Sizing Up Country Summer Sales

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This graph compares YTD country and all-genre sales with the previous year.

Our final 2010 July sales report is in and country album sales are down YTD 9.8% which compares somewhat favorably with all genre sales which have tumbled 12% YTD. These numbers are according to Nielsen SoundScan and include sales of physical and digital albums.

Being down about 10% is nothing to cheer about, but depending upon upcoming release schedules it might be possible to make up the YTD deficit of about 2.21 million albums.

August and September 2009 featured nine Top 10 debuts which sold a total of 534,182 debut week units. Upcoming releases for Aug. and Sept. 2010 are listed below and may still be a work in progress.

It is not a stretch of the imagination, especially with projects dropping from Zac Brown Band and Kenny Chesney, to assume that this year’s new release debut week sales will match or improve on the previous year. However, last year the sales tally also enjoyed robust weekly numbers generated by Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown and Hanna Montana that each scanned 20-40,000 units per week range. For the week ended 7/25/10 only Zac Brown (20k) and Lady A (25k) managed to break the 20k barrier. That week-after-week difference will also be felt in the YTD totals.

So is it likely that 2010 country YTD album sales totals will catch up with 2009 by the end of September? Simply stated, no, but bets are still open for the final quarter which will contain some high profile releases and could turn the tide…

2009 Aug. & Sept. Release Dates and First Wk. Sales
8/9/09 Sugarland 76,000 units
8/9/09 Gloriana 44,000
8/16/09 George Strait 155,000
8/16/09 Justin Moore 34,00
8/23/09 Reba 96,000
8/30/09 Now Country 33,000
9/9/09 Chris Young 36,000
9/9/09 Cross Canadian Ragweed 14,000
9/13/09 Brooks & Dunn 55,000

2010 Aug. & Sept. Release Dates
8/10/10 Blake Shelton
8/17/10 Trace Adkins
8/24/10 Little Big Town
9/14/10 Jamey Johnson
9/14/10 James Otto
9/21/10 Randy Houser
9/21/10 Zac Brown Band
9/21/10 SteelMagnolia
9/28/10 Kenny Chesney

Katie Armiger Fans Pick New Album Title

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Rising country artist Katie Armiger teamed up with GACTV.com to have fans help name her third studio album, set for release on Cold River Records October 5. During the last two weeks over 1,300 fans visited the website to cast their vote for the album title and Confessions of a Nice Girl was the clear winner with over fifty percent of the votes.

“I think it’s incredible that so many fans voted to help pick the album title,” said Armiger. “Thank you to those fans and GAC for being so supportive and amazing. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better way to celebrate this release then with everyone who has been involved so far!”

Armiger wrote nine of the 13 tracks on Confessions of a Nice Girl. The album will include her hit singles “Kiss Me Now” and “Leaving Home,” which was chosen by over twenty high schools across the country as the 2010 graduation song. Fans can watch the new video for “Leaving Home” and vote for the video to be in the GAC Top 20 at www.gactv.com/vote. For more information visit www.katiearmiger.com.

Walden’s Puddle Benefit Aug. 21

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The 2010 Walden’s Puddle Puddle-Palooza benefit concert and festival has been scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 21, at Nashville’s Yogi Bear™ Jellystone Park, event organizers announced today.

Hosted this year by the Music Valley Merchants Association, the festival and concert raises funds for Walden’s Puddle Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center. Artists scheduled to perform include John Anderson, Lane Brody, Cerrito, Rodney Crowell and the Notorious Cherry Bombs, Jypsi, HLN news anchor Robin Meade, Victoria Shaw, Army Ranger and country artist Keni Thomas, Emily West and additional special guests to be announced soon.  GAC’s Nan Kelley will serve as MC of the event.

All proceeds benefit the non-profit facility, located approximately 20 minutes from downtown Nashville in Joelton, Tenn. The Walden’s Puddle organization receives a substantial portion of its annual financial support each year from the daylong event.

