Lifenotes: Tony Martell, Founder of T.J. Martell Foundation

/by

t-j-martellTony Martell, founder of the T.J. Martell Foundation for leukemia, cancer and AIDs research, died on Sunday, Nov. 27. He was 90.

Martell launched the T.J. Martell Foundation in 1975, in honor of his son T.J., who died at age 19 after battling leukemia.

Tony Martell was a music industry senior executive from the 1960s through the 1990s. He earned Executive Producer credits on more than 50 albums from artists including The Isley Brothers, The O’Jays, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more. He was instrumental in bringing Stevie Ray Vaughn and Ozzy Osbourne to Epic Records. In the 1980s, Martell was head of the imprint label CBS Associated Records, where he continued working with Osbourne and signed artists including Joan Jett to the label.

The T.J. Martell Foundation has raised more than $270 million to date for scientific research.

His wife of 65 years, Vicky, died in February. Martell is survived by daughter Debbie Martell.

Memorial plans have not yet been announced.

Weekly Chart Report (11/23/16)

/by

screen-shot-2016-11-23-at-2-09-48-pm

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

Songwriters Highlighted By ‘The Wall Street Journal,’ Nashville Public Radio

/by

Nashville Songwriters Profiled In The Wall Street Journal

Pictured (L-R): Love Junkies' Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT

Pictured (L-R): Love Junkies’ Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT

The Wall Street Journal recently profiled three of Nashville’s top songwriters, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose. Dubbed “The Love Junkies,” the trio’s writers have provided powerhouse songs for Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and more.

For more, visit wsj.com.

 

Nashville Public Radio Highlights Work Of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant

Felice and Bourdleaux Bryant

Carolyn Smith Bryant and Del Bryant

The work of late songwriters Boudleaux and Felice Bryant was highlighted by Nashville Public Radio, via an interview with former BMI leader Del Bryant. Del was interviewed by his wife Carolyn Smith Bryant about how his parents met and the important role they played in country music.

Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant were best known for songs including “Rocky Top,” “Love Hurts,” and several hits by the Everly Brothers, including “All I Have to Do Is Dream” and “Bye Bye Love.”

 

New Book Explores T Bone Burnett’s Life In Pursuit

/by

t-bone-burnett-book

A new book by author Lloyd Sachs offers a critical appreciation of T Bone Burnett and his influence on American music and culture. A Life In Pursuit explores Burnett’s work as producer of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and Raising Sand, the multiple Grammy Award-winning album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It also delves into Burnett as a singer-songwriter and his advocacy for analog sound.

The book ventures through Burnett’s early days as a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue and then to his recent work with the TV shows Nashville and True Detective, and his production of the all-star album Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes.

Sachs is a nationally known voice on pop music and jazz for publications ranging from Rolling Stone and Washington Post to Village Voice and USA Today. He was a longtime music columnist and award-winning editorial writer at the Chicago Sun-Times and a senior editor at No Depression.

Industry Ink: Mistletoe Madness, Morgan Wallen, YEP, Cirque Du Soleil

/by

mistletoe-madness

War Memorial Auditorium, Curb Records, and 25 Entertainment have teamed to present Mistletoe Madness, featuring Rodney Atkins, Jerrod Niemann, Love and Theft, and Dylan Scott performing their hits one night only on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets, starting at $18, are on sale now at WMARocks.com, by phone at 615-782-4030 and in person at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick St., in downtown Nashville. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Mistletoe Madness is part of Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC)’s first-ever Winter Holiday Fest, a celebration of the performing arts throughout the holiday season between Nov. 25 and Dec. 31 and including a broad variety of live performances in TPAC venues from the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Repertory Theatre and more.

 

Morgan Wallen Visits TODAY In Nashville

Pictured (L-R): Morgan Wallen, TODAY in Nashville host Kelly Sutton and guest co-host Craig Wayne Boyd

Pictured (L-R): Morgan Wallen, TODAY in Nashville host Kelly Sutton and guest co-host Craig Wayne Boyd

Big Loud Records artist Morgan Wallen performed his debut single, “The Way I Talk,” on TODAY in Nashville on Nov. 21.

“The Way I Talk” has earned 3 million-plus plays on Spotify. Wallen is working with producer Joey Moi on his debut album and is on the road opening for fellow Big Loud Records artist Chris Lane.

 

YEP Hosts Pause For The Claus Concert

yep-holiday-eventYoung Entertainment Professionals (YEP) will host a Pause For The Claus concert on Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Nashville’s The Basement East. The event will feature an evening of Christmas classics performed by Brinley Addington, Aaron Eshuis, Joey Hyde, Matthew McGinn and Mike Walker. The house band will be led by Preston Leatherman.

The show is sponsored by Huskins-Harris Business Management and Shepherd Therapeutics. For tickets, visit ticketweb.com.

 

Cirque Du Soleil Seeking Multi-instrumentalist

cirque-du-soleilInstrumentalists are needed to join Cirque Du Soleil. The company is holding an urgent casting call for a guitarist, accordion and mandolin player to join an arena show touring the United States in 2017.

