[Jeri, thanks for posting this and informing us all here (especially those of us who doesn't have a Facebook account). I tried to get to their voting page but couldn't get in there. My guess is, so many fans are voting all at once right now that the voting site got jammed. LET'S ALL VOTE FOR ALAN! See the link at the HOME page.CONGRATS, ALAN!!!!!!!BHR]

Jeri, thanks for posting this and informing us all here (especially those of us who doesn't have a Facebook account). I tried to get to their voting page but couldn't get in there. My guess is, so many fans are voting all at once right now that the voting site got jammed. LET'S ALL VOTE FOR ALAN! See the link at the HOME page.

CONGRATS, ALAN!!!!!!!

BHR

[Bostonhonkytonk]

Bostonhonkytonk,,, if you listen to Country radio you will 'hear' what they consider Country music and it ain't Alan. I am heartsick to see 'age' playing a factor in who is chosen to dominate the airwaves on these stations.  Also, the drum-whacking is getting to be outrageous.  Once you listen for those whacks, you will not be able to ignore them.  I think there was a good reason behind the Opry not allowing drums for so many years... that is what I am thinking when I hear these happening so much these days.  And, I love the drums...just not so dominating.   

I listen more these days to Country Classic where at least they play his older songs...and have my precious CDs for keeping me in my own Country groove.

All of this said, I am Not giving up on voting for Alan's music whenever and wherever I can!!!

Also, someonnnne is not paying attention to the fact that they are killing Classic Country music for the future!

Mar, everything you've said is so true. Along with loud banging of the drums, I'm also troubled with the prominence of the use of electric guitars among the young (er) artists today. It seems like the acoustic guitars has all but gone the same path as the traditional country music. It's hard to listen to them anymore. Thank heavens for Alan, George Strait the Classic Country Music Radio and our personal collection of great traditional country music, we can still listen to REAL country music. . .and save our eardrums. :-)

BHR

[This is an interesting read for those of us who has been commenting on the current state of country music. . . .and for the last decade. The subject of this article is the idea of putting the new country artists of today and the upcoming ones through a test and giving them a badge as Certified Wannabe Country Star (CWCS) if they pass it. Can anyone here answer all the questions on the list within this article? I'm a country music fan for as long as Alan has been in the business and yet I found myself stumped at a lot of those questions. However, I have some country music books that I have purchased over the years and this article made me peruse them for some refresher course. Reading the article will kind of make you wonder how much these so called new country music artist really do know about country music and its rich tradition. By the way, I do agree with this idea.http://www.cmt.com/news/nashville-skyline/1699620/nashville-skyline-what-do-you-know.jhtmlEnjoy reading!]

This is an interesting read for those of us who has been commenting on the current state of country music. . . .and for the last decade. The subject of this article is the idea of putting the new country artists of today and the upcoming ones through a test and giving them a badge as Certified Wannabe Country Star (CWCS) if they pass it. Can anyone here answer all the questions on the list within this article? I'm a country music fan for as long as Alan has been in the business and yet I found myself stumped at a lot of those questions. However, I have some country music books that I have purchased over the years and this article made me peruse them for some refresher course. Reading the article will kind of make you wonder how much these so called new country music artist really do know about country music and its rich tradition. By the way, I do agree with this idea.

http://www.cmt.com/news/nashville-skyline/1699620/nashville-skyline-what-do-you-know.jhtml

Enjoy reading!

BHR

[Carrie is running away with it but I keep voting for Alan.]

Carrie is running away with it but I keep voting for Alan.

Harriet, you might want to look at it again. Taylor Swift is the running away with it right now. Scroll down and take a look at her current votes score. Thanks for keeping on voting.

BHR

[Wishing you all a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy 2013!!!!]

Wishing you all a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy 2013!!!! Good-bye to the Year of the Dragon and Welcome to the Year of the Snake. And to quote my brother, "Welcome back to another future." May this be a more peaceful, healthier and prosperous "future" for everyone world over.

