SOLID (the Society of Leaders in Development) will hold its 13th Annual Music Row Yard Sale & Auction on Saturday, June 13 from 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the George Jones Museum in downtown Nashville. Items up for auction include meet and greets, autographed guitars and signage from the CMA Red Carpet. Ronnie Milsap’s tour bus is also available for purchase. An online auction will start on June 4 and features items from some of country music’s biggest artists at charitybuzz.com.

“This is an exciting year for the Yard Sale & Auction. We have a new location which overlooks the Riverfront Stage and allows people to catch a glimpse into the life of country music legend George Jones,” says organizer Kari Barnhart, “Not to mention that festival attendees will have access to rare memorabilia that cannot be found anywhere else. By taking the auction online, we can give fans who are not able to attend CMA Fest an opportunity to take a piece of music history home with them as well!”

The George Jones Museum will also offer discounted entry into the museum for those attending the yard sale.

Proceeds from the event will help SOLID fund education, networking, leadership and volunteer opportunities. A portion will also benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

In addition, SOLID will be selling specialty made hand-bags that are made from event flags of previous CMA events. A percentage of those sales will go to Notes for Notes, which provides after school music education through the Boys & Girls Club.

Rodney Atkins

Rodney Atkins will host his annual benefit concert, “Music City Gives Back” June 9^th in downtown Nashville. Lee Brice, Tyler Farr, Maddie & Tae, and Kip Moore round out the lineup for this year’s star-studded event.

This is the fifth year for the free concert, which is sponsored by Carl Black Chevrolet, Wrangler, and ALLY Financial and was originally launched in 2011 as a fundraiser for Nashvillians who suffered losses in the prior year’s devastating flood. Proceeds from this year’s show will support the W.O. Smith Music School.

“I’m grateful to be hosting this special event for the fifth year in a row alongside a stellar group of artists,” said Atkins. “It truly means a lot to be able to give back through what I love to do most – play music.”

DJ Silver will be on hand to kick off the festivities at 6:00 p.m. between 2nd and 3rd Avenue on Broadway, and select artists will sign autographs from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The show will also be streamed live by Chevrolet and Wrangler.

America’s Morning Show host Blair Garner will return along with media partners NASH and NASH ICON.

Craig Wiseman

Craig Wiseman Hosts Stars For Second Harvest

Cole Swindell, Sarah Buxton and Rodney Clawson join the All-Star lineup of singers and songwriters for the 11th annual Stars For Second Harvest event on Tuesday, June 9 at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. Presented by O’Charley’s and hosted by acclaimed hit songwriter Craig Wiseman, concert tickets are on-sale now. General admission $35 and preferred seating $55 are available at ticketmaster.com. For more details click here.

Jon Pardi

John Pardi To Perform At Chords For A Cause

Jon Pardi heads the list of musicians gathering June 9, at 3 p.m. at Chords for a Cause “Summertime on the Row” to benefit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Hosted by Dan McGuinness, performers alongside Pardi include Blackjack Billy, Hannah Blaylock, Levi Lowrey, Michelle Wright, Travis Meadows, Jordyn Stoddard along with many other singer/songwriters. All proceeds go directly to Monroe Carell Jr, Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Though there is no admission, donations are strongly suggested.

Clay Walker

Clay Walker’s Sixth Annual Chords Of Hope Benefit Concert

Clay Walker‘s Sixth Annual Chords of Hope Benefit Concert will be Wednesday, June 10th at 3rd & Lindsley. Doors open at 6:30PM, and all proceeds benefit the Vanderbilt MS Center. For ticket information click here.

Granger Smith

Country artist Granger Smith finds success as an unsigned artist from both his touring and strong online engagement. His resume includes an EP that hit No. 2 on the iTunes Country Chart and No. 6 on the all genres chart. The debut single “Backroad Song” reached the No. 2 position on the iTunes Country chart and sold 32,000 singles in its first week.

The EP, named 4×4, was released on May 4 of this year via Thirty Tigers. It is co-produced by Granger and Frank Rogers.

Granger has certainly taken an “out of the box” mentality and faced the grind of the road to connect with fans. He says that after his tour concludes this fall, he will have visited every state. Many fans discovered him after watching viral videos of his alter ego Earl Dibbles, Jr. This character developed as a chance to do something different. He recruited his brothers and filmed a video set to the song “Country Boy Song.” The video has amassed over 9.5 million views.

Smith is currently in Nashville writing with Frank Rogers and working on finishing up his full length album due this fall.

L-R: MR’s Eric Parker, Kelsey Grady, Granger Smith, MR’s Sarah Skates, Sherod Robertson, Troy Stephenson

SESAC 2015 Pop Music Award

Nashville executives travelled to the SESAC 2015 Pop Music Awards, held recently at the historic New York Public Library. City National Bank, an official sponsor of the event, was represented by executives Lori Badgett and Jim Irvin at the event, where they joined SESAC Vice President Ellen Truley on the red carpet.

The SESAC Pop Awards honor the top songwriters and publishers in the Pop, Urban and Rock music genres. The event draws over 450 writers, publishers and other music industry tastemakers and presented Performance Awards to such notables as American Authors, Young The Giant, Disclosure and Alt-J.

Pictured (L-R): SESAC’s Ellen Truley and City National Bank’s Jim Irvin & Lori Badgett. Photo: Shawn Ehlers

Metro Historical Commission Honors Mike Curb

Mike Curb received the Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Metro Nashville Historical Commission, during the group’s 40th Annual Preservation Awards at the Nashville Downtown Public Library on May 19. The Achievement Award is given to an individual in recognition of his/her commitment to preservation, education and advocacy of Nashville history. Curb was honored for his work in preserving Historic RCA Studio B, the Quonset Hut, the RCA Building, RCA Studio A and Music Row.

In his introduction of Curb, Commission member Don Cusic stated, “Nashville is known as Music City U.S.A. Music Row is the heart of Music City and Mike Curb is the heart of Music Row.”

Pictured (L-R): Metro Historic Commission member Don Cusic, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean (who presented the award), Mike and Linda Curb.

Curb’s Taylor Childress Receives A2IM Appointment

Curb Records VP Taylor Childress was recently appointed to the A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) President’s Advisory Committee. The new board’s term will begin on July 4, 2015 and the new board and Advisory Committee and officers will officially be introduced during A2IM’s 10th Anniversary during Indie Week (June 22-25).

SoundExchange Series at The Bluebird

The SoundExchange Influencers Series is returning to Nashville’s Bluebird Café on Wednesday, May 27. Legendary gospel and R&B singer BeBe Winans will be joined by recent breakthrough gospel artist Jonathan McReynolds and young singer/songwriter Alexa Cruse. The SoundExchange Influencers Series demonstrates the impact of legacy artists on today’s music and provides a forum to address issues currently facing our music legends, namely, fair pay and recognition for all sound recordings across all mediums and all eras of music.