Dark Horse Institute Adds Three

Pictured (L-R): Tom Willett, Cathy Baird, Jamie Nehasil

Audio engineering, production and music business school Dark Horse Institute has announced three new appointments.

Tom Willett has been named President, reporting to Founder & CEO Robin Crow. Willett toured and recorded extensively during the ‘60s and ‘70s, served as a booking agent and personal manager in Nashville for numerous artists in the ‘80s, and worked as an A&R executive and marketing VP at major labels in Los Angeles (Word/ABC; What?/A&M) and New York (Word/Epic/Sony Music) throughout the ‘90s. In 2001, he co-founded the Contemporary Music Center, the nation’s first artists’ colony for musicians on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA where he served as Creative Director of the fully-accredited music school for musicians, engineers and entrepreneurs. After relocating to Nashville in 2010, he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont University before becoming Director of Education at Dark Horse Institute.

Cathy Baird has been appointed Vice President of Academic Operations. Formerly Institutional Director at DHI, Baird has worked in the field of college admissions and operations for more than 14 years, including as Director of Enrollment of the Chef’s Academy at Harrison College, and Director of Admissions at Daymar College and Southwestern College, both in Kentucky. Baird holds degrees in Business Administration and Management from Volunteer State Community College and Triton College in Illinois.

Jamie Nehasil has joined the Music Business faculty at Dark Horse Institute. Nehasil brings decades of entertainment business experience to DHI students, having formerly served as Owner and President of Common Grounds Entertainment, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Black Fuel Music/220 Entertainment Group, and Director of Music and Marketing at Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group. He holds the MBA from the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University, a BGS in Business Management and Marketing from the University of Minnesota, and sits on the board of Franklin-based The Jam Camp.

Dark Horse Institute is authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and maintains studios, offices and classrooms at The Factory in Franklin, Tennessee.

Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker, Chris Young Set For ‘Evening With Scott Hamilton & Friends’

Sheryl Crow is joining Scott Hamilton for his second annual An Evening with Scott Hamilton & Friends Nashville Ice Show benefitting the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday, Nov. 19.

Crow, who is also a cancer survivor, will be joined on the show by Darius Rucker, Steve Cropper, Charles Esten (“Nashville”), MercyMe’s Bart Millard, Cassadee Pope and Chris Young.

Hosted by cancer survivor Scott Hamilton and special guest host/cancer survivor Peggy Fleming, the evening will simultaneously feature live music and skating from the biggest names in figure skating including Olympic, World and National champions Katia Gordeeva, Meryl Davis, Kurt BrowningJeffrey ButtleKimmie MeissnerJeremy Abbott, Michael Weiss, Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Steven Cousins, Sinead Kerr-Marshall & John Kerr, Kiira Korpi, and Kimberly Navarro & Brent Bommentre.

The night will also include the fan-favorite special performance by local skaters, who raise funds for the opportunity to perform in the show through the CARES Foundation’s Sk8 to Elimin8 Cancer peer-to-peer fundraising program.

Tickets are on-sale now at Bridgestone Arena Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets and ticketmaster.com. Tickets and sponsorship packages that include an After Show Celebration at the Omni Hotel featuring dinner, live music and a silent auction can be purchased at scottcares.org/events/evening-scott-hamilton-friends. Proceeds from the concert benefit the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation, dedicated to changing the future of cancer by funding advanced, innovative research that treats the cancer while sparing the patient. For more information, visit ScottCARES.org.

THiS Music, Warner/Chappell Nashville Sign Chris Stevens

Pictured (Back row, L-R): THiS Music’s Tim Nichols; Ben Vaughn, President WC Nashville; THiS Music’s Connie Harrington & Camille Kenny. Pictured (Front row, L-R): THiS Music’s Rusty Gaston; Chris Stevens; THiS Music’s Anna Weisband

THiS Music / Warner Chappell Nashville have signed Chris Stevens, a four-time Grammy-winning producer and songwriter from Eugene, Oregon. Stevens has worked with many of the top artists in Christian music including TobyMac, Mandisa and Colton Dixon.

Stevens did keyboard/programming work on the Carrie Underwood hit “Cowboy Cassanova,” and provided instrumental and programming work on Blake Shelton’s Red River Blue album. Stevens also has co-writing credits on Morgan Wallen’s EP The Way I Talk, and Lindsay Ell’s The Project, among others.

He’s a three-time BMI Christian Songwriter Of The Year Winner and a 12-time Dove Award recipient. Stevens’ songs can be found on current and upcoming country projects by Jason Aldean, Drew Baldridge, Justin Moore and Logan Mize.

