Luke Combs Inks Columbia Sportswear Deal

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Luke Combs has teamed with outdoor apparel company Columbia Sportswear for a multi-level integrated partnership. Columbia launches the collaboration today spotlighting Combs’ passion for fishing and the outdoors in a video following the country star and his songwriting friends on a deep sea fishing excursion to Los Barriles, Mexico.

Combs’ history with Columbia extends back to the early days of launching his music career in his Boone, North Carolina college town. The Asheville-native initially began wearing a black Columbia PFG shirt that features venting and wicking fabrics, during his high-energy shows at jam packed venues where oftentimes the air conditioning would be sparse and rooms booked over capacity. As the breakthrough artist’s career catapulted to new levels of platinum singles, sold-out tours and multiple award show nominations, Columbia’s black PFG became a hallmark component of Combs’ live show performance.

“I have always loved my PFG shirts, all the way back to high school. When I started to play the club runs early on, the rooms were so hot, and I wanted to be as comfortable as possible for the 90 minutes we were playing. The only shirt I owned that could do that was the PFG, so it quickly became my go-to every time I perform,” shares Combs. “Teaming up with the Columbia family is exciting for me because of our shared love of music and the outdoors. From deep sea fishing to packed out arenas, PFG has always been with me on and off the stage.”

Combs will release This One’s For You Too, a 17-track deluxe version of his Gold-certified album, on June 1 via River House Artists/Columbia Nashville.

Spotify, Instagram Allow Users To Share New Songs Via Instagram Stories

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Spotify and Instagram have partnered to allow users to share the latest music they are listening to via Instagram Stories or Instagram Direct.

The new feature can be accessed on Spotify’s share menu, by tapping the Instagram Stories option. Users can enhance the pic with custom cover art stickers using Instagram’s editing tools for each song, album, artist or playlist.

When other users see a shared song on Instagram, they can then press the “Play On Spotify” button on their screen to hear the music on Spotify.

Russell Dickerson Shares “Yours” No. 1 With Co-Writers Casey Brown, Parker Welling

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SESAC songwriter Casey Brown, BMI songwriter Russell Dickerson, BMI songwriter Parker Welling. Photo: Steve Lowry

“I was trying to be somebody else—Keith Urban or whoever else was cool—and the songs just weren’t working,” confessed Russell Dickerson of “Yours,” the song he wrote over four years ago with his Belmont University alumni. “You all know me because we’re family, and they didn’t let me write songs that weren’t me. It just clicked because you understand my artistry and believe in me…And it wasn’t until we wrote this song that anyone started to listen. I knew we had a No. 1 song from the bottom of my heart, and I wasn’t going to give up till this song went No. 1.”

The Triple Tigers recording artist’s success was a rarity, in that it was the first No. 1 for the label, first No. 1 for the artist, and first country No. 1 for each writer—Dickerson, Casey Brown and Parker Welling.

BMI’s Leslie Roberts presided over the No. 1 party, which was held at the offices of Nashville App developer Aloompa. Roberts presented her writers —Dickerson and Welling— with BMI No. 1 Taylor guitars.

SESAC’s ET Brown, also a Belmont graduate, was thrilled to congratulate his writer, on behalf of the PRO’s event sponsor Bose.

Welling teased her publisher Jeffrey Steele and Darrell Brown.

“I’m the lone female on a guy’s record,” said Welling. “Before this write four years ago, I prayed we would write something that changed the sound of country music. We wrote this love song about our spouses four years ago when country radio was a bunch of hookup songs.”

Brown was recognized by current BMG Nashville head Kos Weaver as the reason the publishing company signed Dickerson. Weaver brought up additional reps, including label GM Norbert Nix (David Macias could not attend) and Triple 8’s George Couri, Bruce Kalmick, in addition to manager John Dennis.

