Eli Young Band Lets Fans Lead The Way On ‘Fingerprints’

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The Eli Young Band has set June 16 as the release date for their first album for the Valory Music Co. imprint, Fingerprints. The band has been teasing tracks from the new project all week on social media, and the 11-song album will be available for pre-order April 28. Select songs from the CD will be available leading up to its release beginning with the Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon, Ashley Gorley-penned fan favorite “Saltwater Gospel.”

Co-produced by Copperman and Jeremy Stover, the new project offers up songs that were road-tested and basically chosen by the fans. “With this album, we made a concerted effort to take our cues from our fans,” said bass player Jon Jones. “We’ve really paid attention to which songs they respond to during the live shows, whether they were the singles, or deep album cuts. We wanted to go into the studio with sounds that have resonated the most with the fans.”

One such fan-favorite resonating already is “Skin And Bones,” the band’s current single penned by Mike Eli, Phil Barton, and Lori McKenna and inspired by Eli’s undeniable bond with his wife Kacey. “We’ve become so intertwined it’s hard to say where I end and she begins. I’ve noticed certain things that I do and I am, simply because of her.”

Fingerprints Track List:
1.    “Saltwater Gospel” | Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon, Ashley Gorley
2.    “Fingerprints” | Mike Eli, James Young, Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne
3.    “Never Again” | Ryan Hurd, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz
4.    “Old Songs” | Mike Eli, Andrew DeRoberts, Adam Hambrick, Jason Nix
5.    “Drive” | Mike Eli, Ross Copperman, Tom Douglas, Ashley Gorley
6.    “Skin & Bones” | Mike Eli, Phil Barton, Lori McKenna
7.    “A Heart Needs A Break” | Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne
8.    “Once” | Mike Eli, James Young, Josh Osborne, Laura Veltz
9.    “Never Land” | Mike Eli, James Young, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite
10.   “God Love The Rain” | Mike Eli, Erik Dylan, Jason Nix
11.   “The Days I Feel Alone” | Mike Eli, Andrew DeRoberts, Adam Hambrick, Jason Nix

Faster Horses Announces ‘Next From Nashville’ Stage Lineup

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The Faster Horses Festival has announced the lineup for its “Next From Nashville” stage, which is packed with a lineup of up-and-coming stars. Drew Baldridge, Bailey Bryan, Adam Craig, Ryan Kinder, LANCO, Jon Langston, Jackie Lee, Walker McGuire, Midland, Muscadine Bloodline, Dylan Scott, Smithfield, Natalie Stovall, Whiskey Myers and Drake White and The Big Fire will all appear on the stage at the July 21-23 Brooklyn, Michigan festival, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year.

Aubrie Sellers also joins the lineup on the main stage, joining Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and more. Festival goers will have more activities than ever this year, including kicking off each day by sipping mimosas and listening to tunes spun by DeeJay Silver at the “DeeJay Silver’s Pancake Party” as well as visiting “The Hustle & Muscle Classic Car & Truck Show” on Sunday to close out the festival.

Festival passes and camping for the three-day festival are available now at fasterhorsesfestival.com.

Weekly Chart Report (4/21/17)

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Click here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report.

Angaleena Presley’s ‘Wrangled’ Offers Full-Flavored Conversation Changer

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Pictured (L-R): Mark Friedman, President Deluge Music; Angeleena Presley; producer and Deluge writer Oran Thornton

Since 2015, many have rallied to change the conversation against women being compared to salad garnish.

Wrangled is Angaleena Presley’s full-flavored response to the forum. Her latest project took two years to craft, record and package from a lifetime of experience. Wrangled releases Friday (April 21).

The 12-track project was previewed at Nashville’s Springwater Supper Club & Lounge on Wednesday, April 19. The album displays both subdued moments and flashes of bold resolve. It is almost as if Presley is finally able to breathe easy after years of suffocation and opposition.

An eight-song, full band release party at the Nashville dive bar included the project’s bare, angsty and claustrophobic title track, dedicated to country radio. Lyrics read: “Bible says a woman ought to know her place/Mine’s out here in the middle of all of this wide open space/… I’d rather eat dirt than bake another prize winning cherry pie.”

“I tried to tackle uncomfortable realities like the discrimination against female artists at the height of bro-country, the high school mentality of Music Row and the pain that’s just beneath the surface of the road to stardom,” said Presley in a release.

The star’s plain-spoken accent pairs with her Kentucky sass on “Bless My Heart” and most directly on the rocker “Country,” featuring Yelawolf. The boldness of the latter title dwarfs any satire, if there was any, from Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song,” and is more akin to the nod Granger Smith delivers to the country stereotype in his Earl Dibbles Jr. alter ego.

