GrassRoots Promotion Adds Allen

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Bonita Allen

Bonita Allen


GrassRoots Promotion has hired Bonita Allen as Director of Client Services. In her new role, Allen will help artist and label clients create promotion and marketing strategies, and maximize the radio and digital exposure created by GrassRoots’ promotion and marketing staff.
Allen’s previous career stops include time at Asylum Records, Bluewater Music, Westwood One, WSM-AM and most recently Flying Island Entertainment.
GrassRoots Promotion co-owner and Managing Partner Nancy Tunick said, “Bonita brings not only tremendous experience and knowledge to our company but also a unique ability to work with people to reach their highest potential.”
Allen can be reached at [email protected] or 615-689-2982.

Big Loud Mountain and BMLG Welcome Newcomer

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Dallas Smith

Dallas Smith


Canadian singer, Dallas Smith has signed with Big Loud Mountain, according to a press release. Republic Nashville has begun promoting Smith’s breakout single, “Tippin Point,” which is currently available on iTunes.
Smith’s single first premiered on SiriusXM’s The Highway, Oct 8. Written by Florida Georgia Line’s (FGL) Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard along with Jaren Johnston, “Tippin Point” is the first release from Smith’s forthcoming full-length U.S. project.
Producer Joey Moi will continue working with Smith following the newcomer’s Canadian Country debut, Jumped Right In, which netted five 2013 CCMA award nominations. The CMW Radio Awards winner is currently out with FGL’s Here’s To The Good Times Tour.

For more information on Smith, visit dallassmithmusic.com.

Artist Updates (10/21/13)

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Luke Bryan. Photo: Joseph Llanes

Luke Bryan. Photo: Joseph Llanes


• It will be all Luke Bryan, all the time on Nov. 6 when he kicks off country’s big day with a performance on ABC’s Good Morning America and then opens the 47th Annual CMA Awards later that night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena as well. GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts will also be on hand for all the country festivities, reporting live from Bridgestone that morning and presenting a CMA Award that night during the show’s broadcast.
Bryan is nominated for three CMAs this year, including Entertainer of the Year. He is also nominated for Male Vocalist and Musical Event of the Year for “The Only Way I Know” with Jason Aldean and Eric Church.
 
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Craig Campbell is surprised with a check for $3,000 during a private performance in Long Island.


• Craig Campbell raised over $15,000 for the T.J. Martell Foundation‘s colon cancer research with his inaugural Celebrity Cornhole Challenge in June. During the event, he auctioned off a private backyard barbeque to the highest bidder, and earlier this month he traveled to Long Island to perform at the home of winners Bill and Anita Marie Robitsek.
The couple surprised Campbell at the event with limo transportation, a hotel, catering, and also handed him a $3,000 check of funds raised by friends and family who attended the special show.
 
NSATD_iTunes.1•  Natalie Stovall and the Drive are releasing their first self-titled EP on iTunes. The Tennessee native is a road warrior, having played over 200 dates each year across college campuses, clubs and military bases around the globe. Her debut project was produced by Paul Worley and features six tracks showcasing Stovall’s vocal chops and high-octane energy. She’ll perform some of the tunes at a free show at Anthem in Nashville tonight (Oct. 21) at 6:15 p.m.
 
 
 
Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis

Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis


• Elvis manager Colonel Tom Parker‘s former Nashville office at 1215 Gallatin Road is up for sale. Parker maintained the offices even after Elvis became a massive star, and also managed artists like Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow from the building. The home has been well preserved over the years and will be marketed by Rockology’s Stephen Shutts. The property is being showcased on ebay with strict bidding criteria, and private tours will be available to a select qualified few during the duration of the sale. The property is zoned for multiple use.
“The property is easily one of the five most significant music-based properties in greater Nashville, if not the single most significant,” Shutts said. “This is a vault of music energy when you consider Elvis monumental career was strategically built, negotiated and managed from within these walls from 1955 to well past Elvis’s passing in 1977. Colonel Tom Parker captured musical lightening in this very building that eventually influenced the world as we know today”.

Hatch Show Print To Celebrate Opening at New Location

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Hatch Show Print

Hatch Show Print


On Nov. 2-3, Hatch Show Print, an iconic letterpress print shop owned and operated by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, will celebrate the Grand Opening of its new location at 224 5th Ave. S.
The new Hatch Show Print location includes four spaces: the 5,800-square-foot Hatch Show Print Production Shop which features an 80-foot glass wall; the 1,400-square-foot Hatch Show Print Store, which offers original posters, custom clothing and gifts; the Hatch Show Print Haley Gallery, a 1,200-square-foot art gallery that features re-strikes of historical prints made using wood blocks from the Hatch archive; and the Print Space for Design, a classroom and workshop area that offers demonstrations, hands-on learning and programming.
Events planned for the two-day Grand Opening include a printing demonstration, an art crawl, a book signing with Hatch Show Print Master Printer Jim Sherraden, a letterpress family learning program for children ages 5 and up, a puppeteer performance of String City: Nashville’s Tradition of Music and Puppetry, and more. All programs are free and open to the public.
Hatch Show Print was founded by C.R. and H.H. Hatch in 1879. Gaylord Entertainment Co. purchased the print shop in 1986 and the following year asked the museum to curate the shop. In 1992, Gaylord donated the shop to the museum.
For more information, visit countrymusichalloffame.org.

