MusicRow Honors Recipients “Virtually” At 32nd Annual Industry-Voted MusicRow Awards

The 2020 MusicRow Award trophies. Photo: MusicRow

MusicRow, Nashville’s leading music industry publication, virtually presented its 32nd annual MusicRow Awards on Tuesday, Aug. 18 via a series of videos on all online MusicRow platforms.

Presenting Sponsor of the 2020 MusicRow Awards is City National Bank.

MusicRow Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson and respected television host, entertainment journalist, writer and producer, Alecia Davis, served once again as ‘hosts’ on each winner’s video.

“We are uniquely positioned to witness the hard work and dedication these artists, songwriters, and respective team members execute each and every day,” says Robertson. “It’s our privilege to use our platform to honor those deserving talents, and despite the unique challenges the pandemic has unleashed on all of us, these accolades are deserved now more than ever. Congratulations to all of our nominees and winners!”

Pop-country star Ingrid Andress swept every category she was nominated in, including Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for her debut hit, “More Hearts Than Mine,” co-written with Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland.

Song of the Year is the next award up at the #MusicRowAwards, presented by City National Bank. This award honors Nashville writers and publishers on the craft of songwriting, not necessarily chart performance. And the winner is…
Posted by MusicRow magazine on Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Country hitmaker Luke Combs is the reigning MusicRow Award Artist of the Year, after winning the inaugural award last year.


The Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year Award, named in honor of the magazine’s legendary contributor, honors a Nashville developing artist who demonstrates significant talent and potential to rise. Nominated for the Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist Award were Avenue Beat, Jameson Rodgers, Niko Moon, Payton Smith, Randall King, and Trea Landon. Jameson Rodgers took home the 2020 honor.

Next up at the #MusicRowAwards, presented by City National Bank, is the Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year. This award honors a Nashville developing artist who demonstrates significant talent and potential to rise. And the winner is…
Posted by MusicRow magazine on Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The virtual celebration also included a video presentation of the Top 10 Album All-Star Awards, recognizing session musicians achieving the most marks on albums that charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s albums sales chart during the eligibility period. Steel player Paul Franklin continues his reign as the highest-earning Top 10 Album All-Star Musician this year, earning his 24th MusicRow Award. On the other hand, drummer Jerry Roe wins his first ever MusicRow Award, in a tie with Nir Z. See full winner list below.

There is a strong correlation between MusicRow’s Breakthrough Artist and Breakthrough Songwriter winners, many going on to win Grammys, CMA and ACM Awards having included previous recipients Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Lady A.

The 2020 MusicRow Awards once again tapped Nashville cement artist Santana Matlock for the exclusively designed artisan trophies. The East Nashville creator produced the design from his Abstrakt Concrete studio in East Nashville, in the composition of the trophy includes soil from Nashville’s famed Music Row.

LIST OF 32nd ANNUAL 2020 MUSICROW AWARDS WINNERS

Producer of the Year [VIDEO]
Dann Huff

Label of the Year [VIDEO]
UMG Nashville

Agency of the Year [VIDEO]
Creative Artists Agency

Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Randy Montana

Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year [VIDEO]
Ingrid Andress

Male Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Ashley Gorley

Female Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Hillary Lindsey

Song of the Year [VIDEO]
“More Hearts Than Mine” — Songwriter(s): Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis, Derrick Southerland

Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Jameson Rodgers

Breakthrough Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Ingrid Andress

Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Luke Combs

MusicRow also honors the Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians at the 2020 MusicRow Awards, recognizing the studio players who performed on the most albums reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart during the eligibility period.

