Country “Sidekick” Frank Oakley Passes

Frank Oakley, a well-liked music executive who worked with country artists including Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Faron Young and Willie Nelson, died on April 2. He was 83. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Oakley was a veteran of WWII and a former police officer. His country music career began in 1961, when he was hired by  the Mary Carter Paint Company, charged with attracting country stars for the company’s advertising. In 1979, Oakley and his wife Jeanie went to work for Nelson, opening the Willie Nelson and Family General Store, which they ran for the next 30 years. He chronicled his life in country music in a recent book, The Nashville Sidekick. Oakley was was a member of AFTRA and R.O.P.E.

Craig Morgan’s Easter Surprise; Big Kenny’s Mountaintop Crusade; GAC’s Backstory

9c2b8397-3048-8909-cc0e0ef3e68ab391_200Big Kenny Alphin is joining forces with Sheryl Crow, Kathy Mattea and Emmylou Harris to launch a new campaign, Music Saves Mountains, to halt mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee and across Appalachia. The musicians are urging people to contact Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and encourage him to support the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act which would prohibit mountaintop coal mining within 100 feet of streams and rivers. The act  would also protect mountains over 2,000 feet high in Tennessee. “This campaign was founded out of the respect musicians — and especially people from Appalachia — have for our beloved mountains,” Alphin said.

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BNA artist Craig Morgan is no stranger to the military, having served 10 years of active duty in the Army with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and delivered countless performances for US troops at home and abroad. Now, Morgan has teamed with the US military on a special audio message for Easter. By utilizing his latest single, “God Must Really Love Me,” several members of the military will be sending Easter greetings to their families and friends at home. The song, with its positive message of thanks, will serve as an audio backdrop for the Easter greetings. Morgan was honored with the 2006 USO Merit Award for his work with the military, joining the likes of Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor, and Bob Hope as a recipient.

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Great American Country (GAC) will debut Backstory, a biographical documentary series devoted to the lives of country music’s top stars, on Monday, April 6 at 7:00 PM/CT. The premiere episode will feature multi-platinum RCA artist Sara Evans. The show will feature an in-depth interview with the singer and those closest to her including her mother, her husband, her label head, her co-writers and her close friend, Sheryl Crow. Future episodes of Backstory are currently being shot, and the next artist featured will be Darius Rucker.

CMT Camp Nashville Offers Discount

cmt-campFounders of CMT Camp Nashville, the first-ever multi-artist fantasy camp for country music, have reduced the $7999 price of the camp by nearly 40% for anyone who registers before April 15. The $1000 spouse packages will be discounted by 50%. CMT Camp Nashville will provide campers with five days in the role of a country superstar where they’ll have the opportunity to learn, hang and perform with country stars including John Rich, Ronnie Milsap, Darryl Worley, Andy Griggs, Bo Bice, Rhett Akins, Deana Carter, Jessica Harp and Henry Paul and industry leaders such as world-renowned vocal/image coach Renee Grant Williams. The camp will culminate with a Final Showdown, where bands will compete in concert at the Wildhorse Saloon on Memorial Day (5/25). The competitors will share the stage with Phil Vassar and Lady Antebellum. One Camp Experience will be sold  to the highest bidder on CMTauctions.com to fund tornado relief for Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford County.

Charley Pride Takes Stand Surprises Fan

charleypride042707Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride showed up in the town of Leduc in Alberta, Canada on Thursday (4/2), to take a stand against online ticket scalping and surprise a dedicated fan in the process. Determined to catch Pride’s show at the Jubilee Auditorium in nearby Edmonton, longtime fan Jacqueline Sharp ended up on a resale ticket site and paid $1,210.71 for a pair of seats to the June 20 show. Tickets are $58.50 and $67.50 plus service charges at Ticketmaster. Pride, who lives in Dallas, learned about Sharp’s situation when her son sent an e-mail to his agent. Amid a flock of cameras and journalists, Pride surprised Sharp at the City Centre Mall in Leduc, where she works. The singer handed her $933 US — or the equivalent of what she paid — and two floor seats to his Edmonton concert. Sharp cried when she hugged Pride. “I don’t think it’s right,” Pride said. “I wouldn’t like paying that much money to see myself.”

