Craig Campbell Archives - Nashville Music Line

In the Christmas Spirit!

Music brings Christmas home for the holidays

By Preshias Harris

Now it’s really beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Music will always be part of Christmas and certain songs instantly conjure up childhood memories that stay with us throughout our lives. Here’s a roundup of some Christmas music news that might create some new memories for you and your family. Scroll down for info on Opry Country Christmas, O.N.E. The Duo, Mikayla Lane, Craig Campbell, Drew Aldridge, Chris Isaak and Opry NextStage.

Opry Country Christmas returns to Grand Ole Opry House

The Grand Ole Opry® has kicked off Nashville’s newest holiday tradition with the return of Opry Country Christmas at the Grand Ole Opry House. Hosted by Grammy®-winning Opry member Larry Gatlin, Opry Country Christmas will showcase songs of the holiday season, running on select dates through Dec. 22. Each show features Opry members The Gatlin Brothers, Riders In The Sky, Mandy Barnett and Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie McCoy. Other Opry members, special guests, and spotlight artists will round out the shows made up of artists’ original songs and timeless Christmas favorites. Spotlight Artists for this year’s run include Lauren Alaina (Dec. 1), Scotty McCreery (Dec. 4), Steven Curtis Chapman (Dec. 8); Chris Janson (Dec. 11), Josh Turner and Chris Young (Dec 15), Lorrie Morgan (Dec. 21), and Ricky Skaggs (Dec. 22). Additional artists scheduled for various Opry Country Christmas shows include John Berry, Jason Crabb, Louise Mandrell, Kathy Mattea, Jeannie Seely, and Rhonda Vincent. Tickets are on-sale now here starting at $55.00.

“Happy Holiday With Me” from mom/daughter duo

O.N.E The Duo, Music City’s own mother-daughter Country/Americana duo (Tekitha and Prana Supreme), are ringing in the Christmas spirit with “Happy Holiday With Me,” via a new music video out now. Inspired by Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” video, the clip is reminiscent of a vintage candid home video. The song can also be found on their new holiday EP O.N.E Very Merry Christmas, available here. “Christmas, and the holiday season in general, is my favorite time of year and that’s really what I wanted to capture for this video. Growing up, my family didn’t really celebrate Christmas in the traditional way, so it was fun to create those moments for this song,” says Prana Supreme — daughter of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Wu-Tang vocalist Tekitha — who wrote “Happy Holiday With Me” with her mom, Nash Overstreet, and Shane Stevens. Directed by Brandon Vestal, the festive clip features the duo celebrating some of their favorite Christmas traditions like baking apple pie together, while Ron Zamber (Chairman and Founding Partner, Visionary Media Group and Private Equity Group Partner) makes a cameo as Santa Claus. More info here.

Mikayla Lane shares version of “Silent Night”

Fans join Craig Campbell and celebs for Cornhole Challenge

Fight Colorectal Cancer benefit kicks off CMA Fest, raises $25,000

By Preshias Harris

Country music fans and celebs gathered to support a great cause and enjoy fun in the sun, Tuesday, June 7, for the 8^th Annual Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge. Again, the event served as an unofficial precursor to the CMA Music Festival, with so many country artists already gathering in Music City.

*Craig Campbell and the contestants gather for a group photo before the Cornhole Challenge gets under way. Photo credit: Tracie Moore*

Fans were invited to bid for the opportunity to be part of sixteen teams and play alongside celebrity contestants, with all the proceeds benefitting Fight CRC, a leading advocacy organization of relentless champions of hope in the fight against colorectal cancer. The result: The event raised more than $25,000 for the national nonprofit Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC).

The location for this year’s event was Loser’s Bar and Grill in Nashville, followed by a performance by Craig Campbell and fellow artists in the Whiskey Jam parking lot. This year’s winners were Andrew Millsaps, half of music duo Neon Union, and John Smyth, a loving caregiver for his sister Denise who was recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Craig Campbell (l.) with Craig Campbell Celebrity Cornhole Challenge winners Andrew Millsaps (c.), half of music duo Neon Union, and John Smyth (r.), a loving caregiver for his sister Denise who was recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer (CRC)

Craig Campbell fights colorectal cancer with Cornhole Challenge

Raises hundreds of thousands of dollars with celebrity friends

It was Craig Campbell‘s Celebrity Cornhole Challenge time in Nashville on Tuesday, June 5. The celebrities – and hundreds of fans – turned out at the City Winery to enjoy a warm, pre-CMA-Fest afternoon of fun for a good cause: to raise aware and funds for Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC). This is a cause very close to my own heart. My brother Shannon died from colorectal cancer at the age of 39 and his death could have been prevented simply by a colonoscopy.

Craig Campbell gets the Cornhole Challenge under way. Photo: Preshias Harris

In case you are not familiar with cornhole, it is a game in which small bags filled with dried corn or beans are tossed at a target consisting of an inclined wooden platform with a hole at one end. Points are scored when a contestant tosses his or her corn bag into the hole (3 points) or onto the board (1 point). The game was said to originate in Germany in the 14^thcentury and was revived by settlers in Kentucky in the 19^thcentury.

Craig’s new single: ‘See You Try’

The annual Celebrity Cornhole Challenge is organized by Craig Campbell who is recognized for his ‘new-school’ take on classic Country. On June 8, Craig released his first new collection in five years, an EP titled SEE YOU TRY (Broken Bow Records). The title song, ‘See You Try,’ is also Craig’s new single, written by Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line), Bart Butler, James McNair and Jordan Schmidt.

Craig was joined by LOCASH, Walker Hayes, Brett Kissel, Russell Dickerson, Jerrod Niemann, Brett Young, Lindsay Eli, Tegan Marie, Morgan Mills, Taylor Phillips, Dee Jay Silver, The Cadillac Three and other celebrities who tried their cornhole skill (or lack of it) to entertain the fans who cheered them on.

During a break in the action, I asked Craig, how did this event come about?

“Six years ago, I wanted an event that honored my dad,” said Craig. “He was 36 years old when he died of colon cancer, so I thought, what can I do to honor him? And to have fun and do something different, you know? A lot of people are having free concerts, golf tournaments, fishing tournaments. But no-one is having a cornhole tournament. So then, I thought it was a pretty cool play on the whole corn hole / colon, that sort of thing! So that’s how it all started. Now we’re at year number six and I feel it’s just getting bigger and better.”

Brett Kissel talks about Garth and Brad

As Brett Kissel took a break to grab a bottle of cold water, I asked him how it felt when he opened for Garth Brooks, the dream of every singer and songwriter.

“It was the best thing I’ve ever been able to do in my career,” he said. “I’ll tell you, every night that I got to step out on stage to perform and open the show, and then a few times when I got to be on stage and sing with Garth in front of his crowd, I’m telling you Preshias, that was exactly what Cloud Nine feels like! I believe that there are moments that are similar to what heaven could feel like, and that was like a heavenly moment.” Continue reading “Craig Campbell fights colorectal cancer with Cornhole Challenge”