Ryman Earns Top Concert Industry Honor

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Last week at the 23rd Annual Pollstar Awards in Los Angeles, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium was named Theatre of the Year for a second consecutive year. The honor was voted upon by peers and is regarded as the industry’s highest honor. Other nominees included Beacon Theatre in New York City, Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie in Texas.

This is the Ryman’s fourth Theatre of the Year win in 10 years, and it is also the reigning Academy of Country Music Venue of the Year.

“We are extremely grateful to our peers in the concert industry for awarding us this honor two years in a row,” said Ryman GM Sally Williams. “The Ryman is a very special building not only for Nashvillians, but also for music lovers all over the world. We continually strive to create memorable, unique experiences for all visitors – from the artists on stage to the fans in the pews.”

MusicRowPics: Casey James Artist Visit

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Sony Music Nashville artist, Casey James, stopped by MusicRow’s headquarters to perform songs from his self-titled 19 Recordings/BNA Records debut available March 20. Among the songs performed were his single “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night,” currently at No. 42 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart.

Casey had a hand in writing nine of the album’s 11 tracks and contributed lead guitar throughout. He also co-produced the album with Chris Lindsey, who co-wrote the album’s final track “Miss Your Fire” with Casey and Aimee Mayo.

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CountryBreakout No. 1 Song

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During halftime of Super Bowl XLVI last weekend, Chrysler aired a two-minute ad called “Halftime in America.” Iconic tough guy Clint Eastwood provided the voiceover, ruminating on the tough battle our country has endured with great optimism about its future and pride in its people’s collective ability to overcome hardships. It was a powerful spot, whatever political affiliation you may have.

One of our own has taken a similar sentiment and turned it into a hit for this particularly troubled age. Dierks Bentley’s “Home,” this week’s CountryBreakout No. 1 song, strikes a resonant chord by managing the tightrope walk of being patriotic without excluding or alienating anyone. Bentley penned the song with Dan Wilson and Brett Beavers, which in addition to its chart success, was recently nominated for ACM Song of the Year.

This chart milestone arrives as Bentley is promoting the release of his sixth studio album, Home. He’s been up in New York the last week, visiting Letterman and Today, and over the weekend he’ll journey to Los Angeles to be a presenter on the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday, Feb. 12. and perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Feb. 15. His Country & Cold Cans tour will head north to British Columbia on Feb. 15, followed by an Australian leg.

Country Throwdown Tour Adds Gary Allan and Others

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The third-annual Country Throwdown Tour announced Gary Allan as the headlining artist, and he will be joined by Josh Thompson, Eric Paslay, and Sunny Sweeney. Rodney Atkins and Justin Moore will appear on select dates.

The 2012 multi-stage extravaganza is expected to reach 20 cities over two months, kicking off in Gulfport, MS, May 18.

“I’ve always been a fan of the Warped Tour, so I thought it was great when they [4 FINI Inc.] came up with the concept of doing a country version of it with the Throwdown Tour,” says Allan. “We’re hoping this is the best tour yet.”

The 2012 outdoor tour brings together top artists and emerging talent, providing a constant stream of music in a festival environment throughout the day. In addition to performances on two main stages, the Bluebird Cafe Stage will spotlight soon to be announced singer-songwriters as they perform in the round.

“We’re proud to continue our relationship with the Bluebird Cafe and some of Nashville’s most talented songwriters,” adds tour co-founder and co-producer, Sarah Baer. “We’re especially thankful for the many people in the music community who have been supportive of trying something new and have helped us give developing artists a home on the tour scene.”

Allan will host a press conference Feb. 27, at The Label in Nashville joined by 4 FINI producers and tour creators Kevin Lyman and Baer discussing further details of the event.

