Jake Owen Teams With Discover Boating on 2014 Tour

/by

Photo: Danny Clinch for RCA Nashville

Photo: Danny Clinch for RCA Nashville


Jake Owen has named Discover Boating® as the presenting sponsor for his current headlining Jake Owen’s Days of Gold Tour 2014. During the 75+ cities the tour will visit, Discover Boating will inspire concert attendees to become more involved in boating and water activities.
Additionally, Discover Boating will take part in the 2014 “Stories of Discovery” series, which will share inspiring stories of life on the water via documentary-style video clips.
“Growing up on the water, boating has always been a part of my life,” said Owen. “I can’t think of anything better than floating down the water, drinking a cold beverage and hanging with your friends. On this tour, I wanted everyone to feel that by the river vibe and having Discover Boating as part of the action every night is amazing!”
For more information, visit discoverboating.com and jakeowen.net.

Spotify Releases Study On Workplace Music Habits

/by

spotifySpotify recently partnered with research consultant Dr. Anneli Haake to release a study on the music listening habits of employees on the job, according to Billboard.
They found approximately two-thirds (61 percent) of people surveyed listened to something at their desks, and they reported it made them happier and more productive. Of those surveyed, 36 percent said music helped them through the day, specifically the hours from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m., 11 a.m. through 1 pm., and then 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Fifteen percent of participants surveyed reported they were most likely to listen to music during those hours.
Twenty percent of people surveyed said music alleviated job boredom, while 16 percent reportedly used music to drown out “annoying” co-workers. Ten percent of survey participants said they judged co-workers’ musical tastes, while nine percent worried their own music tastes were being judged while on the job.
The most-listened to artists in the survey include Adele (16 percent), Arctic Monkeys (14 percent), Rihanna and Mumford & Sons (13 percent), and Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry (12 percent).

10-Day Americana Experience Coming To Franklin, Tenn.

/by

Screen shot 2014-04-15 at 9.55.15 AM1

Americana Music fever will come to Franklin, Tenn., during the 10-day Americana Experience, which will run from May 22 through June 1.
Artists including Cotton Wine, Kerry Gilbert, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, Matt Tedder, David Ball & The Pioneer Playboys, Walker Hayes, Peter Cooper and Eric Brace, Danika Holmes, and more. Artists will perform at Franklin venues including Puckett’s Boat House, Gray’s On Main, the Franklin Theatre, Lawnchair Theatre, Kimbro’s, Loveless Barn, Studio Tenn and Puckett’s Grocery.
Other highlights of the festival include a movie screening of Muscle Shoals at Franklin Theatre on Friday, May 23, and the Cross County Lines Festival at the Park at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, Tenn., on Saturday, May 31.
The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams will take place Sunday, June 1 at Studio Tenn at The Factory in Franklin.
All performances are ticketed individually. A full list of performers is available below; for more information, visit americanaexperience.com.
Thursday, May 22
7:00pm Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang Live Blues Radio Show (Free – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
8:00pm BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet (Franklin Theatre)
Friday, May 23
7:30pm “Muscle Shoals” Movie Screening and Artist Q&A (Franklin Theatre)
7:30pm The Jake Leg Stompers (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
9:00pm Raven Cliff (Gray’s on Main, Franklin)
Saturday, May 24
11:00am Viva Nashvegas Radio Show (FREE – Handy Hardware, Franklin)
6:00pm Muscle Shoals in the Fork Concert (FREE – Lawnchair Theater, Leipers Fork)
7:30pm Farmer & Adele (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
8:30pm Pat and Jamie McLaughlin (FREE – Puckett’s Restaraunt, Franklin)
8:30pm CottonWine (Gray’s on Main, Franklin)
9:00pm Kerry Gilbert (Puckett’s Grocery, Leiper’s Fork)
Sunday, May 25
3:00pm Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers (FREE – Lawnchair Theater, Leiper’s Fork)
7:00pm Jesse Terry, Craig Carothers & Tony Arata (Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
Monday, May 26
7:00pm BrewBQ with Rachel Davis & Friends (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
7:00pm Mabrey Parsley & the Rotten Tomatoes (Puckett’s Grocery, Leiper’s Fork)
Tuesday, May 27
6:00pm David Ball & The Pioneer Playboys (Puckett’s Grocery – Leiper’s Fork)
7:00pm Matt Tedder (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
7:00pm Default Name (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
7:30pm Don Gallardo (FREE – Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
Wednesday, May 28
7:00pm Music City Roots (Loveless Barn, North End of Natchez Trace)
7:00pm Walker Hayes (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
7:00pm My Politic and The Black Feathers (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
7:30pm Willow Park (FREE – Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
8:00pm Jackson Nance (Puckett’s Grocery – Leiper’s Fork)
Thursday, May 29
7:00pm “The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams” (Studio Tenn at The Factory, Franklin)
7:00pm PBH Zydeco Dance with YaYa (FREE at Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
7:30pm The Ham Family (FREE – Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
7:30pm Robert Rivers Band (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
8:00pm Creole Shrimp Boil & Open Mic (FREE at Puckett’s Grocery, Leiper’s Fork)
Friday, May 30
7:00pm “The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams” (Studio Tenn at The Factory, Franklin)
7:30pm Allen Thompson (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
8:00pm Juke Joint Friday – Live Blues from Clarksdale, MS: Leo “Bud” Welch (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
8:00pm Juke Joint Friday – Live Blues from Clarksdale, MS: “Super Chikan” (Franklin Theatre)
8:30pm Donna Ulisse & The Poor Mountain Boys (Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
8:30pm Danika Holmes (Gray’s on Main, Franklin)
Saturday, May 31
11:00am Viva NashVegas Radio Show featuring The Carmonas (FREE – Handy Hardware, Franklin)
2:00pm “The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams” (Studio Tenn at The Factory, Franklin)
3-11pm CROSS COUNTY LINES FESTIVAL (at The Park at Harlinsdale Farm, Franklin)
Featuring Patty Griffin, John Hiatt, Ashley Monroe and many more!
7:00pm The Stoves, Tumbleweed Company, Anthony Adams & The Nite (Kimbro’s, Franklin)
7:00pm “The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams” (Studio Tenn at The Factory, Franklin)
7:30pm Red Head Express (FREE – Puckett’s Boat House, Franklin)
8:30pm Peter Cooper & Eric Brace (Puckett’s Restaurant, Franklin)
Sunday, June 1
2:00pm “The Hank Legacy: The Songs of Hank Williams” (Studio Tenn at The Factory, Franklin)
4:30pm Down By The River – Gospel Sing-A-Long (Pow Wow Field, Leiper’s Fork)

