Copious Notes

Montgomery Gentry, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, on stage the night they were inducted in to the Grand Ole Opry in 2009. © The Tennessean photo by Dipti Vaidya.

Country stars Montgomery Gentry and Laura Bell Bundy may spend a lot of their time in Nashville these days, but they are coming home next week to help victims of the tornadoes that swept through Eastern Kentucky March 2.

The Central Kentucky artists are teaming for the Kentucky Cares concert at 8 p.m. March 9 at Buster’s Billiards and Backroom. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday (May 1) for the show. All proceeds will go to the Kentucky Red Cross, which is heading up relief efforts in Kentucky communities such as West Liberty that were devastated by the storms.

Danville native Eddie Montgomery and Nicholasville’s Troy Gentry are well into their second hitmaking decade. Their latest album, Rebels on the Run, features the single Where I Come From.

Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy became a Tony Award nominee for her performance as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde – The Musical, before she turned her attention to country music. Her next album, Another Piece of Me, is expected later this year.

Laura Bell Bundy in her last Lexington appearance, April 13 at Walmart in Hamburg Pavilion. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

It’s been an active week for Kentucky duo Montgomery Gentry.

Monday, it was announced that the group received a CMT Music Awards nomination for duo video of the year for Where I Come From, an emotional clip that portrays a soldier injured in battle reflecting on the small town he comes from. Carrie Underwood was the big nominee with five nods in the awards, which are voted on by viewers, so you can go click now. The show is at 8 p.m. June 6.

But you can see Montgomery Gentry on your TV this week on ABC’s The Revolution at 2 p.m. April 26 on WTVQ (Digital 36-1|Insight 10) here in the Bluegrass. The duo will be showing fashion expert Tim Gunn around some of their favorite Nashville style haunts. According to a news release from the duo’s publicists, Troy Gentry will take Gunn to hip outfitter Aimee Johns’ Flavour for Men while Eddie Montgomery will introduce Gunn to Morelia Ceuvas, daughter of Manuel, the legendary designer who made Johnny Cash the man in black and gave Elvis Presley his gold lamé suit. The Revolution is ABC’s new daytime lifestyle talk show which premiered in January with hosts including Project Runway’s Gunn and Extreme Makeover host Ty Pennington.

Montgomery Gentry, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, on stage the night they were inducted in to the Grand Ole Opry in 2009. © The Tennessean photo by Dipti Vaidya.

State and regional officials joined with Kentucky Country stars Tom T. Hall and Montgomery Gentry Wednesday morning to reveal the locations for the first round of the Country Music Highway Road to Fame Competition.

The contest, announced Jan. 31 in Frankfort, aims to identify the next country music star to come out of the area around U.S. 23, which has produced stars such as Loretta Lynn, The Judds and Dwight Yoakam. That legacy earned the road the designation of the Country Music Highway by the Kentucky State Legislature in 1994.

In a video greeting, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, whose current hit is Where I Come From, lamented that opportunities for aspiring artists to sharpen their skills in area clubs and other venues weren’t as prevalent as they once were.

“A lot of those clubs moved to line dancing which pushed a lot of those musicians and entertainers and bands out,” Gentry said. “We support the Country Music Highway Road to Fame, and you should too.”

The American Idol-style competition will begin with four preliminary rounds in the middle of March. The locations are:

1 p.m. March 15: Expo Center ballroom, 126 Main St., Pikeville

1 p.m. March. 16: Mountain Arts Center band room, 50 Hal Rogers Drive, Prestonsburg

10 a.m. March 17: Paramount Arts Center, 1300 Winchester Avenue, Ashland

1 p.m March 18: Sipp Theater, 336 Main Street, Paintsville

The competition is open to people ages 13-35 who grew up in the 15 counties surrounding U.S. 23 (Letcher, Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Lawrence, Boyd, Greenup, Harlan, Perry, Knott, Magoffin, Morgan, Elliott, Carter and Lewis counties). Registration for each of the preliminary rounds will begin two hours prior to the start time.

Miranda Lambert performing at Rupp Arena in January 2010. © Herald-Leader photo by Mark Cornelison.

• See video from last year’s Barnstable Brown Gala.

Country star Miranda Lambert tops the lists of celebrities who will be attending the 2011 Barnstable-Brown Kentucky Derby Eve Gala in Louisville.

Lambert, whose star has been steadily rising the past few years, will be joined by Kentucky natives and fellow country stars Wynonna Judd and Montgomery Gentry at the May 6 party. Also coming in from Music City will be LeeAnn Womack; Kix Brooks, formerly of Brooks & Dunn and Travis Tritt.

As with every year, the list, released Tuesday morning by party co-host Patricia Barnstable-Brown, includes celebrities from music, film, sports and reality TV. And there are newcomers and perennial guests such as singer Taylor Dayne, hip hop pioneer DMC of Run DMC, former *N Sync member and TV regular Joey Fatone,  Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Winter Olympics star Bode Miller, chart-topping group Boyz II Men and Nick Lachey with his fiancee Vanessa Minnillo.

Former UK basketball star Patrick Patterson greeted fans at the 2010 Barnstable-Brown Gala. © Herald-Leader photo by Jonathan Palmer.

Barnstable-Brown is also bringing back University of Kentucky basketball stars DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson, along with Coach John Calipari.

Joining them will be numerous other human athletes including Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers and and NFL quarterback legends Terry Bradshaw, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers and now at Fox Sports, and current New England Patriots QB Tom Brady. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and figure skater Johnny Weir – who made a big splash at last year’s Derby – will also be there. If there is any need to comment on all the sporting action, ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be in the house.

Twin sisters Priscilla Barnstable and Patricia Barnstable-Brown at their 2010 Derby eve gala. © Herald-Leader photo by Jonathan Palmer.

Making her first trip to the gala will be Kate Plus 8 star Kate Gosselin. Also making their BSB debut will be teen heartthrobs Kevin and Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Sports Illustrated swimsuit and Victoria’s Secret model Marissa Miller and fellow supermodel Niki Taylor will also be on the red carpet.

Law & Order SVU star Christopher Meloni will be there along with original Law& Order star and former presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

Music is always a big part of the party, so in addition to Lambert, Judd and the others, party attendees and people standing around the gates are likely to hear Salt-n-Pepa and Freddie Jackson.

This will be the 23rd edition of the gala hosted by Barnstable-Brown and her sister Priscilla Barnstable. The gala is a fundraiser for the Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Research Center at the University of Kentucky.  Last year’s edition raised $1 million.

Eddie Montgomery, left, and Troy Gentry, of Montgomery Gentry, accept the Home Depot Humanitarian Award at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on April 18, 2010. AP Photo by Matt Sayles.

KaBOOM!, a charitable organization that builds play places, and The Home Depot will build a playground in Lexington this fall in honor of country music stars Montgomery Gentry.

Lexington was selected in a nationwide vote April 12 to 30, beating out five other cities including Atlanta and Los Angeles. Lexington received 65 percent of the 54,000 votes cast.

Montgomery Gentry, the Kentucky-based duo of Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, was awarded the Academy of Country Music/Home Depot Humanitarian Award on April 18 at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. The award was in recognition of the group’s national and international humanitarian work. The playground is part of the honor.

The location and dates for the build, which will be done by Home Depot associates, will be announced later.