Excitement for this year's Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust continues to grow as more celebrities join the star-studded lineup for this fan-interactive event, to be held on January 12, 2008 at Nashville's Sommet Center.  Organizers for the event are pleased to announce the addition of racing stars, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer and Scott Wimmer and country music artists Josh Gracin, Bryan White, and The Wrights, with more celebrities to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Third Annual Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust event will once again bring together the stars of country music and NASCAR for autograph, storytelling and question-answer sessions, a charitable auction featuring memorabilia from the racing and entertainment industries, as well as preview of over a dozen 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup show cars and sponsor displays with their favorite performers and drivers at the Backstage Garage Pass (Saturday, January 12 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.), followed by a blockbuster Country Concert (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) featuring Grammy® Award-winning, multi-platinum-selling recording artist, Alan Jackson, special guest Taylor Swift, with Jason Michael Carroll and a performance by The Wrights.

Tickets are going fast and cost $39.50 for the concert, $20 for the Backstage Garage Pass event, or $54.50 for both and are available through TicketMaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and the event website (www.soundandspeed.org).  Proceeds from the event will benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp based in the NASCAR hotbed of North Carolina, and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum deep in the heart of "Music City."

Joining next month's lineup of country stars is Josh Gracin, the former American Idol contestant who is one of only three country artists in recent times to release a debut album with three Top 5 hits, including the number-one hit "Nothin' to Lose," Bryan White, platinum recording artist who burst into the country music scene in the mid-90's with a string of four number-one singles, including "Someone Else's Star" and "Rebecca Lynn," and The Wrights, whose 2005 debut album, Down This Road, captured the attention of the industry and spring-boarded the husband-and-wife team into touring dates with Jackson and appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.

Earnhardt and Montoya are among four NASCAR celebrities and three country music artists announced today as newly added participants in the Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust extravaganza. Earnhardt is the 2004 Daytona 500 winner and two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion who will take over the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup (formerly Nextel Cup) Series in 2008. Montoya, whose Cup Series rookie season included a race victory at Sonoma, Calif., will embark on his second season behind the wheel of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Dodge in 2008.

Also just added to the festival lineup is Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 7 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory in his first race as a Chase for the Nextel Cup contender at New Hampshire in September, and Scott Wimmer, Richard Childress Racing driver in both the Cup and Nationwide – formerly Busch – Series.

Celebrities now scheduled to participate in the Backstage Garage Pass are:

Sound:
Taylor Swift, Josh Turner, Craig Morgan, Richie McDonald, Diamond Rio, Danielle Peck, Bucky Covington, Jason Michael Carroll, Josh Gracin, Bryan White, The Wrights

Speed:
Richard Petty, Kyle Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Darrell Waltrip, Michael Waltrip, Richard Childress, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Dave Blaney, David Stremme, Max Angelelli, Wayne Taylor, Clint Bowyer, Scott Wimmer

Joining Sprint and SunTrust as official event sponsors are the Great American Country (GAC) television network, Nashville radio station WSM, Allstate Insurance, the Ford Motor Company, and Nashville Superspeedway. The lineup of promotional partners includes the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, UPS, MRN, Dollar General and Nicorette.

For more information about the 2008 Sprint Sound & Speed Presented by SunTrust, fans are welcome to visit www.soundandspeed.org. 

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No question, Toby Keith knows how to show people a good time. The two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year has been one of the top touring draws in the nation for the past seven years. And his 2008 summer tour should have music fans piled to the rafters once again.

Keith's tour, which hits the road June through Fall of next year, will bring his hit-filled repertoire, unmistakable baritone and unparalleled musicianship to top venues nationwide. It will also bring a few special guests.

Sharing the bill next summer will be none other than Montgomery Gentry – the hard-charging, hit-making duo who know a thing or two about having a good time themselves.  Opening slots also go to Show Dog Nashville's fresh new trio Carter's Chord, comprised of the three Robertson sisters, and new signing Mica Roberts, a dynamic singer who has long been a member of Toby's touring band.  And newcomers Trailer Choir are also slated to bring their music to Keith's standing room only audiences.

"Toby's 2008 tour will be full of surprises," says Live Nation's Brian O'Connell. "I can't wait for the fans to see the one two combo of this year's special guest Montgomery Gentry and a whole night's worth of Carter's Chord, Mica Roberts and Trailer Choir. And of course, Toby Keith's knockout performance! This tour will not be for the weak or timid."

