CMA Songwriters Series Marks 8 Years in NYC

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CMA Songwriters Series will return to Joe’s Pub in NYC for its eighth year on Thurs., March 22. The evening will include songwriters Lee Thomas Miller, Jim Photoglo, and Victoria Shaw. Bob DiPiero will again return as the host and performer.

“The people of New York have proven time and time again how much they appreciate great Country Music,” said CMA CEO Steve Moore. “Due to the popularity of this series that began at Joe’s Pub, we have taken the CMA Songwriters Series to other cities, not only in the U.S., but to the United Kingdom as well.”

“With the reputation of the CMA behind our programming we have been able to grow the Country Music audience and bring artists and fans together in a way that rarely happens in this region,” said Kevin Abbott, Managing Director of Joe’s Pub.

Tickets for the March 22 CMA Songwriters Series are on sale now for $25 and $30. ASCAP and BMI are the official sponsors of the Series.

Grammy Awards: New Performers and Presenters Announced

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The Civil Wars

More performers and presenters have been added to the 54th Annual Grammy Awards telecast Sunday, Feb. 12, and Nashville artists are well-represented among those appearing. Additionally, pre-telecast ceremony performers have been named.

The latest musical addition to the live Grammy show is a reunited Beach Boys, who will share the stage with Foster The People and Maroon 5 for a special collaboration. Also recently added to the performance lineup are The Civil Wars, Diana Krall, Maceo Parker, and Joe Walsh. They join previously announced performers Adele (in her first live appearance since vocal cord surgery last fall); Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson; Tony Bennett and Carrie Underwood; Chris Brown; Glen Campbell with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton; Coldplay and Rihanna; deadmau5; Foo Fighters; David Guetta; Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt; Lil Wayne; Bruno Mars; Paul McCartney; Nicki Minaj; Katy Perry; Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band; and Taylor Swift.

Joining the list of award presenters are Reba, Diana Ross, Common, and Taraji P. Henson. Previously announced presenters include Marc Anthony, Dierks Bentley, Jack Black, Drake, Fergie, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Seacrest, Ringo Starr, and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson.

Additionally, performers have been announced for the pre telecast ceremony that will stream live on grammy.com/live starting at 3 PM/CT Feb. 12. The event will be co-hosted by saxophonist Dave Koz and Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter President/rapper MC Lyte. Performers include Steve Earle, Rebirth Brass Band, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and a “Ladies of Gospel” segment featuring Kim Burrell, Le’Andria Johnson, Kelly Price and Trin-I-Tee 5:7.

The live broadcast of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by LL Cool J, airs at 7 PM/CT. Check back with musicrow.com for an update on Grammy winners.

RIAA Gold and Platinum Certifications

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The RIAA has released its latest batch of certifications, and a handful of Nashville artists are among those earning a little metal.

Among Music City’s RIAA-certified talents is Taylor Swift, with Speak Now (Big Machine) at 4x Platinum. Scotty McCreery’s debut, Clear as Day (19 Recordings/Mercury) has achieved Platinum status. Nashville rockers The Black Keys’ El Camino (Nonesuch) release comes in for Gold status. At the top of the stack is Adele’s 21 (Columbia/XL Recordings), which soared to the tune of 6x Platinum.

Also making a large sales impact were Digital singles. Gavin DeGraw’s “Not Over You” climbed to Platinum status, plus The Band Perry’s “All Your Life” and Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” were both recognized with Gold certs.

The RIAA certified 112 multi-Platinum digital singles for the year in 2011, compared to only certifying 66 in 2010.

“It’s exciting to award more download certifications than ever before and another sign that digital music has gone completely mainstream,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman and CEO. “The RIAA’s historic Gold and Platinum program continues to evolve and reflect the way fans access and enjoy music.”

Ryman Earns Top Concert Industry Honor

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Last week at the 23rd Annual Pollstar Awards in Los Angeles, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium was named Theatre of the Year for a second consecutive year. The honor was voted upon by peers and is regarded as the industry’s highest honor. Other nominees included Beacon Theatre in New York City, Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie in Texas.

