Pictured (L-R): Manager JW Williams, BMI’s David Preston, Jordan Walker, Jon Langston, Jonny McGuire, manager Mickey Jack Cones, BMI’s Mason Hunter and George Dickel’s Jay Needham

BMI held its fourth installment of its summer Rooftop On The Row series Tuesday night (Aug. 15) with Walker McGuire and Jon Langston. The George Dickel and Cumulus-sponsored event attended by Music Row tastemakers, friends and family was held on the BMI rooftop amid stunning views of a sunset over the Nashville skyline.

Duo Walker McGuire

BMI’s David Preston, Jon Langston and manager Kerri Edwards

The 2017 CMA Fest special on ABC drew 5.71 million viewers on Wednesday, Aug. 16, according to zap2it.com, earning its biggest audience in three years. The special drew footage from this year’s CMA Music Festival, which was held in Nashville on June 8-11.

The three-hour special earned a 1.2 share among adults 18-49.

Pictured (L-R): Tom Harrison, David Tolliver, and Tyler Bell.

Three Hounds Music has entered into an exclusive publishing agreement with singer/songwriter David Tolliver. A Music City fixture for nearly a decade, Tolliver is best known as half of the critically acclaimed country/rock duo Halfway to Hazard. He has co-written the majority of Halfway to Hazard’s three albums, and has had cuts by Tim McGraw, Jarrod Niemann, Brantley Gilbert, Wynonna Judd, Neal McCoy and numerous others.

“I’m really excited about beginning this new page in my life and I’m so happy to be doing it with Three Hounds Music,” says Tolliver. “Tom Harrison (CEO/Founder) and Tyler Bell (General Manager) are good people and I’m looking forward to a great future with them.”

In addition to Tolliver, the Three Hounds family includes songwriters Bobby Terry (Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson), Chris Cavanaugh (Kip Moore, Lonestar, Steve Holy), Sarah Beth Terry (Craig Morgan), Kevin Brandt (Montgomery Gentry, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis), and new Americana duo Fleener.

Alan Jackson, Chris Stapleton

The Academy of Country Music (ACM) has announced Alan Jackson and Chris Stapleton will perform at its 11th Annual ACM Honors event, taping Aug. 23 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and airing Sept. 15 (9-11 p.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. It has also just been announced Jason Aldean, Bobby Bones, Ross Copperman, Lady Antebellum and Jimmy Webb will present.

Previously announced performers include Vince Gill, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Brad Paisley, Hillary Scott, Kelsea Ballerini, Vince Gill, Toby Keith, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Brad Paisley, Thomas Rhett, Hillary Scott, and George Strait. Clare Bowen, Charles Esten, Cassadee Pope, and Brett Young will participate in special off-camera moments in the ceremony.

The two-hour special is dedicated to celebrating the special honorees and off-camera category winners from the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards. Those include Ballerini (Gene Weed Milestone Award), Keith (Poet’s Award), Bob Kingsley (Mae Boren Axton Service Award), Reba McEntire (Mae Boren Axton Service Award), Nashville (Tex Ritter Film Award), Dolly Parton (Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award), Shel Silverstein (Poet’s Award, awarded posthumously), Strait (Cliffie Stone Icon Award) and Lori McKenna (Songwriter of the Year). The evening will also honor winners of the Industry and Studio Recording Awards.

Tickets are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman Auditorium box office for $60 and $100.

Lilly Hiatt is releasing a new album, Trinity Lane, on New West Records on Aug. 25. The 12-song set was produced by Michael Trent of Shovels & Rope and in addition to her backing band, Trent is a featured musician throughout, and is joined by his wife/Shovels & Rope partner Cary Ann Hearst for backing vocals on the tune “Everything I Had.”

The daughter of John Hiatt, Lilly lays her soul bare on the new collection, which is streaming now on NPR’s First Listen.

“Love will take you to the darkest places but also the most honest places if you let it,” she admits. “Learning how to love myself is something I’ve always been lousy with, and I spent some time on that. I thought about my sobriety, what that means to me, the struggles I’d had throughout the years, since I was a 27-year-old and hung up my toxic drinking habit. I thought about my mother, who took her own life when I was a baby, not far from my age at 30 years old, and I related to her more than ever. As you can see, there was plenty of time spent on my own. I didn’t talk to that many folks, albeit a few close friends, and leaned into my family. I found power in being by myself. After a while, I had all these songs to play, and wanted to share them. I think we all understood what it’s like to question home, intention, demons, love…I think most people understand that.”

Trinity Lane will be available digitally, on CD, as well as LP and can be pre-ordered now via PledgeMusic. Hiatt will celebrate the album at a Nashville release party at Fond Object on Aug. 25, and will also participate in the WEA/ADA Nashville Record Store Crawl on August 26th with an in-store performance at Grimey’s New & Preloved Music. She will also perform at the 18th annual Americanafest, and has announced additional Fall dates in support of the Old 97’s.

Trinity Lane Track Listing: 
1. All Kinds Of People
2. The Night David Bowie Died
3. Trinity Lane
4. Everything I Had
5. I Wanna Go Home
6. Imposter
7. Records
8. Different, I Guess
9. Rotterdam
10. Sucker
11. So Much You Don’t Know
12. See Ya Later