Adams Named Robertson Taylor VP 

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Reba Adams

London-based insurance broker Robertson Taylor International has promoted Reba Adams to Vice President of the company’s Nashville operation. Adams has been an entertainment, film and live event insurance specialist for over thirty years.

Founded in 1977, Robertson Taylor International provides insurance and risk management services specifically for the music and live event industries. In addition to New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, the company has a Nashville office located on Music Row.

Jeffrey Steele’s “Alex LeVasseur” Benefit Tonight

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Jeffrey Steele

Tonight (3/11), the Alex LeVasseur Memorial Scholarship Program will present Jeffrey Steele and Friends, an intimate evening with Jeffrey Steele, Danny Gokey, Heidi Newfield, Sarah Buxton, Bob Dipiero, LoCash Cowboys and Pearl Heart at Nashville’s Rocketown.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Alex LeVasseur Memorial Fund of The Community Foundation and its scholarship program, which helps overlooked and underprivileged youth in Nashville by motivating them in school and in life.

Jeffrey Steele and family created the Alex LeVasseur Memorial Scholarship Program at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, in conjunction with Rocketown/Sixth Avenue Skate Park in Nashville, after Steele’s 13-year-old son, Alex LeVasseur, passed away January 28, 2007 in a tragic accident. Steele and his family are very involved with this program, which has already made a significant impact on its participants.

This intimate event will include table seating, with a limited VIP section. VIP tables are $2,500 and $1,500; VIP tickets are $150 each; and limited single seats are available for $100 each. Wine and hors‘d oeuvres will be served. The event will also feature live and silent auctions. To purchase tickets, click here.

This is the first of two events the LeVasseur family puts on each year in memory of Alex. The second is an outdoor skate and music festival, which is scheduled for June 2010.

Source Joins Lee at Hall of Fame

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Country and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Brenda Lee got together with members of Source, Nashville’s music business executive women’s group, to conduct a personal tour of Brenda Lee: Dynamite, the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit dedicated to the long and successful career of the legendary singer. The exhibit, which runs through June, features artifacts and multimedia encompassing Lee’s career.

Each month the non-profit organization hosts a luncheon and invites an influential member of the industry as a guest speaker. Lee has been a longtime friend and supporter of the organization.

In other Source News, the Source Awards, an annual celebration honoring women in the music business, is scheduled for Thursday, August 26 at Nashville’s Noah Liff Opera Center. The evening will pay respect to women who helped establish the foundation of the music industry, and will also honor women in today’s music business who continue to contribute their knowledge and talents to the industry and Nashville community.

Frances W. Preston will receive the esteemed Jo Walker Meador Lifetime Achievement Award. Preston, who has been called “the most influential and powerful person in the country music business” by Esquire magazine, served as the President and CEO of BMI for 18 years before stepping down in 2004.

Brenda Lee (center, with scarf) is pictured at the Hall of Fame with Source members (Photo: Denise Fusilli)

Washington Dignitaries Turn Out For CMA Board

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Library of Congress photo: David Ross

Yesterday (3/9), the Library of Congress and the Country Music Association hosted a day-long program for the CMA Board of Directors at the nation’s library, including a comprehensive tour of the historic Jefferson Building; an extensive orientation to the Library’s music, sound recording, and folk collections; a reception with members of the House of Representatives, Senate, and invited dignitaries; followed by a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium.

Attending the reception in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress were nearly 400 Washington luminaries including U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer; members of the Tennessee delegation including U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn,

Library of Congress interior detail Photo: David Ross

Steve Cohen, Jim Cooper and Bart Gordon; and the Ambassador of New Zealand, Roy Ferguson, to name a few.

“The purpose of our events here at the Library of Congress are meant to bring attention to these fine collections and help this incredible institution build on the Library’s already unparalleled archive of sound recordings,” said Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors. “The foundation has been laid for future programs and educational opportunities for country music lovers around the world”

To commemorate the events, CMA donated a leather-bound DVD collection of four decades of CMA Awards broadcasts, anniversary specials, and the CMA Music Festival television specials to the Library’s archive. In addition, Steve Buchanan, President of the CMA Board of Directors, presented Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington with an autographed first printing of Marty Stuart’s photo journal Country Music: The Masters.

