Musical Chairs: John Paul, RJ Jordan, The Boxcars

/by

John Paul

John Paul

Dial Global has hired John Paul as Sr. Dir. of Country Programming. The former KUPL Portland PD will be based in Denver, and fills the vacancy left by Jim Murphy’s exit last week. Paul will oversee the “Mainstream Country,” “Classic Country,” and “True Country” formats by working with their PDs. He will also serve as day-to-day PD for the “Hot Country” format.

—————————

RJ Jordan

RJ Jordan

RJ Jordan has joined Golden Music Nashville as Northeast Director of Marketing & Promotion, handling radio efforts for artists including Williams Riley and Benton Blount. Based out of Rochester, NY Jordan previously held similar  label positions at Stroudavarious Records, Country Thunder, and 903 Music. His 25 years in the business has also included time at several radio stations. He can be reached at (615) 335-0718 rj@goldenmusic.biz.

—————————

The Boxcars

The Boxcars, made up of bluegrass musicians Adam Steffey, Ron Stewart, John R. Bowman, Keith Garrett and Harold Nixon, have signed with Mike Drudge at Class Act Entertainment for booking. Drudge can be reached at 615-262-6886 or mike@classactentertainment.com. The band members have played with Alison Krauss & Union Station, J.D. Crowe & The New South, The Dan Tyminski Band and many others.

—————————
Contact update: Promo rep Debbie Gibson Palmer, Spinville Records and St. Regis International can be reached at the office at 818-705-6886 and by mail at 4530 Azalia Drive, Tarzana, CA 91356. The fax number is 818-705-5480.

CRS New Faces Line-Up Revealed

/by
Randy Houser

Randy Houser

On Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 the popular New Faces of Country Music® show and dinner will officially close CRS 41. Set to perform are Gloriana (Emblem Records), Randy Houser (Universal South), Love and Theft (Lyric Street), Justin Moore (Valory Music Co.), and Chris Young (RCA).

Gloriana

Gloriana

Country Radio Seminar runs Feb. 24-26, 2010 at the Nashville Convention Center. The New Faces of Country Music Show (co-sponsored by the Country Music Association) is one of the most anticipated events of the annual Country Radio Seminar. Five emerging artists that have achieved significant success at Country radio during the qualification period are selected to perform at the event, held in the CMA Performance Hall. Each act plays a 20-minute set during the show, which officially closes CRS every year.

Love And Theft

Love And Theft

“The CRS New Faces show is a great way to stay ahead of the curve and see tomorrow’s stars today,” says CRB President Becky Brenner. “Artists like Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban were all New Faces performers at one time, and that’s only in the last decade!”

Justin Moore

Justin Moore

Country radio registrants who attended the previous year’s Country Radio Seminar select the New Faces of Country Music Show artists. The Nashville-based firm of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. validates the voting process.

Chris Young

Chris Young

The opportunity to register for Country Radio Seminar 2010 at the $549 Advance Rate expires this Friday, Dec. 18, 2009.

Wilson Rejoins Columbia Promo, Friedman Gets New Role

/by

Mike Wilson

Mike Wilson

Jimmy Rector, Vice President, National Promotion, for Columbia Nashville today announces the return of Mike Wilson to the Sony Music Nashville family as Director, National Promotion, for Columbia Nashville. Most recently National Director of Promotion for Universal Records South, Wilson had previously worked in promotion for Sony Music Nashville’s RCA Nashville imprint for more than 17 years. Based in Nashville, Wilson will report directly to Rector. Wilson will be on the job in January.

Concurrently, David Friedman segues from Director, National Promotion, to the newly created role of Director of Field Promotion, Columbia Nashville, where he will also assume responsibility for a regional territory. Friedman will officially begin his new role on December 15.

David Friedman

David Friedman

With the announcement, Rector commented, “I am excited about someone of Mike’s experience and pedigree joining our team. His experience, enthusiasm and love for music will be a great addition to Big Red. Mike, welcome home, we have missed you.”

