Industry Ink: Songs & Stories For St. Jude, SOURCE Tin Pan South Show, Casey Kelly, NSAI Song Contest

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Fifth Annual Songs And Stories For St. Jude Set

The fifth annual Songs & Stories for St. Jude, a concert and auction to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, has been set for April 5 at Nashville’s City Winery. Songwriters Chris DeStefano, Brett James, Jessi Alexander, Hillary Lindsey, Rivers Rutherford and Marcus Hummon are set to perform, with other special guests to be announced at a later date. More information and tickets can be found at thebig98.com.

 

SOURCE Teams With NSAI For Tin Pan South Show

SOURCE Nashville has teamed up with NSAI for a special show during Tin Pan South on March 28 at 6 p.m. at Whiskey Rhythm Saloon. The show will feature Danielle Bradbery, Jaida Dreyer, Jo Smith, and Lari White. For more information regarding passes and tickets, go to tinpansouth.com. A portion of proceeds from the show will go to SOURCE.

 

Casey Kelly Signs With Banner Music

Banner Music has signed Casey Kelly to its songwriting roster. Kelly has worked as an arranger, music publisher, and record producer along with writing songs. After moving to Nashville in 1976, Kelly had multiple hits including “Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight” by Kenny Rogers and Dottie West, “Soon” by Tanya Tucker, “Somewhere Down the Line” by T.G. Shepherd and “The Cowboy Rides Away” by George Strait.

 

NSAI Song Contest Winners Announced

The Nashville Songwriters Association International and Country Music Television announced that “Wasted Fantasy,” written by Lauren McLamb and Trannie Stevens of Nashville, has been awarded the Grand Prize in the 17th Annual NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT.

Over 2,000 songs were received this year, and the winner received $5,000 and a mentoring session with Charles Kelley.

The lyric-only winner is “Flying Home” written by Cindy Lee Collins and Laura Miller. Collins receives a mentoring session with Big Loud Shirt writer, Rodney Clawson, along with additional prizes. Twenty other songs received Runner-Up or Honorable Mention status, and all of the top songs can be seen at nashvillesongwriters.com.

Trent Harmon Signs With Rick Barker For Management

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Trent Harmon and Rick Barker

Trent Harmon has signed with Rick Barker for management. The winner of Season 15 of FOX’s American Idol, Harmon met Barker during the show’s farewell season while Barker served on the show’s Artist Development team and as the Social Media Mentor for the contestants.

Barker, who was formerly a West Coast Regional at Big Machine Label Group before managing Taylor Swift at the start of her career, will take on Harmon’s day-to-day management responsibilities.

“Rick is a force of nature and has the rare ability to recognize opportunity where most just simply do not,” said Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta. “Working with Trent for management will create the unfair advantage that all artists crave. This is going to be good… very good…”

“The chance to work with Trent, Scott, the Big Machine Team, CAA and country radio was too good to pass up,” said Barker. “Trent showed me at Idol that he was willing to follow instructions and would do whatever it takes to win no matter how crazy it sounded!”

“I’m very excited to continue working with Rick. All of the things we accomplished together with Idol laid the groundwork for what we’re going to continue to pursue,” said Harmon. “Scott Borchetta, the Big Machine team, and the exceptional people they’ve been able to put me in contact with have put me in a wonderful position going into 2017. This pairing with Rick could not have come at a better time.”

SESAC Signs R.E.M.

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R.E.M

Performing rights organization SESAC has signed for performing rights representation in the United States the entire catalog of R.E.M., the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alternative rock band credited with pioneering the genre. The catalog includes the hit singles “Losing My Religion,” Everybody Hurts,” “Its the End of the World as We Know It,” “Shiny Happy People,” “The One I Love,” and more.

R.E.M. band members Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe also have signed with SESAC for performing rights representation in the United States.

