Songwriter and Painter Susanna Clark Passes Away

/by

Susanna Clark with Guy Clark (L) and Townes Van Zandt (R) at Van Zandt's house in 1989. Photo: Alan Mayor

MusicRow sends its condolences to family and friends of songwriter and painter Susanna Clark, who passed away in her sleep at home earlier this week after a lengthy illness. She was 73.

Long an important part of Nashville’s creative community, Susanna Clark’s songs have been recorded by her husband Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many others. Her song “Come From the Heart” (co-written with Richard Leigh) was a hit for Kathy Mattea in 1989.

A native of Atlanta, Texas, she met Guy Clark in Oklahoma in 1969 and the couple relocated to Nashville in 1971. They were married on songwriter Mickey Newbury’s houseboat in 1972 and befriended songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and Rodney Crowell.

Clark was also a former art teacher whose paintings were used for the covers of Willie Nelson’s Stardust, Guy Clark’s Old No. 1 and Emmylou Harris’ Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town. A line from “Easy From Now On,” a song Clark co-wrote with Carlene Carter, formed Harris’ album title and inspired the cover painting.

A spokesperson for the family says that there will be no funeral service, in accordance with Susanna’s wishes.

Moore Partners with Cabela’s

/by

Cabela’s, outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, has announced a multi-year endorsement and sponsorship of Valory Music Co. recording artist Justin Moore, the company’s first ever partnership with an artist. As part of the endorsement, Cabela’s will be the official outdoor apparel and gear retailer for Moore’s tour throughout 2012 and 2013.

“I’ve always tried to partner with people and companies that I respect,” says Moore. “I couldn’t be happier to be associated with a company like Cabela’s. The lifestyle that they promote and embrace is an exact reflection of how I grew up and how I intend to raise my family. I respect and admire the folks from Cabela’s immensely. It should be a lot of fun and hopefully, together, we can reach the next goals we each have in place.”

Moore will be appearing this summer at the grand opening for Cabela’s new store location in Rogers, Arkansas.

McGraw and Curb Records Trial Postponed

/by

A Nashville court has granted a request by Curb Records to postpone the upcoming breach of contract trial between the label and Tim McGraw.

The legal dispute concerns McGraw’s contractual obligations to Curb Records, which the label maintains he has yet to fulfill. McGraw has already moved on, announcing in May that he has signed with Big Machine Records and is recording a new album.

Originally slated for July, the trial date will be postponed until Curb Records “has the opportunity to take additional evidence surrounding Big Machine Records’ signing of Tim and when the 20 recordings Big Machine says it will release were made,” according to a press release from the label.

In late 2011 Curb requested an injunction barring McGraw from signing with any other labels until the dispute was settled, which was denied by a Nashville judge. The press release from Curb claims that, since the breach of contract lawsuit has yet to be settled, the “20 recordings” made for Big Machine actually belong to Curb.

Big Machine declined comment on the matter.

Curb Records originally filed suit against McGraw on May 23, 2011, and McGraw followed with a countersuit the next day. Curb argues that McGraw agreed to deliver five albums in a specified window of time, and breached his contract by recording Emotional Traffic “even before the 2009 release of his previous album (Southern Voice) and without consulting Curb Records as to the contents of this record.”

Billboard’s Ray Waddell has a comprehensive examination of the case here.

Despite the legal fracas, Curb Records released Emotional Traffic in January 2012. The album’s second single “Right Back Atcha Babe,” is already impacting country radio. At the same time, McGraw is preparing for the release of “Truck Yeah,” his debut single as a Big Machine recording artist.

Weekly Chart Report (6/29/2012)

/by

Jake Owen (R) recently appeared at the Butler Co Fair in Allison, IA to a record turnout. The show was hosted by KIAI FM The Country Moose Morning Host / PD Wolf Bowers (L).

SPIN ZONE
Nashville hit 105 degrees yesterday, breaking the previous record set in 1952, and Dierks Bentley’s “5-1-5-0” is just as hot in its second week of holding CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 spot. The Band Perry’s “Postcard From Paris” moves up to No. 2, followed by Brantley Gilbert’s “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” at No. 3, Keith Urban’s “For You” at No. 4 and Kenny Chesney’s “Come Over” at No. 5 in only its 7th week on the chart.