THiS Music’s Rusty Gaston says, “I can’t thank Scott Hendricks enough for bringing Chris Stevens to our attention. Chris isn’t a “track guy,” he’s a world-class producer with the heart of a Music Row craftsman. His melodies grab your attention, while his lyrical ability holds you there. Our team can’t wait to add to the legacy that Chris has already begun.”

Emily Weisband’s Songwriting Evolution

For MusicRow’s newly-released 2017 Publisher Issue, we spoke with ASCAP songwriter Emily Weisband about her success and career development. For more on Weisband, purchase MusicRow’s 2017 Publisher print issue, or subscribe to MusicRow here.

Though still a relative newcomer in Nashville’s writing circles, THiS Music and Warner/Chappell writer Emily Weisband has already earned accolades eluding songwriters twice her age. This year, the Virginia native earned her first Grammy for Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song, as well as her first Dove Award nomination and MusicRow Award nomination.

Each of the accolades are for “Thy Will,” a track she co-wrote with Bernie Herms and Lady Antebellum member Hillary Scott, which Scott recorded for her family Christian/gospel album Love Remains.

“If I’m being honest, I was going through a hard time in my life. I didn’t feel a lot when we were writing that song,” Weisband candidly recalls of the writing session. “I wasn’t like the prized choice for writing a song like that. But the song, it’s just about dying to the situation. We just wanted to put a conversation you would have with God into music.

“It was cool, it was like a big thing to start the beginning of my career,” Weisband continues. “It felt like God saying, ‘Your career is going to be about me, no matter what kind of songs you write. I’m stamping this at the beginning of your career so you will always remember no matter what success you get that it came from me.’”

A lover of music since she was a child, Weisband has been writing songs since she was 11. What began as a hobby that allowed her to connect with her paternal father soon took hold, becoming her passion and ambition.

“The thing my father and I had was songwriting. I would come and write for an hour or two after school every day.”

Weisband studied songwriting at Nashville’s Belmont University, and landed a hybrid internship-songwriting deal with THiS Music’s Rusty Gaston. After she graduated, she officially became a full-fledged staff writer at the company.

Though Weisband grew up surrounded by the sounds of CCM and pop-punk music, she credits her songwriting peers in Nashville with maturing her own approach to writing.

“Growing up, I was kind of under the childish impression that if I was a Christian I could only write Christian songs. They were super cheesy and super bad but then I started experiencing more life,” she says. “Why can’t God be in a conversation about sex or love or heartbreak?”

Like many of her songwriter contemporaries in the under-30 set, no musical influence or genre is off-limits, and Weisband eagerly embraces inspiration in all its forms. She co-wrote Danielle Bradbery’s light-hearted single “Sway,” as well as “Gateway Love,” a track on Thomas Rhett’s new album. She has more CCM cuts, including “Stronger Than We Think,” which appears on Danny Gokey’s Rise album.

Through her journey writing songs with and for other singer-songwriters, Weisband began writing songs she says, “I can’t hear anybody else but me sing.” She has spent much time in Los Angeles recently, recording her own pop album with Twenty One Pilots producer Mike Elizondo.

“Two years ago I had no aspirations to be an artist,” she says of her organic shift from writer to artist-writer. “I was given three opportunities in the span of one week to make a record, and each offer was in a different genre—country, Christian and pop. The things I wanted to say would really only be accepted in a pop format, in a sense. There are some subject matters I found myself writing about that country radio probably wouldn’t dig and Christian radio definitely wouldn’t dig. It’s really not even a genre thing, the music just happens to sound more pop than anything else.”

As of now, there are no label plans in place for the album. “I don’t know what will happen or if anyone will even hear it.”

Regardless, Weisband considers herself first and foremost a songwriter, whether she is penning songs for other artists to interpret, or songs for her own album.

“I’m grateful to be a writer. I love standing in an arena and hearing people sing along to a song I wrote and nobody knows that I wrote it. It’s like my little secret. I love that feeling.”

Hannah Kerr Celebrating The Holidays With New EP ‘Emmanuel’ Oct. 20

Black River Christian’s Hannah Kerr is releasing her first holiday EP, Emmanuel, on Oct. 20. The six-song project produced by Mark Miller will be available in both digital and physical formats. Emmanuel includes seasonal favorites like “White Christmas,” “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” and two originals, “Emmanuel” co-written by Kerr, Andy Gullahorn and Jill Phillips, and “Christmas Eve in Bethlehem,” which she penned with Jason Earley.

“I’m so excited to release this EP,” Kerr said. “Christmas is my favorite holiday and always such a good reminder of the nearness of our Savior. I hope these songs bring peace and joy to everyone who listens to them. I’m praying that we will all be reminded of Emmanuel–our God who was with us on that first Christmas in Bethlehem, and who is with us now.”

