LifeNotes: Memphis Horns Star Wayne Jackson Passes

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Wayne Jackson. Photo: Waynejacksonmusic.com

Wayne Jackson. Photo: Waynejacksonmusic.com

Trumpeter Wayne Jackson, who won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 as one-half of the Memphis Horns, died on Tuesday night (June 21).

Jackson lived in Nashville and played on sessions in Music City during the 1980s. Along with fellow Memphis Horns player, saxophonist Andrew Love, Jackson performed on a reported 52 No. 1 songs, 83 million-selling albums, 116 Top 10 records and 15 Grammy-winning records.

Among the stars they recorded with were Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Neil Diamond, U2, Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel, Sam & Dave, Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Otis Redding and Jack White. The trumpet star also toured with Jimmy Buffett, Rod Stewart, The Doobie Brothers and Joe Cocker.

Jackson and Love were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville in 2008. Love died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2012.

Wayne Jackson died in a Memphis hospital of congestive heart failure, according to his widow Amy Jackson. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

LifeNotes: Bill Ham, Founder Of Hamstein Music, Passes

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Bill Ham

Bill Ham

Bill Ham, a veteran manager, producer, songwriter and publisher, passed away in his sleep in Austin, Texas, on June 20. He was 79 years old.

Although he was best known as the longtime manager, producer and publisher of ZZ Top, Ham also made his mark in country music by managing Clint Black and publishing his songs through Hamstein Music. He was instrumental in Black’s signing to RCA Records in 1989, although the business partnership between the two men landed in court after a 1992 dispute about royalties and publishing rights.

Ham was born in 1937 in Waxahachie, Texas. He began his music career as a record promoter for Bud Dailey Distributing in Dallas before encountering a Houston-based group called Moving Sidewalks, which was opening a concert for the Doors in 1968. Ham formed Lone Wolf Management to manage them.

Soon after the band’s dissolution, Billy Gibbons, their front man, founded ZZ Top with Bill Ham continuing his role as manager. After some personnel changes, the band’s enduring line-up of Gibbons (guitar) bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard solidified and continues to this day.

Ham’s vision for what ZZ Top could become was an instrumental trigger to the band’s massive success. His role was critical in shaping their image as “that little ol’ band from Texas.” A 1970 contract with London Records ensued and he became the group’s producer in the studio as well as, on occasion, a songwriting partner.

Ham’s business relationship with ZZ Top ended in 2006. Upon hearing of his death, the members of ZZ Top issued the following statement: “We were saddened to hear of Bill Ham’s passing. His early vision and continuing encouragement were invaluable; his efforts and energy will always remain deeply appreciated.”

In addition to owning the music publishing rights to ZZ Top’s catalog, Ham created Hamstein Music. Since 1987, Hamstein has accrued over 100 Top 10 singles in country music, which include 60 No. 1 records, all penned by writers signed to Ham’s company.

These writers include Clint Black, Hayden Nicholas, Frankie Miller, members of Little Texas, Tom Shapiro, Chris Waters, Rick Giles, Chuck Jones, Tommy Barnes, Stephen Allan Davis, Billy Kirsch, Tony Martin, Reese Wilson, Lee Thomas Miller, Monty Criswell, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and others. In 2002, Ham sold Hamstein Music’s copyrights and publishing assets to Mosaic Media Group in a multi-million dollar transaction.

Ham’s latest venture had been a return to country music and the Nashville publishing business. He recently had launched Wolftracks Music Publishing Company and signed songwriters Presley Tucker and Spencer Bartoletti, professionally known as the group Reverie Lane. They are also signed to Lone Wolf Management.

Joel Crouse Signs Management, Publishing Deals With Iconic Entertainment Group

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(Pictured L-R): IEG's Fletcher Foster, Joel Crouse, IEG's Larry Beckwith

(Pictured L-R): IEG’s Fletcher Foster, Joel Crouse, IEG’s Larry Beckwith

Iconic Entertainment Group (IEG) has signed Joel Crouse to an artist management and publishing deal. The IEG roster also includes Kelsea Ballerini and Levi Hummon.

