Dan+Shay, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, badflower, Ashley Gorley Among iHeartRadio Music Awards Nominees

/by

Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, and Maren Morris are among the nominees for the upcoming 7th Annual iHeartRadio Music Awards, airing live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Sunday, March 29 on FOX. Vying for Country Artist of the Year are Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett, while Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell, Morgan Wallen, Riley Green, and Runaway June are up for Best New Country Artist. 

Combs is also nominated in the overall Male Artist of the Year category, alongside Ed Sheeran, Khalid, Post Malone, and Shawn Mendes. Dan + Shay are nominated in the overall Best Duo/Group of the Year category, alongside Imagine Dragons, Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5, and Panic! At The Disco.

Big Machine Label Group’s badflower are nominated for Rock Song of the Year (“Ghost”), as are Q Prime South-managed band The Black Keys (for “Lo/Hi”). Cage The Elephant, which recorded their latest album Social Cues in Nashville, are nominated for Alternative Rock Song of the Year (“Ready To Let Go”) and are nominated for Alternative Rock Artist of the Year.

Songwriter Ashley Gorley is nominated in the all-genre Songwriter of the Year category, alongside Finneas, Frank Dukes, Louis Bell, and Savan Kotecha.

Dan+Shay’s collaboration with Justin Bieber, “10,000 Hours,” and Maren Morris’ “The Bones” are nominated for Best Lyrics, while Keith Urban‘s rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” is nominated for Best Cover Song.

Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road” is nominated for Best Music Video. The song is also nominated for Best Remix, as is Morris’ “The Bones” ft. Hozier.

Artists receiving multiple nominations include Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Daddy Yankee, Dan + Shay, Drake, Ed Sheeran, El Fantasma, Halsey, J Balvin, Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Khalid, Kygo, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Post Malone, Selena Gomez, SHAED, Shawn Mendes, Snow, Summer Walker and Taylor Swift. A full list of categories can be found at iHeartRadio.com/awards.

The iHeartRadio Music Awards celebrates the most-played artists and songs on iHeartRadio stations and the iHeartRadio app throughout 2019. The event will also be broadcast on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and iHeartRadio, the all-in-one digital music, podcast, on demand and live-streaming radio service.

“The iHeartRadio Music Awards is a true celebration of the music and artists that millions of fans listen to every day on their favorite radio stations across the country,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. “FOX’s young and engaged audience has proven to be the perfect home for our iHeart listeners.”

“It’s always exciting to see who gets nominated for our iHeartRadio Music Awards,” said Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia.  “This year’s nominees represent the music heard all year on our stations and the iHeartRadio app. We can’t wait to bring them together for one incredible night of celebration and see who takes home the award in all thirty-plus categories.”

iHeartRadio Nominations (Selected Categories):

Country Song of the Year:

  • “Beautiful Crazy” – Luke Combs
  • “GIRL” – Maren Morris
  • “God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
  • “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home” – Justin Moore
  • “Whiskey Glasses” – Morgan Wallen

Country Artist of the Year:

  • Carrie Underwood
  • Dan + Shay
  • Luke Bryan
  • Luke Combs
  • Thomas Rhett

Best New Country Artist:

  • Jimmie Allen
  • Matt Stell
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Riley Green
  • Runaway June

 Rock Song of the Year:

  • “Blue On Black” – Five Finger Death Punch
  • “Ghost” – Badflower
  • “Lo/Hi” – The Black Keys
  • “Monsters” – Shinedown
  • “S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun)” – The Glorious Sons

Songwriter of the Year:

  • Ashley Gorley
  • Finneas
  • Frank Dukes
  • Louis Bell
  • Savan Kotecha

Hailey Whitters To Release ‘The Dream’ In February

/by

Singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters, known for penning songs including Little Big Town’s “Happy People,” will release her new album The Dream on Feb. 28.

The 12-track album includes 10 songs penned by Whitters, alongside top-shelf female co-writers including Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Brandy Clark, and Nicolle Galyon. The Dream also includes two cover tracks—renditions of Chris Stapleton’s “The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice,” and Brent Cobb’s “Loose Strings.”

