Rolling Stones To Play Nashville For First Time In 13 Years

rolling-stone-zip-code-tourThe Rolling Stones officially announced today (March 31) they will play Nashville’s LP Field Wednesday, June 17 in the middle of a 15-city Zip Code Tour. This is the first time the band has not only played North American stadiums since 2007, but the first time they have played Nashville since 2002.

The concert will take place three days after the CMA Music Festival wraps.

To prepare, the legendary band will re-release the classic 1971 album Sticky Fingers with Universal Music on May 25, featuring previously unreleased material and re-workings in a variety of formats.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood will begin the outing in San Diego on May 24 and extend it through July 15 in Quebec. Tickets, ranging in price from $65-$350, will become available at 10 a.m. local, Monday, April 13 at rollingstones.com/tickets. American Express cardholders will have early access from April 8-12. Additional pre-sales and packages are expected.

AEG Live’s Concerts West is the promoter.

Zip Code Tour Full Dates
May 24 – San Diego, CA Petco Park
May 30 – Columbus, OH Ohio Stadium
June 3 – Minneapolis, MN TCF Bank Stadium
June 6 – Dallas, TX AT&T Stadium
June 9 – Atlanta, GA Bobby Dodd Stadium
June 12 – Orlando, FL Orlando Citrus Bowl
June 17 – Nashville, TN LP Field
June 20 – Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field
June 23 – Milwaukee, WI Summerfest / Marcus Amphitheater
June 27 – Kansas City, MO Arrowhead Stadium
July 1 – Raleigh, NC Carter-Finley Stadium
July 4 – Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis Motor Speedway
July 8 – Detroit, MI Comerica Park
July 11 – Buffalo, NY Ralph Wilson Stadium
July 15 – Quebec, QC Le Festival D’Été de Québec*
*wristbands will go on sale at 12 p.m. local on Saturday, April 11

Industry Ink: SESAC, Hi-Fi Fusion, RareSpark Media, Who Knew

Shannan Hatch

Shannan Hatch

SESAC’s Shannan Hatch Featured on StyleBluePrint

SESAC’s Shannan Hatch, named one of MusicRow‘s Rising Women on the Row honorees in 2012, was recently featured as one of StyleBluePrint’s FACES of Nashville.

“My favorite part is helping songwriters get to the next level, which is also the most challenging!” Hatch said of her favorite part of working in the music business. “I also get to work with and help some of my closest friends … my extended family, which is amazing! My husband Rob was SESAC songwriter of the year last year, and I got to present him with the writer of the year award … a night we will never forget!”

For more, visit styleblueprint.com.

Hi-Fi Fusion Adds Hammar As Project Manager

Ania Hammar

Ania Hammar

Digital marketing firm Hi-Fi Fusion has hired Ania Hammar as the newest project manager.

The Cape Cod, Mass., native is a graduate of Belmont University and recently worked for Northwestern Mutual.

Hammar can be reached at 615-298-3873 or ania@hififusion.com.

RareSpark Media Group Hires Allen As Operations Manager

Katie Allen

Katie Allen

RareSpark Media Group has added Louisiana State University graduate Katie Allen operations manager. Allen previously worked with Leadership Music for six years.

In her new role, Allen will focus on day-to-day business and resources management for the company. RareSpark Media Group’s current roster includes Victoria Banks, Walker Hayes, Park Chisolm, E Marlowe, and Kirsten Arian.

“Who Knew” Music Industry Event Set For April 2

Who KnewIndustry members will have the opportunity to congregate for an evening of education and networking as part of “Who Knew,”which will take place at The Listening Room Cafe on  Thursday, April 2 from 5 p.m.-8 p.m.

Speakers include Steve Savoca (Spotify), Randy Wachtler (Warner Chappell Production Music), Hunter Williams (CAA), Charles Alexander (Outside The Box), Doyle Davis (Grimey’s), Brittany Wagusen (Kalatech), Notelle (EDM artist), and Project Music.

An advanced ticket is $10, and includes two drinks and light hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

Artists Sign On For Jay Z’s TIDAL

TIDALJason Aldean and Jack White are a few of the artists who have jumped on board music mogul Jay Z‘s recently announced streaming music service, TIDAL, which is aimed to compete with Spotify, Pandora, Beats Music, iTunes and others. Additionally, BMLG artist Taylor Swift‘s music (with the exception of her latest album 1989) remains available on TIDAL, as well as on other subscription-based services.

