Provident Label Group’s Casting Crowns, along with members of their label, legal, and management teams recently gathered to celebrate the group selling more than 10 million albums since their debut album released in 2003. The group earned its most recent Dove Award earlier this week, for Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year.

The group’s most recent album was 2016’s The Very Next Thing.

One listen to Warner Music Nashville artist Morgan Evans and it’s clear why he’s already drawing comparisons to Keith Urban: the stellar guitar work, songwriting that blends elements of rootsy country with arena rock and catchy pop hooks, the easygoing personality and boyish energy he exudes onstage. And, yes, he is Australian.

Just don’t call him a newcomer. Though fresh to the American country scene, Evans was previously signed with Warner Australia, and released two EPs and a full-length album. For the past decade, he’s split his time between Nashville and Australia in pursuit of his career.

“I grew up listening to American music. All the music I created sounded like it came from here,” Evans says. Evans includes Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Garth Brooks among his influences. But Evans was quick to point to a Keith Urban concert in Evans’ hometown of New Castle, Australia as a pivotal moment in his own musical evolution.

“He had just released Golden Road here and he was playing ‘Somebody Like You’ and I was like, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.’ That was the first I’d ever seen all that rock n’ roll stuff  and the old country stuff I grew up listening to, all put together. Keith was one of the first guys that did that in a way that just made sense to me, so it made sense to come here.”

Three years ago, Evans made the decision to move to Nashville full-time, after having made the intercontinental round trip nine times in a single year. “I made that flight 18 times, which means I was basically spending about a month on a plane. That made the decision pretty easy.”

Eventually, Warner Australia released Evans to be signed by its American country counterpart, Warner Nashville.

During a preview performance at the MusicRow offices, Evans brought several tracks, including “Everything Changes,” and his debut single, “Kiss Somebody.”

Though the track officially goes to country radio in less than two weeks, the track has already garnered 7.5 million streams on Spotify.

Armed with a guitar and a Loop Station that he dubbed his “American Band,” Evans built a swirl of beats, snaps, and guitar rhythms, instantly recording and playing back layers of vocal harmonies to cradle his own.

The Loop Station also serves as a talking point to invite fans deeper into his musical approach during live shows.

“When I go see a show, and I don’t know who the opening act is, I sometimes feel like they are playing music at me, because I’m trying to talk to someone and I’m yelling. Now, I’m playing to a lot of people who’ve never heard me before so I can introduce myself and make music a conversation.”

“I’ve been writing a lot of love songs lately,” said Evans, who is engaged to Black River Entertainment’s Kelsea Ballerini. The two singer-songwriters met when they were paired to co-host Australia’s CMC Music Awards in March 2016. “We are getting married in a couple of months so [that show] worked out really well for me. Hopefully, for her, too.” he quipped.

With that, he previewed “I Do,” penned with Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. DeStefano has signed on to produce Evans’ upcoming album.

Though soon to be married to another talented songwriter, Evans says he and Ballerini tend to keep their writing separate.

“We were stuck in an airport the other day and we rewrote Sam Hunt’s ‘Body Like A Back Road,’ for skinny girls. We called it ‘Body Like A Side Street.’” He said jokingly. “Most of the time, we try to keep our writing as separate as possible so when we are home, we are home.”

He closed with “Young Again,” is a sing-a-long ready song filled jangly, shimmering fretwork, and seemingly perfectly ready for performance in an Irish pub, and definitely appropriate for America’s fun-loving country crowds. “The American country crowd is a pretty hardcore party crowd,” he summed.

Evans is managed by Fitzgerald Hartley in Nashville, and Rob Potts Entertainment Edge in Australia.

Stranger Friends Unveil EP at Nashville Event

Stranger Friends, the duo comprised of Nashville songwriters John Martin and Jamie Floyd, unveiled music from their self-titled EP at an industry showcase at The Back Corner on Wednesday night (Oct. 18). The duo’s EP was released today (Oct. 20).

The band will headline the Broken Wheel Concert Series in Nolensville, Tennessee, on Saturday (Oct. 21). In addition, Floyd and Martin will participate in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Songwriter Session on Dec. 23.

 

SESAC Celebrates Margo Price Album Release

SESAC affiliates Jeremy Ivey and Margo Price and SESAC Manager of Creative Services ET Brown celebrated Price’s upcoming album All American Made at an album pre-release show at Grimey’s in Nashville on Tuesday (Oct. 17).  The new album was released today (Oct. 20).

