CMA Music Festival TV Special

CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock will air Tuesday, Aug. 4 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network. It was filmed during the event in June and features Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser, Sam Hunt, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, Kip Moore, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Chris Young, and Zac Brown Band.

Chris Young Smokes Up Stage In Chicago

Chris Young cranked up Chicago over the weekend as he headlined Saturday’s (July 11) Windy City Smokeout. More than 12,500 people crowded downtown, the festival’s largest audience to date. Chicago was the third date on the singer’s four-day run.

 

Steak Out With Kix Brooks Tonight

Kix Brooks is premiering his new television series Steak Out with Kix Brooks today (July 14) at 8 p.m. CT on the Cooking Channel.

The half-hour episodes go to Denver, New York City, and beyond, visiting the best traditional and modern steakhouses in the country.

The multi-faceted entertainer is also busy with Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Dolly’s ‘Coat of Many Colors’ on NBC

Dolly Parton gave the young girl who will portray her in the upcoming made-for-TV movie Coat of Many Colors a thrill on the Today show yesterday (July 13) when she gave her the news that she had won the coveted part. Alyvia Lind will play Dolly as a young girl in the movie based on Parton’s upbringing and rooted around her autobiographical song “Coat of Many Colors.”

The new movie will be executive produced by Parton and is part of a deal the singer struck with NBC for a series of standalone movies based on her life and songs that she is developing with production partner Sam Haskell of Magnolia Hill Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.

A clip of Alyvia’s grand surprise from Dolly can be viewed here.

The Music Business Association’s annual convention, Music Biz, will move to the Renaissance Hotel next year for its May 16-18, 2016 event due to a successful 2015 event that exceeded all expectations. The inaugural trip to Nashville for Music Biz drew more than 1300 attendees, an increase of 40 percent from the previous year.

“Our first year in Nashville exceeded all of our expectations, which prompted our move to a bigger property that will allow us to grow the event with more hotel rooms, more meeting space, and more sponsorship opportunities,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “In that vein, we are happy to announce that major label group WEA has already agreed to sponsor the Music Biz 2016 Welcome Reception on Monday evening. Music City, its Mayor Karl Dean, and the Music City Music Council have all been incredibly kind to us, and we’re elated to have an encore in Nashville for Music Biz 2016.”

During Music Biz 2015, awards were presented to The Who, Jack White, Meghan Trainor, Martina McBride, Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta, The Doobie Brothers, and John Kunz of Waterloo Records & Video. There was also a live-to-acetate performance by Ashley Monroe at Third Man Records’ Blue Room, a night of YouTube-sponsored live performances at The Wildhorse Saloon, the third annual Metadata Summit, Music Startup Academy sessions, the Entertainment and Technology Law Conference, and other sessions aimed at artists, managers, publishers, labels, startups, and more.

Andy Grammer has reworked his current chart-topping, pop smash “Honey I’m Good” for country radio, with a little help from the guys in the Eli Young Band. The two acts have teamed up on the infectious hit and the new duet is now on iTunes and will be released to country radio July 27.

“I always felt this song was country at its core,” said Grammer about the new version of the snappy song. “Being in the studio with the Eli Young Band, I finally got to hear it come home.”

Grammer’s original version of the song topped the iTunes chart, and is a Top 10 single and rising on the Top 40 chart. It also has over 45 million YouTube views, 40 million streams on Spotify, and has been certified platinum.

“This is a great country song,” said Mike Eli about the new collaboration. “We fell in love with it before Andy ever asked us to be part of this release. Andy is an incredible singer and one heck of a songwriter so we couldn’t be happier to help expand upon what he’s already accomplished. We can’t wait for everyone to hear the new version.”

Chris Janson may keep singing “Buy Me A Boat” not just because the song is his first Top 20, but also because nobody has bought him a boat yet.

The Warner Bros. recording artist recently took a moment to visit MusicRow during a busy schedule, where he may be launching his CD before riding on the lake.

“I had the opportunity to be writing music that I didn’t know would be on an album this year,” said Janson. “It will be out on the best label in town by Thanksgiving…finally!”

The lead single was initially released independently, and led to his Warner Bros. Nashville deal.

After writing “Buy Me A Boat” with Chris DuBois at the Sea Gayle offices a few months ago, Janson cut the song at the tail end of a demo session. After upgrading the recording to a master, Janson uploaded the song online in his kitchen one night after a songwriter friend showed him how. Bobby Bones‘ iHeartRadio show then played the tune and kick-started the craze, leading to Janson becoming the first independent artist featured on iHeart’s On The Verge program, and ultimately his current record deal.

“These fans have been waiting for music forever,” said wife and manager, Kelly Lynn Janson. “The fans don’t understand you have to have a record label to put music out. So [with the release of ‘Buy Me A Boat’] he could at least talk about the new music when he played the Opry or was out on tour.”

Janson has waited 10 years to release an album after being previously signed to Sony Nashville, and the now defunct Bigger Picture Group.

Janson will co-produce the upcoming Warner Bros. Nashville full-length project with DuBois and Brent Anderson, and the remainder will be done with his publisher, Byron Gallimore.

During the visit, Janson also shared a new track “That’s What Love Will Do.” He expects to record the self-written title when he’s not on the road with Toby Keith this summer. He also treated MusicRow to the “oldest song” expected to be on the forthcoming record, titled “Back In My Drinkin’ Days.”

As a songwriter, Janson said his “most prized cuts” are on Hank Williams Jr.’s upcoming Nash Icon album. “He’s my No. 1 artist,” said Janson. “Just that he would ask for songs that I wrote is a big deal for me.” Janson also recorded harmonica on a re-make of William’s “Born To Boogie,” which is expected to be on the icon’s forthcoming record.