TIDAL was announced this afternoon via a press conference.

The hip-hop artist and business exec Jay Z bid $56 million for the service and parent company Aspiro last month. Scandinavian company Aspiro operates two services, including Tidal in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., as well as WiMP in Norway, Sweden, and other areas of Europe. The two services will now be operated under the name TIDAL worldwide.

Other artists who have signed on include Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Will Butler (Arcade Fire), Calvin Harris, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Daft Punk, Jay Cole, Madonna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Usher and Rihanna.

TIDAL charges $19.99/month for unlimited listening of high-resolution, “lossless” music, with no free listening tier. The company has licensed 25 million tracks thus far.

The service offers three different sound qualities, including “Standard” (96 kbps-AAC+), “High Quality” (320 kbps-AAC), and HiFi (Flac 1411 kpbs-lossless).

Tidal has integration agreements with 35 audio brands, including: Anthem, Airable by Tune In Media, Astell & Kern, Audeze, Audiovector, AudioQuest, Auralic, Aurender, Autonomic, Bel Canto, Bluesound & NAD, Dan D’Agostino, Definitive Technology, Denon HEOS, DTS Play-Fi, Dynaudio, Electrocompaniet, Harman Omni, HiFiAkademie, ickStream, JH Audio, Linn, McIntosh, Meridian, MartinLogan, Paradigm, Polk, Pro-ject, PS Audio, Raumfeld, Simple Audio, Sonos, Steinway Lyngdorf, Wren Sound Systems.

Aldean and Swift each pulled music from streaming service Spotify last year.

For more, information, visit tidal.com. Watch the press conference below.

Mark Music & Media Law Opens Nashville Office

Elizabeth Gregory

Elizabeth Gregory

Mark Music & Media Law, P.C., has partnered with music attorney Elizabeth Gregory to open a Nashville office. The firm also has offices in New York and Beverly Hills.

The combined firm represents artists, songwriters, and producers including The Black Keys, Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Jay Joyce, David Hodges, Sara Bareilles, Benny Blanco,  and more.

Doug Mark launched Mark Music & Media Law in 2007, and has practiced entertainment law since 1986. His partners and associates include David Ferreria, David Jacobs, Matt Cuttler, Eric Morris, and now Elizabeth Gregory.

Gregory graduated from Duke University before earning a law degree from University of Southern California. In 1995, became an associate at Los Angeles-based entertainment firm Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan, and Light, where she handled contractual matters for labels, artists, songwriters, producers, and more. In December 2001, she launched her town Nashville-based boutique practice, specializing in full-service representation for a range of entertainment industry clients.

Mark says, “I have long admired Elizabeth, and that only increased when we worked together on a mutual client in Andrew Bird. She has such an eclectic and dynamic clientele, focused both in Nashville and elsewhere, it was easy to conceive that the merger of these two practices would lead to a mutually supportive alliance that will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Gregory adds, “I am so thankful for the opportunity to work with Doug and his team and to contribute to a world-class roster of clients that span so many genres and three locations. I had a great time building my practice, but I had maxed out the business I could service on my own and it was time to find the right team to join. This will allow me to take on new challenges.”

Gregory can be reached at evgregory@markmml.com or 615-298-3531.

 

 

Striking Matches Sparks A Fire With Debut Project

Striking Matches album 2015“It feels like your wedding day,” says Justin Davis of new duo Striking Matches, in describing an artist’s anticipation of album release day. Davis and musical partner Sarah Zimmermann released their first full-length album, Nothing But The Silence (I.R.S. Records) on March 23. “You go so long and look forward to it as a thing of the future. Finally that day arrives, and you know it doesn’t end on that day, because there is so much more to come. You try to slow down just long enough to realize you’ve achieved this thing that you’ve wanted forever.”

They won’t have much time for slowing down. The project landed at No. 1 on the iTunes UK Country Albums chart, thanks in part to the duo’s recent performances overseas, including a return to the CMA Songwriters Series at C2C in London.

In the years leading up to album release day, Zimmermann and Davis have evolved from fledgling college musicians to a duo with numerous songs, including “When The Right One Comes Along” and “Hanging On A Lie,” featured on the ABC drama Nashville. Striking Matches’ versions of both songs are included on their debut.

Early on, the duo teamed with music executive John Grady, who later signed them as the first act on his Nashville-based label, I.R.S. Records. Grady was instrumental in pairing the duo with T Bone Burnett, producer for artists including Los Lobos, The Wallflowers, as well as Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Grammy-winning album Raising Sand. Burnett also served as the executive music producer for television drama Nashville.

