Hazel Dickens Passes

Hazel Dickens


Renowned Appalachian vocal stylist Hazel Dickens has died at age 75.
The West Virginia native was noted for her strongly feminist song lyrics, support of coal miners and participation in bluegrass and folk-music groups such as The Strange Creek Singers and Hazel & Alice. She recorded for the Rounder, Folkways and Arhoolie record labels.
The Hazel & Alice arrangement of The Carter Family’s “Hello Stranger” served as the template for Emmylou Harris’s recording of the song. The duo’s recording of “The Sweetest Gift (A Mother’s Smile)” inspired Naomi & Wynonna Judd to form their musical partnership. Dickens appeared with The Judds during one Fan Fair concert in the 1990s.
Her songs were featured in the Oscar-winning 1976 documentary Harlan County U.S.A., and she appeared in the 1987 coal-mining movie Matewan.
Raised as one of 11 children in rural West Virginia, Hazel Dickens was the daughter of a preacher. Her brothers were coal miners. Seeking a better life, Dickens moved to Baltimore in 1954. She worked in factories, but via her performances in the bluegrass bands The Pike County Boys and The Greenbriar Boys, she came to the attention of singer and folklorist Mike Seeger.
She played bass and sang in Seeger’s Strange Creek Singers bluegrass band, which also included Alice Gerrard on guitar and vocals. The group began recording in the mid-1960s.
The two women formed a bluegrass/folk duo and began recording for Folkways around this same time. A shift to Rounder resulted in their best known LPs, 1973’s Hazel & Alice and 1975’s Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. These included the feisty Dickens “signature” songs “Working Girl Blues,” “My Better Years” and “Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There.”
Dickens launched her solo recording career with 1980’s Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People, also on Rounder. It featured her blue-collar anthem “They’ll Never Keep Us Down,” which was one of the songs featured in Harlan County U.S.A. The 1982 LP It’s Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song included her striking composition “Will Jesus Wash the Bloodstains From Your Hands.” The punk band X subsequently revived this tune.
The Hazel Dickens song “Won’t You Come and Sing for Me” has been recorded by Hot Rize, Delia Bell, Kate Brislin, High Atmosphere and other bluegrass acts. Cherryholmes and The Burns Sisters have recorded “Working Girl Blues.” The Johnson Mountain Boys repopularized “My Better Years,” and New Riders of the Purple Sage recorded “Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There.” Laurie Lewis, The Lynn Morris Band, Bobby Osborne, James King, Dolly Parton, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Kathy Mattea and Cathy Fink are among the others who have recorded Hazel Dickens songs.
In 1994, Dickens became the first woman to receive the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Award of Merit. In 2008, The National Endowment for the Arts presented her with its National Heritage Award, and Alison Krauss inducted her into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Her autobiography, Working Girl Blues, was published by the University of Illinois Press later that same year.
Hazel Dickens died at a Washington D.C. hospice on Friday, April 22. from complications of pneumonia.

 

"Girl's Night Out" Rocks Ratings

Honorees pictured at the concert taping in Las Vegas.


The concert special Girl’s Night Out: Superstar Women of Country drew 8.4 million viewers on Friday night (4/22). It won the night for CBS, beating out programming on all the other major networks, according to Nielsen ratings on Zap2it.com.
The two-hour program started at 9 PM/ET. It honored several of country music’s most successful women including The Judds, Miranda Lambert, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, Reba, and Carrie Underwood. More here.
 
 

BMI Promotes Darren Briggs





Darren Briggs





Darren Briggs has been appointed Vice President, Technology Innovation for BMI. Briggs will be based in BMI’s Nashville office and will report to James King, Senior Vice President of Business Technology for BMI. Briggs was previously Vice President & Chief Technology Officer for BMI’s Landmark division.
In his new role he will be responsible for leading technological change and new processes including new business platforms and technological innovations that allow the company to advance its core business.
“Darren has been an innovator at BMI and his technological vision has strengthened BMI’s services to our affiliates and licensees,” said King. “He was a leader at Landmark and helped spearhead and activate the company’s recognition technology, as well as its integration into BMI’s distribution systems. His knack for identifying new processes and services that support BMI’s mission of providing the most accurate, reliable and customer-focused technology solutions and systems makes this promotion well-deserved. His work behind the scenes for our affiliates and licensees has made BMI a leader in technology advancement in copyright management, and I know he will continue to contribute towards this in this position.”
Briggs, who worked briefly at BMI in 1988 as an assistant in the Publisher Relations department, rejoined the copyright organization in 2001 as Director of Strategic Development, where he was responsible for investigating and projecting new technology trends in the music industry. He was named Senior Director in 2003 and Project Leader for Landmark Digital Services, LLC in 2004, and Vice President & Chief Technology Officer in 2006. Prior to BMI, he worked at music publishers Tree, Sony and Sony/ATV International in London as Director of Global Systems Development, and in 2000, co-founded the San Francisco-based start-up, Fatbubble, Inc. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Mathematics.

