Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Wednesday, Jan. 15) Advertisement Folk song collector Alan Lomax born, 1915. David Lynn Jones born in Bexar, Ark., 1950. Vic Willis dies in car crash in Hohenwald, Tenn., 1995. Ernest Tubb records Top Ten single, "Keep My Mem'ry in Your Heart," 1944. MUSIC AND MORE MARTINA THRILLED WITH AMA AWARD Martina McBride is thrilled with her American Music Award for favorite female country artist, saying it adds to the satisfaction of wide fan support. "To me, the real awards are when the people buy your records and go to your shows," McBride said backstage. "But the awards from the industry, and the fan-voted awards, are just a little extra recognition." McBride's onetime backup singer, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, took the AMA for favorite new female country artist. "She's watched me grow," Johnson said of McBride. "It's very sweet when it happens like this." ELIZABETH COOK SHOPPING FOR LABEL Elizabeth Cook is in the market for another label after Warner Bros. Records granted her request to be released from her contract. "Due to different priorities at the label, Elizabeth Cook asked to be released from her contract at Warner Bros.," Cook's manager Bill Mayne told the Nashville Tennessean. Advertisement Critics liked Cook's "Hey Y'all" album released last summer but its initial single, "Stupid Things," never took off on radio. CLINT BLACK PRESIDES OVER 'NASHVILLE STAR' The USA Network's new reality series, "Nashville Star," will have Clint Black acting as a creative consultant to finalists. Black also will produce the winner's solo album on Sony Music Nashville. More than 8,000 hopefuls went through 48 local competitions, and judges pared the field to 125. Semifinals wrapped up Sunday. The 10 finalists will live together in a fully wired house in Nashville, where cameras will record all the dynamics among the contestants during the eight-week competition. The series premieres on USA March 8.