2012 Country Throwdown Tour (more dates to come). Tickets for select cities are on sale now.

5/18-Gulfport, MS @ Jones Park
5/26-Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
5/27-Bangor, ME @ Waterfront Park
6/1-Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
6/2-Kettering, OH @ Fraze Pavilion
6/3-Anderson, IN @ Hoosier Park Casino
6/13-Glen Allen, VA @ Innsbrook Pavilion
6/14-N. Lawrence, OH @ Clay’s Park Amphitheatre
6/15-Danville, VA @ Carrington Pavilion
6/16-Washington, PA @ CONSOL Energy Park
6/17-Syracuse, NY @ Empire Court
6/22-Sioux Falls, SD @ W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds
6/23-Rockford, IL @ Davis Park / Metro Center
6/28-TBD
6/29-Marion, IL @ Rent One Park
6/30-Bridgeview, IL @ Toyota Park
7/1-Norfolk, NE @ DeVent Center
7/6-TBD
7/7-TBD
7/8-TBD

Weekly Chart Report (2/10/12)

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Dierks Bentley is currently sitting at No. 1 on the CountryBreakout Chart, and was featured as a guest host of CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan (R) to promote his new album, Home. Bentley took calls and gave away autographed copies of the record.

SPIN ZONE
It’s a super close Capitol Records switcheroo at the top of the CountryBreakout Chart, as Dierks Bentley’s “Home” scoots into the No. 1 spot just 11 spins ahead of last week’s champ “You Gonna Fly” by Keith Urban. Martina, Toby, Montgomery Gentry, and George all surge forward into positions 3-6, and Lady Antebellum’s “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” tangos right into the Top 10 at No. 9.

Seemingly everyone has a new single coming out, and programmers are responding by cranking up the spin power. Jason Aldean’s “Fly Over States” debuted three weeks back, and now it’s already up to No. 29 after a gain of 379 spins. Rascal Flatts bests that by gaining 399 spins and taking “Banjo” to No. 14. Also gaining major spins are Brantley Gilbert’s “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” at No. 18, Eli Young Band’s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” at No. 21, Zac Brown Band’s “No Hurry” at No. 24, and Alan Jackson’s “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore” at No. 27.

Eric Church is Chief, or should I say “Boss,” of the new debuts this week with “Springsteen,” which lands at No. 55. Other new singles debuting include Kinsey Sadler’s “Sometimes I Forget,” Lewis Copeland’s “She’s Got It Goin’ On,” Alison Krauss & Union Station’s “My Love Follows You Where You Go,” and Dustin Lynch’s “Cowboys and Angels.”

Frozen Playlists: KSED, KWWR, KYKX, WCMS, WKWS, WTCM, WYVY

Upcoming Singles
February 13
JT Hodges/Goodbyes Made You Mine/Show Dog-Universal
Phil Vassar/Don’t Miss Your Life/Rodeowave
The Dirt Drifters/There She Goes/Warner Bros./WMN

February 21
Thomas Rhett/Something To Do With My Hands/Valory
Julie Ingram/Thank God (For Mom & Dad)/LongShot/Nine North/Turnpike
James Wesley/Walking Contradiction/Broken Bow

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New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 55
Kinsey Sadler/Sometimes I Forget/Motion/Evergreen — 73
Lewis Copeland/She’s Got It Goin’ On/Phull Entertainment — 78
Alison Krauss & Union Station/My Love Follows You Where You Go/Rounder — 79
Dustin Lynch/Cowboys And Angels/Broken Bow Records — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Rascal Flatts/Banjo/Big Machine — 399
Jason Aldean/Fly Over States/Broken Bow — 379
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 371
Zac Brown Band/No Hurry/Southern Ground/Atlantic — 298
Alan Jackson/So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore/ACR/EMI — 294

Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 33
Jason Aldean/Fly Over States/Broken Bow — 22
Rachel Holder/In Your Arms/Curb — 14
Alan Jackson/So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore/ACR/EMI — 14
Tracy Lawrence/Pills/LMG — 12
Josh Turner/Time Is Love/MCA — 9
Phil Vassar/Don’t Miss Your Life/Rodeowave — 9
Alison Krauss & Union Station/My Love Follows You Where You Go/Rounder — 9

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Candy Coburn/Don’t Walk Away/LomaJean — 208
Tracy Lawrence/Pills/LMG — 187
Jon Wolfe/I Don’t Dance — 184
John Maison/Fast Enough/Big High Five – 183
Clay Walker/Like We Never Said Goodbye/Curb — 166

