No. 1 Party: Chris Young’s “You”

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L–R: EMI Music Publishing's Ben Vaughn, ASCAP's LeAnn Phelan, James Stroud, Chris Young, Luke Laird, Universal Music Publishing's Kent Earls, BMI's Jody Williams, and Sony Music's Keith Gale and Gary Overton

RCA recording artist Chris Young and songwriter Luke Laird celebrated their recent co-written No. 1 hit “You” during a party held in the CMA Atrium yesterday (3/27). The soiree marked the first industry event held in the newly renovated space.

“We’re thrilled that Chris and Luke decided to share their celebration with us,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Steve Moore. “We updated our Atrium so we could play host to more industry events such as this, and honoring the success of ‘You’ is a great way to christen our new event space.”

Young, an EMI Music Publishing writer and ASCAP member, is a two-time CMA Award nominee and has already charted four additional No. 1 hits including “Gettin’ You Home,” “The Man I Want To Be,” “Voices,” and “Tomorrow.” Young is currently a part of reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Miranda Lambert’s On Fire tour.

“I don’t care what kind of work you put in, to have what’s going on right now with my career and my life is just absolutely amazing,” shared Young from the stage. “Thank you to everybody in this room and on this stage – this is an amazing day.”

Laird, a Universal Music Publishing Group writer and BMI member, is a two-time CMA Triple Play Award winner who, with the addition of “You,” has co-written nine No. 1 singles.

“When you’re writing songs, to have a voice like Chris’ to present it to the world, it’s a huge gift for a songwriter like myself,” said Laird.

L–R: LeAnn Phelan, ASCAP Senior Creative Director; Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Chris Young; Luke Laird; and Jody Williams, BMI Vice President of Writer and Publisher Relations and CMA Board member. Photo: Christian Bottorff/CMA.

Tin Pan South: Tuesday, March 27

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(L-R): Regions Bank’s Lisa Harless, Mark Narmore, Mark Nesler, Josh Turner, Jeremy Spillman, and BMI’s Bradley Collins. Photo: Bev Moser

The first evening of showcases for the 20th annual Tin Pan South songwriters festival kicked off yesterday (3/27) in Nashville. Nine local venues are scheduled to host nearly 350 songwriters performing original material in the round throughout the week. MusicRow paid visits to shows at Commodore Grille, Hard Rock Café, The Listening Room and The Rutledge.

Mark Narmore (“That’s What I Love about Sunday”), Mark Nesler (“Just To See You Smile”), Jeremy Spillman (“Sinners Like Me”), and Josh Turner performed at the BMI-sponsored Hard Rock Café show during Tin Pan’s 6 pm lineup. The round highlighted many of Turner and his companions’ co-written songs, including “The Answer” (Narmore), “Another Try” (Spillman), and “Everything Is Fine.” Narmore also serenaded the audience with hits from his piano including, “Moon Over Georgia,” and Nesler showcased his Keith Urban hit “You Look Good In My Shirt.”

Meanwhile, Buddy Brock, Lyman Ellerman, Michael Heeney, and Wil Nance performed at the Commodore Grille. Highlights included Nance’s performance of the Brad Paisley hit “She’s Everything” and Heeney’s rendition of the Eric Church chart-topper “Drink in My Hand.” Brock summoned crowd participation with “There Ain’t Nothing Wrong With the Radio” and “Watermelon Crawl” by reminding the audience, “this is the CommoDORE Grille, not the CommoBORE Grille.” The audience took direction well and turned the performances into a songfest. Ellerman proclaimed himself as “the band,” which quickly became a misnomer as he serenaded the audience with his gems, including audience favorite “In Spite of My Fears.”

For the 9 pm block of shows, Erin Enderlin (“Last Call”) gathered Jessi Alexander (“The Climb”), Matraca Berg (“Strawberry Wine”), and Angaleena Presley (“Look It Up”) for a round at The Rutledge. The ladies performed a mixture of sassy, silly and serious material throughout the evening in what Berg, whose “Dreaming Fields” is currently reviewed in MusicRow’s DISClaimer, dubbed, “one of my favorite rounds ever.”

