The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s All for the Hall fundraiser will return to Los Angeles for the first time in nearly three years. The event, which will take place on Tuesday, March 4, at Club Nokia, will again follow a “guitar pull” format, featuring performances by Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Heart and Jason Mraz. Actress/singer/film producer Rita Wilson will host the event.

The museum launched All for the Hall, its first-ever non-bricks-and-mortar fundraising campaign, in 2005. The campaign addresses the museum’s need for long-term financial security and will provide a safety net for the institution and its work. This is the seventh year the museum has taken its “annual giving” event on the road, hosting previous All for the Hall events in New York in 2007, 2008 and 2013, and in Los Angeles in 2009-11.
“California, with its rich country music history, has proven to be a supremely appropriate and welcoming location for this event,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “In fact, some of the state’s contributions to our genre are the subject of our very popular limited-engagement exhibition, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and California Country, whose run we’ve extended through the end of 2014. Los Angeles has always given our All for the Hall event a very warm welcome, and we look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in March.”
Last year’s event, held at the Best Buy Theater in New York City, featured performances by Gill and Harris, Jason Aldean, Gregg Allman, Rodney Crowell, Ashley Monroe, Pat Monahan and Joan Osborne.
All for the Hall Los Angeles patrons are offered their choice of VIP tables of 10 for $25,000 or $10,000. Individual VIP tickets are available at $1,000 per seat. At these ticket levels, a cocktail reception and dinner will precede the guitar pull.  A full list of VIP table and ticket levels and benefits can be found on countrymusichalloffame.org/afthla. To purchase tickets or for more information, patrons may contact Rachel Shapiro at rshapiro@countrymusichalloffame.org or telephone (615) 416-2069.

Jerry Duncan Promotions has hired Jessica Mack as Secondary Promotions Manager. A recent Nashville transplant, Mack comes to Duncan Promo with five years of marketing and sales experience, having worked with Naked Juice Co. and Coca-Cola Co.
Mack graduated from Southern Nazarene University and worked at a Fortune 500 Company, Chesapeake Energy, for a few years before leaving to pursue a career in the music industry. Mack can be reached at jessica@duncanpromo.com

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Krista Darting has been named Director of Sponsorships at Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). In her new position, Darting is responsible for securing and maintaining sponsorships for NSAI and the Tin Pan South Songwriter’s Festival.
The Silver Lake, Kan., native most recently worked as a Sr. Account Executive at AdStaff Media primarily on the Taco Bell and Gigi’s Cupcakes accounts. She also spent two years in Corporate Partnerships with the Orlando Magic as well as one season with the Kansas City Royals. Darting can be contacted at krista@nashvillesongwriters.com

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Hearts Bluff Music has hired Ashley Hertzog and Tyler Sutphen. Hertzog takes on the role of Creative Manager/Executive Assistant. Her previous publishing stops include Combustion Music and My Good Girl Music.
Sutphen joins the company as Communications Manager. His experience began in Abilene, Texas, working with some of Hearts Bluff’s strategic partners before making the move to Nashville.
Hearts Bluff Music manages a $30 million music-publishing portfolio that includes over 10,000 titles, 50 No. 1 songs, and five Hall of Fame writers. Among the notable copyrights are Elvis‘ “Mystery Train,” Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration,” Jennifer Lopez‘s “Ain’t it Funny,” the theme to I Love Lucy; as well as Country hits such as “She’s Everything,” “Baby Blue,” “Austin,” “My Best Friend,” and “Waitin’ On A Woman.” For more info on the company, visit heartsbluffmusic.com.
Hertzog can be reached at ashley@heartsbluffmusic.com, and Sutphen can be reached at tyler@heartsbluffmusic.com.

