Hit Writers Pen Holiday Parody Album, Merry Ex-Mas

Songwriters Will Robinson, Mike Reid and Don Pfrimmer have just released Merry Ex-Mas: Holiday Songs For the Divorced and Soon To Be, a tongue in cheek collection of eight Christmas parodies and two original new holiday songs. The ten tracks are performed by a group called the Irreconcilables, which includes Joanna Cotten, Perry Danos, Fred Knobloch, Paige Bainbridge, Danger Will, Fred Bogert and Oscar Franks. Songs on the album include titles such as “Frosty My Ex-Wife,” “Santa Claus Is Foolin’ Around,” “The Twelve Days of Christmas (My True Love Took From Me),” and “Hark The Hell Has Just Begun.”

Robinson, who co-wrote all of the songs with Reid and Pfrimmer, offers an explanation: “sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.”  Robinson noted the concept for this CD began back in 2002, when he was going through a divorce around Christmas time, and Reid and Pfrimmer were trying to keep his sprits up.

For more information on the CD, visit www.facebook.com/merryexmas; http://www.youtube.com/user/MerryExmas; and http://twitter.com/#!/merryexmas

The Merry Ex-Mas song list:
1.   SEE YA SANTA
2.   CHRISTMAS, EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR
3.   SANTA CLAUS IS FOOLIN’ AROUND
4.   FROSTY MY EX-WIFE
5.    I’M TAKING BACK MY NAME DEAR
6.    LET HER GO
7.    SINGLE GALS
8.    A LOT LIKE EX-MAS
9.   12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (MY TRUE LOVE TOOK FROM ME)
10.  HARK THE HELL HAS JUST BEGUN

Reba Is People Country’s December Cover

The December issue of People Country is out today (11/12) and features photos of 2010’s biggest stars in their favorite places. Reba graces the cover and speaks about her favorite vacation place, the Ryman Auditorium.

“My family didn’t take vacations except to go to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman,” says Reba. “It represents tradition and heritage – things I’m very proud of in country music.” She also explains what one of the format’s young superstars has taught her. “I love to look for great songs to record, and I watch and learn from everybody,” she says. “I’ve definitely learned from Taylor Swift. She really is good at communicating with her fans.”

Other artists photographed for the feature include Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban.

McBride Joins Train in CMT Crossroads Premiere

(L-R): Laurissa Ryan, Sr. Director Talent Relations, CMT; Bill Flanagan, EVP Editorial Director, MTVN; Scott Underwood, Train; Pat Monahan, Train; Martina McBride; John Hamlin, SVP Music Events and Talent, CMT; Margaret Comeaux, Sr. Director Music & Event Production, CMT; Jimmy Stafford, Train. Photo: WireImage.com/Rick Diamond

Next Saturday, November 20th, marks the premiere of CMT Crossroads: Train and Martina McBride. This highly-anticipated performance will air at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

This special was taped before an invitation-only audience in Nashville and features Martina joining Train on her hits “A Broken Wing,” “Wrong Baby Wrong,” and Train’s “Drops of Jupiter,” “Marry Me” and “Hey, Soul Sister.”

This is McBride’s second appearance on the hit CMT series, as she joined forces with icon Pat Benatar in 2003.

Four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year and Grammy winning artist McBride has racked up six No. 1 hits, 24 Top 10 singles and more than 18 million in album sales. The recording artist, producer, songwriter and entertainer is known worldwide for hits “Independence Day,” “This One’s for the Girls,” and “Ride.” Her latest album is the chart-topping Shine.

Train, who formed in San Francisco in 1994, won a Grammy for their hit “Drops of Jupiter” and have multiple chart toppers including “Meet Virginia” and “Calling All Angels.” Their latest album, Save Me San Francisco, featured the hit “Hey, Soul Sister,” the biggest selling single of 2010 and the biggest single download in Columbia Records’ history.

Trailer Choir Hosts & Chesney Celebrates No. 1

CMT’s 40 Greatest Songs Of The Decade, premiers Sat., Nov. 13. Trailer Choir helps the show count down country’s most popular videos in this all new two-hour music special that celebrates  the most successful and influential songs of the past ten years.

(L-R): CMT's Lorrie Bradshaw; show producer Shane Caldwell; Trailer Choir's Crystal Hoyt; CMT's Jimmy Corn; Trailer Choir's Butter; show producer Jason Belcher; CMT's Anthony Mann and Trailer Choir's Big Vinny.

The BNA Records staff was presented with plaques for Kenny Chesney’s two-week Number One Single, “The Boys of Fall,” from his new album “Hemingway’s Whiskey.” (Photo: Randi Radcliff. This photo was so big we cut it in two pieces.)

(L-R): Maurice Miner, Sony Music Nashville; Bryan Frasher, BNA Records; RJ Meacham, BNA; Mary Allison, BNA; Joe Wills, Sony Music Nashville; and Mark Janese, BNA.

