Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are two of a kind, but they didn’t have to work on a full house at their Ryman Auditorium show on Thursday night (Sept. 8). The filled-to-capacity venue, which Brooks often refers to as “The House,” erupted in applause when an announcer encouraged the audience to take a few photos, and then put away the phone and enjoy the music. This was clearly an audience who longed for a ‘90s concert experience.

Brooks had never performed a full set at the Ryman until this show, which served as a launching pad for his SiriusXM station, known as The Garth Channel. The show was streamed live on the new channel. At a press conference earlier in the day, he explained his programming philosophy by indicating that if he liked someone’s music, he’d play it, regardless of genre.

But for his opening number, Brooks and his guitar relied solely on the classics, mashing up a medley of songs and artists that inspired him. This ranged from Cal Smith’s “Country Bumpkin” and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” to George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” as well as Randy Travis’ “I Told You So” and Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes.”

But the place went berserk when the curtain lifted to reveal his band and a simple set with no enormous screens. Suddenly the opening lines of “Friends in Low Places” resonated through the rows of wooden pews. From there it became one big sing-along: “Rodeo,” “Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House,” “The River,” and so on. The live renditions were punctuated with fist pumps and teary eyes from the audience as well as the performer.

Brooks’ undeniable charisma was on full display all night long. After “Unanswered Prayers,” he shaped his thumbs and index fingers into the shape of a heart, a la Taylor Swift. After delivering “That Summer,” he exclaimed, “I’ve never been here before but they’re gonna have to get rid of me now!” When the rumble of “The Thunder Rolls” arrived, the singing along resumed at full volume.

Of course, it’s always refreshing to hear Yearwood sing and she graced the set list for a duet of “In Another’s Eyes” as well as a lovely rendition of “Walkaway Joe” accompanied only by Brooks on guitar. Indicating that they are in the midst of recording a duets album, they unveiled a satisfying new duet, “Whiskey to Wine,” about former lovers who have mellowed out with new partners. Brooks mentioned that the new album will be “the most Garth thing” he’s ever done.

Crowd-pleasers like “Papa Loved Mama” and “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” along with a band introduction, set up the big broadcast finale of “The Dance.” Brooks quietly introduced it by saying, “I hope you remember it,” and naturally, everyone sang along.

When the main program ended, only a smattering of people left. After a few minutes, Brooks returned for a handful of hits and rarely-heard songs, ranging from the enduring “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)” and “Every Time That It Rains,” to “In Lonesome Dove” to “Longneck Bottle.” On “Shameless,” he looked near ecstasy, an expression that carried through “Standing Outside the Fire,” and likely well past the time he exited the hallowed stage.

Brooks will rekindle his world tour on Friday (Sept. 16) in Anaheim, California.

Artist Erica Nicole, who recently signed a deal with Reviver Label Services, visited the MusicRow office on Wednesday (Sept. 7) to perform several of her radio singles. During her visit, Nicole also offered acoustic renditions of “I’m Making Mine,” which broke the Top 10 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart, and “I Listen To My Bad Girl,” which reached the Top 20. She also introduced a new song, “One Never Means One.”

“’I’m Making Mine’ was the first song I got to hand pick as an artist,” she said. “Even though it’s that classic cheating, country, ‘I’m leaving’ song, it was a song I got to pick myself. For me as an artist, I feel like that is so important. I know who inspired me, like Reba, Dolly, and the first song I ever sang was ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline. Part of choosing the music that I feel represents me is understanding my sound and who inspired those who inspired me.”

Nicole earned the title of MusicRow CountryBreakout Independent Artist of the Year for 2015.

“It has truly opened incredible doors. If I hadn’t have gotten that, we probably would be here but with different people—not quite as cool,” said Nicole.

Nicole will hit the road next week, visiting major country radio stations across the country. She is also in the studio working on new music.

On Oct. 5, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw will receive the 73rd and 74th stars on Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Walk of Fame Park. The event is presented by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. and its charitable foundation, Music City, Inc.

“Faith Hill and Tim McGraw both came to Nashville in the 1980s with big dreams and huge talent,” said Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. “Driven by their determination and a lot of hard work, they eventually found great success – and each other. Tim and Faith have made a big difference in our city, not only with their music but also with their generous contributions to many important causes. They deserve to join the many other incredible artists on the Music City Walk of Fame, and I’m looking forward to their induction.”

Music City’s walk of fame was created in 2006 with permanent sidewalk medallions displaying names of the inductees in a star-and-guitar design. Inductees are recognized for their significant contributions to preserving the musical heritage of Nashville and for contributing to the world through song or other industry collaboration. Nominations are open to the public and are accepted in the categories of Artist, Musician, Songwriter, and Producer/Music Industry Executive. Application forms are reviewed by the Music City Walk of Fame’s anonymous selection committee.

Hill has had 14 No. 1 singles, won five Grammy Awards, 12 ACM Awards and three CMA Awards. She has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and is currently preparing a new daytime lifestyle show based in Nashville.

Since his debut in 1992, McGraw has sold more than 56 million records worldwide. He has won three Grammy Awards, 16 ACM Awards and 14 CMA Awards. His acting skills were highlighted in the award-winning movies Friday Night Lights and The Blind Side. He next appears in The Shack, which hits theaters in March 2017.

BMI has announced the highest revenues in its 76-year history, achieving $1.060 billion for its fiscal year ended June 30. The company also distributed and administered a record-breaking $931 million to its songwriters, composers and publishers, a 6 percent increase over last year.

These results represent the most public performance revenue and royalty distributions by any music rights organization in the world.

BMI operates on a non-profit-making basis and returns approximately 88 percent of all revenue to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

“We are beyond pleased with this milestone,” said Mike O’Neill, President and CEO, BMI. “The ability to provide our songwriters, composers and publishers with our largest royalty distributions to date proves that the current marketplace is working efficiently, a fact the DOJ has undermined with its recent interpretation of our consent decree. We’re eager to build on this success and continue to ensure that all of our music creators are fairly paid for their work and that licensees maintain full access to BMI’s repertoire of nearly 12 million songs. As of now, the DOJ’s interpretation will disrupt these efforts, stifle creative freedom for songwriters, limit choices for music users and bog down the marketplace. We are determined not to let that happen.”

BMI’s total domestic revenue performance of $784 million was bolstered by record-breaking results in its digital and general licensing categories. Digital revenue, which exceeded $100 million for the first time last year, hit a new high of $152 million, up 50 percent. Numerous new agreements were signed throughout the year, notably a multi-year license with Pandora, as well as deals with Spotify, Apple Music, Microsoft, Sony’s PlayStation Video and Slacker, among others.

General Licensing, which includes fees from businesses like restaurants, bars, hotels and fitness facilities, along with other income, hit a new milestone of $140 million. The category added 15,000 new businesses to the hundreds of thousands already in BMI’s diverse portfolio.

Revenue from all media licensing, including radio, television and cable and satellite entertainment, grew to $492 million, with cable and satellite entertainment accounting for the largest portion of BMI’s domestic revenue for the third consecutive year.

International revenues came in at a strong $276 million, despite significant economic challenges overseas resulting in lower foreign exchange rates. While down 5 percent year-to-year in U.S. dollars, BMI’s international revenues would have exceeded last year’s performance by $14 million had it not been for the strengthening dollar.

BMI processed more than one trillion audio performances this year, over 950 billion of which were digital, a 45 percent increase from last year.