Biscuits & Jam Concert Series Launches July 7 at Nashville's Fontanel

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biscuits and jam11Fontanel in Nashville will welcome several artists for an eight-week concert series, the Biscuits & Jam Concert Series, presented by AT&T U-verse. Country artists including Jana Kramer, The Farm, Holly Williams, Brett Eldredge, Elizabeth Cook, Sarah Darling, DUGAS and Nikki Lane, will take part in the series, which will be held at the 2013 Southern Living Idea House at Fontanel. The concert series will take place each Sunday from July 7 through Aug. 25; each concert will feature 60-75 minutes of music, beginning at 5:30p.m.
“We’re thrilled to bring this franchise to life,” said Lindsay Bierman, Editor-in-Chief of Southern Living. “What better way to celebrate these new artists than in Music City at Fontanel, a place so steeped in Southern music history.”
Guests will enjoy acoustic performances and a picnic-themed menu that features Southern Living Test Kitchen recipes, as well as a complimentary signature biscuit.
The musical lineup schedule is as follows:
July 7: Nikki Lane
July 14: Jana Kramer
July 21: The Farm
July 28: Elizabeth Cook
Aug. 4: Holly Williams
Aug. 11: Brett Eldredge
Aug. 18: Sarah Darling
Aug. 25: DUGAS
The Southern Living Idea House is open for tours from Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. This year, the home was built on Barbara Mandrell’s former estate, and will later reopen as a boutique hotel. Tickets to view the house are $12, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Tickets for the Biscuits & Jam Concert Series are on sale for $15 at fontanelmansion.com. For more information on the Southern Living Idea House, visit southernliving.com/ideahouse.

Industry Ink (7-3-13)

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Scott Borchetta

Scott Borchetta


• Scott Borchetta was recently the subject of an article for Forbes.com, titled How Scott Borchetta Built Country’s Hottest Label.
Jim Sherraden

Jim Sherraden


• Hatch Show Print’s Jim Sherraden has been awarded both the 2013 Distinquished Artist Award for the state of Tennessee and the 2013 Silver Medalist Award from the American Advertising Federation Nashville. The American Advertising Federation assembled a video that allowed Sherraden’s colleagues and friends to express their congratulations.
KebMo

Keb’ Mo’


• Nashville resident and musician Keb’ Mo’ has entered a digital and marketing agreement with Outside the Box Music. Outside the Box Music & Media is a digital strategy, marketing, educational and management agency. The company can be contacted at 615-669-9447.
Keb’ Mo’ has a residency at the Pepsi Studio Gallery at the Fontanel each month. This year he will also perform during the Fourth of July celebration in downtown Nashville with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, The Band Perry and Striking Matches.
• astralwerks11Leslie Hermelin is leaving Big Hassle to work as Senior Director of Publicity at Astralwerks Records, beginning July 9. She can be reached at [email protected].
• Neal Spielberg recently celebrated his 30th year in Nashville. Spielberg spent over two decades working with Warner Bros. Records, as well as nearly a decade consulting and managing artists. Spielberg is owner of Spielberg Consulting.
• SOLID (Society of Leaders in Development) recently presented a Music Supervision/Sync Licensing Panel as part of the SOLID Afterworkshop Series. The panel featured Paul Roper (President of Dualtone Music Group), Randy Wachtler (Founder of 615 Music, Chariman of Production Music Association), Anastasia Brown (Music Supervisor – Head of Format Entertainment), Kerry Graham (President of Bohan Advertising) and Rory Daigle (Artist Manager at Bob Doyle & Assoc.).
solid workshop June 2013111

Pictured (L-R): SOLID Education Committee Member Rachel Werner, Anastasia Brown, Kerry Graham, SOLID Education Committee Members Alex Luebbert, Heather Fletcher, Nancy Rosenblatt, SOLID Education Committee Co-chair Brittany Schaffer, SOLID Education Committee Member Dan Titcomb, Rory Daigle, Randy Wachtler, Paul Roper and SOLID Education Committee Chair Kent Wolfenbarger

Black River Entertainment Promotes Delvo

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dawn delvo11

Dawn Delvo


Black River Entertainment’s CEO Gordon Kerr has promoted Black River’s Manager, Marketing and Publicity, Dawn Delvo, to Director of Public Relations. Delvo is now the media contact for all entities under the Black River Entertainment umbrella, in addition to fulfilling the active role as publicist for Black River’s roster, including Craig Morgan and Kellie Pickler.
“Dawn Delvo has done an outstanding job serving the needs of the record label division,” shared Kerr. “As our entire Black River family continues to grow and experience success, so does our need for proven leadership. Dawn will now bring those same strengths, skills and abilities to the entire Black River Entertainment team.”
The new responsibilities include representing Black River Publishing and all of their writers, including hit-maker Josh Osborne. Osborne is the co-writer of Kenny Chesney’s “Come Over,” Kacey Musgraves’ “Merry Go ‘Round” (which recently won the MusicRow Award for Song of the Year), and Morgan’s new single, “Wake Up Lovin’ You.” Delvo is also the media contact for both Black River at Sound Stage and Ronnie’s Place.
“I am incredibly excited about this opportunity and would like to thank Gordon Kerr and Black River Entertainment for allowing me this honor,” says Delvo. “I am looking forward to continue working with the great team at the label in supporting our artists, as well as digging into new opportunities to further the successes of Black River Entertainment as a whole.”
Delvo can be reached at [email protected].

