New Edgehill Village Shops Specialize in Artifacts and Instruments

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The Music Row area will gain two retail shops on April 9, when Music City Pickers and Toys In The Attic jointly open in Edgehill Village. The new businesses will host a grand opening gala on Sat., April 14.

Both shops were created by Little Texas band member and Hot Apple Pie frontman, Brady Seals, former Gibson Guitar web editor Gabe Hernandez, and appraiser Stephen Shutts.

The Toys In The Attic side of the store will offer musical artifacts from rock and roll, blues, R&B, bluegrass and country music. In addition, two collections of photographs taken by photographer Steve Gladstone, and record producer Eddie Kramer will be available for purchase.

The Music City Pickers side of the store will feature an changing selection of vintage and new, high-end musical instruments. Guitars, basses, amps and effects will be available to buy, sell and consign. The store will also feature custom local instrument builders.

“We wanted to create a very unique musical retail environment for Nashville, along with the possibility of having live music performances,” said Seals. “This is a great collaboration between two companies that totally complement and feed off each other.”

Shutts has an additional business location, The Rock-N-Roll Pit Stop, located on the grounds of The Loveless Cafe. Additionally, he and The Mavericks’ Robert Reynolds have signed for a reality show featuring their search for music memorabilia which will debut late 2012 on CMT.

Cracker Barrel Sponsors Josh Turner’s Tour

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Cracker Barrel has signed on as a sponsor of Josh Turner’s tour through December 2012, and his equipment truck will now sport the company’s familiar logo. Full dates here.

“We sponsored Josh’s tour and released the CD Josh Turner Live at the Ryman in 2007, and we’re very pleased to be traveling down the road with him a second time,” said Julie Craig, Cracker Barrel Marketing Manager. “He’s an indelible part of country music and we are proud to continue our association with such a talented, grounded, and genuine artist.”

Cracker Barrel also has another project in the works with Turner, and details are forthcoming. Turner’s fifth studio album Punching Bag arrives in stores this Summer.

Todd Snider Releasing Jerry Jeff Walker Tribute

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Nashville singer/songwriter Todd Snider just released his latest album Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables on March 6, but he’s already got another full-length album on the way.

On Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker, Snider is joined by producer Don Was and guests Kix Brooks, Elizabeth Cook, and Amy LaVere to pay tribute to his first music hero. The album is due for release April 24. Check out a few tracks here.

“I’ve always hoped I’d stay around long enough to get to make a record of Jerry Jeff Walker songs,” Snider says. “He’s the guy I saw at 19 and decided to try to be like. His are the first songs I learned.”

Snider is currently out on tour, and has a Ryman Auditorium date scheduled for June 2. Full dates here.

Track Listing:
1. Vince Triple-O Martin
2. Jaded Lover
3. Moon Child
4. Takin’ It As It Comes
5. Derby Day
6. Sangria Wine
7. Continuous Saga of the Bummer Or Is This My One Way Bus Ticket to Cleveland
8. Little Bird
9. Hill Country Rain
10. Railroad Lady
11. Laying My Life on the Line
12. Pissin’ in the Wind
13. Mr. Bojangles
14. Will There Be Any

Road To Bonnaroo Returns to Mercy Lounge

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Nashville’s Road To Bonnaroo returns to the Mercy Lounge for a second round of spirited musical competition tonight (3/26). Performers competing for a spot at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival include Wild Cub, Five Knives, The Running, Tesla Rossa, Static Revival, Marquee Mayfield, Nikki Lane, and Evan P. Donahue.

RTB 2012, presented by BMI, the Nashville Scene, Mercy Lounge, and Bonnaroo, will send one band per each of the three rounds to the outdoor summer festival scheduled for June 7-10 in Manchester, TN. To select the winners, an industry panel of local journalists, bloggers, and 8 off 8th hosts provide half the verdict, while the votes of audience members will determine the other half. There is no cover charge to attend.

Round One of RTB 2012 already went to By Lightning. After tonight, only one performance spot will be up-for-grabs and the winner of that one will be determined April 16.

Artist Snapshots (3/26/12)

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Rascal Flatts was in Orlando recently to headline Arnold Palmer’s “Music For Champions” event at Hard Rock Live to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation. At the end of the evening, Boyz II Men joined the members of Rascal Flatts on stage to perform “Life Is A Highway.”

