Lady A on GAC; CMT's Next Superstar Matt Mason

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Lady Antebellum posed for a photo with GAC’s Suzanne Alexander following an interview for GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown airing June 24, 8:00 p.m. Eastern; Nan Kelley hosts the weekly countdown show.

(L-R): Charles Kelley, Suzanne Alexander, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood.

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CMT’s Next Superstar winner and singer-songwriter Matt Mason was officially welcomed into the label family at Warner Music Nashville on June 22 with a party to honor their newest artist. Mason is signed to the label’s imprint Elektra Nashville.

(L-R): Carole Ann Mobley, Warner Music Nashville’s VP of A&R, Matt Mason and Bob Reeves, Warner Music Nashville’s VP of Promotion


 

Guitarist James Burton To Be Honored As "Nashville Cat"

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James Burton (R) with Elvis Presley


Legendary guitarist James Burton will be honored Saturday, July 23, as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s series Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians. The program begins at 1:30 in the Museum’s Ford Theater and will be streamed live on www.countrymusichalloffame.org.
Bill Lloyd will host the event, which will include a performance and one-on-one interview, as well as vintage recordings, photos, and film clips from the the Museum Library. Burton will also sign autographs in the Museum store following the program.
Born in Louisiana, Burton began playing guitar at age 13 and helped shape the sound of popular music in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He popularized the “chicken picking” style of play and was instrumental in developing the Bakersfield Sound. His guitar work can be heard on recordings such as Dale Hawkins’ “Susie Q” (which Burton also co-wrote), Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried,” Emmylou Harris’ “Two More Bottles of Wine,” and Ricky Nelson’s “Hello Mary Lou.”
Burton additionally appeared as a band member on the Louisiana Hayride, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and Town Hall Party. He joined Elvis Presley’s band in 1969 and toured with him until his death. He also toured with Gram Parsons until his death, later joining Emmylou Harris’ first Hot Band. He also recorded and toured with such iconic artists as the Beach Boys, Elvis Costello, John Denver, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, and many more.
Burton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame in 2001. Named one of Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, Burton is also winner of seven CMA awards and a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance (“Cluster Pluck,” with Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner).
 

Friday Row Wrap

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(L-R) Bob DiPiero, Mark D. Sanders, Clay Walker, Carson Chamberlain. Photo: Kyle Quigley/CMA.



 
 
>>>CMA’s Songwriter Series recently repeated its sellout ways when the traveling show returned to Joe’s Pub in New York City on June 21 and 22.
Host Bob DiPiero and songwriters Carson Chamberlain and Mark D. Sanders performed on both shows. Easton Corbin was the featured artist on June 21 and Clay Walker was the featured artist on June 22.
>>>Big Machine Label Group has added Brittney McKenna as Marketing Coordinator. Her responsibilities will include tracking record sales, developing social media strategies and serving as the support for the Sales, Marketing and interactive department. McKenna arrives at BMLG after graduating from Belmont’s Honors Program where she gained experience with five internships. Most recently she served as in-house publicist at MAC Presents for a year and a half under the leadership of Marcie Allen. “We’re excited to have Brittney join the BMLG team,” says Kelly Rich, BMLG VP Sales, Marketing & Interactive. “Her extensive background working in the music and journalism industries give her a unique approach to furthering the goals of our department.”
>>>If it works the first time then create sequel. These words of wisdom have been taken to heart by Producer David Harvey and a stellar cast of musicians to release Moody Bluegrass Two…much love. Following 2004’s critically and commercially acclaimed tribute to the legendary Moody Blues, the GRAMMY nominated Moody Bluegrass, along with the highly successful Moody Bluegrass Live, this set once again features the talents of  Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Tim O’Brien, Harley Allen, Peter Rowan, Jan Harvey, Ronnie Bowman, Emma Harvey, Larry Cordle, John Cowan, Jon Randall, David Harvey, Tim May, Andy Hall and Andy Todd.
 

Colt Ford Co-Hosts New TV Series

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Average Joe’s Entertainment’s Colt Ford serves as co-host, alongside comedian Marc Ryan, in The Outdoor Channel’s new show, Mudslingers. The 13-episode half-hour series spotlighting off-road entertainment will debut on June 27 at 10:30 p.m. ET and is presented by Sta-bil.
“There’s an entire culture that consists of 4×4 trucks, camping, music, and pure madness that we’re about to blow the lid off of,” says Ford. “Mudslingers showcases that lifestyle and more, and I’m proud to be one of the hosts sharing this with all the folks at home. You better buckle up because this is one hell of a ride!”
Each Mudslingers episode will feature renowned recreational parks like Redneck Yacht Club and Yankee Lake and include interviews and vehicle demonstrations.
Visit www.coltford.com for behind-the-scenes clips of Mudslingers and weekly breakdowns of the episodes.