Over at The Listening Room, Warner/Chappell showcased writers Marcus Hummon, Jedd Hughes, Damien Horne, and Troy Olsen. Horne (also a member of WMN’s The Farm) delivered soulful tunes like “Shine” and “Heart of Africa,” sprinkling snippets of hits like the Peggy Lee standard “Fever” and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” on top of his compositions. Hughes showed off his formidable guitar skills on songs like “When I Get Back From The War,” “Halo” (included on Tim McGraw’s new record) and the gorgeous, delicate “Crazy Old Man” (co-written with Sarah Buxton). Olsen chimed in with the Blake Shelton hit “I’ll Just Hold On,” as well as his own radio singles “Good Hands” and “Summer Thing.” Hummon pleased the crowd with his Dixie Chicks favorites “Ready To Run” and “Cowboy Take Me Away,” and the Sara Evans smash “Born to Fly.” Horne closed out the evening with the jazzy “Monkey On My Back,” and dropped in a rousing chorus of Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It (On The Alcohol).”

reporting by Eric Parker, Jon Freeman, and Sherod Robertson

Jana Kramer Sets Release Date

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MusicRow Feb/Mar covergirl, Jana Kramer, has announced the release date of her upcoming self-titled debut album for Elektra Nashville. Jana Kramer, which was was produced by Scott Hendricks (Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn), will hit stores June 5, 2012.

Kramer has sold almost 250,000 digital singles to date, including her country radio debut “Why Ya Wanna,” which is currently climbing charts everywhere.

Kramer, who also starred as Alex Dupre on the CW’s One Tree Hill, was named CMT’s inaugural artist for the Listen Up program for February.

The country newcomer will make her Grand Ole Opry debut on April 13th.

Brad Paisley Establishes Scholarship for Curb College Students

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Belmont University alumnus Brad Paisley recently established an endowed scholarship at his alma mater. The Brad Paisley Endowed Scholarship will provide financial assistance for a deserving student with demonstrated need who is studying in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.

Paisley said, “I’ve often said that the best course of education for a young person wanting to pursue country music is to go to college at Belmont. I speak from experience. I wouldn’t be in any position to offer a scholarship if I had not gone to Belmont – this is the least I can do in appreciation.”

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher added, “I’ve heard Brad say that he ‘got his big break’ when he set foot on the campus of Belmont University, a place where he met fellow students who became members of what became ‘Team Paisley.’ Well, we’ve come full circle to realize that Belmont University and future students got our big break when Brad arrived on campus. We’re deeply grateful for his continued friendship and his commitment to making Belmont better than it was when he first found us.”

In 2003, Paisley received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Belmont. A 1995 graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, Paisley majored in music business at what was then the Mike Curb School of Music Business. During his Belmont career, Paisley himself benefited from a scholarship supported by Vince Gill and has long been committed to “paying it forward” to another deserving student.

Nancy Cardwell Named Interim IBMA Executive Director

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Nancy Cardwell has been named Interim Executive Director of the International Bluegrass Music Association, following the late 2011 resignation of Dan Hays.

“The search for a permanent Executive Director continues,” said IBMA Board Chairperson Stan Zdonik. “Given that planning for next year’s event is heating up, the Board decided to fill the role in the interim. We are confident that she will do a great job.”

Hired as Special Projects Director in 1994, Cardwell wrote for the trade association and served as liaison for committees overseeing professional development & webinars, Leadership Bluegrass, Special Awards, songwriter activities, and The Foundation for Bluegrass Music’s Bluegrass in the Schools program.

Cardwell also co-produced the Discover Bluegrass: Exploring American Roots Music DVD in 2004 with Greg Cahill and Dr. Tom Kopp. She received the Charlie Lamb Excellence in Country Music Journalism Award in 2006, and is a published author for her 2011 work on the songwriting of Dolly Parton.

She is a former member of the Board of Trustees for the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY, and a graduate of Leadership Bluegrass (2000) and Leadership Music (2009).

ole Signs Dave Turnbull

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(L-R): ole’s Gilles Godard and Michael McCarty; ASCAP’s Marc Driskill; Turnbull; ole’s Robert Ott; and attorney Chip Petree

Global music publisher ole has signed hit Nashville songwriter Dave Turnbull. ole has also acquired Turnbull’s song catalog, which includes three 2011 No. 1 hits.