Crouse formerly recorded for Show Dog-Universal. He released the Top 40 country single “If You Want Some” in 2013, followed by an album in 2014. His new music will take a “harder-rock” direction, according to the management company. In addition to writing on his own, Crouse has been writing with Desmond Child, Marti Frederiksen, Lincoln Parris and Jeffrey Steele.

Born in Massachusetts, Crouse began writing songs at age 16, signed his first recording deal at 19 and honed his live chops on the road, even selected to open shows on Taylor Swift’s RED Tour.

“Joel is a bona fide star,” says IEG President/CEO Fletcher Foster. “He pours limitless energy and passion into his live shows. He is a true lover of all kinds of music and it’s exciting to watch as he melds them together to create his own distinctive sound. And that’s why we’re proud to welcome him to the IEG roster.”

“As Iconic celebrates its second year, we are excited to sign someone as talented as Joel as we continue to expand into a multi-genres entertainment company,” says IEG Chairman Larry Beckwith.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Reveals 12 Nominees

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Nashville Songwriters Hall of FameThe nominees for two Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame categories have been announced on the organization’s Facebook page.

Nominees in the Songwriter category include: Aaron Barker, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Frank Dycus, Alex Harvey, Jim McBride, Gary Nicholson, Jim Rushing and Russell Smith.

Nominees in the Songwriter/Artist category include: Arthur Alexander, Amy Grant, Townes Van Zandt and Tony Joe White.

The selection for the Veterans category is underway. Because it is an in-house process separate from the ballot, only the winner is announced.

There will be four inductees in the class of 2016: two songwriters, one veteran, and one songwriter/artist. The inductees will be announced in July.

LifeNotes: “A Place To Fall Apart” Songwriter Freddy Powers Passes

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Freddy Powers

Freddy Powers. Photo: Facebook.com/thefreddypowers

Songwriter, producer and ace musician Freddy Powers has died at age 84.

Powers was a confederate of such country stars as Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. His songs include the Haggard hits “A Place to Fall Apart” (1984), “Natural High” (1985), “Let’s Chase Each Other Around the Room” (1984) and “A Friend in California” (1986), several of which he co-wrote with the superstar.

Powers and Haggard were also among the co-writers of the 1983 George Jones hit “I Always Get Lucky With You.” Freddy Powers’ songs were also recorded by Big & Rich, Suzy Bogguss, Ray Charles and Stoney LaRue.

Among Freddy Powers’ production credits is the 1981 Willie Nelson LP Over the Rainbow, a platinum seller. He was in Nelson’s band for a time and played guitar on several albums by both Haggard and Nelson.

Like Nelson, he was came of age musically in the Texas honky tonks. In Ft. Worth, he got to know guitarist Paul Buskirk, another close collaborator with Nelson. All three men shared an affinity for expanding country’s sonic landscape to include swing and jazz.

Freddy Powers had a long residency in Las Vegas in the 1970s, performing in a nightclub act that combined country, comedy and Dixieland jazz.

After reconnecting with Nelson and co-producing his landmark LP, Powers was invited to California by Haggard. They lived on neighboring houseboats on Lake Shasta, and Powers’ songwriting abilities blossomed. He also became a guitarist in Haggard’s band for 20 years.

Songwriting success led to TV appearances on Austin City Limits and elsewhere. Freddy Powers even co-hosted a talk show for the Austin Music Network cable channel.

He issued the solo CD The Country Jazz Singer in 2000. His gypsy jazz style was also captured on such recordings as 2004’s My Great Escape.

Freddy Powers died in Texas on Tuesday, June 21, following a 12-year struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He founded the Freddy Powers Parkinson Organization to raise funds for research and to aid fellow Texans who had the disease. He is survived by his wife Catherine.

