Community Benefits

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>>Charlie Daniels, Wynonna, Montgomery Gentry and The Grascals are set to perform for Operation Yellow Ribbon at Lipscomb University March 29, 2011. Accoring to David K. Hughes, Lipscomb University Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Yellow Ribbon Program, the daylong symposium aims to “provide an informative day for those who work with veterans at universities across the country to help equip them with knowledge and expertise to make their campuses more accessible and friendly for veterans.” Lipscomb’s Yellow Ribbon Program offers eligible Post 9/11 GI Bill veterans and their family members an undergraduate degree tuition-free or a graduate degree tuition-free or at a greatly reduced tuition rate. For more information or to register visit yellowribbon.lipscomb.edu or call 615.966.5176.

Charlie Daniels (l) and Wynonna (r)


>>Employees with the Tennessee State Treasury Department donated money for Jimmy Wayne’s project Meet Me Halfway, inspired by Wayne’s 1700 mile walk from Nashville to Phoenix in 2010. Wayne was on hand at the State Capitol yesterday (2/17) to accept the donation. Wayne began Project Meet Me Halfway in 2010 to raise awareness of the problems faced by children in the foster care system, particularly those who age out at 18 and without any support system, often find themselves homeless.

Pictured (l-r): Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, Wayne and Tennessee Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr.


Todd Cerney


>>On Monday, February 28, Restless Heart, Steve Holy, Ty Herndon, Bo Bice and Jeff Bates will come together to headline a night of music honoring songwriter Todd Cerney, recently diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. Cerney is a Grammy-nominated songwriter best known for his hits “I’ll Still Be Loving You” by Restless Heart, “Good Morning Beautiful” by Steve Holy, and “No Mercy” by Ty Herndon. The event will kick off with a series of songwriter rounds featuring Rivers Rutherford, Fred Knobloch, Rich Fagan, Pete Huttlinger, Lisa Carver, Wood Newton, Trevor Finlay, Doug Gill, Lynn Langham and Jim Parker, followed by performances from Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden (“Everlasting Love”), Casey Kelly and Leslie Ellis, Bill Lloyd, and Thom Shepherd & the Nashville Hit Songwriters Band. Special guest Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits will join Restless Heart onstage to sing his 1967 classic, “A Kind of a Hush.” Also reuniting especially for this fundraiser will be  The Piggys, a Nashville rock band that hasn’t played live together in more than 25 years. The Todd Cerney Benefit Concert will be held Monday, February 28 at the Red Rooster Bar & Music Hall located at 1530 Demonbreun Street. Doors open at 6 pm, and music starts at 6:30 pm.  Admission is $15 at the door, and all proceeds from the event will go toward the mounting medical bills for Cerney’s illness. Donations may be made at any time to the Friends of Todd Cerney account through Regions Bank in Nashville. Donations by check may also be made through Nashville Songwriters Association.
>>Nashville singer/songwriter Jason James suffered a near total loss of the residence he was renting recently when a two-alarm fire devastated the Green Hills home. James and the other residents got out safely with no injuries. James is a songwriter for Pacific International Music. Gift cards for personal effects, household items and clothing are needed and preferred. To make a contribution or donation, contact James’ manager Becky Lynn Street at [email protected] or 615.499.3561. For more details click here.

Friday Cluster: Artists and Benefits

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>>Ronnie Dunn was in Dallas this week, where he previewed music from his upcoming debut solo album, which includes first single, “Bleed Red.”

Pictured (l-r): KSCS PD Dave Kelly and MD Chris Huff; Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson; KSSN PD Chad Heritage; Bob Kingsley’s wife Nan; Dunn; Citadel Media’s Kris Wilson; KPLX PD Mark Phillips; Citadel Media’s Carl Anderson; Bob Kingsley; and Arista Nashville’s Diane Monk.


