Weekly Chart Report (7/23/10)

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SPIN ZONE

New Arista Nashville artist Adam Brand was in Alabama recently as part of his first radio tour in the U.S. after making a name for himself as a recording artist in Australia. Brand played his upcoming single, “Ready For Love,” for The Big 95/WHMA Anniston’s Stuff a Bus Fundraiser. (L-R): WHMA OM Tex Carter, a Chick-fil-A cow and Brand.

It’s a tennis match at the top of the CountryBreakout Chart and the latest volley comes from Keith Urban, whose “I’m In” recovers its No. 1 positioning after being displaced last week. Blake Shelton’s “All About It” slips back to No. 2, only nine spins behind Urban. Both records are young, and anything could happen at this point. Strong records from Zac Brown Band (“Free”) and Lady Antebellum (“Our Kind Of Love”) are a few steps back at No. 5 and 7, respectively, but it shouldn’t be too long before they’re vying for the top spot.

Don’t count out a run at the top by Kenny Chesney in the near future, either. His latest, “The Boys of Fall” is white hot. After nailing the biggest debut at No. 49 last week with no prior reports, the song received an additional 812 spins in this chart cycle to move on to No. 26. Reba’s “Turn On The Radio” has accomplished a similar feat—it debuted at No. 50 in the previous chart, and has now rocketed up to No. 35.

The biggest debut of this week goes to Southern country rockers Blackberry Smoke, whose “Good One Comin’ On” showed up at No. 64. Others making debuts include Sherry Lynn’s “What A Day To Shake A Heartache” at No. 70, Martin Ramey’s “Twisted” at No. 71, Amber Hayes’s “C’Mon” at No. 72, Chuck Wicks’s “Hold That Thought” at No. 77, David Bradley’s “Soak It Up” at No. 79 and Flynnville Train’s “Preachin’ To The Choir” at No. 80

Frozen Playlists: KKOW, KNCQ, KYYK, WATZ, WBKR, WDHR

RADIO NEWS
WTRS/Ocala morning personality Beth Brightwell recently announced her departure from the station after 10 years where she was a fixture on the popular “Dave, Beth, and Bo Morning Show.” She will be moving to Nashville to join WSM morning host Rick Marino on the “Wake Up With The Wolf Show.”

“I told her it was kind of like if my wife left me for Keith Urban—I’d have to look at her and say ‘Well, I can’t blame ya for going,’” jokes WTRS PD/morning co-host Dave Tyler. “Beth is super talented and we knew that one day she would leave for bigger pastures. I think the broadcast industry is only now getting a small taste of her abilities and she will blossom at a great station like WSM! We will miss her and hope she returns our calls once the limos start picking her up in the morning!”

Brightwell’s first day on the job is Thursday, July 29. Starting Monday, July 26, the WTRS morning show will be known as the Dave & Bo Show.

Upcoming Singles
July 26
Miranda Lambert/Only Prettier/Columbia
Sugarland/Stuck Like Glue/Mercury
Matt Kennon/You Can Still Wear White/BamaJam
Craig Campbell/Family Man/Bigger Picture
Jeff Golden/Judgement Day/Country Trax

August 2
Josh Gracin/Cover Girl/Average Joes
Clay Walker/Where Do I Go From You/Curb
Luke Bryan/Someone Else Calling You Baby/Capitol

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New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Blackberry Smoke/Good One Comin’ On/BamaJam — 64
Sherry Lynn/What A Day to Shake A Heartache/Steal Heart — 70
Martin Ramey/Twisted/Curb — 71
Amber Hayes/C’Mon/Funl Music — 72
Chuck Wicks/Hold That Thought/RCA — 77
David Bradley/Soak It Up/Gecko — 79
Flynnville Train/Preachin’ to the Choir/Next Evolution Records — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Kenny Chesney/The Boys Of Fall/BNA — 812
Reba/Turn On The Radio/Starstruck/Valory — 532
George Strait/The Breath You Take/MCA — 359
Darius Rucker/Come Back Song/Capitol — 346
Miranda Lambert/Only Prettier/Columbia — 236