“Having suffered through the downturn in the music business, the digital revolution has brought more people from around the world to consume more music than they ever have,” noted Weaver. “So it’s great having a record company opening it’s doors and starting with a great artist. This song streamed at an amazing amount thanks to the effort from you and John Dennis.”

Pictured (L-R): Triple Tigers Records’ Bruce Kalmick, Dennis Entertainment’s John Dennis, Essential Music’s Terry Hemmings, SESAC’s ET Brown, Essential Music’s Holly Zabka, 3 Ring Circus’ Jeffrey Steele, BMI’s Leslie Roberts, 3 Ring Circus’ Darrell Franklin, Triple Tiger Records’ George Couri, Triple Tiger Records’ Norbert Nix and BMG’s Kos Weaver. Photo: Steve Lowry

Nix and Dickerson personally thanked John Marks, who began his support for Dickerson while at SiriusXM before moving to Spotify, where the song has streamed 95 million times.

“Russell put an EP together and was on the road for six years, slugging it out with John Dennis and agency CAA,” said Nix. “We started hearing these venues were selling out and we couldn’t figure it out. Then country radio jumped on it—this couldn’t have happened without radio.”

“John Dennis found me, I guess through CAA, because I signed with them in 2010,” said Dickerson. “We had nothing when Darrell [Franklin] signed me, not even this song. Thank you for trusting us to come up with something and taking a chance. Almost four years to the day we wrote this song, and it went No. 1. I want y’all to know we fought for this one song for four years from the day we wrote it, we listened to it 300 times that day and didn’t stop.”

Casey Brown, who also produced the track, was honored by his first publisher, Holly Zabka of Essential Music Publishing.

“I’m relly happy I asked you to write that one time,” confessed Brown to Dickerson. “I am never the guy to ask people to write. That’s the first time, and I’ll probably stop while I’m ahead.

“Parker, you’re at my house most days of the week. I’m really thankful this happened with friends. We hung out with each other before we were working together in any professional capacity.”

MusicRow‘s Sherod Robertson offered No. 1 Challenge Coins for the No. 1 success of “Yours” on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart. BMI’s financial partner for No. 1 parties is Pinnacle Bank, from which David Smith spoke. Brooke Sanders with CRB noted the song has recieved 297,000 spins, reaching a total audience of 1.39 billion through the airwaves. Country Aircheck‘s Lon Helton also spoke.

Justin Moore Preps Headlining Ryman Auditorium Show, ‘90s Country-Influenced Album

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Justin Moore‘s most recent RIAA certified Gold single “Somebody Else Will” might have come as a surprise to some fans, with its use of polished beats and smooth, spacey guitar riffs, over which Moore’s vocals held the slightest shadings of R&B. But now the singer-songwriter is following that with what will be his most traditional country-leaning album yet.

“I’ve always said if I could go make the album I wanted to make and didn’t have to worry about what anybody else thought, I would put out an album that sounds like it came out in 1992,” Moore tells MusicRow. “I’ve said that for so long, that I thought, ‘Well, why don’t I just go ahead and do that?’”

In its early stages, the as-yet-untitled album will be Moore’s fifth for The Valory Music Co., and follows 2016’s Kinda Don’t Care, which produced two gold singles, the aforementioned “Somebody Else Will,” and “You Look Like I Need A Drink.” This time, Moore is doubling down on his hybrid country and Southern rock sound, calling on longtime writing buddies including Rhett Akins and David Lee Murphy, who each had their own charting singles as artists in the ‘90s. Akins hit with “Don’t Get Me Started” and “That Ain’t My Truck” (which remains a frequent country radio recurrent), while Murphy’s ’90s hits include “Dust On The Bottle” and “Party Crowd” (and most recently, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” his duet with Kenny Chesney). Moore also reunited with longtime producer and co-writer Jeremy Stover on the new project.

But first, Moore will hit a new career milestone on Wednesday evening (May 2), bringing his Hell On A Highway Tour to Nashville’s mother church, the Ryman Auditorium, for his inaugural headlining show at the historic venue.

