Opry Goes Pink To Fight Breast Cancer

opry

Carrie Underwood

On Oct. 2 the Grand Ole Opry joined the fight against breast cancer with a special “Opry Goes Pink” performance. Opry member Carrie Underwood was on hand to flip the giant light switch, turning the show’s signature red barn backdrop pink for the night. ABC’s Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts—herself a breast cancer survivor—traveled to Nashville to be a special guest announcer for the show.

That night’s Opry included performances from Underwood, Terri Clark, Jo Dee Messina, Lorrie Morgan, Mindy Smith, and others, along with special activities recognizing breast cancer survivors and the continuing fight against the disease. A portion of the proceeds were donated to Women Rock for the Cure and the Greater Nashville affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The special event was also to kick-off the Opry’s 84th birthday month celebration.

robin

Robin Roberts

As breast cancer awareness month gears up, the Nashville Affiliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure® crossed the $1 Million mark with its Race for the Cure campaign. Local landmarks, storefronts, and buildings were splattered pink last week in a show of support for the fight against breast cancer. The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, the Parthenon, Nashville Electric Services, and the Adventure Science Center, are all boasting pink until October 10.

This years’ Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure will be kicking off in Brentwood Saturday, October 10 and is expected to draw over 12,000 participants.

Nashville Scene: Women’s profiles in bluegrass have risen

Generation by generation, women’s profiles in bluegrass have risen

By Jewly Hight

Funny how straightforward Rhonda Vincent sounds proclaiming herself an “All American Bluegrass Girl” in the song of that title—until you listen past the hook. Read more.

Touring Updates: Paisley, U2, and More

Bbrad-paisley-ar10rad Paisley just completed the west coast run of his American Saturday Night tour by selling over 100,000 tickets for shows in Bakersfield, San Francisco, Sacramento, Phoenix, San Diego and Irvine. He will take this week off from touring before heading to Florida for shows in Jacksonville, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, then it’s off to New York City for his Madison Square Garden show on Oct. 21. Paisley’s current single “Welcome to the Future” is No. 3 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart.

————————
U2’s 360 Tour continues its spectacular run with sales over the weekend surpassing 180,000 tickets in three cities—Horsens, Denmark; Vienna, Austria; and Helsinki, Finland. The tour has grossed over $187 million on the European leg, and is expected to break even sometime by the end of the year, manager Paul McGuiness told Billboard. The outing costs $750,000 per day, whether or not there’s a show.

The North American leg is expected to bring in $112 million (Billboard Boxscore). When U2 played the Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sept. 24 it drew a record-setting 84,472 fans, and the two-night stand grossed $16.1 million. When U2 hits the Rose Bowl on Oct. 25, it will also be that venue’s largest ever attendance for a concert, with 96,000 fans expected.

————————

Gary Allan will soon embark on his Get Off On The Pain tour, sponsored by House of Blues. He is supporting his new single, “Today,” which is already climbing the charts, as well as more music from his upcoming album.

————————

Blackberry Smoke will support Lynyrd Skynyrd for seven shows this month with stops in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and New Jersey. The tour coincides with the release of Blackberry Smoke’s new album, Little Piece Of Dixie, on BamaJam Records, which is a newly formed imprint of producer James Stroud’s Stroudavarious Records. BamaJam and Stroudavarious Records are distributed by Sony Music’s RED Distribution. The project was produced by Dann Huff and Justin Niebank. Blackberry Smoke will make its first trip to Europe in December before joining Lynyrd Skynyrd’s annual Simple Man cruise, January 21-25.

————————

Recent IBMA winner Steve Martin is on his fall tour, which included a visit to The Late Show with David Letterman last night (10/5)—where he really chatted up Nashville—and The View today. He is on the road with bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers in support of his album The Crow: New Songs For the 5 String Banjo (Rounder). It was No. 1 for 12 straight weeks on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart. The tour hits the Ryman on Oct. 11.

————-

Tracy Lawrence performed for American troops stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba over the weekend as a detour from his fall tour across the U.S.

————-

Colt Ford will be joining the Larry The Cable Guy Tour this fall, with dates starting Nov. 12 in State College, Pennsylvania and scheduled through Dec. 12 in Las Vegas. Leading up to the tour and throughout, Ford will be keeping fans up-to-date from the road with his own iPhone/iTouch app. He is touring in support of his debut album, Ride Through The Country.