On joining the Columbia Nashville team, Wilson remarked, “It’s very exciting to me to be going home! This is the place where I cut my teeth in promotion and enjoyed several years of success with the great artists and people there. I look forward to joining Joe Galante and being a part of this winning team.”

Garth Brooks Is Back, Vegas Gig Gets Rave Reviews

/by

Garth onstage at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

Garth onstage at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Photo from "Las Vegas Review-Journal"/Henry Diltz

Garth Brooks’ Vegas gig at the Wynn started Friday night (12/11), officially marking the end of his nine year retirement. He’s committed to 15 weekends per year for about the next five years at Wynn’s Encore Theatre, with multiple shows scheduled for each weekend.

The superstar dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and work boots for the solo show which features just him and a guitar. During the hour and a half plus concert, Brooks traced his musical roots and influences, engaging onlookers as he talked about his country favorites like George Strait and Merle Haggard, as well as the ’60s and ’70s rock that he grew up on including Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Jim Croce and Dave Loggins. Brooks shared how these artists impacted his own songs like “The River,” “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old),” and “The Thunder Rolls.”

Wife Trisha Yearwood joined him onstage and they sang her hits “Walkaway Joe” and “She’s In Love With The Boy.”

News outlets around the Web are raving about his shows.

Entertainment Weekly says, “his comeback performance is an absolute revelation…The night’s strongest sequence was his rhapsody on personal icon James Taylor; when ‘Sweet Baby James’ led into ‘The River,’ the worshipful audience for the most part stopped breathing…Best of all, the show’s unstructured storytelling format means its potential for evolution over the next five years is more or less unlimited, which makes repeat business a guarantee.”

The LA Times reports, “There’s real genius at work on a couple of fronts in Brooks’ new gig, not the least of which is how utterly anti-Vegas it is. It’s got not an ounce of glitz, and that’s the selling point: just Brooks — the top-selling solo act in pop music history — up close and very personal in the intimate 1,500-seat Encore Theatre at Steve Wynn’s namesake hotel and casino.
On the business side, that also translates into pure profit — after, of course, subtracting the 12 gazillion dollars Wynn undoubtedly is paying Brooks.”

Brian Mansfield of USA Today writes, “One of his great strengths is that he’s every bit as compelling in an intimate setting as he is on the big stage…He pulled songs out of his head and made set-list decisions on the fly. He took requests and answered questions from the audience. He made self-deprecating jokes about his weight…Sometimes, Brooks seemed so full of nervous energy, it made him breathless. ‘I don’t know about you, but I can promise you none of you are as excited as me,’ he said.”

Josh Turner To Release Two “Haywire” Versions

/by

JTurner_HaywireDeluxe_300cmJosh Turner will release a deluxe version of his new album, Haywire, on Feb. 9. The deluxe version will include the 11 songs that appear on the standard version (also in stores on February 9) plus two previously unreleased songs as well as live audio tracks of his hits “Your Man” and “Long Black Train.” There will also be digital elements that include the music video for the debut single “Why Don’t We Just Dance” and behind the scenes footage of Turner in the recording studio discussing every song on the album.

Turner will also be featured on GAC’s Origins: Josh Turner, set to premiere Thurs., Dec. 17. One highlight of the show is Turner’s performance taped at the Loveless Barn.

Martell Foundation To Honor Brooks And Dunn

/by

brooksdone
The TJ Martell Foundation will salute Brooks & Dunn with its first-ever Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award at a gala event on Monday, March 22. The superstar duo will be feted along with several others at the 2010 T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala at the Hutton Hotel.

Michael Bolton will also be honored that night with a new award from the non-profit which fights cancer and AIDS. He will take home the first Frances Williams Preston Lifetime Music Industry Award.

Other honorees include Governor Phil Bredesen receiving the Lifetime Humanitarian Award, the Honorable William H. Frist M.D. receiving the Lifetime Medical Achievement Award, and Susan Simons receiving the Spirit of Nashville Award.

