Trace Adkins Joins 2013 ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Cast

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Trace Adkins

It was revealed on the Today Show that Trace Adkins will be among the contestants for Donald Trump’s 2013 NBC show All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.

Adkins will compete on behalf of the American Red Cross, for which he is a recent addition to the Celebrity Cabinet and spokesperson for its holiday campaign.

“When my home was claimed by fire last year, Red Cross volunteers were among the first on-site,” Adkins said. “They looked after my family when I couldn’t be there and offered help. We were fortunate because we could replace the things we lost but that’s not always the case for every disaster victim. That’s when the Red Cross steps in.”

Entertainment Weekly reports that former winner John Rich will appear as an advisor alongside Piers Morgan, Joan Rivers, and Arsenio Hall.

Adkins will compete with 13 other business-savvy celebrity contestants to win a $250,000 bonus check and raise awareness for the charity of their choosing.

Filming begins Monday (10/15) with cast members Stephen Baldwin, Gary Busey, Penn Jillette, Lil Jon, Bret Michaels (2010 winner), Dennis Rodman, Dee Snider, Marilu Henner, La Toya Jackson, Claudia Jordan, Omarosa (first season contestant), Lisa Rinna, and Brande Roderick.

Last season, The Celebrity Apprentice raised a record $3.1 million for charity.

All-Star Celebrity Apprentice will air Sundays on NBC in 2013. Adkins previously supported the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network for his 2008 appearance on the show.

Aldean Headed to “Town Hall” at SiriusXM

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Jason Aldean will sit down for a Q&A session with a select group of listeners at the SiriusXM studios in New York City Oct. 16 for a special SiriusXM Town Hall with Jason Aldean. Hosted by SiriusXM’s Storme Warren, the program will feature Aldean, who is currently nominated for CMA Entertainer of the Year, answering questions from the studio audience about his career, including his new album Night Train.

“I’m looking forward to spending album release day with SiriusXM and some of their listeners talking about the new album,” said Aldean.”We’ve been working on this album for two years, and this Town Hall will really be the first time I’ll be able to get direct feedback from my fans. I’m crossing my fingers they like it!”

SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Jason Aldean will air live on The Highway, channel 59, on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 3:00 pm ET, the same day as Aldean’s new album Night Train is released.

Previous “SiriusXM Town Hall” specials have featured Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Coldplay, Ringo Starr, Roger Waters, Renée Fleming, Gregg Allman, Ronnie Dunn, Usher, Linkin Park, Ziggy Marley and the surviving members of Nirvana. Taylor Swift has her own SiriusXM “Town Hall” scheduled for Oct. 22.

Avenue Bank Promotions and New Hires

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Avenue Bank has announced two promotions and six new associates. Promotions include Seth Butler, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Commercial Real Estate Team Leader and Andres Tapia, who has been named Vice President and Bank Secrecy Act Officer. Butler has 16 years of banking experience and joined Avenue Bank at the company’s founding in 2007. Tapia started with the bank in 2007 and most recently served as Bank Support Manager.

David Driggs is a new Vice President, Mortgage Loan Officer, for Avenue Bank’s Mortgage Team and has over 20 years of experience in mortgage lending. Richard Stone joins Avenue Bank’s Commercial Banking Team as a Commercial Relationship Manager. He has been a commercial banker for the past eight years.

The bank has added four new Concierge Bankers including Stephanie Carr and Sharon Mejia at the Cummins Station branch, Josh Slater at the West End branch and Emeline Thrash at the Cool Springs location.

 

Major Publishers Awarded $6.6 Million in Lyrics Lawsuit

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The NMPA and plaintiffs Warner/Chappell Music, Peermusic and BMG (Bug Music Inc.) were granted $6.6 million for copyright infringement from various websites under the umbrella of LiveUniverse and its owner, MySpace founder Brad Greenspan, on Oct. 9.

The U.S. District Court of California awarded awarded damages of $12,500 per infringement for 528 copyrights, including “China Girl,” “Moondance,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “(Don’t Go Chasing) Waterfalls.”

The first-of-its kind case established liability for posting unlicensed song lyrics websites, which potentially generate millions in advertising revenue.

“Although the music industry continues to feel the impact of their work being illegally provided online, this victory and legal precedent will serve to aid songwriters and music publishers as they continue the fight to protect their creative rights in the digital world,” commented NMPA President and CEO David Israelite.

The publishers were represented by Arent Fox intellectual property partners Ross Charap and Paul Fakler.

“One of the principal purposes of our lawsuit was to obtain a large statutory damage award which would serve as a warning to persuade illegal lyric site operators that it makes good business sense to become licensed and avoid having their site shut down and damages awarded against them,” said Charap.

Greenspan himself received more than $60 million from the sale of Myspace to News Corps, which he unsuccessfully challenged in court on the grounds the company had been undervalued. He founded LiveUniverse, featuring dozens of social media sites under its umbrella including the three that were at the heart of this lawsuit.