LIST OF MUSICROW’S 2020 TOP 10 ALBUM ALL-STAR MUSICIANS

Bass
Jimmie Lee Sloas

Drums (tie)
Jerry Roe
Nir Z

Engineer
Justin Niebank

Fiddle
Stuart Duncan

Guitar
Ilya Toshinskiy

Keyboards
Dave Cohen

Steel
Paul Franklin

Vocals
Russell Terrell

Billy Strings To Launch Drive-In Tour In September


Billy Strings is embarking on a seven-night “Meet Me At The Drive-In Tour” which will kick off on Sept. 11 for three nights at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The tour then heads to the Chicago area for two already sold-out shows on Sept. 16-17 at McHenry Outdoor Theater, followed by two nights in Peoria, Illinois at the Expo Gardens on Sept. 18-19. Presale tickets are available beginning tomorrow (Aug. 20) at 12 p.m. ET for Billy Strings newsletter subscribers. Public on-sale begins Friday, Aug. 21 at 12 p.m. ET.

All tickets are available via billystrings.com.

All CDC and local guidelines will be followed during the shows, and the band and crew are working closely with local promoters and government to ensure the shows meet or exceed all recommended standards.

The drive-in shows will support his latest album HOME, which fuses bluegrass with elements of punk, country, folk rock, and more into his own unique brew. The project includes guest appearances from Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle and was produced by Glenn Brown.

Meet Me At The Drive-In Tour Dates:
Sept. 11 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 12 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 13 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 16 @ McHenry Outdoor Theater | McHenry, IL – SOLD OUT
Sept. 17 @ McHenry Outdoor Theater | McHenry, IL – SOLD OUT
Sept. 18 @ Expo Gardens | Peoria, IL
Sept. 19 @ Expo Gardens | Peoria, IL

Writing/Production Duo The 720 Inks Publishing Deal with Warner Chappell Music Nashville

Back (L-R): Will Overton (WCM), Joey Whalen (WCM), Ryan Beuschel (WCM), BJ Hill (WCM), Ben Vaughn (WCM), Cam Caldwell (Attorney), Katie Jelen (WCM), Phil May (WCM). Front (L-R): Patricia Ragan-Mainello (WCM), Jessi Vaughn (WCM), Jarrod Ingram (The 720), Blake Hubbard (The 720), Karen Harrison-Hite (WCM), Hannah Hall (WCM), Christina Wiltshire (WCM)

Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with Blake Hubbard and Jarrod Ingram, better known as The 720. The duo’s name pays homage to Ingram’s address in Nashville’s Charlotte Park neighborhood, where he and Hubbard spent time working on NF’s sophomore album, Therapy Session.

Hailing from Illinois, the up-and-coming writing/production duo has secured cuts with the likes of Jimmie Allen, NF, Matt Stell, Cassadee Pope, Lukr, Kate York, Erin McCarley, Lisa Ajax, and Andreas Moss. Notably, Hubbard and Ingram co-wrote “Looking Back” by Claire Guerreso, which landed a synch placement on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

With their diverse musical abilities, The 720 has been writing with top country talent while also collaborating with great pop writers and artists that frequent Nashville.

Eric Paslay Returns With First Full-Length Album In Six Years, ‘Nice Guy’

Eric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb

It has been six years since singer-songwriter Eric Paslay released his self-titled full-length debut album, which yielded his Gold-certified breakthrough single, “Friday Night” as well as “Song About A Girl” and “She Don’t Love You.”

Paslay, who had turned a college music publishing internship into a full-fledged songwriter position and later signed with EMI, rapidly built a reputation as an ace artist-writer, penning Jake Owens’ “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” Eli Young Band’s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” Love and Theft’s “Angel Eyes,” and Rascal Flatts’ “Rewind,” in addition to his own radio singles. In 2016, he earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Lady A member Charles Kelley’s solo track “The Driver,” which Paslay co-wrote and sang on (alongside Kelley and Dierks Bentley).

But then, after another single, “High Class” failed to crack the Top 30 on the country radio charts, Paslay’s career seemed to stall. Plans for a followup album were put on hold; he parted ways with EMI in 2018.

Still, Paslay kept writing, kept singing, kept forging ahead. Last year, he inked a publishing deal with Big Machine Music.