Chesney Teams with Daniel Meng for Online Training System My FitU

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myfitu logoTrainer Daniel Meng counts Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus, Jake Owen and ESPN College Gameday’s Kirk Herbstreit among his clients. Now, Meng and Chesney have teamed up for My FitU, an online training system that adapts the technology Meng created for his clients when they are on tour. My FitU serves as a personal trainer, healthy eating mentor and weight loss coach by putting specific exercises and diet plans in one place.
“I’ve been training with Daniel for almost a dozen years,” Chesney says. “He changed the way I approached training, diet and getting in shape. He overhauled my every day diet, pushed me past where I thought my limits were and gave me a mental edge when it comes to working out. I wish everyone could have Daniel by their sides to create a healthy plan based on their specific challenges and goals like I do… My FitU does that.”

Daniel Meng (right) coaches Kenny Chesney through a workout.

Daniel Meng (right) coaches Kenny Chesney through a workout.


Meng creates a custom plan based on each person’s individual needs, challenges and goals. After filling out a comprehensive profile about schedules, goals and challenges, My FitU delivers a custom fitness program organized into a weekly calendar, which charts and changes with each member’s progress. Beyond monitoring and updating the clients’ progress, Meng works to increase motivation, as each achieves new levels of each aspect of his program. The program includes exercise videos, recipes, shopping lists, safety videos, educational materials and an iPhone app.
For more information, visit myfitu.com.
 

MusicRowPics: Ashton Shepherd

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ashton shepherd11
Ashton Shepherd visited the MusicRow offices on Monday (July 1) to perform songs from her upcoming project.
She introduced “This Is America,” the first single and title track from her 10-song release on her own Pickin’ Shed Records. “I was in a state of mind of how I feel as an American,” says Shepherd of writing “This Is America.” “I felt like ‘What are we going to do?’ It started off in a sad state of mind, but ended up being positive.”
She also performed “Sounds So Good” and previewed “Spinnin’,” another song from the forthcoming project. “It reminds me of John Anderson’s ‘Would You Catch A Falling Star?’ a little bit. All the instruments answered him a bit [in the track’s production].” This is America is set for a late July release.
She is also thinking of more diverse projects. “I’ve entertained putting out a gospel record, or an album of remakes,” says Shepherd. “Being independent, you feel like you have more control over things. I feel more comfortable doing it as an independent. There’s more than one way to do things in this market, the way things are changing–even down to apps that let you design your album artwork.”
In the more immediate future, Shepherd is busy with her online cooking show, Cooking Country, on Foodie Network Online EWave TV, a multi-channel online television network. The first episode is set to air Thursday (July 4). For more information, visit http://foodies.ewave.tv/.
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Big Machine Label Group Signs Laura Bell Bundy

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Laura Bell Bundy

Laura Bell Bundy


The Big Machine Label Group has added singer, songwriter and entertainer Laura Bell Bundy to its roster of artists.
Bundy is currently featured on Rascal Flatts’ LIVE & LOUD TOUR, performing as part of the Dance Y’all Experience. The summer trek allows Bundy to give fans a first-look at her forthcoming single, “Two Step,” which will officially be available on iTunes July 9 and impact Country radio on Aug. 5. CMT and CMT.com will run a 24-hour, exclusive world premiere of the brand new music video for “Two Step” on Thursday (July 4), with subsequent re-airs promoted across all of CMT’s digital platforms.
“Laura Bell is a fireball of energy and attitude with all the right moves,” said Scott Borchetta, President and CEO of the Big Machine Label Group. “She is a natural to lead the Country Dance Music movement that is starting to blow up and I’m confident we will find great success with her many talents.”
“I can only be grateful in this moment … for the many relationships, lessons and experiences I’ve had on Music Row that have led me here and finding a true partner in Big Machine and Scott Borchetta,” said Bundy. “Inspiration and passion breed a crazy sort of jet fuel in myself and those at Big Machine. It drives us to constantly create and work really hard to reach those we are creating for. You can call it ‘synergy’ or even ‘madness’ but I call it ‘home sweet home.’ And I can’t stop smiling.”

