Weekly Chart Report (4/25/14)
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New GM, FOH Manager for Listening Room Cafe
Dusty Barker
The Listening Room Cafe has hired new General Manager Dusty Barker and Front of House Manager Tina Payton. Barker, a Missouri native, worked several years as a recruiter for a top U.S. university before working a digital marketing job in Nashville.
Payton worked in a management role at Atlanta’s Punchline comedy club and has worked with songwriters in the Nashville area.
Tina Payton
“It’s great to have Dusty and Tina on The Listening Room team,” said owner Chris Blair. “Their passion for creating the best possible guest experience as well as their shared love for the songwriting community make them the perfect staff additions.”
The Listening Room Cafe is located at 217 Second Ave. S., and was founded in 2006 in Franklin, Tenn. The music venue relocated to Cummins Station in 2008, before opening at the Second Ave. S. location.
Writer's Den Adds Creative Director
Sarah Feldman
The Writer’s Den Music Group has hired Sarah Feldman as Creative Director. Feldman will work closely with The Writer’s Den staff writers to set up co-writes, evaluate songs, pitch songs to producers, artists and A&R execs and help develop new writers.
A native of Colchester, Conn., Feldman earned her Bachelors of Arts in Music Industry from the University of New Haven. She most recently worked for award winning producer and songwriter Victoria Shaw and Songalicious Music. She is an alumnus of SOLID (Society of Leaders in Development) and a member of the WMBA (Women’s Music Business Association.)
'Nashville' Concert Special Airs on ABC
(L-R): Chip Esten, Ashley Monroe, Sarah Siskind, Sam Palladio, Clare Bowen, Chris Carmack
Nashville: On The Record, a music special featuring the cast of the television series, aired last night (April 23) instead of a new episode. The show earned a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating, attracting about 4.17 million viewers and sliding ABC into second place among the major networks (behind a rerun of CSI), according to Zap2It. MusicRow was there when the concert was previously taped at The Ryman.
Cast members of Nashville performed show favorites at The Ryman then sat down at the Bluebird Café for acoustic performances and an intimate look at the songwriting process with the songwriters, talking about how this music found its way to the show and what it means to the actors and songwriters.
Among the songwriters appearing on the special were Trent Dabbs and Caitlyn Smith, who co-wrote the anthem, “Don’t Put Dirt on My Grave Just Yet,” which Hayden Panettiere and Jonathan Jackson’s characters have performed, as well as Striking Matches (duo Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis) who co-wrote “I Ain’t Leaving Without Your Love” with Cary Barlowe, performed by Jonathan Jackson, Sam Palladio and Chaley Rose on the TV show. Also appearing is notable songwriter Ashley Monroe, solo artist and member of the Pistol Annies, who co-wrote “A Life that’s Good” with Sarah Siskind, which has been performed by Lennon and Maisy Stella and Charles Esten on the series.
Nashville: On the Record is usually a documentary web series, with Buddy Miller as Executive Music Producer and George Flanigen as executive producer and director.
New episodes return next Wednesday (April 30), with websites including MusicRow and Zap2It predicting renewal for a third season.
Actor Michiel Huisman won’t be returning to Nashville, where he plays producer “Liam McGuinnis.” He has been promoted to a regular cast member on HBO’s Game of Thrones.
Big Machine Records, ABC Studios and Lionsgate recently celebrated the success of the ABC Nashville soundtracks. To date, the collective projects have sold over 600,000 albums and 3 million individual track downloads. The Music of Nashville Season 2, Volume 2 soundtrack will be released on May 6.
Cole Swindell's "Chillin' It" Gets Gold and Platinum Certs
Cole Swindell‘s debut single, “Chillin’ It,” has been certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA. Swindell celebrated the milestones during his CMT Listen Up taping on Monday (April 21). “Chillin’ It” was certified Platinum before Swindell and his team found time to celebrate the song’s Gold status.
“You only get a first single once,” said Swindell. “The fact that it was accepted by not only radio but over one million fans is beyond anything I could ever have dreamed up and this is something I will never forget!”
Pictured (L-R): Jeremy Holley (SVP, Consumer & Interactive Marketing), Cris Lacy (VP, A&R), Swindell, Kristen Williams (VP, Promotion), Justin Luffman (VP, Brand Management).
Publishing News: Capitol CMG, Demolition Music Publishing
Capitol CMG Music Publishing hosted a writers night at SoulShine Pizza Wednesday, April 23. The evening featured songwriters including Ben Glover, Jeff Pardo, Nicole Witt, and Fred Wilhelm.
Pictured (L-R): Stacey Willbur, Jeff Pardo, Ben Glover, Nicole Witt and Fred Wilhelm.
• • •
Newly inaugurated publishing house Demolition, located at 1229 17th Ave. S., marked its opening day by signing its first two songwriters, Adam Searan and Jason Eustice.
New York/New Jersey songwriter and attorney Jon D’Agostino launched Demolition Music Publishing after moving to Nashville more than 10 years ago to seek a career in music and songwriting.
Pictured, (L-R): Adam Searan and Jason Eustice sign contracts on the first official day of business for Demolition Music Publishing, Nashville, during a meeting with songwriter Jon D’Agostino, the firm’s president and CEO.
Average Joes Gains Stake in Mega Truck Series
Average Joes Entertainment has acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in extreme outdoor sports racing series Mega Truck Series (MTS).
