Garth Brooks Announces Four Concerts at Las Vegas Arena

Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks will play four shows at the Las Vegas Arena over the 4th of July weekend as part of the Garth Brooks World Tour featuring Trisha Yearwood.

“Vegas HAS to be different. The city, the venue and the people demand it,” Brooks said. “With the help of the city, itself, this run of shows will be a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience.”

Brooks’ concerts are slated for Saturday, July 2 (7 p.m.); Sunday, July 3 (7 p.m., 10:30 p.m.); and Monday, July 4 (5 p.m.). Pre-sale begins Friday (Dec. 4) at 10 a.m. PT. Public on-sale begins December 11.

The brand new, MGM/ASX-owned arena will open in April 2016. In addition to Brooks, the 20,000-seat venue has booked the Dixie Chicks for July 16 and George Strait for eight dates (April 22-23, Sept. 9-10 and Dec. 2-3, 2016, as well as Feb. 17-18, 2017). The venue is located next to New York-New York Hotel & Casino.

GarthVegas

Hannah Ellis Signs to Word Music Publishing/Wordcountry

Pictured (L-R): Trevor Mathiessen (Word Publishing); Jonathan Mason (Creative Director, Word Worship); Beth Brinker (ASCAP, Creative Director); Scott Safford (Safford Motley); Hannah Ellis; Dale Mathews (VP Word Publishing); Janine Appleton (Creative Director, Wordcountry); Kele Currier (ASCAP Membership); Joel Timen (Creative Director, Word Publishing); Rod Riley (CEO, Word Entertainment)

Pictured (L-R): Trevor Mathiessen, Word Publishing; Jonathan Mason, Creative Director, Word Worship; Beth Brinker, ASCAP, Creative Director; Scott Safford, Safford Motley; Hannah Ellis; Dale Mathews, VP, Word Publishing; Janine Appleton, Creative Director, Wordcountry; Joel Timen, Creative Director, Word Publishing; Kele Currier, ASCAP Membership; Rod Riley, CEO, Word Entertainment

Songwriter Hannah Ellis has signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Word Music Publishing/Wordcountry.

She graduated from the University of Kentucky in December 2012 and moved to Nashville soon after. She is spotlighted in a commercial for the University that is airing now. She also appeared in Season 8 of The Voice.

“It feels good to be at a company with so many opportunities to create in all genres of music, but still very established in country music,” Ellis said. “To have a publisher who is passionate about what I’m passionate about where we have morning meetings each month as a family, some where we pray together, is more than I could have even hoped for when I started looking for a publishing deal.”

“I have known Hannah Banana (yes, I still call her that) since she was 18 years old. I’ve watched her work hard, and heard her grown so much musically since then. I believe in her not only as a writer, but an artist as well, and I can’t wait to see how this story continues to be written,” said Janine Appleton, Creative Director of Wordcountry.

NMPA Promotes Danielle Aguirre to EVP & General Counsel

Danielle Aguirre

Danielle Aguirre

The National Music Publishers’ Association has announced that Danielle Aguirre has been promoted to Executive Vice President & General Counsel.

For the past year, Mrs. Aguirre has served as Senior Vice President for Business Affairs & General Counsel and during that time she has taken on a significant management role at NMPA.

“NMPA’s robust legal department is a direct result of the leadership and drive that Danielle has exhibited since she started here,” said NMPA President and CEO David Israelite. “Her expertise in the field is unrivaled and she continues to be a force for publishers and songwriters when it comes to combating piracy, taking on streaming companies and anyone who wants to infringe on creator’s rights. I am thrilled to recognize the work she has already done and where she intends to take NMPA in her new role.”

Previously, as NMPA’s SVP, Business Affairs & General Counsel, Aguirre managed all legal initiatives including litigation and Copyright Royalty Board proceedings, as well as handling business affairs such as the negotiation of model industry license agreements, and NMPA’s Anti-Piracy Program. She has also expanded the legal team to include a new VP for litigation.

Prior to joining NMPA, Mrs. Aguirre was an attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP in Washington, DC, where for nine years she litigated cases on behalf of corporate clients in federal and state courts, before arbitration panels and mediators, and in proceedings before federal agencies. She received her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her BA from Georgetown University, and is a member of both the New York and District of Columbia bars.

