Industry Ink: Kelsea Ballerini, Cody Johnson, ASCAP, Vince Herman

Kelsea Ballerini Receives Two Year’s Worth Of RIAA Bling

Kelsea Ballerini. Photo: Katie Kauss

Black River Entertainment’s Kelsea Ballerini and her team gathered for a long-overdue celebration yesterday (Dec. 14) to honor a wave of RIAA certifications that the 2x Grammy award-nominated entertainer has earned over the last two years.

The multi-Platinum songwriter, producer, and author celebrated her debut album being certified both Gold and Platinum, as well as her sophomore album being certified Gold. Other certifications that were honored include: “Yeah Boy,” “Miss Me More,” “Homecoming Queen,” and “Hole in the Bottle” earning Platinum status; and “Better Luck Next Time,” “The Other Girl,” and “Half of My Hometown” achieving Gold status.

Overall, she has a career total of 21 Gold and Platinum single certifications, nine of those reaching the certification status in the last two years, and total streams exceeding 3 billion to date.

Cody Johnson Wraps Up A Monster Year, Adds One Billion Streams In 2021

Pictured (L-R): Trent Willmon (Producer, Ain’t Nothin’ to It), Missy Iredell (Sr. Dir. Artist Development, Warner Music Nashville), Cris Lacy (EVP A&R, Warner Music Nashville), Ben Kline (EVP/GM, Warner Music Nashville), Cody Johnson, John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, Warner Music Nashville), Shane Tarleton (EVP Artist Development, Warner Music Nashville), and Howie Edelman (Durango Artist Management). Photo: Courtesy of WMN

Platinum-selling recording artist Cody Johnson has experienced quite the year in 2021. In the last 12 months, Johnson has released a feature-length documentary, two celebrated albums, had his most successful single debut at country radio with “’Til You Can’t,” played sold out shows, and more. Johnson also increased his worldwide streams by nearly one billion in 2021.

The debut single from his recently released Human: The Double Album, “’Til You Can’t,” is currently climbing the country airplay charts. Written by Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers, the song continues to be a standout in consumption and streams, with more than 85 million global streams to date.

Johnson’s first holiday album, A Cody Johnson Christmas, was released last month. The ten-song collection includes two new original songs penned by producer Trent Willmon, as well as Johnson and Willmon’s newly imagined arrangements for the beloved Christmas carols “Away In A Manger” and “Silent Night.”

ASCAP Holds Annual ASCAP Foundation Country Workshop For 15 Rising Songwriters

Pictured (first row, L-R): LeAnn Phelan, Forest Whitehead, Kate Smith, Mark Woodring; (second row, L-R) Shai Littlejohn, Steve Schultz, Brian Bayley, Noah Lubert; (third row, L-R) Linda Mckenzie, Brodie Dawson, Elysse Yulo, Tawna Goforth; (fourth row, L-R) Selda Sahin, Allison Cipris, Brooke Malouf, Tanya Maksood.

The ASCAP Nashville membership team hosted its annual ASCAP Foundation Country Workshop in honor of Garth Brooks on Dec. 4. The workshop was held as part of an ongoing series designed to enhance the development and education of promising new songwriters.

The one-day, virtual event was hosted by music industry veteran LeAnn Phelan of LP Creative Management/LP Creative Therapy. Grammy-nominated ASCAP producer and hit songwriter Forest Whitehead joined the session as a special guest.

Fifteen country music songwriters were selected to participate in the exercise, which focused on helping the songwriters understand what publishers and labels are looking for, how to build a supportive team and the necessity of creating the right co-writing community.

Erv Woolsey Co. Inks Deals With Vince Herman

Pictured (L-R): EWC’s Allen Mitchell, Vince Herman, Erv Woolsey, Wimberley Music’s Eddie Tidwell, EWC’s Clint Woolsey and Chris Davisson. Photo: Brandon Hatton

The Erv Woolsey Co. has signed Vince Herman, lead vocalist and co-founder of the American Jam Band and Leftover Salmon, to a management deal for his forthcoming solo projects in partnership with Chris Davisson, one half of EWC client the Davisson Brothers Band. Herman has also inked a publishing deal under EWC’s Wimberley Music.

“We first had the opportunity to work together with Vince when he wrote the title track on Leftover Salmon’s latest studio album, Brand New Good Old Days, which we had the honor of publishing through Wimberley Music,” notes CEO & Founder Erv Woolsey. “We were so impressed by his talent and storytelling; we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with him now in this even bigger capacity.”

“Since moving to Nashville in April I’ve been lucky enough to write with some amazing new friends and begin working with the great folks at The Erv Woolsey Co. & Wimberley Music,” shares Herman. “It’s been a great experience stepping into this new musical world after years of a completely different way of doing things. I’m really looking forward to the good things to come.”

Herman is currently in the studio recording his first solo album, planned for release in 2022, with producer/engineer Dave “Ferg” Ferguson (Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson).