Amazon Music Hires Kelly Rich As Sr. Label Relations Manager

Kelly Rich is joining Amazon Music as Sr. Label Relations Manager, Nashville. In her new role at Amazon, she will work directly with country artists and labels and will be based in Nashville. She will report to Nicole Lund, Amazon Head of Label Relations. Rich is the company’s second hire in Nashville in the last six months as the company continues to expand.

Rich previously served for a decade as Big Machine Label Group’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Interactive where she played an integral role in the five multi-platinum Taylor Swift album releases, as well as promoting the work of artists including Reba, Thomas Rhett, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, and more. Prior to joining Big Machine she was VP/Sales at UMG Nashville and National Sales/Marketing Director at DreamWorks Nashville.

Shawn Pennington Teams With VSA To Aid Musicians With Disabilities

Pictured (L-R): Shawn Pennington (Pennington Entertainment), Drew Basham (Young Soloist finalist), Steve Peffier (524 Productions)

Pennington Entertainment’s Shawn Pennington and producer Steve Peffier joined forces with VSA Tennessee in providing a platform for people with disabilities to display their musical talents through the VSA Young Soloist Competition.

As the state winners prepare to move on to the national level of the competition, Pennington and Peffier offered studio time at Peffier’s 524 Productions, allowing opportunities to make professional recordings. The recordings will then be submitted to the national VSA Young Soloist Competition, lending the opportunity for winners to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

“The level of musical ability and talent these kids possess make some of us who do this for a living look like amateurs!” says Pennington. “This is my second year working with VSA and it has been both a humbling experience and an honor to be in their presence.”

Through funding from the Department of U.S. Education, sponsors and donations, VSA ensures there are resources, tools and opportunities for arts programming in schools and communities statewide, providing people with disabilities opportunities to participate in, learn through and enjoy the arts.

Lori Kissinger, executive director of VSA, comments on the importance of the Young Soloist Program, “Young Soloist was the first program of the VSA international program and continues to be one of its highest priorities with talented young people competing for scholarship dollars, a chance to perform at the John F Kennedy Center and mentoring opportunities. We very much appreciated Pennington Entertainment recording our Young Soloist winners so that they have something professional to use in competing in this international music arena.”

Pennington Entertainment represents Thompson Square, Parmalee, Blues Traveler, and The Hillbilly Way.

MusicRowPics: Getting To Know Clayton Anderson

Clayton Anderson with MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson.

Clayton Anderson is set to add his own name to the list of successful musicians with Indiana roots, one that includes artists John Mellencamp, Steve Wariner, Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose, Van Halen’s David Lee Roth, and Janie Fricke, among many others.

Anderson, who has since teamed with Borman Entertainment and Marbaloo Marketing, as well as with WME for booking, says his strategy for building a fan base began with colleges.

“I figured out if you went to these sororities, girls would show up to watch your show, and all the dudes would follow. Depending on the size of the school, you can get up to 500 girls a night to come to the show. They are the ones on their phones, listening and buying music. I still do it. I was just in Arizona and we played some sororities. It’s worked well for us.”

Anderson’s hard-earned success also comes from shows that have not been so easy, such as his stints when he arrived in Music City four years ago at Demonbreun’s Tin Roof.

“When I first got to town, before there were apartments across from the Tin Roof, I would play there,” recalls Anderson. “I had my car, my amps and my guitar and I had this Pontiac. I would play at the Tin Roof and hang out and if nobody invited me to sleep on their couch, I’d go across the street and sleep in my car. I had a strategy worked out where I’d scrap up tip money and go take a shower at the Best Western.”

He would later put out two independent albums, the latter of which reached No. 2 on iTunes and produced a song that garnered more than 2 million streams on Spotify.

During his visit to the MusicRow office, Anderson performed the tracks “In The Dark,” “All Over The Map,” and “Only To Borrow,” the title track of his latest EP.

“Being from Indiana and loving John Mellencamp’s music, I wanted to have a song in my arsenal that spoke about young love and those small-town values,” he says of “Only To Borrow,” which Anderson co-wrote with Travis Hill. “I felt like Mellencamp was able to just draw those kinds of pictures so clearly that you could just see them.”

