In Nashville, when a song reaches #1 on the charts industry executives gather to celebrate the songwriters, performers, producers and everyone else involved with making the song a success. Usually the event consists of speeches and awards and sometimes a performance. About a week and a half ago Keith decided to put a twist on the event and fly in two fans, chosen from YouTube cover videos of the song, to perform with him and Richard Marx. You may not know this, but Keith LOVES YouTube, so his idea didn't come as a shock. Over the next week Keith and our team combed through cover versions and Keith picked two of his favorites. The first was a guitarist from Hazard, KY named Leslie Strong. In a crazy turn of events we later learned that Leslie was pulled up on stage by Keith at his show in Kentucky in 2008 after he noticed her sign stating "Let Me Play Your Guitar!" She blew Keith and the crowd away with her crazy guitar skills. (Watch the video here). The other winner was Patrick Woolam, lead singer of Kansas City based band The Transients. 

 When everyone arrived at the venue Wednesday afternoon I had the chance to meet both winners. I could tell Patrick was a little nervous but visibly excited while Leslie was chill, cool and collected. As soon as Keith arrived he focused solely on them. They did a soundcheck and I was amazed at how quickly the whole performance came together and how AMAZING it sounded for none of them having ever played together before! Keith let the winners steal the spotlight and shine! 

Before the event began Keith wanted to send a message directly to you fans. He recorded this a couple of days ago. If you haven't seen it yet you can watch it here. (Spoiler: It's really sweet!) 

The first thing that happens at a #1 party is press and media interviews. Keith and Richard Marx candidly spoke to reporters about their friendship, their inspiration for the song, how the writing of it took place and Keith's vocal rest. My favorite part of the interview was when Keith explained how they were writing on the bus at a show Keith was playing with the Eagles. Joe Walsh, the Eagles guitarist came on the bus and interrupted their songwriting session! Richard said he finally asked if he was interrupting something and they had to tell him yes! After he left they were able to finish the song. :) 

After the press portion of the event came the ceremony. Executives from Capitol Records, BMI, ASCAP, Universal Music Publishing and The Country Music Association honored Keith, Richard, Dan Huff (producer), management personnel and others involved in the songs success with plaques and awards. Then Keith, Richard and Dan had the opportunity to express their thanks to the team. 

This all led up to the highlight of the evening, the performance. Keith explained how the YouTube contest came about and invited Leslie and Patrick to join him and the band on stage. He warned everyone that it was going to get loud and it DEFINITELY did! (Sorry for the livestream audio!!) They rocked the song and the crowd LOVED it. Here's a video of the performance with clear sound!

Overall the #1 party was a blast and a huge success. People in the industry here are already calling it "one of Music Row's best parties ever"! Congratulations to both Leslie and Patrick for their AWESOME cover videos and amazing performance last night! It takes a lot of guts to get on stage in front of an industry crowd and rock out, but they totally did! Also congratulations to Keith, Richard Dan and EVERYONE else involved in helping Long Hot Summer reach #1. Hopefully we'll be able to attend another #1 party real soon! 

Monkeyville members: There's a Monkeyville exclusive video in KU Tube from the Press conference.  It's FULL of stories and candid moments.  I'll post another one tomorrow! :)

-Chloe