Whitters funded the project herself, with money earned from waiting tables, selling a guitar, touring, and from royalties earned from writing songs recorded by Alan Jackson, McBride and Little Big Town. BMG’s Jake Gear produced the album, with Logan Matheny overseeing engineering and mixing.

“This is the first record that feels 100 percent me. It’s a time capsule of my time in Nashville and coming to terms with dreams and what they mean to you,” says Whitters.

Whitters spent much of 2019 on tour alongside Maren Morris, Cobb, and McKenna. She also released the singles “Ten Year Town” and “Heartland,” and will release her latest, “Janice At The Hotel Bar,” on Jan. 24. Last year, she also inked a co-management deal with Make Wake’s Chris Kappy and BRND MGMT’s Matt Graham.

She will celebrate the release of The Dream with a show at Nashville’s Basement East on March 10, with tickets going on sale Friday, Jan. 10. She will also join Tanya Tucker as part of the CMT Next Women of Country: Bring My Flowers Now Tour, and will join dates on Jordan Davis’ Trouble Town Tour.
The Dream Tracklist:
1. Ten Year Town
2. The Days
3. Red Wine & Blue
4. Dream, Girl
5. Loose Strings
6. Heartland
7. Janice At The Hotel Bar
8. Happy People
9. The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice
10. All The Cool Girls
11. The Faker
12. Living The Dream

Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Lizzo To Perform During Grammy Awards

/by

Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are set to perform on the upcoming Grammy awards, marking their first performance together on the Grammy stage. Aerosmith, Billie Eilish, and Lizzo were also named as first-round performers during the The Recording Academy’s announcement Wednesday morning (Jan. 8).

Alicia Keys returns as host for the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, which will air on CBS on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 beginning at 7 p.m. CT.

Shelton is nominated this year for Best Country Solo Performance for “God’s Country,” while Stefani is a three-time Grammy winner.

Eilish will make her Grammy debut performance; the first-time Grammy nominee is up for overall Record of the Year (“Bad Guy”), Album of the Year (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), Song of the Year (“Bad Guy”), Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance (“Bad Guy”), and Best Pop Vocal Album (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?).

Also a first-time Grammy nominee and performer, Lizzo is nominated for overall Record of the Year (“Truth Hurts”), Album of the Year (Cuz I Love You [Deluxe]), Song of the Year (“Truth Hurts”), Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance (“Truth Hurts”), Best R&B Performance (“Exactly How I Feel”), Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Jerome”), and Best Urban Contemporary Album (Cuz I Love You [Deluxe]).

Rock legends Aerosmith will also be honored during Grammy week as MusiCares Person of the Year, honoring their philanthropic efforts. The group first performed on the Grammys in 1991.

NSAI Adds To Board Of Directors

/by

The Nashville Songwriters Association International has added four songwriters to its board of directors.

J.T. Harding, Josh Kear, Jon Nite and Emily Shackelton have been elected as new members, while current board members re-elected to two-year terms include Steve Bogard, Jeff Cohen, Chris DeStefano, Byron Hill, Liz Rose, Jenn Schott and Jimmy Yeary.

Roger Brown and Lee Thomas Miller were re-elected to one-year terms as “Legislative Co-Chairs,” Rhett Akins and Caitlyn Smith were re-elected to one-year terms to the “Artist Writer” board positions and Brett James was re-elected to a one-year term to the “Industry Liaison” position.

They join existing board members Jim Beavers, Sarah Buxton, Nicolle Galyon, Tim Nichols, Josh Osborne, Rivers Rutherford, Anthony L. Smith, Bobby Tomberlin, Laura Veltz, Troy Verges and Danny Wells whose terms expire in 2021. The board terms begin each year at the May meeting.

NSAI Board President Steve Bogard said, “Once again, NSAI has elected an outstanding Board of professional songwriters that reflects the growing diversity, scope and influence of our organization. We look forward to another great year of progress for songwriters.”