“We’ve done a lot of charity events, but it’s our first time bringing our show to the Ryman and to Nashville at all, which is hard to believe,” says Moore, who released his first album nearly a decade ago.

For his Ryman show, Moore will welcome new UMG Nashville singer-songwriter Travis Denning, whose debut single features the wordy title “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs” and lyrics devoted to college days and a fake ID. Also on the bill is “The Difference” singer and Moore’s BMLG labelmate Tyler Rich. In true Nashville fashion, Moore says fans can expect a few surprises.

“We are definitely going to have some buddies show up, and I’m excited about that. Any time you have the opportunity to walk onstage at the Ryman—I’m such a huge fan and have such a huge respect for the history of country music.”

Hours before his Ryman show, Moore will meet with executives at Big Machine Label Group to sift through nearly 50 potential songs for the new album.

“I’ve been writing a ton, probably more than I have since the very beginning of my career. We will try to whittle the songs down to 20.”

Though Moore has a wealth of material for his upcoming project, don’t expect a sneak preview of the songs during tonight’s Ryman show.

“Some of the songs are like a week old. My band hasn’t even heard them,” Moore says. “The last thing I want to do is screw up a new song on a Ryman show. But hopefully we will get in the studio this summer.”

Faster Horses Reveals Next From Nashville Stage Lineup

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The Faster Horses Festival, set for July 20-22 in Brooklyn, Michigan, has announced the stacked lineup for its “Next From Nashville” stage. This year’s lineup includes Brown & Gray, Austin Burke, Cale Dodds, Jillian Jacqueline, Nikki Lane, James Barker Band, Jon Langston, Brandon Lay, Delta Rae, Jameson Rodgers, Dylan Schneider, The Wild Feathers, Charlie Worsham, and more.

The taste-making stage has become a highlight of the festival and this year’s roster joins previously-announced headliners Brooks & Dunn, Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, Brantley Gilbert and more who will take the main stage for three days of entertainment at the sleepover festival. Passes are available now at fasterhorsesfestival.com.

Dick Clark Productions Promotes Ben Roy To VP Role

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Ben Roy

Ben Roy has been promoted to Vice President of Programming & Development for dick clark productions. In this role, Roy will oversee production of all sponsorship integrations, including perennials like the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest and the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Roy recently served as Co-Executive Producer for the Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special and Co-Executive Producer of the Golden Globe 75th Anniversary Special. Roy reports to dick clark productions’ EVP of Programming & Development, Mark Bracco.

“Ben’s sharp eye and instincts have made him a great asset in both production and development at DCP,” said Bracco. “I look forward to working closely with him for many years to come.”

Prior to joining dcp, Roy worked under live TV Producer and Director, Don Mischer for six years. While at Don Mischer Productions, he worked on three Academy Awards, four Emmy Awards, Don Rickles: One Night Only, FOX 25th Anniversary Special, China’s Huading Awards, and the “9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero.” Additionally, Roy has worked in development at Warner Bros. Studios and DreamWorks casting for film, television and animation. A native of New Hampshire, Roy graduated from the S.I. NewHouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a Bachelor’s in Television, Radio & Film.

EXCLUSIVE: Tony Brown Talks New Book ‘Elvis, Strait, To Jesus’

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Tony Brown is releasing a new coffee table book featuring exclusive photographs and stories about his more than 40-year career as one of Nashville’s leading producers and executives.

Elvis, Strait, To Jesus showcases the people who have played pivotal roles in Brown’s life, dating back to his early career playing Southern gospel music with JD Sumner and The Stamps Quartet, which lead to work with Elvis Presley, and then through Nashville’s ‘90s boom where he produced multi-platinum albums by George Strait and many others.