Jason Cassidy (A-Blake Records) visited with KJKE/Oklahoma City’s Becky Austin, Kevin Christopher and Crash on a radio tour promoting "What If," the latest single from his debut album My Redemption. (L-R): Becky, Crash, Cassidy, Kevin, John Ettinger (Quarterback Records)

Lauren Alaina met KTST/Oklahoma City contest winners at Tener’s Western Wear before her Feb. 2 show opening for Jason Aldean. (L-R): Bill Reed (MD KTST), Tom Travis (PD KTST), Lauren Alaina, Mercury SW Regional Jill Brunett

New artist Tyler Farr (Columbia/BNA) recently stopped by WPOC/Baltimore during his radio tour to play his new single "Hot Mess." (L-R): Laurie DeYoung (WPOC Morning Show host), Farr, Justin Cole (WPOC PD)

Grascals and Webster In Legal Dispute

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Bluegrass band The Grascals has filed a lawsuit against music publicist/manager Kirt Webster, countering a suit Webster originally filed against the band under the company name Entertainment Evolution.

The parties are suing over an “at-will” oral management agreement the Grascals made with Webster. According to the Nashville City Paper and the Nashville Scene, Webster’s suit claims the band owes his Entertainment Evolution a significant management commission for services. The Grascals deny any dealings with Entertainment Evolution and allege Webster made management decisions for them that were not in the band’s best interests. Additionally, the band had designated proceeds from a recent Cracker Barrel exclusive album to St. Jude’s, but are now questioning if the correct donation amounts were made.

Charlie Cook On Air – The Super Bowl

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Another Super Bowl has come and gone (without the Lions) and what did we learn? First, we cannot trust Pop artists to act responsibly. Madonna appeared to be on her best behavior. In fact, she admitted to being nervous before the performance. That would be good because it implies that she cares. M.I.A. was not nervous, just rude.

What else did we learn? That Miranda Lambert is very cute and can really sing. That Country music was well represented with Mr. and Mrs. Blake Shelton right at the beginning of the game. That Kelly Clarkson also can hit it out of the park with the National Anthem. (Did you know that you could have bet the over/under of 1:34 on the singing of the anthem?) We learned that Faith Hill is…wow!

Over 111 million people tuned in for the game. Well, 111 million people tuned in for the broadcast. A good number of those people happened to be in a room that had the “game” on but really tuned in during the commercials.

Apparently they also tuned into the halftime show. Madonna’s “Give Me All Your Luvin’” was a huge seller on iTunes, just a day after airing on NBC during the Super Bowl and getting a ton of advance play on Clear Channel CHR stations starting last Friday. What is really positive about all of this is that we now know radio and TV can make a song a hit. And the song doesn’t even have to be any good.

The broadcast scored a 40 share of adults 18-49. I was on Facebook during some of the game having fun eavesdropping on people’s comments about the game, but mostly the ads. I believe that 90% of the comments were about the ads and only 10% about the action on the field.

I thought that it was a darn good game. It really did go down to the last second—the last play. How do you get any better than that?

I don’t write this stuff for Sports Illustrated. So how does any of this translate to radio and records? The NFL has become a great source for music on TV. Certainly the Blake Shelton appearance was part of selling The Voice which aired immediately following the game. I mean, immediately following the Super Bowl post game show brought to you by Toyota.

But Madonna, Kelly, and Faith were nice touches. Kelly may have been part of a Blake deal because of Narvel, not sure about that but I hope so. That would be very nice.

Faith, of course, is often the best part of the Sunday night games on NBC.

I hope that Roger Goodell is not too angry over M.I.A. trying to signal that she felt that the Giants were number one. The gesture is not illegal. Not even all that offensive anymore. I see that every day from fellow drivers. Maybe I should stop tailgating?

The use of the expletive was pretty obscured. I didn’t even hear it. And believe me I watch the halftime shows VERY CLOSELY. I started that around 2004.

Anyhow, smart programmers got into their music scheduling system Monday morning and went heavy on Miranda and Blake’s music. Maybe they even played “America The Beautiful” right from the TV broadcast.

Smart record company executives were ready with new Faith music Monday.