Brooks & Dunn, Governor Phil Bredesen, The Honorable William H. Frist, M.D., Susan Simons, Brooks and Dunn and Michael Bolton were announced as the 2010 T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala honorees during the Foundation’s holiday kick off reception on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at BMI. (L-R): Dr. C.Wright Pinson (Honors Gala Co-Chair), Susan Simons (Honors Gala Honoree), Whitney Daane and Barbara Daane (Honors Gala Co-Chairs) Photo by Randi Radcliff  

The T.J. Martell Foundation held its holiday kick-off reception at BMI on Thursday (12/10), where organizers announced the Honors Gala honorees. (L-R): Dr. C. Wright Pinson (Honors Gala Co-Chair), Susan Simons (Honors Gala Honoree), Whitney Daane and Barbara Daane (Honors Gala Co-Chairs). Photo: Randi Radcliff

Table sponsorships for the charity event start at $10,000. Individual tickets begin at $1,000. Congratulatory ads for the honorees may also be purchased for the commemorative journal.

In Nashville, the T.J. Martell Foundation supports cancer research at the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. This facility was established in 1993 in honor of  longtime BMI Pres. and CEO Frances Preston, who also served as President of the T.J. Martell Foundation board.

Emmylou, Lady A Among MusiCares Gala Performers

/by
Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris

A superb tribute line-up is set for the MusiCares Person of the Year event honoring Neil Young on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 in Los Angeles. Scheduled to perform at the annual highlight of Grammy week are Emmylou Harris, Lady Antebellum, Sheryl Crow, Patty Griffin, T Bone Burnett, Norah Jones, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Elton John, k.d. lang, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, Crosby Stills & Nash, John Mellencamp, Leon Russell, Jackson Browne, Everest, and Josh Groban.

Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum

Jack Black will host the evening honoring legendary artist and activist Young as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year. Proceeds from the annual tribute — now in its 20th year — provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The telecast will be broadcast live on CBS.

Video: Paisley on Leno’s Ten @ Ten

/by

brad-paisley-ar10Brad Paisley joined Jay Leno via satellite on Friday night for the Ten @ Ten segment. Here’s the video in case you missed it.

Publishing Update: BMG Rights Mgmt.; Israelite Re-ups

/by

bmgBMG Rights Management, the global company which purchased the Crosstown Songs America catalog earlier this year, has officially established it US operations and announced the opening/transitioning of offices in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. The Nashville office will continue being headed by Dann Huff along with Sr. VP Creative Darrell Franklin. The publisher is home to Neil Thrasher, Desmond Child, Jonathan Singleton and more.

Laurent Hubert has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, North America, and will be building US operations from the company’s New York office. Deirdre O’Hara has been appointed Chief Creative Officer, North America, and will work out of Los Angeles and New York. Both will report to Hartwig Masuch, CEO of BMG Rights Management. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, BMG Rights Management also has offices in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The music venture, which is owned by Bertelsmann and KKR, purchased Crosstown for an estimated $70 million.

———————-

David Israelite

David Israelite

David Israelite has accepted a contract extension to continue his role as President and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) through 2014. Israelite has served in this capacity since February, 2005 and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the NMPA’s operations, from legal strategy and implementation to government affairs and advocacy.

His tenure to date has produced legal successes on behalf of publishers, including work on the Copyright Royalty Board’s royalty rate setting deliberations, negotiating a rate agreement with multiple industry trade groups on interactive streaming and limited downloads, a recent settlement with the RIAA regarding late fee payments to publishers and songwriters, and the PRO-IP Act.

Citadel To File Chapter 11

/by

citCitadel Broadcasting plans to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection before the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The radio broadcaster is in talks with lenders over the prearranged bankruptcy plan which has lenders exchanging Citadel’s $2 billion in debt for about 99.5 percent equity in the reorganized company, the Journal said. The creditors have until Tuesday to accept the deal.

It was reported that JP Morgan Chase & Co and General Electric Co’s GE Capital, which hold about 40 percent of the debt, are on board with the plan.

If the deal goes through, Citadel Chief Executive Farid Suleman would likely remain in his post, heading the company’s network of 165 FM stations, 58 AM stations, and the ABC Radio Networks.