Superstars On Set

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For their latest video shoots Alan Jackson went on location in Jupiter, Florida, and Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood teamed up in the California desert.
The video for the Paisley/Underwood duet “Remind Me” was directed by award winners Robert Deaton and George Flanigen and produced by Mark Kalbfeld. Team members trekked to the El Mirage desert, about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles for the shoot on a day so hot, dry and windy it spurred a sand cyclone.

(L-R): George Flanigen, Paisley, Underwood, Robert Deaton. Photo: Devin Pense


On set for "Remind Me." Photo: Mark Kalbfeld


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“Long Way To Go” is the first single from Alan Jackson’s studio album to be released this fall, his first under the joint venture between EMI Records Nashville and ACR (Alan’s Country Records).
The video, directed by Steven Goldmann, was shot at the Square Grouper bar in Jupiter, Florida. The premise finds Jackson and his band waiting for the rain to pass so they can shoot a video.

Alan Jackson on location at the Square Grouper Tiki Bar.


Jackson recently taped a segment for GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown and premiered the video on the show. Pictured (L-R): Sarah Trahern, SVP/Programming, GAC; Alan Jackson; and Ed Hardy, President, GAC

Opry Pioneer Trudy Stamper Passes

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Trudy Stamper


Trudy Stamper, the Artists Relations executive who took the Grand Ole Opry to Carnegie Hall, has died at age 94.
Stamper was also one of the first female radio personalities in the United States. Born Gertrude McClanahan in Cookville, she graduated from David Lipscomb College and moved to New York to launch her Broadway theatrical career. While visiting friends back home in Nashville, WSM’s Jack Stapp overheard her talking about her theater experiences and hired her at the then-new station.
She hosted the WSM show “Shopping Around with Judy Brown” and appeared in several radio soap operas. She transferred to take an off-microphone job as Artists Relations director for the Grand Ole Opry.
On Sept. 8, 1946, she married John Powell Stamper. He was an executive at WSM’s founder, the National Life insurance agency, and in 1968 he published corporate biography The National Life Story. He died in 1980.
Using her New York connections, Trudy Stamper arranged for the Opry’s debut performances at Carnegie Hall on Sept. 18-19, 1947. Those shows co-starred Minnie Pearl, Ernest Tubb, The Short Brothers, Rosalie Allen, Radio Dot & Smoky Swan and George D. Hay.
Back in Nashville, she handled artist contracts for Opry concert bookings. She was promoted to Public Relations Director of WSM and the Opry.
She publicized a second Opry troupe that played Carnegie Hall in 1961. That one featured Patsy Cline, Bill Monroe, Faron Young, Grandpa Jones and Jim Reeves.
When Stamper retired in the fall of 1964, she was recognized in a ceremony by the Career Women of Radio and Television for her years of contributions to the Opry and to country music.
She died Saturday, July 30. Visitation will be Friday, August 5 from 6-8 p.m. at Cole-Garrett Funeral Home, 127 N. Main in Goodlettsville. The service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, August 6 at First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville followed by private burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville.

Behind The Music Reveals Lambert’s Journey to Stardom

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Miranda Lambert Behind The Music premiered on VH1 last month, tracing the singer’s story from humble Texas roots to Country music stardom. The episode includes numerous exclusive interviews with the artist, her family, peers, and the industry execs that helped drive her success.

Blake Shelton talks openly about his wife and their love story. Fellow stars Sheryl Crow, Hillary Scott, and Loretta Lynn discuss Lambert’s talent. Music Row figures on the show include Joe Galante weighing in from the label perspective, and Tracy Gershon on discovering Lambert on Nashville Star.

Lambert discusses writing her album Revolution, which propelled her career forward and went on to win a Grammy and rack up at the CMA Awards.

Select footage also includes Lambert’s Pistol Annies cohort Angeleena Presley, and songwriter Marshall Chapman.

See the full episode or bonus clips. A sneak peek is embedded below.

Behind The Music Reveals Lambert's Journey to Stardom

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Miranda Lambert Behind The Music premiered on VH1 last month, tracing the singer’s story from humble Texas roots to Country music stardom. The episode includes numerous exclusive interviews with the artist, her family, peers, and the industry execs that helped drive her success.
Blake Shelton talks openly about his wife and their love story. Fellow stars Sheryl Crow, Hillary Scott, and Loretta Lynn discuss Lambert’s talent. Music Row figures on the show include Joe Galante weighing in from the label perspective, and Tracy Gershon on discovering Lambert on Nashville Star.
Lambert discusses writing her album Revolution, which propelled her career forward and went on to win a Grammy and rack up at the CMA Awards.
Select footage also includes Lambert’s Pistol Annies cohort Angeleena Presley, and songwriter Marshall Chapman.
See the full episode or bonus clips. A sneak peek is embedded below.

Crowdsourcing Engages Fans, Fuels Traffic

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Crowdsourcing has been growing in popularity among marketers in recent years and offers numerous ways to engage music fans. The buzzword is derived from the concept of outsourcing a service to a crowd, instead of seeking answers internally. Essentially, it taps the consumer masses for collaboration and feedback.
Today crowdsourcing continues to evolve, with a variety of industries using it for product development, research, and marketing. In return for participation—usually done online—consumers receive prizes ranging from cash to gift cards to artist merch.
Crowdsourcing fuels peer-to-peer marketing, where fans encourage their friends to participate, and share videos, exclusive content, and coupons.
The music biz has been using it for fan engagement, such as recent initiatives by Paul McCartney and Florence and the Machine. The industry brains behind the famed Beatle created a contest where fine artists designed a work inspired by his music. A similar competition was held to design a dress for Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welsh, which solicited 60 million votes according to a press release from Talenthouse, the social crowdsourcing company that was tapped by Universal Music Group for both projects. From a marketing perspective, it is a way to drive traffic to the artists’ websites and social networks, as well as engage consumers who entered the contests or voted for the winners.
Social media is a key component of most crowdsourcing websites, because the companies require a Facebook or Twitter account to log in. Some, like Talenthouse, run user voting through the social media sites. Connecting through Facebook allows marketers to gather the user’s FB info, including gender, list of friends, “likes,” email address, and access to post to the wall, with user permission.
Numerous crowdsourcing websites have popped up in recent years such as Krush.com, Crowdtap.com, and Prizes.org. Each site works a little differently, but they mostly have users answer polls, solve problems, or give feedback on products. Among the big-name brands on board are Old Navy, American Express, and Adidas.

