On The Cover: MusicRow Magazine’s Artist Roster Issue Features Dierks Bentley

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ASCAP songwriter and Capitol Records Nashville artist Dierks Bentley graces the 2020 cover of MusicRow Magazine’s annual Artist Roster print issue. The 64-page annual resource includes a company directory featuring Nashville record labels, managers, talent agencies, publicists and additional artist services. The Artist Grid lists today’s top artists, with their corresponding label, management, agent and PR companies.

Known for his hit songs including his most recent No. 1 “Living,” Bentley has taken strategic creative risks throughout his career. Over the past few years, Bentley and his band members have regularly performed concerts as ‘90s country band Hot Country Knights. This year, the Knights inked a recording contract with Bentley’s label home Capitol Records Nashville and released the album The K Is Silent. In this issue, Bentley discusses the creation of the new group.

Editorial features in MusicRow Magazine’s Artist Roster issue include a look at marketing artists via TikTok, featuring The Valory Music Co./Tape Room Records trio Avenue Beat and RCA Nashville artist Niko Moon, as well as TikTok executives Danny Gillick and Mary Rahmani. Warner Music Nashville’s Wes Vause discusses public relations strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, while MusicRow also examines the strategies and decisions that surround album releases during the pandemic. Debbie Carroll discusses the work of MusiCares in helping artists and industry members who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While we all participate in our own specialized segment of the industry—from label services to artist managers, from songwriters and publishers to booking agents and everything in between—the love of music is the ultimate reason why we do what we do, and the artist is the essential element to our economic survival,” says MusicRow Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson. “As we navigate these incredibly challenging times, this issue is dedicated to the artists and their team members who each serve critical roles, all working together on a common vision. Nothing is more important in our industry than the strength of these artists, especially now, as we forge ahead.”

Single copies of MusicRow’s Artist Roster print issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $45, and are included with yearly MusicRow memberships. Please note that issues of MusicRow Magazine’s Artist Roster issue can only be purchased online as the MusicRow building is currently closed to the public due to COVID-19.

Singer-Songwriter Adam Sanders Inks Co-Publishing Deal With Round Hill Music Nashville

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Singer-songwriter Adam Sanders has signed a co-publishing deal with Round Hill Music Nashville. Sanders has written “Ain’t Worth The Whiskey,” a chart-topper for Cole Swindell, and “Hell Of A Night” (Dustin Lynch), as well as cuts from Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Scotty McCreery and Tracy Lawrence.

“I am very excited to be working with Adam,” said Round Hill’s Mark Brown. “He has a track record as a hit songwriter, he’s an exceptional artist, and he brings with him a solid work ethic. We look forward to having great success together.”

“When you find a team that is willing to work just as hard as you, it’s a dangerous combo. Round Hill Music’s success speaks for itself and I’m fired up to be working with Bob and Mark, along with the rest of the Round Hill staff,” Adam Sanders shared.

The Lake City, Florida native moved to Nashville in 2009, and initially worked construction to pay bills while he worked on songwriting. He signed a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog in 2011. After earning No. 1 hits for Swindell and Lynch, Sanders launched his artist career and independently sold over 70,000 singles, scored over 90 million total streams and charted at No. 33 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart with his self-titled, debut EP. Sanders has also released the single, “Make Em Wanna Change.”

Round Hill Music Nashville has celebrated 42 No. 1 songs since opening its doors in 2014. Round Hill’s roster of writers includes Adam Sanders, Ashley Gorley, Dallas Davidson, Derek Austin, Devin Guisande, Early James, Eric Arjes, Gareth Dunlop, Jimmy Robbins, Katie Pruitt, Lindsey Lee Taylor, SHEL, and Wade Kirby. Through its partnership with Big Loud, Round Hill also represents Chris Tompkins, Craig Wiseman, Jamie Moore, Joey Moi, Matt Dragstrem and Rodney Clawson. Notable catalogs include those of Bob DiPiero, Josh Kear and Marti Frederiksen.

Brandy Clark Reveals Rescheduled Tour Dates For 2021

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photo credit: Chris Phelps

Brandy Clark has revealed a slate of tour dates for 2021, as part of her rescheduled Who You Thought I Was tour. The 2021 trek will begin March 25 in Birmingham, Alabama. The tour will visit theaters and music halls in Virginia, Illinois, Oregon, California, Wisconsin, Kentucky and more, before concluding on May 7 in St. Louis, Missouri.

