Watershed Music Festival Unveils DISH Presents Next From Nashville Stage Lineup

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Watershed Music and Camping Festival has unveiled this year’s lineup for the launching pad DISH Presents Next from Nashville stage. The festival is set to host some of Nashville’s up-and-coming acts, including: Dillon Carmichael, Cort Carpenter, Travis Denning, Ross Ellis, Caylee Hammack, Austin Jenckes, Lauren Jenkins, Brandon Lay, Steven Lee Olsen, Seaforth, Matt Stell and Waterloo Revival.

Previously announced acts include headliners Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band and Miranda Lambert—also with Pistol Annies—alongside Danielle Bradbery, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Cam, Cody Johnson, Midland, Kip Moore, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce, Randy Rogers Band, Michael Ray, Mitchell Tenpenny, Chris Young and Dee Jay Silver.

The three-day, two stage camping festival based in George, Washington, overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, will take place Aug. 2-4 at the Gorge Amphitheatre. For more information, visit watershedfest.com.

Trisha Yearwood Scores Highest Debut Of Career With New Single

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Trisha Yearwood made a triumphant return to country radio last week with her brand new single “Every Girl In This Town,” which was released on June 6. With 84 total adds, “Every Girl In This Town” marks Yearwood’s highest debut and biggest add day of her career, and the song is Billboard’s highest female debut of 2019 on the Country Airplay Chart, coming in at No. 21, and the No. 4 highest Billboard country radio debut of 2019.

Yearwood had a busy week last week, presenting at the CMT Awards Wednesday night (June 5) and joining Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker for a powerhouse performance of “Delta Dawn” along with Lauren Alaina, Carly Pearce, Martina McBride, RaeLynn and Deana Carter. CMA Fest also selected her as its Artist of the Day and hosted CMA Fest Artist of the Day—Every Girl: Trisha Yearwood and Friends.” She graced the CMA Close Up Stage for a very special performance and Q&A alongside friends Ashley McBryde, Lucie Silvas, and Karyn Rochelle. Shortly after, she visited the Spotify House in Nashville with another performance and closed out the weekend on Sunday with a special performance of “Every Girl In This Town” at Nissan Stadium.

The new song is the first taste of Yearwood’s upcoming first full-length country album since 2007’s critically acclaimed Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love, and follows on the heels of her 2019 Frank Sinatra homage, Let’s Be Frank.

AIMP Wraps Successful Third Annual Indie Music Publishing Summit In NYC

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Pictured (L-R): AIMP Nashville President John Ozier, AIMP National Chair and Los Angeles President Teri Nelson Carpenter, Diane Warren, and AIMP New York President Alisa Coleman. Photo: Gary Gershoff

The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) held its sold-out third annual Indie Music Publishing Summit yesterday at the 3 West Club in New York City. Highlights included keynotes from legendary songwriter Diane Warren, U.S. Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple, and music supervisor Sue Jacobs, as well as the release of new data on the state of independent music publishing, the first-ever Songwriter Track, and much more.

David Israelite, President of the NMPA; Mitch Glazier, President of the RIAA; Richard Burgess, President of the A2IM; and Teri Nelson-Carpenter, President & CEO of Reel Muzik Werks LLC and the AIMP’s National Chair and LA Chapter President came together onstage with moderator Robert Levine of Billboard for the “In Conversation with the US Alliance” panel, discussing what it took to pass the MMA and the challenges that still lie ahead for music rights-holders.

This year the AIMP also introduced a new Songwriter Track to the Summit, which culminated with the “Women in Song” panel in the Solarium. Featuring songwriters Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Michelle Lewis and moderated by attorney, musician, and NYU professor Judy Tint, the session was an in-depth discussion of what it means to be successful as a songwriter, from clearing samples, to learning to work with co-writers, to standing up for their own music.

Pictured (L-R): Michelle Lewis, Brandy Clark, Jessie Jo Dillon, and Judy Tint. Photo: Larry Busacca

Pictured (L-R): Robert Levine, Teri Nelson Carpenter, Richard James Burgess, Mitch Glazier, Alisa Coleman, John Ozier, and David Israelite. Photo: Gary Gershoff

Dan Hays Exits Franklin Theatre Post

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Dan Hays departed as Executive Director of the Franklin Theatre on June 10.

Hays was named Executive Director in 2011, a few months after the 300-seat venue reopened as a completely re-imagined state-of-the-art live music and performing arts center.