Holly Williams Weds, Swift Sings With Mayer

holly-williams-wedding-240

Photo by: Tec Petaja Photograph

Singer Holly Williams wed drummer Chris Coleman on Sunday, Sept. 27 in an evening ceremony at Nashville’s Cedarwood mansion. The bride wore a gown by Vera Wang, and the all-star guest list included Kid Rock, Rascal Flatts’s Jay DeMarcus, and of course, her father Hank Williams Jr. who walked her down the aisle. Among musician Coleman’s groomsmen was Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill.

The magazine reports that DeMarcus performed at the reception, as did Kid Rock who sang a few Bob Seger tunes as well as his own hit, “All Summer Long.” The bride and groom also took the stage for a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”

Get all the details at People.com.

———————

Taylor Swift is a guest on John Mayer’s upcoming new album, Battle Studies. It will be released on Nov. 17, 2009 by Columbia Records, and features Swift on a song called “Half of My Heart.” Mayer, a seven-time Grammy winner, co-produced his fourth album with Steve Jordan and it is described as having the warmth, melodies and simplicity of 70’s and 80’s California rock/pop. The album’s first single is “Who Says.”

———————

Nashvillians Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Gloriana, Carter Twins and Miley Cyrus appear on the compilation A Very Special Christmas Volume 7, alongside Colbie Caillat, Charice, Vanessa Hudgens, Sean Kingston, Ashley Tisdale, and others. Set for release Nov. 24 through the Universal Music Enterprises, the album features original recordings of new and traditional Christmas songs. Selling one million copies in its first year, the premier 1987 album, A Very Special Christmas, and the subsequent albums in the series, have generated more than $100 million for Special Olympics, the most ever raised by a benefit recording series.

SAE Will Host Nashville Music Business Camp

nmbcNashville Music Business Camp (NMBC) will be held Thurs., Oct. 15 through Sat., Oct. 17 at The Listening Room. Sponsored by SAE Institute-Nashville, NMBC is an educational music workshop organized by a forum of industry leaders to offer aspiring artists, songwriters, musicians and persons interested in careers in the music industry an intimate learning experience.

Confirmed panelists include opening speaker Dave Pomeroy, President of the AFM Local 257-Nashville, who will discuss pensions and pay scales in “Musicians Are Worldwide Providers of Music” followed by a question and answer discussion. Also on the schedule are Kat Atwood (Publicity Director, Music City Media & Marketing), Sheila Shipley Biddy (artist manager and former MCA/DECCA executive), Shannon McCombs (national on-air personality), Bernard Porter (CEO of Porter-Gentry Productions and President of PCG Nashville), Suzanne Skinner (professional image consultant), Sheree Spoltore (Nashville Songwriters Association National Membership Director) and Robert Vonch III (owner of USIND Solutions).

NSAI is sponsoring professional songwriter rounds, and attendess will also get to showcase. Preshias Harris,  organizer of NMBC, says other topics at the camp will encompass styling and imaging, entertainment law, publicity, touring, booking, radio promotion, artist management and record production.

Interested students/participants can register and obtain ticket information, including cost and panel schedule, at the Nashville Music Business Camp Web site www.nmbcamp.com. Special discounts are also being extended to various organizations. For more information, please contact Preshias Harris at Preshias@pcgnashville.com or Robert Vonch at Robert@pcgnashville.com.

Matchless Music Plans Release; Herndon Inks New Deals

davidShawn Pennington has opened Matchless Music Group with David St. Romain as the flagship artist. The company’s debut album is due in the first quarter of 2010, and St. Romain’s lead single, “That’s Love,” goes to radio Oct. 19 with David Haley’s EdgeHill Music handling promotion. Pennington and St. Romain met during Season 5 of Nashville Star, where St. Romain finished third in the competition.

Pennington launched Matchless Management in May after resigning from Dale Morris & Associates. Other artists signed to the management, production and consulting firm include Stoney Creek Records artists Ash Bowers and Thompson Square.

Pennington was a professional musician who moved to Nashville in early 1997 to become the bandleader and tour manager for Sara Evans. In 2002 he segued into the business side of the industry and held a management position with Dale Morris & Associates where he was actively involved in launching the careers of Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich, John Rich, Cowboy Troy, the Muzik Mafia, Randy Owen (solo), and Kellie Coffey.

Pennington and Matchless Music Group can be reached at 615-491-8285 and scpenn@me.com. Haley and EdgeHill Music’s contact info is 615-973-0132 and david.haley@comcast.net.

