Heart Strings for Hope a virtual sellout

photo Kelley Lovelace

KELLEY LOVELACEHit list: He has co-written multiple Top 10 Billboard hits, including "He Didn't Have To Be" and "The World" for Brad Paisley, "The Impossible" for Joe Nichols and "Don't Forget To Remember Me" for Carrie Underwood.Fast fact: He worked for a while as a singing busboy at the Station House Restaurant at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.EASTON CORBINHit list: His self-titled debut included the No. 1 singles "A Little More Country Than That" and "Roll With It," as well as a Top 15 hit, "I Can't Love You Back." His latest single is "Lovin' You Is Fun" from "All Over the Road."Fast fact: Billboard named him the Top New Country Artist of 2010. Rolling Stone declared sophomore effort "All Over the Road" one of the best country albums of 2012.

photo Easton Corbin

Maybe it could be argued that the on-air personalities at WUSY-FM are just darn persuasive. Or that a cause as worthy as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will always draw support.

What's not really open for debate is that an impressive roster of talent always signs on for US101's annual Heart Strings for Hope concert.

Whatever the reason for its success, the show, scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at the Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St., was a virtual sellout at press time.

This year's concert will feature four of country's top breakthrough artists of the past few years -- Randy Houser, Jerrod Niemann, Lee Brice and Easton Corbin -- as well as established songwriter Kelley Lovelace, whose credits read like a who's who of country royalty (Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, the list goes on).

Lovelace, a Hixson High School graduate, is strictly a songwriter, but the others have charted their course in country music as singers and songwriters, both for their own albums and for other artists.

To check on single-ticket availability ($29.50 and $39.50), visit www.ChattanoogaOnStage.com or call 423-642-TIXS.

JERROD NIEMANN

Hit list: He had a No. 1 single in "Lover, Lover" and a Top 5 hit in "What Do You Want" from the album "Judge Jerrod & the Hung Jury." His latest album, "Free the Music," produced the Top 20 hit "Shinin' On Me."

Fast fact: Niemann says he made "Free the Music," which emphasizes the instruments that have shaped country music (acoustic guitars and bass, fiddles and horns) "in an effort to try and mix 1927 with 2027." He cites Ronnie Milsap and Fort Payne supergroup Alabama as artists who forged new paths in country music. "(They) did that by using pop melodies. But when you hear their songs today, they've become country classics."

RANDY HOUSER

Hit list: His sophomore album produced the No. 2 hit "Boots On," the ballad "Anything Goes and fan favorite "Whistlin' Dixie." His latest hit single is the title track of his new album, "How Country Feels."

Fast fact: Considered a singer's singer, Houser has been praised by Vince Gill as "one of the best in the new crop of country singer/songwriters." He was the most-played artist on country radio in 2009, according to Country Aircheck.

LEE BRICE

Hit list: The title track to his 2010 debut album, "Love Like Crazy," hit at No. 3 on the charts. His latest release, "Hard 2 Love," charted No. 1 hits with the title track and "A Woman Like You."

Fast fact: He co-wrote "Crazy Girl," a No. 1 hit for the Eli Young Band and Billboard's No. 1 country song for 2011. The title track off his own album, "Love Like Crazy," was Billboard's most played country song of 2010.

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