Blake Shelton Sets Release Date, Debuts On "The Voice"

Shelton in the coach's seat on "The Voice."


Blake Shelton is having his biggest year yet, and adding to the momentum is today’s (4/25) announcement that he will release a full-length album this summer.
He’s also prepping for tomorrow night’s (4/26) premiere of The Voice on NBC, the singing competition where he is one of the celebrity coaches alongside Christiana Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine.
Shelton’s album is set for release July 12 by Warner Bros., and the lead single “Honey Bee” is his fastest rising to date. It sold over 138,000 digital downloads its first week out—a record for solo male vocalists. More on that here.
He re-teamed with producer Scott Hendricks for the project. Their work together has resulted in numerous hits.
Over the last year or so Shelton’s releases have been non-traditional Six-Pak albums. This sales and marketing strategy offers shorter projects more frequently, which is designed to keep fans interested thanks to less downtime between releases. The Six-Paks are sold at a lower price point, and the strategy seems to have paid off.
Shelton has won six awards in the last year, including CMA Male Vocalist of the Year. He’s notched his first No. 1 album All About Tonight, scored three consecutive No. 1’s (“Who Are You When I’m Not Looking,” “All About Tonight” and “Hillbilly Bone”), and sold out shows on his first headlining tour. And he’s marrying Miranda Lambert next month, in what is sure to be Country’s Royal Wedding.

Jerrod Niemann Goes For The Gold

Jerrod Niemann’s “What Do You Want” is steadily climbing the charts and it has now become his second RIAA-certified Gold Digital Single. Written by Niemann with Richie Brown and Rachel Bradshaw, “What Do You Want” follows his previous Gold Digital Single and chart-topping hit “Lover, Lover.”
“It is unbelievable. I have loved country music since I was a kid, and I have read so many books, and bought so many albums, and really cared,” says Niemann. “Country music is so much bigger than all of us, so to have two Gold singles is one unbelievable thing, but to me, in country music, that makes it even more special.”
Niemann will soon wrap the final dates on his co-headlining The Higher Education Tour with Lee Brice and Tyler Farr before joining Brad Paisley’s H2O II: Wetter & Wilder World Tour this summer. Check Jerrod’s website for full dates.

During a visit to Sony Music Nashville, Niemann was surprised with a plaque celebrating the RIAA Gold Digital Single certification of “What Do You Want.” He was also presented with a Gold Digital Single plaque for “Lover, Lover,” which hit Gold last August. (L-R): Fitzgerald Hartley’s Bill Simmons; Sea Gayle’s Chris DuBois; SMN Sales VP Kerri Fox-Metoyer; Niemann; SMN Digital Business VP Heather McBee; SMN Chairman & CEO Gary Overton; Arista Nashville Promotion VP Lesly Tyson; and SMN Promotion Senior VP Skip Bishop; and SMN Marketing Senior VP Paul Barnabee. Photo credit: Alan Poizner

Photo Corner Friday

Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum recently (4/16) hosted I Saw the Light, a special program honoring the songwriting legacy of Hank Williams. Rodney Crowell, Ashley Monroe, the Secret Sisters and Steve Young each performed Hank Williams songs in addition to original songs inspired by Hank. Crowell also read an excerpt from his memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks about attending a Hank Williams concert as a child.

(L-R): Rodney Crowell, Hillary Williams, Ashley Monroe, the Secret Sisters’ Laura and Lydia Rogers, Steve Young, and Museum Writer/Editor Michael McCall. Photo: Donn Jones

• • • •

Music City Tennis Invitational Songwriter Showcase was held at the Bluebird Café on April 21. The benefit concert was a pre-tournament event for the 38th Annual MCTI benefiting the Center for Child Development at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The tennis tournament will be held April 30-May 1 at the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Tennis Center at Vanderbilt.

(L-R) Bekka Bramlett, Justin Levinson, James Slater, Patsy Wells, Dr. Tyler Reimschisel, Phran Galante, Greg Barnhill, Bill Riddle, Patsy Bradley, Marc Beeson Photo: Alan Mayor

• • • •

Joe Nichols was a featured guest and performer at the USO of Metropolitan Washington’s (USO-Metro) 29th Annual Awards Dinner, held April 12 at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City. The event honored individuals from each branch of service, as well as the people who support our nation’s service members through volunteerism and USO-Metro’s countless charitable programs, with a special emphasis on the military families served. Nichols performed his single “The Shape I’m In.”