Then came a one-two punch: on March 3, tornadoes damaged sections of the home that Paslay shares with his wife Natalie and their daughter Piper. Shortly after, Paslay set out on a European tour, which had to be cut short; he returned home to Nashville as shutdowns began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like many, Paslay has learned to pivot; while touring is on hold, he went ahead with plans to release some long-awaited new music, issuing his full-length album Nice Guy on Aug. 14 via his own Paso Fino Records.

The dozen tracks on Nice Guy expand on his Heartbeat Higher EP from earlier this year, including that project’s four tracks alongside eight new songs. Paslay produced the album with Grammy Award-winning producer F. Reid Shippen and Tofer Brown, and recorded it at Nashville’s Sound Emporium.

“I’ve worked with Reid Shippen as an engineer on a lot of records. My first albums, I produced myself, I love that creative side of it. But I’m also smart enough to realize there’s incredibly better ears in town and Reid Shippen has the best ears in almost the world to be able to capture the music and also mix the way that he does. It feels like a real album. For probably 80% of the album, we didn’t even cut to a click track, so it might speed up, or they might slow it down a bit,” Paslay says.

The project features the very first love song he’s included on an album: “Heartbeat Higher,” featuring vocals from one of the song’s co-writers, Sarah Buxton.
“I was like, ‘How have we never put out a love song? Out of all the singles, how has there not been a love song?’” he marvels. “It feels so good to be free to put out music and it feels so good that I’m totally free to invite who I wish. Sarah Buxton is one of the best. She literally just sang the vocals on the floor live. We didn’t go back in the studio and retouch vocals. It was live and real and it was a lot of fun, I love her to death.”

“Heartbeat Higher,” like approximately half the album, had been languishing on a shelf at Paslay’s former label home.

“These songs have just been waiting and waiting to be heard. Some of these have been recorded four and five different ways. I didn’t have control of that clock and now I do.”

Now a free agent, he says his new album Nice Guy serves as a “greatest hits” of sorts, brimming with some of his favorite songs he’s written in the years since his debut—plus an acoustic rendition of Mike Posner’s 2015 smash EDM hit “I Took A Pill In Ibiza.” The song marks the first outside song Paslay has ever included on a project.

“I think it’s a beautifully heartbreaking song that Mike Posner wrote and I wanted to tip the hat to a broken heart that got covered up with a bunch of EDM music,” he says.

“Fingertips” pays tribute to his daughter.

“Before I had Piper, just the dream of being a musician, you’d like to write a song for your child if you ever have one some day and I’m glad that ‘Fingertips’ is the first one that I’ll be putting out that really was written for Piper.”

The syncopated “Nice Guy” is a tongue-in-cheek look at nice guys who finish last, while “Woman Like Her,” penned with Charles Kelley and Laura Veltz, pays tribute to lasting love.

“This song might be two or three years old,” Paslay says. “We were hanging out at Charles’ house and the idea came up. It’s just a sweet song and I know it really pulls in a lot of what Natalie is to me, even though not every line is exactly autobiographical. I need her more than she needs me. She’s just a great woman. We got married five years ago and honestly, I had never really dated anyone until her. I just had my head down working so hard on establishing a career that I either just thought I don’t have time to really get someone, or I don’t have enough money to actually have a family and it’s kind of amazing just how God brought her into my world.”

Like most artists Paslay has been off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but while the touring shutdowns have been a professional setback for most artists, Paslay has been looking for the silver lining, and savoring time with his wife and their 1 ½-year-old daughter.

“It’s been a sweet time with my little girl and my wife. It’s pretty sweet to have this much time with her, just watching her just grow up and getting to be dad full time.”

He also has an eye on putting out future music, relying heavily on Zoom for co-writing sessions, something that has opened up new opportunities.

“I just wrote a song with a K-pop guy in Korea. It’s opened up amazing new ways to write with people anywhere, at any time of the day. We always start with a bad joke, like ‘This isn’t a corona song is it?’ By the time people hear this, it could be two years from now.”

In the meantime, he hopes the homespun project serves as a hopeful reminder for other dreamers set on pursuing their own musical passions.