The ideal applicant should be 18 years or older, possess excellent technical skills on acoustic/classic/electric guitar and good technical skills on accordion and mandolin, with the ability to perform improvised solos on guitar and accordion. Applicants should have excellent level of interpretation of music styles including klezmer, tango, flamenco, pop or other world music.

Other requirements include good physical shape, experience with in-ear monitors, no fear of heights, a valid passport, and a good understanding of English or French.

To apply, visit cirquedusoleil.com.

Garth Brooks Excluded From Nielsen Sales Figures Despite 134K Reported Sales

/by

garth-ultimate-collection

Garth Brooks‘ 10-disc Target box set, The Ultimate Collection, was noticeably absent from MusicRow‘s Weekly Register sales report, despite news outlets reporting sales of 134,000 units—enough to unofficially land the package at No. 2 overall this week (Nov. 11-17).

The reason: Target’s $29.99 offering was too low for the box set to appear on the SoundScan chart. Individual discs in a box set must be priced at at least $3.49 each, meaning his set would need to retail for $34.90 to be included. If the discs had sold for the qualifying price, an artist/retailer can still choose whether to report numbers of exclusive releases.

According to those internal numbers reported by Brooks’ own Pearl Records, the box set landed just a few hundred units shy of the total consumption of the No. 1 album, Tribe Called Quest (135k). The hip-hop group released its first new music after a nearly two-decade hiatus, on the heels of the death of one of its rappers in March.

A strict physical album sales comparison would show Brooks outselling the hip-hop group by well over 20,000 units. Brooks’ box set was not available for streaming.

Interestingly, Brooks’ forthcoming Gunslinger album was included as a disc in the Target exclusive. Gunslinger will officially be released to mass retailers as an independent album on Nov. 25 and will be streamed on Amazon. According to those numbers, Gunslinger has already sold 134,000 units ahead of its debut later this week, but those numbers may be null and void according to SoundScan.

Not all was lost, Brooks did debut at No. 1 (country chart) and 11 (overall chart) this week with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, for their Christmas album Christmas Together (21,144 units). The project also appeared at No. 2 on the overall holiday album chart (behind Penatonix‘ October release).

Like Billboard, MusicRow‘s Weekly Register figures are sourced courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Kane Brown, Brett Eldredge Set TV Appearances

/by

Kane Brown album

RCA Nashville/Zone 4 breakout country artist Kane Brown is set to make his national television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Thursday, Dec. 1, one day before the release of his self-titled debut album.

Brown co-wrote 7 of the 11 tracks on his debut album. The track “Learning,” an autobiographical anthem, now becomes the fourth instant grat track. The three other grat tracks include his current single “Thunder in the Rain,” co-penned by Brown, Josh Hoge and Matthew McVaney; “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” co-written by Brown, Jamie Paulin and Jordan Schmidt; and, “Hometown,” co-written by James McNair, Cameron Montgomery and Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. All four grat tracks are available as part of the album pre-order here.

 

Brett Eldredge to Perform Christmas Album ‘Glow’ In Its Entirety On TV Tonight

brett-eldredge-donn-jonescma

AUDIENCE Network will host the holiday concert special “Glow: An Evening with Brett Eldredge,” premiering Friday, Nov. 25, 9 p.m. ET/PT via DIRECTV Ch 239/U-verse Ch 1114.

Eldredge will perform his holiday album Glow in its entirety alongside a big band at Bally’s Live in Las Vegas. For this exclusive holiday concert, Eldredge will perform standards like “White Christmas,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and more. Glow marks the third studio album and first Christmas album from Eldredge and is available now via Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville.

“Bringing a Christmas record like this to Vegas is something I’ve been waiting to do my whole life,” said Eldredge. “These songs were meant to be sung in a place like this, a place where Dean Martin himself performed. As a kid, I started out singing jazz music. I wanted to be Frank Sinatra! When I was 14 years old, I was singing like I was 50.”

Artist Updates: Love and Theft, Easton Corbin, LOCASH, Tegan Marie

/by

Love and Theft, Matt Jenkins Team For Adoption Fundraiser

burnudi-baby-concert-poster-1

Singer-songwriters Love and Theft, Matt Jenkins (co-writer behind Florida Georgia Line’s “Confession”), and former Love and Theft member Brian Bandas have signed on for a performance in support of the charity Every Child Deserves Love. In addition to music, the event will feature a silent auction including items from the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Disney, Bricktops and more.

The show will take place Dec. 18 at Tin Roof Nashville, beginning at 6 p.m. A $25 donation is requested.

Tickets can be purchased at burundibaby.eventbrite.com or at the door.

 

Easton Corbin Teams With Ram Trucks To Give Back

easton-corbin

Mercury Nashville artist Easton Corbin has partnered again with Ram Trucks for the #RamGivesThanks online campaign. Corbin released the first in a series of videos as part of the campaign. In the first video, Corbin visited a fire station in his home state of Florida to praise their work by delivering hot meals and saying thank you to the first responders for their service. The gesture was personal for Corbin, as his father was a law enforcement officer and veteran, and his step-brother was also a police officer.

