Live In The Vineyard, a private music, food and wine festival, has announced artist additions to the special 10-year anniversary event, which includes previously announced multi-Platinum selling artists Jason Mraz, Jewel, and Matt Nathanson.

Joining the line-up will be Rita Wilson, Cassadee Pope, Maggie Rose, Blaine Mitchell, Haley Reinhart, Patrick Droney, and Seth Ennis. Also set to perform as part of an exclusive “Country Track,” for a small group of winners that will be picked by radio stations including KKGO, KRTY, KWBL, KNCI and more, will be LOCASH, Tegan Marie, Tyler Rich, Clare Dunn, Haley & Michaels, and Lucas Hoge.

Live In The Vineyard will take place in Napa Valley, California Nov. 1-4, giving attendees access to stripped-down acoustic performances by well-known as well as emerging artists.

Previously announced LITV performers who will be a part of the special 10th-anniversary celebration of singer-songwriters are Emily Bear, Dean Lewis, Whitney Woerz, Andreas Moss and songwriters Jon Randall and Liz Rose. Artists performing at private events for VIPs only throughout the weekend will include Michael Franti, Mat Kearney, Blue October, Victoria Canal, Rachel Reinert, Brynn Elliott, Emerson Hart, Logan Brill, Jade Bird, William Prince, Dashboard Confessional, Just Loud, JD & The Straight Shot and more.

Kinkead Entertainment Signs Juliana Hale

Juliana Hale

The Kinkead Entertainment Agency has signed Juliana Hale to its roster. Hale released the EP Small Talk in May, and is produced by Skidd Mills.

Mitchell Tenpenny Celebrates Album Announcement

Mitchell Tenpenny

Mitchell Tenpenny toasted the announcement of his forthcoming major label debut album, Telling All My Secrets, during an event held Oct. 10 at The Cowan at Topgolf in Nashville. Nashville native Tenpenny celebrated the “full circle” moment by performing six songs from the upcoming Riser House/Columbia Nashville album, including his Top 15 single “Drunk Me,” which earned Tenpenny his first gold plaque. Telling All My Secrets releases Dec. 14.

“Happy Endings” Tour For Warner’s High Valley, Michael Ray, John Esposito

Pictured (L-R): Michael Ray; High Valley’s Curtis Rempel; Shari Roth (Manager of Regional Radio & Streaming, WMN); Billy Kidd (APD, WBEE); John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, WMN); High Valley’s Brad Rempel

Warner Music Nashville’s High Valley and Michael Ray kicked weekend two of Old Dominion’s “Happy Endings” world tour off in Amarillo, Texas recently. The duo and Ray are pictured above in Rochester, New York with radio friends and WMN Chairman & CEO John Esposito.

Exile Signs With High Performance Entertainment

Exile

Band Exile has signed with High Performance Entertainment, started by long-time agent David Kiswiney. Kiswiney spent nearly 24 years with the recently-closed Buddy Lee Attractions booking agency. David Kiswiney / High Performance Entertainment can be reached at [email protected] or 615.812.1972.

In September, RIAA certified 316 songs and 29 albums in its Gold & Platinum Awards.

Among those albums was Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes, which is now officially a Platinum-selling project.

For single shipments, Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” and “Head Over Boots” are both certified double Platinum. Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” also enters the double Platinum territory while Pardi’s “Heartache On The Dancefloor” reached Platinum last month. LANCO‘s “Greatest Love Story” is now Platinum.

For Gold singles, Mitchell Tenpenny‘s “Drunk Me” was on the list alongside Dylan Scott‘s “Hooked” and Russell Dickerson‘s “Blue Tacoma.”

TobyMac drew from both the personal and the political for his new album, The Elements, which releases today (Oct. 12), three years after his Grammy-winning, Gold-certified 2015 project This Is Not A Test.

“Every day there are things you set out to do but at the end of the day, there can be this crazy-world beat down, so I labeled those things ‘the elements,’” he says in describing the album’s title track. For the new album, he continued work with Bryan Fowler and David Garcia.

Vulnerable album track “Scars” was partly inspired by McKeehan’s son Truett, who is pursuing his own musical dreams in Los Angeles.

“I wrote that about a few different relationships but it started centering on my son, and just wanting him to know he is not alone, but at the same time, I want him to experience his own life. Watching people get cuts and bruises in this big crazy world, it’s hard. It’s kind of from that perspective.”

Perhaps the album’s most arresting track comes with “Starts With Me,” featuring CCM rap artist Aaron Cole. TobyMac penned the track, which takes a stark look at racism in America, nearly two years ago. After finishing the production work on the song with Cole Walowac with Capital Kings, Tobymac still felt the song was lacking.

“I thought what if there was another dimension to the song rather than just me?” TobyMac says. “What if it was both sides of this whole race situation that we have in America speaking out? Aaron is an amazing singer and songwriter. I love the fact that it speaks from both sides. I think until we are ready to be that honest with each other and really look at our history and recognize and discuss, then I don’t think true healing will happen.

“I think it comes down to forgiveness, confession and then filling those cracks with deep compassion, I think we can begin. I don’t think it’s a societal, one thing–it starts with each individual and I’m trying to be that in my life. If we can all individually be more aware, I think we can start to see societal change.”

The track also touches on various viewpoints that are passed down through generations, again drawing from his own childhood.

“I think for me when I was growing up…there was never any blatant racism, but there were things said that my dad told me that his dad said, and things that my dad told me that were just subtly racist, and just not where I want to be, you know? And not what I want to pass down to my own children. They were coming from a whole different era, and just to be able to look at those things and sort of recognize the subtle prejudice in them, and say it and name it, and begin to heal from it and change what you are passing down, I think that is really important stuff.”

Since putting out his first album as part of breakthrough CCM group DC Talk in 1989, and through his own solo albums, including 2004’s impactful Welcome To Diverse City, TobyMac has never shied away from confronting racism in its various forms. His Diverse City Band, which he has toured with for more than 15 years, represents a myriad of cultures.

“On the road, we are transparent, we laugh a lot, cry a lot and fight a lot,” he laughs. “We are family. We are close but we are also willing to be honest with each other and I think those relationships, when things happen in society, we discuss them. There have been societal things that are hard, with race relations and to be in a mixed household and in a mixed band, there are all kinds of conversations happening, discussing what the right answers are and how to look at things on a deeper level.

“I’ve gone through years of walking with African American friends and seeing many incidents firsthand, so I think if people have never walked closely with someone of another culture or race, it might be difficult to spot or you might be naive to it. But if you open your eyes and heart and become sensitive and aware, you start to see it, and it might open your heart to confession and forgiveness and compassion.”

Aiming to give fans the first listen, TobyMac traveled across the country this week premiering the record to an intimate group of listeners in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Nashville. The fans, gathered through social media and radio stations, were also treated to an evening of Topgolf, harkening back to the 7X GRAMMY® winner’s favorite sport.

Throughout the album, which he wrote both at home and on the road, TobyMac drew deeply from his life over the past three years.

“When I write fictional, people don’t tend to relate as well. When I’m just honest and write about my own life and my own struggles, or the times I was there for someone or when I wasn’t, when I write those things, it tends to resonate with people on a deeper level, because I think people aren’t that different from one another.”