“It’s amazing just for music and for people that actually have a dream to not need a million dollars to achieve it. They literally can just record it in their bedroom and it could win numerous Grammys. So that’s a really cool thing for all those kids and all the grown-ups, and everyone that’s a dreamer trying to make music and hopefully be heard.”

BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records Signs Track45

Track45

BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records has signed Track45 to its roster. The Mississippi-born group includes siblings Jenna, Ben and KK Johnson. Track45 are managed by Missi Gallimore of T.R.U.T.H. Management and Borman Entertainment.

“Family is important to us, and we think the best families are all about helping each other become the very best versions of themselves. We’ve found that family with BBR,” said Track45 in a joint statement. “They dream and believe as big as we do, and we couldn’t ask for a better creative home!”

“Family acts have a rich history in the country music genre. There is something special about the creative process and art born out of those shared experiences and bonds. These COVID times have reminded us more than ever, the power and importance of family as we all get back to what really matters in life. Family has once again become the nucleus of life for so many,” said Jon Loba, EVP BBR Music Group “I cannot think of a better time to introduce the incredibly talented Track45. Their production and writing is at both turns so dynamic and original, yet so familiar and relatable. They explore themes and topics we all experience, yet do so in such a unique way…in perhaps a way only three siblings who grew up creating together could. We couldn’t be more excited to have them join the BBR/BMG worldwide family and like their music, announcing their signing in a progressive new way with a hologram from our friends at Jadu.”

 

After moving to Nashville, each of the Johnson siblings signed publishing deals and earned cuts from artists including Justin Timberlake, Charlie PuthLee Brice, HARDY, Lauren Alaina, and more. Byron Gallimore produced their upcoming EP.

‘American Idol’ Virtual Auditions For Tennessee Set For Aug. 24


American Idol is hosting open call virtual Zoom auditions for the competition in Tennessee on Aug. 24.

The show is hosting “Idol Across America,” its first-ever live virtual nationwide search for the next superstar, which will include remote auditions taking place across all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., for the first time since the show’s inception, making auditions easier than ever.

For more information on auditions, visit abc.com.

Veteran Music Writer Rob Simbeck Authors New Southern Wildlife Book

Rob Simbeck

Noted Nashville writer Rob Simbeck is releasing a new book, The Southern Wildlife Watcher: Notes of a Naturalist, on Aug. 28.

Published by the University of South Carolina Press, the book features a colorful look at 36 common and not-so-common animals found in the southeastern United States, from hummingbirds and bald eagles, to bullfrogs and bobcats, each presented through engaging storytelling supported by quotes from noted naturalists and biologists.

Simbeck moved to Nashville as a songwriter in the early 1980s, and became a journalist, author, and longtime Nashville Bureau Chief for “American Country Countdown” and “Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40,” serving as a writer/interviewer for both syndicated radio shows. He also made a name for himself as an award-winning outdoor writer, with credits in Field & Stream, Birder’s World, Ducks Unlimited, and conservation/wildlife magazines in 20 states. He penned the internationally award-winning column, “For Wildlife Watchers,” for South Carolina Wildlife magazine for 25 years.

“I was privileged enough to work with most of the artists who made the airplay and sales charts since the early ’80s,” Simbeck said. “But I was also in the woods and fields with binoculars, a spotting scope, and a camera, writing about the creatures we share this part of the world with. As country fans know, those two worlds overlap, and it feels wonderful to have the support of so many friends from the music world.”

Kix Brooks, Lee Ann Womack and Craig Morgan are among the country artists who offered their endorsements for their friend’s latest book release.

Big Machine Records Signs Jackson Dean

Pictured (L-R): TKO Artist Management’s TK Kimbrell, Jackson Dean, Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta. Photo: Seth Hellman

Big Machine Records has added Jackson Dean to the label roster. The Odenton, Maryland native has opened shows for Kane Brown, Jake Owen, Brothers Osborne and more. Dean is repped by TKO Artist Management and is in the process of relocating to Nashville.