In March, Clark released her latest album, Your Life Is A Record, spearheaded by the title track.

See the full list of tour dates below:

ASCAP Launches HBCU Internship Program

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ASCAP has announced the launch of a new paid internship program for students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. This summer, the performing rights organization will offer five HBCU students the opportunity to join ASCAP’s team to earn music industry experience.

Howard University (Washington, DC), Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA), Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA), and Bennett College (Greensboro, NC) will be initial partners in the program, which will run through July and August. Interns will work remotely, alongside ASCAP professionals in their field of interest. ASCAP plans to continue and expand the initiative moving forward, offering paid internships to HBCU students each summer.

“We have a responsibility to seek to nurture talent and empower the next generation of black leaders in the music business, just as we do on the creative side,” said ASCAP Senior Vice President, Rhythm & Soul Nicole George-Middleton. “Our goal is to provide experience within ASCAP and to help our interns connect with the larger industry as they pursue their careers.”

ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews added, “This program is a natural extension of ASCAP’s ongoing work to create and evolve a culture of inclusion and belonging that reflects and serves the incredible diversity of our ASCAP membership. By creating a new pipeline for college students to gain music industry work experience, we hope to provide meaningful mentorships and opportunities to new generations of Black leaders who will influence the future of the music business.”

“Bennett College is thrilled to be a part of the inaugural class of ASCAP’s HBCU internship program. ASCAP will provide our students with invaluable, real-world experience and expand their understanding of the music business. We are looking forward to this partnership and what the future holds for our talented students,” said Yolande Johnson, Bennett College Director of Donor Relations & Stewardship/Interim Coordinator for Career Services.

“Some of the most meaningful education takes place outside of a traditional classroom, and we are excited to have our students learn from top executives in the music industry. ASCAP is a global leader in entertainment and this internship opportunity is priceless,” added Cafabian Heard, Creative & Marketing Services Specialist University Relations, External & Community Affairs, Clark Atlanta University.

Students selected for the ASCAP HBCU internship program will have the opportunity to work within the following departments: Marketing & Communications/Events; Membership (Film & TV, R&S/Urban, Country, Pop/Rock, Symphonic/Concert and Latin); Data Strategy; International Affairs; Finance; Licensing; and Global Technology Solutions.

Applications are available through each of the participating college and university career services offices. The deadline for submission is Monday, June 29 and internships are expected to begin the second week of July.

Fisk Jubilee Singers To Release New Album On June 26

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The Fisk Jubilee Singers with Director Dr. Paul Kwami in front of Fisk’s Harris Music Building. Photo: Pat Casey Daley.

The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville-based Fisk University will release their newest project, Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album) on June 26, 2020.
The collection’s 12 songs features the Fisk Jubilee Singers onstage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium with guest performances from Ruby Amanfu, Keb’ Mo’, CeCe Winans, and more.
The first track from the album, “Glory/Stranger” (ft. Derek Minor & Shannon Sanders) releases today.

Lee Ann Womack guests on “Everybody Out To Treat A Stranger Right,” while The Fairfield Four are featured on “Rock My Soul.” Rodney Atkins guests on “Working on a Building.”
“This product is the result of work done by wonderful people who love Fisk University and Fisk Jubilee Singers®,” shares the album’s Musical Director, and Musical Director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers®, Dr. Paul Kwami. “It was a great honor for me to collaborate with all of them, especially with Shannon Sanders. The beauty of the compilation lies in the variety and high quality of music, which will forever celebrate Fisk University!”

Sanders also shares on the project, “Having grown up in Nashville, I know how important the Fisk Jubilee Singers® are to the fabric of the Nashville Culture, especially Nashville’s Black Community. I consider it an honor to be able to work alongside Musical Director Dr. Kwami on this monumental project, especially as he carries forth the torch of the Fisk Jubilee Singers® so well. I’m also excited to work with the Curb Records team in the creation of this project, and for making it available for the world to hear.”


Fisk University was founded in 1866, with the Fisk Jubilee Singers forming in 1871. The group became known not only for its musical talent but for introducing spirituals to the world and preserving this American musical tradition. In 1896, the group performed at the Ryman Auditorium (then called the Union Gospel Tabernacle), just four years after the first concerts were held in the building. In 2000, the group was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored their 1909 recording of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” by including it in the U.S. National Recording Registry. The group was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2008. In 2009, they were nominated for Best Gospel Performance for “I Believe.”

