Donna Hilley to Receive Posthumous Honor From NaSHOF

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Donna Hilley

The late publishing icon, Donna Hilley, will receive the 2012 Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award from the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation.

Hilley, who passed within a week of Preston in June 2012, became president and CEO of Sony/ATV Nashville after negotiating Tree International’s purchase while it was under her leadership. She worked for more than 30 years for the company.

“Donna was a truly amazing woman who rose from typist at a radio station to be one of the most successful music publishing executives ever,” said John Van Mol, chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation.

The honor will be acknowledged at the organization’s 42nd Anniversary Dinner & Induction ceremony on October 7 alongside previously announced Hall of Fame inductees Tony Arata, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Larry Henley and Kim Williams. The ceremony also includes NSAI’s annual awards for the year’s Best Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist, as well as the Top 10 “Songs I Wish I Had Written,” as determined by the professional songwriters division.

Previous recipients of the Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award include Bob Beckham (2008), Bill Hall (2009), Preston (2010) and David Conrad (2011).

Tickets for the event are $225 each with a limited number available to the public by contacting Mark Ford [email protected].

Capitol Street Party Performers, New Location Revealed

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CMA Award nominee Luke Bryan has been virtually unstoppable in 2012, and now he has been announced as the headlining artist for the Capitol Street Party 5, set for Oct. 17 in its new downtown Nashville location.

The annual free concert will be held on Lower Broadway between 1st and 2nd Avenues, and up-and-coming Capitol Nashville artists Kelleigh Bannen and Jon Pardi will also perform.

“When Capitol asked me if I wanted to be part of this year’s Street Party, I thought, ‘Let’s make it the biggest one yet,’” Bryan told the Tennessean. “What better way to do that than to take over Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville.”

Just last week, Luke Bryan helped announce the CMA Award nominations and wound up with a couple of his own. His platinum selling album tailgates & tanlines is up for Album of the Year and he will also compete for Male Vocalist of the Year.

Niemann Announces ‘Free The Music’ Campaign

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To celebrate the October 2 release of his sophomore release Free The Music, Jerrod Niemann is offering 10 days of giveaways. The first of these is a free download of the album’s first single “Shinin’ On Me” through today (9/10) on his official website. Album pre-orders from iTunes will receive an instant download of the title track.

Additionally, fans are able to subscribe to Niemann’s Free The Music Spotify Playlist and enter to win a free upgrade to a year-long premium Spotify account, until tomorrow (9/11).

Further announcements will be made promoting the Sea Gayle Records/Arista Nashville release, which Niemann co-produced and contributed co-writing credits to every track.

“This album is my interpretation of how I feel about country right now,” said Neimann. “The pedal steel guitar has come to define country music, but there were years and years of country being made before that instrument was even invented. Horns have been in country going back to the 1920s, and fiddles and other string instruments date back even further.”

For access to Niemann’s Fan Pub (a.k.a. fan club) visit www.dehydrationnation.net.

 

Swift Debuts Song For Stand Up To Cancer Special

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Last Friday (9/7), entertainers came together for the Stand Up To Cancer fundraising event. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC donated one hour of simultaneous, commercial-free prime time for the special, which was broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Michael Douglas, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson, Tobey Maguire, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone, Justin Timberlake, Sofia Vergara, Robert Pattinson and SU2C co-founder Katie Couric were among those featured on the broadcast. Additionally, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw delivered one-of-a-kind musical performances.

Swift performed a new song “Ronan,” written for Ronan Thompson, who was nearly four years old when he passed away during his fight with neuroblastoma. Swift had been following a blog written by Ronan’s mother, Maya Thompson, which detailed the his story. Moved by what she read, Swift wrote the song, crediting Maya as her co-writer on the piece, since her blog influenced the lyrics. According to one of Maya’s blog posts, Swift personally called the mother to tell her that not only had she written the song, but to ask permission to perform it and use Ronan’s photo on the SU2C telecast. Maya agreed. The song is currently available on iTunes, all proceeds from the song are being donated to cancer research.