Curb | Word Entertainment Announces PR, Marketing, Promo Staff Changes

/by

 

Pictured (L-R, top row): Maddi Bayer, Brian Day; (L-R, bottom row) James Freshwater, Jessie Lowe

Curb | Word Entertainment has made several new promotions and hirings. Jessie Lowe moves into the role of Director, Publicity, to spearhead publicity efforts on behalf of the country and Christian artist rosters. Lowe has served multiple roles at Curb | Word Entertainment over the past five years, and spent the past three years as Coordinator for the Country Promotion team.

James Freshwater moves to the role of Digital Marketing Manager, where he will implement digital marketing strategies on behalf of the country and Christian artist rosters. The Ohio native most recently served as an A&R representative, and previously spent time as part of the band Lovedrug.

Brian Day joins as Promotions & Marketing Coordinator for Curb | Sidewalk Records. In his role, Day facilitates pop promotion initiatives and marketing efforts for the Curb and Sidewalk Records roster. Day previously worked at Columbia Nashville and in promotions for Hall Communications.

Maddi Bayer joins Curb Records as Coordinator of the Country Promotion team, having previously worked with the Radio & Streaming team at Warner Music Nashville. The Belmont graduate also spent time as an assistant to the President at Musicians On Call.

Curb | Word Music Publishing Hires Ciara Shortridge, Signs Kyle Jacobs And Chris Gelbuda

/by

Pictured: Ciara Shortridge, Kyle Jacobs, Chris Gelbuda

Curb | Word Music Publishing has made a round of hiring and signing announcements. Ciara Shortridge has joined as Sr. Creative Director of Country Publishing. Songwriters Kyle Jacobs and Chris Gelbuda have also signed with the publisher.

Shortridge will report directly to Colt Murski; she most recently held the position of A&R Manager and served as the main creative point of Disney’s Nashville-based office. Shortridge’s career at Disney began in 2009 after graduating from Belmont University. She can be reached at [email protected].

Jacobs earned his first significant success as a writer in 2003 with Kimberly Locke’s “8th World Wonder.” In 2007, he penned Garth Brooks’ “More Than A Memory,” which debuted at No. 1; co-wrote Tim McGraw’s “Still” and Eli Young Band’s “Dust;” and produced four No. 1 singles for Lee Brice including “Hard To Love,” “I Drive Your Truck,” “Drinking Class” and “Rumor,” which is also his latest No. 1 as a songwriter.

Chicago native Gelbuda has had songs recorded by Billy Currington, Frankie Ballard, Darius Rucker, Dustin Lynch, and Meghan Trainor, and produced Trainor and John Legend’s four-time platinum hit, “Like I’m Gonna Lose You.” As a vocalist, writer and producer, Gelbuda also wrote, produced, and contributed vocals to the Platinum-selling “Bad Ideas” by German dance artist Alle Farben. Gelbuda is also a partner at The Attic studios in West Nashville.

K-LOVE Syndicated Radio Show “The Skip & Amy Show” Relocating To Franklin

/by

Skip Mahaffey and Amy Baumann

K-LOVE syndicated morning show “The Skip & Amy Show,” will relocate from Indianapolis to Franklin, Tennessee in May.

The show will begin broadcasting on May 18 from Franklin, which coincides with K-LOVE’s annual fan awards, which will be held May 22-24 in Nashville. K-LOVE airs “The Skip & Amy Show” from 5 a.m.-10 a.m. on Monday-Saturday.

Iowa native Amy Baumann has been part of the K-LOVE morning show since 2011. Skip Mahaffey joined K-LOVE in 2016, after being part of the morning show at country station KPLX in Dallas. Mahaffey is a three-time CMA Air Personality of the Year, and has worked at stations including KVOO, WFUS, and WQYK.

K-LOVE CEO Bill Reeves said, “Having personally been a part of the Franklin Christian music and media community for almost 25 years, I believe having K-LOVE’s morning show in the heart of it all will further deepen the network’s relationships with the industry and artists, and ultimately serve our listeners and supporters even better.”

Scooter Brown Band’s Carrigan Shields Passes Away

/by

Scooter Brown Band member and pianist Carrigan Chet Shields passed away on Dec. 30, 2019. He was 30. No cause of death has been revealed.

