Weblinks: 'Wall Street Journal' Highlights Average Joes

There’s hardly a news outlet that brings more business cred than the Wall Street Journal. Last week the publication spotlighted the growing hick-hop genre, focusing largely on the success of Average Joes, home to artists Colt Ford, Lenny Cooper, the LACS, and the Mud Digger compilations.
The story examines the importance of live performance income, deals that placed the indie label’s albums in Wal-Marts despite across-the-board dwindling physical sales, and the use of Pandora’s “heat maps” to show where listeners were streaming the genre.
• • • •
Three characters on Nashville have been promoted to series regulars for the upcoming second season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, viewers can expect to see more of sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella, who play Rayna’s daughters, and Chris Carmack, who appears as “Will.”
Refresher: Will is a singer/songwriter cowboy who is struggling with his sexuality. Also, at the end of the last season, it was revealed that Deacon is Maddie’s (Lennon Stella) father.
No shocker here, but executive producer Callie Khouri told TV Guide that Rayna and Deacon will survive the car crash from the first season finale. For more behind-the-scenes info, follow the writers on their new Twitter account @Nashvillewrites.
• • • •
Wondering what really happened to The Civil Wars, who are about to release a new album despite being on extended hiatus due to “internal discord”? Half of the duo, Joy Williams, sat down with the New York Times to discuss the situation. She and musical partner John Paul White are not speaking, and there are no plans for a tour. She tells the newspaper that tensions built over time, until they reached an impasse. The album is scheduled for release Aug. 6.