(L-R): Nichols with 1st Lieutenant Patricia Morton, USO-Metro Special Salute Honoree; her husband Sergeant First Class William J. Morton, US Army Retired and Dennis Muilenburg, President & CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security.

• • • •

Andy Griggs and Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan hosted the annual Christmas For Kids Celebrity Golf  Tournament held last week. Griggs has just released a new single called “Can I Get an Amen” and a full length CD will be available later this year.

(L-R): Cortland Finnegan and Andy Griggs


 
 

Will Apple Be Next To The Cloud?

The battle for cloud supremacy is about to get pretty stormy, if recent rumors are true.
Late yesterday (4/21) Reuters reported that Apple had finished its online storage service and was preparing to launch it ahead of Google, also long rumored to be getting in the cloud business.
The article claims that iTunes customers will be able to store songs on a remote server, which will then be accessible from online devices. Presumably that means iPhones and iPads in addition to computers, but it remains unclear.
Apple has also been in talks with the major music labels to attain licenses for its service, but there seems to be disagreement over the progress in that area. Reuters claims that no new licenses have been signed for the services, but other reports say Apple already has at least one of the four majors on board.
Amazon launched its Cloud Player and Storage services late in March without the blessing of any of the majors. The company’s argument is that the service functions like a hard drive and the music belongs to the consumers. (Side note: we’ve been spending a little time with the Amazon Cloud Player and a review of its high and low points is forthcoming)
Most of the reports say the advantage of attaining licenses through the majors is primarily an improved and full-featured end user experience. So if the goal is to shift consumers’ purchasing and listening habits for the good of the music industry, then this is going to be a critical point for Apple, Amazon, and Google.

Eye On Idol (4/22/11)

The men are finally starting to pack up and leave American Idol, which has got to make the two remaining females feel a little better.
Stefano Langone, Jacob Lusk, and Haley Reinhart were Thursday’s (4/21) Bottom Three after the Post Millenium-themed performance show. Langone ended up being the latest guy to depart, after trying on his contemporary digs with Ne-Yo’s “Closer.”
It’s probably safe to say it wasn’t a huge shock. Since the Top 13 started singing March 10–seven weeks in all so far–Langone has made four trips to the Bottom Three, which is the season’s highest. Well, except for Reinhart, who has also made four trips and survived to sing another week.
I pretty frequently mention the “dreaded” opening spot on the longer performance shows early in the season, and there is interesting statistical data where that’s concerned.
In the seven weeks thus far, four of the opening slot contestants have been in the bottom three: Naima Adedapo (3/17), Casey Abrams (3/24), Jacob Lusk (4/6), and Paul McDonald (4/13). McDonald and Abrams were both sent home, though the judges revived Abrams with the season’s lone save.
On the flip side, by looking at the three weeks where the opening slot performer was not sent to the Bottom Three, it reaffirms who the season’s strongest contestants are. Country crooner Scotty McCreery has been given the opening slot twice this season, and still hasn’t been in the Bottom Three. Similarly, Lauren Alaina had an opening slot early in March and still hasn’t faced the possibility of elimination.
The only other contestant who hasn’t been in the bottom three is James Durbin, who continues to rise to every challenge with a big production and memorable performances. His take on Muse’s “Uprising” featured marching band percussion and space age costuming befitting the song’s over-the-top theatricality.
I wonder if the other contestants are secretly thinking, “Dude! You’re making us look terrible!” Because, let’s face it, he kind of is.
So Durbin, Alaina and McCreery are the likely Top 3 right now, but Abrams is enough of a wild card that he could spoil all the fun. Since his near-elimination, he hasn’t spent a turn in the Bottom Three. The performances haven’t all been winners, but he’s got serious guts. Never mind the performances, who else would dare sneak a kiss off Jennifer Lopez?
There’s only six left, so a really wild season of Idol is about to get even more so.
As a final interesting point, it might all be changing next year. Billboard reports that Idol producers are considering changing next season’s voting process to make it more fair and possibly limiting the number of times a contestant can use an instrument.
I can hear the mob chanting now, “Justice for Pia! Justice for Pia!”