The Idaho native’s final performance came on Dec. 28 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, alongside his bandmates Scott “Scooter” Brown, Matt Bledsoe, Steven Sutherland, and Brian Sowell.

Scooter Brown Band offered the following statement: “Carrigan was and always will be our brother and one of the greatest cats to pound those keys. Not only was he a great talent, he was also one of the most kind-hearted human beings. We’ve had some great times together over the years – his last performance was, fittingly, at the Mother Church of Country Music, the Ryman Auditorium on the Grand Ole Opry. The last song he played was ‘American Son’ and he truly is an American Son. Our condolences to his family and all of his friends and fans who have loved him.”

A private service will be held in Nashville on Jan. 12. Donations to a GoFundMe setup for funeral expenses and to support his family in their time of need may be made here.

Cory B. Savage Appointed One Vision Music Group CEO

/by

Cory B. Savage has been named CEO of Nashville-based record label, One Vision Music Group.  The recently formed label, whose roster includes American Idol alumni-finalist Kree Harrison, is a subsidiary of the Visionary Media Group, a multimedia entertainment and development company. Savage will oversee the team at One Vision Music Group that handles label operations, music publishing, sync licensing, legal expertise and finance.

Savage will spearhead One Vision Music Group’s launch of Harrison’s forthcoming album release due June 12, Chosen Family Tree, which features her teaming up with some of Nashville’s most prominent songwriters including Chris Stapleton, Morgane Stapleton, Liz Rose, Trent Dabbs, and more.  The 12-track album will also feature a special guest appearance by Brothers Osborne’s lead guitarist John Osborne on the title track.

Savage was previously President/CEO of Cory B. Savage Enterprises, a multi-media design consulting business based in Nashville, with satellite offices in Los Angeles, Miami and New York City. Savage also helmed positions as a Marketing Director with CBS consulting; Brand Partnership and Sponsor Relations Consultant for Sony Music Entertainment; Content Director for GIO Journal; Brand Strategist and Sponsor Relations Consultant for Big Machine Label Group; and Business Development Associate for Viant Group, LLC. His video production resume includes multiple hit videos, including Blake Shelton and Robin Thicke, and his work has graced the pages of countless magazines including Vogue, People, InStyle, Redbook, etc.

Lizzo, Jason Isbell, Morgan Wallen, The Band Camino To Play Bonnaroo 2020

/by

Lizzo, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Morgan Wallen, The Band Camino, Miley Cyrus, Grace Potter, Tool, and more are among the initial performers announced on Bonnaroo’s 2020 lineup. The 19th annual edition of the four-day multi-stage camping festival takes place June 11-14 at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee, and will host more than 10 unique stages over the four-day event. The Grand Ole Opry will return this year to Bonnaroo as well featuring special guests.

The lineup includes:

Thursday, June 11: Grand Ole Opry Feat. Special Guests, Andy Frasco, Larkin Poe, The Regrettes and more.

Friday, June 12: Tool, Miley Cyrus, Bassnectar, The 1975, Run The Jewels, Glass Animals, Young The Giant, Megan Thee Stallion, Tipper and more.

Saturday, June 13: Lizzo, Flume, Oysterhead, Tenacious D, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, DaBaby, Seven Lions and more.

Sunday, June 14: Tame Impala, Lana Del Rey, Vampire Weekend, Leon Bridges, Young Thug, Grace Potter, Flogging Molly, Rezz and more.

Tickets for Bonnaroo will go on sale Thursday, Jan. 9 exclusively via bonnaroo.com/tickets. Options will include General Admission (4 Day), GA+ (4 Day), VIP (4 Day), Platinum (4 Day), General Admission Camping & Parking, VIP Camping, Platinum Camping, and more. Once again, Bonnaroo is presenting an array of affordable options, with tickets starting at $35 down and accommodations available for as low as $70 per night. Car Camping Passes are priced at only $60 (plus fees) per car, not per person, allowing fans to both save money and reduce their carbon footprint by carpooling. New ticketing options for 2020 include GA+, offering traditional General Admission along with exclusive access to a brand new Centeroo lounge featuring air-conditioned restrooms, exclusive bars and food vendors, relaxed shaded seating, and more.