Aristo Releases International Report For April 2014

/by

 

Click above for full report

Click above for full report.

 The Aristo International Report has been released for April 2014. The AristoMedia Group has been issuing a quarterly review of global activities since 2008.

Highlights in this issue include:

• A review of the recent Country 2 Country (C2C) festival in London.
• An overview of the CMA Marketing Summit and Research Presentation, which was recently held in London.
• Details of the re-branding of the CMA Global Artist Party in June to the CMA world Global Live Concert.
• News from the recent CMC Rocks the Hunters concert Australia and some well-deserved award winners.
• A detailed listing of the upcoming Canadian Festival and key dates north of the border.
• General news from all around the globe.

The Civil Wars' Joy Williams Prepping Solo Album

/by

joy with matt morris1

Joy Williams in the studio with Matt Morris.


Joy Williams, best known as a member of duo the Civil Wars, revealed that she is currently in the studio working on a solo project. “Started recording a solo album yesterday,” she wrote on social media. “Butterflies. Bittersweet. Mostly Sweet.” She also gave a brief video preview of her music to her more than 40,000 followers.
Williams also revealed that she has been writing with Matt Morris (aka Teo Bishop), who has penned songs for Christina Aguilera, Cher, Justin Timberlake, Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson.
Williams first released a solo self-titled Christian pop project in 2001, followed by By Surprise (2002), Genesis (2005), Every Moment (2006), One of Those Days (2009) and many others.
In 2012, the Civil Wars canceled tour dates, leading to persistent rumors that the duo has broken up. The duo released a self-titled project in 2013.

Google Glass On Sale Tomorrow

/by

google glassGoogle Glass will be available for purchase tomorrow, April 15, at 9 a.m. EDT, for one day only. The glasses have the ability to take a picture, search online, use social media, make a call, or send a message through SMS or Hangouts. Among the 42 Glassware apps are ones for navigation, Google Play Music, and jogging. Prescription frames are also an option.
Before the product becomes widely available, Google is selling a limited number through the Glass Explorer program. The bundle costs $1,500 plus tax and includes Glass, charger, pouch, mono earbud, and your choice of a shade or a frame. There are numerous styles from which to choose. More at Google.com/glass.

