America, Jamie O'Neal to Perform Cox Carols by Candlelight Dec. 5 & 6 at California Center for the Arts, Escondido

Business Wire,  Nov 7, 2002  

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Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2002

It's a holiday season of old friends and new favorites as the Grammy-winning band America, Grammy winner Kim Carnes and Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop join some of Country's new generation of performers, Jamie O'Neal, Suzy Bogguss and Radney Foster, to begin the holiday season as they perform their hit songs and favorite holiday classics during Cox Carols by Candlelight Presented by Metabolife at 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday, Dec. 5 & 6 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

San Diego songstress Eve Selis and cowboy crooner Buck Howdy will also perform. The show will premiere exclusively on Channel 4 San Diego at 5 and 10 p.m., Friday, Dec. 13 with replays throughout December.

Come home for the holidays as Cox Carols by Candlelight brings together musical stars to sing their favorite holiday songs against a backdrop of evergreen, twinkling stars and falling snow. Cox Carols by Candlelight is a magical evening filled with music and celebration that benefits the Cox Kids Foundation, a fund of the San Diego Foundation, and the philanthropic arm of Cox Communications which distributes concert proceeds to local children's charities. The evening culminates as the audience and performers gather together in the courtyard to light candles and sing "Silent Night."

The duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, who make up the Grammy-winning band "America," hit the four million sales mark with their greatest hits collection, History, and are best known for their songs "A Horse With No Name," "Sister Golden Hair," "Ventura Highway," Tin Man," "Lonely People," "I Need You," and "You Can Do Magic."

In 2001, the Billboard Music Awards honored Australian-born Jamie O'Neal as Best New Country Artist. Her debut album, Shiver, went gold and produced two #1 hits, "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels." A former backup singer for Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, O'Neal recorded "All By Myself" for the "Bridget Jones's Diary" soundtrack.

Best known for her Grammy-winning song "Bette Davis Eyes," Kim Carnes returns by popular demand to Cox Carols by Candlelight for the fourth year in a row. She has written three #1 Country songs including "The Heart Won't Lie" performed by Reba McEntire and Vince Gill.

For the past 12 years, Suzy Bogguss has racked up an impressive body of work that earned her Country Music Award and Academy of Country Music awards, two Grammy nominations, and gold and platinum albums. She has a string of hit records, and even found herself on Mr. Blackwell's Worst Dressed List. Two songs from her Christmas album -- "Mr. Santa" and "Two-Step Around The Christmas Tree" -- have become Christmas classics on Country radio.

San Diego hometown boy Stephen Bishop's first album, Careless, featured the hits "On and On" and "Save It For A Rainy Day." Bishop also hit the charts with "It Might Be You," the theme song to the movie "Tootsie," and wrote the hit "Separate Lives" for the movie "White Nights." His songs have been sung by Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Barbra Streisand, Steve Perry, Art Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Kenny Loggins and even Pavarotti.

With smart lyrics and memorable harmonies, singer/songwriter Radney Foster has garnered both critical raves and commercial success. His music cannot be easily categorized -- his songs have been covered by everyone from the Dixie Chicks and Tanya Tucker to Hootie and the Blowfish. As part of the duo Foster and Lloyd, Radney hit #1 with "Crazy Over You." His latest solo CD, Another Way to Go, displays his roadhouse roots.

With over 900,000 downloads, Eve Selis is one of the most popular female artists on MP3.com. Named "Best Adult Alternative Artist" at the 2001 San Diego Music Awards, Selis has headlined coast to coast, from the House of Blues in Hollywood to the legendary Bitter End in New York City, and has shared the stage with Travis Tritt, Chris Isaak, Counting Crows, Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Doobie Brothers, Jewel and Joan Osborne.

Buck Howdy is a singing cowboy for a new generation. His CD Skidaddle! features cowboy standards such as "Don't Fence Me In" and "Ghost Riders in the Sky," and currently sits at #14 on Billboard Magazine's Top Internet Albums chart. Howdy is winning awards from Parent's Choice, Parent's Guide, National Association of Parenting Publications and Children's Music Web. He has penned a few cowboy songs of his own and has turned the pop gem "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" into a campfire lullaby.

This year's goal is to raise $100,000 with proceeds being distributed to children's charities through the Cox Kids Foundation. In addition to supporting charities such as Make-A-Wish Foundation, Toussaint Teen Center, and San Diego Center for Children, the Cox Kids Foundation provides hearing aids and treatment for children with hearing disabilities, scholarships for students who have overcome adversity, and grants for schools.