1.
Golden Gate Park
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Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of 1,017 acres of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20 percent larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a mile north to south, in the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park, which was then taking shape in New York City. Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands, conceived ostensibly for recreation, the underlying purpose of the park was housing development and the westward expansion of the city. The tireless field engineer William Hammond Hall prepared a survey and topographic map of the site in 1870. He was later named Californias first state engineer and developed a flood control system for the Sacramento Valley. The park drew its name from nearby Golden Gate Strait, the plan and planting were developed by Hall and his assistant, John McLaren, who had apprenticed in Scotland, home of many of the 19th-century’s best professional gardeners. John McLaren, when asked by the Park Commission if he could make Golden Gate Park one of the beauty spots of the world, replied saying With your aid gentleman, and God be willing, that I shall do. He also promised that hed go out into the country and walk along a stream until he found a farm, and that hed come back to the garden and recreate what nature had done. In 1876, the plan was almost replaced by one for a racetrack, favored by the Big Four millionaires, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington and it was Gus Mooney who claimed land adjacent to the park on Ocean Beach. Many of Mooneys friends also staked claims and built shanties on the beach to sell refreshments to the patrons of the park, Hall resigned, and the remaining park commissioners followed. In 1882 Governor George C. Perkins appointed Frank M. Pixley founder, Pixley was adamant that the Mooneys shanties be eliminated, and he found support with the San Francisco Police for park security. Pixley favored Stanfords company by granting a lease on the route that closed the park on three sides to competition. The original plan, however, was back on track by 1886, Hall selected McLaren as his successor in 1887. The first stage of the development centered on planting trees in order to stabilize the dunes that covered three-quarters of the park’s area. By 1875, about 60,000 trees, mostly Eucalyptus globulus, Monterey pine, by 1879, that figure more than doubled to 155,000 trees over 1,000 acres. Later, McLaren scoured the world for trees, by correspondence and he lived in McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park until he died in 1943, aged 96. In 1903, a pair of Dutch-style windmills were built at the western end of the park
2.
Nashville, Tennessee
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Nashville is the capital of the U. S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries and it is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname Music City, U. S. A. Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government which includes six municipalities in a two-tier system. Nashville is governed by a mayor, vice-mayor, and 40-member Metropolitan Council, thirty-five of the members are elected from single-member districts, five are elected at-large. Reflecting the citys position in government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Courts courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2015 estimates from the U. S. Census Bureau, the balance population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 654,610. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, the 2015 population of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Columbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644. The town of Nashville was founded by James Robertson, John Donelson, and it was named for Francis Nash, the American Revolutionary War hero. Nashville quickly grew because of its location, accessibility as a port on the Cumberland River, a tributary of the Ohio River. By 1800, the city had 345 residents, including 136 African American slaves and 14 free blacks, in 1806, Nashville was incorporated as a city and became the county seat of Davidson County, Tennessee. In 1843, the city was named the permanent capital of the state of Tennessee, by 1860, when the first rumblings of secession began to be heard across the South, antebellum Nashville was a prosperous city. The citys significance as a port made it a desirable prize as a means of controlling important river. In February 1862, Nashville became the first state capital to fall to Union troops, the state was occupied by Union troops for the duration of the war. Within a few years after the Civil War, the Nashville chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veteran John W. Morton, meanwhile, the city had reclaimed its important shipping and trading position and developed a solid manufacturing base. The post–Civil War years of the late 19th century brought new prosperity to Nashville and these healthy economic times left the city with a legacy of grand classical-style buildings, which can still be seen around the downtown area. Circa 1950 the state approved a new city charter that provided for the election of city council members from single-member districts. This change was supported because at-large voting diluted the minority populations political power in the city and they could seldom gain a majority of the population to support a candidate of their choice
3.
Album
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Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
4.