CMT On Tour Artists Celebrate in New York City

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Jake Owen was presented with a giant ticket for his sold-out opening night in New York City on Oct. 10. (L-R): Sony Music Nashville VP Media/Corp Communications Allen Brown; RCA Nashville VP Promotion Keith Gale and Director, National Promotion Josh Easler; Sony Music Nashville Chairman/CEO Gary Overton; Owen; CMT SVP of Music Strategy, Leslie Fram; and Morris Artists Management VP Brandon Gill and GM Mike Betterton. Photo: Scott Gries for CMT

RCA Nashville’s Jake Owen launched his first headlining tour CMT On Tour: Jake Owen – The Summer Never Ends 2012 with a sold-out show Wednesday night (10/10) at New York City’s Best Buy Theatre. After performing his smash hits “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Alone With You,” and “The One That Got Away,” Owen was joined onstage by his tourmates Love and Theft and Florida Georgia Line for a rendition of Van Halen’s “Jump.”

At the New York City show, all three artists were honored for recent achievements. Owen was saluted for selling out the opening show of his first-ever headlining tour. Love and Theft was bestowed with a plaque commemorating the duo’s CMT No. 1 video for “Angel Eyes.” Florida Georgia Line was surprised with a plaque recognizing the Gold certification of the duo’s single “Cruise.” Both artists are nominated for honors at the forthcoming American Country Awards.

The Summer Never Ends 2012 tour already has sold-out dates in Detroit (10/18), Chicago (11/29-30), and St. Louis (12/8). More concert dates here.

While in New York City, Florida Georgia Line was surprised with plaques commemorating their Gold-certified single “Cruise.” Tyler Hubbard (Georgia) and Brian Kelley (Florida) celebrated at Carmine’s with their extended label families from Big Machine in Nashville and Universal in New York. Photo: Sweet Talk Publicity

Love and Theft was presented with a plaque commemorating a CMT No. 1 video for "Angel Eyes" at the CMT On Tour sold-out show in New York City. (L-R): Sony Music Nashville SVP Marketing Paul Barnabee; Love and Theft’s Eric Gunderson; Sony Music Nashville Chairman/CEO Gary Overton; Love and Theft’s Stephen Barker Liles; Sony Music Nashville VP Marketing & Web Initiatives Heather McBee; CMT SVP of Music Strategy, Leslie Fram; Sony Music Nashville VP Sales Caryl Healey and Assoc. Director Marketing Rachel Fontenot. Photo: Scott Gries for CMT

Memphis Launching Music Hall of Fame

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The great musical legacy of Memphis will be celebrated with the launch of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame at a special event on Oct. 16, where the 2012 class of inductees will be revealed. Memphis Mayor AC Wharton will be present for the announcement, along with representatives from the Smithsonian-developed Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum.

The press conference will be webcast live by DittyTV starting at 2 pm/CT at www.dittytv.com, or fans can follow on Twitter here.

The official Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Thursday, November 29, 7 pm at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Memphis. Tickets will be on sale following the Oct. 16 announcement.

Snapshots (10/12/12)

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Brentwood Benson recently signed Kevin Max to a publishing agreement. Kevin is former member of multi-platinum group dcTalk and is now frontman for the newly reformed Audio Adrenaline, which is currently working on a new album.

The new video for the group’s single “Kings & Queens” is available here. The video was shot in Haiti in support of Hands & Feet whose mission is to “… care for the orphaned and abandoned children of the world..”

( L-R): Penny Everhard (BMI), John Andrade (Brand Manager), Kevin Max, Dale Mathews (President - Brentwood Benson), Eric Hurt (Creative Director), Stacey Willbur (Sr. Creative Director)

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EMI Records Nashville artist Kelleigh Bannen made her Grand Ole Opry debut last Friday, October 5th. She performed her current single, “Sorry On The Rocks,” as well as “Why Now Why.” Her debut album, produced by Paul Worley and Jerry Smith, will be released next year.

(L-R): Producer Paul Worley; Capitol Records Nashville COO Tom Becci; Kelleigh Bannen, VP/GM of Grand Ole Opry Pete Fisher; Capitol Records Nashville SVP Marketing Cindy Mabe; Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Mike Dungan

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ASCAP hosted two unique showcases across Music City in early October. The first, held on Monday, October 1st at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in downtown Nashville, became the fourth installment of ASCAP’s AMPED showcase series. Songwriter-artists Austin Jenckes, Madeleine Slate and Allison Veltz each took the stage to play 30-minute sets in front of an industry audience.

On Wednesday, October 3rd, The Bluebird Café set the stage to showcase the talents of the ASCAP Guidance from Publishers for Songwriters (GPS) Project’s class of 2012. The twelve participants performed on the Bluebird’s stage in the “songwriters in the row” format, and included Hannah Dasher, Jordan Dean, Jason Duke, Jen Foster, Kenny Foster, Ward Guenther, Ryan Hurd, Dustin James, John King, Sandy Lawrence, Emily Lynch and Graci Phillips.