Cam Previews ‘Untamed’ By Performing At Her Party

Cam with her four-person band at the Dec. 2 album launch party in Nashville.

Cam with her four-person band at the Dec. 2 album launch party in Nashville.

“What a great way to start your holiday shopping,” said Sony Nashville’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Randy Goodman when introducing Cam at her album launch party at The Cordelle in Nashville. The Arista Nashville/RCA Records artist’s debut album, Untamed, will mark Nashville’s only major label release in December when it hits shelves on Dec. 11.

During the evening, Cam performed her gold-selling “Burning House” (a No. 1 song on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart) in addition to the album’s title track, “Runaway Train,” “Village,” and “Half Broke Heart.” The performer stayed on stage with her four-person band while two album tracks played, including “Cold In California” and “Hungover on Heartache.”

“We were kind of kids raising kids with this album,” noted Cam. “We didn’t try to be different, we [actually] tried to sound like everyone else.”

Production for the 11-track project came from Jeff Bhasker and Tyler Johnson, in addition to Cam herself. All three have ties to the California music scene. Cam is a Lafayette, California, native while Johnson is now also located in Nashville. Further intertwining her crew, Johnson is engaged to Cam’s manager, Lindsay Marias.

Goodman introduced three RCA New York leaders who were instrumental in Cam’s signing: Peter Edge, RCA CEO; Tom Corson, RCA President/COO; and Tatiana Rodriguez, RCA A&R/Operations. “Peter was really the guy who signed Cam and walked her in our life. When I started in July, Peter was my immediate idol after inheriting all this. I get to officially and publicly say thank you to him tonight,” Goodman said.

Edge recalled meeting Bhasker and Johnson in a tiny studio to hear beginning stages of  “Uptown Funk” (which Bhasker co-produced) in addition to “Burning House.” “We were really excited we got to be there that day and went to see [Sony Music CEO] Doug Morris right after,” said Edge. “Thank you Nashville, you have been an incredible partner—this is just the beginning!”

Goodman concluded the hour-long presentation saying, “Cam doesn’t water it down. It is an honor to work with her. She sets a new bar.”

Pictured (L-R): Taylor Lindsey, Director, A&R, Sony Music Nashville; Cam; Sony Music Nashville's Jim Catino (VP, A&R); and Randy Goodman (Chairman & CEO). Photo: Alan Poizner

Pictured (L-R): Taylor Lindsey, Director, A&R, Sony Music Nashville; Cam; Sony Music Nashville’s Jim Catino (VP, A&R); and Randy Goodman (Chairman & CEO). Photo: Alan Poizner

Pictured (L-R): Olivia Laster, Specialist, Promotion, Arista Nashville; Luke Jensen, Manager, Regional Promotion; Andy Elliott, Director, National Promotion, Arista Nashville; consultant Joe Patrick; Arista Nashville's VP, Promotion Lesly Simon; Cam; Michael Bryan, Sr. VP, Programming, iHeartMedia/Nashville; Steve Hodges, EVP, Promotion & Artist Development; Abi Fishbone, Director, Regional Promotion, Arista Nashville. Photo: Alan Poizner

Pictured (L-R): Olivia Laster, Specialist, Promotion, Arista Nashville; Luke Jensen, Manager, Regional Promotion; Andy Elliott, Director, National Promotion, Arista Nashville; consultant Joe Patrick; Arista Nashville’s VP, Promotion Lesly Simon; Cam; Michael Bryan, Sr. VP, Programming, iHeartMedia/Nashville; Steve Hodges, EVP, Promotion & Artist Development; Abi Fishbone, Director, Regional Promotion, Arista Nashville. Photo: Alan Poizner

Artist Updates: Jerrod Niemann, Maddie & Tae, Lindsay Ell

Jerrod Niemann and Logan’s Roadhouse Kick Off Donation Spree

Jerrod Niemann

Jerrod Niemann

Jerrod Niemann teamed with Logan’s Roadhouse in November to present $5,000 via live video feed to Fort Smith Kimmons’ Junior High School Band in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The donation comes from Niemann’s Free the Music USA and the restaurant chain’s recently-launched music grant program. Niemann founded the non-profit to support music education. This event kicks off the first of many donations that will be made across the country to support qualifying music education programs K-12.

