Dierks Bentley, Counting Crows, The Fray, John Hiatt, Lady Antebellum, Paul Rodgers, Richie Sambora, Joe Satriani, Richard Thompson and Keith Urban Launch New Season of Front and Center

Ten All New Shows Including a 10th Anniversary CMA Songwriters Series Debut and a Special 99th Birthday Commemorative Concert for Legendary Guitar Pioneer Les Paul

September 24, 2014 (New York) –Multi-Grammy, CMA, and AMA Award winners round out the line-up for the new season of public television’s acclaimed music series Front and Center. This season marks the series’ most diverse line-up to date, including its first Country Music performances, and one-of-a-kind shows with Dierks Bentley, Counting Crows, The Fray, John Hiatt, Lady Antebellum, Paul Rodgers, Richie Sambora, Joe Satriani, Richard Thompson, and Keith Urban.

“This season could be our best,” said Executive Producer Don Maggi. “We’re featuring some of the finest names in pop, rock and country music, who have collectively sold millions of albums, won numerous awards and are easily some of the best live entertainers in the business.”

The ten all-new shows will begin feeding to public television stations starting September 30th. Check local listings for air dates and times in each market and for a sneak peek at the new season click here http://tinyurl.com/l89ywor.

Counting Crows (September 30)

John Hiatt (October 7)

Dierks Bentley (October 14)

Joe Satriani (October 21)

Lady Antebellum (October 28)

Keith Urban (November 4)

Paul Rodgers (November 11)

The Fray (November 18)

Richard Thompson (November 25)

Richie Sambora (December 2)

The season includes a new collaboration with the Country Music Association (CMA) featuring a 10th Anniversary celebration of the CMA Songwriters Series with CMA Award winner Dierks Bentley. Other performances include Grammy nominee Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company), performing music from his first studio album in nearly 13 years, The Royal Sessions, as well as seven-time Grammy Award Winner, and six-time CMA Award winner, Lady Antebellum, with new music from their highly anticipated upcoming album 747. Grammy nominee and instrumental guitarist Joe Satriani performs an exclusive 99th birthday commemorative concert for celebrated guitar pioneer Les Paul, and legendary songwriter/guitarist Richie Sambora, co-creator of some of the most instantly recognizable songs today, performs his first solo concert in New York City in nearly 25 years, paying tribute to his mentor and hero Les Paul.

Country superstar Dierks Bentley said, “The core of Country Music is its songs, and the CMA established the CMA Songwriters Series 10 years ago to recognize a really important part of our genre, the songwriters. We don’t typically take the time to thank the songwriters, so collaborating with the CMA and Front and Center was the perfect place — a night with five guys on stools sharing stories, songs and whiskey.”

"My Front and Center special was special indeed,” said British rock singer Paul Rodgers. “They provided a dazzling setting for all the Royal Session musicians from Memphis, and myself, to dig into the tracks from the album. Visually and aurally the show came off beyond my expectation. Everyone worked together to capture the same magic that we captured and recorded on the album. Absolutely a night in my life to remember and I'm thrilled that we can share it with the fans.”

All episodes of Front and Center are directed by Pierre and François Lamoureux of FogoLabs.

For more information on the Front and Center music series please visit www.frontandcenter.com and check out the YouTube page at www.youtube.com/frontandcentertv.