“I was raised to respect my elders and authority figures no matter what they say or do to you,” said Presley, introducing the title. “I’ve taken no for an answer in this town so many times that I can’t even count on five hands. [“Country”] is my snap-moment. I don’t know how to say ‘No’ in real life, but I can tell someone off in a song.”

Those dynamics also extend to the suffocating “Dreams Don’t Come True” (written with Pistol Annie sisters Miranda Lambert and Ashley Monroe), the tethered depression of “Only Blood” (written with Chris Stapleton featuring vocals with Morgane Stapleton), the mesmerizing, swampy “Good Girl Down” (written with Wanda Jackson) and the self-soothing daze in “Cheer Up Little Darling” (written with Guy Clark, featuring the guitar styling of Shawn Camp).

“We’ve homemade [this album] in to a pretty decent record,” Presley said at Sweetwater about the Mining Light/Thirty Tigers project. “There are those few times I’ve been told ‘Yes’ [in this town]. Some of those people are in this crowd tonight, and I want to thank you for putting food on my table and letting me be a part of your world.”

Guests included those album contributors Camp, writers Monroe, Vanessa Olivarez, Trevor Thornton, Wrangled producer Oran Thornton, Thirty Tigers’ David Macias in addition to Hilary Williams, Mike Sistad, media and additional family and friends.

Presley’s manager Charlie Pierce began the evening with some critic quotes, which this article ends with.

“The best that country music has had to offer over the past 70 years,” No Depression (Amos Perrine).

“Angaleena Presley Doesn’t Need Nashville, but Nashville Needs Angaleena Presley,” Noisey’s headline (Kim Kelly)

“Stunning collection…Start saving your pennies now. This set is absolutely worth buying,” MusicRow’s (Robert K. Oermann).

Johnny Lee, Radio Exec Dale Turner To Release Autobiographies

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Johnny Lee is spilling some secrets of the Urban Cowboy era in his first autobiography, Still Lookin’ for Love, which is available now. Written by Johnny Lee with Scot England, the book includes forewords by Mickey Gilley and Moe Bandy and gives readers will get an in-depth look at Lee’s career and life, including many never-before-told stories about a secret marriage, the world’s biggest Honky Tonk Gilley’s, beating colon cancer, and the story behind ‘Urban Cowboy’, the movie that changed Johnny’s life forever.

“I always said I had to wait until Mickey Gilley was dead before I could write my autobiography,” laughs Johnny. “But it looks like Mickey is going to outlive all of us, so I am just going ahead and putting everything out there. I share all of those highs and lows in this book,” says Johnny. “I know it will make you laugh. It will also make you cry. I cried as I was writing it. And there will times when you might be shocked. But it’s all true.”

Country industry vet Dale Turner reminisces about his five-decade career in his new autobiography, Turner’s Big Radio & Record Adventure: The Life And Musical Journey Of Dennis Dale Turner. The collection includes anecdotes about his career beginning as a teen at radio station KXOK in St. Louis, with subsequent stops at WMC/Memphis, WKDA/Nashville, and WSAI/Cincinnati. Turner also enjoyed a fourteen-year stint in promotion with RCA, where he worked records from Alabama, Kenny Rogers, The Judds, and Keith Whitley. He then moved to Lyric Street, where he helped launch the career of Rascal Flatts and worked with acts like Aaron Tippin and Bucky Covington. The book is available at Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com, and in keeping with the tradition of country radio’s partnership with St. Jude, Turner will be donating 50 percent of all of his royalties from the book to the hospital.

Allegiant Entertainment Launches Nielsen BDSradio-Monitored Online Country Station

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Allegiant Entertainment Group has launched My Radio Dial, a global country internet radio station monitored by Nielsen BDSradio. The online station can be accessed via the app on Apple and Android services, TuneIn, and online at myradiodial.com.

The station will stream music from top country artists and new artists, including independent artists with active websites, a strong social media presence and competitive recordings.

“We are beyond ecstatic to launch My Radio Dial as we consider the continuing evolution of the music business and this new era of artist development,” says Allegiant Entertainment Group’s President Craig Morris. “By creating this internet radio station, we have the unique ability to connect with country music fans throughout North America and across the globe.”

For more, visit myradiodial.com.

Spotify And Facebook Messenger Introduce Bot For Sharing Music

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The dynamic relationship between technology and music brings us another innovation that streamlines the process of consuming music. Spotify, in conjunction with Facebook Messenger, has launched the Spotify bot for Messenger. This feature provides users a new and convenient way to share music off of Spotify with your friends via Facebook Messenger.