[Updated] Industry Ink (4/14/14)

/by

Sharon Napier

Sharon Napier


Sharon Napier, mother of Jill Napier, will have a Celebration of Life Service on Monday, April 21 at Eastland Funeral Home, 904 Gallatin Rd., Nashville, TN 37206. Visitation will be from 5 – 7 p.m. with the service immediately following. Napier will be laid to rest in her hometown of Fayetteville, WV.
Instead of flowers, the family has requested contributions to her celebration of life funeral expenses. Details of memorial donations are as follows:
Jill Napier
Memorial Fund for Sharon Napier
c/o Pinnacle Financial Partners
7040 Carothers Parkway
Franklin, TN 37067

 • • •

SESAC has signed singer-songwriter Alex Kline for representation. During a recent visit to SESAC’s corporate office in Nashville, Kline also celebrated her publishing arrangement with 10,000 hours and Starstruck Entertainment.

Pictured (L-R): Neil Zacharuk (10,000 Hours) , Shannan Hatch (SESAC), Alex Kline and Erin Enderlin (10,000 hours), Tim Fink (SESAC), Jimmie Metts (Starstruck) & Cliff Downs (Starstruck). Photo: Peyton Hoge

Pictured (L-R): Neil Zacharuk (10,000 Hours), Shannan Hatch (SESAC), Alex Kline, Erin Enderlin (10,000 hours), Tim Fink (SESAC), Jimmie Metts (Starstruck) and Cliff Williamson (Starstruck). Photo: Peyton Hoge.

 • • •

doyle111

Pictured (L-R): Alex von Hoffman and Bob Doyle. Photo: Caroline Allison


Entertainment manager and music publisher Bob Doyle and Alex Von Hoffman‘s recent restoration of a century farm in middle Tennessee is featured on Garden & Gun‘s website. The home has been occupied by successive generations of one family since 1840.
While local contractors restored the 6,500-square-foot home’s original flooring, millwork and brick chimneys, architect Jane Sach was brought in to design a contemporary 4,800-square-foot addition and detached guesthouse.
“You have to care and respect the past, but at the same time you move forward,” says Doyle. “Change is inevitable.”

doyle home111

 

Artist Updates (4/14/14)

/by

natalie stovall11Natalie Stovall and the Drive will make their Grand Ole Opry debut on Tuesday, May 6. Frontwoman Stovall spent part of her childhood performing in Opryland’s Kids Club at the Opryland theme park in Nashville.
The band, signed with HitShop Records, is promoting their current single, “Baby Come On With It.”

                                                            • • •

George Jones

George Jones


On Saturday, April 26 at Woodlawn Cemetery, friends and fans of the late George Jones are invited to celebrate his legacy as Nancy Jones will plant two dogwood trees at the “He Stopped Loving Her Today” monument. The event will begin at 1 p.m.; Woodlawn Cemetery is located at 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville.
“This day is going to be bittersweet,” says Nancy Jones. “I know how much people loved George, and the love has continued even a year later. I am so fortunate for the friends and fans that George and I made through the years. I want everyone to come celebrate with us, not because he is no longer with us, but to keep his legacy alive.”

• • •

james house11James House will release his first Country project in more than 10 years, Broken Glass Twisted Steel, on April 29 (Victor House Records). House is known for penning Dwight Yoakam’s “Ain’t That Lonely Yet,” Martina McBride’s “A Broken Wing,” and Diamond Rio’s “In A Week or Two.”

According to House, “I’d been toying with the idea of putting together a Greatest Hits CD, but then I started getting calls from the editor of a magazine in England called Up Country, telling me that my music was having a resurgence over there. That’s all I needed to go back into the studio. I’d written some new songs I wanted to record, so I thought, why not?”

• • •

evans1Sara Evans is partnering with the makers of Hidden Valley Original Ranch products on a program that aims to help moms during the most hectic time of their day between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. Hidden Valley’s limited-edition “Twist on Tonight” activity box from Surprise Ride, available through June 30, gets kids involved in family meal preparation. Evans helped design the kits, as well as a playlist that is included as the soundtrack for meal times.

               • • •

Dustin Lynch co-hosted a recent Nashville event launching jewelry and timepiece designer David Yurman‘s Frontier collection. Guests were treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as they previewed Yurman’s latest collection. Part of the evening’s proceeds supported the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Dustin Lynch co-hosts David Yurman preview

Dustin Lynch co-hosts David Yurman preview

Jimmy Bowen Chronicles Nashville Legacy

/by

Jimmy Bowen with Museum Writer-Editor Michael McCall. Photo: Donn Jones. 