Date Set for ACM Radio Categories Open Submissions

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acmBeginning Monday, Nov. 11, current Academy of Country Music radio members may submit their nominations in the Country music radio categories for the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music awards. The awards telecast recognizes winners for the previous calendar year; the radio submission period is between Jan.  1, 2013 and Dec. 6, 2013. The nominations period will end at 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6.
Nominees in the following categories will be announced in Spring 2014:
On-Air Personality of the Year – National
On-Air Personality of the Year – Major (Markets 1-25)
On-Air Personality of the Year – Large (Markets 26-50)
On-Air Personality of the Year – Medium (Markets 51-100)
On-Air Personality of the Year – Small (Markets 101+)
Radio Station of the Year – Major (Markets 1-25)
Radio Station of the Year – Large (Markets 26-50)
Radio Station of the Year – Medium (Markets 51-100)
Radio Station of the Year – Small (Markets 101+)
Nominations may be submitted at acmcountry.com. The 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will air LIVE on CBS Television next spring, date to be announced soon.

MusicRowLife: Brandon Blackstock Weds Kelly Clarkson

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Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson. Photo:

Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson. Photo: Archetypestudioinc.com


Wedding bells have officially rung for Kelly Clarkson and Nashville manager Brandon Blackstock. Clarkson took to Twitter on Monday (Oct. 21) to announce the happening, which took place over the weekend at Blackberry Farms in Tennessee. Clarkson wore a Temperley gown with a Jim Verraros & Maria Elena headpiece.
The couple was engaged in December 2012 with a yellow canary Johnathon Arndt diamond ring.
Blackstock, who manages the career of Blake Shelton for Starstruck Management, has two children – Savannah and Seth – from a previous marriage.
Clarkson’s Columbia/RCA Christmas album, Wrapped In Red, will be released Oct. 29.

Taylor Swift Recruits All-Star Backing Band for CMA Performance

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Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift


Taylor Swift will be backed by some serious musical muscle for her upcoming performance on the CMA Awards Nov. 6. She’s tapped Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, and drummer Eric Darken for a unique interpretation of her song “Red” on this year’s show. Swift is one of only two nominees with six nods for the upcoming awards, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year trophy and Album of the Year for Red.
Swift isn’t the only artist joining forces at the upcoming CMA telecast: Zac Brown has recruited Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters to join he and the band during the awards celebration, and Hunter Hayes will team up with Jason Mraz to perform on the Nov. 6 show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Hayes and Mraz recently made a video for his new single, “Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me.” The new clip includes seven aspiring YouTube stars and was filmed with one camera in one take at YouTube’s Silicon Valley headquarters.
The CMA Awards will be hosted for the sixth time by another successful collaborative duo – Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley.

Norman Petty Recording Studio-Nashville To Open

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norman petty recording studios111Norman Petty Recording Studio-Nashville will soon open in Music City. An open house has been set for Nov. 2 (12 noon— 7 p.m.) at 16 Ton Studio (located at 1008 16th Ave. S.) to introduce the new studio to industry members.
For nearly two years, 16 Ton Studio’s Danny White has been working with Ken Broad and Lyle Walker of the Norman Petty Estate to bring the vintage-inspired studio to Nashville.
Norman Petty’s New Mexico studio facilitated the creation of 1950’s music by artists including Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and others. The new room in Nashville will be primarily based on the equipment of Norman Petty but will also house standout pieces from Nashville’s iconic RCA Studio B. Specifically, the custom-built, Chet Atkins-ordered, API console and monitors installed in the mix room at Studio B and used on records by artists ranging from Waylon Jennings to Elvis Presley.
Walker, representative of the estate, says: “For a long time, Ken and I have wanted to put together a vintage recording studio,” Walker says. “We thought the idea of putting a significant selection of recording equipment and microphones that Norman used to cut all those rock n’ roll classics with Buddy Holly and others would be a great tribute. Nashville was the natural fit considering Norman’s influence on the city and 16 Ton was the right place to put the room.”
The new Petty room (Studio 2) will be an attractive addition to the 16 Ton facility, while Studio 1, which houses a one-off tube based Dymaxion console will not be changed.
16 Ton is going into its 10th year on Music Row. Artists to record in the facility in the past couple of years include Sheryl Crow, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Eddie Kramer and Will Hoge.

