Signing Pics: Troy Olsen, Mo Pitney, Adam Sanders

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Troy Olsen Renews Publishing Agreement

Warner/Chappell Music, together with THIS Music and Rio Nuevo, recently extended its worldwide co-publishing agreement with singer-songwriter Troy Olsen. Olsen has written songs and/or singles recorded by Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Chris Young, Patty Loveless and Kid Rock.

Pictured (L-R): Alicia Pruitt (Sr. Dir. A&R, Warner/Chappell), BJ Hill (Sr. Dir. A&R, Warner/Chappell), Connie Harrington (Owner THIS Music), Steve Markland (VP A&R Warner/Chappell), Rusty Gaston (Owner/GM THIS Music), Janine Appleton (Creative Manager, THIS Music), Troy Olsen, Phil May (GM/VP, Warner/Chappell), and Tim Nichols (Owner THIS Music)

Mo Pitney Joins Curb

Mo Pitney has signed with Curb Records and Curb Publishing. The 19-year-old is a native of Rockford, Illinois and garnered attention by playing steady gigs in Nashville. Curb staffers recently took the singer-songwriter to BMI’s Nashville office to celebrate his signing.

Pictured (L-R): Bradley Collins (BMI), Taylor Childress (Curb Records), Ed Hill, Kelly Lynn (Curb Music Publishing), John Ozier (Curb Records), Pitney, Perry Howard (BMI), Drew Alexander (Curb Music), and producer Billy Lawson. Photo: Drew Maynard

Adam Sanders Signs With Big Yellow Dog

ASCAP member Adam Sanders was recently signed to a publishing agreement with Big Yellow Dog Music as a result of his appearance at ASCAP’s New Crew Writers Round showcase. The regular showcase series exists to help promote and introduce talented, up-and-coming young writers to Nashville’s vibrant music publisher community.

Pictured (L-R): Brooke Arrington (Big Yellow Dog), Ryan Beuschel (ASCAP), Carla Wallace (Big Yellow Dog) and Adam Sanders.

Swift Pledges $4 Million For Hall of Fame’s New Education Center

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Taylor Swift has pledged $4 million to fund a new education center at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The 7,500+ square foot space, which will encompass parts of two floors and feature three classrooms and a state-of-the-art children’s exhibit gallery, is scheduled to open in early 2014.

Swift’s gift is the largest capital contribution by an individual artist in the museum’s 45-year history, prompting the museum to name the new space the Taylor Swift Education Center. The gift was made in conjunction with Working on a Building: Country Music Lives Here, the capital campaign that will finance the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s expansion from 140,000 square feet to more than 350,000 square feet.

“Taylor Swift represents country music’s best traditions,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “She is a gifted singer-songwriter whose deeply personal songs resonate with music fans around the world, and a dynamic live performer whose open heart and engaging personality allow her to make even the largest stadium shows an intimate experience. Her many accomplishments – including being the youngest artist to single-handedly write and sing a No. 1 country song – have made music history, and she has been an ambassador for country music, raising awareness of our genre literally around the globe.”

The new education center will increase the museum’s educational capacity up to sevenfold and will include three classrooms and a children’s exhibition gallery. On the third floor, two traditional classrooms and one “wet” classroom space will be used by museum educators for current educational offerings, including the museum’s flagship program, Words & Music; distance learning programs; and family programs such as the Musical Petting Zoo. The “wet classroom” will feature a utility floor, lending itself to the museum’s Make Letterpress Art with Hatch Show Print family program and similar (messy) offerings.

The additional classroom spaces will also allow the museum to develop new educational activities, potentially including after-school programs, teen-centric programs, multi-week workshops for youths, adults and senior citizens, and more. Additionally, the classroom spaces will be adjacent to a visible storage area and design studio; this space will feature thematic displays of artifacts, e.g. dozens of banjos, and allow students to observe museum curators at work. The children’s gallery, situated on the second floor, will be a dedicated exhibit space for young patrons and will be filled with hands-on, interactive exhibits.