Arts & Business Council Sponsors Law Clinic

abc_stackedlogo(Updated 4/6/09) The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville’s Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts and the Tennessee Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Law Section are hosting a Nashville Entertainment Law Clinic in the SunTrust Community Room at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum on Saturday April 18, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM. At the clinic, songwriters are welcome to sign up for a 30-minute slot to receive pro-bono legal advice from entertainment lawyers, who will answer questions about intellectual property matters, including copyrights, trademarks, licensing and related law issues. Attendees must sign up for a time slot by noon on Friday, Apr. 17 by calling the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville at (615)743-3055 or by sending a request to info@tnvla.org or mbyrd@abcnashville.org .

AC Entertainment Acquires Great Big Shows

aeKnoxville-based AC Entertainment, co-creator of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, has announced that it has acquired Nashville-based concert promotion company Great Big Shows. The new partnership will strengthen AC Entertainment’s Nashville presence and expand its resources for event creation, management and production nationwide. The relationship between the two entertainment companies began when Rick Whetsel, owner of Great Big Shows, approached AC Entertainment founder Ashley Capps about booking a major event for him in Washington D.C. In turn, Capps enlisted Great Big Shows to handle production management for one of his events. Since then the two companies have collaborated on both big and small events. The first major Nashville event to be announced under the new venture is a co-headliner concert featuring the Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic at Riverfront Park on October 14, 2009.   Tickets go on sale Friday, April 17. Visit www.acentertainment.com  for more information.

DISClaimer (3/27/09)

ewest-happy150Pretty is as pretty does.

Pert Emily West is a living doll. And now she has the single that has the potential to make her the star she deserves to be. Give the little lady a Disc of the Day prize.

There’s a band in Texas called Spur 503. I have reviewed them once before, but this time I’m hearing something really special. To them, I give a belated DisCovery Award.

spur503-raisinbar150But some of our most newsworthy releases this week come from veteran stars. Dolly Parton is still firing on all cylinders as a writer and singer, more than 40 years since she first made the country charts. She is an absolute wonder. Up in Canada, 68-year-old Ray Griff is still writing good new tunes, too.

Willie Nelson’s RCA sides of the late 1960s and early 1970s were drowned in Nashville Sound productions of the era. Now they have been “un-produced,” and the result is nothing less than sensational listening.

SPUR 503/I’ll Be Gone
Writer: Chance Cody/Greg White; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Overdrive (www.spur503.com)
—Splendidly rocking. The electric guitar is down and dirty. The rhythm section is a thundering machine. The fiddle swivels and sways. And the lead vocalist has grit to spare. Crank it up! Make these boys stars.

EMILY WEST/That Kind Of Happy
Writer: Sherrie Austin/Mallary Hope/Will Rambeaux; Producer: Mark Bright; Publisher: Melrose Nashville/Lil’ Aussie Batter/Sony ATV Cross Keys/my Good Girl/Oven, BMI/ASCAP; Capitol Nashville
—This kid is charisma on the hoof. This fizzy rocker will get you out of your chair and bopping around the room like a giddy teenager. What a beam of joy this is. Play it again. And again.

LANCE MILLER/George Jones And Jesus
Writer: Lance Miller/Austin Cunningham; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Famous/Song Matters/EMI April, ASCAP; Lofton Creek/Big 7 (www.lancemiller.com)
—Hard-core country, as you might guess from the title. Lance is a superb honky-tonk stylist, and this gives him plenty of room to twang. Toss yer cowboy hat in the air and give a rebel yell.

DOLLY PARTON/Backwoods Barbie
Writer: Dolly Parton; Producer: Kent Wells & Dolly Parton; Publisher: Velvet Apple, BMI; Dolly (track) (www.dollypartonmusic.net)
—The title tune of Dolly’s latest CD bops along, dropping fiddle and steel notes every which way. The lyric asks that you judge her by what’s inside, rather than her glam exterior. I always have. And I think she’s as cool as the breeze, inside and out.

LEO J. EIFFERT JR./Hannity
Writer: Al Bruno/Troy Hale/Dean Lane/C.J. Einwechter/Leo J. Eiffert Jr.; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Young Country/Three Labs, BMI; Young Country
—Here it is, our first contestant for the worst single of 2009. Everything is so-o-o wrong here—incompetent playing, pathetic production, an off-key vocal, lame lyrics.