YouTube video

Hough Promotes Hero Dog Awards

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Julianne Hough kicked off a voting campaign for the “Hero Dog Awards” at Manhattan’s VA Medical Center where she visited patients with therapy dogs and performed. The contest presented by Cesar Canine Cusine is intended to celebrate heroic dogs that help transform lives by providing comfort and support. Votes can be cast at www.HeroDogAwards.org. For each vote cast Cesar will make a donation to the American Humane Association.
During her VA Medical Center performance Hough told patients the very first song she ever sang in public was “How Much is that Doggie in the Window.” She also talked about being on the road and away from her family while filming, and how being with her dogs Lexi and Harley is truly her safe place.
 

Benefits and a Tour Overseas

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MCA Nashville’s Josh Turner is reaching out to help the students and community of Ringgold, GA who were struck by an F-4 tornado on April 27. Turner will headline After The Storm: Coming Together Benefit Concert With Josh Turner July 14 in Ringgold, and 100 percent of the proceeds will be split evenly between the Ringgold High School Band and the Ringgold High athletic fund. Nine people lost their lives in the storm, including two Ringgold High students. For more details visit http://www.us101country.com/pages/joshconcert.html
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Women Rock For The CureTM (WRFTC) have announced the Link The Town Pink campaign to build a Chain of Hope around the Nashville community in support of the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure®. The race will be held on October 29, 2011 at Maryland Farms in Brentwood, TN. For every $10 the WRFTC race team raises, a pink link will be added to a physical Chain of Hope that will be on display in October at a location to be announced this fall. Link The Town Pink is WRFTC’s initiative to raise funds specifically for the Greater Nashville Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. For more information visit the team page and womenrockforthecure.org.
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Country group Stealing Angels and rock band Toy, along with lead singer Alana Grace, will be making their inaugural visit to entertain U.S. troops stationed overseas as part of the Homecoming Tour. They will be performing for service members stationed in Iraq and Kuwait, from July 9-19.  The visit will be one of the last tours of its kind as troops are scheduled to withdraw by the end of the year.
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L to R: SOLID Board Members Tony Grotticelli and Matt Rizor, Ty Herndon and SOLID Board Member Tiffany Bearden


The Society of Leaders in Development (SOLID) raised $3,500 for Musicians On Call during its 9th Annual Music Row Yard Sale held during the 2011 CMA Music Festival. Each year, record labels and other music row businesses donate various promotional items to the event for fans to purchase. The annual event is SOLID’s primary fundraising program that supports its organizational programs throughout the year, and also an opportunity for SOLID to provide monetary support for a local charity. This year the yard sale’s hottest items included guitars signed by Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum; Miranda Lambert and Chris Young Meet & Greet passes; a target autographed by Blake Shelton; and a number of items autographed by Carrie Underwood. Rob Bolin (American Idol, Can You Duet) performed at the event and Ty Herndon dropped in to sign autographs for fans. For more information visit www.solidnashville.com and www.musiciansoncall.org
 
 

Facebook Unites SoundCloud And Moontoast

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If the social networking revolution is about bringing users together to share experiences and affinities, then a smoothly integrated commerce engine should provide mutual value to all parties. And that seems to be the rationale behind the new collaboration between SoundCloud and Moontoast.
SoundCloud is an audio platform that enables its four million users to create, record, promote, and share original sounds across the web. SoundCloud’s cornerstone product is a unique waveform player that allows anyone to share their tracks and other sound content online, and collect feedback from listeners. (See example above.)
Moontoast has created Impulse, a Facebook application which gives SoundCloud users a quick way to offer their original music, recordings and merchandise directly to their Facebook fans. The direct-to-fan storefront lives on the artist’s Facebook page and can be promoted in the artist’s News Feed. Fans are able to listen to tracks, share the store with their friends, and purchase digital downloads, physical merchandise, and tickets — all without ever leaving Facebook.
Blair Heavey, Moontoast CEO, comments, “We love what SoundCloud is doing to take sound creation and distribution mainstream. Their amazing community is like YouTube for audio — we’re glad we can deliver a great solution that brings social commerce into the mix.”
“We think the addition of direct-to-fan sales on Facebook through the Moontoast Impulse app is going to provide great opportunities for our users,” says Alexander Ljung, SoundCloud’s founder and CEO. “This is another example of how important it is to let third party developers build on our API – they create awesome new ways for our users to get even more out of our platform and that makes everyone happy.”
 