1st Annual Rock’n & Reel’n Benefit Gala to be Held in Nashville

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Two Old Hippies, Bedell Guitars, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) and Berkley are pleased to announce the first annual Rock’n & Reel’n Celebrity Fishing Tournament and Benefit Concert to be held July 9-10 in Nashville in conjunction with the Summer NAMM trade show (July 12-14).

A gala dinner and concert will follow the tournament at Nashville’s famed Wildhorse Saloon, featuring performances from John Oates, Gary Morris, emerging singer/songwriter Drake White, Professional Angler and country artist Casey Ashley, along with more of Nashville’s finest talents to be announced soon.

“I’m excited to be hosting the event in Music City,” said Tom Bedell, owner of Two Old Hippies and Bedell Guitars. “It’s the perfect place to hold an event that brings together fishing and music enthusiasts to support putting music back in public schools.”

The tournament and gala will pair up celebrities and music industry sponsors with some of the most well-known fishing pros in the bass fishing industry. Proceeds will help the Two Old Hippies Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee support Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that transforms children’s lives by restoring and revitalizing music in public schools with economically disadvantaged kids.

The event kicks off the evening of Monday, July 9 with a special meet-and-greet reception at the Sambuca Restaurant in the Gulch. The following day (July 10), a bass fishing tournament will take place on Old Hickory Lake located on the Cumberland River, just northeast of Nashville. Fishing pros from the bass fishing industry will include two-time Bassmaster champion Hank Parker, as well as veterans Larry Nixon, Paul Elias, Casey Ashley, and NAMM attendees — all for the cause of keeping music in public schools.

Industry Ink (5/17/12)

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NASH2O, a charity organized by George Gruhn, luthier Joe Glaser, and steel guitarist/producer Bruce Bouton in the wake of the 2010 May floods, recently donated $36,000 to two regional fire service organizations to purchase water rescue equipment. The money was raised by an auction of flood-damaged instruments from top artists, which were sold as collector pieces. The group also received a $10,000 grant by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and Frost Specialty.

• MusicRow offers sincere condolences to photographer Alan Mayor on the passing of his mother, Rosemary Fulmer Mayor of Clarksville. She was 86 and died Sun., May 13, 2012. She spent over 30 years working in the Montgomery County School system and was preceded in death by her husband, Lt. Col Albert Mayor Jr. USAF. She is survived by daughter Theresa Mayor Smith (Lee) of Cadiz; sons Alan Leslie Mayor of Nashville, and Kenneth Albert Mayor of Clarksville; and two grandchildren.

Visitation will be at 1 p.m. today (5/17) until the funeral service at 3 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Clarksville. Burial will be tomorrow (5/18) at 10 a.m. at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Grace Lutheran Church’s Rosemary Fulmer Mayor College Scholarship Fund, or Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Arrangements are in care of Neal-Tarpley-Parchman Funeral Home, 1510 Madison Street, Clarksville, TN 37040; (931) 645-6488. Online condolences may be made at www.neal-tarpley.com.

• The National Music Publishers’ Association‘s annual meeting in New York City will be June 13, 2012, from 4–6 p.m. at the Marriott Marquis’ Astor Ballroom, 1535 Broadway, New York, NY. For registration contact Jamie Marotta at [email protected].

• Abacast, a provider of cloud-based streaming and ad management services to the radio industry, and SESAC have entered a partnership whereby SESAC will offer Abacast services to its new Radio Website licensees. SESAC will promote Abacast’s Clarity™ Digital Radio System to prospective radio licensees that launch new streaming ventures. Under this program, terrestrial radio stations that launch new streaming ventures with Abacast and license with SESAC will qualify for special introductory discounts from both organizations.

• New West Records has launched an imprint based in Athens, GA named Normaltown Records. The label’s first two Athens based signings Kalen Nash and White Violet, will be joined by labelmate Daniel Romano, a Juno Award winner, for a show in Nashville at the High Watt at Mercy Lounge on June 12. Select songs are available for free download at normaltownrecords.com.