As of today (9/1), Stand Up To Cancer announced that more than $81 million has been pledged so far in connection with its star-studded fundraising telecast to accelerate ground-breaking research and bring new treatments to patients as quickly as possible, including pediatric cancer patients through the creation of a new pediatric cancer research “Dream Team.”

Celebrities also staffed the SU2C phone bank, which, for the first time on any televised fundraising special, included a fully interactive “media bank” with celebrities talking to viewers via social media and doing live VOKLE video chats. Simon Baker, Jordana Brewster, Diem Brown, Kobe Bryant, Ty Burrell, Dana Delany, Rocco DiSpirito, Gabrielle Douglas, Donald Faison, Missy Franklin, Jennie Garth, Max Greenfield, Chelsea Handler, Marg Helgenberger, Felicity Huffman, Stacy Keibler, Minka Kelly, Joe Manganiello, Jillian Michaels, Masi Oka, Robert Pattinson, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Ana Maria Polo, Ray Romano, Eric Stonestreet, Alison Sweeney, and Ethan Zohn were those personalities who donated their time. Viewers were also able to donate via text-to-give and at standup2cancer.org.

Paltrow, the show’s co-executive producer, lost her father Bruce to cancer 10 years ago and said, “I am deeply moved by and proud of this broadcast. This is very personal for me, as it is for so many of us. Our program honored all those we’ve lost to the disease, emboldened those brave survivors among us to continue fighting, and highlighted SU2C’s remarkable progress in cancer research. The results are tangible, and the potential for breakthroughs in the coming years is very exciting.”

Americana Festival Kicks Off Wednesday

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Forget political parties, Americana music is the big tent. At what other music festival would you expect to find performers as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Booker T. Jones, The Alabama Shakes, Hayes Carll, and Richard Thompson?

It all gets started on Wednesday, Sept. 12 when the 13th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference brings the best in roots, folk, blues, r&b, and more to Nashville. Live music begins with the 11th Annual Americana Honors and Awards Wednesday evening, 7 pm at the Ryman Auditorium and continues with nightly showcases across town.

During the Honors & Awards, Jones, Thompson, and Raitt will all perform and be presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Other show performers include The Alabama Shakes, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Deep Dark Woods, Guy Clark, Hayes Carll with Cary Ann Hearst, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, John Hiatt, Robert Ellis, The Mavericks, and more. As usual, Jim Lauderdale will host the proceedings and Buddy Miller will lead the house band. Check here for a list of nominees.

Prior to the Awards on Wednesday (9/12), the conference keynote will feature Raitt being interviewed by NPR music critic Ann Powers. On Thursday, September 13, Jones will be interviewed at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The program runs Noon –  2 pm, and is included with museum admission or conference registration.

Later on Thursday at 6 – 7:30 pm, BMI will present Phil Madeira with special guests performing selections from the acclaimed Mercyland: Hymns For the Rest of Us at Downtown Presbyterian Church. Guests include Emmylou Harris, Shawn Mullins, North Mississippi Allstars, Buddy Miller and more.

Nightly concert highlights include Corb Lund followed by an all-star tribute to the late Levon Helm at Mercy Lounge on Wednesday (9/12); a Memphis-themed show Thursday (9/13) at The Rutledge featuring Jim Lauderdale with the North Mississippi Allstars, The Bo-Keys, and the songs of Big Star; a free Wallflowers concert at Live on the Green also Thursday night; and Buddy Miller with Lee Ann Womack at Mercy Lounge on Saturday (9/15), among many others. For the full showcase lineup, check here.

Get wristbands for the nightly concerts for $50 here.

In related news, CMT is getting into the rootsy spirit by launching a new blog called CMT Edge to spotlight artists that land outside the country mainstream. It will be a home for editorial and the network’s performance series like Concrete Country. Upcoming guests include Punch Brothers, Shovels & Rope, Delta Rae, Jason Isbell and more.

 

Johnny Reid, Dean Brody Big Winners At CCMA Awards

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Johnny Reid wins the Fans Choice Award. Photo: Liam Richards/The Canadian Press

The 2012 Canadian Country Music Association Awards took place at Saskatoon’s Credit Union Centre last night (9/9), where Johnny Reid won the evening’s top prize, the coveted Fan’s Choice Award. The previous night he was honored at the CCMA Gala Awards for Top Selling Canadian Album of the Year.