Luke Bryan Brings Musical Swagger To Nashville

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Luke Bryan

Luke Bryan


Is Luke Bryan country’s next stadium star? If the revved up crowd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night (Oct. 19) is any indication, the answer is a roaring “yes.” The reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year had the room sizzling with energy during the second of two sold-out hometown shows.
Bryan’s Dirt Road Diaries Tour is a cowboy disco complete with neon lights and spinning mirror ball. He doesn’t need wall-to-wall production to be engaging—his Saturday show was fueled by the infallible mix of hit songs and dynamic performance. The only downside was that his dance moves swagger the line between sexy and silly (with a few too many tongue-rolling purrs thrown in).
He ushered the crowd through his catalog of hits crisscrossing from farm boy fare (“Country Man,” “Rain Is A Good Thing”) to dance-party primed (“That’s My Kind of Night,” “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)”). Along the way he performed “Crash My Party,” “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” “Drunk On You,” and “I Don’t Want This Night To End.” Midway through the show he and the band slowed the tempo and gathered around a piano. They picked up the pace again by bringing back opening acts Dierks Bentley and Cole Swindell for “The Only Way I Know.” Bryan even threw in a cover of the Metallica classic “Enter Sandman,” though the 1991 hit probably pre-dates his younger listeners.
Bryan’s connection to his fans is as tangible as the one staked by longtime stadium sell-out king Kenny Chesney. If the younger star can grow his repertoire by sprinkling in songs with a bit more substance, his career will continue to ripen.
At the industry-packed after party, UMG Nashville boss Mike Dungan presented a platinum plaque to Bryan for latest album Crash My Party, which moved a million units in just six weeks. The singer took the small stage in the arena’s Patron Lounge and recalled his early years driving on I-440 in Nashville and dreaming of sold out shows in Music City. This week that dream came true—twice.
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Hunter Hayes Headlines Ryman Auditorium, Twice

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HHAtlantic Records’ Hunter Hayes was one of two Nashville headliners spanning two nights in downtown venues this weekend (Oct. 18 and 19). The other was Luke Bryan at the Bridgestone, while Hayes appropriately packed the Ryman Auditorium during the Friday Hunter’s Moon for his Let’s Get Crazy Tour. MusicRow offered an early look at Hayes’ tour this month.
During intermission, post-Ashley Monroe (more on her phenom below), the backdrop partition was removed to reveal Hayes’ ramps and riser skirts covered with handwritten lyrics. The writing didn’t stop there, the piano, guitar pick guards, and (spoiler alert) oversized balloons in the finale were also covered. Those song lyrics were well received among the post-millennial female crowd, many of whom are discovering their individuality and searching for love. Here’s, a boy spilling his heart out on every co-written song to provide companionship to the developing generation. “A song will never let you down—you’re never alone,” Hayes charismatically preached from the stage.
Front-row fans stood in front of metal folding chairs, pulsing their heads to the beat of the music. The auditorium pews also carried a light load for standing patrons on the main floor, perhaps a taste of what the 1950’s music fans were like – new music giving voice to a burgeoning generation. Hayes displayed not only a buoyant stage swagger, but a certain command as he hopped on monitor stands. “This tour is my first time properly headlining,” said Hayes with a coffee cup in hand. “We’re gonna play every song from Encore – for the love of music, let’s be crazy, Nashville!”
A five-member band backed Hayes, who prepared fans for his one “costume change” where he removed his jean jacket to sport a black tee, slicked comb over, jeans and Converse kicks. For the 22-year-old talent who played every instrument on his debut record, new guitars were at his fingertips for each song; at times the savant even switched instruments in the middle of songs. For the acoustic strip-down, Hayes looped guitar rhythms and layered vocal harmony for a slow-build, solo-performance of “I’ll Find It In A Song.”
Ronnie Milsap, a confessed longtime influence for Hayes, gave a surprise performance with his 1983 hit “Stranger In My House.” “When you hear his music, mine will all of a sudden make sense,” explained Hayes who watched intently as the Country legend sat behind the keys.
Hayes kicked his production into overdrive with a succession of catchy titles for the finale, including an Imagine Dragons cover “On Top Of The World,” alongside his own “Wanted,” “You Light Me Up,” and “I Want Crazy.”

Ashley Monroe backstage for Let's Be Crazy Tour. Photo: Instagram

Ashley Monroe backstage for Let’s Be Crazy Tour. Photo: Instagram


Prior to Hayes, Monroe donned a gorgeous long sleeve, open back sparkly lace romper from Jovani. With her tan ankle boots, Hippie Annie didn’t noticeably frighten the mostly middle school attendees with her traditional sound, featuring her band’s upright bass. Her set included the Miranda Lambert cut, “Heart Like Mine,” as well as Monroe’s own “Satisfied,” and “Can’t Let Go.” Mother chaperones, too, seemed unfazed with the misdeeds in Monroe’s current single, “Weed Instead of Roses.”
Monroe additionally graced the stage with her Warner Nashville labelmate during a masterful collaboration on “What You Gonna Do,” which is featured on Hayes’ latest release Encore. The song perhaps may be the one commonality between Monroe’s twang and Hayes’ generational pop-appeal, aside from each’s giant talent.
The CMT-sponsored tour runs through December. Find your tickets at cmt.com.