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Spin Doctors Music Group has hired Jeff Scheese as Director Of New Business Development. Previous experience includes Muse Associates, Nashville, and he was an intern at XYQ Artist Management. Jeff is graduate of Belmont University and begins his new duties immediately. Reach out to him here jeff@spindoctorsnashville.com

Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival is proud to announce the addition of more top performers to its already star-studded second year lineup. Joining headliners Luke Bryan and Eric Church will be Hank Williams Jr., Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert, 38 Special, Parmalee and Eric Paslay. The festival returns to the sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, Fla. on April 12 and 13.
“We said when we announced our initial lineup that we were looking to build on the talent of our amazing first year and raise the bar even higher,” says HUKA Entertainment co-founder and CEO A.J. Niland. “With the addition of these six incredible artists to the bill, we have undoubtedly assembled one of the most singular and exciting musical events of 2014.”
Festival tickets are currently on sale, with two-day general admission festival ticket prices starting at just $165. Complete festival details, including pricing for GA, VIP and Super VIP tickets can all be found at tortugamusicfestival.com.

Folk singer/songwriter Pete Seeger died Jan. 27 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was 94.
Born in 1919 in New York City to musicologist Dr. Charles Seeger and concert violinist Constance Edson Seeger, Pete Seeger developed interests in music and journalism.
After dropping out of Harvard University (he was in the same class as John F. Kennedy), Pete Seeger met and traveled with folksong writer Woody Guthrie in 1940, which inspired Seeger to pen his own songs. In 1942, Seeger was drafted into the Army and sent to the Pacific.
After a stint in the military, Seeger became a member of The Weavers in the early 1950s; the band’s recording of Lead Belly‘s “Goodnight, Irene” topped the charts in 1950. In the 1960s, Seeger became a musician on the forefront of protest music; he supported civil rights and various environmental causes.
Seeger adapted a Bible passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes into a No. 1 hit, “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” for The Byrds in the 1960s; the song was also recorded by Judy Collins as well as The Seekers. Other popular Seeger-penned songs include “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?,” which was a Top 40 hit for the Kingston Trio and a popular anthem during anti-Vietnam War rallies. He also adapted a gospel song to sing for union workers, creating the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” “If I Had a Hammer” was a hit record for Peter, Paul & Mary in 1962 and for Trini Lopez in 1963.
Seeger won three Grammy awards, including a trophy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1996 for Pete, the Best Traditional Album honor in 2008 for At 89, and a trophy for his 2010 project Tomorrow’s Children: Pete Seeger and the Rivertown Kids and Friends. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Most recently, Seeger performed as part of Farm Aid 2013.

Stoney Creek Records artist and Calgary, Alberta, CAN native Lindsay Ell recently visited the MusicRow office to perform for MusicRow‘s staff. The triple-threat guitarist, singer and songwriter’s ace musicianship has earned her stage time with several of music’s best guitarists.

Ell’s interest in music came early, from participating in bluegrass camps to picking up piano at age six, and then guitar at age eight. At age 13, Ell was discovered and befriended by Canadian guitarist, singer and songwriter Randy Bachman, who became a mentor to the aspiring guitarist. “He would play all of these jazz chords, and I wanted to know what he was playing,” says Ell. “Later, I got into Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Hendrix, so it gave me a different place to pull from as a songwriter, too.”
As word of Ell’s musical talent and formidable axe grinding skills spread, her list of musical supporters and collaborators expanded to include Buddy Guy, CJ Vanston (Spinal Tap, John Mayer), Russell Broom (Jann Arden), Bill Bell (Jason Mraz, Tom Cochrane), Shawn Mullins, Chris Isaak and more. She has opened for Guy, Keith Urban, and is currently performing for crowds overseas as part of The Band Perry‘s We Are Pioneers World Tour.
“The crowds there are incredible, because by the time you get to the second or third chorus, they are singing the songs with you,” says Ell. “They go out and listen to your music and learn it before they even come to the show.”
Ell brought along several guitars for her three-song performance, which included “Don’t Take Me Home,” “Good For Me,” and her current single, “Trippin’ On Us,” which was penned by Ell along with Vicky McGehee and David Fanning.
Ell has called Nashville home for three years, and says she’s developed a kinship with the Nashville music community.  “I felt at home here instantly,” she says. “It’s like everyone speaks the same language.”
For more information, visit lindsayell.com.
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