WILLIE NELSON/The Ghost
Writer: Willie Nelson; Producer: Mickey Raphael; Publisher: none listed; RCA (track)
—Actually, the production credit reads, “Un-produced by Mickey Raphael.” The Naked Willie CD consists of old 1960s and 1970s RCA sides that originally had Nashville Sound strings and background voices on them. Mickey stripped things down to the rhythm tracks and a few key lead players on guitar or piano. The results are extraordinary, for Willie was at the peak of his vocal powers, and now you can hear some of his finest songs in beautifully unadorned arrangements. “The Ghost,” “I Just Dropped By,” “The Party’s Over,” “Following Me Around” and the like are now officially masterpieces. This is the finest Willie Nelson album in years.

BILLY McKNIGHT & MINDY McCREADY/Sweeter
Writer: Billy McKnight/Mincy McCready/Johnny Garcia; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Billy McKnight/Mindy/Busy at Play, no performance rights listed; Kismet/Lofton Creek (www.loftoncreekrecords.com)
—They sing well. The song wanders around aimlessly in its sleep.

RICHIE McDONALD/Hey God
Writer: Richie McDonald/Tommy Lee James; Producer: Richie McDonald & Tommy Lee James; Publisher: Ballad Boy/Still Working for the Man/Loremoma/ICG, BMI; Stroudavarious (CDX) (615-321-8909)
—Processed cheese.

DONNA ULISSE/The Trouble With You
Writer: Donna Ulisse; Producer: Keith Sewell; Publisher: Uncle Hadley, ASCAP; Hadley Music Group (CDX) (www.donnaulisse.com)
—An saucy acoustic gem with vocalist Donna trading licks with a resonator guitarist while a mandolin chops rhythm.

RAY GRIFF/Bring It On
Writer: Ray Griff; Producer: Ray Griff; Publisher: Calnash, SOCAN; Focus (Canada) (track) (www.raygriff.com)
—Ray Griff was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998 and was given SOCAN’s Lifetime Achievement Award last year. But this veteran is still writing and singing new tunes. The title song to his latest self-penned collection is a dandy shuffle that proves he’s as solid as ever at age 68.

Rascal Flatts’ Unstoppable Drops Next Week

flattsLyric Street kingpins Rascal Flatts will release their sixth studio album, Unstoppable on Tuesday (4/7), two days after their ACM Awards appearance, and they’re not stopping there. The hitmaking trio will appear on NBC’s Today Show on April 7, followed by guest spots on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 13 and The Late Show with David Letterman on April 16. Prior to all these performances the band will attend the Hannah Montana: The Movie world premiere this Thursday (4/2), at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Rascal Flatts makes a cameo appearance in the movie performing their songs “Bless The Broken Road” and “Backwards. Unstoppable is the band’s first studio album since 2007’s multi-platinum Still Feels Good.

Zac Brown Band Wants You at Bonnaroo

zac-brown300ACM Top New Artist nominees Zac Brown Band, along with Bonnaroo Music Festival and CMT have announced The Bonnaroo Music Festival Flyaway with Zac Brown Band Sweepstakes. The winner, along with a guest, will receive a prize package that includes a five-day/four-night Bonnaroo getaway, including flights, hotel, two tickets to the Festival and the opportunity to meet and record a song with Zac Brown Band at a mobile studio backstage. The contest is open for entries until 11:59:59 PM CT on May 22. Full details and eligibility are available here. Zac Brown Band’s debut, The Foundation, has sold over 350,000 copies and their chart-topping debut single, “Chicken Fried,” has been certified Platinum.

Urban’s Defying Gravity Rises to the Top

keithWith first week sales being projected to total somewhere in the lofty neighborhood of 150,000, Keith Urban’s Defying Gravity does indeed seem to have wings. The album appears likely to top the country charts its first week out and if predictions based upon first day sales from chart watchers at Billboard and Hits magazines pan out, Urban has a good shot at topping Billboard’s Top 200 chart in the coming week as well. Challenging Urban will be Prince who is also projected to have a strong chance at the No. 1 spot.

While Urban hit No. 3 with both 2004’s Be Here and with Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing in 2006, this would be his first time atop the Top 200. Artists whose new releases are being projected to join Urban and Prince in the upper reaches of the charts include UGK, Flo Rida and Diana Krall. Hovering just below these likely Top 10s is Curb’s Rodney Atkins, whose new album, It’s America, is projected to total a respectable 35-40,000 in first week sales.

The momentum promises to continue with next week’s (4/7) offerings from Emerson Drive, Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts.