Country Brings Value To Fill Stadiums

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Are country acts stadium ready? You bet, according to an L.A. Times article today by Nashville’s Holly Gleason which touts country music’s ability to attract fans to these larger-than-life gatherings. By example the article names Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and the CMA’s MusicFest as four stadium-size country shows all happening on the same recent June weekend.
Louis Messina, Messina Group CEO tells the Times, “Country artists are fan-friendly, and that transcends what’s onstage to the price, the vibe, what goes on all day. They put out the welcome sign: Come into the party. Let’s have fun.”
“Value, value, value,” agrees Live Nation President of Country Touring Brian O’Connell.
The article notes that supporting a stadium show requires more than just selling tickets. “You need enough music to sustain that kind of show,” notes Manager Clarence Spalding.
Respected record industry veteran Joe Galante adds, “Touring is how acts build, and stadiums are like jet fuel: It’s hyperspeed, more opportunities, more excitement. If you do 10 stadium shows, you’ve just played to a half-million fans. That’s more than some acts play to all year.”
Read the complete article here.
 

Buds-N-Suds Concert, Miller Harris Tournament

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The Buds-N-Suds Music Festival will turn midtown Nashville into a party with performances by Colt Ford, Ira Dean, Rachel Farley, Matt Stillwell and special guests Montgomery Gentry. The show is set for Thus., Sept. 15 outside Loser’s Bar and Grill. There will also be a silent auction.
Cory Gierman and Jason Krupek started the fundraiser to benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation fourteen years ago and have since raised over $200,000.
Presented by The Big 98 WSIX and Average Joe’s Entertainment, tickets are available at WSIX.com (keyword: budsnsuds) for $15, or the day of show at Loser’s for $20. VIP tickets include special seating, drinks and appetizers.
• • • • •
The 12th Annual Miller Harris Golf Tournament will be held Sept. 12 at Temple Hills in Franklin, Tenn. Registration for teams and individuals is open at www.millerharrisfoundation.org. Volunteers are also needed at the event which raises money for Asthma Camp for Kids..
Several writer rounds will also benefit the Miller Harris foundation:
Tonight (8/11) at The Listening Room with Mason Douglas, Josh Osborne, Matt Jenkins and Shane McAnally
Tues., Aug. 23 at the Bluebird Cafe—6:00 pm show with Lance Miller, Rob Hatch, Dallas Davidson, and Jason Sellers
8:30 pm with Jim McBride, Keith Stegall, Stewart Harris and Mark Collie

Opry Member Billy Grammer Passes

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Billy Grammer


Grand Ole Opry member Billy Grammer passed away early this morning in his home state of Illinois from natural causes. Grammer, 85, was a revered guitarist and had been a member of the Opry since 1959.
Grammer was born one of 13 children in an Illinois coal mining family. After high school and service in the Army, Grammer heard of a possible opening with Connie B. Gay, a disc jockey and promoter in the Washington, D.C., area. He hitchhiked to Arlington, Virginia, auditioned, and got the job.
His skills as a musician won him stints in the bands of artists such as Hawkshaw Hawkins and Grandpa Jones and a sideman role on Jimmy Dean’s television show. He then formed his own band and began performing as a solo artist. In early 1959, he recorded his memorable hit “Gotta Travel On.” Its million-selling success led to Opry membership that same year. It was a crossover pop hit adapted from a then 150-year-old British folk tune which was the first hit for Monument Records and its founder Fred Foster.
Grammer was an in-demand session picker for Eddy Arnold, Louis Armstrong and Patti Page. “Musicians I have talked to through the years have told me that I have a little extra punch, a little extra push,” he once said. During the 1960s, Grammer developed the flat-top Grammer Guitar, and donated the original model to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Grammer was devoutly religious and delivered the invocation for the Grand Ole Opry House opening in 1974. He and wife Ruth celebrated his 50th Opry anniversary at the show in February 2009.
Funeral Arrangements:
Morton & Johnston Funeral Home
410 S. Main Street
Benton, IL 62812
Phone Number: (618) 438-0311
Friday, Aug. 12: Visitation 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 13: Funeral Service @ 11:00 a.m. at the Morton & Johnson Funeral Home

Hunter Hayes To Make Opry Debut

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Multi-talented musician, writer, producer and performer Hunter Hayes makes his Grand Ole Opry debut on the historic stage this Friday, Aug 12.
Hunter, on tour with Taylor Swift on her Speak Now tour, will perform his debut single “Storm Warning” currently climbing the charts. Hunter joins Diamond Rio, Andy Griggs and Carter’s Chord in the line-up for Friday’s show.
“Being invited to play the Grand Ole Opry is like having the doors in country music open for you. Just the invitation to perform on the Opry feels like initiation into a family of artists I have looked up to and have studied my entire life,” says Hunter. “The cherry on top is that I get to play the same night as Diamond Rio!”
Hayes co-produced his Atlantic Records album with veteran producer Dann Huff, wrote or co-wrote every song, and played every instrument. The Louisiana raised multi-instrumentalist plays acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, keys and more.

Just In—Dates Set For CMA Noms, ASCAP Awards

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Final nominees for the CMA Awards will be revealed Tues., Sept. 6. Details have not been announced.

• The Second Ballot for the CMA Awards is open now through Aug. 23, 5:00 PM/CT
• Final ballot runs Oct. 14— Nov. 1, 5:00 PM/CT
• The 45th Annual CMA Awards will be presented Nov. 9.
 
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ASCAP’s 49th Annual Country Music Awards are set for Sun., Nov. 6, at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland.
After being held in September for the last several years, this date change moves the invitation-only event back to Awards Week. The Sunday night celebration will be the first of several ceremonies leading up to the Nov. 9 CMA Awards.
Highlighted by performances, the event will honor ASCAP’s most performed country songs from April 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011, as well as Songwriter of the Year, Songwriter/Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year.
“We are thrilled to be honoring the songwriters, publishers and artists behind the biggest hits in country music at one of Nashville’s treasured venues, as the much-loved resort gets back on its feet,” said Tim DuBois, Vice President and Managing Executive, ASCAP Nashville.
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Previously announced Awards Week events:
Mon., Nov. 7 —
SESAC Nashville Music Awards (invitation only)
Tues., Nov. 8 —BMI Country Awards (invitation only)
Wed., Nov. 9 —CMA Awards air live (8:00-11:00 PM/EST) on ABC from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville

Pinpointing 2011 Country Sales

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Country album sales are up an astounding 4% YTD as of 8/7/2011 with 22,930,000 units scanned. That is some good news. However, before we open the second bottle of Cristal Champagne (on sale HERE for $295 ea.) it seems appropriate to survey 2010 and compare it with possible expectations and release schedules for 2011.
Graph 1 (above): This line graph shows how 2010 sales increased during the period from mid-August through mid-November.
Graph 2 (right): This shows how the rate of sales increased last year (2010) during the same period covered in Graph 1. Note that late Oct and Nov. show particularly steep increases generated by Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban debuts.
Table 1: This table shows the albums and debut week sales totals that occurred between data points on Graph 1.
Table 1: 2010 High Roller Album Debuts
8/15/2010: Blake Shelton-33k
9/5/10: Little Big Town-42k, Trace Adkins-50k
9/19/10: Jamey Johnson-63k
10/3/10: Kenny Chesney-184k, ZBB 153, Billy Currington-45k
10/17/10: Darius Rucker-101k, Band Perry-53k, Toby Keith-71k
10/31/10: Taylor Swift-1,047, Sugarland-202.7
11/21/10: Jason Aldean-193k, Rascal Flatts-165k, Keith Urban-162k, Reba-64k, Brad Paisley Hits-31
 
Looking at 2010 there are 17 “heavy hitter” releases on our list including Taylor Swift’s million plus effort and Sugarland’s 200k+ debut. Then we had Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Zak Brown Band all in the 150-200k range.
This year’s schedule is not completely revealed, but MusicRow’s upcoming Album Release Calendar currently shows only six power titles ahead— Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, George Strait, Lady Antebellum, LeAnn Rimes and Miranda Lambert. However,  Trace Adkins just debuted (8/7/2011), with 47k (pretty close to last year’s 50k showing) and there are some newcomers on the list like Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alina that are shifting product nicely. Also contributing to 2011’s early lead are solid recent debuts from Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Chris Young and Justin Moore. However, to surpass 2010 country will need to find additional sales ammunition with which to entice consumers especially during this uncooperative economy.
Reader Challenge
Cook up some math-based scenarios and ring in below with your year-end prognostications in the comment area. Country scanned 43.718 million album units in 2010. Guess the correct first three digits of the 2011 sales total and win a free MusicRow subscription! Ready, set, GO!