Funky Winkerbean Goes Country

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This Sunday, June 26, the lyrics to the classic country song, “Til I Gain Control Again,” play a prominent role in the long‐running comic strip “Funky Winkerbean.” Written by Rodney Crowell and published by Tessa Publishing Company, song was first recorded by Emmylou Harris in 1975.
Tom Batiuk, the cartoonist, specifically requested the use of the song as a loving tribute to his wife for their 40th wedding anniversary. Nearly all seven cells of the strip feature the lyrics to the song as the basis for an anniversary sequence starring the main characters, Funky and Holly.
Many artists have recorded “‘Til I Gain Control Again” over the years, including Willie Nelson, Crystal Gayle and, most recently, Raul Malo on the 2010 album Sinners & Saints. Crowell included it on his self‐titled album in 1981.
“Funky Winkerbean” is syndicated in 400 newspapers nationwide. Tessa Publishing Co. is administered by Conexion Media Group, Inc., based in Nashville, TN.

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Guy Clark Tribute Album Due In November

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A who’s who of roots, country and Americana will pay tribute to the legendary Guy Clark with the November 1 release of This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark (Icehouse Music). Guests include Rodney Crowell, Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle and many more. The release is timed to coincide with Clark’s 70th birthday on November 6.
Produced by Tamara Saviano and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Camp, the double album collection includes 30 tracks from 33 artists who are Clark’s friends and colleagues or influenced by his work. The full track list is included below. Austin-based engineer Fred Remmert mixed and mastered the project, which was recorded in Austin and Nashville with a band that included Camp, guitarist Verlon Thompson, pianist Jen Gunderman and more. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University in San Marcos.
“Guy’s songs are literature,” says Lyle Lovett, who also appears on the album. “The first time I heard Guy Clark, I thought it made everything I’d heard up to that point something other than a song. His ability to translate the emotional into the written word is extraordinary.”
Volume 1
1. That Old Time Feeling – Rodney Crowell
2. Anyhow I Love You – Lyle Lovett
3. All He Wants Is You – Shawn Colvin
4. Homeless – Shawn Camp
5. Broken Hearted People – Ron Sexsmith
6. Better Days – Rosanne Cash
7. Desperadoes Waiting For A Train – Willie Nelson
8. Baby Took A Limo To Memphis – Rosie Flores
9. Magdalene – Kevin Welch
10. Instant Coffee Blues – Suzy Bogguss
11. Homegrown Tomatoes – Ray Wylie Hubbard
12. Let Him Roll – John Townes Van Zandt II
13. The Guitar – Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
14. Cold Dog Soup – James McMurtry
15. Worry B Gone – Hayes Carll
Volume 2
1. Dublin Blues – Joe Ely
2. Magnolia Wind – Emmylou Harris & John Prine
3. The Last Gunfighter Ballad – Steve Earle
4. All Through Throwing Good Love After Bad – Verlon Thompson
5. The Dark – Terri Hendrix
6. LA Freeway – Radney Foster
7. The Cape – Patty Griffin
8. Hemingway’s Whiskey – Kris Kristofferson
9. Texas Cookin’ – Gary Nicholson, Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien
10. Stuff That Works – Jack Ingram
11. Randall Knife – Vince Gill
12. Texas 1947 – Robert Earl Keen
13. Old Friends – Terry Allen
14. She Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – The Trishas
15. My Favorite Picture of You – Jerry Jeff Walker

Bug Relocates, Adds Multi-Media Facility

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Publishers continue to adopt a larger role in the discovery and development of talent, and in an effort to streamline and intensify that process, Bug Music has announced its new offices will contain new multi-media tools. Bug, which calls itself the largest U.S. independent contemporary music publisher, is set to move July 1 into new offices at the 17-story building at 6100 Wilshire Blvd. The publisher will occupy about 20,000 square feet of space which will include a multi-media digital hub for performance showcases, recording and visual media production. The new facilities, spanning the top two penthouse floors and a new lobby-level recording studio, will augment the publisher’s efforts toward developing artists and writers and allow for recording and performances via webcasts in a premier showcase space.
Bug holds nearly 300,000 copyrights and has a roster comprising a long list of top songwriters across all genres, including Bruno Mars, Kara DioGuardi, Kings of Leon, Frank Ocean, Pete Townshend, Three 6 Mafia, and the estates of Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Bug Music co-owned Arthouse Entertainment, the publishing company led by singer-songwriter Kara DioGuardi and co-founder, Stephen J. Finfer, will join Bug in the new offices from its current location in Beverly Hills.
“The July 1 move is the next milestone in our growth and evolution to develop and innovate with creative talents,” Bug Music CEO John Rudolph said. “We realize our future lies in our ability to maximize opportunities for our writers on multiple digital platforms. With this new space, we will be able to provide them the tools to efficiently address the new marketplace.”