Grammy Award for Best Americana Album
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In 2009, the Academy announced that the award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album would be split into two separate categories, Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Americana Album. Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, called the new categorys inclusion a huge acknowledgment of the music genre, Hilly admitted to working hard at convincing the Academy to include Americana as its own category. The music industry had been using the term Americana music for about 15 years before the new award was created, while acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band. The award was first presented in 2010 to Levon Helm at the 52nd Grammy Awards for the album Electric Dirt and he is also the only artist to receive the award twice. Emmylou Harris has been nominated most times, ^ Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year. Americana Music Association Heartland rock List of Grammy Award categories Roots rock Official site of the Grammy Awards
5.
Grammy Award for Best Country Album
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The award was first presented under the name of Best Country & Western Album in 1966 to Roger Miller for Dang Me/Chug-A-Lug and was discontinued the following year. In 1995 the category was revived and received its current denomination of Best Country Album, according to the category description guide for the 54th Grammy Awards, the award is presented to vocal or instrumental country albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings. The Dixie Chicks are the most awarded performers in this category with four wins, two-time award winners include Roger Miller and Lady Antebellum. Canadian singer Shania Twain is the only winner in this category. Trisha Yearwood holds the record for most nominations, with eight, Yearwood also holds the record for most nominations without a win. Grammy Award for Album of the Year Official Site of the Grammy Awards
6.
Vince Gill
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Vincent Grant Vince Gill is an American country singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has recorded more than 20 studio albums, charted over 40 singles on the U. S. Billboard charts as Hot Country Songs, and has sold more than 26 million albums. He has been honored by the Country Music Association with 18 CMA Awards, as of 2017, Gill has also earned 21 Grammy Awards, more than any other male country music artist. In 2007 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, on February 4,2016 Gill was inducted into the Guitar Center Rock Walk by Joe Walsh of the Eagles. Gill has been married to singer Amy Grant since March 2000, Vince Gill was born in Norman, Oklahoma. His mother had a son, Bob Coen, from a previous marriage and he was Gills half-brother, but was considered a full brother by Gill. His father, J. Stanley Gill, was a lawyer and administrative law judge who played in a music band part-time. His father encouraged him to learn to play banjo and guitar, Gill attended high school at Oklahoma Citys Northwest Classen High School. While there he performed bluegrass in the band Mountain Smoke, which built a local following. After graduating from school in 1975, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Afterwards he spent an amount of time in Ricky Skaggss Boone Creek band before moving to Los Angeles to join Sundance. Gill debuted on the scene with the country rock band Pure Prairie League in 1979. He is the singer on their song Let Me Love You Tonight. Mark Knopfler once invited him to join Dire Straits, but he declined the offer and he provided background vocals for the song Tennessee Line, from Daughtrys second studio album, Leave This Town. Gill left Pure Prairie League in 1981 to join Cherry Bombs, There he worked with Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr. both of whom would later produce many of his albums. Gill has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since August 10,1991 and he celebrated his 25th Opry anniversary with a tribute show on August 13,2016. In 2010, Gill officially joined the country swing group The Time Jumpers, in July 2011, Gill appeared as a guest on NPRs news quiz show Wait, Wait. Dont Tell Me. Also in 2011, he appeared on the second of two tribute albums for the British rock band The Moody Blues, Moody Bluegrass TWO
7.
Reba McEntire
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Reba Nell McEntire is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She began her career in the industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band, on local radio shows with her siblings. While a sophomore in college, she performed the National Anthem at the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City and caught the attention of country artist Red Steagall who brought her to Nashville and she signed a contract with Mercury Records a year later in 1975. She released her first solo album in 1977 and released five studio albums under the label until 1983. The album brought her success, bringing her a series of successful albums. She has sometimes referred to as The Queen of Country. And she is one of the artists of all time. In the early 1990s, McEntire branched into film starting with 1990s Tremors, Reba Nell McEntire was born March 28,1955, in McAlester, Oklahoma, to Jacqueline and Clark Vincent McEntire. She was named for her maternal grandmother Reba Estelle Smith, Reba Smith was the daughter of Byron Williams B. W. Her father, and her grandfather, John Wesley McEntire, were both champion steer ropers and her father was a World Champion Steer Roper three times, John McEntire was the son of Clark Stephen McEntire and Helen Florida McEntire. Her mother had wanted to be a country-music artist but eventually decided to become a schoolteacher. Reba reportedly taught herself how to play the guitar, Reba played guitar in the group and wrote all the songs. The group sang at rodeos and recorded The Ballad of John McEntire together, released on the indie label Boss, the song pressed one thousand copies. In 1974, McEntire attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University planning to be a school teacher. While not attending school, she continued to sing locally. That same year she was hired to perform the anthem at the National Rodeo in Oklahoma City. Country artist Red Steagall, who was performing that day, was impressed by her vocal ability and agreed to help her launch a country-music career in Nashville. After recording a tape, she signed a recording contract with Mercury Records in 1975
8.