Have a safe New Year's celebration everyone, and whatever you do and wherever you do it, PLEASE. . .Don't Drink and or Use Your Cellphone And Drive. They're not worth losing yours or anyone else's life. Be careful.

BHR

[UPDATE:]

UPDATE: Alan is now in 3rd place in the voting (10.21%) with Taylor Swift knocking Carrie Underwood out of first place (34.92% & 31.91% respectively). Maybe temporary, but, it good to see Alan, at least, in the top 5 in this voting. Keep the votes coming and remember. . .VOTE ONLY ONCE EVERY HOUR OR YOUR VOTES WILL BE DEDUCTED RATHER THAN ADDED TO THE TOTAL VOTES. Reminder: Poll closes Jan 15th.

http://tasteofcountry.com/2012-taste-of-country-awards-vote/

Harriet, you're probably right, but I haven't lost my hope yet that Alan will win this category. He still stands a very god chance of winning it as of right now.

GO VOTE!

BHR

[Great news, Kathy! Thanks for sharing. I agree with everyone here that SYDHTLMA deserved much better treatment by the county music radio stations everywhere than they had given it and I don't buy, and never have, any excuses or explanations the DJ's and radio programming directors has given for not giving it lots more airplay that it very well deserved.Congrats, Alan!PS: Jeri, good to see you posting again. Take care of yourself and hope you feel a lot better soon.BHR]

Great news, Kathy! Thanks for sharing. I agree with everyone here that SYDHTLMA deserved much better treatment by the county music radio stations everywhere than they had given it and I don't buy, and never have, any excuses or explanations the DJ's and radio programming directors has given for not giving it lots more airplay that it very well deserved.

Congrats, Alan!

PS: Jeri, good to see you posting again. Take care of yourself and hope you feel a lot better soon.

BHR

[HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY, FLO! Hope you had and are having a wonderful celebration.BHR]

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY, FLO! Hope you had and are having a wonderful celebration.

BHR

[Wishing everyone the blessings of Christmas. Enjoy the warmth of the celebration with your loved ones and friends. Love, peace, joy and good health throughout the coming New Year to you all.Thank you to all of you who sent my family and I lovely Christmas cards: Harriet, Sharon, Kimberly and Ellen. Thank you so much for thinking of me and us this Christmas.BHR]

Wishing everyone the blessings of Christmas. Enjoy the warmth of the celebration with your loved ones and friends. Love, peace, joy and good health throughout the coming New Year to you all.

Thank you to all of you who sent my family and I lovely Christmas cards: Harriet, Sharon, Kimberly and Ellen. Thank you so much for thinking of me and us this Christmas.

BHR

[Alan, Denise and Family, thank you so much for the beautiful card and the charitable donation on behalf and in honor of all the AJ fans. They've been truly appreciated.]

Alan, Denise and Family, thank you so much for the beautiful card and the charitable donation on behalf and in honor of all the AJ fans. They've been truly appreciated.

Wishing you and yours, the AJFC staff and all the AJ fans A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS SEASON!

BHR

[Right off, I would like to bring to everyone's attention the shooting rampage that has just occured at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. I'm sure most of you are or have already been waching on tv or listening to your radios the news feeds on this tragic and horrific incident. Here are just some updated accounts from various news sources:-The death toll is 27, including the shooter himself, and 20 of those are children.-The shooter has been identified as 24 year old Ryan Lanza.-One of Lanza's younger brother has been taken in custody and is being questioned and suspected as a possible second gunman.-Another younger brother was found dead in Hoboken, NJ (their home?!?)-Lanza's mother was a teacher in Sandy Hook Elementary and is one of the fatality. -Lanza's girlfriend and another friend is missing in New JerseyI have just watched Pres. Obama's tearful message on tv and couldn't help but get a bit choked up too. This is just so sad.Here are the links for my sources of these bits of updates:http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.htmlhttp://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/?hpt=hp_t1http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/20121214/NEWS08/312140111/Official-27-dead-Connecticut-school-shooting-18-childrenPLEASE keep all your thoughts and prayers for all the victims of, their families and friends and all involved in this heart breaking tragedy.(UPDATE: Shooter misidentified. his name is Adam, not Ryan, Lanza: )Prayers are also much needed right now for all the victims of the recent cyclone that hit an island in my country, the Philippines, very recently. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of fatalities and many homes lost. One of my nieces, her family and her in-laws lives in the section of the island where the cyclone hit. We have just finally heard from her and they're all well. Their area has the least damage of all the areas there affected. They had strong wind that blew lots of debris on everyone's yard in their neighborhood and lost power for 3 days. She said they have started the clean up already. Lastly, continued prayers for Harriet, Mazie, Anita, Elaine & her son, Jeri & her husband and everyone else here needing of prayers.HUGS To All,BHR]

