Veterans Day News

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The music video for Kristy Lee Cook’s new single “Airborne Ranger Infantry” debuted exclusively on Fox411 Country yesterday (Nov. 8). Directed by Roman White, the clip is a tribute to the men and women who have served in the US military as well as the loved ones who await them at home. Cook co-wrote the song with her father Larry Cook, in addition to songwriters Michael Logen and Luke Sheets, based on her father’s experiences in Vietnam.

“Singing a song about men and women that have fought and served for our country and those who have lost their lives for us is very emotional – and I’m not an emotional person but there is a soft spot in my heart for our soldiers,” says Cook. “I feel very privileged to be able to sing something for them in return for their sacrifice for me.”

See the video here.

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An impressive group of Nashville singer/songwriters has been assembled for the “Nashville to You” Armed Forces Entertainment-sponsored tour, which kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 11 in Southwest Asia. Included on the bill are singer/songwriter and combat veteran Keni Thomas, Billy Montana, Hillary Lindsey, Ray Scott, and Troy Verges. More info here.

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Newcomer Joe Bachman is saluting men and women in uniform this Veterans Day with the release of his song “Soldier’s Memoir.” Penned by Bachman with Mitch Rossell, the song is a thank you to members of the Armed Forces and a portion of the proceeds from sales will go to benefit The Boot Campaign. Purchase “Soldier’s Memoir” on iTunes here. More info on Joe Bachman here.

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Tenacity Records has released David Kroll’s “Little Soldiers” just in time for Veterans Day. Kroll penned the song with Arlos Smith to acknowledge the sacrifices made by military families and, along with Tenacity, has partnered with the Code of Support Foundation to donate proceeds from a two-week sales period, running Nov. 5-18. More information here.

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“The Journey Home: A Soldier’s Story” by d corlew films made its debut on GAC Wednesday, Nov. 7. The documentary, narrated by Charlie Daniels, follows US Army and Marine veterans returning home from combat zones and facing the new challenges awaiting them. GAC will re-air the film throughout the weekend on 11/10 (10:30 pm), 11/11 (2:30 am, 5 pm, 10:30 pm), 11/12 (1:30 am, 4 pm, 9:30 pm) and 11/13 (12 am, 9:30 am, 8 pm). See the trailer here.

Swift Reveals RED Tour Pre-Sale Details

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Details are emerging regarding ticketing for Taylor Swift’s 2013 Red Tour as pre-sale tickets become available this Sunday (11/11) for 14 dates. The singer has released information about two VIP Packages for the tour on her official website:

Option 1: One floor ticket in the first 20 rows, an autographed copy of Red, and access to the Pre-show VIP lounge, hosted by a dedicated personality. The official lounge will include complimentary food and non-alcoholic beverages, prizes, gift bags, photos, and VIP check-in and event entrances (where available). A customer service hotline is also provided.

Option 2: One lower level ticket and gift bag.

Swift’s North American RED Tour will headline 58 shows in 45 cities with general admission tickets available Nov. 16 for a number of dates. Applications for pre-sale access can be found here.

In other Swift news, Sony Electronics announced the Nov. 20 release of 8 Hours/Taylor Swift, a 60 page photo book available to Sony customers who purchase a Sony Alpha DSLR or NEX camera in an official store. Ten copies signed by photographer Nigel Barker and Swift will be auctioned by Sony on eBay to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

‘CMA Country Christmas’ Bringing Holiday Cheer to ABC

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CMA Country Christmas will air Thursday, Dec. 20 (9:00-11:00 PM/ET) and repeat Saturday, Dec. 22 and Sunday, Dec. 23. For the third year, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland will host the ABC holiday program.

Artists on the two-hour special celebrating the season with songs and stories include Dierks Bentley, Colbie Caillat, Katherine Jenkins, Lady Antebellum, John Legend, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Scotty McCreery, Nettles, The Band Perry, and Keith Urban.

In 2011, the broadcast of “CMA Country Christmas” drew more than 9 million viewers, which was an increase of nearly 23 percent over the inaugural broadcast in 2010. Adults 18-49 increased year-to-year by nearly 50 percent. Total viewers who watched the show within a week of premiere increased 2 million viewers from 2010 to 2011 (7.663 vs. 9.624). The cumulative audience for all three airings reached 14 million viewers.

“The popularity of ‘CMA Country Christmas’ grows each year,” said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “The special is reaching across format lines and bringing in new viewers who appreciate great performances. It is especially rewarding that ABC has made the decision to air the program three times during the holiday season.”