All For The Hall Gives LA Taste Of Nashville

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The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s All for the Hall event will return to Los Angeles for a third consecutive year, featuring performances by Hall of Fame inductees Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris, and superstars Sheryl Crow and Zac Brown. The guitar pull-style fundraiser will take place Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Club Nokia.
Since launching the All for the Hall initiative in 2005, the Museum has hosted events in New York and Los Angeles. Museum Director Kyle Young explains, “Our 2009 All for the Hall Los Angeles debut gave us an opportunity to focus on West Coast country music history and remind our guests that these artists and executives and their songs are a part of the story we both preserve and teach at the Museum. We built on that with last year’s event, during which we announced that the Museum’s next major exhibition will focus on Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and the Bakersfield Sound. We are very grateful for our warm welcome the past two years and look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in September.”
All for the Hall Los Angeles is chaired by AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke and produced by CAA’s Rod Essig, Vector Management’s Ken Levitan and BMI’s Jody Williams. The event is made possible by the generosity of AEG Live and Club Nokia LA Live. The 2011 host committee for All for the Hall Los Angeles includes Mark Bloom (UBS Financial Services), John Frankenheimer (Loeb & Loeb), Gary Haber (Haber Corporation), Neil Portnow (The Recording Academy) and Bob Romeo (Academy of Country Music).
All for the Hall Los Angeles patrons are offered their choice of seating for 10 for $10,000, or seating for five for $5,000. Individual tickets are available at $1,000 per seat. A cocktail reception and dinner will precede the guitar pull. To purchase tickets, patrons may contact Rachel Shapiro at [email protected] or telephone (615) 416-2069 or (800) 852-6437.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (8/10/11)