Gloriana’s “Kissed You” continues its rise by jumping 2 up positions to No. 6 by adding another 203 spins while Little Big Town’s “Pontoon” motorboats up another 5 spots to No. 12. With a 276 spin gain this week, Zac Brown Band takes ten steps to No. 23 and Miranda Lambert’s “Fastest Girl In Town” jumps from No. 40 to No. 35 with an impressive 349 additional spins.

The chart debuts this week are led by Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” at No. 73 and Tim McGraw’s “Right Back Atcha Babe” at No. 75. Rounding out the debuts is Shawna Russell’s “Sounds Like A Party” at No. 76, Scarletta’s “Right Here Right Now” at No. 77 and Colt Ford (with Jake Owen) with “Back” at No. 79.

Frozen Reports: KFTX, KIAI, KGMN, KWEY, KXKZ, WDXX, WKBQ, WKWS, WXXK, WZMR

RADIO NEWS
Tim Andrews has left his post as Program Director at KGMN and joined KSWG in Phoenix. He can be reached at [email protected] or (602) 254-6644 after July 16th. Brian Williams has taken the Program Director position at KGMN vacated by Andrews and can be reached at [email protected] or (928) 753-9100.

Upcoming Singles
July 2
Tim McGraw/Truck Yeah/Big Machine
Chris Cagle/Let There Be Cowgirls/Bigger Picture
Colt Ford feat. Jake Owen/Back/Average Joes
Andy Gibson/Summer Back/Curb
Steele/Do You Really Have To Go
Shane Yellowbird/They’re All About You/On Ramp

July 9
The Lost Trailers/American Beauty/Stokes-HRT-New Revolution
Lisa Torres/Car That Runs/Render Records
Miss Willie Brown/You’re All That Matters To Me/A&M Octone-Rodeowave
Parmalee/Musta Had A Good Time/Stoney Creek
Kip Moore/Beer Money/MCA
Steve Richard/Toothbrush/Force MP-GrassRoots

• • • •

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Carrie Underwood/Blown Away/19-Arista Nashville – 73
Tim McGraw/Right Back Atcha Babe/Curb – 75
Shawna Russell/Sounds Like A Party/Way Out West – 76
Scarletta/Right Here Right Now – 77
Colt Ford with Jake Owen/Back/Average Joe’s – 79

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Miranda Lambert/Fastest Girl In Town/RCA Nashville – 349
Zac Brown Band/The Wind/Southern Ground-Atlantic – 276
Big & Rich/That’s Why I Pray/Warner Bros. – 215
Little Big Town/Pontoon/Capitol – 211
Kenny Chesney/Come Over/Blue Chair-Columbia Nashville – 211

Most Added
Carrie Underwood/Blown Away/19-Arista Nashville – 16
Miranda Lambert/Fastest Girl In Town/RCA Nashville – 16
Tim McGraw/Right Back Atcha Babe/Curb – 12
Aaron Lewis/Endless Summer/Blaster Records – 12
Trace Adkins/Them Lips (On Mine)/Show Dog–Universal – 10
Casey James/Crying On A Suitcase 19/Columbia Nashville – 9
Heidi Newfield/Why’d You Have To Be So Good/Sidewalk Records – 8

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Glen Templeton/That’s My Job/Black River Entertainment – 183
Candy Coburn/That Thing You Do/LomaJean – 177
Bobby Dean/Me and George Strait/Lamon – 167
Bill Gentry/That Kind of Life/Tenacity Records – 165
Britt & Blaire/Young Summer/Mt. Juliet Records – 160

Curb Records’ Rachel Holder visited with Gator/107.9 morning team, Dingo and Blue, this week in Myrtle Beach, SC while promoting her single “In Your Arms.” (L-R): WGTR’s Dave "Blue" Bluefields, Holder, and Dingo

Scarletta visited with Neil Wieland (holding sign) at KAIR/Atchison, KS who added "Right Here Right Now," which debuted at No. 77 on the CountryBreakout Chart this week.