CMA Country Christmas is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the executive producer, Paul Miller is the director, and David Wild is the writer. Full CMA Country Christmas show details can be found at CMAChristmas.com.

Nashville Wins Big At Billboard Touring Awards

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During Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw's final 'Brothers of the Sun' dates (8/24-25) at Foxboro, MA's Gillette Stadium. Photo: Jill Trunnell

Country music took home big honors during Billboard’s 9th Annual Touring Awards last night (11/8), hosted by actress/comedienne Sandra Bernhard at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

Billboard’s Breakthrough Award went to Lady Antebellum. The Brothers of the Sun tour brought home Top Package honors for Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and Jake Owen, marking Chesney’s seventh win in the category. Independently, McGraw took home the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award with Pennzoil while Chesney additionally received The Road Warrior Award.

With the exception of a handful of reader-voted honors including Road Warrior Award and the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award, the Touring Awards are based on calculations reported to Billboard Boxscore between Oct. 1, 2011 and Sept. 30, 2012.

The Top Package Award recognizes the top-grossing tour with 3+ artists on the bill, which also included Taylor Swift’s Speak Now Tour with Needtobreathe, Danny Gokey, Frankie Ballard, Hunter Hayes, Randy Montana, Josh Kelly and more; and Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party with Luke Bryan, Lauren Alaina/Rachel Farley and DeeJay Silver.

The Breakthrough Award, which honors artists still in their first decade of headlining, additionally nominated Miranda Lambert and The Black Keys.

Billboard honored its own Ray Waddell with the Legend of Scribe Award to mark his 25 years of tour industry reporting.

Additional awards were bestowed upon the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas; Live Nation; William Morris Endeavor Entertainment; Roger Waters; Bruce Springsteen, and Lady Gaga. A full list of winners can be found here.

The Awards cap off the Billboard Touring Conference, which took place Nov. 7-8 and included panels with Holly Williams and Irving Azoff.

Snapshots (11/9/12)

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This Music’s Rusty Gaston joined sponsor Regions Bank’s Lisa Harless in the WSM studio with Ben Hayslip and WSM’s Tom English for the premiere of “The ASCAP Songwriters Show.” The exclusive weekly songwriter program will air Wednesdays from 2-3 pm and spotlight a different ASCAP songwriter each week. The writers will talk about the stories behind their hit songs, play live in the studio, and feature new songs currently being pitched to some of the biggest artists in music today.

(L-R) Rusty Gaston, Lisa Harless, Ben Hayslip, Tom English

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Big Ride’s Craig Wayne Boyd performed at WFKY/WVKY’s annual St. Jude Jam at the Grand Theatre in Frankfort, Ky on November 3. Country artists J.D. Shelburne and Darren Warren also performed. Boyd, Shelburne and Warren ended the acoustic event with a surprise group jam.

WFKY/WVKY Staffers with Darren Warren, J.D. Shelburne and Craig Wayne Boyd

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Steve Luscombe made his debut performance on the Billy Block Show, now 16 years old, at Mercy Lounge Tuesday evening (11/6). Luscombe’s debut single on Taytown Records, titled ” I’m a Natural,” has shipped to country radio.

(L-R): InstiGator Entertainment's David Haley, Steve Luscombe and Billy Block

Carter Robertson Releases Memoir

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Artist, writer and background singer Carter Robertson’s memoir, Playin’ on the Tracks, is set for release on Nov. 12. The book reveals Robertson’s journey from the rural Pentecostal church culture to performing as the only female member of Waylon Jennings’ band throughout the “Outlaw” era and beyond.

“Very seldom does one get to experience the view from inside the circle around a superstar artist like we do in Carter Robertson’s Playin’ on the Tracks,”says John Zarling, VP/Promotion & Media Strategy for Big Machine Label Group. “Her life is one fully lived, and fully documented, leaving her vulnerable for the benefit of every reader.”

Robertson has worked in the music industry most of her life. She sang on more than 15 of Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter’s albums, including hits like “Luckenbach Texas,”  “Are You Ready For the Country” and “The Good Ol’ Boys” (Dukes of Hazzard theme song). Other studio credits include Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and James Taylor. She later joined up with Waylon and other friends to form the Waymore Blues Band. She is also the mother of Becky, Emily, and Joanna Robertson of Carter’s Chord.

For more information about Playin’ on the Tracks as well as Robertson’s new CD and live show based on the book, visit www.carterrobertson.com.

Charlie Cook On Air: Sandy and Radio

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Last week I wrote about going to the Eric Church show in Washington, DC, a couple of nights before Hurricane Sandy. Of course, I knew at the time that Sandy was churning her way to the East Coast after doing a great deal of damage in the Caribbean.