Rascal Flatts with Boyz II Men backstage

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BNA’s Casey James recently took a break from promoting his self-titled debut album (released March 20) to perform at the National Association of Broadcasters’ State Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.

(L-R): BMI’s Dan Spears, Casey James, and NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith

Pam Tillis Joins Opry Mills Grand Re-Opening

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With less than a week to go, shoppers can begin their Opry Mills Grand Re-Opening count-down.

Tennessee’s largest outlet, value retail, dining and entertainment destination will re-open with an official ribbon cutting ceremony with mall representatives and Nashville and state officials at 9:30 am, Thurs., March 29. Country star Pam Tillis will be on hand to sing the national anthem.

Following the ribbon cutting, shoppers will enjoy entertainment, retailer promotions, incentives and giveaways. During the entire re-opening weekend, shoppers will experience a variety of live musical performances on the Opry Mills Entertainment Stage.

Festivities will continue through early May with a series of fashion, lifestyle, musical and family-friendly events including Opry Mills Next Big Star, Super Sale Weekend (April 13-15), kids play area unveiling (April 28-29) and the May 4-5 grand finale fashion shows and a free outdoor concert with Josh Turner.

Some of the new retail offerings include Coach Factory Store, Coach Mens Factory, Express, The LEGO Store, Michael Kors, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store, Tommy Bahama Outlet, Vera Bradley.

The mall has been closed since May of 2010 when the Cumberland River breached the levies and flooded the area.

ACM Lifting Lives Hires New Executive Director

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ACM Lifting Lives has named a new Advisory Committee as well as announced the hiring of its new executive director, Lisa Huddleson.

This Advisory Committee is comprised of industry and non‐industry leaders who serve to make recommendations and/or provide key information and materials to the formal ACM Board of Directors. Advisory Committee members serve one‐year terms and are appointed by the ACM Lifting Lives officers. The new Advisory Committee includes:

•    Orly Adelson – dick clark productions
•    Erin Spahn Erenberg – Indiegogo
•    John Grady – Crush Management
•    Kerry Hansen – Big Enterprises
•    Steve Hauser – WME
•    Lorie Lytle – Community Volunteer
•    Eddie Montgomery – Montgomery Gentry
•    Kimberly Schlapman – Little Big Town
•    Leroy Shafer – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
•    James Stroud – R&J Records

Huddleson comes to the Academy from her position as the director of strategic philanthropy for the Walt Disney Company. She previously served as the executive director of the Dell Foundation and Dell Giving in Austin, Texas. In her new role, Huddleson will oversee grant management and strategic partnerships for the charity, while furthering the mission of the organization by improving lives through the power of music. The position is based out of the Academy’s headquarters in Encino, California and reports to the ACM Lifting Lives Board of Directors and Bob Romeo, CEO of the Academy of Country Music.  She can be reached at [email protected].

Lifting Lives is also partnering with Little Big Town and spotlighting Hunter Hayes’ personal passion for ending child hunger at this year’s ACM Awards on Sunday, April 1. During the Awards, Little Big Town will perform “Here’s Hope,” an original song co-written by Hayes. Hayes will introduce the powerhouse quartet, who will be joined onstage by the Clark County Children’s Choir.

“Lifting Lives is dedicated to improving lives through the power of music. By partnering with ConAgra Foods, Little Big Town, Hunter Hayes and consumers, we want to use a song in the telecast to raise awareness about how we can all help eradicate child hunger in the United States,” said Huddleson.

Galante Advises Young Entertainment Professionals

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(L-R) Back Row: YEP Board Member Penny Everhard (BMI), MusicRow’s Eric Parker and David Ross, Joe Galante, Artist Growth’s Matt Urmy, and BMI’s Leslie Roberts and Jody Williams. Front Row: YEP Board Members Mary Ann Keen (Cal IV), Marc Rucker (Huskins-Harris), Karli Figueroa (Swift Merchandising), Andrew Cohen (Executive Director of the YEP Network). Photo: Drew Maynard

A variety of executives, young professionals, and college interns were present for the Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP) afternoon discussion on Thursday, March 22 with former Sony Music Nashville chairman and T.J. Martell Foundation honoree Joe Galante.

The conversation took place at BMI’s Nashville offices and featured a short interview hosted by MusicRow founder, David Ross. YEP supplied Ross with pre-selected questions and audience members chimed in with their own questions, mostly centering around technology and advances in the industry. After the conversation, a business pitch for the newly established Artist Growth platform was given.