Right off, I would like to bring to everyone's attention the shooting rampage that has just occured at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. I'm sure most of you are or have already been waching on tv or listening to your radios the news feeds on this tragic and horrific incident. Here are just some updated accounts from various news sources:

-The death toll is 27, including the shooter himself, and 20 of those are children.
-The shooter has been identified as 24 year old Ryan Lanza.
-One of Lanza's younger brother has been taken in custody and is being questioned and suspected as a possible
  second gunman.
-Another younger brother was found dead in Hoboken, NJ (their home?!?)
-Lanza's mother was a teacher in Sandy Hook Elementary and is one of the fatality.
-Lanza's girlfriend and another friend is missing in New Jersey

I have just watched Pres. Obama's tearful message on tv and couldn't help but get a bit choked up too. This is just so sad.

Here are the links for my sources of these bits of updates:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/14/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school/?hpt=hp_t1
http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/20121214/NEWS08/312140111/Official-27-dead-Connecticut-school-shooting-18-children

PLEASE keep all your thoughts and prayers for all the victims of, their families and friends and all involved in this heart breaking tragedy.

(UPDATE: Shooter misidentified. his name is Adam, not Ryan, Lanza: )

Prayers are also much needed right now for all the victims of the recent cyclone that hit an island in my country, the Philippines, very recently. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of fatalities and many homes lost. One of my nieces, her family and her in-laws lives in the section of the island where the cyclone hit. We have just finally heard from her and they're all well. Their area has the least damage of all the areas there affected. They had strong wind that blew lots of debris on everyone's yard in their neighborhood and lost power for 3 days. She said they have started the clean up already.

Lastly, continued prayers for Harriet, Mazie, Anita, Elaine & her son, Jeri & her husband and everyone else here needing of prayers.

HUGS To All,
BHR

[Anita, sounds like you and your husband, indeed, had a wonderful time on his birthday. What a nice surprise! You are so right about the Hot Stone Massage. I have had it done on me and, yes, it felt real great and so relaxing. I'm having a regular massage tomorrow, if everything goes well and would not have to cancel it. I would much rather have a Hot Stone Massage but the parlor I'll be going to do not offer that. My husband arranged it for me as I've been stressing out too much about lots of things lately, mostly personal. I told him he could use it better than I do right now. . . .he hurt his right calf while on a race bike trainer at the gym and the doctor put him on crutches for a month. He also is having occasional back spasm. Sorry to hear about the diabetes II diagnosis and the other health issues you have had. I do have HBP and high cholesterol problem too. I have just seen my doctor last Tuesday for my follow up check up and he went ahead and put me on medication to help lower my cholesterol. I really didn't want to have to take it but if it would help I thought I'll try it. I need to do more exercising and really watch my diet too. Take care and well wishes to you.BHR]

Anita, sounds like you and your husband, indeed, had a wonderful time on his birthday. What a nice surprise! You are so right about the Hot Stone Massage. I have had it done on me and, yes, it felt real great and so relaxing. I'm having a regular massage tomorrow, if everything goes well and would not have to cancel it. I would much rather have a Hot Stone Massage but the parlor I'll be going to do not offer that. My husband arranged it for me as I've been stressing out too much about lots of things lately, mostly personal. I told him he could use it better than I do right now. . . .he hurt his right calf while on a race bike trainer at the gym and the doctor put him on crutches for a month. He also is having occasional back spasm.

