The singer-songwriter of 2007’s country hit “Stealing Cinderella” and the currently-rising-up-the-charts “Us Again,” Chuck Wicks, will walk the red carpet at The Julep Ball.

The premier Derby Eve Party with a Purpose, The Julep Ball is held annually on the evening before the Kentucky Derby and supports the work of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville. The event on May 2 at the KFC Yum! Center kicks off with a 6:30 p.m. cocktail reception, followed by dinner and a live auction at 8 p.m.

An Official Event of the 140^th Kentucky Derby®, The Julep Ball provides a celebrity-studded night to remember with a multi-course seated dinner, a knock-your-socks-off auction, multiple open specialty bars, complimentary valet parking, and dancing until the wee hours of Derby morning. Tickets for the full evening of entertainment are sold out but a limited number of dance-only tickets at $100 per person are still available. For further information and to buy tickets, go to The Julep Ball website, julepball.org.

About Chuck Wicks:

On his new single that is rising the charts, “Us Again,” Chuck Wicks is clearly in the zone. The story of a couple who long to return to a time when loving each other was easy, the song also marks the return to the country charts for the Delaware farm boy.

“It’s a unique love song,” says Wicks, who co-wrote the hit with Andy Dodd and Tiffany Vartanyan. “It’s one of those things we all go through. When you first meet that someone who is really special, the first three to four months are flawless. Every day is a honeymoon. But as time goes on and life starts to happen, you can forget what it’s like and lose that spark.”

Now signed to Blaster Records, Wicks, who moonlights as a morning personality on NASH-FM’s popular America’s Morning Show (“I love speaking the language of country music and this gives me the chance to do that every day,” he says), has discovered his own creative fire.

After the breakout success of his 2007 debut single “Stealing Cinderella,” which hit the Top 5 on the Billboard country chart and marked the biggest single for any new country artist in 2007, the pristine-voiced singer actively took a step back and committed himself to songwriting. Freshly inspired, he’s readying his latest album, the follow-up to 2008’s Starting Now, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard country albums chart.

“I’m a lot more comfortable with who I am,” he says. “I feel like I’ve figured out who I am as a songwriter, as a singer, as an artist. I know where my pocket is.”

The upcoming album, co-produced by Chuck, will include all of the tracks from his EP Rough, a recent collection of songs that showcased Chuck’s lived-in sound.

“From Starting Now to today, I’ve grown so much as a writer and a performer,” says Wicks, who has performed in every state in the continental United States. “Releasing your first single on a major label is a lot to navigate, especially if you’ve never done it. I got thrown out on a huge tour with Brad Paisley and went from playing conference rooms with two guitar players to playing Denver, Colorado, my first big show in an arena.

“Grow up, have a family and work 9 to 5: That’s what most everybody sees in their future,” Wicks says. “I feel so lucky to do something different and special.”

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About the James Graham Brown Cancer Center:

The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center. As part of the region's leading academic, research and teaching health center, the cancer center provides the latest medical advances to patients, often long before they become available in non-teaching settings. The JGBCC is a part of KentuckyOne Health and is affiliated with the Kentucky Cancer Program. It is the only cancer center in the region to use a unified approach to cancer care, with multidisciplinary teams of physicians working together to guide patients through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. For more information, visit our web site, www.browncancercenter.org.

The Julep Ball is sponsored in part by Advanced Cancer Therapeutics, Ashton Advertising, Bob Montgomery Dixie Honda, Boutique Serendipity, The Dahlem Company, Dillards, Enterprise, Headz Salon, Heaven Hill, Hubbuch & Co., InGrid Design, Jaust Consulting Partners, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, KentuckyOne Health, Kroger, Louisville Magazine, Maker’s Mark, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Morgan Stanley, MPI Printing, Nfocus, Old 502 Winery, Power Creative, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, WAKY and WHAS11.