• Changes to state law made during the 107th General Assembly will mean $2 million in anticipated funding for the state’s film incentive program, administered by the Tennessee Film Entertainment and Music Commission (TFEMC). In addition, reforms to the state’s film funding grant formula will give smaller, indigenous film productions access to a larger share of available grant dollars. Under the new program, projects with budgets over $200,000 will be eligible to receive grants equal to 25 percent of their qualified Tennessee expenditures. Previously, the combined grant and tax credit system awarded a 17 percent grant and 15 percent refundable tax credit only to productions with budgets over $1 million.

MusicRow Awards Final Nominations

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MusicRow is pleased to announce the nominees for our 24th Annual MusicRow Awards, Nashville’s longest running industry trade awards show.

The MusicRow editorial team selects a slate of nominees which is then voted on by the magazine’s readers. Outside nominations are accepted for Breakthrough Songwriter, saluting writers and co-writers who scored their first Top 10 hit on MusicRow, Billboard or Mediabase radio charts during the eligibility period (5/1/11 — 4/30/12).

The MusicRow Awards will be hosted at BMI’s Nashville headquarters on Wednesday, June 20 at 5:30 pm. RSVP to [email protected]

Readers were emailed ballots on Monday (5/14). Voting closed at 5 pm on Friday, May 18.

Scroll down to see the complete nominations list or Click here to download the PDF.

No. 1 Party: Lee Brice’s “A Woman Like You”

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(L-R): SESAC’s Tim Fink, Skyline Music Publishing’s Paul Worley, HoriPro Entertainment’s Butch Baker, co-writer Jon Stone, BMI’s Clay Bradley, Lee Brice, Curb Records’ Mike Curb, co-writer Johnny Bulford, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing’s Steve Markland, co-writer Phil Barton, and HoriPro Entertainment’s Amy Hendon. Photo: Steve Lowry

“Today is a unique celebration of firsts,” said BMI Assistant VP Writer/Publisher Relations Clay Bradley as he greeted the noisy crowd. The event, held yesterday (5/15) in the Country Music Association’s atrium, was BMI and SESAC’s opportunity to salute the creative team behind Lee Brice’s No. 1 “A Woman Like You.”

Turns out Bradley wasn’t exaggerating. The hit single marks the first No. 1 for its writers Jon Stone, Johnny Bulford, and Phil Barton. It’s also Stone’s first No. 1 in the producer’s chair. And finally, it’s the elusive first No. 1 as a recording artist for Brice, himself a formidable songwriter who has scored No. 1s with Garth Brooks’ “More Than A Memory” and Eli Young Band’s “Crazy Girl.”

SESAC VP Writer/Publisher Relations Tim Fink noted that “A Woman Like You” was actually the first hit for Stone as a newly-minted SESAC writer. The origin of the song apparently involved an afternoon writing session and barbecue. “That’s the formula right there, barbecue,” joked Fink.

HoriPro’s Amy Hendon saluted Phil Barton, who has had numerous cuts for others and as an artist in his native Australia. “He’s changed my life, and I’m his biggest fan,” she said. “There’s hillbillies in Australia, y’all!” added HoriPro Sr. VP Creative Services Butch Baker.

Warner/Chappell VP Steve Markland was on hand to celebrate Bulford, and Paul Worley was there representing Stone’s publisher Skyline. Curb Records Chairman Mike Curb came in to honor his rising star Brice and the promotion team led by Adrian Michaels that pushed his song to the top.

Barton waxed excitedly about his time in Nashville. “It’s really the people you write with that make it such a magic place,” he said.

Bulford admitted that he was nervous about speaking to crowds. “My list of people to thank is in my phone, and my girlfriend took my phone,” he said. He also thanked the girlfriend, calling her his ‘woman like you.’ Aww.