Mark Wayne Glasmire, Tommy Steele and Amber Hayes had dinner the evening before their “Tuesday On The Town” performance in Hampton, IA. (L- R): Luke (Amber’s cousin), Mark Wayne Glasmire, Amber Hayes, Tommy Steele, Mike and Janet Betten

Sugarland recently hung out with the UMG and US*99 crews in Tinley Park, IL. (L-R) Back Row: UMG’s Royce Risser and Brian Wright. Front Row: UMG’s Stephanie Wright, WUSN’s Liz Geerling, UMG’s Charlie Dean and Katie Dean, WUSN PD Jeff Kapugi, Jennifer Nettles, Laurie Kapugi, WUSN’s Marci Braun, Kristian Bush, and Mercury’s Damon Moberly

Jake Owen Films ‘Autobiographical’ Music Video for New Single

/by

Jake Owen has released the music video for his latest single, “The One That Got Away,” which was filmed in Cocoa Beach, FL.

Owen co-wrote the song with Dallas Davidson and Jimmy Ritchey and about his life growing up in Vero Beach, FL. The video was directed by Mason Dixon for Tacklebox Films. Watch the clip for “The One That Got Away” below, or see a behind the scenes clip from the set here.

Owen is currently performing the opening slot for Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw on the Brothers of the Sun Tour. Last month he married his girlfriend of one year, Lacey Buchanan, in a sunrise ceremony on the beach in his hometown in front of 25 family members.

Underwood’s “Blown Away” Promoted with New App

/by

Sony Music Nashville partnered with augmented reality platform and app leader, Aurasma to launch a promotional campaign for Carrie Underwood’s No. 1 album, Blown Away.

Triggered by aiming an app-equipped device at the cover image of Blown Away, the free iPhone, iPad, and Android program launches exclusive and interactive video of Underwood. Check out a video of the app in action during CMA Music Festival here.

“We are excited to embrace a cutting-edge technology like augmented reality to help give fans something special and provide a cool, unique connection between the artist and audience,” said Gary Overton, Sony Music Nashville chairman and chief executive officer. “Sony Music Nashville is excited to watch this fun idea unfold and is eager to partner with Aurasma on other future campaigns.”

Aurasma gets its name from the ability to deliver interactive animated and video content called “Auras.” Aurasma is part of software company Autonomy – an HP Company. For more information, click here.

Blown Away debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country albums when it was released on May 1, making Underwood only the second country artist in chart history to have her first four albums debut at the top of the chart.

MusicRowPics: Rob Baird Artist Visit

/by

On Wednesday (6/27), Carnival Music’s Rob Baird visited MusicRow headquarters to share music with the staff. The Austin, TX resident–a native of Memphis, TN–played “Dreams and Gasoline,” from his sophomore album I Swear It’s the Truth, which was released in May, as well as “Fade Away” from his debut album. “More Than Willing” is Baird’s current single. He is scheduled to spend most of the summer on the road. For more information about his tour stops, visit his website.

[slide]

FTC Approves Sony Group Purchase of EMI Music Publishing

/by

The pending sale of EMI Music Publishing to a group led by the Sony Corporation has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission, it was reported by Reuters today (6/29).

The deal, valued at $2.2 billion, was given the go-ahead by U.S. regulators and no divestitures will have to be made. Antitrust regulators in Europe approved the sale in April, provided the new company sell publishing rights of Robbie Williams and Lenny Kravitz among others.

The combined companies will be the world’s largest music publishing catalog, boasting songs such as “Over The Rainbow,” “Rolling in the Deep,” “New York, New York,” and many more.

“The financial arrangement behind the deal is complex, and does not give Sony complete control,” points out the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. “Because of Sony’s joint venture with the Michael Jackson estate for its existing publishing arm, Sony/ATV, it must maintain EMI as a separate company. And while Sony/ATV will administer the EMI catalog, Sony and the Jackson estate will own only 38 percent of it.”

Other investors involved include Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, Hong Kong’s Jynwel Capital, Blackstone’s GSO Capital Partners, and David Geffen.