Smart bettors put their money on the Giants and the over on the Anthem.

The Lions are 18-1 to win the 2013 Superbowl.

Johnny Cash Museum Coming to Downtown Nashville

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A museum dedicated to the legacy of Johnny Cash is planned for downtown Nashville. Official details will unfold at a press conference scheduled for Feb. 14 with Mayor Karl Dean, PLA Media, the Cash Family and founders Bill and Shannon Miller. This announcement comes in the same month the Man in Black would have turned 80.

The AP reports the museum will feature a number of items from The House of Cash, a Cash museum that was located in nearby Henderson, Tenn., until 1999.

“[Miller] has been an incredible supporter of my dad and one of the largest collectors of memorabilia,” said Rosanne Cash to the AP. “If anybody has the whole structure to put up a museum, he does. So I have a lot of trust in him and I think it’s great at this point. I think he’ll do something with dignity and class that’s historically important, not some kitschy thing. I’m very interested in seeing what he does.”

Addidtionally, a groundbreaking ceremony is being made on Feb. 26, for a seperate project in Dyess, Ark., to preserve Cash’s childhood home. Several musical releases and 3 documentaries are in the works to commemorate the anniversary.

Cash succumbed to complications from diabetes in 2003 at the age of 71.

3rd & Lindsley Hosts Weekend Benefit [Updated]

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Brandi Chaney

[Correction: Lee Ann Womack and Chris Young were originally listed in the event’s performance lineup. Representatives for both artists have informed us that neither is involved. The full correct lineup is reprinted below.]

Numerous hit songwriters and artists will be performing for a good cause Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3rd & Lindsley. The event is called Rock For The Cure—A Day For Brandi Chaney. Doors open at 2 p.m. and donations will be accepted at the door.

On the line-up are Old Union, The Wooten Brothers, Josh Hoge, Rick Huckaby, Marc Alan Barnett, Rhett Anthony, Dave Pahanish, Bekka Bramlett, Reese Wynans, Johnny Neel, Hugh Mitchell, Shelly Fairchild, Maureen Murphey, Kentucky Thunder (Jonell Mosser, Etta Britt, Sheila Lawrence, Vicki Carrico), Jeanne Peterson Richardson, Ashli Chaney, Rachel Loy and surprise guests.

Additionally, The Ten Man Jam Guitar Pull will feature Jack Pearson, Kenny Greenberg, Lee Roy Parnell, Tom Hemby, Brent Mason, Tom Britt, Steve C, Bob Britt, Gary Nicholson, and Rob McNelley.

Chaney was a waitress at the venue for five years, until her diagnosis with ovarian cancer at a young age. A special menu will include Cajun food and Hurricane Brandi drinks in honor of the Louisiana native. There will also be a silent auction. Visit her CaringBridge site.

Donations can be sent to Brandi Chaney, PO Box 204, Hermitage, TN 37076.

Publishing Updates (2/9/12)

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Nettwerk One Music (NW1) and Revelry Music Group have announced the signing of singer-songwriter Neil Mason to an exclusive publishing agreement. Mason is the drummer and one of the primary songwriters for band The Cadillac Black. The group has toured with ZZ Top, and Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert, and will be joining Dierks Bentley’s “Country & Cold Cans” tour in Spring. Additionally, the band’s music has licensed for Fox’s House, the CW’s Vampire Diaries, and CBS’ CSI:Miami.

“Neil’s talents as a multi-instrumentalist who creates tracks and lyrics for various genres is a great addition to the Nettwerk/Revelry team,” says Revelry’s AJ Burton. “And the ability to grow a big beard doesn’t hurt. We are thrilled to be working with Neil as a songwriter and look forward to the continued success of The Cadillac Black.”

(L-R): BMI’s Leslie Roberts, Greg Gallo (Revelry), Greg Beeckman (Revelry), AJ Burton (Revelry), Mason, Mark Jowett (NW1) and BMI’s Bradley Collins

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Audrey Faires

Ten Ten Music Group has announced the addition of Audrey Faires as Catalog Manager. Faires is a graduate of MTSU’s Recording Industry program whose career also includes time working at the SAE Recording Institute. Congratulate her here.