Jason Michael Carroll Headlines In Nashville

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Arista Nashville artist Jason Michael Carroll played his first Nashville headlining concert recently at Nashville's Exit/In last night. Carroll's current single is “Hurry Home,” from his second album, Growing Up Is Getting Old. Pictured (L-R): Red Light Management’s Jeri Cooper; Sony Music Nashville’s Paul Barnabee and Jim Catino; Red Light’s Greg Hill; Carroll; Sony Music Nashville’s Skip Bishop and Tom Baldrica; Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson; and Sony Music Nashville’s Ray Uhlir and Heather McBee.

Arista Nashville artist Jason Michael Carroll played his first Nashville headlining concert recently at Nashville's Exit/In. Carroll's current single is “Hurry Home,” from his second album, Growing Up Is Getting Old. Pictured (L-R): Red Light Management’s Jeri Cooper; Sony Music Nashville’s Paul Barnabee and Jim Catino; Red Light’s Greg Hill; Carroll; Sony Music Nashville’s Skip Bishop and Tom Baldrica; Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson; and Sony Music Nashville’s Ray Uhlir and Heather McBee.

Booming Movie Biz Headed For Biggest Year Yet

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Chart from TheWrap.com

Chart from TheWrap.com

Hollywood is on track for its biggest year ever. TheWrap.com reports that domestic box office receipts will zoom past the $10 billion mark for the first time in history by the end of 2010. It’s surprising news considering the recession and the fact that there were almost 20 percent fewer films released in 2009 than in 2008.

Working in the film industry’s favor in 2009 is an increase in ticket prices and an increase in ticket sales. The average ticket price was up 4.2 percent to about $7.48 this year, pushed upward by numerous 3D movie releases which demand a higher cost per ticket. Also boosting the box office were popular franchises and sequels. And some Hollywood leaders believe that the recession helped, not hurt.

The economic downturn also effected the number of movies released this year, with some executives telling TheWrap that it created a barrier to entry for smaller indies and that major studios exercised more discretion.

With three full weekends left in 2009, total domestic theatrical distribution revenue stands at $9.64 billion [Exhibitor Relations], besting the previous full-year record of $9.621 billion set in 2007. Big releases still to come include The Princess and the Frog, Avatar, Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel and Sherlock Holmes. Exhibitor Relations predicts the year-end total will rise to $10.3 billion, while Hollywood.com estimates $10.6 billion.

Video Preview: Love And Theft, Joe Nichols, Chris Young

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Love And Theft, Photo: Ashley Heron

Love And Theft on the set of their new video. Photo: Ashley Heron

Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles gathered on 5th Avenue in Nashville to shoot the music video for their latest single, “Dancing in Circles.” Directing was Kristin Barlowe, who also directed their video for hit single, “Runaway.” While filming, a group of unexpected protesters rallied in the streets and the crew scrambled to capture them as part of the shoot. The video for “Dancing in Circles” debuts Dec. 14.

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Chris Young's new video.

Chris Young's latest video.

Chris Young has released his new single and video for “The Man I Want to Be.” The title track to his album was written by noted songwriters Brett James and Tim Nichols, and is a tale of hope and redemption. Young’s got a busy road schedule this month, hot on the heels of his recent No. 1 smash, “Gettin’ You Home.”

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Joe Nichols' new video.

Joe Nichols' new video captures his live performance.

Joe Nichols shot the music video for his new single, “Gimmie That Girl,” at Cowboys in San Antonio, TX with director Peter Zavadil. About his first live concert video, Nichols says, “There’s nothing like performing a song in front of an audience. The energy is something that’s hard to describe.”

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Bridgette Tatum on the set of of "I Like My Cowboys Dirty."

Bridgette Tatum on the set of of "I Like My Cowboys Dirty."

Hit songwriter Bridgette Tatum headed to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Whisky River bar in Charlotte, NC to make her video for “(I Like My) Cowboys Dirty.” It was directed by Dale Resteghini of Raging Nation Films and premiered on the National Finals Rodeo website Dec. 3 in conjunction with her performance at the Las Vegas event. The “director’s cut” version gives a behind-the-scenes look at making the video. Her album Sex, Church & Chicken will be released by Root 49 Records in 2010.

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“Wild Hog,” the new video from country singer Pat Garrett is now available online. He shot the video in Pennsylvania, featuring over 200 local motorcycle riders. Garrett was inspired to write the song by the hit movie, “Wild Hogs,” that starred John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy.

Left to right, Steve Pugliese, Jeff Hill, Rich Bredbenner, Pat Garrett, Joe Dell, and Bob Stevenson have a laugh at the sign outside The Bridge Inn in Pleasantville where dozens of motorcycles were parked, with permission by owners, during the taping of Garrett's new video "Wild Hog".
(L-R): Steve Pugliese, Jeff Hill, Rich Bredbenner, Pat Garrett, Joe Dell, and Bob Stevenson during the taping of Garrett’s new video “Wild Hog.”