Joe Nichols


>>Joe Nichols is in New York to support the Boot Campaign, an initiative featuring celebrities wearing combat boots to show support for troops and help raise funds for partner charities. Nichols’ media schedule includes these dates: The Country Network’s Nashville Nights on Wednesday, February 16 & 23; online during FoxNews.com Live and ABC.com What’s The Buzz on February 17 Fox News Channel’s America’s Newsroom, Fox Business, and All Night w/ Joey Reynolds on Friday, February 18; syndicated show BETTER on February 24, and featured on Fox affiliates and various SiriusXM channels throughout the week of February 21. Nichols is among the many celebrities, politicians and sports figures that have slipped their feet into a pair of combat boots for the campaign. To see these celebrity photos and more visit www.bootcampaign.com
>>To mark his 25th career anniversary, Randy Travis has begun posting previously unreleased videos, photos, media clips and more from specific time periods during his career on his website. Currently, material from 1986-1990 is available on the site. More years, including 1991-1995, 1996-2000, 2001-2005 and 2006-2010 are also planned to be unlocked in the future. www.RandyTravis.com
>>Five time Grammy Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners The Blind Boys of Alabama will release a traditional country-gospel album for the first time in their 70-year career on May 3 on Saguaro Road Records. Artist Jamey Johnson, co-produced the album and performs on it along with Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Jr., Lee Ann Womack, and The Oak Ridge Boys, backed by an A-list of top Nashville studio musicians. Recorded live in just a few days at Ben Folds’ Javelina Studio, the album includes songs such as Hank Jr.’s energetic re-working of his father’s “I Saw the Light,” and some more recent tunes like Danny Flower’s “I Was a Burden.”
>>Music entertainment television program Honky Tonk TV has teamed with CountryMusicIsLove to host an eBay auction in conjunction with the 2nd Annual CountryMusicIsLove Concert to be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 (sponsored in part by HT-TV). Bidders can vie for a personal luncheon at Nashville’s Hard Rock Café with the artist Ty Brown and tickets to the concert. The auction is currently underway on eBay (http://bit.ly/iejh0B) and closes on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 @ 10:50AM CST. The event will help raise funds for City Of Hope, a research center dedicated to finding cures for life-threatening illnesses. The concert will feature performances from Ty Brown, Chris Cavanaugh, Troy Olsen, Brett Eldredge, Thompson Square, Chuck Wicks and Josh Thompson. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.countrymusicislove.com. Brown appeared on season 6 of ABC’s The Bachelorette, when he made it into Ali Fedotowsky’s “Top Five.” For more information visit www.tybrownmusic.com.

Tech Bits n' Bytes

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>>Fast Company, a magazine which describes itself as “the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design” has announced its 2011 Ranking of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. In the publication’s music category the top three companies were Pandora—for bringing its custom-curated music mix to a new venue…cars; Coca-Cola—for a daring marketing model that redefines the relationship among consumer brands, record companies, and artists; and Big Champagne—for developing a more modern business measurement that factors in social media. Named as the World’s Most Innovative companies overall were Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Nissan (for the first mass-market electric car) and Groupon (for reinvigorating retail and turning down $6 billion.)
>>Topspin orchestrated an about face in its direct-to-fan software platform in the form of a major update set for March 2011 that essentially opens up the previously closed marketing platform to all bands for a cost that starts at $9.99 per month. Also announced was a $5,000 marketing grant open to any artist or band with the best direct-to-fan business plan. Applications will be judged by a panel of music industry professionals including Rick Rubin (co-president of Columbia Records), Marc Geiger (William Morris Endeavor), Richard Jones (manager of the Pixies), Glenn Peoples (Billboard Magazine), Mike King (Berklee Music), Jennie Smythe (Girlilla Marketing), and others. For grant application, please visit www.topspinmedia.com. Entry deadline is March 7, 2011 at 6:00pm PST.
>>Soundexchange, the non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio, Internet radio, cable TV music channels and other services that stream sound recordings (similar to the way ASCAP, BMI and SESAC do for songwriters and publishers) has announced a new “Label It” camnpaign. Each year, distribution of millions of dollars in royalties get held up due to a lack of data resulting in “artist unknown” or “label unavailable” files. Soundexchange’s plan is to educate artists on how to label their work to facilitate collection of royalties through the addition of metadata to digital files.