 

LOCASH To Perform Postgame Concert For Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

LOCASH

LOCASH

The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl has announced a performance from duo LOCASH at this year’s inaugural postgame concert. Scheduled for approximately 7 p.m. CST on Friday, Dec. 30 immediately following this year’s bowl game, this free event is part of the Bowl Week festivities for the 19th annual event. The concert will take place on the stage at the intersection of 1st Avenue and Broadway.

The duo of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas will also perform the national anthem prior to the 2:30 pm kickoff for the game.

In addition, country/pop rock artist, Megan Ruger, will sing “God Bless America” as part of the pregame festivities. Ruger was a contestant on Blake Shelton’s team during Season 6 of The Voice.

 

Tegan Marie Joins Radio Disney’s Float In Magnificent Lights Festival Tree Lighting

Photo courtesy Sweety High

Photo courtesy Sweety High

13-year-old country sensation Tegan Marie sparkled atop Radio Disney’s float in the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival Tree Lighting parade in Chicago on Saturday (Nov. 19). Tegan Marie waved to the crowd of people along the route and performed her soon-to-be released holiday single “Just Another Night,” available at digital retailers on Dec. 2. The special aired live on Chicago’s ABC7 and will air nationally across 150 markets this holiday season.

 

Dolly Show Brings Music Industry To Huntsville

/by
Dolly Parton performs at the Von Braun Center Arena in Huntsville, Alabama, November 16, 2016. Photo: Moments By Moser Photography

Dolly Parton performs at the Von Braun Center Arena in Huntsville, Alabama, November 16, 2016. Photo: Moments By Moser Photography

Members of the Nashville music industry and media migrated to Huntsville, Alabama last week (Nov. 16) to catch one of the last remaining stops in Dolly Parton’s Pure & Simple Tour which ends on Dec. 10 in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

With caravans and buses heading South, industry members convened at the Von Braun Center Arena to witness one of country music’s most iconic and legendary singers.

Pam Tillis and Dolly Parton

Pam Tillis and Dolly Parton

Backstage prior to the show, Dolly hosted a packed meet & greet welcoming both fans and Nashville industry insiders including Robert Deaton, Sarah Trahern, Damon Whiteside, Pam Tillis, Paulette Carlson, Leslie Fram, Sherod Robertson, Kirt Webster, Danny Nozell, and Steve Lassiter among others.

From the opening number of “Train, Train” to the ending encore of “Hello God” and “He’s Alive,” guests were captivated as Dolly intertwined personal tales between the mega hits that spanned her full career. The retrospective journey included such popular tunes as “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “Here You Come Again,” “Islands in the Stream,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You.”

The tour also supported the singer’s 43rd studio album, Pure & Simple, by including a performance of the title track and “Outside Your Door” from the new project.

Her stories brought back to life her early childhood and gave respectful homage to her family and how she was raised. She spoke often about growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains and what she learned from her parents Avie Lee Parton and Robert Lee Parton.

Known for her quick wit, she also peppered the show with tall tales and humorous jokes.  

dollywebsterweb

Pictured (L-R): Von Braun Center assistant director Mike Vojticek, publicist Kirt Webster, Dolly, manager Danny Nozell, and booking agent Steve Lassiter.

The superstar also touted her recent accolade as the 2016 recipient of the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented to her during The 50th Annual CMA Awards and gave a shout out to the guests from the CMA who were in the audience.

Inspiring the audience by sharing her story of how she worked hard and followed her dreams, she confessed, “I kept dreaming all those dreams about being in show business. I graduated on a Friday night and got on the bus [to Nashville] the next morning with my sack of songs, my head full of dreams and my heart full of hope. And I headed out to try to make it.”

And that she did.

Dolly Parton and MusicRow Publisher Sherod Robertson

Dolly Parton and MusicRow publisher Sherod Robertson

Craig Campbell Kicks Off Holiday Season With Tree Lighting And Parade

/by

 

Pictured (L-R): Aloe Blacc, Michelle Williams, and Craig Campbell Photo Credit: Courtesy of Longshot Management

Pictured (L-R): Aloe Blacc, Michelle Williams, and Craig Campbell. Photo: Courtesy of Longshot Management

RED BOW Records’ Craig Campbell kicked off the holiday season with a performance at the 69th Annual Macy’s Great Tree Lighting in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday (Nov. 20). His set featured his hits “Outskirts of Heaven” and “Keep Them Kisses Comin’” and festive covers including Alan Jackson’s “I Only Want You For Christmas” and the classic “White Christmas.”

As a native of Lyons, Georgia, Campbell was thrilled to participate. He shared the stage with award-winning artists Aloe Blacc and Michelle Williams during the finale performance of “O Holy Night,” complete with fireworks.

The next stop for Campbell is Chicago, Illinois, where he will sing his Top 40-and-climbing single “Outskirts of Heaven” at the 83rd annual McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade, airing live on Nov. 24 at 8 AM/CT on WGN 9 Chicago or WGN America.