Gloriana photo courtesy of Emblem Music Group/Warner Bros. Records.

Gloriana will be featured on the May 21 episode of ABC’s The Bachelorette. They will perform a surprise concert in Charlotte, North Carolina during a unique one-on-one date with the newest Bachelorette, Emily Maynard. Emily is the first single mom to star on the series and captured America’s heart on the 15^th season of The Bachelor.

“I’m a huge fan of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette,” Rachel Reinert said. “I watched Emily when she was a contestant on The Bachelor and I was an instant fan of hers, so hearing that she is a fan of our band was a wonderful surprise! I’m excited to watch the new season, and I’m even more excited that we got to be a part of it.”

Fans can catch the trio’s episode on May 21 at 8/7 CT on ABC. Their latest single, “(Kissed You) Good Night,” is in the Top 20 on the Billboard Country Charts and is the fastest rising single of their career. Their new album, A Thousand Miles, is expected later this year.

Gloriana isn’t the only country act getting in on The Bachelorette fun this season. Luke Bryan and Dolly Parton will also make appearances on the show.

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Edens Edge photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Edens Edge spends a lot of time traveling around the country, but band member Dean Berner says one of the things on his personal bucket list is to travel even more. “I want to see a lot more of the world,” he said. “Music is amazing, because already we’ve gotten to see so much of our country here.”

Dean enjoys going to different cities and seeing how each place has its own unique flavor. While he loves traveling around the United States, he hopes to do some international traveling as well. He also wants to go skydiving, which is news to his band mates. “I never knew that about you Dean,” Hannah Blaylock said. “Learn something new every day.”

Edens Edge will spend plenty of time traveling this summer when they join Rascal Flatts on their Changed Tour, which kicks off June 15. They will release their self-titled debut album containing their debut hit, “Amen” and their current single, “Too Good to Be True,” on June 12.

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Chamber officials, along with the organization’s 2012 Leadership York County Class spent the day Thursday visiting area businesses in an attempt to drum up support for the event that organizers hope will kick off a year-round effort to encourage local citizens to patronize local vendors first.

Steve Parker chairs the class’s project and spoke about the power of spending money locally.

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Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk.

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Leadership York County spokesman Timothy Marini said Wednesday the 26 members of the class spent the afternoon thanking local businesses and customers for their efforts to encourage shoppers to keep their hard-earned dollars in York County

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Earlier this year, the class organized an adopt-a-frog drop at the Come See Me Festival, raising nearly 5-thousand dollars to seed the chamber’s buy local efforts.

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Chamber officials say that for every 100-dollars spent at a local business, 42 percent of that stays in the county.

Andrew Kiel | WRHI.com

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Rock Hill resident Margaret Yugawa says she first learned about the new aircraft that’s built in North Charleston while sitting on the tarmac at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.

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Gross is hauling the 13-foot-tall fin that would go on the aft of the aircraft throughout the state. Wednesday’s stops in York County included an escort from two Boeing retirees.

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Gross said the piece has attracted hundreds who’ve signed the fin before it’s permanently hung in the lobby of the company’s Lowcountry facility.

The slogan came out of a City Council retreat in January where a number of council members asked for improved communication between the city and its residents.

City Spokeswoman Katie Quinn says it’s a short way to publicly communicate what is already being done.

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Quinn says the new slogan is comprehensive, cohesive and strategic.

She says the city also communicates to its residents on social media.

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Quinn says the city will venture into other aspects of social media, but it will be something more than just a glorified website.

Each episode of Noteworthy at the Opry will center on specific themes including:  (just a sampling of those artists performing)

6/02   Alan Jackson:  Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood
6/09   Heartache:  Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Scotty McCreery
6/16   Love Songs:  Chris Young, Thompson Square, Keith Urban
6/23   Fan Favorites:  Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts

“Noteworthy at the Opry gives us the opportunity to highlight some of the best in country music today from its most famous stage, but also so much more,” said GAC GM/SVP Sarah Trahern. “From the legends that have stepped into the circle to the rising star’s debut to a superstar’s path to the top, viewers will be treated to amazing performances and interviews from those with a shared love and respect for this iconic institution.”

The 16-episode series of Noteworthy at the Opry is sponsored by Dish Network.

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Moody said during today’s Rock Hill State of the Community Breakfast that every student can use an I-pad at school or at home.

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Winthrop University President Anthony DiGiorgio, who announced he’s retiring after next academic year, said that the school’s Small Business Development Center might soon have an operational arm downtown to facilitate start-ups.

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Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols says Rock Hill residents enjoy a high quality of life.

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York Technical College President Greg Rutherford and Clinton Junior College President Elaine Copeland also spoke at Thursday’s breakfast.

Chris Young photo by Randee St. Nicholas, courtesy of Sony Music Nashville.

Chris Young is continuing his support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by offering up a one-of-a–kind handmade quilt. The quilt was designed and produced by his grandmother, known to Chris and fans alike as ‘Nanny.’

Nanny’s quilt highlights many of the songs Chris has recorded across his three albums. Fans can bid on the quilt through the forum on Chris Young’s official website on the Chris Chatter board. A new quilt, handmade by Nanny, will be offered each month with all proceeds going to St. Jude.

“I think it’s really cool that Nanny has taken up the cause to help raise money for these incredible St. Jude kids who are fighting for their lives,” Chris said. “I hope my fans will check out her handmade quilts each month and consider making a bid to help support St. Jude.”

Check out the beautiful quilt below:

Photo courtesy of Monarch Publicity.

Chris is currently on tour with Miranda Lambert. His just released his latest single and music video, “Neon.”

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Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Everyone is connected to their cell phones these days and Rascal Flatts is no exception. But for Jay DeMarcus, one of his biggest pet peeves is people who don’t put their phones down while they are out to dinner.

“It’s a little bit disconcerting when you’re at dinner trying to hang out with friends and everybody’s text messaging,” he said. “That’s kind of gettin’ on my nerves. Sometimes you just want to go out to dinner and enjoy each other and then you have some folks sittin’ there that are totally tuned out just texting away.”

Jay admits both he and his wife Allison are guilty of such behavior themselves. They’ve reached a mutual decision to stop the habit. “We’ve actually made a pact that when we go to a restaurant and sit down we put the phones away,” he said.

The trio’s cell phones were probably ringing off the hook with congratulations when their latest single, “Banjo,” reached No. 1 recently. They’re gearing up to release a new single, “Come Wake Me Up,” from their latest album and will hit the road on their Changed Tour this summer.

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Eli Young Band photo courtesy of HBPR.

When Eli Young Band released their latest album, Life At Best, they had a suggestion for fans on how they could save money to buy the project. They recommended doing what the band does – start a swear jar. The idea is every time someone uses a swear word, they have to put money into the jar, eventually saving enough to buy a copy of Life At Best.

“That idea was because we have a bit of a swearing problem,” Jon Jones aid. “We thought that was just kind of a funny thing, especially for anybody who knows us, of how much we stumble on our words when we’re doing interviews because we’re trying not to curse.”

Since the band wasn’t actually saving to buy their own album, their swear jar “kind of turned into the extra change jar and for some reason the crew has ended up with a lot of extra change,” Mike Eli said. “It comes in handy on laundry day,” James Young added.

Eli Young Band will hit the road with Rascal Flatts this summer on their Changed tour. Their latest single, “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” is in the Top 15 at country radio.

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