Fisk University is ranked No. 6 on the Top 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the 2019 U.S. News & World Report. Fisk is also ranked No. 1 in the nation among HBCUs for social mobility and No. 3 in the nation for research expenditures among small liberal arts colleges.

The track listing for Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album) follows:
Wade In The Water
Blessed Assurance (feat. CeCe Winans)
I Believe (feat. Keb’ Mo’)
Everybody Ought To Treat A Stranger Right (feat. Lee Ann Womack)
Rock My Soul (feat. The Fairfield Four)
I Want Jesus To Walk With Me (feat. Ruby Amanfu)
When The Saints Go Marching In (feat. Rod McGaha)
‘Way Over In Egypt Land
Glory / Stranger (feat. Derek Minor & Shannon Sanders)
Working On A Building (feat. Rodney Atkins)
My Lord Is So High
I Saw The Light (feat. Jimmy Hall)

IBMA Foundation Establishes New Arnold Shultz Fund, Announces Benefit Concert

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Arnold Schultz with Pen Vandiver

The International Bluegrass Music Association Foundation has established a new fund, the Arnold Shultz Fund, to support activities increasing participation of people of color in bluegrass music. Shultz (1886–1931) was an African American musician from western Kentucky who had a profound influence on Bill Monroe’s music and the development of bluegrass.

To help build awareness and support for the Arnold Shultz Fund, a group of Denver bluegrass musicians has organized a fundraising concert on June 26. The Denver Bluegrass Allstars, featuring Andy Hall and Chris Pandolfi (the Infamous Stringdusters), Paul Hoffman (Greensky Bluegrass), Greg Garrison (Leftover Salmon), and flatpicking champion Tyler Grant will perform at 7 p.m. MT, with a free livestream from Denver’s Mighty Fine Productions. Viewers are encouraged to make contributions, with a portion of the proceeds to be donated to the Arnold Shultz Fund. The livestream will be available exclusively through nugs.net. Donation info is here.

The IBMA Foundation is in the process of appointing an advisory committee to make decisions about how funds donated to the Arnold Shultz Fund may best be used, for possible scholarships, awards, or projects. Richard S. Brown, DMD, a nationally known mandolinist in the Bill Monroe style, as well as a member of the IBMA Foundation’s board of directors, will co-chair the advisory committee with noted bluegrass historian, author, banjoist, and Bluegrass Hall of Fame member, Neil V. Rosenberg.

The idea for the fund grew out of a recent online conversation among alumni of IBMA’s Leadership Bluegrass program. In only a week, before it had been formally announced, word of mouth spread awareness of the Arnold Shultz Fund internationally, generating considerable enthusiasm and $1,400 in donations.

In 2017, Grand Ole Opry member Rhiannon Giddens, in a keynote address at World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, challenged the bluegrass music community to “tear down those artificial divisions and let bluegrass and string band music be the welcoming place that it has, and can be, and, in more and more places.”

“Of course I think the Arnold Shultz Fund is a great idea,” Dr. Brown said. “Arnold Shultz is long overdue for recognition because of his influence on bluegrass music. Arnold played with Bill Monroe’s fiddling uncle Pen Vandiver as a guitarist. Shultz was also a sought-after fiddler and later hired Bill to play guitar for him at dances. Bill Monroe told me about Arnold Shultz and their dance gigs more than 50 years ago, when I was in my twenties. The stories would always end with Bill saying, ‘Now, isn’t that something?’ Yes, it’s time to take Arnold Shultz, one of our hidden legends, out of obscurity and into the mainstream.”

Asphalt Music Group Launches

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Tim Buono

Producer and songwriter Aaron Chesling has launched a new label, Asphalt Music Group. The label has signed its first artist to a worldwide recording contract, Boston native Tim Buono.

The new label will include a recording division focusing on country and pop releases, and its synchronization department will be seeking opportunities within film, gaming, social media programming and other media.

Chesling previously worked in Logistics Coordination for Big Machine Label Group and as a Distribution Specialist for Universal Music Group. He has provided services ranging from logistical solutions, A&R, management, production, and radio promotion. Chesling has written songs for Buono and Canadian country star Gord Bamford, and did A&R work for the late Joe Diffie.