“The new board of Walden’s Puddle is grateful to the Music Valley Merchants Association and Jellystone Park™ for teaming up with us for our first ‘Puddle-Palooza!’ said Walden’s Puddle Board Chair and recording artist Brody. “It is a fresh start for all of us, and God willing, this event will bring more awareness to the important work Walden’s Puddle does every single day in giving injured and orphaned wildlife a second chance, as well as bring community support and patronage back to Music Valley, which was so impacted by the flood.”

Festival gates open at noon, with the live concert kicking off at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $20 (tax-deductible) and available online here. Hard tickets can be purchased at Jellystone Park (2572 Music Valley Drive, Nashville, TN, 37214 (615) 889-4225) or at the Willie Nelson and Friends General Store and Museum in Music Valley (2613 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN, 37214 (615) 885-1515). Children under 12 and accompanied by an adult will be admitted free.

This year’s festival also serves to raise public awareness of the local Music Valley merchants, which are open for business following the historic flooding in Nashville on May 1-2, 2010. Music Valley offers visitors access to more than 15 hotels, eight restaurants, several campgrounds, nightlife and live entertainment options and numerous shopping and family-friendly destinations.

“The merchants of Music Valley at Opryland are very excited to sponsor the upcoming ‘Puddle-Palooza’ event at Jellystone Park,” says Music Valley Merchants Association President, Mark Hughes. “This will be a great afternoon of fun and music to benefit the animals and efforts of the Walden’s Puddle organization. Our Music Valley area took a substantial blow from the flooding this past May, but we are getting back on track and events such as this are exactly what we need to raise awareness and bring more visitors to our area.”

In addition to the concert, other family-friendly activities offered at Jellystone Park include swimming, hiking, mini-golf, hayrides, volleyball, appearances by Jellystone’s Yogi Bear and more. Food vendors provide options ranging from hot dogs and hamburgers to Mexican and barbecue.  Visit www.NashvilleJellystone.com for more information.

Steel Guitarist Ben Keith Passes

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Steel guitar great Ben Keith has died in Northern California at age 73. He reportedly suffered a heart attack. Born Bennett Keith Schaeufele, he grew up in Bowling Green, KY. He joined the Nashville Musicians Union at age 19 in 1956. A year later, he joined Faron Young’s band The Country Deputies. He rose to prominence as a Music Row session musician in the 1960s, notably playing the distinctive steel guitar lines in Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces.”

When Neil Young arrived in Nashville to be on Johnny Cash’s TV show in 1971, he lingered in the city to record his classic LP Harvest and its top-selling single “Heart of Gold.” Ben Keith played on both and was subsequently recruited to become a member of Young’s band. Ben Keith performed on such subsequent Young discs as Time Fades Away (1973), On the Beach (1974) and Tonight’s the Night (1975). He became Young’s co-producer on Comes a Time (1978) and Old Ways (1985). Keith’s steel guitar also backed such notables as Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Todd Rundgren, Ringo Starr, Linda Ronstadt and Crosby, Stills & Nash, among others. He produced Jewel’s million-selling breakthrough album Pieces of You in 1995.

Other Young albums on which Keith appeared include Harvest Moon, Greendale, Chrome Dreams II and Prairie Wind. He also worked on the solo CDs of the star’s singing wife, Pegi Young. At the time of his death on Monday, July 26, he and the Youngs
were still making music together.

James Otto To Shake Things Up In September

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Warner Bros. Records has set a Sept. 14 release date for James Otto‘s sophomore album, Shake What God Gave Ya. Recorded in Nashville and co-produced with Paul Worley (Big & Rich, Lady Antebellum, The Dixie Chicks), the project further captures Otto’s country-meets-soul sound.

A sought-after writer for other artists, Otto penned 11 of the 12 tracks on the project, including Country Breakout Chart Top 15 hit “Groovy Little Summer Song” and his duet with Ronnie Milsap, “Good Things Gone Bad.”