Weekly Chart Report (2/18/11)

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SPIN ZONE

Capitol Records Nashville’s Walker Hayes isn’t kidding when he says he’s ready for winter to end. The “Why Wait For Summer” singer was in Birmingham, AL last week to perform at WDXB’s annual St. Jude event when he and WDXB morning show co-host Dollar Bill got down and ‘snowy’ together.


You knew this was coming, right? Following a huge night at the Grammys, Lady Antebellum’s anthemic “Hello World” ascends to No. 1 on the CountryBreakout Chart and holds off Taylor Swift’s “Back To December” by a mere 32 spins. Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” is close at No. 3, and Jason Aldean’s “Don’t You Wanna Stay” leaps over Billy Currington’s “Let Me Down Easy” to stick at No. 4.
Sunny Sweeney’s “From A Table Away” has taken the Jamey Johnson/Lee Brice route to heavy rotation, clocking 33 weeks of chart visibility before reaching No. 8. Other recent songs to last longer than 30 weeks include the JaneDear girls’ “Wildflower,” which stayed 33 weeks and reached No. 23. Joe Nichol’s “The Shape I’m In” hit No. 10 after 30 weeks, and Eric Church’s “Smoke A Little Smoke” lasted 31. Back in 2009, Love and Theft’s “Runaway” bested them all with a 35 week run to get to No. 2.
Several older titles have fallen subject to our 20/20 rule this week, and that means a bounty of new debuts. Highest of them all is Kenny Chesney’s “Live A Little,” which hit No. 45 nearly a full month ahead of its March 14 add date. Then there’s Toby Keith’s “Somewhere Else,” which landed at No. 53 following a gain of 431 spins. And Justin Moore’s “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” has clearly caught some programmer ears as it debuts at No. 57.
Frozen Playlists: KYEZ, WBYZ, WTCM





Upcoming Singles
February 22
Aaron Lewis/Country Boy/Stroudavarious
Justin Moore/If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away/Valory
Sarah Darling/Something To Do With Your Hands/Black River
Charley Pride/Except For You/Music City Records
Walker Hayes/Why Wait For Summer/Capitol
Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow/Me and Tennessee/Curb
Royal Wade Kimes/I’m An Ole Song/Wonderment
February 28
Jessica Ridley/Flaming Red/EMG/Universal/Nine North
Frankie Ballard/A Buncha Girls/Warner Bros./WMN
Chris Young/Tomorrow/RCA
Jason Thomas/I’m Your Radio/MD Records
Eric Church/Homeboy/EMI Nashville
New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Kenny Chesney/Live A Little/BNA — 45
Toby Keith/Somewhere Else/Show Dog-Universal — 53
Justin Moore/If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away/Valory — 57
Chris Young/Tomorrow/RCA — 70
Gretchen Wilson/I’d Love To Be Your Last/Redneck Records/CO5 — 76
Badhorse/My Little Man/Global Maximus — 77
Eric Church/Homeboy/EMI Nashville — 79
Mark Wills/Looking For America/Mitzi Matlock Music — 80
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Kenny Chesney/Live A Little/BNA — 576
Ronnie Dunn/Bleed Red/Arista — 506
Keith Urban/Without You/Capitol — 473
Toby Keith/Somewhere Else/Show Dog — Universal — 431
The Band Perry/You Lie/Republic Nashville — 321
On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Kate Russell/Damned If I Do/Urunga/Spinville Records — 216
Bucky Covington/Hometown — 215
Curtis & Luckey/Eye Candy/KMG Music Group — 204
Tim McGraw & Gwyneth Paltrow/Me And Tennessee/Curb — 202
David Nail/Let It Rain/MCA — 201
Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Toby Keith/Somewhere Else/Show Dog-Universal — 32
Justin Moore/If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away/Valory — 25
Badhorse/My Little Man/Global Maximus — 23
Keith Urban/Without You/Capitol — 23
Eric Church/Homeboy/EMI Nashville — 21
Walker Hayes/Why Wait For Summer/Capitol — 16
Tim McGraw & Gwyneth Paltrow/Me And Tennessee/Curb — 12
Chris Young/Tomorrow/RCA — 11