Toby Keith is one of the most successful musical entertainers of his time, with more than 30 million albums sold, scores of smash singles including his current hit "Get My Drink On," recent No. 1 "Love Me If You Can," and numerous peer and fan-voted awards. He was recently inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, and his two-disc A Classic Christmas collection is one of the best-selling country albums in the nation.

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In support of American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II, Trace Adkins and Capitol Records Nashville have teamed up with Xbox 360 for a partnership that has become XBox’s first-ever venture in to the world of country music. “Get Your Game on With Trace Adkins & Xbox 360” is a national promotion that will run across 160 Clear Channel radio stations as well as four major retailers including FYE, Hastings, Bull Moose and Newbury comics.

The Clear Channel “Get Your Game On With Trace Adkins & Xbox 360” radio promotion begins on January 14, 2008 and will run through each individual Clear Channel radio station’s website, with numerous on-air mentions.

1st Prize – A trip to “Get Your Game On With Trace Adkins”, including airfare for two, hotel, transportation, concert tickets, backstage passes, and a 30 minute “gaming” session with Adkins.  Winner also receives a Trace Adkins skinned Xbox 360 that has been autographed and an autographed copy of American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II.

2nd Prize – 25 Winners get Trace Adkins skinned Xbox 360’s that have been autographed and an autographed copy of American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II.

3rd Prize – 50 Winners get autographed copies of American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II

The “Get Your Game On With Trace Adkins & Xbox 360” retail promotion with FYE, Hastings, Bull Moose and Newbury comics began on December 4, the street date of Trace Adkins’ American Man, Greatest Hits Volume II. The retailers will give away Trace Adkins Xbox 360 packages that include the Trace Adkins skinned Xbox 360 and two games Madden NFL 08 from EA SPORTS and Halo 3. The contest will be run across their websites homepages, eblasts to subscribers, signage in stores and newsletters.

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Rodney Atkins' hit "Watching You" has scored him Billboard's biggest country song for the second straight year.

Last year the #1 country tune was Rodney's smash, "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)."

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Luke Bryan was in Las Vegas last week for a variety of events including playing a charity show with Phil Vassar, Rodney Atkins and Lonestar;  he also got to see his very first rodeo when he played a show at the National Finals Rodeo.

Bryan was excited to be able to catch a Big & Rich show. But the highlight of his time in Vegas was when he went to head to head with country legend Charley Pride at the final table of TJ Martell Foundation Celebrity Poker Tournament.

In Luke’s own account to his fans on his MySpace page of the Celebrity Poker Tournament,  here’s how the showdown went:

“I made the final table with Charley. He and I were the chip leaders. There were about four people left and I got dealt a pair of kings – the money hand. I bet BIG and Charley went all in and I called him. I was sure I was going to kick his butt. I flipped my kings over and then he flipped a pair of aces and tore me apart with his winning hand. It was awesome. I got beat by Charley Pride. That was a fun day.”

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1720 Entertainment recording artist, Rissi Palmer has been spreading the news about her new music and reaching a massive new audience with the help of new entertainment programming and mobile technology.

Presently, Palmer is prominently featured on Wal-Mart's newly launched mobile content store, "Wal-Mart Mobile."  She is also the first country artist to tape an exclusive interview and concert performance for mobile carrier Sprint's new entertainment programming, SEE (Sprint Exclusive Entertainment).

From Wal-Mart's website http://walmart.playp.net/, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless customers can click on the ad banner located at the top of the page to effortlessly purchase Rissi Palmer ringtones and wallpapers that can be instantly downloaded to their cell phones.

On SEE, subscribers can also readily purchase Palmer's music, voice tones and wallpaper from their mobile devices and will soon be able to access Palmer's interview and performance by clicking on their phone's media player from the main screen and scrolling to SEE channel and selecting Rissi Palmer.

Recently, Palmer's self-titled debut ranked among the Top 5 best-selling country albums on iTunes. The project's first single, "Country Girl" was part of Starbuck's "Song Of The Day," free digital music promotion offering 1.5 million free songs per day from numerous artists from every music genre on iTunes.  Her music has also been featured on Yahoo! Music's "What's Next" and "The New Now, " where her "Country Girl" video landed the top spot on their Top Country videos chart. Additionally, Palmer received high visibility on the MySpace main music page, where she consistently ranks among the Top 10 Independent Country Artists.

For more news and information on Rissi Palmer, visit: www.rissipalmer.com or www.myspace.com/rissipalmer.

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