The series will launch its third season this weekend at Bama Jam Farms in Enterprise, Ala.
Shannon Houchins, CEO/Average Joes Entertainment, says, “We have always shared a common lifestyle fan base. This deal allows us to maximize the overall fan experience with a combination of big truck races and music as well as create bigger and better on-site marketing opportunities for our sponsors.”
The 2014 race series will consist of seven races from April-September, with MTS Nationals and Series Finals in late Fall 2014. The 2015 season will expand to 10 races.
Carrie Underwood Featured in 'TIME 100' List
TIME 100 honoree Carrie Underwood (l) with TIME 100 guest writer and singer-songwriter Brad Paisley.
TIME has named Carrie Underwood to its TIME 100 list, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list appears in the May 5 issue of TIME, available on newsstands and tablets on Friday, April 25, and now at time.com/time100.
Underwood joins Beyonce, Matthew McConaughey, Phoebe Philo, Steve McQueen, David Sinclair, Jack Ma, Pharrell Williams, Katharine Hayhoe, Hillary Clinton, Mary Jo White, Pope Francis, David Koch, Charles Koch, Robert Redford, and many others in the TIME 100 list for 2014.
Underwood will also headline a performance as part of the TIME 100 Gala to be held on April 29 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The black-tie dinner will include present and past recipients of the most influential list.
The TIME staff selects honorees’ colleagues as guest contributors write about them. Underwood’s longtime friend Brad Paisley serves as the guest writer for her profile in this year’s issue. “Not only has she earned her place [in Country music], she’s raised the bar: a prolific songwriter, a trend-setter, and an Opry member. But it’s her decency as a person that is so impressive,” he says.
Columbia Nashville Signs Steven Lee Olsen
Pictured (L-R): Taylor Lindsey (Sony Music Nashville Director, A&R), Ron Kitchener (RGK Entertainment Group Inc., President), Olsen, Gary Overton (Sony Music Nashville, Chairman & CEO), Jim Catino (Sony Music Nashville VP, A&R).
Columbia Nashville has signed singer/songwriter Steven Lee Olsen to the label’s artist roster. The Canada native is currently working on his debut album for the label.
In 2013, Cornman Music and Warner/Chappell Music signed a worldwide co-publishing agreement with Olsen. He has had songs recorded by Craig Morgan, The Judds, Melissa Lawson and Swedish Idol winner Kevin Borg. In 2011, Olsen earned a SOCAN award for one of the most-performed songs on domestic Canadian radio, with “Make Hay While The Sun Shines.”
On The Cover – Jerrod Niemann (April/May 2014)
“On my first two albums, I tried to cover all the music I enjoy,” says Jerrod Niemann, who is featured on the cover of MusicRow‘s 2014 InCharge issue. “This time, we mashed it all together and that’s what you do when you’re really attempting to create your own sound. And as it all gelled, I think it brought us into our own pure sound for the first time.”
On High Noon, Niemann continues to pursue the innovative sonic approach that has defined his identity in today’s Country music, while bearing down even harder on the rock-solid songwriting that first brought him to Nashville’s attention. The immediate response to the album’s debut single, “Drink To That All Night,” proves that Niemann’s distinctive style still hits the mark. “My biggest obstacle,” he says, “was to make sure this sounded different from everything else out there right now.”
Jerrod Niemann exploded onto the scene with his chart-topping major-label debut, 2010’s Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury. The album, on Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville included the No. 1 smash and RIAA-certified Platinum digital single, “Lover, Lover,” and the follow-up Top 5 single, “What Do You Want.” Niemann—who has also written songs for and with such artists as Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, and Lee Brice—returned in 2012 with the acclaimed, musically adventurous release, Free the Music. All the while, he’s continued playing 200 shows a year on the road.
He credits the advances on High Noon to a new collaborator, producer Jimmie Lee Sloas. As a top bass player, Sloas has worked with everyone from Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood to bluegrass bands and Megadeth. “We’ve been friends for years,” says Niemann, “and I knew he wanted to get into producing. We went in the studio and instantly had a great connection.”
The resulting thirteen songs on High Noon, eight of which Niemann co-wrote, represent a musical blend of Country, pop, and rock with splashes of electronic, forward-looking beats, and a wide emotional spectrum. “Some songs have those haunting melodies and chords—something to scare the kids a little bit!” says Niemann.
And then there’s “Donkey,” an uproarious, swaggering, double-entendre singalong about wrecking a truck and finding alternative, four-legged transportation to the bar. “The first time I heard it, I thought, ‘Oh, goodness,’” Niemann says. “But then I went back and listened a few times and thought, ‘If I don’t record this, I’m gonna end up kicking myself!’ It’s hilarious to me—I was raised in a family that wasn’t afraid to laugh. Every time I played it on the bus, everybody stopped and asked, ‘What is that?!’ So I thought, ‘I’m just gonna roll with it.’”
But most of High Noon returns to a single theme: drinking, partying, having fun.
“High Noon represents taking chances,” he says. “We live in a society where a lot of times you’re forced to be the same—all copy-paste—and when you do something different, people dig in their heels.
“So High Noon means go out there and go for it. Get your game face on, walk ten steps, and pull the trigger. It’s the next step into facing the future.”
To purchase MusicRow’s 2014 InCharge issue, or to subscribe to MusicRow, visit musicrow.com.