Each person in the book was photographed in a French Renaissance chair, which belongs to Brown. Alongside photos from throughout his career, Brown and collaborators Rick Caballo and Melissa Core-Caballo, created new photographs using Brown’s chair as the backdrop. They even drove the chair to Atlanta for a photo shoot with Lyle Lovett, and to a Nashville recording studio to meet up with Strait.

Brown recalls, “George lives in San Antonio and he was coming to town to work on his new album, so I took the chair down to Chuck Ainlay’s studio and put up the black backdrop. I said ‘George, I’m glad you came in for this because you’re in the title, and the other two guys aren’t around anymore.’ He looked at me with that little George Strait smirk and chuckled.”

When it was time to photograph legendary producer and executive Jimmy Bowen, Brown took the opposite approach. “Jimmy Bowen was the guy who gave me my shot,” he says. “He lives in Phoenix and he couldn’t fly here, so I flew out to sit in his chair, because I wouldn’t even have a book without him.”

Also featured in the book are Lionel Richie, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, Joe Cocker, Steve Earle, Patty Loveless, Jimmy Buffett, Barbra Streisand and many more.

“I hadn’t seen some of those people, like Jerry Bradley, in 20 years, so it was fun catching up with them. It made me realize how lucky I’ve been in my life. I have been so blessed.”

Growing up in North Carolina, Brown’s father was an evangelist. At age 13, a lady at church taught him to play piano. “I believe in destiny,” he says. “I picked up on my gift. I paid attention. Being raised in a religious family, a poor family, gave me a set of morals and values.”

His first job in music was playing piano with JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet. He left that gig to play with The Oak Ridge Boys, before Donnie Sumner (JD’s nephew) tapped him to join his group called Voice, which was working with Elvis. [Donnie and William Lee Golden are both in the book.]

“Our job was to play songs around Elvis’ house in Palm Springs, or Beverly Hills or Graceland, wherever he was. He eventually added us to his tour to open for the comedian Jackie Kahane. After our set, I would watch Elvis’ piano player Glen D. Hardin during Elvis’ set. About a year and a half into the gig, Glen was tapped to do Emmylou Harris’ tour, and I got his gig with Elvis. Elvis’ last show was in Indianapolis on June 26, 1977. On Aug. 16, we were at the airport getting ready to go on the next tour when we found out he had died.”

Following Elvis’ death, Brown landed in Nashville. “I got a job pitching songs for David Briggs’ publishing company. He played electric piano for Elvis, and I played acoustic piano. Then Glen D. quit Emmylou’s tour and I auditioned and got that job. They were going on tour with John Denver for a year. I accidentally followed in Glen D.’s footsteps and it led to a lot of good things, so he is in the book. With Emmylou, I met Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash and Vince Gill.

“When I first got in the business, Jerry Crutchfield, Tom Collins, Bob Montgomery, James Stroud, and Jimmy Bowen were producing all the records. I was the new guy in town. I kept wondering, ‘How do you get into that?’ Now I’m one of the old guards and all these new cats are guys that were pitching songs to me. Michael Knox, who produces Jason Aldean, used to pitch me all these great Warner/Chappell songs for George Strait. Jeff Stevens, who used to write all the songs, is now producing Luke Bryan. It’s interesting to see how the cycle changes. I look back on my life and I’m glad I was sitting in my chair during those golden years, when Soundscan started and everybody realized country music was selling records. Every label had about five or six multiplatinum acts. It’s just not that way anymore. My first George Strait and Wynonna Judd records sold 6 million each.

“As I got bigger and bigger in the industry, I realized celebrities, to me, weren’t just singers and actors, they were record executives and musicians and songwriters.”

That’s why Elvis, Strait, To Jesus showcases all the people who were crucial to Brown’s destiny. “You sometimes take for granted the things that have happened to you,” he sums, “but you look back and there’s a common thread.”

Brown is also grateful to his collaborators and says he couldn’t have done the book without them. “Rick and Melissa are completely God sent. We did it together and it’s been a lot of fun.”