R.E.M., which recorded 15 albums and toured the world during its 31-year tenure as a band, won multiple GRAMMYs and sold more than 85 million copies of studio albums worldwide, making it one of the best-selling acts of all times.

“We are proud to represent the songs of a band that, without question, changed rock music forever,” said John Josephson, chairman and CEO, SESAC Holdings, Inc. “Along with representing the rich, timeless R.E.M. catalog, we also welcome Michael, Peter, Mike and Bill to the SESAC family.”

R.E.M.’s journey began in April 1980, when the group performed in a vacant church building for a friend’s birthday party in Athens, Georgia. Three years later, with the support of college radio, R.E.M. was releasing albums and touring steadily. Its underground fame reached mainstream in 1987 with the single “The One I Love.”The next year, the band signed a record deal with Warner Bros.

In 1991 and 1992, R.E.M. released its most commercially successful albums, Out of Time and Automatic for the People, respectively. These two albums yielded hits including “Losing My Religion,” “Shiny Happy People” and “Everybody Hurts.” In 2007, in its first year of eligibility, R.E.M. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The affiliation of R.E.M. is the latest in a string of prominent signings to SESAC’s roster, which include Rosanne Cash, Kings of Leon, Randy Newman, Axl Rose, Zac Brown, Green Day, Kesha, George Clinton, REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin and Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen.

CAM’s TEDx Talk Reminds Music Can Help Heal

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Cam delivered a TEDx Talk entitled ‘Life Can Be Tough. Music Can Help’ and a performance on Jan. 21 for the TEDx University of Nevada conference in front of a live audience in Reno, NV. She was invited to participate in the event and discuss the power music has on the human condition by TEDx’s event coordinator, Dr. Bret Simmons, after he learned she had worked in psychology labs at Stanford and Berkeley.

 

 

“It only lasted about 11 minutes… but I was more terrified than I’ve ever been in my life,” admitted Cam about the experience.”To share knowledge publicly means I had to first believe that I have knowledge worth sharing (and questioning myself is pretty much my superpower). Then came the task of crafting a speech (NOT a song. Very different, for the record) that could help people see the world in a new way: A world that is full of music and has always been full of music. Why that’s not an accident. How we need music on a basic human level. It’s not new information, but it’s just often forgotten that music is an essential part of our humanity. I couldn’t let people miss out on that understanding.”

During the conference Cam also performed three songs off of her debut album, Untamed and spoke about the emotional inspiration that was involved in the making of those songs, “Burning House,” “Runaway Train,” and “Village.”

She closed with this message to the Tedx talk attendees:  “Are you getting the most you can out of music? I really want to remind you that music is not just the background at a shopping mall, it’s not just weekend entertainment. It’s a tool that our species developed to help us heal ourselves and soothe our souls. Music carries the burden of our heartbreak. It allows us to process grief. It reminds us that good things are coming and it lets us know that we are not struggling alone. So let music do its job. Life can be tough, Music can help.”

First Round Of ACM Awards Performers Announced

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The first round of performers for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards has been announced and includes ACM Award nominees Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, and Maren Morris.

Additionally, the Backstreet Boys will make their debut appearance at Country Music’s Party of the Year®, performing with Florida Georgia Line. The ACM Awards will broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Sunday, April 2 (live 8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.

As previously announced, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley will return to co-host the 52nd ACM Awards.

Additional acts and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. Sponsors and partners for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards include T-Mobile and Xfinity from Comcast.

Clive Davis To Speak At Exclusive Leadership Music Event

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Clive Davis will be the featured speaker for Leadership Music’s record company program day at an exclusive, invitation-only event March 14. During the 90-minute session at the Country Music Hall of Fame And Museum’s CMA Theater, Davis will share insights from his decades-long legendary career shaping and influencing the careers of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Aerosmith, Simon & Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Earth Wind & Fire, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, The Kinks, The Grateful Dead and many more.