This is the Ryman’s fourth Theatre of the Year win in 10 years, and it is also the reigning Academy of Country Music Venue of the Year.

“We are extremely grateful to our peers in the concert industry for awarding us this honor two years in a row,” said Ryman GM Sally Williams. “The Ryman is a very special building not only for Nashvillians, but also for music lovers all over the world. We continually strive to create memorable, unique experiences for all visitors – from the artists on stage to the fans in the pews.”

MusicRowPics: Casey James Artist Visit

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Sony Music Nashville artist, Casey James, stopped by MusicRow’s headquarters to perform songs from his self-titled 19 Recordings/BNA Records debut available March 20. Among the songs performed were his single “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night,” currently at No. 42 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart.

Casey had a hand in writing nine of the album’s 11 tracks and contributed lead guitar throughout. He also co-produced the album with Chris Lindsey, who co-wrote the album’s final track “Miss Your Fire” with Casey and Aimee Mayo.

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CountryBreakout No. 1 Song

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During halftime of Super Bowl XLVI last weekend, Chrysler aired a two-minute ad called “Halftime in America.” Iconic tough guy Clint Eastwood provided the voiceover, ruminating on the tough battle our country has endured with great optimism about its future and pride in its people’s collective ability to overcome hardships. It was a powerful spot, whatever political affiliation you may have.

One of our own has taken a similar sentiment and turned it into a hit for this particularly troubled age. Dierks Bentley’s “Home,” this week’s CountryBreakout No. 1 song, strikes a resonant chord by managing the tightrope walk of being patriotic without excluding or alienating anyone. Bentley penned the song with Dan Wilson and Brett Beavers, which in addition to its chart success, was recently nominated for ACM Song of the Year.

This chart milestone arrives as Bentley is promoting the release of his sixth studio album, Home. He’s been up in New York the last week, visiting Letterman and Today, and over the weekend he’ll journey to Los Angeles to be a presenter on the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday, Feb. 12. and perform on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Feb. 15. His Country & Cold Cans tour will head north to British Columbia on Feb. 15, followed by an Australian leg.

Country Throwdown Tour Adds Gary Allan and Others

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The third-annual Country Throwdown Tour announced Gary Allan as the headlining artist, and he will be joined by Josh Thompson, Eric Paslay, and Sunny Sweeney. Rodney Atkins and Justin Moore will appear on select dates.

The 2012 multi-stage extravaganza is expected to reach 20 cities over two months, kicking off in Gulfport, MS, May 18.

“I’ve always been a fan of the Warped Tour, so I thought it was great when they [4 FINI Inc.] came up with the concept of doing a country version of it with the Throwdown Tour,” says Allan. “We’re hoping this is the best tour yet.”

The 2012 outdoor tour brings together top artists and emerging talent, providing a constant stream of music in a festival environment throughout the day. In addition to performances on two main stages, the Bluebird Cafe Stage will spotlight soon to be announced singer-songwriters as they perform in the round.

“We’re proud to continue our relationship with the Bluebird Cafe and some of Nashville’s most talented songwriters,” adds tour co-founder and co-producer, Sarah Baer. “We’re especially thankful for the many people in the music community who have been supportive of trying something new and have helped us give developing artists a home on the tour scene.”

Allan will host a press conference Feb. 27, at The Label in Nashville joined by 4 FINI producers and tour creators Kevin Lyman and Baer discussing further details of the event.

2012 Country Throwdown Tour (more dates to come). Tickets for select cities are on sale now.

5/18-Gulfport, MS @ Jones Park
5/26-Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
5/27-Bangor, ME @ Waterfront Park
6/1-Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
6/2-Kettering, OH @ Fraze Pavilion
6/3-Anderson, IN @ Hoosier Park Casino
6/13-Glen Allen, VA @ Innsbrook Pavilion
6/14-N. Lawrence, OH @ Clay’s Park Amphitheatre
6/15-Danville, VA @ Carrington Pavilion
6/16-Washington, PA @ CONSOL Energy Park
6/17-Syracuse, NY @ Empire Court
6/22-Sioux Falls, SD @ W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds
6/23-Rockford, IL @ Davis Park / Metro Center
6/28-TBD
6/29-Marion, IL @ Rent One Park
6/30-Bridgeview, IL @ Toyota Park
7/1-Norfolk, NE @ DeVent Center
7/6-TBD
7/7-TBD
7/8-TBD

Weekly Chart Report (2/10/12)

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Dierks Bentley is currently sitting at No. 1 on the CountryBreakout Chart, and was featured as a guest host of CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan (R) to promote his new album, Home. Bentley took calls and gave away autographed copies of the record.