SiriusXM Features Independence Day Special Programming

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The Band Perry

The Band Perry


SiriusXM is getting into the holiday spirit with live performances on July 4 from The Band Perry and Jimmy Buffett, along with a several Independence Day specials across its music, talk radio and sports channels.
A few Country-related offerings include:
The Highway (channel 59):
The Highway will broadcast The Band Perry‘s concert live with the Nashville Symphony at Riverfront Park in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, July 4 at 9:25 pm ET.
Classic Vinyl (channel 26):
Classic rock icon John Fogerty will play songs by his favorite all-American classic rockers as well as songs from his latest album Wrote a Song For Everyone on Thursday, July 4 at 12 p.m. ET.
Radio Margaritaville (channel 24):
Radio Margaritaville features an encore presentation of Jimmy Buffett‘s first concert from his newest resort casino in Bossier City, La. on Thursday, July 4 at 7 p. .ET.
The entire SiriusXM July 4 programming schedule can be found at siriusxm.com/4thofJuly. SiriusXM programming is available via satellite, as well as through the SiriusXM Internet Radio app for smartphones and other connected devices as well as at siriusxm.com.

Weekly Register: Lonely Release Schedule Seeks Superstar

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dream-want-ad

If only it was this easy…


One of the music industry’s hottest topics is the fight over streaming royalty rates. The battle between webcasters (namely Pandora) and content rights holders is making headlines daily. It is a complex issue, but put simply, Pandora is seeking a lower royalty rate, while copyright owners and creators are fighting for higher payments, arguing that the current rate is already too low. Nashville tech guru Jay Frank breaks down the argument in a new blog post called Pandora Royalties: The Real Answer.
Today’s news about the stand-off includes Pandora and UMPG making a short-term deal that is reportedly the highest rate the Internet webcaster has ever paid to the music publishing sector. Meanwhile, another player in the streaming music space, Slacker CEO Jim Cady, talks about his business with the LA Times.
• • • •
Focusing on Nashville, the album release schedule is in a summer slump. With no country debuts this week, the year-to-date sales tally continued to slip, and is only up .4 percent from 2012. The next sales star on the docket is Luke Bryan’s Aug. 13 release Crash My Party (Capitol Nashville). Expect the release line-up to gain momentum this fall, as we head into the all-important holiday sales season.
On the tracks front this week, Eli Young Band flew to the top of the all-genre and country lists with new single “Drunk Last Night” selling 53k. Year-to-date, country single sales are up 10.7 percent.
FGL hangs in the top spots on the album and singles charts. With this week’s 204k in sales, the single is cruising to the 5 million mark. And 30 weeks after release, Here’s To The Good Times is still moving about 31k units per week to lead the country albums ranking. Also showing longevity is Hunter Hayes, who 90 weeks post-debut, landed at No. 3 with sales of 19k. Rounding out the top five are recent projects by Blake Shelton (No. 2, 22k), Darius Rucker (No. 4, 18k) and Lady A (No. 5, 12k).
While many Music City denizens will be high tailing it out of town this holiday weekend, those staying close to home can enjoy downtown’s 4th of July Let Freedom Sing! event tomorrow at The Lawn at Riverfront Park with The Band Perry, Keb’ Mo’ and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

CMT, MTV and VH1 To Air “Music Independence Day”

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cmt
Viacom’s CMT, MTV and VH1 networks will celebrate our nation’s birthday with “Music Independence Day,” a program showcasing established and emerging artists, set to air on July 4 from 5 a.m.–5 p.m. CST.
CMT will air several genres of music, ranging from contemporary to bluegrass, and will feature artists The Lumineers, Brandy Clark, Ella Mae Bowen, John & Jacob, Maggie Rose, Striking Matches, Luke Bryan and Carrie Underwood.
CMT will also introduce fans to Luella and the Sun and accept donations to help rebuild the band’s recently destroyed studio. Finally, the network will reveal breakthrough acts discovered via Artist Platform (Artists.MTV/VH1/CMT) during the 12-hour program.
Fans can follow along on Twitter via @ArtistsDot and @CMT.
 

Country's Top 10 Highest-Earning Artists

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TobyKeithForbes-782x1024Blake Shelton and Keith Urban have both gained popularity through their recent work on The Voice and American Idol, respectively. Toby Keith‘s I Love This Bar and Grill chain just keeps growing. Taylor Swift continues to rake in the awards and to criss-cross the country on her RED tour. Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley have all been touring heavily in the past year. Zac Brown Band has put a new spin on concerts with their Southern Ground Music & Food Festival.
But which country artist is raking in the most money? Forbes.com has compiled a list of country music’s Top 10 money-making artists.
1. Toby Keith–$65 million
2. Taylor Swift–$55 million
3. Kenny Chesney–$53 million
4. Tim McGraw–$33 million
5. Carrie Underwood–$31 million
6. Brad Paisley–$30 million
7. Zac Brown Band–$26 million
8. Rascal Flatts–$25 million
9. George Strait–$18 million
10. Jason Aldean–$17 million (tie)
10. Luke Bryan–$17 million (tie)
A few names that fell just short of Forbes‘ Top 10 list? Lady Antebellum, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Keith Urban.