“From the moment Jackson started playing for Allison Jones and I in our conference room, we were transported into his musical world,” says BMLG President/CEO Scott Borchetta. “It may sound cliche to say that Jackson is very special…it isn’t…this is an important new artist and this is serious business.”

“You best believe the freight train is comin’,” Dean says. “I can’t wait to share my music with the world with the support of such a hardworking and innovative team.”

Pictured (L-R): Back Row – Big Machine Label Group’s Carly Strickland, WME’s Austin Mullins and Jay Williams, Big Machine Label Group’s Allison Jones and Darielle Schroeder; Front Row – Little Louder Music’s Arturo Buenahora, TKO Artist Management’s TK Kimbrell, Jackson Dean, Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta and Clay Hunnicutt. Photo: Seth Hellman

Natalie Grant Debuts Title Track From Upcoming Album ‘No Stranger’


Natalie Grant has released the title track from her new album, No Stranger. The new project, her 10th studio record, is set for release Sept. 25. Penned by Grant, her husband Bernie Herms, and songwriter Paul Duncan, “No Stranger” explores the intimacy of a God who identifies with the human experience.

“In the last few years, through deep valleys and victories, my awareness of God’s presence in my life has awakened like never before. It’s not like He became more available, I just became more aware, and that has changed everything,” Grant said of the personal significance behind “No Stranger.” “The King of the world, the Author of time and space, makes Himself personally known to me. This everlasting God, the Alpha and the Omega, He is no stranger. He is friend.”

No Stranger features strings recorded live at London’s famed Air Studios and includes previously released tracks including the stirring “Face To Face,” Grant’s powerful version of Casting Crowns’ classic hit “Praise You In This Storm,” her recent collaboration with Steven Malcolm “Even Louder,” and her new worship anthem, “My Weapon.”

Grant recently debuted her “Dare To Be” podcast with her longtime friend, author and speaker Charlotte Gambill, bringing their popular “Dare To Be” women’s events to life in a fresh format. The podcast is in partnership with AccessMore, an all-new online network for faith-based podcasts that launched in May from K-LOVE/Air1 parent company Educational Media Foundation (EMF). The “Dare To Be” podcast’s premier episode became AccessMore’s most listened to episode of the platform’s launch.

Jon Pardi Surprises Fans With Some Classic Favorites On New ‘Rancho Fiesta Sessions’


Jon Pardi took a detour into some cover fun on a surprise album he released last week, the Rancho Fiesta Sessions. The eight-song project features Pardi’s renditions of some of the tunes he is both inspired by and loves performing from artists ranging from Merle Haggard and George Strait to Prince.

Produced by Pardi, the new album was recorded live during a one-night live jam session with his touring band from his home base in Nashville, “Rancho Fiesta.” Among the favorites he included on the collection are country classics “Marina Del Rey,” “The Bottle Let Me Down,” and “Honky Tonk Man.”

“All these covers are of artists that I admire, and I look up to. There are all kinds of great names and styles of songs on here- from legends. I think the magic and the fun of it is all is in these eight covers of songs that I really like, or grew up singing,” said Pardi. “It’s all my band on this whole album. We mainly did it to have fun and record, and it sounds like we’re in your backyard, playing for you.” He also added, “I hope the fans really have fun when they listen to it, and they enjoy it and turn it up. This one was for the fans, to let them hear something different… songs you may have heard before but, haven’t heard them like this. It turned into something special because it’s a year where we are off the road, and we recorded it live in real time, out at my house.”

RANCHO FIESTA SESSIONS Track List:

  1. “The Bottle Let Me Down” – As performed by Merle Haggard
  2. “Honky Tonk Man” – As performed by Dwight Yoakam
  3. “Right or Wrong” – As performed by George Strait
  4. “Marina Del Rey” – As performed by George Strait
  5. “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)” – As performed by Joe Diffie
  6. “Somebody’s Doin’ Me Right” – As performed by Keith Whitley
  7. “The Waiting” – As performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
  8. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – As performed by Prince