BETHPAGE, NY – May 24, 2000 – Enjoy some southern comfort this July with country’s hottest recording stars when Romance Classics presents the “Southern Comforts” film and music festival. Hosted by the leading ladies of country music Naomi Judd, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis and Chely Wright, the month-long event kicks-off July 7 at 9:00 PM (ET) and airs every Friday night throughout the month.
The Southern Belles will share tips on the best of down home southern living including cooking tips and southern style recipes by Naomi Judd and an exclusive performance by Pam Tillis. Kathy Mattea and Chely Wright will introduce the nightly double features of flicks about life below the Mason-Dixon including The Long Hot Summer starring Paul Newman, Orson Welles, Joanne Woodward, Rich In Love starring Ethan Hawke and Alfre Woodard, Sweet Dreams starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris and King Creole starring Elvis Presley.
America fell in love with the Naomi Judd, the self-proclaimed country girl from Ashland, Kentucky. From small town humble beginnings, this daughter of a gas station owner father and riverboat cook mother became an inspiration to the duo’s legions of fans. The music industry labeled her the “Cinderella” of country music because of her real life rags-to-riches story. As the mother-daughter duo The Judds, Naomi and Wynonna have sold over 20 million albums and won over 60 industry awards including six Grammys, nine CMA’s and eight Billboard Music Awards. Younger Daughter Ashley has become an award-winning actress in feature films including Heat with Robert De Niro, A Time To Kill with Matthew McConaughey and Kiss The Girls with Morgan Freeman. Naomi’s successful literary endeavors include NAOMI’S HOME COMPANION: A Treasury of Favorite Recipes Food For Thought, and Kitchen Wit and Wisdom (GT Publishing, October 1997) and Love Can Build a Bridge, a children’s book based on the self-pinned hit song (Harper Collins, May 1999).
Since emerging from a folk and bluegrass background nurtured in her homestate of West Virginia, Kathy Mattea has earned the respect of music fans by guarding her independence and remaining close to her music roots. Ms. Mattea has just put the finishing touches on her 11th studio album, which she co-produces with Ben Wisch and Keith Stegall. The project is a collection of insightful and stirring songs about the trials of love and family titled The Innocent Years.
Ms. Mattea moved to Nashville in 1978 as part of a bluegrass band and worked various jobs, including a stint at the Country Music Hall of Fame, before being discovered. In 1983 Mercury records signed her and since then she has won five CMA Awards, two Grammy’s and four ACMs. Kathy Mattea is known worldwide for her warm, personable stage shows and the caliber of her bands.
Born in Plant City, Florida and raised in Nashville, Tennessee Pam Yvonne Tillis entered the world of music at the tender age of 8 playing the piano, guitar and studying classical music. A struggling up and comer, Pam worked as a back-up singer, club performer, songwriter and publishing company demo singer. Since her humble beginnings, Pam has gone on to sell over four million records, have six # 1’s, 13 top five’s, and 17 top ten’s and has produced one of her albums, All Of This Love.
A turning point in her career was her Greatest Hits record. “All The Good Ones Are Gone,” was nominated for two Grammy’s, the CMA single, song, Female Vocalist and Video honors, as well as the ACM “Song of the Year.” Her new album Every Time is considered Pam’s most mature album and cohesive since Sweetheart’s.
As long has she can remember, Chely Wright has been living, breathing, eating and sleeping country music. By age 11 she was singing professionally in her Kansas City hometown. At age 18 she earned cast membership in the “Country Music U.S.A.” show at the Opryland theme park in Nashville. Chely earned the industry’s respect with a 1995 Academy of Country Music win as Top New Female Vocalist and her powerhouse performance of “The Love That We Lost” in 1996. But her recording career was lost in a shuffle of corporate reorganizations until Tony Brown signed her to MCA Nashville in 1997. Chely rewarded his faith with her first top-10 hit “Shut Up and Drive.”
On the strength of her performances, Chely Wright earned a slot on the 1998 Vince Gill tour as his opening act. Truly an entire lifetime of professional and personal experience has been poured into the creation of Single White Female, the current album that fulfills her destiny. It is the record that tells you who she is and announces her emergence as a major player on the contemporary country scene.
ROMANCE CLASSICS provides an oasis of entertainment for women 24 hours a day. It is “Time Out TV” that helps women reconnect, refocus and rediscover the issues that are most important to them: family, relationships, romance, well-being and new experiences.
Contact:
Annmarie Volz
Jolene Libretto
(516) 803-4347
Lynn Weiss
Fenot Tekle
(310) 998-9307