Arby’s Sweepstakes Features Trace Adkins

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Trace Adkins is one of three artists participating in Arby’s Snap and Rock Sweepstakes for fans to enter for a chance to win an Ultimate VIP Concert through Sept. 15.

Three lucky winners will receive a grand prize VIP concert experience with Taio Cruz, The All-American Rejects or Adkins.

The sweepstakes offers additional prizes including free food, Pepsi gear and music downloads for ordering a Pepsi beverage and snapping a picture of the cup, sending it via email or text to [email protected].

For details, visit www.PlayArbysSnapAndRock.com.

Adkins is currently on his Songs & Stories Tour promoting his latest single, “Them Lips (On Mine).”

 

Musicians Corner Returns For Fall Season in September

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Musicians Corner will kick off the first of nine fall music events on Sat., September 1 in Nashville’s Centennial Park. Performing the kick off event are The Blind Boys of Alabama, a Nashville Symphony quartet, Karen Elson and Jeremy Lister.

The fall season will take place Saturday afternoons from 3-6 pm through October 27 with artists including Sam Bush, Karen Elson, Regi Wooten & Friends, Ashley Cleveland, Matthew Perryman Jones, Phil Keaggy, The Farewell Drifters, Shannon Whitworth, Yarn, The Steel Drivers, Shannon Sanders, and The Vespers.

The free weekly event includes over 60 free multi-genre musical performances, the Lightning 100 Acoustic Stage, Beer & Wine Garden, Mobile Food Court, Mix 92.9 Kidsville activities, Dog Of The Day, local vendors, and giveaways.

“Musicians Corner is one of the best gathering places for the Nashville community and our visitors to spend an afternoon enjoying free music in a beautiful metro park setting,” said Mayor Karl Dean. “Musicians Corner events continue to serve as a fine showcase for why we are Music City.”

The Blind Boys of Alabama will also take part in a symposium titled “The Influence of Music on The Civil Rights Movement” prior to the Musicians Corner event on (9/1) in partnership with Fisk University.

Acoustic Stage performers were selected through an open submission process in partnership with AmericanSongspace.com. A complete fall season schedule is available here.

Soundland Earlybird Pre-Sale Tickets Available

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Earlybird pre-sale tickets are now available for SoundLand 2012, which is scheduled for October 6 in Nashville, TN. Tickets are currently available for $30, 30% off the starting ticket price, which “officially” go on sale Thursday, August 2. Quantities are limited. Click here for more information.

The lineup and all-new location details for Soundland 2012 will also be released tomorrow. In previous years, the multi-genre music festival (and its precursor Next Big Nashville) has been a multi-day event but is scaling back to one day for the 2012 edition. A press release from the organization promises “a one-day outdoor extravaganza October 6, 2012 with music, art, food, and more in our biggest venue yet.”

Dierks Bentley Tapped to Host ACM Honors

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Country artist Dierks Bentley has been tapped to host the 6th annual ACM Honors, scheduled for Sept. 24 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The evening of musical tribute performances and presentations celebrates the non-televised award winners from the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were held earlier this year in Las Vegas.

This is Bentley’s first time hosting the event and the third time the ceremony will be held at the Ryman Auditorium.

“I’m really looking forward to helping recognize this year’s ACM honorees,” said Bentley. “Country music has so many talented artists, songwriters and people working behind the scenes. I’m flattered that I’ve been asked to stand on stage beside them.”

“Dierks’ incredible passion combined with his respect for and overwhelming knowledge of the country music genre, both as a renowned artist and songwriter, make him an ideal host for ACM Honors,” said Michelle Goble, ACM’s Senior VP, Membership & Industry Relations. “We look forward to his contribution to the show, as we pay tribute to those who helped forge country music into the outstanding genre it is today.”

Click here for a list of the awards recipients and winners.

Tickets start at $37 and will be on sale at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office starting August 17.

Bentley is busy making plans to toast the end of summer with the release of a four song EP titled Country & Cold Cans available Aug. 21 on iTunes which will kick off his limited Country & Cold Cans: Back To College Tour.