Earlier this year, Niemann was named the official spokesperson and mentor for Logan’s Roadhouse/ASCAP’s Music City Live! Tour, a national country tour promoting unsigned songwriter-artists. Niemann will also serve as a mentor to these emerging acts, who will be showcased at specially selected Logan’s Roadhouse locations throughout the country, beginning in summer 2016.

Maddie & Tae Launch Vanderbilt Children’s Campaign

CMA Award winners Maddie & Tae join Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Nashville Predators in launching the “Shine Bright” campaign in Middle Tennessee. Photo: Joe Howell / Vanderbilt

Maddie & Tae join Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Nashville Predators in launching the “Shine Bright” campaign in Middle Tennessee. Photo: Joe Howell / Vanderbilt

Maddie & Tae joined Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Nashville Predators on Wednesday (Dec. 2) to launch “Shine Bright,” a letter-writing campaign within Middle Tennessee launched through the end of January.

The BMLG duo serves as artist ambassadors for the program with their single “Fly” featured throughout the campaign, which will host booths at various events and locations where people may write “Words That Shine.” The campaign encourages Children’s Hospital patients, their families and the hospital’s staff. For a full list of dates and locations to write letters, visit ShineBright.org.

Lindsay Ell Visits MTSU with Label Staff and Agent

Lindsay Ell visits MTSU.

Lindsay Ell visits MTSU.

The Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) chapter of CMA EDU hosted a panel for Lindsay Ell on Nov. 23 in addition to participation with BBR Label Group’s JoJamie Hahr (Vice President of Promotions) Shaina Botwin (Digital Marketing Manager) and William Morris Agency’s Abby Wells. The four women shared their stories and offered advice for future industry professionals and artists. Ell also performed.

DISClaimer: Randy Rogers Band, Ray Price and Ashland Belle

Randy Rogers Band

Randy Rogers Band

The indie acts are in the spotlight today.

Whether they are big-label veterans like Randy Rogers Band and Ray Price, or freshly-minted newcomers, they are all plying their trade via independent companies.

The Disc of the Day belongs to Jamie Floyd, whose superbly-written songs have attracted an excellent-sounding group of supporting studio players. Music this good deserves major-league support. Somebody sign this woman at once and give her a ton of money.

The DisCovery Award goes to a band called Ashland Belle, a country-rock group based in Buffalo, New York, with booking and p.r. in Nashville.

RANDY ROGERS BAND/San Antone
Writer: Keith Gattis; Producer: Buddy Cannon; Publisher: Pioneer Town Songs/Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI); Tommy Jackson/Thirty Tigers
-The new Randy Rogers Band CD drops next month. The set, titled Nothing Shines Like Neon, features celebrity guests like Alison Krauss, Jerry Jeff Walker and Jamey Johnson. But on this rolling, breezy lead-off track, the band is on its own. And sounding better than ever.

RAY PRICE/No More Songs to Sing
Writers: Robert Ellis Orrall/Roger Springer/Tony Ramey; Producer: Fred Foster; Publishers: Ten Ten/Orrall Fixation/ole Red Cape/Drop Tyne/BMG Sapphire/Fast Horse, ASCAP/BMI; Amerimonte
-Ray Price’s final album is packed with emotional performances. This wistful, end-of-life ballad is one of its highlights. A keepsake from one of the all-time greats.

JAMIE FLOYD/The Blade
Writers: Allen Shamblin/Marc Beeson/Jamie Floyd; Producers: Brad Hill & Jamie Floyd; Publisher: WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)/Erin’s Dream Music (ASCAP)/Crazy Blue Egg (ASCAP). All rights admin. by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)/Built On Rock Music (ASCAP) (admin. by ClearBox Rights)/Jamie Floyd Music (SESAC); JFM
-This former Epic artist is on her own now, with her own publishing company and label. Her six-song EP is called Sunshine & Rainbows and features this powerful throbber that is the title of the current Ashley Monroe album. Floyd’s own rendition trembles with emotion and aches with longing. Awesome.