(L-R): ASCAP Evyn's Mustoe, Madeleine Slate, Austin Jenckes, Allison Veltz and ASCAP's Robert Filhart

GPS - ASCAP's GPS Program class of 2012 with ASCAP's LeAnn Phelan (second from right)

Additional Incentives Sought by ‘Nashville’ Production Team

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ABC Nashville producers are reportedly seeking increased state and local incentives to continue filming Nashville in Middle Tennessee, according to the Nashville Business Journal.

In the show’s first year, incentives­ have accounted for 32 percent of Tennessee-based costs. This is all about to change, notes Brian Reisinger of the NBJ:

Going forward, instead of 32 percent, the state will reimburse up to 25 percent, but also has made the incentive available to more types of productions. Nashville wants to convince state officials to grandfather in the show for the full 32 percent in future years. Proponents also hope Haslam and Dean will use other discretionary money for a larger, multi-faceted incentive package.

Show producers argue that Music City lacks a infrastructure to support a long-term film-related market without providing government tax incentives to offset the costs. This could be an important bargaining chip for producers, as city and state officials will undoubtedly want to keep the production based here. “[Each episode is] a 43-minute advertisement, prime time, once a week [for the city],” said the show’s producer, Loucas George, who noted that the Nashville team had incurred extra costs to build infrastructure.

According to the NBJ, estimates of the show’s direct spending in Tennessee total $44 million. Seventeen percent ($7.5 million) of that spending will be covered by a reimbursable grant if the show airs all 22 episodes.

State economic and community development spokesman Clint Brewer will be making further decisions based on the show’s success. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Bill Haslam will make final decisions regarding additional incentives.

“It’s hard to understand how a show called Nashville could be done in an authentic way without being shot in Nashville,” said Dean.

A production of Lionsgate, ABC Studios and Ryman Hospitality, the network drama is currently filming 13 episodes in anticipation to be picked up for a full 22 episodes this season.

Read MusicRow’s recap of the pilot episode here and catch an exclusive feature about the show in our 2012 MusicRow Publisher print magazine, out next week (10/16).

Luke Bryan Announces First Arena Headlining Tour

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Luke Bryan

Luke Bryan has announced his first major headlining tour, the Dirt Road Diaries Tour featuing openers Thompson Square and Florida Georgia Line. 

Twenty dates have been announced for tour’s first leg, which runs through March and kicks off in Evansville, Ind. on January 17. Tickets go on sale October 26.

Citi, the official credit card for the tour, will offer select market pre-sale tickets beginning October 22 through its Private Pass Program.

“I have dreamed about this day for a very long time,” said Bryan. “We are having the best time putting together all the bells and whistles for the tour. I have spent a lot of time out on tours with some really great artists and each night we have tried to learn from them.”

In the past year, Bryan has celebrated three back-to-back Platinum singles “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “I Don’t Want This Night To End” and “Drunk On You,” from his Platinum-certified album, tailgates & tanlines. He  is currently on his fourth annual Farm Tour, which runs through October 13.

Bryan is nominated for two CMA Awards, two American Music Awards and garnered seven nominations, the most for any artist, at the upcoming American Country Awards.

Log on to www.lukebryan.com or www.livenation.com for information.

“Dirt Road Diaries Tour”    
1-17        Evansville, IN                       Ford Center
1-18        Huntsville, AL                      Von Braun Center
1-19        Southaven, MS                     Landers Center
1-25        Estero, FL                             Germain Arena
1-26        Orlando, FL                          Amway Center
2-7          Uniondale, NY                     Nassau Coliseum
2-8          State College, PA                 Bryce Jordan Center
2-15        Toledo, OH                           Huntington Center
2-16        Grand Rapids, MI                 Van Andel Arena
2-17        Bloomington, IL                   US Cellular Center
2-21        Ft Wayne, IN                        Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
2-22        Louisville, KY                      KFC Yum! Center
2-23        Columbia, MO                     Mizzou Arena
2-28        Green Bay, WI                     Resch Center
3-1          Sioux City, IA                      Tyson Events Center
3-2          Moline, IL                             i wireless Center
3-14        Orange Beach, AL               Amphitheatre at the Wharf
3-21        Florence, SC                         Florence Civic Center
3-22        Fayetteville, NC                   Crown Center
3-23        Charlottesville, VA              John Paul Jones Arena

MusicRowPics: Dean Alexander Artist Visit

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On Wednesday (10/10), Warner Music Nashville artist Dean Alexander stopped by MusicRow headquarters. The West Virginia native played a couple of songs, including his single “Moments” and a cut called “Nothin’.”

When asked about his style, Alexander was quick to point out that he’s mainly influenced by Dwight Yoakam. “I had a chance to meet him once, but chickened out,” he laughed.

Alexander started his radio tour yesterday (10/11). Details on his upcoming album are still forthcoming. For more information, click here.

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