Sorry to hear about the diabetes II diagnosis and the other health issues you have had. I do have HBP and high cholesterol problem too. I have just seen my doctor last Tuesday for my follow up check up and he went ahead and put me on medication to help lower my cholesterol. I really didn't want to have to take it but if it would help I thought I'll try it. I need to do more exercising and really watch my diet too. Take care and well wishes to you.

BHR  

[Dee, I don't know where you got your information from, but, in the latest issue of the FC newsletter (FALL) this is what is clearly stated:BEGINNING WITH THE 2013 SHOWS,Preferred Seating tickets will be sold for a 3 Day period prior to the Public Onsale Date. Preferred Seating tickets will still go on sale at midnight CST. For example, if the public onsale date is Saturday, October 27. The Preferred Seating ticket sale will start at midnight, Wednesday October 24th and end at 11:59 p.m. Friday, October 26th.The change is that, whereas before you can purchase tickets from the FC for 7 days from the pre-sale date, now the pre-sale goes for 2-3 days prior to the public onsale date. I think the confusion came from the fact that now some venues and Ticketmaster itself are also sometimes having their own tickets pre-sale events. Everyone has to be careful with that because those pre-sale events has or may have nothing to do with the FC's own pre-sale event. BHR]

Ticket sales now are different times in different states.   Nomore waiting till midnight,,if you see a event on the tour page that you may want to get tickets for pay attention to what time and date it has for the tickets going on sale.

Dee, I don't know where you got your information from, but, in the latest issue of the FC newsletter (FALL) this is what is clearly stated:

BEGINNING  WITH THE 2013  SHOWS,
Preferred Seating tickets will be sold for a 3 Day period prior to the Public
Onsale Date. Preferred Seating tickets will still go on sale at  midnight
CST. For example, if the public onsale date is Saturday, October 27. The
Preferred Seating ticket sale will start at midnight, Wednesday October
24th and end at 11:59 p.m. Friday, October 26th.

The change is that, whereas before you can purchase tickets from the FC for 7 days from the pre-sale date, now the pre-sale goes for 2-3 days prior to the public onsale date. I think the confusion came from the fact that now some venues and Ticketmaster itself are also sometimes having their own tickets pre-sale events. Everyone has to be careful with that because those pre-sale events has or may have nothing to do with the FC's own pre-sale event.

BHR

[HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETTY AND ANITA MARTINA!!! You both have an enjoyable and very memorable day.BHR]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETTY AND ANITA MARTINA!!! You both have an enjoyable and very memorable day.

BHR

[Thank you all for voting for Alan in this radio award. Harriet, I have a feeling that there are Alan fans out there who may not be following the voting rule and putting in too many votes in the same hour they vote that's why Alan is not gaining votes but actually losing them. Everyone, please remember, and tell anyone you know who are also voting but not posting here or visiting this site, you can only vote ONCE EVERY HOUR or your vote will be deducted from, rather than added to, the current total votes for Alan's SYDHTLMA video. This means you have to wait an hour after you vote before voting again.KEEP VOTING! Here's the new link again:http://tasteofcountry.com/2012-taste-of-country-awards-vote/BHR]

Thank you all for voting for Alan in this radio award. Harriet, I have a feeling that there are Alan fans out there who may not be following the voting rule and putting in too many votes in the same hour they vote that's why Alan is not gaining votes but actually losing them.

Everyone, please remember, and tell anyone you know who are also voting but not posting here or visiting this site, you can only vote ONCE EVERY HOUR or your vote will be deducted from, rather than added to, the current total votes for Alan's SYDHTLMA video. This means you have to wait an hour after you vote before voting again.

KEEP VOTING! Here's the new link again:

http://tasteofcountry.com/2012-taste-of-country-awards-vote/

BHR