Ashland Belle Press Photo

ASHLAND BELLE/Fastest Car
Writers: Jimmy Yeary/Zac Maloy; Producer: Zac Maloy; Publisher: EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Great Day At THiS Music/Beattyville Music, BMI & Leo Rosewater/Warner Chapell, ASCAP; Ashland Belle

-This band shows real promise. There is fire and energy in the instrumental work, and the lead singer bites into the rebel-love lyric with gusto. This rocks in all the right places.

KAREN TAYLOR-GOOD/Hope in the Garden
Writers: Karen Taylor-Good/Rachael Good; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Abe’s Garden
-Abe’s Garden is now open on Woodmont Boulevard in West Nashville as an Alzheimer’s and Memory Care Center of Excellence. This is the title tune of a CD compiling songs about this tragic disease. It’s a lovely piano ballad with strings. Support this worthy charity.

CHLOE COLLINS/All Over Again
Writer: Chloe Collins; Producer: Mikey Reaves; Publisher: Collins House, BMI; Collins House
-She’s 15, and she solo-wrote all five songs on her EP. This lead-off track and first single is an instantly catchy ditty about a no-regrets romance. I dig her conversational delivery and her down-to-earth lyrics. This gal has the goods.

IMAJ/Colorblind
Writers: Ron Grimes/IMAJ/Jennifer Lynn; Producers: IMAJ & Mills Logan; Publisher: Timeless Creations/Love IMAJ/Jennifer Lynn, BMI/SESAC; Thomas Triomphe
-It’s a message ballad about spreading love and not being racist. She sings well, but the song is weak and repetitive. In mid-song, a news-announcer voice butts in and then she starts talking about her philosophy. Which is sonically totally weird.

SHALO LEE/Hometown Girl
Writers: Shalo Lee/Owen Sartori; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Owen Sartori & Shalo Lee; SL
-Recorded in Minneapolis, this is a pop-flavored female “attitude” number with a cool guitar figure running through it. It’s not gritty enough to be Americana, rhythmic enough to be pop/rock or twangy enough to be mainstream country.

JOHNNY REED FOLEY/Hillbilly Rockstar
Writer: Johnny Reed Foley; Producer: Billy Chapin; Publisher: Johnny Reed Foley, BMI; Inferential
-Have I mentioned how much I dislike country rapping?

TWO MILES SOUTH/Anywhere But Here
Writers: Billy Chapin/Matt McKeown/Camryn Wessner; Publisher: Funkamongus, BMI; Producer: Billy Chapin
-This is a female duo comprised of 18-year-old twins. The whole bouncy, boppy thing sounds slightly flat.

CMA Board of Directors Honors John Esposito, Frank Bumstead

Pictured (L-R): John Esposito, CMA Board President and incoming Chairman, and President and CEO of Warner Music Nashville; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Frank Bumstead, CMA Board Chairman and Chairman of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.

Pictured (L-R): John Esposito, CMA Board President and incoming Chairman, and President and CEO of Warner Music Nashville; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Frank Bumstead, CMA Board Chairman and Chairman of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. Photo: Christian Bottorff/CMA

The CMA Board of Directors has recognized outgoing CMA Chairman Frank Bumstead and current President and incoming 2016 CMA Chairman John Esposito for their tireless volunteer service. Bumstead and Esposito were presented the crystal gavel and globe, respectively. The presentation was made by CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern at the CMA Board meeting on Wednesday in Nashville.

In addition, ABC Senior Vice President of Alternative Series, Specials, and Late-Night Programming Rob Mills addressed the CMA Board of Directors on Tuesday (Dec. 1) during the quarterly Board meeting at the Omni Hotel in Nashville. Mills was joined by Robert Deaton, Executive Producer of CMA’s television programming, for a panel moderated by Trahern.

The group discussed ABC promotion, synergy, ratings, and future aspirations for CMA’s three primetime TV properties – the CMA Awards, CMA Country Christmas, and CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock. ABC will be the network home of all of CMA’s television programs through 2021.