Miranda Lambert
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Miranda Leigh Lambert is an American singer and songwriter. Outside of her career, she is a member of the Pistol Annies alongside Ashley Monroe. Lambert has been honored by the Grammy Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, Lamberts debut album Kerosene was certified Platinum in the United States, and produced the singles Me and Charlie Talking, Bring Me Down, Kerosene, and New Strings. All four singles reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and her second album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, was released in early 2007. Her third album, Revolution, was released in September 2009, two of its songs–The House That Built Me and Heart Like Mine–topped the Hot Country Songs chart. 2011s Four the Record, included the singles Baggage Claim, Over You, Fastest Girl in Town, Mamas Broken Heart, Lambert released her fifth album, Platinum, in 2014. The record won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album, and her sixth studio album, The Weight of These Wings, was released on November 18,2016. From 2011 to 2015, Lambert was married to country singer Blake Shelton. Miranda Leigh Lambert was born November 10,1983, in Longview, Texas and she was named after her great-grandmother, Lucy Miranda. Her father, Rick Lambert, was an officer who played in a country-rock group called Contraband in the 1970s. He later became an investigator in partnership with Mirandas mother. She has English, Irish and Native American ancestry, while still in high school, Lambert made her professional singing debut with The Texas Pride Band. At 16, Lambert appeared on the Johnnie High Country Music Revue in Arlington, Texas, Lambert then acquired a recording session in Nashville, Tennessee, but left the studio after she became frustrated with the pop type of music presented to her. She went back to Texas in 2000 and asked her dad to teach her how to play guitar, in 2002, Dusty Meador hired Miranda to perform at Tye Phelps country music restaurant and venue Love And War in Texas. Miranda continued to perform around the Texas Music Scene opening for Cooder Graw, Kevin Fowler, in 2003 she auditioned for the talent competition Nashville Star, where she earned a third-place finish behind Buddy Jewell and John Arthur Martinez. During her 9 week stay on Nashville Star Miranda caught the attention of the judge and Sony Record executive, Tracy Gershon. On September 15,2003, she signed with Epic Records and her debut single, Me and Charlie Talking, co-written by her father and Heather Little, was released in summer of 2004 as the lead single to her debut album. Titled Kerosene, Lamberts first album comprised 12 songs,11 of which she wrote or co-wrote, overall, the album produced four Top 40 singles on the Billboard country charts, including the title track which was a Top 20 hit
9.
Willie Nelson
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Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. He was one of the figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has involved in activism for the use of biofuels. Born during the Great Depression, and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven, during high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from school in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music, during this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in Honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote Family Bible, in 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey, during that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello Walls, Pretty Paper, and Crazy. In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Prices band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album. And Then I Wrote, due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, the ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters. In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the acclaimed album. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted, the Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. In 1990, Nelsons assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, the difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes, Wholl Buy My Memories, the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelsons assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television
10.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
11.