“What attracted me to this post was a compelling vision of what the theater could become, and a community invested in a quest for it to be the ‘Best 300 Seat Live Music Venue In The World,’” said Hays. “During my tenure, we’ve met or exceeded every expectation in that quest hosting almost 600 events and 80,000 ticketed patrons each year, extraordinary customer service ratings, helped raise over $5 million for area charities and provided a cultural and economic impact on Franklin I’m told was never imagined. The finances of the theater are, by all accounts, in extraordinary shape and our live music programming has built a national reputation for excellence in an intimate atmosphere unlike any other.”

The venue hosted a “who’s who” of music talents of all genres during that time including Art Garfunkel, Keb’ Mo’, Michael McDonald, Sheryl Crow, Michael W. Smith, Indigo Girls, Ricky Skaggs, Nick Lowe and hundreds more. The venue has also been host to a long list of broadcast and video productions during Hays’ tenure.

Prior to his work at the Franklin Theatre, Hays led the International Bluegrass Music Association for 22 years, during which time the organization relocated from Owensboro, Kentucky, to Music Row. He plans to remain involved in the entertainment industry, including such organizations as Leadership Music for which he and his wife Suzanne annually present leadership programs and discussions like “Win As Much As You Can.”

Luke Combs Invited To Join Grand Ole Opry

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Photo (c) 2019 David Bergman for Sony Records Nashville

Luke Combs can add another accolade to his growing tally. On June 11, he was invited to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. Craig Morgan, Chris Janson, and John Conlee offered the invite during Combs’ Tuesday night Opry performance.

Opry member Janson received his membership invitation last year; when Morgan received his invitation to join the Opry in 2008, it was Conlee who did the honors.

The moment comes on the heels of the release of Combs’ latest project The Prequel, and his win for CMT Performance of the Year at the 2019 CMT Music Awards, for his rendition of “Beautiful Crazy” from CMT Crossroads with Leon Bridges.

Combs also recently made history as the first artist to simultaneously top all five Billboard country charts for multiple weeks: Top Country Albums, Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs and Country Digital Song Sales (dated March 9, March 30 and April 6). Combs’ previous 2x Platinum single, “Beautiful Crazy,” spent seven-straight weeks at No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart, tying the second longest run atop the chart since its launch in 1990.

“Beautiful Crazy” is also the first country single shipped to radio already Platinum-certified since Taylor Swift’s “Red” in 2013, has more than 400 million on-demand streams.

The Prequel follows Combs’ double platinum certified debut album, This One’s For You. The album spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in 2018—making it the highest-selling country album last year with 1.1 million equivalent album units sold and the only country album to surpass 1 million album units.

On The Row: Erin Enderlin Adds Depth, Grit To Characters On New EP

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Erin Enderlin

In 2017, Erin Enderlin put an interesting twist on her album Whiskeytown Crier, allowing each of the songs on that album to introduce another character, all living and interacting in the fictional Whiskeytown.

She recently released a new four-song project, Chapter One: Tonight I Don’t Give a Damn, the first in a series of four EPs that allow her to further plumb the depths of the characters that settled in Whiskeytown.

“I decided to just take that even weirder and make mini-concept EPs. I get to follow one character through three songs on the EP.”

Two tracks, “Broken” and “Till It’s Gone,” are reprised for the new EP. “Broken” traces two young lovers from rough home lives, and the heart-wrenching decision a young mother makes to make sure certain those coping mechanisms aren’t passed on to her son.

A favored songwriter in Nashville’s music community, Enderlin has recently had her music included on Reba’s latest album. Others who have recorded her works include Alan Jackson (“Monday Morning Church”), Lee Ann Womack (“Last Call”), Luke Bryan (“You Don’t Know Jack”), Terri Clark, and Joey+Rory.

Enderlin visited the MusicRow offices to play a few songs from her new EP, Chapter One: Tonight I Don’t Give A Damn. Much like her coveted compositions, her guitar has a story, too.

“Jimmy signed it the first time I got to play the Opry,” she said, gesturing to the signature from the late Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens that adorns the instrument’s polished wood.

Before stepping onstage at the Grand Ole Opry as a performer, Enderlin was a Grand Ole Opry employee for about two years, and watched as Dickens and others took the stage each night.

“He just came in every night and was so positive and excited to be there and excited to give 150 percent,” she recalls.

The same could be said of Enderlin, whose talent and hustle has allowed her to pursue a career as both writer and artist.

Enderlin recently finished a string of performances opening for Jamey Johnson, who produced Whiskeytown Crier.

Chapter One is a collaboration between Enderlin’s Black Crow Productions and label partner Blaster Records, with management by Marty Winsch. A trio of music videos offer visual representations of Enderlin’s stories.  