Pictured (L-R) Robert Deaton, Executive Producer of CMA television properties; Rob Mills, ABC Senior Vice President of Alternative Series, Specials, and Late-Night Programming; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Office. Photo Credit: Christian Bottorff / CMA

Pictured (L-R) Robert Deaton, Executive Producer of CMA television properties; Rob Mills, ABC Senior Vice President of Alternative Series, Specials, and Late-Night Programming; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Office. Photo: Christian Bottorff/CMA

 

Phil May Promoted to SVP, Warner/Chappell Nashville

Phil May

Phil May

Phil May has been promoted to Senior Vice President & General Manager, Warner/Chappell Nashville. Warner/Chappell Music (WCM), the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, announced the promotion on Thursday (Dec. 3).

In this role, May will oversee business development, songwriter negotiations, finance, acquisitions, and royalty and copyright and contract administration for the major publisher’s Nashville operation. He previously served as Vice President & General Manager.

“Phil May is professionalism personified,” said Ben Vaughn, Executive Vice President, Warner/Chappell Nashville. “The writers and staff of Warner/Chappell Nashville are fortunate to have such a knowledgeable, hard-working, and caring person on their team. It’s with great pleasure that we announce this well-deserved promotion.”

“Warner/Chappell songwriters and staff are the best in the business—they are loyal, passionate and talented people,” said May. “Working with them is a pleasure that I never take for granted. I’m honored to take on this role, and am grateful for the continued support of Ben Vaughn and Jon Platt.”

May joined Warner/Chappell in 2009. He was previously one of the Founding Partners of global music publisher R2M Music LLC, where he worked on catalog valuations and acquisitions, and integrated acquired catalogs into R2M Music’s portfolio.

Before that, he spent 11 years with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, including as VP of Global Administration, where he headed the company’s U.S. and international royalties, copyright, licensing, and information systems departments.

The Producer’s Chair: Jeff & Jody Stevens

Jody and Jeff Stevens

Jody and Jeff Stevens. Photo: Andrew Dorff

By: James Rea

Jeff and Jody Stevens appeared on The Producer’s Chair on Thursday, December 10, 2015, at Douglas Corner at 6 p.m.

I was floored when I found out that father and son Jeff and Jody Stevens, who are co-producer’s on Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights album, share such amazingly similar journeys. They were both completely immersed in music long before their teens. They’re both hit songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. They were both signed to major labels as artists. They both signed to major publishing companies and now they have both knocked it out of the park as producers on their second time at bat.

(After his duo Fast Ryde ended, Jody co-produced Cole Swindell’s self-titled debut album. Jeff produced Jerry Kilgore in the 1990s.)

In contrast, Jody is an SAE graduate and an engineer and programmer, but Jeff is not an engineer, and they come from two completely different generations musically. Jeff grew up on traditional country and Jody grew up on 90s country, rap and alternative music. So considering where country music has gone … good call, Luke.

“If you’ve ever tried to do something artistic with a relative, I would guess that 99.9 percent of the time it’s a mess,” says Jeff, who recorded for Atlantic in the late 1980s. “But for whatever reason we work really well together. I have such a high degree of respect for what he does and how he goes about what he does. He does for me too. We are able to stay out of each other’s way. That’s probably the secret to it.”

Being Jody’s first appearance on The Producer’s Chair, I asked him: “What is the best advice Jeff ever gave you about producing?”

He replied, “You need to do what the artist wants. When you say ‘producer,’ you know, we aren’t making our record. It’s the artist’s record.”

In 2014, Crash My Party received Billboard’s Top Country Album of the Year, while Cole Swindell’s single “Chillin’ It” went through the roof and has now sold 427,500 copies.

Jody performed all instruments on that track and he’s a co-writer on Cole’s current single, “Let Me See Ya Girl,” which brings us full circle back to Kill the Lights.

Not only did Jeff and Jody co-produce the album, but they both sang back-up vocals with Perry Coleman, Hillary Lindsey and Jennifer Wrinkle, they both played keyboards, they both played electric guitars along with J. T. Corenflos, Kenny Greenberg, Adam Shoenfeld, and Ilya Toshinsky. Jody also played banjo, acoustic guitar and did all the programming on the album. Now that’s what I call father-and-son teamwork, and it don’t get much cooler than that.

The Producer’s Chair: Jeff, you have said, “[Jody] brings the new school, and I bring the old school to the table.” Can you elaborate?