Hollywood Growing Pains Echo Music Industry

Like a mariner lost in the fog searching for dry land, the music industry wandered into the digital zone over ten years ago. Since then, it has been zig zagging, sailing in circles and only sometimes moving closer to the goal of evolving its business model to fit new realities. The film industry looked on from a distance, content that movie files were too big to be traded and swapped as easily as music.
But as the Walrus and the Carpenter smiled at the hapless oysters [before eating them] in Lewis Carroll’s classic poem, technology has now arrived to visit the film industry. The widespread adoption of high speed bandwidth means that downloading or streaming a movie file is becoming common. So is Hollywood managing change more efficiently than the music industry? Not so much, judging by the latest tussle between film studios and theater owners.
The flare up between studios and theaters is over a plan to offer VOD high definition premium movies only eight weeks after a film hits the big screens and months before it is normally available via Netflix, or Redbox. The cost will be $30. DirectTV began offering several titles under this plan (4/21). The economics are such that VOD is lucrative for the studios, but according to some analysts, it could be disastrous for the theaters. And theaters are also concerned that the eight-week window could get even shorter…
“How seriously would a 5 percent drop in attendance hurt them [theaters],” asks Edward Jay Epstein, author of the The Hollywood Economist in an article for TheWrap.com. Epstein quotes an unnamed senior executive familiar with the numbers who says, “In 2000-2002 just a 3-5 percent drop in tickets sold caused almost half of all the theaters in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy. A 10 percent drop in ticket sales, and the attendant decline in concessions income and advertising income, will close over two-thirds of the American movie theaters — and they will never re-open.”
“If so” Epstein notes, “the studios are undertaking a highly risky business. They are offering the public the possibility of watching new movies at home without the hassle and expense of hiring a baby-sitter, driving to a megaplex, and buying food at the concession stand.”
A followup Wrap article presents the other side of the argument saying that predictions of doom are premature since most box office runs are largely over by the time the new windows would take effect. Paramount and Disney have not signed on to the plan, leaving Warner Bros., FOX, Universal and Sony to face the wrath of the theaters. Theaters have fired back at studios by demanding to renegotiate ticket percentages for movies that are part of the new plan.
Music observers will likely see some parallels between the two entertainment industries. The film group is in the process of realizing they will have to give consumers what they want, when they want it or suffer the consequences. Today’s increasingly on demand media world means this issue will not go away simply by ignoring it. Theaters are going to have to find ways to make the big screen experience so attractive they can compete with watching at home and shorter windows of exclusivity. Digital piracy will also exert a stronger influence over release schedules as the ability to toss feature film files across the Internet continues to improve.
Exactly how the ending will play out for the film industry is unclear, but they are right to experiment and find better ways to meet consumer needs. The music industry was slow to embrace change and has spent over a decade suffering falling sales and decreasing revenues. Let’s hope Hollywood has learned from those mistakes.

ASCAP EXPO to Feature Nashville Writers/Execs

Some of the biggest names in Nashville, including Rodney Crowell, Josh Kear, Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley, Tommy Sims, Dave Berg, Ben Glover, Chris Stapleton, Darrell Brown, Jonathan Singleton and Jamie Moore are among the panelists participating in the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO. Nashville industry leaders including Fletcher Foster (Red Light Management), Kerry O’Neil (O’Neil Hagaman, PLLC), Jordan Keller, Esq., Eric Hurt (Brentwood Benson Music Publishing) and Daniel Lee (Ten Ten Music Group) are also confirmed as panelists.
Now in its sixth year, the EXPO brings together a diverse group of songwriters, composers, producers and music industry leaders to participate in a broad range of panels designed to support music creators at every stage of their career.  The three-day conference takes place April 28-30, 2011 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. 
Some of the panelist and programming include;

  • ASCAP 2008 Country Songwriter of the Year, Dave Berg, and ASCAP 2010 Christian Songwriter of the Year, Ben Glover, will join a panel including entertainment attorney Jordan Keller, Esq., manager Fletcher Foster and A&R exec Jake McKim and moderated by writer/producer Darrell Brown on The Real Nashville panel to discuss Nashville as one of the world’s greatest musical communities and hub for music creators and businesses alike.
  • Grammy winner and ASCAP’s 2010 Country Song of the Year writer (“Need You Now”) Josh Kear, will join producer/writer Ari Levine (The Smeezingtons), songwriter/vocal producer Savan Kotecha and songwriter/producer Dan Wilson (Semisonic) on the Hitmakers panel.
  • ASCAP’s 2009 Country Songwriter of the Year Ashley Gorley will participate in The Business of Being a Songwriter panel with Nashville business manager Kerry O’Neil, producer DJ Frank E, songwriter/producer Nicole Morier, songwriter/producer Mike Viola (The Candy Butchers) and songwriter/performer Anuhea.
  • Hit songwriter and ASCAP 2010 Country Publisher of the Year’ Sea Gayle Music partner Chris DuBois will join the Two Sides of the Coin: Music Publishing – Side 2, “The Independents” panel along with publishing execs Justin Kalifowitz, Sam Kling, Barbara Vander Linde and Tom DeSavia.

Other highlights will include singer/songwriter Fergie of  The Black Eyed Peas, who will join the We Create Music panel to discuss how to forge a lasting career; singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles interviewing music legend Lindsey Buckingham; and Desmond Child’s Master Class in Songwriting offered to 60 randomly selected attendees.
For an updated list of panelists, performances and additional information, click here.