Industry Ink: CAA, Who Knew, Belcourt Theatre

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CAA Promotes Two In Nashville Office

caa_logoCreative Artists Agency has promoted Nashville-based trainees Sabrina Butera and Sam Forbert to agents in its music department.

Butera now books college dates across all genres, and has been with CAA for slightly over five years.

Forbert will begin working with teams booking country tours and has been with the agency for three years.

 

Who Knew Presents Events Panel On July 21

Who Knew logoNetworking series Who Knew will welcome speakers from the CMA, Pilgrimage Music Festival, Americana Music Association, and iV Audio Branding for its next session, which will be held July 21 at 3rd & Lindsley.

Speakers will include Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern, Pilgrimage Music Festival Partner and Better Than Ezra guitarist Kevin Griffin, SAE Nashville Music Business Program faculty chair Dr. E. Michael Harrington, Americana Music Association executive producer Jed Hilly, Music City Roots senior producer Craig Havighurst, and iV CEO Steve Keller. They will share their professional wisdom and insight into what it takes to be a leader in the Nashville music industry.

Tickets are on sale for $10 (early bird price) at eventbrite.com. Tickets will be $15 beginning June 29 and $20 at the door.

 

Belcourt Plans July 22 Reopening

Belcourt logo

The Belcourt Theatre will reopen on July 22 after a renovation and preservation project on its 90­-year-­old building that has been underway since the beginning of the year. The Nashville landmark and renowned art house cinema’s reopening programming schedule will be announced soon.

The Belcourt closed its doors to undertake the renovation after the last screening on Dec. 24, 2015, the theatre’s first major work in 50 years. The project’s cost is $5 million. To date, the Belcourt Campaign has raised approximately $4.2 million in gifts and pledges from individuals, foundations and businesses.

 

CMHoF Will Host Gretsch Guitar Pull In July

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Gretsch exhibit image

Tommy Emmanuel, Eddie Pennington, Joe Robinson and Nashville duo Striking Matches will take part in a special program, titled The Gretsch Sound: A Guitar Pull, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Sat., July 16 at 2 p.m.

The event is presented in support of the exhibition American Sound and Beauty: Guitars from the Bachman-Gretsch Collection, which ends its run July 17.

Through this casual musical performance, these master players will discuss the unique features of Gretsch design and demonstrate their individual musical styles with their own instruments.

Tommy Emmanuel is regarded as one of the world’s leading fingerstyle guitarists. He is a two-time Grammy nominee and one of only five guitarists named Certified Guitar Player (CGP) by Chet Atkins.

Kentucky native Eddie Pennington, a perpetuator of the “Muhlenberg Sound” of Merle Travis, is a recipient of the NEA National Heritage Fellowship and a member of the National Thumb Pickers Hall of Fame.

Virtuoso guitarist and singer-songwriter Joe Robinson is an Australian Guitar Magazine award winner and a winner of Australia’s Got Talent.

Striking Matches, the songwriting, guitar-wielding, alternative-country duo of Justin Davis and Sarah Zimmerman, has been featured on the ABC series Nashville. Their debut album, Nothing but the Silence, was produced by T Bone Burnett.

The program participants will sign commemorative Hatch posters following the performance.

The Bachman-Gretsch Collection was amassed by Canadian guitarist and songwriter Randy Bachman, a key member of rock bands the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Bachman acquired more than 300 historic and rare Gretsch guitars in the 1970s and 1980s. His collection was purchased in 2008 by the Gretsch Foundation, the charitable arm of the Gretsch family.

American Sound and Beauty: Guitars from the Bachman-Gretsch Collection is the largest exhibition of stringed instruments ever mounted by the museum. The 75 guitars presented also offer the most comprehensive look at the Bachman-Gretsch Collection ever made available to the public.

BMI Extends President/CEO Mike O’Neill’s Contract Through 2021

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Mike O'Neill: Photo: Ron Rinaldi Photography

Mike O’Neill: Photo: Ron Rinaldi Photography

The Board of Directors of BMI has extended Mike O’Neill’s contract as President and CEO for five years, through 2021.

