Strait Sets Arena Date Tour

Sarah Gilbert – 11/01/2006

The first leg of George Strait's 2007 arena tour, starts Jan. 11 in Lafayette, LA. Tennessee stops include Memphis’s FedEx Forum on Jan. 13 and Knoxville’s Thompson-Bowling Arena on Feb. 23. Ronnie Milsap will be the special guest on the tour. Strait will be inducted as one of the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame during The 40th Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 6 at Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Center.

Briner Starts Work at BNA

Sarah Gilbert – 11/01/2006

Today is George Briner’s first day on the job as National Promotion Director, BNA Records. He fills the vacancy left by Rick Moxley’s recent promotion to VP National Promotion at the label. Briner most recently worked for MCA Records, where for the past two years, he served as VP of Field Promotions, based in his hometown of Milwaukee. His move to Nashville and subsequent arrival at BNA reunites him with Moxley, with whom he worked at Warner Bros. and Giant Records. Briner’s more than twenty years in the country music industry began in 1984 as Promotions Director for KZLA in Los Angeles.

Buddy Killen Dies at 73

Buddy Killen died early this morning at his home in Nashville. The 73-year-old music publishing magnate had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Throughout his more than 50 years in the music business...

MySpace To Stop Illegal File Sharing

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

MySpace has entered into an agreement with Gracenote to block distribution of unauthorized music on the social networking site. Gracenote’s technology “listens” to music files and then compares them with its database of millions of copyrighted songs. This fingerprinting and filtering technology will prevent users from uploading unauthorized works. Anyone who repeatedly attempts to illegally upload music will have his or her account permanently deleted. Artists who post their own copyrighted materials and music on MySpace will still be able to do this. In most cases, these artists also allow fans to post the music on their own profiles and legally share the music with others.

T.J. Martell Names New Board

The T.J. Martell Foundation’s Nashville Division announced the 2007 Officers and Board of Directors during the Board of Directors meeting on Tues., Oct. 24 at BMI. 
Officers elected:
President: Tony Conway, Pres./Co-Owner...

Garth Outsells Everyone At Wal-Mart

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

Garth Brooks is now Wal-Mart’s top-selling musical artist of all time. He sold almost 20 million discs during the first year of his exclusive relationship with the retailer. The latest offering from Brooks is a limited edition five DVD set, Garth Brooks: The Entertainer, which has already become the number one pre-order item on Walmart.com. With only one million copies available, fans can purchase the DVD set beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 1. Last year's boxed set, Garth Brooks: The Limited Series, sold half a million copies in its first day of availability and became the top-selling music item in company history. After only two weeks it passed the one million benchmark.

Urban Gets Another Platinum Plaque

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

Keith Urban’s Be Here, his third solo album, has been certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA. Since the album’s debut in September 2004, Be Here has spawned three No. 1 singles: “Days Go By,” “Making Memories of Us” and “Better Life.” His new CD, Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing, will be released in the U.S. next week (11/7). Urban is reigning CMA Male Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year and is once again nominated in those two categories for this year’s Awards.

2007 Radio and DJ Hall Of Fame Inductees

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

On Feb. 27, 2007 Larry Daniels, Bob Moody, and Les Acree will be inducted into the Country Music Radio Hall of Fame, and Joe Ladd and Big John Trimble will be inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame. Tickets to the ceremony and dinner at the Nashville Convention Center are available for $75 per person. Visit www.crb.org or calling 615-327-4487 for tickets and more information.

CMA Adds Performers, Presenters

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

Brooks & Dunn will be joined by Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill to open the Nov. 6 CMA Awards with a performance of "Building Bridges," a song nominated for Musical Event of the Year. Added to the list of performers are Jason Aldean, The Wreckers, and a second appearance by Gill who will be joined by Crow, daughter Jenny Gill, and wife Amy Grant. Presenting trophies will be Gary Allan, Billy Currington, Montgomery Gentry, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood, and the stars of ABC and Disney television including Billy Ray Cyrus and daughter Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana); James Denton (Desperate Housewives); Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives); Cameron Mathison (All My Children); and Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim).

Marijohn Passes On

Sarah Gilbert – 10/31/2006

Songwriter Marijohn Wilkin passed away at her home in Nashville on Sat., Oct. 28. Visitation and funeral services were scheduled for this afternoon (10/30) at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home and Woodlawn Cross Mausoleum. She was 86 and had suffered a lengthy illness following an unsuccessful triple bypass surgery three years ago. As co-writer of “The Long Black Veil,” “Waterloo,” and “Cut Across Shorty,” Wilkin established her role as one of Music Row’s treasures. “Waterloo” was a No. 1 song on both the pop and country charts in 1959. “The Long Black Veil” was a hit for Lefty Frizzell and was recorded many other times by artists including Johnny Cash, Joan Baez, The Band, and Bruce Springsteen. After growing up in Texas and working as a music teacher, Wilkin moved to Nashville in 1958 and started work at Cedarwood Publishing. There she was part of an all-star writer roster including Mel Tillis and John D. Loudermilk. In 1964 Wilkin founded Buckhorn Music, where she gave Kris Kristofferson his first publishing deal. Almost ten years later, he would join her in writing the gospel classic “One Day At A Time.” She was a founding member of Nashville Songwriters Association International and held many of the organization’s first meetings at her home. In 1975 Wilkin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. She is survived by one son, John Buck Wilkin. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.