Clayton Anderson with MusicRow staffers

MusicRowPics: Ryan Kinder Previews Soulful Style On “Close”

Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville artist Ryan Kinder recently visited the MusicRow office to preview music from an upcoming album, tentatively slated to release this summer.

He performed his latest single, “Close,” which was penned by Kinder with Jeremy Stover and Lindsay Rimes, and produced by Ross Copperman.

He also offered the ballad “Still Believe In Crazy Love,” and the quirky “Plain Jane,” which he co-wrote with Copperman. “I wrote it about a person who was pissed off at her parents because they named her Jane and everybody called her ‘plain Jane.'” says Kinder.

Kinder is in the studio crafting his debut Warner Bros. album with Copperman and Paul Worley.

“I’ve got a bunch of songs I think is a cohesive album. I cut three tracks with Copperman, and we might include some older material,” Kinder says. Previously released singles include “Kiss Me When I’m Down” (2014) and “Tonight” (2015).

Ryan Kinder with MusicRow staff.

Eric Church Cancels 25,000 Tickets For Holdin’ My Own Tour

Eric Church. Photo: Jensen Sutta

Eric Church has canceled 25,000 tickets that were purchased by scalpers to his 60+ city Holdin’ My Own Tour, MusicRow has confirmed. More than 2,000 of those canceled tickets are for his Nashville shows on May 26-27.

Concerts affected include shows in all United States markets that remain on Church’s tour, with the exception of a Cincinnati, Ohio, concert slated for April 22.

The longtime advocate for fans against surged ticket scalping prices, Church launched the Holdin’ My Own Tour, Jan. 17 in Lincoln, Nebraska to feature two full concert sets each evening, with no opening acts.

Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets directly at ericchurch.com to ensure they are purchased at face value.

When Church and his team announced the Holdin’ My Own Tour, they also revealed the use of a proprietary technology that scrubs ticket purchases using up to 10 different data points and automatically flags orders made by scalpers, and allows ticket orders to be canceled at any time.

“In this era where growing inequality seems to be the norm, we wanted to do everything within our power to put the advantage back in the hands of true fans rather than those that take advantage of the system, and by extension our people,” said John Peets, Church’s manager, said when announcing the tour. “It was important to us to invest time into evaluating and redesigning the ticket buying process and build the technology to level the playing field.”

Bon Jovi Breaks Attendance Record At Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena

Bon Jovi broke the attendance record at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday (Feb. 18), playing to 18,514 fans. The concert was the fifth date on the band’s This House Is Not For Sale tour, which runs through April 10. The concert was booked through Live Nation.

Bon Jovi earned Billboard‘s Legend of Live honor during its Billboard Touring Awards in 2016. In 2014, he earned the Top Touring Artist honor at the Billboard Music Awards.

Artist Updates: Kenny Chesney, Country Jam Festival, John Rich, Larry Gatlin And The Gatlin Brothers

Kenny Chesney Mines Precious Catalog RIAA Metal

Kenny Chesney had four albums in his catalog recently certified for some heavy metal with Gold and Platinum certifications. 2014’s The Big Revival and 2013’s Life on a Rock were certified Gold, while 2008’s Lucky Old Sun and 2012’s Welcome to the Fishbowl received Platinum RIAA certifications. The Big Revival contained four consecutive No. 1’s including “American Kids,” “Wild Child” with Grace Potter, “Til It’s Gone” and the three-week chart-topper “Save It for a Rainy Day.”

“I may make my albums ‘in a moment’,” Chesney said, “but I try to create music that’s timeless – or beyond time. To me, the best records get deeper the more you listen to them… and I work very hard at writing and finding songs that feel good in the now, but stay with you for the long run.”