Jimmy Bowen with Museum Writer-Editor Michael McCall. Photo: Donn Jones.


Jimmy Bowen whisked onto the stage of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ford Theater Saturday, April 12, with a declarative, “What the hell happened to this town since I left?”
The museum’s Michael McCall replied that much of the city’s change and growth is a result of Bowen’s legacy. Credited with boosting Nashville’s clout for label operations, recording technology, and executive positions for women, Bowen went on to charismatically chronicle his career which brought him from Los Angeles to Nashville at the turn of the ’70s.
Bowen recalled the Garth Brooks era and how after seeing the performer’s live show, he instructed his staff to earmark 75 percent of their budget for “the biggest [artist] of them all.” “When something like that happens, it had to be like Elvis or The Beatles,” said Bowen, whose career also includes work with Frank Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Mel Tillis, Kenny Rogers, Dean Martin, Hank Jr., George Strait, Reba McEntire and a few self-described “misses,” including passing on The Eagles.
“When you look back, you say ‘I’ll be damned, I was working with Country music all along,'” reminisced Bowen of the relationships and experiences. (He absorbed Phil Spector‘s work while writing and producing Campbell across the hall in Los Angeles.) “I’ve always been aware of signs, and follow them,” he said.
Pres./CEO Warner Music Nashville, John Esposito visits with Jimmy Bowen after the program. Photo: Donn Jones.

Pres./CEO Warner Music Nashville, John Esposito visits with Jimmy Bowen after the program. Photo: Donn Jones.


Those types of friendships led to executive positions at Chancellor Records, Sinatra’s Reprise Records, and MGM Records before Bowen’s attention turned to Nashville in an effort to discover why records weren’t selling while singles were.
“I didn’t know how to record fiddle, but knew how to record twenty at a time,” recalled Bowen of adapting to the genre. “I had the best education. Tompall Glaser taught me the history of the music and business – if it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have understood how to change anything here.
“I started to build the first label in Nashville with an accounting department, and marketing and sales, which had previously been done in Los Angeles or New York.
“I paid musicians double-scale and brought cartage to Nashville.” This gave musicians the freedom to create music rather than spend time hauling and loading equipment. Bowen also leveraged label contracts to justify millions in upgrades for a studio owner.
“When I worked with Dean and Sinatra, I learned it was their music, not mine,” noted Bowen, who holds the record for the most MusicRow Producer of the Year wins with eight consecutive honors. “I wanted artists to co-produce so they would understand hit songs and figure out what they want to say. I explained to Reba that albums open like concerts, then they peak, valley and close. And she understood.”
During Bowen’s reign, he was quick to promote the advantages of music producers as label heads, which also included Tony Brown and James Stroud. “At that time, there had been a distrust from artists for labels,” said Bowen. “I mainly said [producers were better label heads] because the competition was otherwise.”
“I’ve been accused of using the press,” he reminisced. When Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls” music video was banned, Bowen hired PR representation for news programs, print outlets and more because “The best thing is to be banned! We changed it from music to a national topic about a woman standing up for herself.”
Of female executives, Bowen recalled, “Dollars weren’t huge when I arrived. I figured out what [staff] I needed, then projected sales to meet that. For some reason women bought the concept that if you ‘take care of the music, it will take care of you,’ and they worked their butts off.”
The label titan departed Nashville, when he was then helming Capitol Nashville, in the early ’90s after a cancer diagnosis.
The two hour discussion was part of the Reba: All the Women I Am exhibition, which is slated to close June 8.

Exclusive: 'Rolling Stone Country' Adds Hudak As Sr. Editor

/by

hudak1

Joseph Hudak


Rolling Stone Country has named Joseph Hudak as Sr. Editor.
Hudak will join Beville Dunkerley, also Sr. Editor at Rolling Stone Country, as a partner in the new venture.
“Joe is not only a terrific writer but is also a walking encyclopedia of Country music — with knowledge that goes way beyond what’s played on terrestrial radio,” says Dunkerley. “His enthusiasm for all things Country music is infectious, making him the perfect person to help start Rolling Stone Country from the ground up.”
Hudak was previously Managing Editor at Country Weekly, and spent time at TV Guide, where he ascended from copy editor to Sr. Editor.
Rolling Stone Country is slated to launch June 1 from the local office at 1510 16th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212.