American history where a small percentage of citizens want to take God out of all of this. I pray that those of you who do not feel this way will not stay quiet, but make a peaceful plea that, In God We Still Trust."
  
  YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT HERE.
  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510535,00.html
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  Oct 16 2008, 10:33 AM

  Jimmy O's Blog: The Seasons of Recording - Part 2 of 4

   

  Summer-

   

  If the writing process represents spring when everything is just starting to grow, then the start of tracking (recording) defiantly is summer.

  This is a very hot time where days are long and there is plenty to do.

  This step includes song selection and basic recording. One very fun, the other not so much.

   

  The song selection process can be a very stressful part of what we do. For the most part, Diamond Rio has done all their song listening sessions on the road on the bus, traveling from city to city. As our career has progressed we have all been guilty of dragging our heels in getting this process started. If you do the math and total up somewhere between 500-1000 songs per CD (either screened for us or directly listened to by band members...even on the conservative side) the numbers are massive.

   

  For instance, we were looking for one new Christmas song to finish out "the Star Still Shines." Just one...was that too much to ask for?

  Augh...we were pitched so many songs with similar story lines. On and on this type of thing trudges on. Take this one example and times that by 20 years and you can get a little bit of the picture.

   

  Recording new material is usually very joyous. Everyone is set up together in a beautiful location, with great gear and (by then) great songs all with the mission to create something cool and put our signature sound to it. This is a great time! Don't get me wrong, sometimes we have to work long and hard to make these songs our own but that really is a blast. I wish I could post the before and after versions of some of our biggest hits to see the morphing that takes place in the studio. More often than not, they are very different. When we have cut the basic tracks for most of what will be the next RIO project, it is then time to move on to overdubs...more to follow.

   

  As always...blah, blah, blah...

   

  Cheers,

  Jimmy O.
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  Sep 12 2008, 10:26 AM

  Jimmy O's Blog: The Seasons of Recording - Part 1 of 4

   

  After 30 years of making records I still haven't got enough!

   

  Diamond Rio is now in the final stretch of completing our first "Christian" album for WORD Records (a giant in the Christian music field).

  This is new territory for us with fantastic new co-writers and fresh faces everywhere I turn.

  I am happy to mention that the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) bunch have been so welcoming to us. What did I expect...duh...Jimmy tupid.

   

  What hasn't changed is the process. Putting a music CD together is a marathon not a sprint. When you take into account the different processes that take place before it actually sits on the shelf in the store...it can tend to overwhelm. If I break it down like you might view the seasons of the year, you can get a sense for the distinct periods that we go through before all gets said and done.

  Here is where I go all "artsy fartsy" on you...hold on.

   

  Spring-Think of the writing process as you might think of Spring. This is a very fertile time where tons of raw creation is taking place. You can do anything at this time...you know, the world is your oyster kind of stuff. Heads are usually filled with these little seeds of ideas for songs called hooks. If not handled and nurtured they will die and never turn out to be anything. However, with the right tools, enough time and hard work they can sometimes even surprise the most jaded of us. This can be some of the most draining and rewarding part of the whole process. Bringing life where once there was none.

   

  As far as the timeline on my writing goes...I take my time. I already have plenty of "Hey Jimmy that's pretty good" or "the guitar sound is cool" kind of songs in my catalog. I am working on not settling for that. I should be doing better work. What does this mean? Time...time...time...ideas...ideas...ideas.

  Sorry, but I can't just fall off a log and hit a truly great song. I have to work at it. There may be a strong case made that I have yet to write a great song...critics...critics...everyone's a critic. The good news is I have never been asked, "How long did it take you to write that one". Good thing to.

  After (sometimes several days of exhaustive work on each song) every melody, chord change and syllable have been looked at under a virtual microscope it's time to get your point across...demos! The demo process can be as simple as a guitar or piano/vocal to something that sounds like a completed record. For this WORD project, Marty and I kept things scaled down to guitar or piano vocal demos. It was our concern that if things were pushed too far in a stylistic path that it might inhibit or contaminate the input of the rest of our partners. It didn't take me long to learn, when I get the chance to make records with the caliber of musicians like the rest of the Rio boys...it's best to let them do what they do.