“Asphalt is a brand concept I have been thinking about and holding onto for some time now. It has taken on many different forms in my head and on paper, but now it has become clear that a new home for music has taken shape. After producing a few tracks with Tim Buono for a period, and about 25+ solid cowrites later, it became an ideal scenario to ink up. Tim is an exceptional artist and songwriter that deserves his chance to be heard. I am excited to share his music with the world. My goal is to help artists like him to ‘keep moving forward’,” said Chesling, CEO Asphalt Music Group.

Buono started his musical journey early. Brad Paisley had a major influence on his style and songwriting, and in a few short years after honing in on his craft and learning from his idols, Buono established a YouTube presence covering his favorite hits. Buono has been in Nashville working on new original music.

“I’m really excited to be joining the Asphalt team,” Buono said. “We’re gonna hit the ground running and put out music we feel good about. I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been working on!”

Jason Isbell, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow Join New Artist Rights Alliance Music Council

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The Artist Rights Alliance, the artist-run, non-profit that championed the Music Modernization Act and CLASSICS Act, has formed a Music Council of advisors filled with Grammy winners and icons. Among those serving on the new council are Jason Isbell, Bette Midler, Cassandra Wilson, Duke Fakir, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, T Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow, Keb’ Mo’, Steve Earle, and Joan Osborne.

The 93-artist consortium will provide perspective and advisory input, as well as support for the awareness of key issues that face content creators today.
“We are so grateful to our Music Council volunteers who will join with us to advocate for our peers in building a more compassionate and enduring music economy,” said ARA Board Member Rosanne Cash. “It has never been easy for independent musicians to earn a living, and it’s indescribably harder today in the current global crisis. We must work together to defend today’s hardworking musicians, and to protect the next generation of artists.”

Today the ARA also released an Artists’ Bill of Rights to outline their fundamental principles and recommendations for today’s music economy and to keep the artistic community aware of their rights as it pertains to their work. Depicted are policy hotspots, including fair pay from streaming services, copyright law, political participation, curbing industrial-scale piracy, and reining in big technology platforms that unfairly profit from music. ARA staunchly opposes the Liberty Media / iHeartMedia merger, which would give Liberty Media an unprecedented stake in the broadcast media world.

“Even before the pandemic, the music economy was teetering on the edge,” said ARA Board Member and Founder of the alt-rock band CAKE, John McCrea. “Technology companies prosper, while musicians are paid micro-pennies per stream, not to mention the loss of funds from touring. This crisis has laid bare what a slender reed our fellow musicians were hanging onto and calls upon us to get to work building something new and more humane. ARA has always operated on an artist-to-artist model, connecting, engaging, and empowering each other built on the basic truth that no one will fight for you if you aren’t out there fighting for yourself.”

ARA’s Nashville-based educational and grassroots initiatives are led by musicians and creators Erin McAnally and Chelsea Crowell, and the ARA has set up a new website and artists’ forum to serve as an educational resource, advocacy platform, and open meeting place for songwriters and performers to exchange information and organize grassroots activities and campaigns that can be found here.

Charlie Daniels Reschedules Volunteer Jam To 2021, Adds To Lineup

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Photo by Nate Shuppert

Charlie Daniels has rescheduled this year’s Volunteer Jam due to the coronavirus. The concert, originally set for Sept. 15 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, will now take place Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.

38 Special, The Allman Betts Band and blues artist Cedric Burnside have been added to the previously announced lineup, which features headliners The Charlie Daniels Band, along with The Marshall Tucker Band, Chris Janson, Charley Pride, Larry, Steve & Rudy: The Gatlin Brothers, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, Delbert McClinton, Keb’ Mo’, The Outlaws, Jenny Tolman, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Travis Denning, Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee, Scooter Brown Band, The SteelDrivers, Pure Prairie League and comedian Dusty Slay.

“Volunteer Jam is alive and well and is moving from September 2020 to February 22, 2021,” says Daniels. “The Jam turns 46 years old this year and this could be the best one yet.”
Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com and the Bridgestone Arena box office. Previously purchased tickets will transfer to the new concert date.

Weekly Radio Report (6/19/20)

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Click here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Radio Report.