In celebration of Davis’ visit to Nashville, the event will be open to Leadership Music Alumni, special guests, music industry organization reps, and local college students. He will be interviewed during the event, which is presented by City National Bank and Sony Music Nashville, by Julie Swidler, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs & General Counsel, Sony Music Entertainment.

A new documentary on Davis, Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, will world premiere on opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival April 19 in New York, and Davis will screen a trailer of the new film for attendees of the Leadership Music event.

Davis has a longtime history with Music City, having opened Arista Nashville with Tim DuBois in 1988. The Arista roster would include Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Diamond Rio, Pam Tillis and Brad Paisley. In 2000, Clive was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Trustees Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. In 2002, he established the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University, and six years later he was appointed Chief Creative Officer for all of Sony Music Entertainment.

Rodeo Man: Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo’s Jason Kane Talks Growth, Musical Diversity

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Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Jason Kane

Since 1932, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has welcomed a multi-faceted array of iconic performers. Elvis, The Jackson 5 (featuring a young Michael Jackson), Sonny & Cher, Tejano star Selena, Tony Bennett, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, as well as country legends Eddie Arnold, Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, George Strait, and more have performed at the long-running event, making the wide breadth of musical styles a hallmark of the annual event.

This year’s event, which runs March 7-26 at Houston’s NRG Park, features not only country artists including Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, Alan Jackson, Cody Johnson, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Chris Stapleton, Aaron Watson, Chris Young, and Zac Brown Band, but also pop, rock, and R&B artists including Blink-182, The Chainsmokers, Alicia Keys, and Demi Lovato.

“That’s always been part of the heritage here,” says Jason Kane, Managing Director of Entertainment & Market Research at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. “We cater to an audience that is 8-80. It’s always been that way, because it is a community icon. And it’s unfortunate but there are fewer and fewer of these mass events. I was just thinking that Ringling Bros. is about to close. Our show occupies a unique space in this community.”

Kane is responsible for all aspects of talent buying, as well as production of all concert events. During Kane’s tenure, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has accomplished record setting years including the show’s all-time record attendance in 2014 and 2015. Over three weeks the general attendance topped 2.5 million, while ticket sales reached $1.4 million.

George Strait performs at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2013. Photo: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Kane joined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2006, a year that included an opening performance from country icon George Strait.

“It was magic,” Kane recalls. “The fun part was, George came onstage and does what he does. People say he doesn’t move much, and I say, ‘Neither did Sinatra.’ Being that he is a true cowboy, he got on a horse, loped around the arena, shaking hands with people that were seated on the edge of the arena. He went to the middle of the arena, reared the horse back and threw his hat in the crowd. I was standing next to a rep from his label, and he leaned over and said, ‘Well, people in Minneapolis ain’t going to see that!’”

Prior to joining the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2006, Kane was the Regional Vice President and Director of Operations at Clear Channel Radio, served as President of Star System in Austin, Texas and worked with The Research Group in Seattle, Washington, as Senior Vice President and Partner.

Elvis Presley performs at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Photo: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

He says his time in radio and research has benefited his work with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

“Part of a radio career is you are in producing small or even being involved in larger live events and I always loved that part,” Kane says. “My experience in research really kind of gave me some insight into what consumers and fans really expected. And in terms of live events, there is nothing like having a crowd go crazy over something you’ve put together.”

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs from March 7 through March 28, totaling approximately 100 shows in a three-week period.

“It is almost a programming job, in that you are trying to find the right artists for the right day, given the amount of people that attend on a weekend versus a weekday. In radio you are looking for that perfect song to accent a certain point in the hour. Here you are looking for that perfect artist to really highlight a certain date in a three-week calendar.”

George Strait at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Photo: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Kane and production manager Brittany Cooke lead the booking of the shows, though “we accordion this up to about 75 people at show time,” says Kane. They are already beginning the process for booking the 2018 show, and in some cases work two years ahead to book artists.