LeAnn Rimes
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Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian, known professionally as LeAnn Rimes, is an American singer. Known for her vocals, Rimes rose to stardom at age 13 following the release of the Bill Mack song Blue. The albums eponymous single, Blue, became a Top 10 hit. Rimes has won awards, including two Grammys, three ACMs, a CMA,12 Billboard Music Awards, and one American Music award. She has sold over 37 million records worldwide, with 20.3 million album sales in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan, Billboard ranked her 17th artist of the 1990–2000 decade. Rimes has also written four books, two novels and two childrens books, margaret LeAnn Rimes was born in Jackson, Mississippi. She is the child of Wilbur Rimes and Belinda Butler. The family moved to Garland, Texas when she was six and she was enrolled in vocal and dance classes, and was performing at local talent shows at the age of 5. Rimes began her career in theatre, performing in a Dallas, Texas production of A Christmas Carol. After appearing on the television competition show Star Search, where she clearly charmed host Ed McMahon in addition to being a one-week champion. Rimes appeared a number of times on Johnnie Highs Country Music Revue in Arlington, Texas, by age nine, Rimes was an experienced singer. She toured nationally with her father and also performed a cappella renditions of The Star Spangled Banner at the opening of the Dallas Cowboys football games. Wilbur Rimes began recording his daughter under the independent label Nor Va Jak when she turned eleven and she released three albums between 1991 and 1996. Rimes was discovered by Dallas disc jockey and record promoter Bill Mack, Mack was impressed by Rimess vocal ability, and over the following three years, he made various attempts to bring Rimes to a mainstream level. In July 1994, Rimes recorded the song on her independent album, after signing with Curb Records, Rimes re-recorded a new version of Blue for her debut studio album, and as a single. However, Rimes told a BBC radio program in October 2016 that the company accidentally released the version she had recorded as an 11-year-old. She said it was this version peaked at number ten on the Billboard Country Chart. During this time the media was reporting that Rimes was the successor to Patsy Clines legacy, the album Blue sold 123,000 copies in its first week, the highest figure in SoundScan history at that time
12.
Western swing
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Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the regions Western string bands. The movement was an outgrowth of jazz, and similarities with gypsy jazz are often noted, the electrically amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, give the music a distinctive sound. Later incarnations have also included overtones of bebop, Western swing differs in several ways from the music played by the nationally popular horn-driven big swing bands of the same era. In Western bands, even fully orchestrated bands, vocals, additionally, although popular horn bands tended to arrange and score their music, most Western bands improvised freely, either by soloists or collectively. Contemporary groups include Asleep at the Wheel and The Hot Club of Cowtown, when it escapes in all its musical glory, my friend, you have Western swing. Western swing in its beginnings was just dance music, the term swing, meaning big band dance music, wasnt used until after the 1932 hit It Dont Mean a Thing. Most of the big Western dance bandleaders simply referred to themselves as Western bands and their music as Western dance music, Bob Wills and others believed the term Western swing was used for his music while he and his band were still in Tulsa, Oklahoma between 1939 and 1942. The Los Angeles-area Wilmington Press carried ads for an unidentified Western Swing Orchestra at a nightspot in April 1942. That winter, influential LA-area jazz and swing disc jockey Al Jarvis held a radio contest for top popular band leaders, the winner would be named the King of Swing. When Spade Cooley unexpectedly received the most votes, besting Benny Goodman and Harry James, on the other hand, The Billboard, in its January 29,1944 issue, reported Cooley came fourth in the orchestra section, behind Sammy Kaye, Freddie Martin, and Jimmy Dorsey. Around 1942, Cooleys promoter, disc jockey Foreman Phillips, began using Western swing to advertise his client, Music is not the true Western type. Dancers can foxtrot or do a slow jitter to it, a more widely known first use was an October 1944 Billboard item mentioning a forthcoming songbook by Cooley titled Western Swing. This, however was preceded by this item on page 11 of the May 6,1944 Billboard, Spade Cooley, who moved in with his Western swing boys several months ago, has released the Breakfast Club. Cooley moved up from Phillips County barn dances at Venice, Calif. ballroom, after that, the music was known as Western swing. During its early development, scores of groups from San Antonio to Shreveport to Oklahoma City played different songs with the basic sound. Fred Papa Calhoun recalled that around 1930, he played in a band in Decatur and we also liked Red Nichols and Bix Beiderbecke. After ending his partnership with Vernon Dalhart, country music trailblazer Carson Robison formed Carson Robisons Madcaps. Their recording of Nonsense in September 1929 was an uptempo, pioneering example of Western swing, in the early 1930s, Bob Wills and Milton Brown co-founded the string band that became the Light Crust Doughboys, the first professional band in this genre