Facebook has heavily invested both intellectual and monetary resources into what they have referred to as “the future of the Messenger communication platform: chat bots.” Essentially, these bots are an automated software capable of interacting with users. Initially, the technology was intended for human-to-bot interaction. However, Facebook now has a new vision for chat bots, where the bots lay dormant in the background of conversations between users of Messenger, but are accessed when they can assist with a task (i.e. playing a song).

“The Spotify bot for Messenger will serve up playlist recommendations based on mood, activity, or genres. With the associated Messenger Chat Extensions feature, people can search and share Spotify songs, albums, and playlists directly with friends without ever leaving the Messenger app.” Through this feature, users are able to preview 30-second clips in Messenger, or go to Spotify to hear material in its entirety.

This user-friendly feature makes sharing music with friends an easy experience. When in a conversation, you can access the Chat Extension feature by tapping the blue “+” icon to the left of the text box and selecting the Spotify bot. Users can then find a song of their choice, hit share, and the song will be sent. The feature is available at http://m.me/Spotify.

Casting Open For New Scott Borchetta-Produced, Toronto-Based Music Show

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Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta, Bell Media, and CTV have partnered for the new six-part music television series The Launch, which will premiere in 2018.

The Launch will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a series of hit songs. A group of unsigned musicians will be mentored in the creation of a new original song by a panel of hitmakers, including Borchetta.

The Launch will include Eureka Production’s showrunner Paul Franklin, who oversaw MasterChef, as well as Insight Productions (The Amazing Race Canada). Insight CEO John Brunton and Lindsay Cox, as well as Borchetta and Franklin, all serve as executive producers.

“Bell Media is renowned for creating content that resonates with viewers, so who better to partner with on this international project and to keep viewers engaged,” said Borchetta. “From Drake to Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Shawn Mendes – Canada is known for its world class talent and I can’t wait to discover the world’s next superstar.”

Casting for the series is now open, with production to begin in Toronto later this summer. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, May 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET. For more, visit CTV.ca/TheLaunch

In Pictures: Kelsea Ballerini, Bailey Bryan, ‘Waiting For Wishes’

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Kelsea Ballerini Shines During Nashville Symphony

Black River Entertainment’s Kelsea Ballerini was the featured entertainer during the 2017 Symphony Fashion Show this week on Tuesday, April 18 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. She joined designer Zac Posen for the 12th annual event.

 

Bailey Bryan Celebrates Album Release

Pictured (L-R): Tom Lord (Red Light Management), Coran Capshaw (Red Light Management), Peter Strickland (Warner), Dennis Matkosky (Producer), Bailey Bryan, Ronli Tzour (300 Entertainment), Bill Burrs (300 Entertainment), Tom Martens (Warner), Callie Cunningham (Red Light Management) Bottom L to R: Lisa Ray (Warner Music Nashville), Becki DeVries (Kompass), Chelsea Dankner (300 Entertainment), Cris Lacy (Warner), Leslie Roberts (BMI)

Bailey Bryan celebrated the release of her debut album So Far on Tuesday, April 18 at Saint Anejo in Nashville. Bryan’s team and friends gathered for an acoustic set as she performed all five songs from her debut EP, which was released last Friday, April 14.

 

16th Annual “Waiting For Wishes” Event Raises $125,000

Pictured (L-R): Jay DeMarcus, Kevin Carter, Beth Torres and Ben Hanback from Make-A-Wish.

NFL veteran, Super Bowl Champion and now College Game Day Analyst on ESPNU, Kevin Carter and co-host Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts held the 16th Annual Kevin Carter’s “Waiting for Wishes” Celebrity Waiters Dinner at The Palm Restaurant on Tuesday (April 18).

The event raised $125,000 for The Kevin Carter Foundation and Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee. Funds raised help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

 

Dierks Bentley Nominated To Join Nashville Airport Authority Board

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Dierks Bentley is known for his love of flying, whether he is piloting his own plane between concerts, or incorporating the concept of flying into hits such as “Drunk On A Plane.”

Now, the 13-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter has been nominated by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry to serve as part of the 10-member Metro Nashville Airport Authority board, which oversees the Nashville International Airport. Bentley would fill the volunteer role vacated by CAA’s Rod Essig. Bentley’s confirmation is subject to the approval of Nashville’s Metro Council, during their next meeting on May 2.

“I am grateful for Dierks Bentley’s willingness to serve the Nashville community on the Airport Authority,” Mayor Megan Barry said in a statement. “As a leader in the Nashville music industry and as a pilot himself, Dierks brings a unique perspective to the board of the MNAA having flown into hundreds of airports worldwide. He will lend an important voice to the Airport Authority which will be managing the $1.2 billion capital investment in the MNAA facilities, while working to make our airport a true international hub for commerce and tourism.”