Jeff: Well, I tend to come at it from more of the pragmatic [perspective], sort of, “All I need is a guitar and a piece of paper,” you know? While I’ve seen him write that way, Jody comes more off-the-wall than I do. I have to wade through a bunch of ordinary stuff. With him it’s just off the cuff, different. I don’t know if that’s old school or new school or not.

I think that I can’t help but pull from artists as far back as the ‘40s, Carl Smith and Faron Young in the ‘50s, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash in the ‘60s and Waylon and Buck Owens in the ‘70s. I was there firsthand. So, all of that stuff goes through my brain, whereas [younger producers] don’t go to that stuff. They go to their stuff.

I bring the old-school Nashville way of tracking a band. I can’t mix something myself. I have to have a mix-down engineer to do all that. Cole Swindell’s first single – everything on there was Jody. So, we both have different talents. When it really comes to producing a vocal on somebody, I have 40 years of experience. When it comes to working inside of a track, Jody has so much more experience and is gifted with that.

The Producer’s Chair: Was co-producing with Jody something that you had in the back of your mind all along, or did the whole thing happen organically?

Jeff: I would say that it happened because he had a duo called Fast Ryde [formerly signed to Republic Nashville]. It has been said by other people—and I would say that they’re probably right—this wave of music that ended up being termed somewhere along the way ‘bro country.’ Fast Ryde was the first act to sound like that, and that is because of Jody. So, when I heard his demos, I asked if I could co-produce it with him. … I wanted to keep the rawness of it, but make it so that the average person could hear it and not be turned off by some of the raw stuff on it.

So, when we worked on that together it was pretty apparent that we worked well together. That’s been five or six years ago now. Ever since then, we both work on different things, but we both kept just getting in each other’s way, kind of. It made sense for us. You know, he’s got his own things that he produces on his own. I have to admit that I’m not producing anything on my own right now. I feel like I have to have him around. He’s got a lot of stuff going on.

The Producer’s Chair: What is your engineering and programming background?

Jody: Well, Dad bought a 4-track recorder sometime around ’92 or ’93. I was making recordings and stuff on it. I never really thought much about what I was doing. I was just kind of having fun. That’s pretty much what I do now. So, I figured I’d record on it. My dad showed me that if you recorded three tracks you could record those to another track and then have another three tracks to keep recording. You had to mix and match. There was no EQ’s or anything on those.

I didn’t just record by myself on the 4-track. I had a buddy that played drums. So, I would play the guitar and he would play drums. I would sing something on it. Most of it was probably cover songs. Some stuff I was just making up out of thin air, you know?

The Producer’s Chair: How old were you when you started?

Jody: Probably 12. Just a couple years later we bought a digital 8-track recorder that had a lot more functionality. It was a Roland VS-880. I tried to read the manual. I couldn’t really understand it. I asked Dad how to use the thing. He showed me how to turn it on, hit record, and do the tracks. It had effects. So, it was kind of cool that it had effects. There were EQs and stuff, and I didn’t even know what I was doing. So, I just turned the bright up on everything. I just turned the high end up on every track. The low end was a smiley face curve on the whole thing.

So, around 2000—the year I graduated high school—the big audio company DigiDesign made an interface called the Digi001 which went with ProTools. You could record in your house on a computer. … I think it was ProTools 5 that had 24 tracks, which was three times the tracks I had on the VS-880 plus there was waveform editing. So, you could just kind of move stuff around and put stuff in reverse—do whatever. There was lots of really cool stuff. AutoTune came out around the same time. It was fun to sing into it and hear your voice doing a bunch of wacky stuff. Dad had to buy a custom-built computer to run ProTools. It was a 700 megahertz computer.

The Producer’s Chair: What inspired you to start writing?

Jody: Being in Nashville, I listened to a lot of country music in the ’90s. Whenever I would get in the car with my parents they were always listening to that. I would be listening to a lot of classic rock like Fleetwood Mac and Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell and really diving into Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Kind of classic records for me to be listening to at the time. As I was listening to that I was also listening to a lot of alternative rock. When grunge disappeared—the back half of the ‘90s was alternative rock. I got to watch a lot of those bands play live. I just loved it. I didn’t know why, but I loved it.