“T Bone was doing music for the first season of Nashville,” Grady recalls. “I sent him worktapes of Striking Matches and he said, ‘Grady, that’s the only band I’ve heard that I’ve liked since I’ve been here doing this.’ We kept sending him music, and one day I asked him what he thought about producing them. He does that a couple of times a year, where he’ll produce somebody completely unknown.”

Burnett signed on for the project. “His vision lined up with ours,” Davis says. “The mark of any great producer is making you as an artist feel like you can do anything you imagine. What I wasn’t anticipating is how nurturing he is to new artists in the studio.” Burnett kept the duo’s guitar prowess and irresistible harmonies center stage, augmented by only bass and drums. The setup allowed the duo to stake their claim as musicians from the first bluesy guitar vamp of “Trouble Is As Trouble Does.” Guitar solos shimmer throughout the project on tracks like “Make A Liar Out of Me.”

“It was an experience for them because it allows them to set a bar for the rest of their career for what they will accept or won’t accept, out of themselves or out of the recording experience,” Grady says.

Nothing But The Silence’s stripped down, harmony- and guitar-centric sound was refined through previous recordings; opening slots for Ashley Monroe, Train, Vince Gill; and international gigs in the UK. “We found that the more production and editing we did, it took away from what we were doing as a duo,” Zimmermann says. “It hid our guitar voice, in a sense. We both draw heavily on guitar playing, and that makes us different as a duo. It’s a big part of our songwriting as well.

“You’re not going to listen to our record, and then go to the live show and hear something completely different,” Zimmermann continues. “It’s important to us to make sure our voices and playing are center stage.”

Zimmermann and Davis first crossed paths as freshmen in a college music class, where the two guitar aficionados were randomly paired to improvise a piece of music. Zimmermann was the only female guitarist in the class. Davis’ initial response?

“I thought, ’Oh great, I’m the one who got the girl.’ None of us wanted to end up with the girl, because there were very few examples we could call upon of great female guitarists, except maybe Bonnie Raitt,” Davis recalls. “I asked if she knew any blues, and she pulled out her slide and proceeded to annihilate everybody. Musical chemistry is like social chemistry. Some people you just click with.”

Davis and Zimmermann continued to regularly jam and write songs together, though it took nearly two years before they decided to officially try their luck as a duo.

“Neither of us endeavored to be artists because that was kinda the ‘diva’ thing to do,” Davis explains. “At the same time, we are musicians, we love to write and sing, and love being in the studio. We started thinking, ‘Who gets to do all of that? Oh god, that’s the artist.’ Eventually, we realized we wanted to be artists all along. Songwriters usually only get to write songs; they don’t usually play. Many times, musicians play with other people, but the creative control is very limited. The one person who gets to do all of it is the artist.”

“We played writer’s rounds together, and people kept asking us what our band name was,” Zimmermann recalls of those early shows. “That’s when we decided to give it a shot.”

With more international tour dates, as well as a co-headlining U.S. tour with The Secret Sisters on the books, the duo is already thinking ahead to album number two.

“It would be fun to work with T Bone again, if he’s up for it and feels stimulated artistically,” Davis says. “It was a blast. We will experiment a little sonically, but we want to retain this identity. Maybe more epic guitar solos.”

New Songwriters Series To Kick Off “Front and Center”

Pictured (L-R): Bob DiPiero, Charlie Worsham, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally perform during "Front and Center" CMA Songwriters Series. The episode will begin airing April 11 on Public Television. Photo: Donn Jones/CMA

Pictured (L-R): Bob DiPiero, Charlie Worsham, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally perform during “Front and Center” CMA Songwriters Series. The episode will begin airing April 11 on Public Television. Photo: Donn Jones/CMA

The critically acclaimed music series Front and Center will kick off its new season with four all-new CMA Songwriters Series episodes with Hunter Hayes, Bob DiPiero featuring Brandy Clark, Sara Evans with Martina McBride, and Little Big Town.

The show will air Saturday on Public Television, and feature guest appearances from some of Nashville’s best-known songwriters including Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, Aimee Mayo, Shane McAnally, Lori McKenna, Gretchen Peters, Liz Rose, Gordie Sampson, The Warren Brothers, and songwriting artist Charlie Worsham.