“Musically I’d say I’m the love child between Ronnie Milsap and Barry White,” laughs Otto. “This sexy, sultry, soulful sound makes you wanna move and dance. And that is exactly what I want fans to do while listening to this album, Shake What God Gave Ya!”

Shake What God Gave Ya is the follow-up to his 2008 debut Sunset Man, which landed at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and delivered “Just Got Started Lovin’ You” which was the year’s most played single at country radio and Billboard’s No. 1 Hot Country Song.

Last year, Otto won ACM and CMA Awards for Song of the Year as a co-writer for “In Color,” a track that also earned him a Grammy nod for Best Country Song. He is on the road this summer headlining solo dates and opening for Toby Keith and Trace Adkins on the American Ride Tour.

Shake What God Gave Ya Track Listing:

1. Are Ya With Me
2. Groovy Little Summer Song
3. Lover Man
4. Soldiers & Jesus
5. Love Don’t Cost A Thing
6. Sun Comes Round Again
7. Shake What God Gave Ya
8. It’s A Good Time (For A Good Time)
9. Just Like Sunshine
10. Let’s Just Let Go
11. She Comes To Me
12. Good Things Gone Bad featuring Ronnie Milsap

UMPG Signs Darius Rucker

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Pictured L-R: Manager Doc McGhee, Pat Higdon (President, UMPG Nashville), Darius Rucker, Ron Stuve (Vice President, Creative, UMPG Nashville ), Frank Rand (McGhee Entertainment), Scott McGhee (McGhee Entertainment).

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) today (7/27) announced the signing of an exclusive, worldwide publishing agreement with Darius Rucker. The songwriter and artist built a strong career with Hootie & the Blowfish and in 2008 launched a notable solo career in country music. His UMPG publishing agreement encompasses all of his writing for his country debut Learn To Live plus his future solo work, including his project Charleston, SC 1966, due out Oct. 12 via Capitol Records Nashville.

Rucker’s Learn To Live has sold nearly 1.5 million copies. It produced three hit singles (“Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long,” and “Alright”) that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. All of the songs were co-written by Rucker. “Come Back Song,” the first single from Rucker’s second album was recently released to radio and is No. 18 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart after just four weeks.

“We are so excited to add Darius Rucker to our roster of chart-topping songwriters,” commented Pat Higdon, President, Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. “He is a great singer and a gifted songwriter and has quickly carved his own niche with Country music fans. ”

In the U.S., Darius Rucker has sold over 20 million albums – both as a solo artist and as a member of Hootie & the Blowfish. In 2009, Rucker won top CMA honors and was named “New Artist of the Year” and “Male Vocalist of the Year.” The singer is currently performing on Brad Paisley’s H20 Tour.

Rucker is managed by Doc McGhee who is known for managing legends such as KISS and Bon Jovi. UMPG also publishes the KISS catalogue and Bon Jovi.

Neighbor Warns Row To Take Caution

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A concerned member of the music business called the MusicRow offices to warn his neighbors about a recent incident. Earlier this month, employees were frightened by a lewd disturbance while leaving their offices on the 800 block of 18th Ave. S. These victims just want to remind the community to be on the lookout.

Pictured here is a map of crimes which occurred in the last week (7/21/10-7/27/10) in a one-mile radius of the MusicRow offices at 1231 17th Ave. S. For more information and to keep up-to-date go to crimemapping.com.

Babies On Way For Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner

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Josh Turner and wife Jennifer revealed recently that they are expecting their third child in early 2011. The new baby will join sons Hampton, 3, and Colby, 1. Turner shared the news with People magazine, read the full story here.


Dierks Bentley and his wife Cassidy are also on the baby train, with their second child due this December. The new family member will join 21-month-old big sis Evie. More from People here.