Gearing up for his sold-out show at City Limits Saloon in Raleigh, NC, Show Dog-Universal’s Randy Houser gladly opened his bus to WQDR for some pre-show camaraderie. (L-R): WQDR's Marty Young, Houser, Billy's wife Amanda, and WQDR MD Billy Dukes.


The Dirt Drifters started their Southwest radio run with a stop at KAJA in San Antonio. (L-R): Ryan Fleener, Jeremy Little, Matt Fleener, KAJA PD Travis Moon, Nick Diamond, and Jeff Middleton.


Davis Music Group/Nine North artist Jacob Lyda brought his new single “I'm Doing Alright” to KMLE Phoenix during his recent SW tour. (L-R): Davis Music Group's Gator Michaels, KMLE's Andrew Bland, Lyda, KMLE's Jeff Garrison and Nine North's Dave Collins.

CMA Songwriter Series Invades LA; Music Festival Unveils Photo Contest

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The CMA Songwriters Series returned to Los Angeles on Feb. 15 with a stellar performance at Club Nokia. Backstage before their performance were (L-R): singer/songwriter/producer Victoria Shaw; songwriter/host Bob DiPiero; 2010 CMA New Artist of the Year nominee Chris Young; two-time CMA Award winner Gretchen Wilson; and singer/songwriter Brett James.


The Music Festival turns 40 this year and to help celebrate, the CMA is sponsoring a photo contest. Six of the submitted photos will be used as the artwork on the official event tickets. Past festival attendees can submit photographs online creating what will become an ongoing photo archive that documents the event’s history.
The contest will begin Feb. 17 and run through Mar. 7. Prizes will be awarded to submitting fans, including commemorative, framed 40th anniversary CMA Music Festival plaques with a ticket containing their photograph displayed for the top three photos; merchandise prize packs; and more. The Grand Prize winner will also receive two Gold Circle four-day tickets to the 2012 CMA Music Festival.
CMA Music Festival, which started as Fan Fair® in 1972 at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium; moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982; moved to its current home, Downtown Nashville, in 2001; and changed its name to CMA Music Festival in 2004, the same year it was first filmed for a network television special. In addition to artist performances and artist/fan meetings, CMA is hopeful that photos will be submitted that capture images of fans interacting with each other; recent events like the parade and celebrity sporting events; former events such as the Chuck Wagon Gang serving meals at the Fairgrounds or the “CMA Celebrity Close Up” sessions at the Ryman Auditorium; or the unexpected.
For full contest rules and to submit photos, fans can visit CMAfest.com beginning Thursday, Feb. 17. CMA Music Festival 2011 will take place in Downtown Nashville, Thursday-Sunday, June 9-12.

Tennessee's Incentives For Filmmakers Can't Compete

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Tennessee is missing out on a boost to the economy by not doing more to attract filmmakers. The Nashville Scene’s latest cover story looks at why films don’t come to the Volunteer state, including a lot of missed opportunities for Tennessee stories to be filmed on local soil. Among the toughest blows was when Memphis native Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan) moved his latest production, a remake of Footloose, to Georgia.
When the state loses a project, it also loses out on a significant amount of economic impact. Films like Country Strong, which was shot in the mid-state, create jobs on-set and off-set in the surrounding communities, such as at restaurants and hotels.
The article also looks at how hard it is for full-time crew employees to live in the state and find work, including those who have been lured away. Luckily, a new bill is working to create more incentives for movies to be made here. Read more.