————————

Ty Herndon has inked a management deal with The Bucket Agency. He has also signed publishing and recording deals with Dove Award winning producer Wayne Haun and Haun’s Sunset Gallery Publishing. Herndon is nearing completion of his first self–penned record Journey On, scheduled for a 2010 release on Vine Records.

Herndon is known for the 1995 charttopper “What Mattered Most.” His manager can be contacted at bucketagency@gmail.com.

TV Guide: Country Edition

 From left: Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and The Office's Steve Carell backstage at The Jay Leno Show (September 30, 2009). All three appeared on last night's show. Both Gill and Harris are in Los Angeles to perform at a benefit for The Country Music Hall of Fame at Club Nokia.Photo credit: Rique
From left: Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and “The Office’s” Steve Carell backstage at “The Jay Leno Show” (9/30/09). Gill and Harris were in Los Angeles to perform at a benefit for The Country Music Hall of Fame at Club Nokia. Photo: Rique

Nashville musicians are making the media rounds. See where your favorite artists are set to turn up.

Kenny Chesney will perform for the full hour of PBS’s Austin City Limits on Oct. 17. Joining him will be good friend and fellow CMA Vocal Event nominee Mac McAnally (for “Down The Road”). The concert will be taped at University of Texas, and include plenty of hits as well as the never-before-performed “Somewhere In The Sun.”

———————

Dierks Bentley will take a detour from Brad Paisley’s American Saturday Night tour this week to perform his hot new single “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” tonight (10/5) on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson the following day (airing Oct. 12). To watch the intimate video for the new single click here.

———————

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers will be on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight (10/5) on CBS, and on The View tomorrow (10/6) on ABC. The Rangers’ new Rebel Records release, Deep in the Shade, will be in stores tomorrow.

———————

 Caption: Jack Ingram stopped by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson last week to debut his new single “Seeing Stars” set to air tonight, Monday, Oct. 5 at 12:35A ET/PT.
  Jack Ingram stopped by “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” last week to debut his new single “Seeing Stars.” The show is set to air tonight 10/5)  at 12:35 AM/ET.

Trace Adkins will make several media appearances while he’s on the East Coast next week. Today, (10/5) he’ll visit political commentator Glenn Beck on his daily radio show, and guest on his television show later this evening. On Tues., Oct. 6, Adkins will appear on Fox & Friends, on the FOX News Channel and perform an acoustic version of his latest hit single, “All I Ask For Anymore.”

———————

Brooks & Dunn perform greatest hits, as well as new music from their album, #1s…And Then Some, when Invitation Only: Brooks & Dunn premieres Friday, Oct. 30 at 10 PM/ET on CMT. Taped in Nashville just days after announcing their split, the show features the duo performing before a small studio audience, taking questions from fans and delivering revealing and candid answers.

———————

Derek Sholl appeared on FOX’s Fox and Friends on Friday, Oct. 2 and is set for the syndicated morning TV show Daytime on Wednesday, Oct. 7. New artist Sholl is working to bring attention to combat veterans who are struggling to readjust to life at home. His new music video for “When They Come Back” debuted yesterday on GAC.

McBride And Adkins Announce Tour

Adkins and McBride

Adkins and McBride

Martina McBride and Trace Adkins are gearing up for their Shine All Night Tour, starting Nov. 20 and covering 40 cities across the U.S. through the spring of 2010. The tour is sponsored by SunnyD, and marks the beverage company’s first music partnership. The outing is also sponsored in part by GAC, and will feature McBride and Adkins each performing full-length shows.

Blake Shelton and The Lost Trailers will join the tour for a few select dates. Concert promotions include a series of irreverent TV commercials featuring McBride and Adkins to be aired on GAC, as well as local television spots and online. Visit www.ShineAllNight.com for tour details and exclusive content. Also, to coincide with the tour announcement, McBride is launching a redesigned website at www.MartinaMcBride.com.

