Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe TODAY IN COUNTRY MUSIC HISTORY (Tuesday, April 1) Advertisement Jules Verne Allen, early cowboy singer, born in Waxahachie, Texas, 1883. Jim Ed Brown born in Sparkman, Ark., 1934. Randy Barlow's first Top 10 single, "Slow And Easy," is charted, 1978. Elvis Presley's screen test with Paramount Studios leads to a three-film contract guaranteeing him $450,000, 1955. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opens, 1967 Crystal Gayle's "Ready For The Times To Get Better" hits No. 1 on the country charts, 1978. Mark Herndon joins Alabama as the band's drummer, 1979. Reba McEntire's "Rumor Has It" album goes platinum, 1991. MUSIC AND MORE CHELY WRIGHT APPEALS FOR TROOP BOOST Chely Wright has put out an appeal to support U.S. troops fighting in Iraq -- one of whom is her brother, Sgt. Christopher Wright. She says her brother told her in an e-mail that basic supplies are scarce. "Baby wipes, deodorant, razor cartridges, lotion, eye drops, toothpaste -- things like that, you get the picture," Wright said in appeal for donations on her Web site, chely.com/missioncountrycares.shtml. She's asking for cash donations to buy the necessities for what she's calling the "Country Care Package." Advertisement CAMPBELL SONG MAKES URBAN CRY Keith Urban has been playing the Glen Campbell hit "Galveston" at recent shows as a tribute to U.S. and Australian troops fighting in Iraq. The song is about a young man who heads off to war and leaves his girlfriend behind in Galveston, Texas. Australian Urban tells LAUNCH.com he "literally cried" when he wrote out the lyrics of the Jimmy Webb song for a friend. "I didn't realize how powerful that song was and really what it was about, and to realize it's this guy going off to war and leaving his girl behind on the beaches of Galveston was just so devastating," Urban said. FAN FAIR TIX ON SALE NEXT WEEK Tickets go on sale April 7 for Fan Fair, this spring's four-night concert series in Nashville featuring more than 35 country acts. Names just added to the lineup of performers: Billy Ray Cyrus, Cledus T. Judd, Travis Tritt and the winner of USA Network's talent search series, "Nashville Star," a news release said. They join Brooks & Dunn, Deana Carter, Kenny Chesney, Terri Clark, Vince Gill, Jennifer Hanson, Alan Jackson, Lonestar, Patty Loveless, Montgomery Gentry, Trick Pony, Keith Urban and others. Advertisement Single-night tickets for Coliseum shows are $25, and four-day ticket packages range from $125 to $145 each. More information on the festival, which runs from June 5-8, can be found at fanfair.com/2003.