Artist Ink

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>> Luke Bryan, reigning ACM Top New Artist, has just sent his third consecutive single to No. 1. The song “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” comes from his Gold album, Doin’ My Thing which also produced No. 1 hits “Do I” and “Rain Is A Good Thing.” Currently the Georgia native is performing on the Rascal Flatts tour, and this summer will join Tim McGraw. Bryan’s next single will be “Spring Break 3…It’s a Shore Thing.”
>>Gretchen Wilson strikes hard with her new single, “I’d Love To Be Your Last.” Written by Rivers Rutherford, the song is monumental. Wilson was in LA earlier this week for the Grammy Awards, an appearance on The Talk and a performance on Leno’s The Tonight Show. She also performed at a special CMA songwriter show at the Nokia Theatre and earned a standing ovation on the new single.
>>Hazel Smith, host of CMT’s Southern Fried Flicks is jumping onto the radio dial. Smith joins the cast of Nashville’s New Country, a syndicated show that can also be heard online. This week she joins hosts Chuck and Steve as they talk to Josh Thompson and hear new music from Ronnie Dunn and Sarah Darling. Tune in here.

JaneDear girls


>>The JaneDear girls, nominated for ACM Top Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Duo or Group joined with YouTube sensation Keenan Cahill to create a spin-off of The Lonely Island’s single “I’m On A Boat.” Not surprisingly the new title is “We Need Ya Vote!” Click here to watch. Susie Brown and Danelle Leverett our on the road with Jason Aldean and their hit “Wildflower is already Top 15.

Cumulus In Talks To Buy Citadel

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Cumulus Media is in exclusive negotiations to purchase Citadel Broadcasting for about $2.5 billion. The companies released an official statement this afternoon acknowledging the negotiations were taking place.
Under terms of the proposed agreement, Cumulus would pay $37 per share in a combination of cash and Cumulus stock.
Cumulus is the second largest radio broadcaster in the United States based on station count, controlling 347 radio stations in 67 US media markets.
Late last year Cumulus offered $31/share for Citadel but was rejected. More here.

Curious About Qriocity? Sony Debuts Music Service

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Sony launched a new music service in the U.S. today. “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity” is a cloud-based, digital music service offering about 6 million songs from the catalogs of Universal, Sony, Warner, and EMI Music, as well as numerous indies and publishers.
The service is ad-free and runs on a monthly subscription basis. The Basic plan is $3.99/month and Premium is $9.99.
One thing Qriocity has going for it is that it is designed to work with existing Sony hardware, including certain Bravia TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, PlayStation3, Vaio computers, and portable devices. It is also expected to work with third-party portable devices including the Android platform.
Many of these connections play into the company’s desire to capture in-home listeners, where it says more than 70 percent of consumers listen, but are underserved in terms of digital music.
Qriocity essentially works as a customizable streaming station offering personalized channels. The Premium subscription plan enables users to listen to songs on demand, and create personal playlists. The system tailors stations based on “like or dislike” song ratings, and analyzing the user’s existing music collection. Sony claims, “the more you listen, the more uniquely personalized your music channels become.”
Users can also synchronize their existing music files from other media players including iTunes.
Qriocity was already available in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Today it also launched in Australia and New Zealand.

Music Stars Set For Secret TV Taping Today

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According to his Twitter account, Luke Bryan will kick-off today's special TV taping.


Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Luke Bryan and Gretchen Wilson are among the stars taping a television special today (2/17) in Nashville, and even though fans are invited, there has been no official announcement about who is organizing the event.
Many of the artists have been spreading the word about the show through their social media sites. Wilson’s Facebook tells fans she will go on about 7 PM. Crow and Bryan have also shared details.
The taping starts at 12:30 PM at Nashville Center Stage (514 8th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37203), across the street from Cannery Row.
Fans are invited to attend the free event, but space is limited. Guests must be 18 or older and should be dressed in summer clothes.