I was in DC on Friday and Saturday and the weather was beautiful. Like most cynics, I thought that the forecasters were overestimating the potential damage. I mean, come on, who believes weather forecasters?

This is not news. They were right this time.

I got home to West Virginia early Sunday morning, and the newscasts were warning of snow as our contribution from Sandy. But Sunday was not a bad day and, after all, who believes weather forecasters?

Monday morning Sandy arrived and brought her cousin Frosty the Snow Devil.

Millions were surprised by the force of the storm, in conjunction with cold air from the north that dumped feet of snow on West Virginia and western Maryland. As I write this a week later schools are still closed, and thousands in West Virginia are still without power. The last number I heard about NY/NJ was that 3.5 million people are without power.

The stations that I work with here in West Virginia were all touched in some manner. Some for short periods of time and some for longer times. In most cases it was a loss of commercial power at transmitter and studio sites. Some of these sites are on top of mountains on the other side of scores of downed trees and drifts of snow. These roads up to the mountain tops are not easy to traverse in August, much less after storms.

The list of stations off the air included New York City and Washington DC—big markets, with redundancy in place in most cases. Yet this storm said, “Hah! I am the real king of all media.”

If you are in the radio business you know that silence is the worst sound. Radio people call it “dead air.”

Everyone jumps when there is dead air.

For no significant length of time were any of our home cities without service from at least one of our properties. If we had a problem with one signal, another in our cluster was serving the public. There were a dozen employees of West Virginia Radio Corp. that went way beyond the call of duty by trudging to snowbound sites to fill generators with fuel and helping clear roadways.

The FCC (not always a friend of radio) reported that broadcast radio performed better than cellular phone services, and that 25% of the cell towers in the area went out.

I didn’t experience any cell problems so I can’t tell you whether those who did are back online today.

There are still a lot of people without power. I heard from a number of listeners who went to their cars to listen so they could learn about shelters and where to find fuel.

Broadcast radio, like it always does, rose to the challenge and provided important information to those in harm’s way. So many in the radio industry have been asking cell phone manufacturers to include AM/FM in the phone. Maybe we would be better served investing in batteries that drive portable radios.

Join me in applauding the hundreds of radio engineers who worked their asses off to make sure the public was served in a time of need.

Just to be fair, not all broadcasters are to be applauded. I follow a particularly offensive internet radio host on Twitter. He and his listeners spent much of last week laughing at and berating East Coasters devastated by the storm. Treating their fellow Americans like dummies for where they live. This note from Karma: “I’m watching and listening.”

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow)

Weekly Chart Report (11/9/12)

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Josh Turner visited with syndicated host Whitney Allen at the DG studios during last week’s CMA Awards festivities.

SPIN ZONE
When you set the car to “Cruise,” you just let it ride, man. And Republic Nashville duo Florida Georgia Line’s breakout hit maintains its speed for a second week as MusicRow’s No. 1 song, followed by label mate Greg Bates’ “Did It For the Girl” and Rascal Flatts’ “Come Wake Me Up.” Closing in are Kip Moore’s “Beer Money” at No. 4, Darius Rucker’s “True Believers” at No. 6, and Brad Paisley’s “Southern Comfort Zone” at No. 7.

Speaking of Republic Nashville, have a look at The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two.” The arena-sized murder ballad from the Perry siblings picks up the week’s biggest spin increase and launches from No. 55 to 28. “Better Dig Two” also leads the week in new adds with 42 stations pitching in. Also on the fast train to charttoppingsville are Hunter Hayes’ “Somebody’s Heartbreak” at No. 28 and Jason Aldean’s “The Only Way I Know How” with Eric Church and Luke Bryan, which pulls into the station at No. 36.

Leading the list of new songs is Toby Keith’s “Hope On the Rocks,” the title track to his latest album, which lands at No. 58. Toby also pulls in 23 new adds for the big debut. Others joining the chart include Lucky Ned Pepper’s “I Remember the Music,” John Karl’s “Redneck Rich,” Love and Theft’s “Running Out of Air,” and Logan Mize’s “Good Life.”