Dean Brody received CCMA Awards for Album of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. He set the stage for an outstanding night of performances with his opening number, “Canadian Girls.”

Other big name performers included Jason Aldean, Pistol Annies, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. 

The 2012 CCMA Generation Award went to Taylor Swift. Carolyn Dawn Johnson was named Female Artist of the Year.

Presenters included Swift, Alan Doyle, Allan Hawco, Amber Marshall and Graham Wardle, and Theo Fleury.

The CCMA Awards were presented as part of PotashCorp Country Music Week, which took place in Saskatoon, SK Sept. 6 – 9.

Fans’ Choice Award Johnny Reid

Album of the Year Dirt, Dean Brody

Female Artist of the Year Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Male Artist of the Year Dean Brody

Group or Duo of the Year Hey Romeo

CMT Video of the Year In This House, The Stellas

Rising Star Kira Isabella

Single of the Year “They Don’t Make Em’ Like That Anymore,” Jason Blaine

CCMA Generation Award Taylor Swift

The 2013 Country Music Week will take place in Edmonton, AB from Sept. 5-8, culminating with the 2013 Canadian Country Music Association Awards on Sun., Sept. 8, 2013.

“Oscar” of the Opry’s Lonzo And Oscar Passes

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Rollin “Oscar” Sullivan of the long-running Grand Ole Opry comedy team of Lonzo & Oscar, died last week at age 93.

According to The Tennessean, Sullivan died in hospice care in Madison, TN on Friday, Sept. 7. He was an Opry regular between 1947 and 1985.

Rollin Sullivan began his career in his native Kentucky in the 1930s performing in string bands with his older brother Johnny Sullivan (1917-1967). Their radio career began in Jackson, TN on WTJS.

Rollin, a singer, songwriter and mandolin player, joined the Opry group Paul Howard & His Arkansas Cotton Pickers in 1942 while Johnny was serving in the Navy during World War II. The brothers reunited as members of Eddy Arnold’s Tennessee Plowboys in 1944.

In 1946, Arnold paired Rollin Sullivan with his fellow band member Lloyd George (1924-1991) to form a music/comedy team to open his shows. The duo was initially dubbed “Cicero & Oscar,” but the billing was soon changed. George, a guitarist and singer, was the straight man and Sullivan told the gags. Lonzo & Oscar were an instant hit with fans.

Arnold urged Lonzo & Oscar to go out on their own, recommended them to The Grand Ole Opry and got them a recording contract with RCA Victor. The duo scored a million-selling hit with the 1947-48 novelty smash “I’m My Own Grandpa.” The song was covered by Guy Lombardo and Jo Stafford for the pop market, as well as by numerous country stars.

Lonzo & Oscar were reportedly the first Opry act with their own custom tour bus, beginning a Nashville transportation tradition that continues to this day.

Lloyd George quit being “Lonzo” in 1950 to try a solo career as “Ken Marvin.” He was replaced by Rollin’s brother Johnny Sullivan. This version of the team scored the 1961 radio hit “Country Music Time” on Starday Records. Lonzo & Oscar also recorded for Decca, Dot, GRC, Capitol, Columbia, Chalet and Nugget.

But it was the act’s live show, rather than recordings, that brought it stardom. Lonzo & Oscar are more often remembered for Opry stage songs such as “There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea,” “Take Them Cold Feet Outta My Back” and “You Blacked My Blue Eyes Once Too Often.” In live performance, Lonzo & Oscar could also demonstrate what excellent, serious, instrumentalists they were.

The second version of Lonzo & Oscar was featured in several films, including 1958’s Country Music Holiday. It also had its own syndicated television series and guest starred on Hee Haw several times.

Following Johnny Sullivan’s untimely death at age 49, Rollin Sullivan teamed up with a third “Lonzo,” David Hooten. This version of the team made a non-comedy album for GRC, and from it came the 1974 hit “Traces of Life.” Both Hooten and Sullivan eventually developed heart problems and retired from the Opry in 1985.