Stone has a long background as a writer, but never scored a No. 1 until now (his “Me and My Gang” for Rascal Flatts fell just shy). “It’s only two feet high, but it’s taken me 13 years to climb it,” said Stone in reference to finally standing on the No. 1 stage.

Everyone involved was also quick to praise Lee Brice for his performance and ability to recognize a great song even though he didn’t write it. Brice was happy to throw praise right back to its creators.

“This song was written to the wall. Every word is perfect,” he said.

Artist Snapshots (5/16/12)

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(L-R) : ASCAP's Mike Sistad, Old Dominion's Trevor Rosen, ASCAP's Alison Toczylowski and Robert Filhart, Old Dominion's Matt Ramsey and Geoff Sprung, Carly Pearce, Old Dominion's Whit Sellers and Devin Malone, Jared Ashley and ASCAP's Michael Martin. Photo: Tinti Moffat

ASCAP presented the third installment of ASCAP Amped on Monday (5/14) at Margaritaville in downtown Nashville. Performers included Carly Pearce, Jared Ashley, and Old Dominion.

• • • • •

(L-R): WMN VP of A&R Cris Lacy, WMN President/CEO John Esposito, Johnny Gates, WMN SVP Brand Management Peter Strickland, Andrew DeRoberts, Matt Scanlon, Jamie Jarbeau

Warner Music Nashville’s Johnny Gates & The Invite performed a showcase at 3rd & Lindsley on Monday (5/14). The band is currently working on its debut album.

• • • • •

(L-R): John Grady (Crush Management), Lisa Ramsey-Perkins (Senior Director A&R Sony Music Nashville), Steve Buchanan (President Grand Ole Opry Group), Kristen Kelly, Pete Fisher (VP/General Manager Grand Ole Opry), Lesly Tyson (VP National Promotion Arista Nashville). Photo: Chris Hollo

Arista Nashville’s Kristen Kelly recently made her Grand Ole Opry debut, performing her debut single “Ex-Old Man” and “He Loves To Make Me Cry.” Kelly is also featured as a performer on the “Virtual Opry” stage in “The Escape” plaza of Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality World Tour 2012.

Weekly Register: A Softer Rate of Descent

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Last year, and for the past few years, country albums were very likely to drop from 60-65% in the second week of release. This year’s recent chart behavior shows that a new trend might be developing, lowering that second week drop to somewhere in the range of 50-55%. For example, Carrie Underwood’s week two Blown Away sales dropped 55% this week; Lionel Richie fell 52% in week two, Rascal Flatts fell the furthest dropping 68%, but Lee Brice and Kip Moore slid only 48% and 45% respectively in their second weeks.

In some of the above cases however, the week two numbers were buffered by using some good ole marketing tricks. For example, Carrie Underwood benefited from Mothers Day in week two. Lionel Richie took advantage of Easter and the ACM Awards to prop up week two sales. But Lee and Kip did it the hard way, just leveraging their growing fan bases with a hit track, and no doubt some aggressive pricing.

A few data points doesn’t secure a bona fide trend, but we’ll watch these movements and keep you informed.

this week: 5-13-12

Albums
As our quick-check grid shows, country album sales continue to stay ahead of last year, showing a healthy 8.4% YTD advance. The future shows a plucky release schedule taking shape through early summer. (Click here to see it all.) Projects from artists such as Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney, Josh Turner and Zac Brown Band, plus many others should help to maintain the season’s early jump over 2011. However, looking back at 2011, May-July saw good performing releases from Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Chris Young, Scotty McCreery, Justin Moore and Brad Paisley. So the competition to stay ahead in 2012 will be heated.

New this week are Top 20 country debuts from Pat Green (No. 16; 6.5k) and Turnpike Troubadours (No. 14; 8k). However, Carrie Underwood (No. 1; 120k), Lionel Richie (No. 2; 71k) and Luke Bryan (No. 3; 26k) do the heavy lifting on this week’s chart.