“It’s interesting how we all hear these songs, like ‘Jesus take The Wheel,’ and with some songs, you know what happens to the character. What happened to the ‘Coat of Many Colors’ girl? She grew up to be Dolly Parton. But with Delta Dawn, it tells a bit of that story but what if there was another song about her falling in love with this guy and what happened to her later on? That’s really interesting for me to think about.”

She notes a second digital EP will be out by the end of June, followed by a third and fourth EP, with a physical release of the music slated before the end of the year.

 

 

Sony Music Nashville Promotes Three To Senior Director

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Paige Altone, Liz Cost, Jennifer Way

Marketing executives Paige Altone, Liz Cost, and Jennifer Way have been promoted to Senior Director of Marketing reporting directly to Sony Music Nashville CEO & Chairman Randy Goodman.

“These three outstanding executives are the central pillars in the successful marketing campaigns that have been essential to the ongoing success of our roster,” said Goodman. “They have each demonstrated creativity and strategic vision in breaking new artists, engaging consumers, as well as developing new opportunities for our established acts. These promotions aren’t just deserved, they are earned.”

Effective immediately, the newly announced Senior Directors of Marketing will be responsible for the strategy, development, and execution of targeted marketing campaigns and consumption growth for the Sony Music Nashville roster of artists.

Altone joined Sony Music Nashville as Manager of Marketing in 2016. In April 2018, she was promoted to Director. Altone started her music business career in the promotions department of Atlanta’s WKHX. In 2011, she was hired by Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists and worked with the Zac Brown Band, Blackberry Smoke and The Wood Brothers. While still with Southern Ground Artists, she moved to Nashville. In 2014, she joined AEG Presents, handling tour marketing for Kacey Musgraves, Mumford & Sons and Imagine Dragons, among other acts. Altone can be reached at [email protected].

Cost joined the Sony Music Nashville marketing team in January 2017 as Manager of Marketing after working at the Ryman Auditorium, Bigger Picture, Digsin/Digmark, and SESAC. Upped to Associate Director, Marketing in August 2018, Cost is a graduate of William Smith College.

Way joined Sony Music Nashville as Director of Marketing in 2016 bringing with her more than 10 years marketing experience with Universal Music Group Nashville where she worked in marketing and product management for Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, Lady Antebellum, and more. A Berklee College of Music graduate, Way can be reached at [email protected].

Austin City Limits Festival Announces Daily Lineup

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Austin City Limits Music Festival has revealed its 2019 lineup by day. Guns N’ Roses will play their first show in Austin since 1993 and their first-ever ACL Fest performances at the festival, along with sets from Tame Impala, The Raconteurs, Thom Yorke Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, Tyler Childers, King Princess, RL Grime, Jenny Lewis, and more.

Heavy-hitters Childish Gambino and The Cure will close out Saturday of both weekends, as well as sets from breakout star Billie Eilish, Gary Clark Jr., James Blake, 21 Savage, Kali Uchis, Lauren Daigle, Hippie Sabotage, Natalia Lafourcade and more.

Sets on Sunday will include Mumford & Sons, Cardi B (Weekend One), Robyn (Weekend Two), Kacey Musgraves, Lizzo, Lil Uzi Vert, Third Eye Blind (Weekend Two), Rebelution, and many more.

The 18th annual world-renowned music festival will take place at Zilker Park, Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13. Tickets go on sale today at aclfestival.com.

Bobby Karl Works The Room: Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hemby Preview The HighWomen

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BOBBY KARL WORKS THE ROOM

Chapter 625

You’ve heard of the legendary, all-star country force The Highwaymen, now meet the awesome, all-star Highwomen.

The original act consisted of Country Music Hall of Fame members Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. On Monday (June 10), we were introduced to four new collaborative women, Americana queen Brandi Carlile, top Music Row songwriter Natalie Hemby, alterna-pop singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Amanda Shires and country hit maker Maren Morris — The HighWomen.

“This project represents four bad-ass women who cannot be contained,” said their producer, Dave Cobb, to a packed Ford Theater audience at the Country Music Hall of Fame. We gathered there for a listening event on Monday evening. The women received standing ovations throughout the gig.

“The themes of this record are around female empowerment,” said Brandi Carlile.

“I’m just really proud to be part of a collective,” said Maren. “We have the utmost respect for one another. When we win, we all win. None of us need this – we all have our own things going on.”

The collaboration originated with Amanda, who approached Brandi about forming a group. Brandi invited Maren. Then they asked Natalie for songs. Natalie’s voice on her demos made the other three believe that she would fit in their group perfectly.