 

SESAC Team Members Attend Dove Awards

SESAC affiliate Jimi Cravity and SESAC Creative Services team members Greggory Smith and Cristina Wheeler attended the 48th Annual Dove Awards on Tuesday night (Oct. 17) in Nashville.

 

BMI Hosts Dove Awards After Party

BMI and the Gospel Music Association celebrated another successful year of Christian music with an after party following the 48th Annual Dove Awards on Tuesday night (Oct. 17). The BMI lobby was packed with industry insiders and Dove award winners and nominees, including New Artist of the Year winner Zach Williams.

 

BMI, Wrangler Kick Off Weekend Two of ACL Fest

Last week, BMI and Wrangler kicked off weekend two of the Austin City Limits Music Festival with a celebration of music and fashion. The well-attended Howdy Texas party was held at the Yeti Flagship Store and featured performances by BMI’s Walker Lukens and Liz Cooper & the Stampede. The bands were outfitted in a variety of vintage-inspired Wrangler collections and guests were given the opportunity to take home free limited edition merchandise custom stitched by Fort Lonesome.

 

Academy of Country Music Welcomes Lee Brice, Levon

The Academy of Country Music welcomed Curb Records recording artist Lee Brice to the office while he was in Los Angeles recently. While at the Academy, Brice performed his new single, “Boy,” and previewed songs from his upcoming self-titled album out Nov. 3, Lee Brice.

Columbia Nashville/Epic Records recording group Levon also visited the Los Angeles office and performed their current single, “Ms. Marianne,” and other songs from their self-titled EP, Levon.

Click here to watch a video from Levon’s visit featuring an exclusive interview and clips from their performance.

 

 

One of my favorite nightspots has been “supersized.”

At the grand opening of the new Listening Room on Thursday (Oct. 19), I couldn’t get over how vast and cool the new space is. “It’s a lot bigger than I thought I wanted,” said owner Chris Blair. “But the building and the location were just too good to pass up.”

The old room, down the hill on Second Avenue, held 180. The new space, in the old International Harvester building at 618 4th Ave. S. has a capacity of 350. It has a balcony above the bar. It has an adjacent restaurant with 150 more seats and a spacious patio that holds another 100. Plus, there’s a private meeting room with a groovy conference table and the building’s original antique boiler.

The vibe is clean and industrial contrasted with warm, vintage-wood tables and doors, all built by Blair, himself. What’s even better is how great the place SOUNDS. Entertaining at the open house was the male-female duo Smithfield, harmonizing beautifully. The sight lines from every table are completely clear and the audio was consistently
pristine throughout the space.

In case you’re wondering, yes, Carly Pearce has been to the new venue. “She just had her CD-release party here,” Blair reported. That was two weeks ago, when the construction dust was still settling.

Carly is one of the Listening Room’s most illustrious graduates. Since 2014, the venue has been the home of the weekly Song Suffragettes showcases, where Carly got her Nashville start. She estimates that she performed at least 150 times at the old Listening Room.

Over the years, the club has also hosted then-unknowns ranging from Keith Urban to Chris Stapleton, not to mention attractions like Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss. For several years, the old Listening Room hosted the annual Grammy viewing parties.

I have a feeling that the new Listening Room is poised to host even greater soirees. For one thing, it is in the heart of what could become a music-mecca neighborhood.

 

Here’s why: Head east from Music Row down Division Street past Frugal MacDoogal Liquors, and you’ll find that the new SoBro bridge drops you practically at the front door of The Listening Room, Rocketown and the new second location of the Fond Object hipster venue/record shop. Go one block further east and you’re at the doorstep of 3rd & Lindsley.

The new bridge makes all of these venues suddenly “neighbors” of Music Row. It’s also a shortcut to City Winery, if you turn left onto Lafayette when you come down off the ramp.

The divine Ronna Rubin tub thumped for the grand opening of The Listening Room. Lightning 100’s Rev. Keith Coes and Gary Kraen schmoozed. Jennifer Bohler, Lisa Konicki and Fred Pierson mingled.

So did Channel 5’s Jesse Knutson, The Recording Academy’s Nathan Pyle, singer-songwriter Electra Mustaine (daughter of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, who is also a Nashville resident), Craig Campbell, Neal Spielberg, Tom Roland, Nikki Boon, Heather Middleton, Chase Armstrong, April Macri and Lesley Albert.

While the music wafted, we snacked on pulled-pork crostini with cranberries, bacon-wrapped apple wedges, veggie skewers and flatbreads with buffalo and/or spinach-artichoke dip. There’s a smoker out back, so the restaurant menu is full of fresh, tasty stuff.

Did I mention that there’s a cheap parking lot next to the new venue? And valet service?