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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will host a book signing for Elvis, Strait, to Jesus: An Iconic Producer’s Journey with Legends of Rock ‘N’ Roll, Country & Gospel Music on Thursday, May 3 at 1 p.m. in the museum’s 5th Avenue lobby. The event is free and open to the public.

Elvis, Strait, to Jesus is published by Center Street with design and creative direction by Dead Horse Branding’s Rick Caballo. Photography by Rick and Melissa Core-Caballo is featured throughout the publication, accompanied by images from Brown’s personal archives.

To order, visit www.tonybrownenterprises.com.

VEVA Sound, Blackbird Studio Announce Co-Venture

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Blackbird Studio has added VEVA Sound, LLC to their studio facility located in the village of Berry Hill in Nashville. VEVA Sound, formerly BMS/Chace, is known for its media restoration, technical processes, and archival transfer facility services.

This co-venture allows clients to move easily from the technical transfer facility to the studio environment for playbacks, overdubs, remixes, project-preparations for mastering, and a number of other in-house production opportunities.

Blackbird Studio manager, Rolff Zwiep, mentioned, “This plan has been developing for some time and we are glad to make this announcement. We are excited about the future of this venture.”

VEVA Sound’s executive vice president, Deborah Fairchild, says, “VEVA Sound is thrilled to join forces with Blackbird Studio. Together we will continue to preserve the legendary catalogs from artists around the world with the level of detail and expertise they deserve.”

VEVA Sound was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Nashville, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and London. For 16 years VEVA Sound has worked to define, create, and implement the standards for how sound recordings are preserved and monetized. Through partnerships with The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing, The Library of Congress, DDEX, NDSA, and NDIP, the company has created technologies that allow clients to identify and properly credit their music collections, whether they be legacy recordings stored on analog to digital tape or current born digital projects.

Combined, each company has every piece of legacy tape equipment to accommodate the transfer of all recorded formats. Transfers at this facility will be housed within VEVA Sound’s state of the art platform, allowing artists to monetize their content with a click of a button. All metadata will be available to export via DDEX’s RIN message.

CMT, Switched On Entertainment Extend Production Agreement

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CMT has renewed its production deal with CMT veteran producer John Hamlin’s Switched On Entertainment.

As part of the multi-year production deal, Hamlin will continue to executive produce CMT’s music events including the CMT Music Awards, CMT Artists of the Year, and the long-running, critically-acclaimed, CMT Crossroads, with the option to develop new events and specials.

“John’s critical eye as a producer, deep relationships within the artist community and boundless affection for our brand has elevated our revered music series and specials to new critical and ratings highs,” said Frank Tanki, General Manager of CMT and TV Land. “We are thankful they remain in his capable hands.”

Prior to forming Switched On Entertainment, Hamlin served as CMT’s Senior Vice President of Music Events and Talent, overseeing all live music and event programming, talent booking and label relations for events and series. He is represented by WME.

National Shows 2 Enters Booking Agreement With Charleston’s Gaillard Center

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Nashville-based concert promotion company, National Shows 2 (NS2) has entered into an exclusive booking agreement with the Charleston Gaillard Center. This will be NS2’s second venue partnership in the area, expanding the company’s presence in the Charleston market. The agreement gives Ns2 exclusive booking rights to all national touring artists, comedians, and commercial children’s shows.  Local events including jazz, dance, classical and educational programming will continue to be promoted in-house by the Gaillard Center. 

The Gaillard Center will be the 5th venue in the country to be exclusively booked by NS2, which was founded in 2010 by Darin Lashinsky. In addition to the Charleston market, NS2’s venues include Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina; CMA Theater at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville; and Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“Entering into this partnership with the state-of-the art Gaillard Center affords NS2 the opportunity to continue to bring artists to a community that has been an integral part of our success. We look forward to growing Charleston’s vibrant entertainment scene, and increasing awareness throughout the music industry that this not a market to be overlooked,” said Darin Lashinsky, NS2 President.