TOUR DATES

Nov. 20 Moline, IL

Nov. 21 St. Paul, MN

Nov. 22 Milwaukee, WI

Dec. 3 Colorado Springs, CO

Dec. 4 Park City (Wichita), KS

Dec. 5 Oklahoma City, OK

Dec. 10 Greensboro, NC

Dec. 11 Columbia, SC

Dec. 12 Duluth, GA

Dec. 13 Birmingham, AL

Jan. 22 Little Rock, AR

Jan. 23 Independence, MO

Jan. 24 Council Bluffs, IA

Jan. 29 Reading, PA

Jan. 30 Worcester, MA

Jan. 31 Fairfax, VA

Feb. 11 Dallas, TX

Feb. 12 Beaumont, TX

Feb. 13 Bossier City, LA

Feb. 14 Pensacola, FL

Feb. 19 Buffalo, NY

Feb. 21 Columbus, OH

Feb. 25 Ft. Wayne, IN

Feb. 26 Cleveland, OH

Feb. 27 Pittsburgh, PA

Feb. 28 Highland Heights, KY

Mar. 5 Champaign, IL

Mar. 6 Evansville, IN

Mar. 12 Richmond, VA

Mar. 14 Manchester, NH

Mar. 26 St. Louis, MO

Mar. 27 Green Bay, WI

Mar. 28 Dekalb, IL

Apr. 8 Loveland, CO

Apr. 9 Rapid City, SD

Apr. 10 Bismarck, ND

CMA Awards Schedule Superstar Performances

carrie-and-bradThe superstar line-up of CMA Awards performers includes co-hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. This first round of artists, given exclusively to People.com by the CMA, also lists all of the Entertainer of the Year nominees: George Strait, Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, and Paisley (this year’s most-nominated artist with seven nods).

The 43rd Annual CMA Awards show, airs live from Nashville’s Sommet Center on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Also playing that night are Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Sugarland and first-time CMA nominee Darius Rucker.

The final round of CMA Awards Ballots will be emailed to voting members on Friday, Oct. 16. The votes are due Friday, Nov. 3.

Official CMA Awards merchandise is now available on CMAawards.com. This year’s line of merchandise features six apparel items, two hats, a coffee mug, and a wine tote.

Gretchen Wilson Launches Redneck Records

GW-playlist60109Gretchen Wilson has announced her own Redneck Records, with distribution, staff and other team members already in place. A new single is coming next week and will be followed by an album early next year. Operating from Studio 27 in Lebanon, Tenn. Wilson will act as President, overseeing label operations with the support of her team at Morris Artist Management.

Redneck Records has inked with RED Distribution, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Bob Mitchell is on board as strategic consultant for radio promotions and is set to relocate to Nashville. His diverse background in the music business includes 15 years in record promotion for Sony Music, DreamWorks and the Smith Music Group, as well as experience in radio, and as a talent buyer for Billy Bob’s and Six Flags. His new contact info is: (615) 720-7467, thegardenrow@yahoo.com.

Radio promotion efforts will also be spearheaded by CO5 Nashville, led by VP Promotion Denise Roberts. One of the company’s most recent successes is taking Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” hit to Top 3 on the national country charts.

Publicity for Redneck Records and Wilson will be managed by Craig Campbell’s Campbell Entertainment Group. He was Gretchen’s first publicist when she signed with Epic Records. Music video marketing and promotion will be handled by AristoMedia’s AristoVideo division.

The first release on the label will be Wilson’s “Work Hard, Play Harder.” Written by Wilson, and longtime collaborators John Rich and Vicky McGehee, the single will impact radio on Oct. 26 and will go out via Play MPE on Monday (10/5). The music video will begin airing mid-October and can be viewed here. Her I Got Your Country Right Here album will hit stores in early 2010.

“My management and I looked at a lot of different options over the last couple of months, and starting Redneck Records made the most sense to continue the relationships I’ve built with radio, retail and the fans,” said Gretchen. “This is a really exciting time in my life, and I’m looking forward to everyone hearing my new music.”

Day-to-day activities for Grammy winner Wilson are overseen by manager Marc Oswald at Morris Artist Management, which is a division of Front Line Management with principals including Dale Morris, Irving Azoff and Howard Kaufman. The company provides representation services for artists such as Aerosmith, Alabama, Big & Rich, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, The Eagles and others. Gretchen’s personal appearances are booked by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment with Greg Oswald as the responsible agent.

Wilson exploded onto the country music scene in 2004 with her smash hit “Redneck Woman” and has since scored three No. 1 albums with Here For The Party, All Jacked Up, and One Of The Boys. Her first book, the autobiographical Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, landed on the prestigious New York Times Best Seller List. She has won Female Vocalist of the Year from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, two awards each from the American Music Awards and Billboard Music awards, and a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.