“I worship the honky-tonks they walk on,” commented Natalie.

The record’s title tune is a rewrite of the Jimmy Webb classic that named the original group. This time, the ghost characters are a woman who fled violent Honduras, a healer who was convicted of witchcraft, a Freedom Rider who gave her life to the Civil Rights movement and a female preacher accused of heresy.

The other tracks are quite diverse. “Only Child” is a motherhood ode. “Loose Change,” “Crowded Table” and “Redesigning Women” (the first single) have feminist angles. “If She Ever Leaves Me (It Won’t Be for You)” is a witty lesbian country song. “Old Soul” has folkie introspection.

“My Name Can’t Be Mama Today,” “Don’t Call Me” and “Heaven Is a Honky Tonk” are delightful hillbilly romps. Their version of “The Wheels of Laredo,” which is Tanya Tucker’s new single, brings the song’s country poetry to the fore.

“There are a lot of amazing women on this project,” said Maren, mentioning the studio participation of Sheryl Crow and Yola. Song collaborators include Laura Veltz, Lori McKenna and Miranda Lambert.

“This is for all women,” commented Natalie about this historic project.

I hadn’t initially planned to write about this event. But not only was the music outstanding, every fabulon and her sister was there. How could Bobby Karl help himself?

Working the room were the “Change the Conversation” leaders Leslie Fram, Beverly Keel and Tracy Gershon, of course. They mingled with Jewly Hight, Cyndi Forman, Brenda Colladay, Matraca Berg, Chandra LaPlume, Jessica Nicholson and Ann Powers.

Their brothers in arms included Jon Freeman, John Hamlin, John Marks, John Ingrassia, Jody Williams, Jeff Hanna, Gary Kraen, Al Moss, Bobby Cudd, Barry Mazor, David Crow and Ben Vaughn.

We all noshed on bacon-wrapped shrimp, beef-wellington pastry puffs, spring rolls, roasted veggies and hot-chicken sliders. Classy souvenir t-shirts were distributed.

The Highwomen is the latest manifestation of a growing trend. The embattled women of country music have been banding together in mutually supportive ensembles.

Building on pioneering works by Dolly, Linda and Emmylou, then Dolly, Tammy and Loretta, contemporaries Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley formed The Pistol Annies in 2011. The weekly Song Suffragettes club events began in 2014. All-female country tours have become increasingly common.

 

Kiefer Sutherland Talks The Parallels Of Acting And Music, His New Record ‘Reckless & Me’ [Interview]

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Kiefer Sutherland. Photo: Mumpi Kuenster

For Kiefer Sutherland, a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor, music is just another way to tell stories. But this time, they’re his own. Stripped from the comfortable mask of portraying a character, Sutherland has found profound intimacy in performing his own stories, accompanied by a bluesy, southern rock sound.

Sutherland recently visited the MusicRow offices to chat about his newest record, Reckless & Me, and to reflect on his entrance into the country music community, and the world of difference between acting and musicianship. 

Pictured (L-R): MusicRow‘s Lorie Hollabaugh, Haley Crow, LB Rogers; Kiefer Sutherland; MusicRow‘s Alex Kobrick, Sherod Robertson, Sarah Skates, Jessica Nicholson.

Reckless & Me, Sutherland’s second record, released in late April 2019. As with his first album, Down In A Hole, Sutherland worked with long-time collaborator and friend, Jude Cole. The Lifehouse producer and collaborator, and artist himself, opened Ironworks Studio and Ironworks Records with Sutherland in 2003. Together, they signed acts like Billy Boy on Poison, Ron Sexsmith, honeyhoney and Rocco Deluca and the Burden. Ironworks Studio is where Cole fanned the flame that led Sutherland into finally making a record.

Cole nudged Sutherland into starting a cover band after hearing him play the guitar in the studio. After hearing some songs he’d written, Cole suggested the actor make a record.

“He started hearing some of my songs and he was like, ‘You should do it. You should make a record.’ I was like ‘Oh my God, no. Never.’ I mean the stigma of an actor doing music is just…no time in my day for that. And he knew me well enough that he took me to a bar and we had a couple drinks and all of a sudden it sounded like a better idea, so I made a deal with him that we would do five songs. And then at the end of those five songs, I really loved the way he made them sound,” Sutherland said.