At NRG Park, an artist can play to approximately 71,000 people, with the help of 19 HD cameras, as well as eight high-definition cameras above the stage.

“NRG stadium is a big room and I found that one of two things happens,” says Kane. “The artist either shrinks the room, or the room shrinks them. In some ways it can almost be a TV show. Many artists get it and they play to the camera and deliver a dynamic performance.” He notes the massive stage and audience numbers adds another facet to selecting the proper newcomer artists. “Many of the new folks have not been out long enough to have really perfected that stage presence. Now some of them get it and are naturals.”

As the country festival scene continues to expand, Kane says the increased competition for artists has driven up performance fees. “There were 63 country-only festivals going between May and November last year,” Kane says. “The effect is that it has absolutely ratcheted up the prices on country acts. In country music, at any given time, there are only about seven people at the top of the pyramid. Everybody wants one, two or three of those seven to headline their festival. And the festivals will want to write very stringent radius clauses into their agreements, which jacks up the price. We are lucky that our event occurs in March as opposed to the middle of June. The number of festivals has definitely skyrocketed the prices to a point where a 501C3 charity has got to back out sometimes, because the price gets too high.”

Kane’s favorite aspect of working with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is its charity, which committed $26 million in charitable contributions for 2017. “We support not only college scholarship for Texas students but other educational efforts, education of teachers, and more. The event’s mission is really supported in an amazing way by Houston and the surrounding area.”

Florida Georgia Line Announces Stadium Dates With Backstreet Boys

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Florida Georgia Line and the Backstreet Boys are teaming up for three big stadium shows this summer at Boston’s Fenway Park (July 7), Minnneapolis’ Target Field (July 29), and Wrigley Field (August 12). The shows are part of FGL’s previously-announced new Smooth Tour with special guests Nelly and Chris Lane. The duo’s new single with Backstreet, “God, Your Mama, And Me,” is currently climbing up the charts.

The stadium dates were revealed this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, along with a ticket giveaway for some fans. Fans nationwide can enter here for a chance to win a trip to one of the three stadium stops courtesy of tour sponsor Advance Auto Parts.

The Smooth tour kicks off June 2 in Austin, Texas.

Songwriter Mike Reid Reflects On A Near-40 Year Nashville Career

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Pictured (L-R): (back) former Poets and Prophets honorees Buzz Cason, Sonny Curtis, Mark D. Sanders, Dickey Lee, and Don Schlitz; (front): the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Michael Gray, honoree Mike Reid, and songwriter Sharon Vaughn. Photo: Carissa Riccardi

Nashville Songwriter Hall of Famer Mike Reid was the focus of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Poets & Prophets series on Saturday, March 4. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the series, which recognized previous Poets & Prophets in the audience: Sonny Curtis, Buzz Cason, Dickey Lee, Mark D. Sanders and Don Schlitz.

With over a dozen No. 1s, Reid’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility this year.

Reid performed the Bonnie Raitt title among three others, including Tim McGraw’s No. 1 “Everywhere,” Ronnie Milsap’s 1983 hit “Stranger In My House,” and a title he said is as closely autobiographical as it can be, “More Life,” recorded by Randy Travis and Don Henley for Travis’ 25th Anniversary Collection.

A football fullback in high school outside of Juniata Gap, Pennsylvania, the lively Reid took the hall’s audience—rolling with laughter—through a five-season NFL career with the Cincinnati Bangles to eventually land in Nashville.

A middle child of three boys, Reid filed through Penn State as a history major, business major, and finally landed as a music major. Despite having few influences in music from his youth, he grew up hearing hymns in church and practicing from the age of six on his paternal grandmother’s beat-up piano. Songwriting didn’t come to the artist until he was in his mid-20s.

“I had no gifts or natural abilities in music,” said Reid. “[My gifts] were in sports. But the music was something that got in there. I just enjoyed trying things. Fortunately, my [college] coach Joe Paterno loved that he had a guy on the team that majored in music.”