   

  Wow! I seem to be babbling on and on so I will cover the rest of my seasonal/recording thoughts in the next few installments-Summer, Fall and Winter.

   

  Until then...blah, blah, blah...

   

  Cheers,

  Jimmy O.
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  Sep 10 2008, 02:50 PM

  Watch Diamond Rio Perform The National Anthem at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Event This Sunday!

  Diamond Rio is scheduled to headline the pre-race show at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series SYLVANIA 300 on Sunday, September 14 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In addition to the concert, the band will also perform the National Anthem for the 105,000 + guests in attendance at the speedway. To catch the performance, tune in to ABC on Sunday at 1pm/ET
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  Sep 05 2008, 07:12 AM

  Join The Diamond Rio Email List!

  
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  Aug 28 2008, 07:38 AM

  New Blog From Jimmy O: "Mommy... Why Doesn't Daddy Like Diamond Rio?"

   

  
  

  "Mommy...why doesn't Daddy like Diamond Rio?"

  
  

   

  
  

  Can you imagine the jaw dropping look on my face when I overheard, "Mommy...why doesn't Daddy like Diamond Rio?" drift out of the mouth of our youngest son Tank. I was just dropping off some dirty clothes in the laundry room (next to the boys bedroom) when I was stopped in my tracks by what he said. Wowza!

  
  

  For a moment I just stood there...nothing...I had nothing profound that was "4 year old" age appropriate to say. And if I remember this correctly, Claudia was stumped too. Lots of silence was filling the boys room for a big ole' pregnant pause.

  
  

   

  
  

  This seems to be a pattern with me. Let me give you yet another story along these lines that happened with Max our oldest.

  
  

   

  
  

  Around the time PIXAR's movie "Cars" came out on DVD we had what appeared to be a shrine in our house to "Lighting McQueen and all things Radiator Springs." The good news is I loved this movie as much as the kids did. So having "Mater nightlights", "Sally sippy cups" and "Doc Hudson underoo's" was not a hardship for me. As a matter of fact...there I was standing in the CD section at Target when a "Lightning McQueen" CD player started calling to me, "Jimmy don't you think the boys would love to have me?...I could play their favorite CDs...maybe even sing them to sleep...they really are good boys...everyone could stand a little more "Lightning" in their life...come on Jimmy...what da' ya' say?"

  
  

  Uncle, that's what I said. I snatched that CD player up and took it straight to the checkout line. On my way into the house I passed a box of "The Star Still Shines" our new Christmas CD that was opened out in the garage. After all, when I went to see the boys we had to have a CD to fire this bad boy up with right? Good stuff right?

  
  

   

  
  

  You may be sensing a big "Mr. Explanation" coming here.

  
  

   

  
  

  You see (stammer...stammer) with all the shows, tour dates, recordings, mixing, interviews, meetings...yada, yada, yada, we do,  when I get home the last thing I want to do is listen to Diamond Rio! Claudia is so respectful that when I get into her SUV if one of our CDs is in the hopper she shuts it off. If we come on the radio she changes the channel. This may seem silly but trust me if you walked in my shoes you would do the same.

  
  

   

  
  

  What I didn't realize is the message that this is giving our boys. "Daddy can't stand Diamond Rio!" This couldn't be farther from the truth. I am proud of the records we have made! I wouldn't have signed off on them if I wasn't. However when you handle something as much as we do our music you need a place to get away from it...my place is our home.

  
  

   

  
  

  O.K. now flip back to me proudly walking into MAX and Tank's bedroom with a Lighting McQueen CD player in one hand and a Diamond Rio CD in the other. My boys had this confused look of wonder and  terror on their face. So happy for Lighting, but worried that I had finally lost my marbles with that CD. I ripped open the packaging on the CD player and plugged ‘er in. When I started to open up our CD I heard a little 6 year olds' voice timidly ask, "Dad, what are you doing?" I said, "Hey man we need something to make this thing sing so I grabbed a CD from the garage."