(L-R): Dave Dame, BNA; Gary Overton, Chairman & CEO Sony Music Nashville; David "Bubba" Berry, BNA; Buffy Cooper, BNA; Chesney; Clint Higham, Dale Morris Management; Dale Morris; Chris Waters, BNA and Skip Bishop, VP Promotions, Sony Music Nashville.

Promotion vs. Servicing Myths

Bryan Farrish

(Bryan Farrish Promotion is an independent promotion company handling airplay, talk radio interviews, and gig promotion. www.radio-media.com)

One of the new tricks to confuse artists is “digital distribution” or “digital servicing”. This is a service where the following is supposed to happen: You pay a small fee to have your audio sent to radio stations, then the person at the station listens to your track, plays it, and the service then tells you who played it. Problem is, it’s very misleading.

First of all, you have to understand the difference between “servicing” radio, and “promoting” to radio. Promoting to radio means you have dialog/conversation with the person at the station, and this requires phones calls and emails. After all, you want to actively talk WITH the person about his/her activities, gripes and stories. That is promotion. Just getting the music to them is simply “servicing” (which is a subset of marketing).

I don’t have anything against digital delivery itself; we provide it to every client for free (it’s called email). But the real problem with those digital delivery services is what they allow you to believe. We hear a lot of artists who said, “I paid $200 and my song was sent to 2000 stations, and the report said that 600 of them played it on air!” If you are believing this kind of stuff, your career is going to be having a multitude of problems.

First off, no commercial PD is going to be playing anything from “just an email”. It must come from a person/group that he is talking to or has talked to in the past, be it you, a promoter or a label. From just this trusted group of people, the PD is already overwhelmed by thousands of releases. He could never play them all because his playlist is already packed. And how about the “reports” that tell you how many listened and/or played the track? Contact some of the people at those stations and ask them. Also, check the station’s website for their playlist, and for your track on it.

In 2003 you thought getting your music on myspace was a low-cost answer to promotion, but now there are millions on there. It’s kinda like having a phone number: Every radio station and label in the world can call you, but how many do?

So if you’re looking for airplay and want results, be sure to understand the difference between servicing and promotion.

Flatts Extend Tour; American Music Awards

Rascal Flatts will continue their Nothing Like This Tour into 2011 with a re-launch Jan. 14 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This second leg of the tour includes 21 shows and features opening acts Luke Bryan and Chris Young. As previously announced, the group will release their first album on Big Machine Records, Nothing Like This, on Nov. 16.

•••

Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Kid Rock and Carlos Santana w/ Gavin Rossdale have been added to the lineup at the 38th Annual American Music Awards. The show will broadcast live from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. live on ABC Nov. 21. Previously announced acts include the Backstreet Boys & New Kids On The Block, Rihanna, Diddy-Dirty Money, Ne-Yo, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi, P!nk and Usher.

Urban Prepares To Get Closer Next Week

Three-time Grammy award winner Keith Urban has a busy week ahead for the release of his sixth studio album, Get Closer, which will hit the streets on Tuesday, November 16th.

Urban served as guest DJ on SIRIUS XM’s The Highway Channel this morning, previewing some songs from Get Closer and music from some of his favorite artists including John Fogerty, The Eagles and John Mayer. A special edition of “Highway Hang Time” will air on Tuesday, November 16th at 5:00 pm ET. During this show, Urban talked about the personal stories and inspiration behind the album.

Urban, who performed his new single, “Put You In a Song” on the CMA Awards this week, will arrive in New York City for an appearance on the TODAY Show on Wednesday, November 17th. He’ll hit CBS’ The Early Show on November 18th and will tape a performance for The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago on November 18th. This episode of Oprah will air later this month.

Urban will also appear on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, airing on Sunday, November 14th. He will perform during halftime for the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints, airing on Fox on November 25th.

Urban’s latest effort follows two previous consecutive Billboard country and pop No. 1 albums, and his five previous albums were all certified platinum or multi-platinum.

CRB Expands New Faces Voting

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. has announced the expansion of its New Faces of Country Music Show voting process to include all country radio station employees.

The nominees for this year’s show are The Band Perry, Lee Brice, Easton Corbin, Danny Gokey, Jaron and The Long Road To Love, David Nail, Jerrod Niemann, Steel Magnolia and Josh Thompson. Any employee of a commercial full-time country station can now vote for the show performers, where previously only Country Radio Seminar registrants from the year before were allowed.

“We opened up the New Faces voting process because we felt it was in Country Radio Seminar’s best interest to solicit input from as many people in our industry as possible,” says CRS New Faces Committee Chair, John Crenshaw.  “We think this provides a much broader view of which artists Country radio is really excited about, and it also makes a greater effort to involve all those people that work so hard behind the scenes but aren’t always able to attend CRS.”