Video: Cledus T. Judd “Tiger By the Tail (Tale of Tiger Woods)”

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Reacting at warp speed to the Tiger Woods controversy, Cledus T. Judd has released “Tiger By The Tail (Tale of Tiger Woods),” a parody of the 1965 Buck Owens song “Tiger By The Tail.”

Judd skillfully mines the golfing lexicon for double entendres, while brandishing his putter. The song offers the refrain “She was teed off from a tough lie/He tried to tell/And it looks like she beat Tiger all to hell” and features an unexpected Chris Brown reference near the end. Is this family-size serving of infidelity and domestic violence comedy gold or over the edge? See the video below.

Underwood Tour Opening In March

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carrie-newCarrie Underwood has a spring headlining tour in the works. Her Play On Tour, hydrated by vitaminwater®, opens March 11 in Reading, PA, and will hit more than 45 dates across North America. The arena run goes through the end of May and will feature special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. Tickets for all shows go on sale starting next Friday, December 18.

Underwood spent this past year writing and recording her third studio album Play On, performing only a few select concerts. Her previous tour, 2008’s highly successful Carnival Ride Tour wrapped after 137 shows with 1.2 million fans in attendance.

Play On debuted at the top of both the country and pop album sales charts and has sold over 700,000 copies in 5 weeks. The release earned the highest first-week sales of the year for any solo country artist at that point and makes Carrie the only country act in Nielsen SoundScan history to achieve first-week sales of more than 300,000 units on each of their first three albums.  Her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, is seven-times Platinum, and 2007’s Carnival Ride is triple-Platinum.

Please go to www.carrieunderwood.fm for up to date tour information.

Grammys To Honor Loretta Lynn, Harold Bradley, Walter Miller

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Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn, Harold Bradley, and Walter Miller will be honored by the Recording Academy this Grammy season. They will be feted at a special invitation-only ceremony to be held Saturday, Jan. 30, as part of Grammy week. A formal acknowledgment will also be made during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards telecast, set for the next day at the L.A. Staples Center.

Lynn, a three-time Grammy winner, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for her nearly 50 years in the music industry. She strutted to the forefront of country music with her 1960 debut single “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl,” and an illustrious career followed. She has had more than 70 hits including the classics “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which was also the name of her autobiography that was later adapted into a Hollywood film. Her most recent success came in 2004 when she won a pair of Grammys for her collaboration with Jack White on the album Van Lear Rose.

Harold Bradley

Harold Bradley

Acclaimed musician Bradley and longtime CMA Awards producer Miller will receive Trustees Awards, recognizing outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity.

Often called the most recorded musician in history, Harold Bradley and his brother Owen built Music Row’s first recording facility the Quonset Hut in the 1950s. Harold was president of AFM Local 257 for 17 years and has served as its international vice president for the past 10 years. He was the first president of The Recording Academy’s Nashville Chapter and was also a Nashville session musician for more than 50 years, which earned him a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Walter Miller

Walter Miller

Miller has worked in television for more than 60 years as a producer and director of the Tony Awards, CMA Awards and for the last 29 years, the Grammy Awards. Miller was instrumental in helping shape some of Grammys’ most memorable moments including Aretha Franklin’s last-minute, unrehearsed rendition of “Nessun Dorma”; Bono presenting an award to Frank Sinatra; and Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang’s complex and thrilling piano performance of “Rhapsody In Blue.” The six-time Primetime Emmy® winner remains one of the most respected directors in the industry.

The Lifetime Achievement and Trustees awards are voted on by The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees. Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Michael Jackson, André Previn, and Clark Terry will also receive Lifetime Achievement Awards; and Florence Greenberg joins Bradley and Miller as a Trustees Award winner. AKG and Thomas Alva Edison will receive Technical Grammy Awards.

Nielsen Spins Off “Billboard,” “Hollywood Reporter”

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bbThe Nielsen Company is selling eight publications, including Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, to e5 Global Media LLC, a new company formed by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners.

Pluribus was founded earlier this year by James A. Finkelstein, George Green, and Matthew Doull. Former Bear Stearns head Alan Schwartz is running Guggenheim, a privately held, diversified financial services firm with more than $100 billion in assets.

Other brands included in the sale worth an estimated $70 million are: Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, The Clio Awards, Backstage, Film Journal International and the Film Expo trade show business. Among the titles closing will be Editor & Publisher, which has chronicled the newspaper business for 108 years. Management of the acquired brands and their staff members will begin to transition immediately.

hr Nielsen, which quietly shopped the trades around for the latter half of 2009, has suffered with the overall media downturn, driven largely by declining ad sales. Greg Farrar, President of Nielsen Business Media, explained, “Divesting these titles allows Nielsen to focus its investment on its core businesses and those parts of our portfolio that have the greatest potential for growth, including our leading trade show group.” Nielsen also produces the SoundScan music sales charts.