Prior to this news, Billboard reported that EMI Music Publishing president “Big” Jon Platt would be departing his position with the company after 17 years. His final day on the job is today.

The Federal Trade Commission is still debating the sale of Universal Music’s pending purchase of EMI’s recorded music division from Citigroup for $1.9 billion. Hits Magazine notes that EMI chief Roger Faxon “half-heartedly” approved of the merger during recent FTC discussions, though its approval could leave him without a job. According to Hits, Faxon’s contract states that within 30 days of the first of the two regulatory investigations finishing, he must choose to stay with either publishing or recorded music.

Charlie Cook On Air: See A Show

/by

Unless you’re a big college football fan, you most likely agree that summer is the best time of the year. Yeah, I love the third week of November through January 2 because you get so much time off from work during that period and then it does seem like everyone is smiling during the Christmas season. That’s very nice.

But if you are a Country Music fan the summer is unequaled.

Last week Kenny Chesney and American Express partnered for an amazing show at Wildwood Beach in New Jersey. Kenny guessed that there were 25,000 to 30,000 fans in attendance for the free show. There were 30,000 smiles throughout the entire show.

That same night Hunter Hayes played in front of 8,000 fans in Kansas City at a street fair like event.

Last weekend my old friends at Go Country had Reba on Friday, LeAnn Rimes on Saturday, and Glen Campbell on Sunday. The first full weekend of summer in Southern California was a big one for fans of live country music performances.

Three weekends ago summer kicked off with the CMA Fest where almost every big and new name played Nashville with 70,000 people a night at LP Field and thousands more around town traveling into Music City to see live Country Music.

Staying in Nashville for a second, thousands more make the trip see performances at the Opry during their summer breaks.

Festivals abound all Summer with BamaJam fighting through tough weather to make Dothan, Alabama the center of live Country Music a couple of weekends ago. Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band and Eric Church laughed at the thunder and lightning to make sure their fans went into the night convinced that these superstars know how important their fans are.

I once was interviewing an act that had big success in Pop music and then was transitioning to Country Music. I asked them how they felt about 230 dates a year on the road. They told me that they were not going to do it. One record and they were out of Country Music.

I saw the Country Throwdown tour last month in Ohio. Seeing fans “dress up” for these events makes a radio programmer’s heart jump. It shows that the passion for the music is big and getting bigger. Seeing fans from 10 years old to 60 years old makes me know that we are the format that will be around forever.

I just want to take a second and say thank you the Country Music performers who leave their families behind for weeks on end and bring the music to the fans.

I know that some of them make a lot of money from these shows but there are a lot of acts that are paying back recoupables and some pickers are making a salary and not getting rich. They get on a crowded bus because they love the looks from the fans and love what they are doing.

In or out of the business, go see a show this summer as a fan. Don’t work. Take your family or friends, drink beer that you paid for and see the show through a fan’s eyes. That feeling will pay off when you get back to work the next day.

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

New Radio Licensing Rates Lead to Lay-offs

/by

The recently reached agreement between BMI and the Radio Music License Committee is negatively impacting BMI’s radio performance royalty revenue, and has resulted in the elimination of several positions. See an official statement from the organization below. In addition to the elimination of about a dozen positions, many employees were offered, and accepted, early retirement packages in recent months. The organization’s licensing team was the hardest hit.

Official statement from BMI:

A few months ago, BMI made an announcement to staff that the company had initiated a strategic program to restructure its workforce in an effort to generate greater efficiencies and to maintain strong royalty distributions to songwriters and music publishers by reducing costs. The program has several components including a voluntary early retirement plan and the elimination of certain positions by the end of the current fiscal year. Less than 12 positions were impacted by the reduction in force. This program is part of a multifaceted global initiative to ensure that BMI continues to offer relevant, cost effective, cutting edge services to its songwriters, music publishers and licensees in a rapidly evolving entertainment economy.

As previously reported, ASCAP also entered a new agreement with the RMLC, and has been similarly affected. In 2010, ASCAP reorganized its operations, as reported here.