SPIN ZONE
It’s a super close Capitol Records switcheroo at the top of the CountryBreakout Chart, as Dierks Bentley’s “Home” scoots into the No. 1 spot just 11 spins ahead of last week’s champ “You Gonna Fly” by Keith Urban. Martina, Toby, Montgomery Gentry, and George all surge forward into positions 3-6, and Lady Antebellum’s “Dancin’ Away With My Heart” tangos right into the Top 10 at No. 9.

Seemingly everyone has a new single coming out, and programmers are responding by cranking up the spin power. Jason Aldean’s “Fly Over States” debuted three weeks back, and now it’s already up to No. 29 after a gain of 379 spins. Rascal Flatts bests that by gaining 399 spins and taking “Banjo” to No. 14. Also gaining major spins are Brantley Gilbert’s “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” at No. 18, Eli Young Band’s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” at No. 21, Zac Brown Band’s “No Hurry” at No. 24, and Alan Jackson’s “So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore” at No. 27.

Eric Church is Chief, or should I say “Boss,” of the new debuts this week with “Springsteen,” which lands at No. 55. Other new singles debuting include Kinsey Sadler’s “Sometimes I Forget,” Lewis Copeland’s “She’s Got It Goin’ On,” Alison Krauss & Union Station’s “My Love Follows You Where You Go,” and Dustin Lynch’s “Cowboys and Angels.”

Frozen Playlists: KSED, KWWR, KYKX, WCMS, WKWS, WTCM, WYVY

Upcoming Singles
February 13
JT Hodges/Goodbyes Made You Mine/Show Dog-Universal
Phil Vassar/Don’t Miss Your Life/Rodeowave
The Dirt Drifters/There She Goes/Warner Bros./WMN

February 21
Thomas Rhett/Something To Do With My Hands/Valory
Julie Ingram/Thank God (For Mom & Dad)/LongShot/Nine North/Turnpike
James Wesley/Walking Contradiction/Broken Bow

• • • • •

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 55
Kinsey Sadler/Sometimes I Forget/Motion/Evergreen — 73
Lewis Copeland/She’s Got It Goin’ On/Phull Entertainment — 78
Alison Krauss & Union Station/My Love Follows You Where You Go/Rounder — 79
Dustin Lynch/Cowboys And Angels/Broken Bow Records — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Rascal Flatts/Banjo/Big Machine — 399
Jason Aldean/Fly Over States/Broken Bow — 379
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 371
Zac Brown Band/No Hurry/Southern Ground/Atlantic — 298
Alan Jackson/So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore/ACR/EMI — 294

Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Eric Church/Springsteen/EMI Nashville — 33
Jason Aldean/Fly Over States/Broken Bow — 22
Rachel Holder/In Your Arms/Curb — 14
Alan Jackson/So You Don’t Have To Love Me Anymore/ACR/EMI — 14
Tracy Lawrence/Pills/LMG — 12
Josh Turner/Time Is Love/MCA — 9
Phil Vassar/Don’t Miss Your Life/Rodeowave — 9
Alison Krauss & Union Station/My Love Follows You Where You Go/Rounder — 9

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Candy Coburn/Don’t Walk Away/LomaJean — 208
Tracy Lawrence/Pills/LMG — 187
Jon Wolfe/I Don’t Dance — 184
John Maison/Fast Enough/Big High Five – 183
Clay Walker/Like We Never Said Goodbye/Curb — 166

Jason Cassidy (A-Blake Records) visited with KJKE/Oklahoma City’s Becky Austin, Kevin Christopher and Crash on a radio tour promoting "What If," the latest single from his debut album My Redemption. (L-R): Becky, Crash, Cassidy, Kevin, John Ettinger (Quarterback Records)