Last week's numbers: 5-6-12

Tracks
Country tracks are catching on with fans, up 20% for 2012. This new sales opportunity is especially nice if one of your artists has a hit track and a younger, mouse-moving fanbase. Just ask this week’s top 10 wranglers Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood (2), Kip Moore, Jason Aldean, Hunter Hayes, Miranda Lambert and Lee Brice how they feel about the extra clicks. The top five tracks this week each added more than 45k downloads this week and all seem destined to pass into Platinum territory. Take a look: “Springsteen” (816k), “Drunk On You” (858k), “Eyes Open” (779k), “Good Girl” (825k), and “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck” (719k).

With country track sales increasing dramatically, it begs the question: will downloads change the way consumers discover new music? For example, I was a 13-hour road hog yesterday and discovered a new entry in the “Shake it Girl” lyric sweepstakes. Luke Bryan’s anthem “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” still retains the title in this award category, but a challenger can be found on the new Lacs album, “Shake It” featuring Big and Rich. This honking, pedal to the metal sonata is the wake up call every trucker needs about halfway through a long haul (actually I was driving a sedan). Is it a big ole country radio summer smash? If friends start posting about it and others start listening on subscription services, like Spotify, could it begin to translate into downloads or impulse buys? Something to watch for…

Edens Edge Album Tracklist Released

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Cherrill Green (harmony vocals, mandolin, banjo, guitar), Hannah Blaylock (lead vocalist) & Dean Berner (harmony vocals, guitar, dobro)

Big Machine Records’ trio Edens Edge has revealed the official tracklist for its self-titled debut album, which is set to be released on June 12.

Award-winning producers Mark Bright and Dann Huff each worked on individual tracks with the Arkansas-bred trio, who penned half of the songs. Edens Edge displays the group’s unique musical blend that is deeply rooted in Country music, acoustic instrumentation and vocal harmonies.

This summer, the group will open shows on Rascal Flatts’ nationwide Changed tour.

For more information click here.

Tracklist:

  1. Amen (Skip Black, Hannah Blaylock, Catt Gravitt, Gerald O’Brien)
  2. Swingin’ Door (Terry Clayton, Brett James, Ashley Monroe)
  3. Skinny Dippin’ (Dean Berner, Laura Veltz, Vince Melamed)
  4. Too Good To Be True (Gordie Sampson, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges)
  5. Last Supper (Hannah Blaylock, Catt Gravitt, Danny Myrick)
  6. Feels So Real (Angelo, Hillary Lindsey, Tia Sillers)
  7. Who Am I Drinking Tonight (Hannah Blaylock, Laura Veltz)
  8. Liar (Andy Stochansky, Laura Veltz)
  9. Cherry Pie (Dean Berner, Vince Melamed, Laura Veltz)
  10. Christ Alone (Steve Smith)

Underwood Interviewed By Oprah

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L–R: Carrie Underwood, Oprah Winfrey and Mike Fisher. Photo: Harpo Inc./George Burns

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network presents all new episodes of Oprah’s Next Chapter this summer beginning Sunday, May 20 (9-10 p.m. ET/PT) when Winfrey travels to Nashville, Tennessee for an in-depth interview with country music artist Carrie Underwood and her husband NHL player Mike Fisher for their first ever television interview together.

Underwood reflects on her rise to stardom as she looks back on her journey. She and Fisher will also talk about how they balance their successful and fast-paced careers with their two year marriage. The couple will take Winfrey to their new plot of land where they plan to build their dream home.

Underwood’s new CD Blown Away recently debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country and All-Genre sales charts. She was presented with a plaque to honor the achievement on Saturday (5/12) at the Grand Ole Opry.

L-R: Steve Buchanan (President Grand Ole Opry Group), Gary Overton (Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO), Underwood, Caryl Healey (Sony Music Nashville VP Sales), Ann Edelblute (XIX Entertainment), Pete Fisher (VP/General Manager Grand Ole Opry). Photo: Grand Ole Opry/Chris Hollo