Garth Brooks holds press conference.
Hey, it worked for Brett Favre! This morning, Garth Brooks held a press conference at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. SPOILER ALERT: The 47 year old entertainer revealed that he will be ending his, nearly, 12 year retirement. The rumor is that he later hopped on a Jet and flew to Las Vegas to announce a Vegas act to end all Vegas acts! I, for one, can’t wait! This is gonna be HUGE! Go to Garth’s website at 4 CST today for the live stream to get the details. (above photo is one that I captured at the 2008 Starkey Hearing Foundation Gala where Garth was the headliner!)
Keith Urban @ Sommet
WOW! This was a really great opportunity. Keith Urban put together quite a line up for last night’s “All for the Hall” benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame. Keith rocked the house first with “Hit the Ground Running” and followed up with several fan favorites like “Kiss a Girl”, “Stupid Boy”, “Tonight I want to Cry”,”Sweet Thing” and a Dolly Parton song that he says inspired him to make his way into this business…”Coat of Many Colors”. He was on FIRE but it didn’t end there…about a 30 minute break was required to swap out his band for Vince Gill’s band (great time to get in line for a t-shirt!). Then Vince came out (LOVE him..Gary and I got VIP/meet & greets once for a show in Minneapolis) and serenaded his wife, Amy Grant, who was in attendance below us near the floor. Then Vince, his band and Keith sat in on each of the artist’s sets that were performing. I’m not sure what my ’stand-out’ group or moments were but I have to say that the acoustic version of Lady Antebellum’s “I need you now” was really wonderful. And for the record? The final solo of the night, Taylor Swift, was her adorable, charming, sweet self. No disappointments there. All the artists returned to the stage for one final number together (Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally”) but not before Keith and Vince would announce that they wanted to do this all over again next year! The date? October 5th, 2010. See y’all there!…..Hey I AM country! ; )
Keith Urban & Very Special Friends!
I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to meet up with my friend, Sandi, from DC yesterday. The ultimate mission, outside of getting to spend time with a great friend, is the Keith Urban benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum which is located across the street from the Sommet Center, where the event takes place this evening.
The names and the faces that are performing include: (as they are displayed on my shirt!) Keith Urban,Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Faith Hill, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Taylor Swift. Pretty impressive! Can’t wait. Section 113, here we come! 
2009 Starkey Gala with Sir Elton John
Bill & Tani Austin always pull out all the stops for this fabulous fundraiser and awards program. The Red Carpet was jam packed with celebrities both local and international, stage & screen, sports legends, politicians and the list goes on. As a member of the Gala’s Photography Team I nearly had an all access pass! I was stationed, this year, in the VIP lounge where everyone, eventually, would gather to sit & relax before the program, slip off the heels, grab complimentary cocktails and snack on the delicious hors d’oeuvres while mingling and catching up with one another! The VIP area was also the gateway room to the “meet & greet” hall where Tony Bennett & Gladys Knight were hanging out. That room was assigned to my new friend, Greg Jansen who also owns Snapz Photo Booth and had a couple of his booths in place at the house parties at Bill & Tani’s home and at 317 for the after party for all the volunteers…I digress.
I have a ton of photos to pour over and when I’m able I’ll let you know via this blog and direct you to my galleries page to see more. In the meantime, here are a few shots I captured of the entertainers that performed at this years Starkey Gala for So The World May Hear.
This is Mr. Ethan Bortnick
Starkey Gala’s headliner for 2009 ~ Sir. Elton John
Starkey Gala 2009
Last night I got together with all of the photographers that are shooting this year’s Starkey Gala for So The World May Hear at the, newly remodeled, Minnetonka Marriott. A fabulous group of professionals has been assembled yet again. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we all worked together for this event. Last year I was fortunate enough to be given the role of Bill & Tani Austin’s photographer on the Red Carpet! I photographed everyone as they arrived and grabbed shots of each of them with Bill & Tani. It was pretty incredible and a HUGE honor! This year I have been assigned something that is mighty exciting as well…the Green Room. This will be where most of the Celebrities will hang out prior to the Ballroom opening. Sir Elton John is the main performer this year along with Gladys Night, Billy Crystal and Tony Bennett! Garth Brooks was the main performer last year as well as Pat Benatar. Here’s some shots from last year.
I’m really excited to shoot this year. I’m going to miss both house parties, the Golf outing, the Bass Tournament and the Missions at the Center for Excellence leading up to the Gala due to 2 weddings but I will be at the Gala on Sunday and the energy there is amazing!