Lauren Alaina met KTST/Oklahoma City contest winners at Tener’s Western Wear before her Feb. 2 show opening for Jason Aldean. (L-R): Bill Reed (MD KTST), Tom Travis (PD KTST), Lauren Alaina, Mercury SW Regional Jill Brunett

New artist Tyler Farr (Columbia/BNA) recently stopped by WPOC/Baltimore during his radio tour to play his new single "Hot Mess." (L-R): Laurie DeYoung (WPOC Morning Show host), Farr, Justin Cole (WPOC PD)

Grascals and Webster In Legal Dispute

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Bluegrass band The Grascals has filed a lawsuit against music publicist/manager Kirt Webster, countering a suit Webster originally filed against the band under the company name Entertainment Evolution.

The parties are suing over an “at-will” oral management agreement the Grascals made with Webster. According to the Nashville City Paper and the Nashville Scene, Webster’s suit claims the band owes his Entertainment Evolution a significant management commission for services. The Grascals deny any dealings with Entertainment Evolution and allege Webster made management decisions for them that were not in the band’s best interests. Additionally, the band had designated proceeds from a recent Cracker Barrel exclusive album to St. Jude’s, but are now questioning if the correct donation amounts were made.

Charlie Cook On Air – The Super Bowl

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Another Super Bowl has come and gone (without the Lions) and what did we learn? First, we cannot trust Pop artists to act responsibly. Madonna appeared to be on her best behavior. In fact, she admitted to being nervous before the performance. That would be good because it implies that she cares. M.I.A. was not nervous, just rude.

What else did we learn? That Miranda Lambert is very cute and can really sing. That Country music was well represented with Mr. and Mrs. Blake Shelton right at the beginning of the game. That Kelly Clarkson also can hit it out of the park with the National Anthem. (Did you know that you could have bet the over/under of 1:34 on the singing of the anthem?) We learned that Faith Hill is…wow!

Over 111 million people tuned in for the game. Well, 111 million people tuned in for the broadcast. A good number of those people happened to be in a room that had the “game” on but really tuned in during the commercials.

Apparently they also tuned into the halftime show. Madonna’s “Give Me All Your Luvin’” was a huge seller on iTunes, just a day after airing on NBC during the Super Bowl and getting a ton of advance play on Clear Channel CHR stations starting last Friday. What is really positive about all of this is that we now know radio and TV can make a song a hit. And the song doesn’t even have to be any good.

The broadcast scored a 40 share of adults 18-49. I was on Facebook during some of the game having fun eavesdropping on people’s comments about the game, but mostly the ads. I believe that 90% of the comments were about the ads and only 10% about the action on the field.

I thought that it was a darn good game. It really did go down to the last second—the last play. How do you get any better than that?

I don’t write this stuff for Sports Illustrated. So how does any of this translate to radio and records? The NFL has become a great source for music on TV. Certainly the Blake Shelton appearance was part of selling The Voice which aired immediately following the game. I mean, immediately following the Super Bowl post game show brought to you by Toyota.

But Madonna, Kelly, and Faith were nice touches. Kelly may have been part of a Blake deal because of Narvel, not sure about that but I hope so. That would be very nice.

Faith, of course, is often the best part of the Sunday night games on NBC.

I hope that Roger Goodell is not too angry over M.I.A. trying to signal that she felt that the Giants were number one. The gesture is not illegal. Not even all that offensive anymore. I see that every day from fellow drivers. Maybe I should stop tailgating?

The use of the expletive was pretty obscured. I didn’t even hear it. And believe me I watch the halftime shows VERY CLOSELY. I started that around 2004.

Anyhow, smart programmers got into their music scheduling system Monday morning and went heavy on Miranda and Blake’s music. Maybe they even played “America The Beautiful” right from the TV broadcast.

Smart record company executives were ready with new Faith music Monday.

Smart bettors put their money on the Giants and the over on the Anthem.

The Lions are 18-1 to win the 2013 Superbowl.