Paul Karpowicz, Chairman of the BMI Board of Directors and President, Meredith Local Media Group, made the announcement on Wednesday (June 22).

“BMI has continued to thrive and evolve under Mike’s leadership, providing both the stability and innovation needed in a rapidly changing marketplace,” said Karpowicz. “The company is on track to once again generate record revenues and distributions to our music creators and copyright owners and remains committed to fighting for and preserving the fair value of our affiliates’ music.”

Karpowicz added, “Beyond Mike’s dedication to our creators and licensing customers, his support of the BMI team is second to none. We couldn’t be more confident in Mike’s leadership and vision to take BMI into the future.”

Under O’Neill’s leadership, BMI achieved record-breaking revenue and royalty distributions for the fiscal year 2015, generating $1.013 billion, the highest in the company’s history and the most public performance revenue generated for songwriters, composers and publishers by any music rights organization in the world.

In addition, the company distributed and administered a record $877 million, and for the first time, took in more than $100 million in digital revenue, making it the first PRO to achieve that milestone.

As President and CEO, O’Neill oversees all of BMI’s business operations, both domestically and globally, and directs the company’s strategic growth to benefit BMI’s writers, composers, music publishers and licensees. He has worked at BMI for 22 years, overseeing nearly every department within the company, including BMI’s writer, composer and publisher relations group, licensing organization, royalty distribution group and administrative services teams.

O’Neill joined BMI in 1994 as Director, Group and National Accounts from CBS-TV Network, where he was Director, CBS Affiliate Relations. Within two years, he was appointed Assistant Vice President, Media Licensing, and was continually promoted to positions of increasing responsibility throughout his tenure.

In September of 2013, O’Neill was appointed Chief Executive Officer and assumed the additional title of President in July of 2014.

O’Neill holds an MBA from Rutgers University in Marketing and Finance and received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Montclair University. He is a member of the BMI Board of Directors, as well as the Board of Directors for the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the T.J. Martell Foundation, the Broadcasters Foundation of America, National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and Monmouth Medical Center Foundation. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of FastTrack and is the Honorary Chair of the BMI Foundation.

Darius Rucker Joins Maverick Management Roster

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Darius-Rucker

Darius Rucker has signed with Maverick Management, MusicRow has confirmed. The Nashville office of the international music management firm is led by Clarence Spalding. Chris Parr will guide Rucker’s career, while Jason Hause will handle day-to-day duties.

Rucker joined Maverick following a long association with McGhee Management, which he exited in February 2016. Rucker is signed to Capitol Records Nashville.

Spalding also represents artists including Jason Aldean, Kix Brooks, Rascal Flatts, Brooks & Dunn, and more.

 

Universal Music Group Nashville Adds Director of Strategic Marketing

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Gary Keffer

Gary Keffer

Universal Music Group Nashville has added Gary Keffer as Director of Strategic Marketing.

Keffer was most recently Director, Media and Partnerships for Remington Arms Company, where he managed media strategy for broadcast, print and digital platforms as well as handled media sponsorships and product placement for films such as American Sniper and Jurassic World. Keffer graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and earned his MBA at UNC Greensboro.

“Gary is going to be a strong addition to our strategy and partnership marketing teams,” notes Brad Turcotte, VP, Marketing. “His knowledge of brand collaborations will be a huge asset to our team and artist roster.”

“I am truly honored to join UMG Nashville,” says Keffer. “The depth of talent on the artist roster plus the proven success with fans is without equal. I’m looking forward to working with Brad and his team creating opportunities to unlock even more value in the artists and their music.”

Keffer will help facilitate artist and brand partnerships for the entire UMG Nashville roster including Luke Bryan, Brothers Osborne, Chris Stapleton, Canaan Smith, Dierks Bentley, David Nail, Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, Easton Corbin, Gary Allan, Jon Pardi, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, George Strait, Mickey Guyton and more.

He can be reached at [email protected].