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Bo Bice/You Take Yourself With You/Saguaro Road Records — 201
Jimmy White and Jonell Mosser/Just What I Need/Tone Box Records — 197
Diamond Rio/This Is My Life/Word Records — 196
Chris Young/Voices/RCA — 184
Melanie Denard/All I Ever Did Was Love You/StarPath — 179

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Kenny Chesney/The Boys Of Fall/BNA — 35
Reba/Turn On The Radio/Starstruck/Valory — 25
David Adam Byrnes/Sweet Distraction/Better Angels — 20
George Strait/The Breath You Take/MCA — 15
Joe Nichols/The Shape I’m In/Show Dog – Universal — 12
Luke Bryan/Someone Else Calling You Baby/Capitol — 12
*Total Adds rec’d over two weeks

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EMI Records Nashville’s Eric Church recently made a tour stop in Memphis, TN. His current single “Smoke A Little Smoke” is currently climbing the charts and he will join Miranda Lambert for CMT’s On Tour this fall. (L-R): Steve Hodges, Sr. VP Promotion Capitol/EMI; Angela Lange, VP Promotion EMI; Trudie Daniell, Regional Dir. Promotion EMI; Church; and WGKX/Memphis APD/MD Kay Manley.

The JaneDear girls recently gave a concert for WUBL/Atlanta staff. (L-R) Susan Brown, WUBL morning personality Jason Pullman, Danelle Leverett, and WUBL PD Scott Lindy.

Westwood One Offers Urban’s Backstage Experience

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Westwood One is taking country radio listeners backstage for a personal experience with Keith Urban in a unique 1-hour radio show from August 7-15.

Recorded on location at several shows around the country, Urban answers fan questions and talks about his 2010 Summer Lovin’ tour. The fans themselves will be a part of the show, and give their favorites moments from the tour. In addition, the show spotlights Urban’s biggest hits from the past few years.

Urban’s tour sponsors, Kingsford Charcoal and KC Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce, present this show free to all radio stations so fans will be able to share in the excitement. For more information, contact Donny Walker at 917-957-5028 or [email protected]

Friday Photos – Artists on the Road

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Republic Nashville’s Sunny Sweeney was in Sacramento recently where she paid a visit to one of the city’s top rated TV morning shows, Good Day Sacramento. Sweeney performed two songs from her upcoming album, including her current single “From A Table Away.”

(l-r) Good Day Sacramento anchor Cody Stark, Sunny Sweeney and anchor Tina Macuha.

Warner Music’s James Otto recently visited with WGH staff before his performance in Virginia Beach.

(L-R): Chris Stacey, Sr. VP Promotion Warner Music Nashville; WGH PD John Shomby; and Otto.

Pandora Reaches Major Listener Milestone


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Personalized online radio service Pandora announced at this week’s New Music Seminar that 60 million people have registered as listeners. Pandora CEO and President Joe Kennedy spoke at the Seminar’s New Media Movement where he shared the milestone news with influential players of the music industry.

“Pandora plays the music of tens of thousands of artists every day,” Kennedy said. “It’s a very promising sign for the industry that music fans are so quickly embracing this new form of radio.”

“The New Music Seminar convenes the architects of the next music business and Pandora is certainly one of them,” said New Music Seminar Director Tom Silverman. “This milestone is a major building block in the foundation of the next music business. We congratulate Pandora on its achievement.”

Pandora’s collection consists of hundreds of thousands of songs from 90,000 separate artists, 80 percent of which are played each month. In the curated Pandora collection, each piece of music is carefully analyzed by musicians to create a unique musical DNA that makes up the Music Genome Project and enables Pandora’s unique form of personalized radio. www.pandora.com

Bentley Brings Bluegrass to Late Night TV

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With every track on his new, bluegrass-infused album Up On The Ridge being praised by the nation’s music critics, country music maverick Dierks Bentley will treat television audiences to the debut of two new tracks on late night TV next week.