Reid commented on the wear sports took on his body, and music’s constant pull. He noted the ’70s was a different time, having signed his NFL contract for only $22,000, which was double what he noted his father may have made in a year, but far less than today’s football contracts.

“It’s not all that long ago I realized sports was something I wanted to do, but I remember wanting to be a writer,” recalls Reid. “There was no discernible talent in me, but I do think following your heart sometimes requires overcoming common sense.”

After leaving the NFL, Reid’s early music career consisted of playing album covers and original songs at listening rooms around the country. He focused on comedic talents inspired from Steve Goodman to entertain a room.

“I remember back then thinking the one thing that comes close to equaling the beauty of music is a room full of people laughing,” recalled Reid. “So I tried to mix in the silliness with songs and figure out a set to engage people.”

A move from Cincinnati to Nashville in 1980 for a publishing deal with Gerry Teifer at ATV paid $100/week but Reid was dropped after a year and a half. Disheartened Reid met with Milsap’s producer Rob Galbraith.

“I walked in to Rob’s office that day feeling like Jimmy the Greek, and I walked out feeling like Jimmy Webb,” said Reid. “That one day he made me feel like a songwriter. Four months later we had a couple things on the next Milsap record.”

Mike Reid

A record deal came in the ’90s with Columbia. Despite the No. 1 success of “Walk on Faith,” Reid felt dissonance.

“I’d be out in my bunk and think of Matt, Cait, Susie, and it was selfish on my part,” recalled Reid of young fans throwing themselves at him. “I thought, ‘Buddy, you’re lost enough, you start wondering down this road you’re about to never make it out of here.’ I gave it a shot, out on the road for a couple years, but it wasn’t in the heart of me.”

Around that time, Reid wrote “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” with Allen Shamblin after hearing a news report quoting a down-and-out man. “We wrote that song as an uptempo, bluegrass country song intended for Ricky Skaggs. Two lines laid around for six months but fortunately we couldn’t get any more than that.

“One day a couple words came to me, and I thought, ‘I wonder if this is related to those lines.’ So I called Allen and we dug in. I remembered thinking there were only three places this song could go: Bonnie Raitt, Linda Rondstadt or Bette Midler. Since I had a cut on Bonnie’s Nick Of Time record, it went to her first because I had her address.”

Forthcoming songwriter events celebrating the Hall’s 50th anniversary include April 1 with Curtis at 11:30 a.m. before a round with Cason, Lee, Dallas Frazier and Dan Penn at 2 p.m. A Tin Pan South round at 3rd & Lindsley with Sanders, Matraca Berg, Bobby Braddock and Roger Cook and another with Al Anderson, Tom Douglas, Roger Murrah and Gretchen Peters.

Jimmy Webb and Sharon Vaughn are the next songwriters planned for the Poets & Prophets in the Ford Theater: April 29 and August 5, respectively.

Luke Bryan Checks Out Cumulus Media’s New Performance Space

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Luke Bryan (left) and Chad Lopez, Vice President/Market Manager of Cumulus Media-New York (right)

Luke Bryan helped Cumulus Media christen its brand new live performance space in its radio studios at 2 Penn Plaza above Madison Square Garden on March 1 during his recent Big Apple tour date. Bryan was interviewed by NASH FM 94.7 host Jesse Addy in the new space prior to sound check for his Madison Square Garden concert later that evening.

The new venue features a 188” HD video wall, a full-color LED ticker display, and state-of-the-art audio equipment. It will serve as a warm-up and meet-and-greet venue for concerts, artist interviews and other listener events before shows at Madison Square Garden.

“Everyone here at Cumulus New York was honored and thrilled to welcome Luke Bryan to NASH FM 94.7 as the first guest to play the drums right here in our live venue,” said Chad Lopez, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Media-New York. “As the excitement builds around our performance space, we look forward to all of the future top level artists that will be performing in our venue.”