Mulraine To Lead MTSU Recording Industry Dept.

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Dr. Loren Mulraine

MTSU has named longtime professor Dr. Loren Mulraine chairman of its acclaimed Recording Industry department. He moves into the role following the retirement of Chris Haseleu.

Mulraine is an entertainment law attorney who has taught at MTSU since 1998, including serving two stints as interim associate dean of the College of Mass Communication.

As chairman of the recording industry department, he says he will “expand and diversify our programs so we’re not just focusing on ‘recording industry’ but entertainment, which also means music for film, TV and gaming.”

He wants to expand the department’s presence on Music Row, create more industry partnerships to help maintain the program’s quality in the wake of budget cuts, and develop a greater online presence with more distance-learning courses.

In recent years the program has added a Master of Fine Arts in Recording Arts and Technology, as well as a commercial songwriting concentration. MTSU’s recording-industry department, which is the largest of its kind in the United States, boasts more than 1,200 majors and 28 full-time faculty members.

Lambert Headed Out On CMT Tour

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Miranda Lambert will headline this year’s CMT on Tour outing, kicking off Sept. 29 in New York City, according to CMT.com. She will be joined by special guest Eric Church and rising artist Josh Kelley for the 28-city run. CMT on Tour: Miranda Lambert Revolution will be produced by AEG Live.

Lambert has been on hot streak of late, scoring her first No. 1 single, “White Liar.” She followed that with “The House That Built Me,” which also went to the top of the charts and earned writers Allen Shamblin and Tom Douglas a MusicRow Award for Song of the Year.

CMT has a track record of bringing fans top talent, past runs have featured superstars Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and Keith Urban.

Steel Magnolia Sets Debut Date

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Big Machine Records has set a Sept. 21 release date for Steel Magnolia’s self-titled debut album. The duo, made up of Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones, has already had a major hit with the first single “Keep On Lovin’ You,” and are following that with “Just By Being You (Halos and Wings).”

Linsey and Jones wrote seven of the 12 tracks for the project, including break-up ballad “Edge of Goodbye,” and “Glass Houses,” penned solely by Jones. They also sought work from outside hitmakers, such as Keith Urban and Vernon Rust‘s “Homespun Love,” Lori McKenna and Chris Tompkins‘s “Bulletproof,” and “Not Tonight” by Shane Stevens, Hillary Lindsey and Matthew West.

Steel Magnolia official track listing:
1. Ooh La La (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey)
2. Keep On Lovin’ You, (Chris Stapleton, Trent Willmon)
3. Just By Being You (Halos and Wings), (Britton Cameron, Patricia Conroy)
4. Edge Of Goodbye, (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey Julie Moriva)
5. Bulletproof (Lori McKenna, Chris Tompkins)
6. Not Tonight (Shane Stevens, Hillary Lindsey, Matthew West)
7. Last Night Again (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey, Hillary Lindsey)
8. Without You (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey, Van Asa Preston)
9. Rainbow  (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey, Tommy Henriksen, Chioma Eze)
10. Eggs Over Easy (Joshua Scott Jones, Meghan Linsey, Steffon Hamulak)
11. Homespun Love (Keith Urban, Vernon Rust)
12. Glass Houses  (Joshua Scott Jones)

••• In more news from the Big Machine team, Jaron and The Long Road to Love and The Band Perry will perform a free listener appreciation concert tonight (7/13) for fans of Cumulus’s 95.5 The Wolf. The party is at Cadillac Ranch; doors at 6:00 p.m., show at 7:00 p.m. Go to www.955thewolf.com and click on the concert link to reserve tickets.

••• Jimmy Wayne is nearing Phoenix, the end of his Meet Me Halfway walk.

••• And Valory VP/Promotion Jon Loba recently proved how far he will go to get airplay by tackling a rock climbing challenge from a radio friend during trip to the Smoky Mountains.

Opry.com Challenges Fans To Donate

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The Grand Ole Opry has started an online Country Music Video Challenge to benefit flood relief at oprychallenge.com. The game features video clips of country stars followed by quiz questions. Throughout the Challenge, the artists invite players to donate to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s flood relief efforts.

“Friends from around the world have communicated with us via Facebook, Twitter, and email, asking what they can do to help after this spring’s floods,” explained Opry Interactive Manager Angie Reynolds, of the initiative.

Additionally, Opry Presenting Sponsor Humana® has pledged to donate $1 for each of the first 25,000 fans who play the game. Players will be able to challenge their friends in the game via Facebook and Twitter.

Prizes such as a Gibson guitar autographed by Brad Paisley are also up for grabs.

The Opry is scheduled to be staged from the Ryman Auditorium throughout the summer. The show will return to the Opry House for its 85th birthday celebration in October.

Songwriters Set For Benefit, NY Series

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This Saturday’s (7/17) Songwriters Sing For Nashville flood relief benefit at The Woods at Fontanel has added more performers to the line-up, including (in order of appearance) Lari White, Chuck Cannon, James House, Danny Flowers, Rafe Van Hoy, Billy Burnette, Marc Beeson, James Slater and Danny Myrick. The newly-added group will play on the Gibson Tunesmith Stage at the Farm House Restaurant from noon until 4:00 p.m.

Songwriters already announced for The Woods stage from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. include Roger Murrah, Matraca Berg, Kye Fleming, Dallas Frazier, Dickey Lee, Dennis Morgan, Hugh Prestwood, Mark D. Sanders, Don Wayne, Jim Weatherly and Mike Reid.