  
  

  I knew I had pushed the Diamond Rio blockade too far when he looked up and said with "much" excitement, "you mean...pause...we can...pause...play...pause...Diamond Rio in the house!"

  
  

  For an instance I got a glimpse into what it might have felt like to be Joan Crawford throwing away the last of her wooden hangers. Had I been abusing these guys by denying them "Barney works down at the A&P" or "Kissable, Huggable, lovable"? Oh horrors!

  
  

   

  
  

  I am now a new man. Let this be warning to all...don't do what I did. If the kids want to listen to Diamond Rio in the house...let ‘em!

  
  

   

  
  

  As always...Blah, blah, blah...

  
  

   

  
  

  Cheers,

  
  

  Jimmy O.
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  Aug 27 2008, 07:31 AM

  Win An Autographed Copy of Greatest Hits 2 !!!!

  Hey Diamond Rio fans!! This is your chance to win an autographed copy of Diamond Rio's Greatest Hits II CD. All you have to do to enter is follow this link www.youtube.com/diamondriotv and SUBSCRIBE to Diamond Rio's YouTube page. It's FREE and EASY! We'll select several lucky subscribers at randon. Go SUBSCRIBE now and GOOD LUCK!

  
  

  Winners will be notified via their YouTube account mail.
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  Aug 18 2008, 10:16 AM

  A New Blog from Jimmy O!

   

  
  

  Yo Myspacers! Here we go into the Wide Wild World of my life, loves, hates, food, music, kids, family...yada, yada, yada...It's all good and it's all blah, blah, blah...

  
  

   

  
  

  As I write this entry I have the Olympic Summer games running in the background...Love it! Team USA Women's Volleyball just put China in their place in a 5th game tiebreak to advance on to the next round.

  
  

  I must admit the feeling of National Patriotism I sense now is such a welcome relief to the feel I have been being bombarded with about our country. There has been so much negativity coming into to my house on the radio, TV and Internet...it has really taken its toll on me.

  
  

  For instance, the backbiting between Hillary and Obama, the war in Iraq, gas gouging, the Housing market, the economy, people trashing the President...the list goes on and on...augh! I was in desperate need of something positive to wash this bad taste out of my mouth.

  
  

  O.K. now let's flash forward 12 hours to a country where one out five humans on this planet call home. China and The Olympic Games.

  
  

  This is just what I have been needing, our country coming together and rooting for the Stars and Stripes. It is a beautiful thing. These athletes commitment to the goal of competing against the best the world has to throw at them is truly inspiring. However lets face it, NBC is doing a bang up job of their coverage. Every time the network cuts to one of those background stories on the personal lives and struggles just to make it to the games I'm thinking "oh brother here we go again". This stuff really chokes me up. I find myself slipping to the back of the bus so I can get a little misty all by myself. That is then followed by a minute of gaining my composure so I can "Butch it up" and rejoin my partners in the front of the bus. I'm sorry but "me" being the 71st member of the Grand Ole' Opry being brought to tears over an "Up Close and Personal" story from NBC is a little emasculating. Over share...?...OK I'll give you that one.

  
  

   

  
  

  It is also refreshing to see the leader of the free world (George W. and clan) casually sitting around taking it all in. I would not at all be surprised to see "W" in the stands with a plate of Texas sized nachos dawning a big red, white and blue foam finger chanting "take that Frenchy" after the US upset the French in the Men's 4X100 meter freestyle swim at the Cube.

  
  

   

  
  

  Well there you have it my first shot at myspace straight from the hip. This year, I have made a pledge to be more honest and less guarded in my life. If it turns out that occasionally I step over the line and offend...my sincerest apologies in advance...I've got only the best of intentions here...Cya' on the road!

  
  

   

  
  

  Cheers,

  
  

  Jimmy O.
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  Jul 29 2008, 09:46 AM

  Gene Johnson Featured in Nashville Lifestyles Magazine

  

  Gene Johnson is pictured with his French Bulldogs Gracie Allen, Granny Hoover and PepperElla.