Prior to heading out on the Everything or Nothing Tour with Carrollton, Kerr visited Seacrest Studios at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in partnership with Love Your Melon, a non-profit program that helps fight pediatric cancer and provides support for families of children battling cancer. Kerr spent time with many of the children and was able to share some songs with them, including her single “Warrior,” which is currently top 30 on the charts and rising.

James Robert Webb Salutes Military Sacrifice On New Single

James Robert Webb. Photo: Haley Crow

For James Robert Webb, his current single “American Beauty,” isn’t just another tribute song to the men and women who keep us safe and defend the freedoms we hold dear. It’s personal. Webb comes from a long line of military service, (his grandfather served under Patton during the Battle Of The Bulge and his father is an Army vet as well), so he was inspired to write the song in part to honor their sacrifices as well as those who serve today.

“I really wrote this song because military service is real big in my family – my grandfather served under Patton in World War II and when I was born, my dad was overseas actually in Germany in the Army, and so it’s really a song about when soldiers suit up and go and defend the country and leave behind those American Beauties.”

The song is among the tracks on Webb’s latest album, Honky Tonk Revival that was released in May. During a recent visit to the MusicRow Magazine offices, Webb performed a stripped-down version of the song as well as another tune from the project, “Heart Hangover,” that he penned with Alex Dooley.

James Robert Webb with MusicRow Magazine chart director Alex Kobrick. Photo: Haley Crow

Though the traditionalist wrote nearly every song on his new CD, he admitted he did reach back into the vaults to put his spin on a couple of classics for the record, including a tune he holds particularly dear and loved as a kid growing up, “Nobody In His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her.” He performed his version of the George Strait classic, explaining why he chose it for the new collection.

“I wrote most of this album, pretty much every song, but I took one outside song and I did two covers. And this is one of those songs I just love. It’s the first song I heard on country radio that it clicked in my head when I was a kid that songs can be clever – nobody in his right mind would’ve left her – and I love it. It’s a classic Strait song and I love Strait. It’s like number two in the honky tonk hymnal. And this version, we do it just a little bit more breezy and a little bit more modern.”

The Tulsa native has been busy touring the country in support of “American Beauty,” and chatted with staffers about how he balances his shows with his day job as a physician and also a dad to three kids as well.

“I still live in Tulsa but I travel to Nashville quite a bit to write. I’d like to make the move here, but I have three little kids at home, but my family has been really supportive of me traveling and performing. I’ve been on a radio tour and that’s my favorite thing about the MusicRow [CountryBreakout] chart is the indicators are supportive of any new artists, not just playing the 20-minute set playlists. And as an independent artist I really appreciate what MusicRow does from a perspective of encouraging that. And actually helping someone like me to get played on the radio. And also to be able to go out and make new fans at these stations that are actually playing us.”

James Robert Webb with MusicRow Magazine staffers.

Michael Ray Signs With Morris Higham Management

(L-R): Morris Higham Management’s Buffy Cooper; Mike Betterton, and Kyle Quigley. Front Row (L-R): Clint Higham, Michael Ray, and Dale Morris

Michael Ray has signed with Morris Higham Management Group, joining a roster that includes Kenny Chesney, Ryan Griffin, Brandon Lay, Old Dominion and Walker County.

Following two No. 1 singles and his first headlining tour last year, the Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville artist recently released his new single “Get To You,” and launched into the second half of 2017 with another headlining tour, the “Get To You Tour.”

“Michael is exactly the type of artist we look to work with,” said Clint Higham, President of Morris Higham Management. “His innate work ethic and passion for every aspect of his craft was evident from our first meeting, and I’m confident Michael has a big future ahead of him. We welcome Michael into our family and boutique roster where our goal is to build one career at a time.”

“I’m very excited and optimistic to be taking this step in my career,” Ray said. “I admire the work the Morris Higham Management does and their entire team exudes the energy and professionalism I know will help take my touring and recording to the next level.”

Nashville Fans, Songwriters Embrace Texas Artist Aaron Watson’s Down-Home Charm

Pictured (L-R): KRTY’s Nate Deaton, Aaron Watson, Spotify’s John Marks

Texas took over the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night (Oct. 4) with performer Aaron Watson and a slew of his singer/songwriter friends. Among them, Leslie Satcher, Jim Collins, Mickey Guyton and Jon Wolfe. The evening’s proceeds were donated to his home state’s Hurricane Harvey response efforts.

After taking the stage to, strangely enough, the strains of New Jersey-native Halsey’s cover of “Walk The Line,” Watson showed versatility and an embrace of today’s music scene. He for one is a remarkable success on streaming platforms Pandora and Spotify.