This will be the first concert at the new venue. Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

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The CMA Songwriters Series will return to New York City’s Joe’s Pub for two shows on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Representing Nashville will be hitmakers Jamey Johnson, Buddy Cannon, Bobby Pinson and Bob DiPiero, who will also host the evening. With tons of charttoppers between them, this group is sure to impress music lovers in NYC. Tickets are $25, details at www.joespub.com.

New ZBB Album Coming In Sept.

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Zac Brown Band has set a Sept. 21 release date for its much anticipated new album, You Get What You Give. The group won the all-genre Grammy for Best New Artist this year and has moved over 2 million units of its debut, The Foundation. After 85 weeks on the SoundScan sales chart, that project is 2010’s second bestselling country albums (616k), so it is likely that the follow-up from Atlantic/Southern Ground will give fourth quarter sales a boost.

Band members Zac Brown, Jimmy De Martini, John Hopkins, Coy Bowles, Clay Cook and Chris Fryar have been testing the songs from You Get What You Give on the road. Early fan favorites appear to be the somber piano-driven ballad “Colder Weather,” the reggae-infused jam “Who Knows,” and the harmony-laced track “As She’s Walking Away.”

Brown notes that the new album “is representative of where we are right now. It combines elements of our southern rock and country roots, but also stays true to our jam-band style musicianship from the live show.”

ZBB is touring throughout the summer and joining Dave Matthews Band on dates this month in New York, and Washington, DC.

Other big Q4 releases on the schedule: Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, and a rumored Taylor Swift project.

RIAA Criticized Over Executive Salaries

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Mitch Bainwol

The RIAA is under fire for paying top boss Mitch Bainwol over $2 million in 2008. A report published yesterday (7/12) in Digital Music News broke the story, questioning whether such an extravagant salary was justifiable for someone leading the trade group of a suffering industry.

Now the RIAA has responded, saying that it is a competitive rate of compensation for a trade organization executive with Bainwol’s amount of experience. The organization also reports that Bainwol’s current salary is closer to $1.5 million.

Other qualms DMN found while digging through the RIAA’s 2008 tax documents: ten or more staffers and executives making between $200,000 and $1.33 million each, and exorbitant legal expenses totaling over $16 million.

Paisley Headlines Aquapalooza 2010

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Brad Paisley took a short vacation from his H20 World Tour to party with fans at The Reserve at Lake Travis near Austin, TX on July 12 for Aquapalooza 2010. Official reports claim crowds of 65,000-70,000 plus over 7,000 boats that all arrived for the concert. Last year’s event was at Lake Martin, Alabama.

Paisley’s 2-hour show was staged at the water’s edge and included a 100 foot thrust perched on floats that enabled him to seemingly walk out into the lake and get closer to the numerous fans floating on boats, inner tubes and other devices. Other performers included Matt Stillwell, Jerrod Neimann, Lee Brice and Joanna Smith.

Click to hear Brad talk about the event, and Neimann discuss his new, just released CD.

[wpaudio url=”http://prep.hearsomethingcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/070610-brad-paisley-aqua-26.mp3″ text=”Brad Paisley-Aquapalooza” dl=”0″ autoplay=”0″]

[wpaudio url=”http://prep.hearsomethingcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/070810-jerrod-niemann-28.mp3″ text=”Jerrod Neimann” dl=”0″ autoplay=”0″]

Stroudavarious/Treehouse Form Partnership

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Stroudavarious Records CEO James Stroud has partnered with Dale Morris of Morris Management to form a joint venture uniting Stroudavarious and DMP/Treehouse Records.

Morris first established Treehouse in June 2009 with Blaine Larsen as its flagship artist.

As part of the changes, the Treehouse promotion team will be exiting the company. This includes staffers Tony Benken, Gwen Foster, Jay Thomas, Scot Michaels, and Nate Ritches (see contact information below).

“Our mission,” says Stroud, “is to combine forces to include records, management and booking. I feel this is the new business model for our industry and with my partners Dale Morris and Clint Higham, we can’t lose.”

Larsen will remain on the DMP/Treehouse roster, along with Rob Lane, Andy Gibson and Jason Mitchell.

Stroudavarious Records, distributed by Sony/RED, is home to Darryl Worley and LoCash Cowboys.

Contact info for former Treehouse staff
Tony Benken, Tunegoon@comcast.net, 615-478-9056
Gwen Foster, 480-495-2209, gwen.foster19@yahoo.com
Jay Thomas, 703-969-2498, va2ct2me@aol.com
Scot Michaels, 720-878-2333, kidbna@aol.com
Nate Ritches, 541-678-4282, hilandersoundandlight@hotmail.com

ACM Makes Third Big Donation To Flood Relief

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(L-R): Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Director of ACM Lifting Lives Erin Spahn, Chairman of ACM Lifting Lives Gary Haber, President of ACM Lifting Lives Gayle Holcomb and ACM Executive Director Bob Romeo. Photo: Becky Fluke

ACM Lifting Lives presented The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee with a $100,000 check during the Nashville Rising flood relief benefit concert spearheaded by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill on June 22. This marks the third significant flood-related donation made by ACM Lifting Lives.

“Thanks to the big hearts of country music artists like Tim and Faith, the ACM raised over a million dollars for ACM Lifting Lives through our Brooks & Dunn special that aired earlier this year on CBS. We are so grateful to be able to quickly use that funding to help flood victims in Middle Tennessee and to be a part of this outstanding night showcasing Nashville’s generous, community-minded spirit,” said Erin Spahn, Director of ACM Lifting Lives.

Donations can be made until August by texting ACM to 501501 or online at www.ACMLiftingLives.org.