 

Country Jam 2017 Adds to Lineup

Gretchen Wilson, Parmalee, Smithfield, Cody Johnson, Sammy Arriaga, Sasha McVeigh and Devon Worley Band have been added to the lineup for the 26th Annual Country Jam festival at Jam Ranch outside Grand Junction, Colorado, on June 15-18.  They join the previously-announced lineup which also includes Chris Young, Old Dominion, Frankie Ballard, Kane Brown and Sammy Kershaw as well as headliners Kenny Chesney, Jason AldeanThomas Rhett and co-headliners Justin Moore and Randy Houser. 

 

John Rich Opens Vegas Redneck Riviera

Gretchen Wilson and John Rich Photo by Denise Truscello, GETTY images

John Rich‘s new Redneck Riviera bar at the Grand Bazaar Shops in Las Vegas had its Grand Opening last Thursday (Feb. 16) that included a ribbon-cutting, celebrity red carpet, food from the adjacent Wahlburgers, and live country music. Hundreds of VIP locals and media members attended the event including Dave Ramsey, Deana Carter, Gretchen Wilson, Marie Osmond, The Bachelor‘s Christopher Soules, and many more.

Denise Truscello, GETTY images

 

Gatlin Brothers To Salute Kenny Rogers At Texas Medal Of The Arts Awards

Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers will salute fellow Texan/music legend Kenny Rogers at the 2017 Texas Medal of Arts Awards on Feb. 22 at the Texas Performing Arts Center in Austin. The Gatlin Brothers and vocalist Vikki Carr will perform Rogers’ classic hit “Islands In the Stream” before presenting him with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event. The Texas Medal of Arts Awards has presented 99 medals to 105 Texas legends and luminaries who have achieved greatness through their talents, as well as those whose generosity has helped opened doors to artistic opportunities for Texans of all ages.

Tin Pan South Fast Access Passes On Sale Feb. 28

Tin Pan South will put its Fast Access Passes on sale at 10 a.m. CST on Feb. 28 at tinpansouth.com. The passes allow patrons to bypass the cover charge at the door and advance entrance to shows, space permitting, and they are a hot commodity with quantities limited and last year’s passes selling out in record time.

 Tin Pan will encompass a record 100 shows over five nights at 10 of Nashville’s hottest music venues, with close to 400 songwriters scheduled to perform during March 28-April 1 at 3rd & Lindsley, Blue Bar, The Bluebird Cafe, Commodore Grille, The Country, Douglas Corner, Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, The Listening Room Cafe, Station Inn and Whiskey Rhythm Saloon.
Up-to-date lineups, tickets, venues, schedules and other information for the festival, which is produced by Nashville Songwriters Association International and sponsored by Regions Bank, can be found on the festival site

Spin Doctors Music Hosting 5th Annual Thursday Night Throwdown

The Spin Doctors Music Group is hosting its 5th annual Thursday Night Throwdown this Thursday at the Hard Rock Café. The event begins at 7 p.m. and will include an acoustic showcase featuring SDMG artists Sherrié AustinKala James, Luke West, Olivia Dvorak, Coty James, Cort Carpenter, and Jeremy Bowman followed by performances from Presley & Taylor, Rutledge, Christina Taylor, Austin Burke, and Iron Cowboy.

Founded in 2010 as a radio promotion company, Spin Doctors has evolved into an artist/label services group comprised of Spin Doctors Promotions, SMG Records, Next Generation Artist Management, Riverfront Promotions, Mockingbird Touring and Tour Support, and Next Generation Marketing.

 

 

Kane Brown, Jacob Bryant to Appear on AURORA Live Showcases During CRS Week

AURORA Nashville is producing two AURORA Live shows during CRS week, showcasing rising country artists Kane Brown and Jacob Bryant on Feb. 22 and 23. Each showcase will feature a 30-minute set and an interactive Q&A session. Both shows will be streamed live at AuroraNashville.com and on the AURORA Nashville mobile app and are being presented by Thiel Audio.

A division of Thiel, AURORA Nashville operates a state-of-the-art, 4K Ultra HD production studio in downtown Nashville that provides a customizable experience. Their weekly series, AURORA Live, recently entered its second season and features performances from Lauren Alaina, Drake White, Jerrod Neimann, LANco, Rhonda Vincent and more.