“And we made the record; we really didn’t think much of it. And we put it out there, ” he continued. “But there were some writers that were really generous about it. I remember the first review I ever saw—and I’m not one for reading that stuff, but given my fear of the stigma of being an actor and doing all that shit—and the first line of the review was: ‘You have no idea how much I wanted to hate this.’ It made me laugh, and he said, ‘But I don’t.’ I was grateful for that. I can go play on a corner and I’d be happy. We’ll do this as long as people will let us.”

The music came out country because Sutherland was drawn to the genre’s tendency for directness; he was fascinated with the honest lyric of Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down,” and the comical narrative of Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue.”

“’A Boy Named Sue’ is a perfect example,” he said. “There’s no metaphor there. This is a story. There’s no confusion about the dilemma of this young man searching for his father who he feels fucked him over from day one. And then this fantastic resolution in a fight between the two of them that has an outcome of mutual respect. It’s a story. There’s no two ways around it. I just love the narrative that country music offered.”

Songs on Reckless & Me like “Saskatchewan,” “Song for a Daughter” and “Something You Love” display that intentional writing style. One about a burying a loved one, one about a father’s love for his daughter, and one about not being complacent and following your true passion. The second record is also strongly influenced by touring, a facet of the industry Sutherland has found most enjoyable.

“A lot of the second record was written not because I wanted to make a better record than the first one or that I was thinking in any terms of that. We’ve been playing live so much that I knew what songs we needed for our set. We needed a ‘This Is How It’s Done,’ we needed an ‘Agave,’ we needed ‘Something You Love,’ we need a ‘Blame It On Your Heart,’ even though that’s not one of my songs. The album is really comprised of songs that were written to where we’re going to have a hell of a show. That was really the direction that I started writing to.

“The touring is something that completely caught me off guard. I made the terrible mistake thinking that 35 years of working on stage or in front of a camera was going to serve me when I would go on stage to play music; I had made a horrific miscalculation. On a really good day, I am not Jack Bauer [his character from 24]. I’ve always had a character that separates me from an audience. I’ll be honest, the first few shows you play, you’ll play three songs and some guy is in the corner yelling ‘Jack Bauer!’ And I’m like, ‘He’s not here tonight!’ And then I just watched it change; and I was really taken by that. It’s been really evident to me that if you’re honest and sincere about what you’re trying to do, you can have a good response.”

Sutherland and/or Cole wrote every song on the record, except for one: a cover of the Harlan Howard and Kostas Lazarides-penned hit for Patty Loveless, “Blame It On Your Heart.”

“That was Jude’s idea,” Sutherland admitted. “But I responded to it immediately. I think the sign of a perfect song is if a boy sings it or a girl sings it, it doesn’t matter. It’s one song that early in our set that gets people out of their chair; and they start moving. It’s really one of my favorite songs of all time.”

Another, more surprising, co-writer on Reckless & Me is legendary rocker, Sammy Hagar.

“Well, actually, I wrote it with Jude,” he says with a smirk. “We were playing at a bar that was owned by the Grateful Dead and the night before we had dinner with Sammy Hagar, which might have been a mistake. I had written “Not Enough Whiskey” and other songs about whiskey and he said, ‘You gotta write a song about tequila!’ Because he’s got the tequila company and everything else, and he said, ‘I can see it on the album now, ‘Agave,'” Sutherland said, framing it in the air with his hands, mimicking Hagar.

“Jude and I kinda laughed about it, and Jude had a guitar riff that ended up being the guitar riff in the song, and we just started messing around with it. We had an idea of what of what the chorus would be and then in the first verse I spat out that it would be so much cooler if it was a guy but on the run and Agave was actually a girl and not just tequila or whatever, she embodied the whole sense of what that was. But it was his idea to write that kind of a song, so. Thank you, Sammy Hagar.”

Kiefer Sutherland. Photo: Beth Elliott

Although Sutherland feels that music has altered his acting practice, he doesn’t see his acting and performing roles combining any time soon.

“I would say Tom Kirkman [from Designated Survivor] is a character that I allowed certain physical traits of mine that are mine into the character. That was informed by the storytelling, not the playing particularly but the storytelling, through the show. I felt more comfortable with myself, so I allowed a little bit more of myself into that character than I probably would normally have done had I not have this experience for the last five years. Oddly enough, I thought 35 years of working [as an actor] would influence the [live] show, it was the opposite so I’m dumb as paint,” he quips.

Sutherland sums: “I’ll be an actor until the day I die, it’s in the marrow of my bones. I made that choice when I was 14, 15 years old. And I played then! The excitement of finding a new way to express myself and on a more personal level, not having a character separating me, is something that I cherish right now.”

Read more of the conversation in the upcoming MusicRow print issue.