“These donations are a complete musical journal of the country music format: the music, the stars, the themes that have defined the genre for 40 plus years,” said Moore.

Alabama Music Hall Honors Johnson, MacAnally

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Jamey Johnson

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board has announced the selection of seven people to be inducted during the 13th Induction Banquet and Awards Show to be held in the Convention Center in Montgomery, Ala. on Thursday, March 25. Included among this year’s inductees is Mercury Records artist Jamey Johnson, who will be honored with the Alabama’s Rising Star Award.

David Johnson, Executive Eirector of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, said, “We are proud to be returning to Montgomery for this celebrated event honoring our state’s great music achievers and unmatched musical heritage. During this event, the audience will be entertained by some of the most successful and talented Alabamians in the music industry as well as witness seven achievers being awarded with our most prestigious honor – induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.”

The inductees and their categories are:

Performing Artist/Group
The Blind Boys of Alabama and Eddie Levert, (lead singer of the O’Jays.)

Alabama’s Rising Star Award
Jamey Johnson

Jerry Wexler Award
Former Muscle Shoals recording artist Mac Davis

Arthur Alexander Songwriter’s Award
Singer/songwriter Mac McAnally

Music Creator
Songwriter/producer Buddy Buie and  session musician Jerry Carrigan

Entertainment Industry
Record producer/musician Paul Hornsby

John Herbert Orr Pioneer Award
The late Muscle Shoals musician Terry Thompson and State Senator Bobby Denton.

Governor’s Award
A. Nugent

Music industry Award
Integrity, Inc. Chief Executive officer Michael Coleman

Sam Phillips Innovator’s Award
Concert promoter Tony Ruffino

Media Award
Original MTV veejay Alan Hunter

Martina Joins With SunnyD To Helps Kids

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Martina McBride is partnering with Cincinnati-based Sunny Delight Beverages Co. (SunnyD) for Time To Shine, a national marketing campaign designed to encourage “the shining moments of children.” This marks SunnyD’s first music and entertainment partnership, and the company promises a sponsorship that will “connect with Martina’s fans who share an optimistic and youthful outlook with the brand.” The campaign will include a national TV, print and retail campaign, national consumer promotion, and concert tour sponsorship.

As part of the promotion, consumers can pick up a bottle of SunnyD, go to www.sunnyd.com and share a brief story about how their child shines. The grand prize winner receives $10,000 and a VIP trip to meet McBride at a performance in Nashville. Monthly winners are also chosen to receive gifts (scholarships and/or other prizes) to encourage them to continue achieving excellent results. Each entrant will receive a free three-month Martina McBride fan club membership and access to exclusive behind the scenes footage from the SunnyD Shine All Night Tour.

McBride has also recorded a “SunnyD” jingle and will be featured in SunnyD TV commercials as well as in print ads in magazines such as People and Better Homes & Gardens.

“SunnyD is delighted to be partnering with Martina McBride for the Time to Shine promotion,” says Mark Ozimek, Assistant Brand Manager for SunnyD. This partnership is a great fit as it brings together two enduring, spirited brands that encourage children to achieve their best.”

National Folk Festival Heads To Nashville

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The National Council for the Traditional Arts, along with Mayor Karl Dean and Compass Records Group, announced today (3/10) that Nashville has been selected as the host city for the National Folk Festival in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The National Folk Festival is the oldest and longest-running multi-ethnic traditional arts festival in the nation. The Festival will be presented in downtown Nashville for three consecutive years, with the final year in Nashville marking the Festival’s 75th anniversary. Nashville won this honor in a competitive process involving 40 cities across the nation.

“No city in the United States can match the raw talent, creativity, and long history of making music like we have here in Nashville,” says Mayor Dean. “You combine that with our growing international diversity and growing recognition and appreciation for the arts, and you have a city that is well primed to host the National Folk Festival and to create an event of a caliber worthy of serving as the celebration of its 75th anniversary.”

