The Grand Ole Opry will honor the U.S. military on Tuesday, May 19 with a “Salute The Troops” celebration. Members of the MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band and other honored soldiers will enter the Opry House via a red carpet. The public is invited to be part of the celebration by lining the carpet beginning at 5:45 p.m.

The performances will begin at 7 p.m. and will include Trace Adkins, Kellie Pickler, Vince Gill, Lee Greenwood, Craig Morgan, and others. The MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band will also make a special appearance for the second time.

MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band

The night is a part of The Opry show’s 90th anniversary celebration that will span nine months and support nine causes including the “Salute The Troops,” which will benefit the MusiCorps and USO. Throughout the month of May, a percentage of the proceeds from Opry ticket sales will go to the cause when fans mention the code “SALUTE.”

For more information, visit www.opry.com.

Pictured (L-R): Luke Bryan, George Strait, Jason Aldean.

Billboard has released a list of the top 40 Money Makers of 2014. Twenty-five percent of artists were Nashville-based (listed below).

The all-genre estimates are based off the Nielsen and Boxscore 2014 U.S. earnings, conveniently displayed by sales, streaming, publishing and touring. Merchandising, sync and sponsorship revenue is not included. A four percent producer’s fee and 10 percent manager fee were deducted.

Interesting to note Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean grossed a near $900k combined, after a highly-publicized withdraw from free streaming music sites. Also for sales, Swift had the highest on the list, ahead of labelmates Florida Georgia Line. Swift also boasted the highest publishing quadrant of anyone else.

Speaking of BMLG, Motley Crue’s (No. 25) tribute album was noted to boost the band’s publishing revenue, which totaled over $500k.

British boy band One Direction, which visited Nashville’s LP Field in 2014, topped out the list with $46m in gross revenue.

Methodology: royalty rates used were 22 percent of retail revenue for album and track sales; 22 percent for streaming revenue for current acts and 50 percent for heritage acts. Statutory mechanical rates for album and track sales and the Copyright Royalty Board streaming formula; for labels’ direct deals with interactive services, blended audio and video rates of, respectively, $0.0075 and $0.0045. Touring revenue equals 34 percent of an act’s Boxscore.

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No. 6 – Luke Bryan, $25m ($3.8m sales, $397k streaming, $641k publishing, $20.2m touring)

No. 8 – George Strait, $22.5m ($2.3m sales, $238k streaming, $308.1k publishing, $19.7m touring)

No. 10 – Jason Aldean, $20.2m ($3m sales, $287k streaming, $81.3k publishing, $16.8m touring)

No. 15 – Taylor Swift, 13.6m ($9.4m sales, $608.1k streaming, $3.5m publishing, $0 touring)

No. 19 – Zac Brown Band, $12.6m ($1.5m sales, $145.8k streaming, $645.3k publishing, $10.3m touring)

No. 22 – Eric Church, $10.2m ($2.6m sales, $160k streaming, $1.1m publishing, $6.4m touring)

No. 27 – Blake Shelton, $9m ($3m sales, $228.6k streaming, $26.1k publishing, $5.8m touring)

No. 31 – Florida Georgia Line, $8.4m ($4.3m sales, $354.4k streaming, $464.5k publishing, $3.3m touring)

No. 33 – Brad Paisley, $7.4m ($1m sales, $125.2k streaming, $608.9k publishing, $5.7m touring)

No. 39 – Rascal Flatts, $6.9m ($1.2m sales, $117.7k streaming, $53.1k publishing, $5.5m touring)

When Big Machine Label Group trio The Cadillac Three brings their high-energy set to the stage each evening, they don’t just entertain; they also listen. The trio’s latest single “White Lightning” (not to be confused with the George Jones classic) has garnered fervent fan response for the past couple of years. The trio and their label have listened to the demand, setting a release date for June 1. First week sales of the song have topped 6,000, according to BMLG’s Jack Purcell.

The Cadillac Three, the trio of guitarist/songwriter Jaren Johnston, lap steel player Kelby Ray and drummer Neil Mason, recently stopped the BMLG offices to offer a glimpse into what Johnston calls “a little bit of our side of Nashville.”

Johnston, whose songwriting credits include “Raise ‘Em Up” (Keith Urban/Eric Church), “Beachin’” (Jake Owen), and “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” (Tim McGraw), was the sole writer on “White Lightning.” The single is rife with vivid imagery on lines like She stole my heart / Faster than a heat-seekin’ missile on a mission / Faster than a bass to the hook when daddy’s fishin.’

“It’s my take on love at first sight,” said Johnston, before breaking into the song’s bluesy first verse, a cappella style.

They also offered up an acoustic version of “The South,” the trio’s 2013 debut single featuring Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley, and Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band. They followed with “Days of Gold,” a song featured on the trio’s 2013 self-titled project. The hard-driving rocker was later recorded and released as a single by Jake Owen.

“They paint the corners of the format and give it an interesting texture,” said Purcell.

“White Lightning” is slated for the trio’s upcoming BMLG project, and is available to download now on iTunes.

The second annual iHeartRadio Country Festival drew several superstars on Saturday, May 2, to the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Justin Moore, The Band Perry, Sam Hunt, and Tyler Farr. The event was hosted by Jennifer Nettles and Darius Rucker.

Among the evening’s highlights were The Band Perry’s cover of Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” as well as Justin Moore and Brantley Gilbert’s onstage collaboration on “Small Town Throwdown.”

NBC will televise the iHeartRadio Country Festival on NBC Wednesday, May 27 from 9-11 p.m. ET / 8-10 p.m. CT.

Artists gather at iHeartRadio Country Festival. Photo: Harper Smith for iHeartRadio

Third Man Records To Host Live-to-Acetate Performance From Ashley Monroe

The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is teaming up with its new member company Third Man Records for a special live-to-acetate performance from singer/songwriter Ashley Monroe on May 12 at 8 p.m. during the annual Music Biz 2015 conference. The concert, held at Third Man’s Blue Room venue, will be recorded live, mixed in real-time, and instantly cut to acetate for distribution.

Monroe is currently preparing for a summer tour on which she will perform select dates on Rascal Flatts’ Riot Tour before joining up with Little Big Town. The Music Biz 2015 Conference will run from May 12-14 in Nashville. For more information, visit musicbiz2015.com.

Eric Paslay Weds Natalie Harker

Singer-songwriter Eric Paslay married music publisher Natalie Harker on April 26, 2015 at Front Porch Farms in Charlotte, Tenn., according to people.com. The couple became engaged in December 2014, after dating for two years.

Eric Paslay weds Natalie Harker. Photo: Brown Lab Photography

Tyler Farr Trades Autographs with Chicago Bulls Player

While celebrating this past week’s release of his new album, Suffer in Peace, Columbia Nashville’s Tyler Farr was in the Windy City on Thursday (April 30) for a performance at Joe’s Bar, where he traded autographs with Chicago Bulls guard/forward Jimmy Butler.

Pictured (L-R): Butler, Farr, Farr’s tour manager Houston Phillips, and their friend, “E.”

Kelsea Ballerini Launches CMT’s Next Women of Country Tour in Michigan

On April 30, Black River Entertainment recording artist Kelsea Ballerini was in Grand Rapids, Mich., to launch CMT’s Next Women of Country tour – the network’s first-ever ladies-only tour. Ballerini is co-headlining the run with Warner Music Nashville/Elektra artist Jana Kramer. The CMT Next Women of Country Tour will make 10 stops across the country this spring, including Chicago, Nashville and Orlando.

Kelsea Ballerini. Photo: Black River Entertainment