Industry Ink: Fundraising and Signing

Participants in No Shave November, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, celebrated accomplishments on Monday (Dec. 1) during the fourth annual Beard Bash at Nashville’s The Row Kitchen & Pub. This year, more than $145,000 was raised. In the past four years, No Shave November has raised over $500,000 to support the children’s research hospital.
Notable Awards for 2014:

• Label Fundrazors (highest raising label): Big Machine Label Group (“Beard For My Horses”)
• Scraggle Rock award (scraggliest beard): Alex Heddle (BMLG)
• Beard of the Year (top honor): George Briner (Valory Music Co., BMLG)
• Look for the Label Union (largest label team): Curb Records (“Team Curb”)
• Herd it on the Radio (largest radio team) and Radio Fundrazors (highest raising team): KRWQ/Medford, OR (“TeamQ”)
• Most Valuable Beard: Jason Allen (KRWQ/Medford, OR)
• The Beard Al Yankovich award (best song parody): No Shave November Chairman Dave Haywood (Lady Antebellum)
• Ofurall Fundrazor (top earning individual): Keifer Thompson (Thompson Square)
• #NoShaveNovember trophy (most active on social media): Suzanne Durham (“Team Leg Hair Don’t Care”)
• ZZ Top Award (hairy legs that brought in the most money): Maci Braun (WUSN/Chicago, IL)

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Music industry organization SOLID will donate 5,000 pounds of food to Second Harvest Food Bank and $3,200 to St. Jude as a result of its 29th annual Turkey Bowl fundraiser, held Nov. 22. Funds were raised from team entry fees as well as food donations.
Nashville’s Ted Rhodes Park hosted 11 teams from the local music committee, including APA, McGhee Entertainment, Black River Entertainment, CAA, CMT, FBMM, Paradigm, Publishers United, SESAC, Sony Music Nashville, UMG Nashville and WME.
“We are honored to bring together some of Music Row’s most athletic teams for a dose of healthy competition,” said SOLID President Brian O’Neil. “We’re thrilled to supplement this longstanding tradition. Thank you to all the teams that participated and helped gather such a significant donation.”
SOLID has already surpassed its previous annual charitable giving records by raising and donating more than $40,000 to various organizations throughout 2014.

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Debbie Z Entertainment will begin representing the catalog of songwriter David Kent. Kent moved to Nashville in 1990, played keys for Hall & Oats, wrote Blake Shelton’s “Austin,” and had top 10 hits with Martina McBride, Rodney Atkins, Neal McCoy, Tracy Lawrence and others.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with the writer that got this Blake Shelton party started,” Zavitson said. “David is a true story teller and country music has been missing that element for quite a while.”
“I’ve always known that Debbie had an ear for great songs, an eye for talent, and her finger on the pulse of this industry that, along with her resilient spine and how well she handles the serious leg work…well, you can’t ignore that kind of anatomy,” Kent said. “So now, 14 years after Austin, I’m thrilled to have her representing my catalog.”