The festival is expected to draw upwards of 80,000 attendees in its first year, increasing to over 150,000 by year three and is expected to have an estimated $10-15 million in economic impact per year. The Festival’s stay is also intended to lay the groundwork for a new annual festival that will continue in Nashville after the National Folk Festival moves on in 2014.

Nashville’s National Folk Festival will be operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and will be produced in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, and the Compass Records Group. A fundraising effort to support the festival is underway and both corporate and private sponsorship are being sought. For more details, contact Compass Records at 615-320-7672.

Gathered at ASCAP to announce Nashville as the new home of the National Folk Festival are (l-r) ASCAP's Dan Keen, Compass Records' Alison Brown, Jerry Douglas, Emmylou Harris, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, ASCAP's Marc Driskill, Compass Records' Garry West and National Council for the Traditional Arts' Julia Olin.

Nation’s Capitol Embraces Country

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John Rich performs as Lorrie Morgan looks on

Reports from the the CMA board meeting, currently underway in Washington DC, have been very positive, with Story Tellers and Story Keepers: Creating and Preserving Country Music, a day-long program for the CMA Board at the nation’s library, garnering some very positive press in today’s (3/10) Washington Post.

The day concluded with a special concert for Washington bigwigs that featured the music and storytelling of country stars Kix Brooks, John Rich and Lorrie Morgan, along with songwriters Victoria Shaw and Bob DiPiero and producer/musician Randy Scruggs. Commenting on the show, the Post’s Chris Richards said, “these men and women certainly know how to serve their country,” and noted that “there was confident stage swagger to spare.” Richards continued, “It’s also the latest event in what feels like a growing institutional embrace of country music in Washington. The Kennedy Center held a star-studded country festival in 2006, and the Obama administration has included country in its continuing genre-specific White House Music Series.

You can read the entire Washington Post article here.

CMA donated a leather-bound DVD collection of four decades of CMA history to the Library of Congress' archive. (l-r) CMA Board President Steve Buchanan, Library of Congress Music Division Chief Sue Vita, Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington, and CMA Board Chairman Steve Moore. Photo: Mitchell Layton

Alan Jackson Starts iTunes Countdown; Lady A Adds To Ryman Line-up

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One new track per week from Alan Jackson’s upcoming 18th album will be available for purchase exclusively on iTunes starting today (3/9) and leading up to the March 30 release of Freight Train.

First up on the iTunes Countdown is “Hard Hat and a Hammer.” Each track downloaded ahead of March 30 will count toward the purchase of the full album through iTunes’ Complete My Album feature. The subsequent tracks are “Every Now and Then” (available March 16) and “Where I Belong” (available March 23).

For each new track every week, fans will be able to visit Billboard.com for a 48-hour exclusive preview of the song immediately prior to its Tuesday release on iTunes, with each posting remaining on Billboard.com for a week from its debut.

“It’s Just That Way,” the first hit single from Freight Train, is currently available as a digital single through the iTunes Store.

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Capitol Records Nashville band Lady Antebellum has invited rising UMG Nashville artists Josh Kelley and Randy Montana to open their sold-out concerts at the Ryman Auditorium on March 10 and 11. Kelley is brother to Lady A’s Charles Kelley. Josh Kelley and Nashville native Montana, son of Billy Montana, will perform short acoustic sets prior to Lady A’s headlining debut on the Ryman’s historic stage.

Underwood’s “Play On Tour” Opens Thursday

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Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour will kick off this Thursday, March 11 in Reading, PA with special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. The Play On Tour, hydrated by vitaminwater® and sponsored by PEDIGREE® Brand, is currently slated for more than 50 dates running through June 20. She is scheduled mostly for arenas in the U.S. and Canada.

Tour Director Raj Kapoor put together what is likely to be one of this year’s biggest country music tours by bringing in top name collaborators including Michael Jackson’s This Is It Production Designer Michael Cotten, and Emmy Award winning Costume Designer Soyon An. Underwood’s camp reports that fans will get a few surprises at the shows, world-class production and special effects.

Underwood’s previous tour, 2008’s highly successful Carnival Ride Tour, wrapped after 137 shows with over 1.2 million fans in attendance.