Watson, who has released 13 albums on his own independent label, has been a remarkable success on streaming platforms such as Pandora and Spotify. His 2015 album, The Underdog, debuted at the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart, making Watson the first independent male country artist to debut an album in the chart’s top slot. Earlier this year, the followup Vaquero debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, and topped the all-genre Indie Albums chart.

Texas troubadour Watson’s charm was on full display at his roadshow. Diehard fans were on their feet, raising cold ones at various times throughout the night to salute the troops and Jesus. Watson had the audience in the palm of his hand with his small-town, down-home anecdotes, including lamenting to the crowd about having to take out the trash at home.

With sincerity and vulnerability, Watson offered a story about the 2011 passing of his daughter, Julia Grace, who was born prematurely. Titles included “July In Cheyenne,” written with inspiration he received from Texas bull rider Lane Frost’s mother, Elsie, and “Bluebonnets,” dedicated to Julia, who would have been six this year.

Risers and trusses showed scars from years of heavy use on the Texas touring circuit. Watson’s team keeping his schedule booked so tightly includes CDA Entertainment’s Anthony “Gino” Genaro, with Thirty Tigers, and CAA’s Aaron Tannenbaum.

The star’s roadshow is not unlike the hardworking rodeo cowboys and self-employed rancher circuits he plays. Just a small-town boy, encroaching on a mainstream stage. And Nashville’s growing fan-base is clearly open-armed, as are its songwriters.

Opening acts included Satcher and Collins, both offering their respective George Strait cuts, “Troubadour” and “It Just Comes Natural.” Satcher’s set also included her latest single, “This Won’t Take Long,” from a new forthcoming effort 2 Days In Muscle Shoals. Collins rounded out the powerhouse songwriter set with Kenny Chesney’s “The Good Stuff” and Jason Aldean’s  “Big Green Tractor.”

Guyton’s acoustic set predictably included “Better Than You Left Me” “Nice Things” and “Why Baby Why.” The UMG newcomer’s vocal precision was also on display. Wolfe had the only full-band opening set, complete with steel guitar.

Harper Grae Releases Debut Album ‘Break Your Crowns’

Onerpm recording artist Harper Grae releases her debut album, Break Your Crowns, today (Oct. 6). Grae co-wrote nearly every track on the 10-song album, which was produced by Ethan Brewington and Josh Barker.

Among the writers on the album is Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Pat Alger. Grae also includes a cover of Garth Brooks’ “The Thunder Rolls” on the album. Grae recently released the album’s second single, “Good In Your Goodbye.”

“The tone of the album definitely reflects who I am as an artist, and where I am at this stage of life,” Grae explained. “It was important to me that my very first full album be one that actually says something, and also reflects the music I grew up listening to. We use lots of strings, like acoustic guitar, mandolin and even some banjo, as well as heavy percussion on the uptempo songs. It’s youthful and spirited, but also at times a little heavy and dark, like life. I’m really proud of the record and very appreciative of the great musicians and producers who helped me make this record.”

Grae moved to Nashville shortly after her run on the popular TV show Glee Project 2 to pursue a career in country music.

“Young Blood” (Shanna Henderson/Femke  Weidema)
“Dear Daddy” (Shanna Henderson/Pat Alger)
“Blame It On You” (Shanna Henderson/Corey Bost)
“Thunder Rolls” (Pat Alger/Garth Brooks)
“7 Years” (Joseph Thompson/Dave Baxter)
“Good In Your Goodbye” (Shanna Henderson/Molly Reed)
“True Love” (Shanna Henderson/Craig Wilson/Wendy Parr)
“Break Your Crowns” (Rand Walter)
“Free” (Shanna Henderson/Femke Weidema)
“Where My Heart Has Been” (Shanna Henderson/Rand Walter)

Australia Americana Music Celebrated At Inaugural Honors Night

(L-R:) Morgan Jahnig (Old Crow Medicine Show), Valerie June, Kasey Chambers, Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) and Kevin Welch. Photo: David Harris

The first annual Australian Americana Music Honors Night: A Roots Music Celebration took place at the Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne on Monday night (Oct. 2) with special Vanguard awards presented to artist Kasey Chambers and Out On the Weekend Festival Promoter Brian “BT” Taranto in recognition of their contributions to the genre and community of Americana.

Highlights from the evening included performances by Chambers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Valerie June, Busby Marou, Shane Howard, Bernard Fanning, Catherine Britt, Kevin Welch, Henry Wagons, Yirrmal, Emily Barker, Ruby Boots and Jordie Lane & The Sleepers.

The show will be broadcast on the Country Music Channel (CMC) in Australia early next year.