Spotify Claims 4 Million Paid Subscribers

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Digital music service Spotify says it now has 15 million active users and 4 million paid subscribers worldwide.

Spotify executive Ken Parks revealed the figures yesterday (7/31) at the Global Business Summit in London. The most recent figures released by Spotify in January 2012 indicated a total user base of 10 million, 3 million of which were paid subscribers.

Spotify founder/CEO Daniel Ek stated in April that he is aiming for a turnover goal of $888 million for 2012, following reported growth of 160% in 2011. On the other hand, Billboard points out it might be impossible to reach that goal given the current rate of growth. In fact, it may have taken Spotify longer to go from 3-4 million subscribers than the 2-3 million climb.

Still, the subscriber growth has to be encouraging for label partners, who have been uncertain about Spotify’s royalty payment structure and apprehensive that it might hinder paid download sales. More labels have indeed been expressing approval of the site as of late, including metal label Century Media Group, which had previously withheld its entire catalog from the service. Additionally, Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills told the Telegraph earlier today (7/31) that streaming services have brought in much needed revenue for Beggars Group artists with large catalogs and little new material.

“Some of our catalogue artists earn more from streams than downloads of individual tracks [or] any other format,” said Mills. “If we didn’t have digital we wouldn’t have a business. Physical is still important to us but the lesson we learned over last few years is that you have to strike a balance between giving people what they want on the one hand and actually being a business [and charging for content].”

Spotify also announced the release of a free streaming radio service for Android devices at the Summit, with which it ultimately hopes to convert more of its free users into paid subscribers. Spotify became available to US customers in July 2011 and is available in 15 countries.

Christian Singer Mac Powell Releasing Country Album

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Mac Powell, front man of the Atlanta-based Christian band Third Day, will release his self-titled debut Country album on August 21.

The CD features twelve songs from the songwriter including his first single, “June Bug,” which he released last month through his Twitter account. The full digital CD is currently available on his website as a pre-release limited pressing.

Powell worked with producer Jason Hoard, who has been touring with Third Day since 2010. Hoard contributed to the songwriting credits along with Brett James.

“I grew up listening to country music,” said Powell. “It was a big part of shaping me musically and I think that’s pretty evident in Third Day music. There’s always been little tinge of it. I started writing with Brett. He was really the first step. We just hit it off really well and came up with a lot of ideas in a short amount of time.”

Powell made his debut country performance at this year’s CMA Music Festival and is already booked for over two dozen shows this summer and fall, backed by a group of Country musicians named The Backsliders.

The singer will continue to work with Third Day, as the band is finalizing a new album due later in 2012 with producer Brendan O’Brien. A Spring 2013 tour will follow.

Mac Powell Track List:
Sweet Georgia Girl
Saturday Night
Carry You
Mississippi
Julia Ann
This Ain’t No Hobby
Hold On To Me
June Bug
Do You Love Me
Trying To Get Over You
Carolina
My Love For You Remains

Mark Your Calendar (August 2012)

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Album Releases

August 7
Colt Ford/Declaration of Independence/Average Joe’s
The Trishas/High, Wide, & Handsome/Trishas Music

August 14
Blackberry Smoke/The Whippoorwill/Southern Ground
Susan Catteneo/Little Big Sky/Jersey Girl

August 21
JT Hodges/JT Hodges/Show Dog-Universal
Dierks Bentley/Country & Cold Cans EP/Capitol
Dustin Lynch/Dustin Lynch/Broken Bow
The World Famous Headliners (Big Al Anderson, Shawn Camp, Pat McLaughlin, Michael Rhodes, Greg Morrow)/The World Famous Headliners/Big Yellow Dog Music

August 28
Caroline Herring/Camilla/Signature Sounds
Jerry Salley/Showing My Age/Very Jerry
The Flatlanders/The Odessa Tapes/New West
The Roys/New Day Dawning/Rural Rhythm