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With temperatures hovering near 100 muggy degrees, day after day, we have definitely reached the Dog Days of Summer in Tune Town.
In weather like this, who the heck feels like making the effort to find new music?
I do. I always do, especially when folks are playing at the top of their games.
This week, those folks include Reba, Jeff Bates and, especially, Danny Gokey. As for Miranda Lambert, she is completely in another league. As excellent as she has been so many times before, she outdoes herself with “Baggage Claim.” Give that Texas Tornado a Disc of the Day.
Newcomer Andy Gibson is off to a flying start. I don’t know when I have heard a debut single as terrific as his “Wanna Make You Love Me.” Welcome to the party, pal. You definitely have what it takes. Here’s a DisCovery Award to wish you well and send you on your way.
RELUCTANT SAINTS/Right Behind You
Writer: B.C. Wilson; Producer: Reluctant Saints & Jonathan Beckner; Publisher: none listed; Inio (track) (www.reluctantsaints.com)
—These roots rockers are receiving airplay on Atlanta’s biggest country station with this choppy, blue-eyed-soul bopper. The playing is cool, and the song is solid. What is lacking is a charismatic lead vocal.
REBA /Somebody’s Chelsea
Writer: Reba/Liz Hengber/Will Robinson; Producer: Dann Huff; Publisher: Zavitson/Red Sox Fan/Sony-ATV Cross Keys/Texoma Ten/Detect An Intruder/Big Loud Bucks, ASCAP/BMI; Starstruck/Valory (track)
—Lovely. A woman yearns to be part of a never-ending love story in this aching, heart-in-throat ballad.
COLTON JAMES/Date With Dixie
Writer: Colton James/Greg Crowe; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Ride ‘N’ High
—Trashy sounding. The too-busy rhythm track is irritating. His vocal tries to hard. The crowd whistling and shouting is overload. The lyric shamelessly name-checks “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” “The South’s Gonna Do It Again,” “Whiskey River,” “Dixieland Delight” and other Southern staples.
MIRANDA LAMBERT/Baggage Claim
Writer: Miranda Lambert/Natalie Hemby/Luke Laird; Producer: Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainley & Glenn Worf; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree/Pink Dog/Tiltawhirl/Universal-Careers/High Powered Machine, BMI; Columbia
—She’s wise to his “business trip” and is giving him his walking papers. The crunchy track is beyond cool with its chugging acoustic guitar, organ solo and slapped drumming. And it goes without saying that her vocal is busting with piping-hot personality. Play it again. And again.
TYLER DEAN/That Smile
Writer: Doug Johnson; Producer: Doug Johnson; Publisher: Mike Curb/Sweet Radical, BMI; Curb (CDX)
—Young sounding. The track is as breezy as his soft, romantic vocal.
DANNY GOKEY/Second Hand Heart
Writer: Cary Barlowe/Josh Kear/Shane Stevens; Producer: Mark Bright; Publisher: none listed, SESAC/ASCAP/BMI; 19/RCA (CDX)
—I love this guy’s voice. Here, he’s throaty and slightly raspy on the verses, then brightly mighty and skyward soaring on the choruses of this mid-tempo heart song. An absolutely stirring single.
JEFF BATES/He Wasn’t Like Us
Writer: Jeff Bates/Ben Hayslip/Brandon Kinney; Producer: Mickey Jack Cones & Kenny Beard; Publisher: Warner-Tamerlane/How ‘Bout That Skyline/Kinney Empire/WB/Melissa’s Money/Get a Load of This, BMI/ASCAP; Black River (CDX)
—Jeff returns with a terrific message song about bullying. The ballad follows the progress of a picked-on “slow” kid who grows up to be Jesus. This man’s gripping, deeply soulful voice is particularly potent here.
ANDY GIBSON/Wanna Make You Love Me
Writer: Jim Collins/Bobby Pinson; Producer: James Stroud; Publisher: Music of Cal IV/Music of Stage Three/Bobby’s Song and Salvage/BMG Chrysalis, BMI; R & J (CDX)
—Now here’s a toe tapper with a relentless, heartbeat rhythm. The production is totally in the pocket, the song craftsmanship is superb and, best of all, the singer’s delivery completely owns it with heartfelt tenor honesty. Who is this guy? Why isn’t this on a major label?
SUSAN HERNDON/Land Of The Living
Writer: Herndon; Producer: Lloyd Maines, Bob Livingston & Susan Herndon; Publisher: Okie Turtle, ASCAP; SH (track) (www.susanherndon.com)
—The groove has bopping panache. Her songwriting is characterized by simple charms. She won’t take home any vocal blue ribbons, but still has a sweetly innocent style.
FOLK FAMILY REVIVAL/Come Get Me
Writer: Mason Lankford/Barrett Lankford; Producer: Jeffrey Armstreet; Publisher: Magnolia Red/Poodawalamus, ASCAP; Magnolia Red (track) (www.folkfamilyrevival.com)
—This country rocker takes hold and never lets go. The hallmarks of the band are take-no-prisoners drumming, twanging guitar work and a drawling, conversational lead vocalist with chesty, out-of-breath phrasing. Rootsy and winning.

Loretta Lynn Postpones Tour Dates

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Though she recently returned to the concert stage with a Grand Ole Opry performance in Nashville, Loretta Lynn has been forced to cancel tour dates prior to the September 3rd show at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, TN.
The iconic entertainer will undergo knee reconstruction surgery and her physician has ordered her to allow time for a full recovery. According to her website, Lynn will return for her performance on Sept 3.
In July, Lynn was also forced to cancel shows from her 2011 tour after severe dehydration caused her to be hospitalized.

“I’m sad to have to cancel any shows for my fans, but they tell me I’ve just got to stay off this knee for a while,” Lynn says.

Fans can watch for rescheduled concert dates on her website at www.lorettalynn.com.

Smoking Country Gets Fightin’ Hot

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Tracy Lawrence

The Smokin’ Country Concert (8/5,6,7) in Bloomville, Ohio got a bit hotter than promoters imagined after rain, mud and a stuck bus contributed to a fistfight between Tracy Lawrence and promoter Elmer Cole Jr. who also owns Cole Farms, the concert site.

According to the Advertiser-Tribune, “Seneca County Sheriff Bill Eckelberry said there was a misunderstanding between Elmer Cole Jr., the concert’s promoter, and Tracy Lawrence, one of the performers.”

Both Cole and Lawrence were charged with disorderly conduct, taken to Mercy Tiffin Hospital and released. According to one witness, there were problems getting Lawrence’s bus out of the mud right away which may have been what sparked the fight.

The venue is said to hold up to 30,000 people, but estimated ticket sales were pegged below 5,000. Rain forced Lawrence to cancel the last song in his set and Randy Houser, scheduled to perform after Lawrence, was canceled completely.