Notable copyrights in the agreement include Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall,” Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me” and Alabama’s “Old Alabama,” a No. 1 trifecta that earned Turnbull a CMA Triple Play Award in 2011.

“Dave Turnbull is one of a select group of writers to have achieved a Triple Play Award for having three number one singles in a 12 month period.” says ole Chief Creative Officer Gilles Godard. “He is a creator of timeless songs and has the uncanny ability to put into words and music what the rest of the world feels. All of us at ole are pleased to have Dave on board and we look forward to celebrating his next ‘triple play’ together.”

Turnbull’s body of work also includes singles like Montgomery Gentry’s “Lucky Man,” Blake Shelton’s “The More I Drink,” Darry Worley’s “If Something Should Happen,” Trace Adkins’ “Marry For Money” and “Arlington” and many more. He originally moved to Nashville in 1993 after attending the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School and graduating from Virginia Tech, and signed his first publishing deal in 1997.

Photo: Wild Cub Wins Round Two of Road To Bonnaroo

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Keegan Dewitt of Wild Cub. Photo: Drew Maynard

BMI, Mercy Lounge, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, and the Nashville Scene hosted the second round of Road to Bonnaroo 2012 to a packed house at 8 off 8th on Monday night (3/26). Artists competing for a performance slot at the annual summer festival scheduled for June 7-10 in Manchester, TN, included Evan P. Donohue, Wild Cub, The Running, Static Revival, Nikki Lane, Five Knives, Tesla Rossa, and Marquee Mayfield.

Wild Cub emerged as the evening’s winner after delivering an energetic set of percussive, danceable pop with shades of New Wave. Also promising: Evan P. Donohue, who showed his knack for fuzzy pop anthems and brought his buddy Caitlin Rose out for a duet; and Nikki Lane, who has a kind of dark, rockabilly Nancy Sinatra vibe, but unfortunately got stuck with the last slot of the night as the crowd was thinning.

(L-R): Roxanna Haynes, BMI’s Mary Loving, MusicRow’s Jon Freeman, Evan P. Donohue, and BMI’s Julie Stuckey and Mark Mason. Photo: Drew Maynard

The Weekly Register: Digital Albums Rising

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The growing acceptance of digital formats by consumers is a constant theme across the Nielsen SoundScan, units-based reports and the recent RIAA net sales shipments accounting. However, the focus is usually on tracks. But is the digital wave also boosting country album downloads? Answer: Yes.

As our table shows, growth in the digital album format as viewed by percentage of total country album sales, appears to be pretty consistent, growing at about 5% per year. However, based upon the actual sales numbers the increases from 2010-2012 are more dramatic—21% and then 33%, respectively.

Theses numbers are based on about the first three months of each year, YTD. As sales sleuths know, it’s the final quarter of each year when the registers ring robustly and mouses mightily move. So we’ll revisit this chart later in the year to see if the heavier sales flow affects digital percentages. My guess is we will see the current 33% increase (2011 to 2012) grow larger by year end, especially with shrinking shelf space for music which is forcing consumers online.

The Weekly Register
Like some kind of rare sales equinox, we have an unusual synchronicity this week. Country and all-genre YTD album sales are each exactly .1% ahead of last year. (Last week country sales were ahead 1.8%.)

We should savor the positive territory, because next week we will likely slide out of the plus side of the graph. Why are sales off? The economy and/or having less product in the stores isn’t helping, but probably the primary fault lies in our format’s weak release schedule YTD. There simply haven’t been enough register ringing recordings released and the results are showing.

This week’s Top 75 country currents, for example, totaled a sickly 248k total units, down from last week’s 252k. (eeeech!)

We used to see a lone debut album beat those numbers! However, before we wring our hands and begin fasting, realize that the record labels are likely plotting some monster-sized mashups for later in the year (at least we hope so). (Rascal Flatts‘ Changed arrives April 3, a new Carrie Underwood, Blown Away will hit bins May 1 and Kenny Chesney is set to sing on June 19 with an as yet unnamed project.) Also, Lionel Richie’s duets set just hit stores and is already getting predictions of first week sales in the 150k range!