Darius Rucker To Mentor Song Contest Winner

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Budding songwriters take note: the NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT opens August 1 and the grand prize winner will get a mentoring session with Darius Rucker.

NSAI’s 11th annual contest, running through Oct. 31, will yield one industry-selected Grand Prize Winner and one CMT Listeners’ Choice Winner. Past winners have found success ranging from artist development deals to music publishing staff writer deals.

“Through the years the NSAI Song Contest has been a vehicle to let our organization discover some amazing new talent. Many of the winners have gone on to sign professional songwriting or artist deals. While many of the new talents were not the winners, they were discovered throughout the judging process. We get excited every year when the NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT comes around for this reason!” says NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison.

Nashville pro writers, publishers and industry professionals will select the Grand Prize Winner, 10 Runners-Up and 10 Honorable Mentions before the Top 10 (excluding the Grand Prize Winner) are posted on nsai.cmt.com. Fans can vote online for their favorite song from January 15-February 28, 2011. Last year there were more than 450,000 votes for the CMT Listeners’ Choice.

All genres of music are encouraged. The entry fees are $35.00 (current NSAI Members) and $45.00 (Non-Members) per song. In addition to the mentoring session with Rucker, prizes include a single-song professional demo, tickets to the 2011 CMT Music Awards, a tour of the CMT studios, a performance at The Bluebird Café, meetings with major music publishers and a one-year membership to NSAI. For a full list of prizes and how to enter, visit nsai.cmt.com.

Brenda Lee Donates Lifetime of Memorabilia To Hall of Fame

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Museum Director Kyle Young and Brenda Lee at last week’s luncheon where she announced her donation. Photo: Lee Rowe

Brenda Lee has given her priceless lifetime cache of career memorabilia to the permanent collection at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The collection includes stage costumes, vintage photos, magazine cover stories in many languages, awards, show posters, advertisements, personal correspondence, a Brenda Lee comic book and paper doll set, and a trove of career-spanning audio and video documenting the life and international impact of the big-voiced and famously petite star, who earned her first chart hits at age 11. Lee’s gift is accompanied by a significant donation from Pat O’Leary, the star’s close friend and longtime fan.

Lee announced her gift last week at an informal lunch celebrating the success of the exhibit Brenda Lee: Dynamite, Presented by Great American Country Television Network, a biographical salute that included the donated items. The exhibit closed in June after a ten-month run. At least once a week, while the exhibit was open, Lee brought visiting friends and family to see her display and lingered to chat with astonished fans.

“I wasn’t so much honored by the exhibit, as by the fact that you wanted to do the exhibit,” Lee said. She thanked the Museum for an exhibit “that fulfilled my dream and captured me as an artist, a mother, a friend and a fan. [My husband] Ronnie and I are very pleased to leave our collection in your hands because this is the safest and best place for it. We were familiar with the Museum and respected your work before, but now, after having worked so closely with you, we see what others cannot see, and that is the tremendous talent, dedication, commitment, knowledge and daily hard work that has made you a great museum and a trustworthy repository for our history.”

“These special and incredibly important gifts from Brenda and Pat will help us to preserve Little Miss Dynamite’s own story and many other country music stories,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “With these treasures, Brenda and Pat show us how both the past and the future should be respected in the present.”

Lee was accompanied at the luncheon by Ronnie Shacklett, her husband, manager and archivist; daughter Julie Clay and granddaughters Jordan Keene and Taylor Clay; and close friends Anna Page, State Representative Janis Sontany, Janet Wilcox, Pat O’Leary and Phil Plant. Also in attendance were Sarah Trahern, Senior Vice President, Programming, Great American Country; the Museum’s Chairman Emeritus E. W. “Bud” Wendell, Chairman Steve Turner and Board Member John Seigenthaler. In addition to Young, staff attending included Vice President of Museum Services Carolyn Tate, Curatorial Director Mick Buck, Vice President of Museum Programs Jay Orr and Senior Vice President of Public Relations Liz Thiels.