WMOT-FM 89.5 is moving from jazz and classical music to Americana music next month, becoming Middle Tennessee’s only radio station devoted to roots music. The switch will take place on Sept. 2 at 11 a.m.

The weekly Americana music program Music City Roots will also be heard on WMOT, which is operated by Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

PBS program and radio show Bluegrass Underground, which is recorded in Cumberland Caverns in McMinnville, Tennessee, will be broadcast on WMOT as well.

Listeners can expect live radio hosts, including veterans of roots music broadcasting, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Jessie Scott, the first roots music director on satellite radio and a founding board member of the Americana Music Association, will direct the musical programming.

John Walker, an executive producer of Music City Roots will host morning drive. Grand Ole Opry veteran Keith Bilbrey will handle midday, tapping his expertise in country music. Whit “Witness” Hubner will work early afternoons.

Walker and Todd Mayo, also an executive producer of Music City Roots, have partnered with the station to provide a Nashville-centric perspective on Americana.

“This will give our students the opportunity to work and learn in a vibrant professional environment and provide greater interaction with the music industry,” said Ken Paulson, dean of the College of Media and Entertainment, which operates the station. “Among Nashville artists charting with Americana albums in recent months have been Sturgill Simpson, the Mavericks, Elizabeth Cook, Darrell Scott, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell and many more.”

WMOT-FM will continue to serve as a training ground for MTSU students who are integrating audio editing and narration skills into their multimedia portfolios, which include television, social media, print and website management.

WMOT launched in April 1969. Its 100,000 watts reach north to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and to the Alabama border in the south.

In 2009, the station moved to an all-jazz format. MTSU’s jazz station will move to the MTSU Jazz Network on WMOT’s HD channel on Sept. 2, as well as its FM signals 104.9 in Brentwood and 92.3 in Murfreesboro.

The station will remain the flagship for Blue Raider Athletics and will continue to air MTSU On the Record, a 30-minute public affairs interview program highlighting the university community, as well as regular area news updates.

“Imagine, in our neck of the woods, a radio station with real people playing music they actually care about, even love,” said artist Rodney Crowell, recipient of the Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting. “WMOT is bringing Middle Tennessee real music when we need it most. Miracles happen.”

A special public kickoff celebration will be held on Friday, Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Music City Roots also airs nationally on American Public Television; its fourth season will launch Oct. 28.

 

 

The Time Jumpers and Charlie Worsham will headline a free Nashville concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of both the CMA Awards and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Vince Gill will perform as part of The Time Jumpers and Patty Loveless will make an appearance during the band’s set.

Titled Forever Country Live presented by Southwest, the music begins at 4 p.m. on Sept. 25 at Walk of Fame Park near the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The event will also offer food trucks, a pop-up exhibit detailing 50 years of the CMA Awards, opportunities to play instruments as part of a musical petting zoo, and other family-friendly activities. Additionally, the Country Music Hall of Fame will offer $5 off admission.

“The museum opened its doors in April 1967, almost 50 years ago,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “That same year the very first CMA Award for Entertainer of the Year was presented to Country Music Hall of Fame member Eddy Arnold. With a shared mission of preserving country music’s history and advancing its cultural importance, it is only fitting that we partner with the CMA to celebrate our half-century milestones with an evening of timeless music.”

“This free community concert underscores the rich traditions upheld by both organizations,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “We hope guests will leave this event inspired by our shared legacy and excited about the future of Country Music.”

The event is the official launch of Country Music Month, celebrated in October. Festivities culminate Wednesday, Nov. 2, with the live, national broadcast of The 50^th Annual CMA Awards on the ABC Television Network. The concert also kicks off the museum’s initiatives to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017.

Nashville’s annual New Year’s Eve Concert will be held at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park for the first time this year. The move from Lower Broadway accommodates the growth of the event and enhances security.

Now the traditional Music Note Drop and accompanying fireworks display will be visible against the backdrop of the State Capitol building and Nashville skyline. The celebration is also being renamed as Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve.

“Our famed New Year’s Eve event has grown exponentially over the last few years, resulting in the need to expand the footprint,” said Beth Seigenthaler Courtney, NCVC board chair and managing partner and president of DVL Seigenthaler. “This move also allows us to enhance security for all who attend, giving much more room for event revelers, vendors, emergency personnel and others to move conveniently and securely throughout the celebration.”

The Bicentennial Mall location is being considered a temporary location for now, though it could become permanent.

Butch Spyridon, NCVC president and CEO, noted that event growth, heightened security and reduced footprint space collectively provided challenges to the traditional Lower Broadway location. The traditional Lower Broadway location will be equipped with a large screen to display the concert and the Note Drop, along with a secondary fireworks show across the Cumberland River. Shuttles will run between locations to allow partygoers to enjoy both locations.

“Our mission is always to provide the highest quality event while planning for future growth,” said Spyridon. “While we loved the traditional site, this decision reflects our success, and we will continue to include Broadway to showcase more of Nashville. We have worked with security officials to ensure everyone’s safety and to provide the best concert viewing experience.”

Other advantages of the new location include more convenient, accessible and better secured entry and exit points and availability of state parking lots surrounding Bicentennial Mall to provide additional convenient parking.

The New Year’s Eve event has drawn crowds in excess of 100,000 in recent years, with the 2015 event boasting 150,000 revelers on Broadway and surrounding downtown streets.

“Nashville’s New Year’s Eve celebration is one of the events that makes Music City unique, and it’s an opportunity to shine the spotlight on our great city to a massive audience,” said Mayor Megan Barry. “We want to continue to grow this event and give visitors a chance to enjoy Nashville in the safest manner possible. The location change will allow safety to remain a top priority while also highlighting another marquee site in our dynamic city.”

The MusiCares mobile mammogram bus was stationed in BMI’s visitor parking lot on Thursday (Aug. 25) for free mammograms for women in the Music Row area.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with all slots completely booked, nurses from St. Thomas Hospital gave free mammograms in their state-of-the-art bus, an RV outfitted with a waiting area, dressing rooms and a top-of-the-line x-ray machine.

BMI supports MusiCares’ efforts to provide healthcare, financial, medical and personal assistance to music community members.

Rising singer-songwriter Macy Martin hails from a Texas family of doctors and lawyers, but this recent Nashville transplant has been pursing her dream of music since the age of 13.

After enrolling at Nashville’s Belmont University, Martin balances schoolwork with songwriting and touring. Martin has been working with industry veteran Kent Wells (Dolly Parton), and recently began collaborating with Los Angeles producer and songwriter Bryan Todd. Though not currently signed with a publisher, Martin is a BMI affiliate.

During a recent visit to the MusicRow office, Martin offered an acoustic preview of two tracks she co-wrote with Todd, including “Rescue Me” and the flirty “Kiss Like This.” She also showcased a bolder, grittier side to her vocals with the pop-infused “Graffiti.”

She finished with a rendition of her current single, “Heart Sleeve Soul,” co-written with Pete Sallis and produced by Wells.

“I had this title in my songwriting journal for a while,” said Martin. “In relationships and especially in budding ones, we feel all these emotions and we don’t always want to share them, and we just hold on to them. We might start to text something, then edit it 500 times before actually sending it, and the point of the song is if we are juts honest and out there, true with our emotions, then we are truly heart sleeve souls.”