Finkelstein, who will become Chairman of e5 Global Media, and Todd Boehly, Managing Partner in the Office of the CEO at Guggenheim Partners, commented, “These are unique brands that are already leaders in their respective fields and, with the additional financial and strategic resources that we will provide, they will be positioned to add enhanced content across their print, online and new media channels and to continue to deliver value to their subscribers and advertisers.”

The acquisition, which is subject to normal terms and conditions, is scheduled to close by December 31, 2009. At the conclusion of the transaction, the group’s U.S.-based publications will continue do business from their current locations at 770 Broadway in New York and at 5055 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles.

Photos: Nashville Songwriters At New Orleans Festival

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New Orleans-based Songfest Foundation, Inc., an organization founded to benefit Louisiana and Gulf Coast musicians, held its second annual New Orleans Songwriters Festival December 3-5. The event was sponsored by ASCAP, and performers included J.D. Souther, Don Schlitz, Allen Toussaint, Dennis Matkosky, and more.

J.D. Souther and Red Morgan performing

J.D. Souther and Red Morgan performing

(L-R): Don Schlitz, Greg Barnhill, Dennis Matkosky, Thom Sheppard, Allen Toussaint, Chuck Perkins, Red Morgan and Jim McCormick

(L-R): Don Schlitz, Greg Barnhill, Dennis Matkosky, Thom Shepherd, Allen Toussaint, Chuck Perkins, Red Morgan and Jim McCormick

(L-R): Don Schlitz, ASCAP's Pat Rolfe, ASCAP's Ralph Murphy, Dennis Matkosky, Bud Tower and Rusty Gaston

(L-R): Don Schlitz, ASCAP's Pat Rolfe, ASCAP's Ralph Murphy, Dennis Matkosky, Bud Tower and Rusty Gaston

Montgomery Gentry and Friends Support Martell Foundation

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Pictured (L-R) Wade Hayes, Jamie Fox Hardwick, Shane Thomas, Troy Gentry, Auction winner Mike Kimlerling, Eddie Montgomery, Chris Young and Tim Nichols. Photo by Joe Hardwick

Pictured (L-R) Wade Hayes, Jamie Fox Hardwick, Shane Thomas, Troy Gentry, Auction winner Mike Kimlerling, Eddie Montgomery, Chris Young and Tim Nichols. Photo by Joe Hardwick

Montgomery Gentry and friends Chris Young, Jon Stone, Tim Nichols, Wade Hayes, Trent Willmon and Jim Quick with Coastline raised $80,000 at the first annual Country on the Beach benefiting the T.J. Martell Foundation’s fight against cancer and AIDS. The event was held Dec. 3-6 in Cancun, Mexico, and featured an all-inclusive guest package with activities such as zip line tours, snorkeling, swimming with the dolphins, and nighttime country music.

Highlights of the trip included a live auction which offered on-stage performances with Montgomery Gentry ($3,750) and singer/songwriter Nichols ($3,000), as well as private serenades by Willmon and  Hayes. GAC TV’s Headline Country Host, Storme Warren was the host and auctioneer of the event who added to the auction excitement by offering hand-written lyrics to the tune of Charlie Daniel’s “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” that were re-written by various artists from the CMA Awards red carpet in November ($7,000). Young placed the hand written lyrics to his latest No. 1 song, “Getting You Home” on the auction block, which brought $5,500.

John Rich, Rascal Flatts and Others Spread Christmas Cheer

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Country Music Star, John Rich, was the Grand Marshall for the recent 55th Annual Nashville Christmas Parade.  John, along with Two Foot Fred, Cowboy Troy, Carter’s Chord, Steel Magnolia and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean,  light the Christmas Tree at the Public Square and then kicked off the parade  spreading the holiday cheer to thousands of individuals and their families. (L-R): Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, John Rich, Cowboy Troy

John Rich was the Grand Marshall for the recent 55th Annual Nashville Christmas Parade. He joined Two Foot Fred, Cowboy Troy, Carter’s Chord, Steel Magnolia and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean in lighting the Christmas Tree at the Public Square before kicking off the parade. (L-R): Karl Dean, Cowboy Troy, John Rich

Country stars are spreading holiday cheer by participating in special Christmas tree lighting events across the nation.

Rascal Flatts are in Nashville today (12/10) to visit the kids at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt by flipping the switch on the trees lining the hospital’s Main Street. The trio has raised over $3 million for the hospital over the last few years. Closing out this week, Rascal Flatts will make their final performance of the year at the Grand Ole Opry Friday, December 11. In honor of Rascal Flatts, the Opry is donating tickets for their appearance to the patients, families and staff at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.

David Nail and Billy Ray Cyrus are part of an all-star cast performing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) tree lighting this afternoon. The ceremony has been a New York tradition since 1923. Also on the schedule for the free, public event are The Manhattan Transfer, Collective Soul, Kate Voegele, Stryper, Twisted Sister with Broadway’s “Rock of Ages” cast and many others. The tree lighting will be available for online viewing from 4:50- 5 PM/ET.