Ross kicked off the segment by asking Galante’s opinion on the state of the industry. Galante replied, “Surprisingly, stable. We have to settle to low sales, although we are not declining. I’ve been in the industry long enough to have seen the shift towards singles before. Major labels are in the industry to move tonnage. Decreasing album sales have resulted in a changing marketplace.”

Ross mentioned the positive sales of Lady Antebellum’s album online earlier this month for 25 cents, and Galante was quick to clarify. “The label was paid the full rate for the album,” he said. “The retailer made up the shortfall, lest people think that’s the right price to pay for our music. Still, the album sold a significant number for a week.”

The young audience also asked about YouTube. Galante remarked, “Every label has their own agreement with YouTube, and I have seen some numbers, and ad revenue does not yet compare to that from radio. Of course, publishing is a whole industry derived from pennies, and pennies do add up. Maybe YouTube will become a revenue stream in the future but at the present, it is not.”

As far as picking the right artist to sign and support, Galante advised, “I would look for something unique, driven, good listener and that they have surrounded themselves with a strong team to support their career. One of the best questions for figuring out if the artist has star power is to ask, ‘what is the artist doing live?’” Finally, he added, “The artist should be willing to pick outside songs to record.”

After the conversation, Galante’s new business partner, CEO of Artist Growth Matt Urmy, gave the audience a preview of his cloud-based dashboard that allows artists and their team to manage a career on the road. The service is designed to help artists try to work in a new marketplace without feeling like their creativity is being strangled trying to understand the business. For more information, click here.

Music Industry Early Social Engagement Adopter

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Ellie Lawson

“The simple but effective strategies that bands employ for customer-relationship management could serve as a lesson for brands,” says writer Rupal Parkeh in a Feb. 23,2012 Advertising Age article titled “What Brands Can Learn From Bands About Social Marketing.”

The article cites London-based folk/pop singer Ellie Lawson’s creation of a fan panel to evaluate her new material as it’s being created. For “the cost of three trips to Starbucks,” supporters can become part of this elite group which also insures a liner notes credit and copy of the finished album before it is released. “It’s a big experiment,” Lawson tells Ad Age. “I just love them engaging and getting back to me and telling me which bits of songs they like and which they don’t.”

Parkeh notes that, “The music business has flipped from a one-way, passive relationship with fans to a two-way collaborative dialogue.” He also applauds the entertainment industry for learning some of these valuable marketing lessons before many larger brands. In fact he advises the brands to pay attention and start experimenting in similar fashion.

New York-based Ryan Starr is another highlighted artist in the article who posts photos on Facebook from each city on his tour. He then asks fans to tag themselves in the photos. This not only engages fans, but the tags add a viral aspect to the experiment. Florence and the Machine searched for the band’s most influential fan. Friends and followers were asked to share the group’s new video. Those posts were measured for clicks and comments, points awarded and a winner chosen.

“What’s in it for the fan should always be top-of-mind,” says music industry vet Jeff Kempler now at agency SubRosa after spending time at Virgin and EMI Records. According to Kempler, artists need new tool sets to properly wield star power. “It began to matter whether they could also engage socially,” he states. “Do they update their Facebook page and populate content? Can they be as creative in the social-media space as they are in the studio?”

Frist Fridays Concert Series Returns In May

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The Frist Fridays concert series will return to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts starting May 25, and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell will open the season.

Frist Fridays takes place 6-9 pm on the final Friday of each month from May to August, for a total of four concert events. In addition to Crowell, other Frist Fridays performers include Sam Bush with Lera Lynn (June 29), Band of Heathens (July 27), and The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker (August 31).

“We have added a fourth Frist Friday evening to our lineup this year,” said Frist Center Executive Director and CEO Susan H. Edwards, Ph.D. “Music plays a significant role so much that goes on at the Frist, and we are pleased this year to pair uniquely American musicians with self-taught American artists, the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Thornton Dial and Bill Traylor. We often describe the Frist as THE place in Nashville where music and art come together, and Frist Fridays is a tremendous example of that creative marriage.”

Patrons can enjoy music, snacks and beverages, and the exhibitions on view in the Frist Center’s galleries. The events take place rain or shine, and guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Admission is free for Frist Center members and $10 for non-members.