After that, Rollin Sullivan performed with Cleo C. Hogan, then Billy Henson in the role of “Lonzo.” Henson bought the rights to the Lonzo & Oscar name from Sullivan when the latter retired in 1999. Since then, Henson has been performing as “Oscar” with Ron Ryan portraying “Lonzo.”

Rollin Sullivan is survived by daughter Linda Harper, grandchildren Ginger Farmer, Dana Jansen, Bonnie Coleman and T.C. Penick and six great grandchildren.

Visitation is today [Monday 9/10] from 2-8 p.m. at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church, 515 Long Hollow Pike in Goodlettsville. The funeral service will be there at 11 .a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11 with internment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens.

Singer Debbie Pierce Passes

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Entertainer Debbie Pierce, who was a member of the 1980s female country group Chantilly, has died at age 58.

A Nashville native, she was born in 1954 and graduated from John Overton High in 1972. She began her career as a harmony singer and backup vocalist in the road show of her father, Country Music Hall of Fame member Webb Pierce (1921-1991).

She made her recording debut on Decca Records with two singles in 1969 and a third on MCA in 1973.  The father-daughter duets “On My Way Out” and “Reality of Life” were issued by Plantation Records in 1979 billed as “The Pierces.”

She formed Chantilly with lead vocalist Kim Williams and harmony singer P.J. Allman. The group placed seven singles on the charts between 1982 and 1984.

Pierce later worked as a member of the security personnel for the Country Music Hall of Fame. She settled in Goodlettsville, TN

She passed away on Wednesday, September 5 at the Alive Hospice Residence. Deborah Lynn Pierce is survived by her mother Audrey Marie Pierce, daughter Audra Leigh Slattery, brother Michael Webb Pierce Jr., grandson Michael Edward Davis and nephew Michael Webb Pierce III.

Funeral arrangements were for immediate family only.

The Cadillac Black Tours With ZZ Top, Releases Single

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Nashville’s The Cadillac Black, fresh off the road from opening for Dierks Bentley on his Back To College Tour, is headed straight back out on road with rock royalty.

The group will open shows for ZZ Top along with Lynyrd Skynyrd. The nationwide tour kicks off tonight, Friday (9/7) in Scarborough, ME, at Scarbourough Downs and wraps on Sunday, Sept. 16 in Kodak, TN at Smokies Stadium. The tour will also be stopping next week in New York City to play the famed Beacon Theatre on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

TCB’s debut single, “Get Your Buzz On,” will be hitting Country radio airwaves later this month. The song is from the group’s self-titled and self-released debut album, now available at all digital retailers.

For tour dates and more, visit www.thecadillacblack.com.

Loeb & Loeb to Host Benefit For Robert L. Sullivan Scholarship

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Robert L. Sullivan

Law firm Loeb & Loeb LLP, together with Nashville’s music community, will host a fundraising event to benefit Vanderbilt Law School’s Robert L. Sullivan Scholarship on Thursday, September 13, 5:30 pm at 3rd & Lindsley.

A magna cum laude graduate from Vanderbilt University in 1974 and from Vanderbilt Law School in 1977, Sullivan passed away Sept. 15, 2011 at the age of 59 after a 14-month battle with leukemia.

The benefit event will feature performances by Jim Lauderdale, Sam Bush, John Carter Cash and Janis Ian, as well as surprise special guests. Dinner will be served along with drinks and a silent auction, including a “Cash on Cash” talk from Cash, a co-write with songwriters Kendell Marvel and Lance Miller, a Roy D. Mercer prank call, and a special package from the Opry. Tickets are available here.

Sullivan was a partner at Loeb & Loeb LLP. During his career, his clients included Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Thompson Square, The Fray, Peter Frampton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, EMI Publishing, John Prine, The Carter Family and Waylon Jennings.

The Robert L. Sullivan Scholarship at Vanderbilt Law School was endowed to honor Sullivan’s memory and commitment to legal excellence and to the Nashville community. Donations to the scholarship fund are accepted here.