The award-winning singer/songwriter will perform the aching ballad “Fallin’ For You” on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday, July 27 and the poignant and romantic “Draw Me A Map” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, July 28.

“A lot of times when you get invited to do these shows, you end up doing the same song over and over…usually whatever your current radio single is at the time,” Bentley says. “It’s really flattering that folks were listening and asking for deeper album cuts. I love being able to highlight as many of these songs as possible because I think they are all special.”

Critical acclaim continues to roll in for Up On The Ridge with Entertainment Weekly most recently highlighting “Bad Angel” as the sole country track on their 10-song Perfect Summer Playlist. Other artists making the short list include Maroon 5, Gaslight Anthem and The Roots.

For a full list of upcoming appearances and tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.

Jamie O’Neal Partners With Cripple Creek

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Nashville based Brand N Music Partnerships has announced that Cripple Creek, a division of Sidran, and country recording artist Jamie O’Neal have entered into a long-term brand partnership and endorsement agreement. This strategic integrated marketing campaign includes product endorsements, retail appearances and digital components.

“Jamie O’Neal does a tremendous job representing the face of country music and women’s outerwear, something that is really important to the Cripple Creek brand,” says Sidran, Inc. President, Roland Mizrahi. “We hope that this is just the beginning of a long and lasting relationship between Jamie O’Neal and Cripple Creek.”

“I am thrilled to announce this new relationship with Cripple Creek” O’Neal says. “Whether it’s a hooded fleece for a fall day at the park or studded leather jacket for backstage, Cripple Creek has something for every occasion.”

Toby Keith Readies “Bullets In The Gun”

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Show Dog-Universal’s Toby Keith will release Bullets In The Gun, his 15th full-length studio album, on October 5. The collection has been preceded at radio by lead single “Trailerhood,” which is currently one of the fastest-rising singles on the charts, jumping five spaces this week to No.31 just three weeks after its official release.

From his first single and No. 1 smash “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” back in 1993 to his recent single “Cryin’ For Me (Wayman’s Song),” Keith has written the majority of his biggest hits.

Keith’s American Ride Tour opened last month at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Sponsored by Ford Trucks, the tour will hit dozens of cities through its Sept. 25 conclusion in Boston.

Remaining July dates:

July 22             Boise
July 23             Portland, OR
July 24             Seattle
July 25             Vancouver
July 27             Paso Robles, CA
July 29             Sacramento
July 30             Los Angeles
July 31             Las Vegas

Borman Ent. Announces Staff Additions, Promotions

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Los Angeles and Nashville based Borman Entertainment has added Michael Corcoran as an Associate Manager responsible for the day-to-day duties of Alison Krauss, and Doug Aitken as Manager, Tour Marketing. Additionally, after six years with the company, Randy Brown has been promoted to Associate Manager responsible for Universal Music’s Randy Montana.

“We’re delighted to see Randy thrive and thrilled Doug and Michael agreed to join us,” says Gary Borman. “All three are experienced, excellent marketers and very welcome additions to our management team.”

Corcoran comes from the Nashville office of Nettwerk Management, where he worked with artists including Jars of Clay, Landon Pigg and Matt Wertz for the past five years. Corcoran has also done tour management for Guster, Phantom Planet and Ben Kweller.

Aitken is a 20-plus year veteran of the Nashville entertainment industry. Specializing in marketing, his previous positions include Pro Tours, Inc., RPM Management, Outback Concerts and the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

Brown has spent the past six years assisting with Borman clients and supporting the tour marketing efforts for the entire company roster. He previously served as marketing coordinator at Warner Brothers Nashville, working on projects by Faith Hill, Blake Shelton and Big & Rich.