Single Releases

August 6
Lucas Hoge/Do What Makes You Feel Good/Animal House
Florida Georgia Line/Cruise/Republic Nashville
Chelsea Bain/What If I/Rock Ridge-InstiGator
Her & Kings County/Family Tree/Elektra Nashville-WMN
Heidi Newfield/Why’d You Have To Be So Good/Sidewalk
Rich O’Toole/Red Wine On Your Lipstick

August 13
One Night Rodeo/Real Good/Fox Hill
Bucky Covington with Shooter Jennings/Drinking Side of Country/eOne

August 20
Flynnville Train/The One You Love/Whiskey Bent-Flying Island

August 27
Claudia Lee/Take My Hand/CLM Enterprises

Aretha Franklin

Industry Events

August 2
Full Moon Festival outdoor concert series

August 14
Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductions at Trinity Music City Auditorium in Hendersonville, TN at 6:00 PM. Aretha Franklin, Ricky Skaggs, Dallas Holm, The Hoppers, Love Song and Rex Humbard. Admission is free to the public

August 23
WMN Pickin’ on the Patio

August 27
Music Row Ladies Golf Tournament at Old Natchez Country Club in Nashville benefiting United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee

August 30
Full Moon Festival outdoor concert series

Gloriana Releases Sophomore Album

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Gloriana released its second studio album, A Thousand Miles Left Behind, on Tuesday, July 31. The album includes the trio’s current single “(Kissed You) Good Night,” which this week lands at No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Singles Chart.

Following an appearance on Good Morning America yesterday (7/31), the band will be back in New York City to perform on the Fox & Friends All-American Summer Concert Series Fri., August 3. Fans in New York can see the concert outside the Fox studios or tune in at 7:30 am ET.

On Sat., August 4 at 10:30 pm ET Gloriana will celebrate the  album release with a special concert at Joe’s Bar in Chicago, IL. The show will be streamed live by UV2Live.

A Thousand Miles Left Behind tracks:
“Wanna Take You Home”
“Sunset Lovin’”
“Go On…Miss Me”
“Doin’ It Our Way”
“(Kissed You) Good Night”
“Can’t Shake You”
“Turn My World Around”
“Carolina Rose”
“Soldier Song”

Miller and Lauderdale to Co-Host New Radio Show

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Singer/songwriters Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale have been tapped to co-host a new radio show on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country, channel 60. “The Buddy & Jim Show” will be broadcast from Miller’s home studio in Nashville, and feature interviews and performances from roots music stars.

The weekly program will premiere Saturday, August at 10 pm ET and be re-broadcast Sundays at 10:00 am ET, Mondays at 2:00 am and 2:00 pm ET and Wednesdays 12:00 am and 10:00 pm ET. Lucinda Williams guests on the debut episode and performs songs by Bruce Springsteen and Woody Guthrie. Check out a clip at americansongwriter.com. Future guests include Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, and the North Mississippi Allstars.

Miller and Lauderdale are friends and frequent musical collaborators. At the annual Americana Honors and Awards show, Lauderdale hosts the proceedings and Miller leads the all-star house band. Both are repeat winners at the event, which is also broadcast live on SiriusXM Outlaw Country.

Gaylord To Lay Off Almost 200 Employees

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About 310 employees of Gaylord Entertainment will be affected as part of a pending deal for Marriott to manage Gaylord’s four resort hotel properties. Prior to Sept. 30, about 120 employees will transition to Marriott’s payroll and the remainder will exit the company.

The $210 million transaction was announced in May and is pending shareholder approval. The Nashville Post reports Gaylord is fending off opposition from its largest shareholder, TRT Holdings.

Gaylord, which will still own the hotels, hopes to save money by becoming a real estate investment trust and letting Marriott operate the properties.

When the deal is complete, it is expected that Gaylord will employ about 4,000 workers in the Nashville area, including its operations at Opry Mills, the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium, WSM-AM and the newly formed Real Estate Investment Trust.