So, I wrote from 2006 to 2007. I wrote a couple hundred songs by myself. I think I was trying to learn—

Jeff: If I could just interject. He would send those to me. Sometimes I would play them for his mother. I was like, “This is unbelievable.” It was the melodies. The take he had on it was like nothing I had ever heard before. I told his mother, “I don’t know what’s going to happen with him.” I’m super tough on myself and on my own songs. I’m afraid I am on everybody around me. So, when I heard some of those things at that time in his life I went, “Wow! That’s incredible.” My brain can’t even think of being able to do something like that.

The Producer’s Chair: How do you feel about artist development?

Jody: I think development is necessary in trying to figure out who the artist is and what kind of records they should be making. In many ways, I do artist development. There are some acts that I work with now. There’s a band called Backroad Anthem that I work with. They’ve been around town for about a year. We have been in the studio to record some stuff. They have shows and I come to them. Sometimes I go to rehearsals. I have another friend that I work with named David Ray. I went this past weekend to go watch him play in Iowa.

Jeff: There are artists who walk in and everything is already taken care of. They come in, they sing, and then they go fishing. They get to pick the songs, and to a degree—sometimes the songs are picked for them. But an artist’s true potential can more likely be achieved when they’re playing music that is of them—not done for them.

Exclusive: Producer/Engineer Mickey Jack Cones’ Career Goes Full Throttle

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Mickey Jack Cones. Photo: mickeyjackcones.com

“I’ve been performing since I was about 10 years old,” says Nashville producer/engineer Mickey Jack Cones. “It definitely runs in my family.”

In the late 1980s, Barry Beckett (a Muscle Shoals rhythm section member, Bob Dylan producer, and former Warner Bros. Records A&R Director) produced the Cones Sisters, a family group comprised of Mickey Jack’s mother Jackie and her sisters. At one point, the group was signed to RCA.

As a teen, Cones played guitar for the trio before making the move to Nashville in 1996. The Texas native has long since made a name for himself in the Nashville music community, engineering recordings for Jason Aldean, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Steven Tyler, Blake Shelton, and Lionel Richie, and producing albums for Dustin Lynch, Joe Nichols, Trace Adkins, Exile, and more. He also has numerous credits as a musician and vocalist to his name.

Cones also owns and operates Westwood Sound Studio in Nashville’s Berry Hill area. It seems that Cones will spend plenty of time in the studio in 2016, working again with Adkins and Lynch, as well as Jackie Lee, Craig Campbell, and others. He also recently launched a new management and publishing venture, Cor Entertainment.

Life’s A Dance

In the mid-‘90s, Cones was a band leader on the Texas dancehall circuit. “When people think dance hall circuit, they think honky-tonks,” Cones says. “There were 3,000 people in this dance hall, and the band had pyros and huge stages. There are bands with record deals that don’t play with that kind of production. I was 19, making great money, playing three or four nights per week.”

When he moved to Nashville to enroll in Belmont University, the music scene in Music City came as a dramatic change. “You can’t really play here in town and make money, nothing compared to what I had just done, so I remember going downtown to get a job. I went to Planet Hollywood, and I remember Will Hoge was waiting tables at the time. He got me a job working there.”

Determined to break into the Nashville music scene, Cones worked multiple jobs, in addition to schoolwork and music work. He began by writing music for a pop act managed by Mark Chesnutt’s management company. The act got a recording deal, and Cones inked a publishing deal with EMI. In 1998, Cones signed on as a staff engineer with David Malloy and J. Gary Smith at Malloy Boys.

He worked as a staff engineer until 2002, when a gig writing with and producing Julie Roberts turned into a radio tour gig after she signed a deal with Mercury Nashville. He worked with Roberts on tour for a few years before turning his focus to co-production efforts with Trace Adkins.

In 2009, Cones purchased Westwood Sound Studio with David Malloy and Marti Frederiksen. In 2014, he bought them out, becoming the sole owner.