Borman Entertainment’s current roster includes Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Alison Krauss, Randy Montana and Michael Franti.

BMI, ASCAP and Songwriters Hall Set Awards Dates

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Nashville’s annual country music awards season is beginning to take shape with BMI, ASCAP and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announcing dates for their annual awards events.

BMI announced today (7/21) that the 58th annual BMI Country Awards will take place Tuesday, November 9 at the company’s Music Row offices in Nashville. The black-tie, invitation-only gala is the oldest awards ceremony saluting country music’s top songwriters.

Hosted by BMI President & CEO Del Bryant, along with Nashville Writer/Publisher Vice President Jody Williams and Assistant Vice President Clay Bradley, the BMI Country Awards will salute the songwriters and publishers of the top BMI country songs played on American radio and television during the previous year. The organization will also bestow prestigious honors on the genre’s Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year and most-performed Song of the Year, also known as the Robert J. Burton Award.

The evening will culminate with the presentation of the BMI Icon award to a country legend who has rendered “a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” The Icon recipient will be announced in the coming months.

With more details to be announced in the next couple of weeks,  ASCAP has announced a date and venue change for their annual ASCAP Country Awards. This year’s event will take place on September 14 at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame 40th Anniversary Dinner & Induction Ceremony, presented by AT&T, will be held Sunday, Oct. 17, at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Sponsored by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation, the event will feature special performances of inductees’ songs, as well as the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s annual awards for “The 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written,” as selected by the organization’s Pro Songwriters Division. Reservations will go on sale in late August and will be available by contacting event director Mark Ford at [email protected] or 615-256-3354. More details will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Sandestin Festival To Benefit Gulf Wildlife

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A cross-section of country and rock’s most acclaimed songwriters and performers will come together on Florida’s gulf coast during the weekend of August 13 and 14 for the inaugural Sandestin Music Festival. Sponsored by BMI, TrustCore, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, The Village of Baytowne Wharf, Sunquest Cruises and Southwest Airlines, the festival is all about great  music for a great cause. Donations collected will support the National Audubon Society and its efforts to help the birds and other wildlife affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Legendary guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper, contemporary country hitmakers Jeffrey Steele, Danny Myrick, Marty Dodson and James Slater, acclaimed guitarist/singer/songwriter Lee Roy Parnell, Grammy-winning bluesman Delbert McClinton, powerhouse vocalist Lari White, and up-and-comer Kree Harrison will perform with the 2,400-acre Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort serving as the backdrop.

Entry to the Sandestin Music Festival is free for the public with a printed ticket via www.sandestinmusicfestival.com. While there is no charge for admittance, festival organizers are asking for donations to benefit the National Audubon Society’s Gulf Coast efforts. Donations may be made online at www.sandestinmusicfestival.com or through $10 text donations during the event.

VIP Packages are available to the first 150 overnight guests to book accommodations at Sandestin Florida Beach Resort via www.sandestin.com for the Sandestin Music Festival Weekend. The VIP Package includes priority seating and a meet-and-greet with all the performers on the Solaris, the area’s only dining and entertainment yacht, after the show on Saturday. VIP pass holders also will receive a bag filled with one-of-a-kind memorabilia, including autographed CDs from participating artists, an autographed Sandestin Music Festival program and a photo with their favorite artist.

“We invite everyone to gather their families and join us for a wonderful weekend of top-shelf entertainment,” says John Russell, Sandestin resort chief and president of Sandestin Investments LLC. “These talented artists represent the best in the industry. We are so fortunate to have such an incredible line up of award-winning performers. This is the perfect way for us to cap the summer season.”

“BMI constantly seeks out new ways for our songwriters to connect with new audiences, and the first annual Sandestin Music Festival is an ideal opportunity,” says Jody Williams, BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations. “Live music ensconced in the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s paradisiacal setting is a perfect way for fans to really get to know the masters behind the hits and to support worthwhile efforts on the Gulf Coast.”