“Kicking off the start of the new season of ‘Front and Center’ with our CMA Songwriter Series episodes is something that we’re especially excited about,” said Don Maggi, “Front and Center” Executive Producer. “Not only were the performances of the artists who participated special, but the respect that they showed the songwriters and the stories that they told, gave us some incredible moments.”

Upcoming Front and Center Airdates

April 4 – Hunter Hayes
April 11 – Bob DiPiero featuring Brandy Clark
April 18 – Sara Evans and Martina McBride: Ladies Night Out
April 25 – Little Big Town

Robert Earl Keen Honored with BMI’s Troubadour Award

Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Jody Williams, Kathleen Keen, Robert Earl Keen, Dualtone’s Scott Robinson

Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Jody Williams, Kathleen Keen, Robert Earl Keen, Dualtone’s Scott Robinson

Texas songwriter Robert Earl Keen recently joined BMI for an album release party celebrating his latest release, The Happy Prisoner.

During the party, Keen was also honored with the inaugural Troubadour Award presented by BMI’s Jody Williams. “It’s hard to define success as a songwriter,” says Williams. “We have charts and sales tallies and best-of lists, all designed to help us keep track of who’s on top. But the best songwriters will tell you, that as exciting and encouraging as those benchmarks can be, they aren’t necessarily the most accurate barometers of success. The Troubadour Award celebrates the artists who craft for the sake of the song. It’s the songwriter’s songwriter award.”

Keen and his band then played a set of new music. “This award means so much to me,” says Keen. “I have always been a songwriter; it’s in my blood.”

Keen will be touring in support of the album throughout the spring.

Music Row Area Makes Way For 230 Apartments By Spring 2017

Forestar Development Group/Niles Bolton Associates

Forestar Development Group/Niles Bolton Associates

Demolition began last week and continues this week (March. 30) for Forestar Group Inc.’s mixed-use Music Square Flats, set to take over the 17th Ave. block of Music Row, where SESAC sat. Construction is set to begin on the six-story project in June, with a spring 2017 opening.

Officially the addresses 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 and 64 Music Square West will be overtaken by the Austin-based developer’s 230-apartment build, which will also include retail space.

The leasing agency for the project has not yet been announced. Forestar is the same developer behind the 324-unit multifamily community Acklen, currently in construction on West End Ave.

As earlier reported, SESAC is in the process of building a new $20 million home on Music Row.

Brett Eldredge Added To WME Roster

Brett Eldredge

Brett Eldredge

WME has added Brett Eldredge to its artist roster. The Illinois native co-wrote 11 of the 12 songs on his debut project, Bring You Back (Warner Music Nashville) and has penned songs for Trace Adkins, Gary Allan, Jake Owen, Neal McCoy, and others.

He recently notched his third No. 1 single with “Mean To Me.”

Eldredge will join Darius Rucker‘s Southern Style tour, which launches May 14 in Holmdel, N.J.

He is managed by Longshot Management’s Rob Baker.

Tin Pan South Photo Wrap Up

Songwriters and their ardent admirers continued to congregate at music venues across Nashville over the weekend, wrapping up NSAI’s 23rd Annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival Presented by Regions Bank.

Music City’s top music venues hosted more than 350 songwriters, performing 92 shows over the course of the Festival last week.

Pictured (L-R): Ben Cooper; Gordon Kennedy; Region Bank's Jim Schmitz; Chuck Wicks; Matt Jenkins at the BB King's Blues Club Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): Ben Cooper, Gordon Kennedy, Region Bank’s Jim Schmitz, Chuck Wicks, and Matt Jenkins at the BB King’s Blues Club Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): RaeLynn, Jimmy Robbins, Michael Carter and JT Harding at the Hard Rock Cafe Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): RaeLynn, Jimmy Robbins, Michael Carter and JT Harding at the Hard Rock Cafe Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): Katy Epley, Musicians On Call; Rodney Clawson; Chris DeStefano; Ashley Gorley; Dana Sones, Musicians On Call; James Howell, Musicians On Call at the Listening Room Cafe Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): Katy Epley, Musicians On Call; Rodney Clawson, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Dana Sones, Musicians On Call; James Howell, Musicians On Call at the Listening Room Cafe Friday night. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): Regions Bank Sr. VP Lisa Harless, Victoria Shaw, John Oates and Tosha Hill. Photo: Bev Moser

Pictured (L-R): Regions Bank Sr. VP Lisa Harless, Victoria Shaw, John Oates and Tosha Hill at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe. Photo: Bev Moser