Pictured (L-R): Mickey Jack Cones and Dustin Lynch. Photo: Shalacy Griffin

Pictured (L-R): Mickey Jack Cones and Dustin Lynch. Photo: courtesy of Mickey Jack Cones

Risky Business

Cones recently celebrated two No. 1 songs for BBR Music Group artist Dustin Lynch as a producer on “Where It’s At (Yep, Yep)” and “Hell of a Night.” The edgy, rock-based production on “Hell of a Night” was a risk for Lynch, who broke through at country radio with the traditional sound of his debut single, “Cowboys and Angels.” “I said I was all in because I’m a rock guy anyway, but we hoped his fans would receive it,” Cones says. “It’s awesome to see that ‘One Hell of a Night’ went No. 1.”

According to Cones, Lynch also has one hell of a work ethic. “I’ve worked with a lot of hard-working artists, but when you are sick, you have to push through. Some people don’t have the ability to do it, but through bad health, good health, little sleep, lots of sleep, missing vacations and holidays, Dustin brings his best. And he’s been so appreciative of everything all along the way. That’s fewer and far between these days.”

Mickey Jack Cones and Joe Nichols. Photo: Chase Lauer

Mickey Jack Cones and Joe Nichols. Photo: courtesy of Mickey Jack Cones

Heavy Mettle

Cones’ creative muscle and physical stamina were put to the test during his work on Joe Nichols’ first Red Bow Records release, 2013’s Crickets. At the request of legendary producer Tony Brown, Cones produced four sides on Nichols. “It was after he had gotten off of Show Dog, but before he had his deal with BBR,” said Cones. “That session got him his deal and two of those songs were picked to become part of the record.”

Cones recorded most of the album, and handled mixing, background vocals, and overdubbing. When lead single “Sunny and 75” began climbing the charts at a faster-than-expected pace, Cones says “they moved the [album] deadline up like two months on me, at the last minute. I could have gotten someone else to mix it but we didn’t want to jeopardize that sound.”

According to Cones, he had 16 days to finish the better part of the album, including six songs with no lead vocals laid down at that point. “I had only finished ‘Sunny and 75’ and one other song at that point,” recalls Cones.

While Nichols returned to the studio the next day to begin working on lead vocals for the rest of the album, Cones had a conversation with BBR Music Group founder and leader Benny Brown. ‘I told him I would do whatever he needed me to do. I also know that, in this town, sometimes a CD of finished work is turned in and can sit for two months before a label will do anything with it. I remember saying, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’ll need to sleep at the studio and work round the clock. I’ll do it because it’s so important, but the day I finish it and walk it into the studio, it better go in a FedEx bag.’ Now, we were laughing of course, but I said, ‘If it doesn’t go out that day, I might burn down your building, cause I’m going to lose like 10 years off my life to meet this deadline.’”

Cones recalls the hours spent working under tight deadlines to finish the project. “I slept on the couch [in the studio] from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. I did it again the next day, and for 14 days straight. I would mix from 7:30 a.m. until 4 or 5 p.m., then start overdubbing guitar stuff, then start singing background vocals and then when I finished singing background vocals at about 6 in the morning, I would take them off and sleep for an hour and a half, then lay those background vocals into the mix, close the mix, and do it all again. I did that for 14 days straight. When I’m passionate about a project, an artist, I have to put everything I’ve got into it.”

The album produced two No. 1 singles for Nichols, including “Sunny and 75” and “Yeah.” “I am so proud to hang those plaques on my wall,” says Cones.

The hard work involved in the production of Nichols’ album is embedded into the history of Westwood Sound Studio, literally. “We put new floor in the tracking room, and they had to lay this leveling stuff down before they put the floor down. I took a couple of Joe Nichols’ CDs and put them in zip lock bags and put them in there. It’s literally buried in the floor here. I was like, ‘This is permanent, I’ve got to do something to commemorate it.’”

Cones and Westwood Sound Studio are featured in MusicRow‘s upcoming Next Big Thing issue.

Pictured (L-R): Brady Tilow, Mickey Jack Cones, Jason Aldean, and Michael Knox at Westwood Sound Studio. Photo: Courtesy of Mickey Jack Cones.

Pictured (L-R): Brady Tilow, Mickey Jack Cones, Jason Aldean, and Michael Knox at Westwood Sound Studio. Photo: Courtesy of Mickey Jack Cones.