Promo Change at Warner Music Nashville

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Warner Music Nashville’s W.A.R promotion team member Rhonda Christensen will be leaving the company on Aug. 31. She has chosen to step down from her post as West Coast Regional in order to spend time taking care of her family, in the wake of health issues on the homefront.
Christensen says, “It was an honor for me to help launch the W.A.R. Promotion team and to make a significant impact on new artists like Frankie Ballard, Brett Eldredge and Gloriana…but right now, I need to focus on my family.” Warner Music Nashville is accepting applications for her position, send resumes to Carolyn.Drosey@WMG.com.

Signing Stories

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Management: BMI singer-songwriter Corey Hunt has signed a management agreement with Chris Keaton’s new company, Chris Keaton Presents. Hunt recently relocated to Nashville from North Carolina. Keaton can be reached at (615) 313-7211 or chriskeaton@bellsouth.net.

(L-R): BMI's David Preston, Corey Hunt and Chris Keaton


 
Publishing: Songwriter Trent Summar has re-upped with Universal Music Publishing Nashville and Nicholson Music Group. He’s had cuts by Billy Currington, Jack Ingram, Gary Allan and Pat Green. Plus, Summar is expected to have writing credits on upcoming releases by Kip Moore, Brett Eldredge, and The Dirt Drifters.

Publicity: Don Murry Grubbs’ Absolute Publicity has signed Dailey & Vincent for representation. The duo is the reigning IBMA Entertainer of the Year.

Dailey & Vincent were joined onstage by Vince Gill during Springer Mountain Farms Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman on July 21. Photo: Ryman Archives


 

Next Big Nashville’s Soundland Shares Line-up

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Next Big Nashville Soundland is drawing top nationwide talent as well as some of the brightest up-and-comers from the Nashville scene. The recently revealed line-up includes Foster the People, Caitlin Rose, Ghostland Observatory, M Ward, Justin Townes Earle, JEFF The Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Those Darlins, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Robert Ellis, PUJOL, and Madi Diaz.

Now in its sixth year, the music event will take place in Nashville Sept. 21–24.

“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished over the last several years with Next BIG Nashville but, looking forward, we saw an opportunity to push the idea of the festival even further. And that new vision deserved a new name,” said NBN co-founder Jason Moon Wilkins of the new moniker Soundland. “This new event now gives us an opportunity to embrace the entire creative community – from arts to film to food and more.”

Beyond the music lineup, SoundLand will be adding outdoor stages, arts, local food trucks and more interactive fun, culminating in an all-day party at Public Square Park in downtown on Sat., Sept. 24.

“Alongside the music festival, we’ve completely reinvented the industry component; moving away from a traditional conference with panels into what we’re calling Field Trips,” said Kevin Brown, Partner in Next BIG Nashville. “Sponsors have really gravitated toward what we’re doing in 2011, and fans have too. We’re off to a screaming start.”

Next Big Nashville's Soundland Shares Line-up

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Next Big Nashville Soundland is drawing top nationwide talent as well as some of the brightest up-and-comers from the Nashville scene. The recently revealed line-up includes Foster the People, Caitlin Rose, Ghostland Observatory, M Ward, Justin Townes Earle, JEFF The Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Those Darlins, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Robert Ellis, PUJOL, and Madi Diaz.
Now in its sixth year, the music event will take place in Nashville Sept. 21–24.
“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished over the last several years with Next BIG Nashville but, looking forward, we saw an opportunity to push the idea of the festival even further. And that new vision deserved a new name,” said NBN co-founder Jason Moon Wilkins of the new moniker Soundland. “This new event now gives us an opportunity to embrace the entire creative community – from arts to film to food and more.”
Beyond the music lineup, SoundLand will be adding outdoor stages, arts, local food trucks and more interactive fun, culminating in an all-day party at Public Square Park in downtown on Sat., Sept. 24.
“Alongside the music festival, we’ve completely reinvented the industry component; moving away from a traditional conference with panels into what we’re calling Field Trips,” said Kevin Brown, Partner in Next BIG Nashville. “Sponsors have really gravitated toward what we’re doing in 2011, and fans have too. We’re off to a screaming start.”

Joe Nichols To Host ACM Honors

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The Academy of Country Music has tapped Joe Nichols to host the 5th Annual ACM Honors, an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. The event will take place Mon., Sept. 19 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
This is Nichols’ first time hosting the show, and the second time it will be held at the Ryman Auditorium, which will be recognized at the event as ACM Venue of the Year. Nichols, an ACM Award winner, says leading the evening is “definitely a high point in my career.”
Tickets will be made available to the public via Ticketmaster, with on-sale details coming next week.
Those being honored at the event include Special Award recipients Garth Brooks, John Dorris, Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, Tom T. Hall, Reba, Taylor Swift and the film Country Strong. Hank Cochran will also be honored posthumously. The evening also recognizes winners of the MBI (musician, bandleader, instrumentalist) and Industry categories, which are not presented during the live telecast of the Academy of Country Music Awards. See the complete list of winners.