Highlights for the week include Casey James‘ No. 2 country debut with about 14k units. Luke Bryan however beat out James to grab the No. 1 position with 18k units of his Tailgates & Tanlines, on the charts now for 33 weeks. Mention must also be given to the Hunger Games Soundtrack which debuted this week at No. 1 on the Top 200 chart scanning 175k units. The soundtrack includes Nashville artists such as Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars and Miranda Lambert.

As has been the case lately, the Digital Genre Country Tracks chart seems to be where the action is. And this week it’s all about Ms. Swift who owns the No. 1 and No. 2 positions with Hunger Games tracks “Eyes Open” (176k debut) and “Safe & Sound” (93k). Nailing No. 3 is Carrie Underwood with “Good Girl” (69k).

New artists with momentum on the tracks parade include Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ Bout A Truck” (No. 7; 46k) and Lee Brice’s “A Woman Like You” (No. 5; 57k).

Until next week…

Americana Music Festival Submissions Due

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The 2012 Americana Music Festival is set for Sept. 12-15 at various Nashville venues, and the deadline for artists to be considered for showcase spots is quickly approaching. Applications for this year’s event will be accepted through Saturday, March 31.

Applicants may submit information either electronically via SonicBids or via standard mail. Details on mailing and the application form can be found here. Applicants will be notified by Friday, June 29, if they have been selected or not.

Additionally, AMA Members have until April 6 to submit nominations for the 2012 Awards Show in the categories Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Emerging Artist of the Year, Duo/Group of the Year, and Instrumentalist of the Year. The eligibility period runs April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012.

The conference portion of the annual event will again take place at the Sheraton Downtown Nashville, and the hotel is currently offering a special rate of $169/night for single or double occupancy. Details here.

Nashville Shines at T.J. Martell Honors Gala

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(L-R): Thomas G. Cigarran (Spirit of Nashville Award), C. Wright Pinson (Lifetime Medical Achievement Award), Kris Kristofferson (Frances Williams Preston Lifetime Music Industry Award), Joe Galante (Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award), Colin V. Reed (Lifetime Humanitarian Award)

The fourth annual T.J. Martell Honors Gala was held at the Hutton Hotel this past week, raising over $400,000 for 11 top U.S. cancer research hospitals, including the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

The sold-out event was hosted by Vince Gill and musical performances included K.T. Oslin (“80s Ladies”); Emmylou Harris (Kris Kristofferson’s “The Last Thing to Go”); Gill (“Together Again”); Charlie Daniels (Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”); Martina McBride (“Independence Day”); Ronnie Dunn (Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe”); and Bruce Hornsby (a piano interpretation of “A Night on the Town”).

Former TN Governor Phil Bredesen and Nashville Chamber President Ralph Schulz presented Tom Cigarran with the Spirit of Nashville Award for professional and charitable work within the Nashville community.

Kris Kristofferson was honored with a standing ovation while accepting the Frances Williams Preston Lifetime Music Industry Award, presented to him by Harris and the legendary BMI executive herself, Frances Williams Preston.

Gaylord Chairman and CEO Colin Reed received the Lifetime Humanitarian Award from Gill and Lew Conner, who spoke of Reed’s leadership during the 2010 Nashville flood.

C. Wright Pinson, who founded Vanderbilt University’s liver transplantation program and liver surgery division in 1990, was awarded by Vanderbilt’s liver transplant recipient Julie Damon with Charlie Daniels.

The final, Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award, went to music executive Joe Galante. Dolly Parton and Kenny Chesney presented Galante, who thanked his mentors: Jerry Bradley, Frances Preston, Joe Talbot and Irving Waugh.

“I didn’t get the town or the music,” said Galante. “But that all changed when I was asked to go with Dolly on a promo trip in New York City. Dolly was to ride the Long Island Rail Road and at every stop get out and sing a song on a flatbed car…In between stops we just talked and laughed. It became a turning point for me. I know I’m home now in Nashville — this has been a very special night.”

Over the last four years, the Honors Gala, which is a part of The T. J. Martell Foundation, has raised a total of $1.8 million for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research. The foundation was founded in 1975 by music executive Tony Martell and his colleagues, in memory of his son, T.J., who died of leukemia. The Foundation has provided over $250 million dollars for research at top research hospitals in the United States.

(Photos: Rick Diamond, Getty Images)