I guess we’ll have to call it the Mike and Mike show here today. Both Mike’s will be on the microphone announcing and talking with the celebrities as they stop by for their turn at racing a New Holland Boomer.
Here’s Mike Adams (left) and Michael Peterson studying the list of contestants and making sure they’re ready for things.
Besides a crowd it looks like we’ve got a number of media representatives out this year covering the event. It’ll be interesting to see where all this shows up.
We’re live on the scene here for the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race.
Here’s our announcer, Mike Adams, AgriTalk, interviewing Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board prior to the activities. We don’t start until 1pm but there’s already a crowd gathered on the bleachers in the sun. It’s a hot one and the tractor racing action is going to be even hotter.
I’ll try to put some posts up during the afternoon as time allows.
While I was on stage this morning when Michael Peterson performed I got a short video clip. It’s only 30 seconds long because that’s all we’re allowed to use from any performance due to CMA media rules.
I just thought you might want to get a feel for the performance and the crowd and this is a way to do that pretty easily. The song Michael is performing here with his band is one of the new ones that will be coming out later this year.
It’s about time to take a break for the day here at the CMA Music Festival. Tomorrow I’ll be covering (pictures and interviews) at the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race. My hope is to have my posts done by tomorrow night before I head out of here early on Monday.
The race starts at 1pm and will take quite a while since I think Michaels said he’s got 34 contestants this year. I know Tanya Tucker is back and she’s hungry for victory.
Jay Leno wanted a jet engine of a car and he got one. It’s called the EcoJet and it runs on 100% biodiesel and cranks out 650 horsepower showing that this alternative fuel is high performance.
I interviewed Steve Reich about the car. He works for Jay Leno doing logistics which includes traveling around with this car lately. The EcoJet was designed by Jay working with General Motors. Steve says that the car is very light weight and should be able to hit about 220 mph. I’m guessing that when Jay drives it to the studio to do his show he’ll be doing the speed limit. Right?
Having the car on display here at the New Holland tent came about after Gene Hemphill, New Holland Public Affairs Director, met with Steve and Jay in Burbank when Jay decided to get a New Holland Boomer to move cars around in his garage. Here’s my interview with Steve: cma-07-reich.mp3
In the Chevy Sports Zone you’ll find the New Holland tent and it’s a busy place. It looks out over where the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race will take place tomorrow afternoon.
People who stop by the booth can enter a drawing to win one of five $100 Cabela’s gift cards. That’s a nice prize and one that they’re getting lots of entries for. Also on display is the New Holland Boomer compact tractor that all the celebrities will be signing who compete in the tractor race. This year’s tractor will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to the FFA and the charity of the winner’s choice.
Last year’s tractor is still up for auction until midnight tonight. Don’t forget to place your bid if you’re interested. You can find the auction here.
After Michael Peterson’s performance this morning on the Riverfront Stage he was interviewed by the Great American Country channel.
Here he’s being interviewed by Suzanne Alexander. Suzanne has her own blog on the GAC site called Music Row Ramblings. I just kind of tagged along to see how it went. The GAC has a nice studio like setup for interviews with the Riverfront Stage as a backdrop. You can see video of interviews they do with the stars on the website.
Today Michael Peterson performed on the Riverfront Stage here at the CMA Music Festival. I was able to go backstage with him and was also allowed to go onstage for a few photos. You can see many of them in my online photo album now.
Michael performed some old and some new, including 2 songs off his upcoming CD release later this year. The crowd was out early and they loved Michael. He started out with one of his biggest hits, “Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie.”
Here’s just a short audio clip of the performance recorded off stage to give you a flavor of what you missed if you weren’t there: cma-07-peterson-riverfront.mp3
After Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board did his XM Radio, Dave Nemo Show appearance I got a chance to interview him.
He’s really happy to get an opportunity this weekend to work with New Holland and Michael Peterson as they help promote biodiesel here at the CMA Music Festival. Earlier this year the NBB gave New Holland’s Gene Hemphill their Eye on Biodiesel Award for Innovation. Joe talks about how New Holland with people like Gene are leading the way for the company support needed to move bioidiesel forward as a viable alternative fuel.
Don’t forget that Joe will be one of the competitors in tomorrow’s Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race. Here’s an excerpt of my interview with Joe: cma-07-jobe-excerpt.mp3
It’s Friday afternoon in Nashville and time to relax with a very tasty treat. After a full day of CMA Music Festival related activities and a nice run I thought I’d check out the end of the week emails. There are a number of them that come in from Washington, DC. Like the NAWG Newsletter. In it I learned of a new website called FarmPolicyFacts.org. It’s supported by the American Sugar Alliance, Minnesota Corn Growers Associations, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council and the USA Rice Federation. I like the fact that it’s got an RSS feed but I’ve got to say that what I think they’re trying to do would work very well in blog format. If you wonder why just give me a call and I’ll explain.
I also found out that the 2008 Commodity Classic website is now public so you’ve got to check that out. It’s never too early to plan ahead. (Didn’t we just have Commodity Classic?) The little corn/soybean/wheat dudes are even animated!