 Frozen Playlists: KSED, KVOM, KYKX, KYTN, WBKR, WEZJ, WKSR, WMEV, WXXK

Upcoming Singles
November 12
Amy Rose/I Just Want You to Know/Wild Rose
Aaron Lewis/Forever/Blaster
Mark Cooke/Stay With Me Tonight/CVR-Quarterback
Jason Aldean w/Luke Bryan & Eric Church/The Only Way I Know/BBR

November 19
Dustin Lynch/She Cranks My Tractor/Broken Bow Records

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Toby Keith/Hope On The Rocks/Show Dog-Universal – 58
Lucky Ned Pepper/I Remember The Music/Nine North – 76
John Karl/Redneck Rich – 77
Love and Theft/Running Out Of Air/RCA Nashville – 79
Logan Mize/Good Life/Big Yellow Dog – 80

Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
The Band Perry/Better Dig Two/Republic Nashville – 42
Jason Aldean/The Only Way I Know/Broken Bow – 37
Toby Keith/Hope On The Rocks/Show Dog-Universal – 23
George Strait/Give It All We Got/MCA – 23
Tim McGraw/One Of Those Nights/Big Machine – 20
Hunter Hayes/Somebody’s Heartbreak/Atlantic-WMN – 11
Kelly Clarkson w/ Vince Gill/Don’t Rush/19 Recordings-RCA Nashville – 10
Thompson Square/If I Didn’t Have You/Stoney Creek – 10

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
The Band Perry/Better Dig Two/Republic Nashville – 639
Jason Aldean/The Only Way I Know/Broken Bow – 587
Toby Keith/Hope On The Rocks/Show Dog-Universal – 343
George Strait/Give It All We Got/MCA – 317
Hunter Hayes/Somebody’s Heartbreak/Atlantic-WMN – 308

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Vince Hatfield/Sometimes You Gotta Get Away/Blue Moon – 218
Craig Campbell/Outta My Head/Bigger Picture – 196
Brooke Hudgins/80 Acres of Stars/VBC – 187
Michael Dean Church/Still Not Over You/MDC – 177
Steve Holy/Hauled Off And Kissed Me/Curb – 170

The Henningsens recently met up with KKBQ staffers in Houston. (L-R): Lesly Tyson (Arista Nashville VP), Aaron Henningsen, Johnny Chiang (KKBQ PD), Clara Henningsen, Christi Brooks (KKBQ MD), Brian Henningsen

Clay Walker recently visited KSON in San Diego in support of his latest single, "Jesse James," which lands at No. 34 on this week's MusicRow Chart. Pictured (L-R): Roger Fregoso (Sidewalk Records), Brooks O'Brian (KSON MD), Walker and Kevin Callahan (KSON PD)

Colt Ford and KNIX's morning show duo, Ben Campbell and Matt McAllister, stopped by Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ to visit Robert, who was unable to attend Ford’s show after being paralyzed in a recent work-related incident. Pictured (L-R): Ford, Robert, Campbell, McAllister.

‘Nashville’ Actor Charles Esten Makes Opry Debut

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Charles Esten as Deacon Claybourne

Actor Charles Esten, who portrays the character Deacon Claybourne in the ABC series Nashville, is set to make his Grand Ole Opry debut tomorrow (11/10) at Nashville’s downtown Ryman Auditorium.

Original Nashville songs performed by Esten have sold nearly 150,000 downloads after hitting iTunes released by ABC Studios and Big Machine Records. He appears on  tracks such as “Undermine” featuring Hayden Panettiere; and “Back Home” and “No One Will Ever Love You” with Connie Britton.

While in college at William and Mary, Esten was lead singer/songwriter for a band called N’est Pas. He made his theatrical debut in London in the musical Buddy, portraying Buddy Holly. During this time Esten first appeared on the original British version of Whose Line Is It Anyway, becoming a recurring cast member and frequent song improviser. His credits include recurring roles on Big Love, Enlightened, The Office, ER and films Swing Vote, Thirteen Days, 61, and The Postman.

Esten joins a list of artists scheduled for weekend Opry shows including Vince Gill, The Time Jumpers, Bobby Bare, Kelleigh Bannen, Jimmy Dickens, Ricky Skaggs, and more.

For tickets, visit opry.com.

Music City Songwriting Competition Now Accepting Submissions

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The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau has announced its sixth annual Music City Songwriting Competition, which officially got underway Nov. 2 and will accept entries through January 31, 2013. Little Big Town will serve as this year’s honorary ambassador.

The competition is open to amateur songwriters only. Writers can make submissions online or mail them to Music City Songwriting Competition, PO Box 190633, Nashville, TN 37219 USA. The first song costs $30 and each additional song is $20.

The winning songwriter will earn a $1000 cash price, two roundtrip tickets to Nashville, and hotel accommodations for five nights in downtown Nashville. Once in Nashville, the winner will be interviewed by Storme Warren for GAC and have a print feature in American Songwriter. Little Big Town will offer a mentoring session. Additionally, the winning writer will get a one-hour session with a professional songwriter and the opportunity to receive a single song publishing deal.

More info here.