Voting remains open at http://www.crb.org/vote/newfaces/index.php through Friday, Nov. 19.  The 2011 New Faces show is held Friday, March 4, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. at the Nashville Convention Center.

Savannah Launches Licensing Division; ACM Radio Submissions Open Soon

Savannah Music Group Launches Licensing Division

Nashville-based Savannah Music Group announced that Mark and Nick Mulch of the Mulch Brothers will handle the licensing for the label and music publishing company. The Mulch Brothers, moonlighting as MGH Music Services, will license existing Savannah songs for commercials, film and television and will also oversee the creation of new material.

“We are excited to be able to start up this new division at Savannah,” says Mark Mulch.  “This will be even more meaningful than when we did licensing in the past because we bring to the mix the layered perspective of being two professional musicians signed to the label and publishing company as artists and songwriters.”

“Savannah is a nimble, innovative company,” adds Nick Mulch.  “Therefore, they have the advantage of being able to grant licenses for both songs and master recordings more quickly than traditional publishers or record companies-with the added ability to write new material for specific film, TV and commercial projects.”

The Mulch Brothers have worked on national advertising campaigns with Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J, Michael McDonald and James Taylor. They have licensed music from the Rolling Stones and the KinksRay Davies to companies including Chevrolet, Days Inn, Bacardi, Bud Light, Sprint and Coca-Cola.

“This partnership will create significant new revenue opportunities for Savannah writers and artists as well as for the company itself,” says Ed Salamon, chief executive officer of Savannah Music Group.

ACM Radio Awards Submissions Open Monday, November 15th

The Academy of Country Music will begin accepting submissions for the radio awards categories on Monday, November 15, 2010. Award categories include “On-Air Personality of the Year” and “Radio Station of the Year” for all market sizes, and current ACM members may submit for category consideration.

Submissions will close on December 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm PT. The 46th Annual ACM Awards will air live on CBS next spring.

Weekly Chart Report (11/12/10)

(L-R): Martina McBride, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Faith Hill share a moment together at the Country Strong premiere afterparty in Nashville.

RADIO NEWS
Max Media’s WWBE/Sunbury, PA has moved midday host Shelly Marx to mornings to join Mark Roberts for its new “B98.3 Breakfast Bunch.” Afternoon Drive man Todd Steward will handle the midday slot, and Rick “RJ” Jordan will take on afternoon drive.

SPIN ZONE
After a tough battle for the CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 spot, Rascal Flatts’ “Why Wait” emerges as the new leader ahead of last week’s No. 1 “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. Reba’s “Turn On The Radio” scoots up to No. 3, ahead of CMA Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me.”

A handful of older singles are moving out, and that has created some space for newer songs to move up. Many titles in the Top 30 are seeing triple spin boosts, with Tim McGraw’s “Felt Good On My Lips” adding 294 spins and Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You” tacking on 340. Just outside the Top 40, Frankie Ballard’s “Tell Me You Get Lonely” rebounds with a big gain of 134 spins and moves up to No. 44.

Taylor Swift’s latest single “Back To December” makes a huge debut at No. 57 in its first week of reporting with 501 spins. Darius Rucker manages a similar feat as “This” jumps on the chart at No. 70 in its first week. Also debuting this week are Eric Lee Beddingfield’s “The Gospel According To Jones” at No. 65 and Easton Corbin’s “I Can’t Love You Back” at No. 75.

Upcoming Singles
November 15
Kelly Parkes/Nothing/Edge Records/Lofton Creek
Lathan Moore/Love In Your Life/Blue Steel
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine

November 22
Josh Thompson/Won’t Be Lonely Long/Columbia
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol

•  •  •  •  •

Country Music’s biggest stars attended Premiere Radio Networks’ 19th annual CMA Awards radio remote broadcast in Nashville during CMA Week. (L-R): Taylor Swift and Mark McKay of WGH/Norfolk.

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 57
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg Music — 65
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 70
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 75

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 501
Kenny Chesney/Somewhere With You/BNA — 340
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 322
Tim McGraw/Felt Good On My Lips/Curb — 294
Josh Turner/I Wouldn’t Be A Man/MCA — 200

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Chris Filer/John Deere, John 3:16/Lofton Creek — 245
Uncle Kracker/Good To Be Me/Top Dog/Atlantic — 226
Katie Armiger/Best Song Ever/Cold River — 225
Adam Brand/Ready For Love/Arista — 221
Brantley Gilbert/My Kind of Crazy/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 188

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 38
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 31
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg – 14
Katie Armiger/Best Song Ever/Cold River — 14
Josh Turner/I Wouldn’t Be A Man/MCA — 12
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 12
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 12

Show Dog–Universal Music’s Carter’s Chord entertained radio earlier this week at Tootsie’s to kick off CMA week.