Pickin’ On the Patio at Warner Music Nashville

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Join Warner Music Nashville at their signature Pickin’ On The Patio event today, Thursday, October 28th. Atlantic Records’ Ty Stone and Reprise Records’ the JaneDear Girls are the featured performers in this incredibly successful inaugural season of Patio shows, which kicked off in May.

Past performers include Gloriana, The Invite, Alissa Moreno, Jim Collins, Tony Arata and Marv Green.

Sponsors include Clean Plate Club, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Aramark, Skylar Wilson Productions, Sunrise of Nashville, Red Bull, Frugal MacDoogal and GiGi’s Cupcakes. Doors open at 5:00 pm at the Warner Nashville office.

Brett Eldredge Makes Opry Debut; ABC Goes Country

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Brett Eldredge Makes Opry Debut

Rising star Brett Eldredge will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday, October 29th. Hailed by CMT as the “Next Big Thing,” Eldredge will join the Oak Ridge Boys, Rodney Atkins and Joe Diffie in Friday’s lineup. Additionally, he will be introduced to the legendary Opry stage by renowned singer-songwriter Bill Anderson.

“I have one goal—to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry,” said Eldredge. “To me, that is the highest honor you can be awarded as a country music singer. So, given the opportunity to perform for the first time ever on the Grand Ole Opry stage is truly a dream come true.

Eldredge’s debut single, “Raymond,” is currently No. 44 on the Billboard charts. The video for “Raymond,” the story of the relationship between a young man and an elderly Alzheimer’s patient, can be viewed at vimeo.com. Opry tickets can be purchased here.

ABC Goes Country

ABC television network is going country in November in celebration of The 44th Annual CMA Awards, to be broadcast on Wednesday, November 10th at 8:00 pm ET.

Starting on October 30th, the Road to the CMA Awards special will air on local ABC affiliates across the country. This half-hour program will be packed with artist interviews and highlights from past CMA awards and will have appearances from Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins and Josh Turner, among others.

Newscaster Robin Roberts will host a special giving viewers an all-access pass into the lives of country music’s biggest stars, including Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. The hour-long special will air on Wednesday, November 3rd at 10:00 pm ET.

On Sunday, November 14th, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and LeeAnn Rimes will join Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to assist Nashville’s Sweatt family. Brian and Barbara Sweatt were among the victims of the historic May flood, running the Lighthouse School which was devastated by the catastrophe.

Other notable upcoming events include Jason Aldean’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 15th, Lyle Lovett as a guest star on Castle that same night, and Reba reuniting with TV daughter JoAnna Garcia on Better With You on November 17th.

Chrysalis Inks Skidmore, Dierks in N.Y.C., Martina and Train on Crossroads

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(From Bottom Left Clockwise) Jersey Ross/Chrysalis Music; Patricia Wittmer/Chrysalis Music; Dale Bobo/Chrysalis Music; Skidmore; Terry Elam, manager/Fitzgerald Hartley; Tiffany Dunn, attorney/Loeb & Loeb; and Abbe Nameche/Chrysalis Music.

Artist/songwriter Shelley Skidmore has signed a publishing deal with Chrysalis Music. Dale Bobo, EVP at Chrysalis Music Nashville says, “Shelley is the authentic real deal, having grown up playing and singing in her parent’s band all around her home state of Kentucky and into Ohio and West Virginia.  She has a smart point of view that really comes through when she writes and performs.  We are tremendously excited to be working with Shelley at Chrysalis Music.”

Pictured (left to right): Songwriter/producer Jon Randall Stewart, ASCAP’s Earle Simmons, Disney Music songwriter Jessi Alexander, Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley just wrapped a four-night residency in New York City, including a show with Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall Stewart at Joe’s Pub.

Martina McBride, Train

Country superstar Martina McBride will join hit band Train on CMT Crossroads, premiering Saturday, November 20th at 8:00 pm ET/PT. This is McBride’s second time on the CMT series; her first appearance was with rock icon Pat Benatar in 2003.

Country Strong Star Finds Inspiration in Underwood, Swift

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Leighton Meester

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester found inspiration in country stars Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift in preparation for her role in the upcoming movie Country Strong.

“I tried to make it my own, but I was definitely inspired by Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift,” Meester explains. “I went to the Grand Ole Opry and saw Carrie Underwood. Went to few honky tonks, too.”

In the movie, Meester plays a young country singer who admires, and then rivals, an established country star (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Meester’s homework paid off. “I went into the studio and sang my heart out.” The actress notes that Paltrow raised the bar as well. “She really showed her chops, playing the guitar and performing the hell out of it,” said Meester. “My character is supposed to admire and look up to her, and I do, too. You have to rise to the occasion when you play opposite her.”

Country Strong, which also stars Tim McGraw, will be released in theaters in December.

Leon Russell/Elton John Collaboration; Artists Crossing Borders

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Leon Russell Signs Deal with UMPG for Elton John Collaboration

Legendary songwriter and artist Leon Russell has signed a worldwide co-publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for The Union, his collaboration with Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. The Union was released on October 19th.

Russell, John and Taupin co-wrote the album, which is their first studio collaboration, with producer T Bone Burnett. A tour is in the works for John and Russell in 2011.

“Leon Russell is a legend in his own right,” says UMPG Chairman/CEO David Renzer. “Teaming with Elton John and Bernie Taupin has resulted in a special record that will be a true event around the globe. We’re honored to have Leon join the UMPG family and look forward to seeing this project achieve worldwide acclaim and success.”

Russell’s career spans over five decades, and he has collaborated with artists including Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frank Sinatra, B.B. King, Glen Campbell, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones.

Border Crossing

Touring artists crossing the U.S./Canadian border now have a resource to assist them with the process. Border Entertainment is a service company that provides business consultation and ease when moving between the United States and Canada, saving clients time and money.

Entertainers touring in other countries need to be aware of Immigration, Customs, Tax and Labor laws in the host country, and if proper paperwork is not completed, offenders can face inspections and interrogations.

The Border Entertainment customer service team works with clients to ensure a smooth entry and exit to another country. More information is available here.

Swift Becoming Music City Sales Hero

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Taylor Swift’s Speak Now is officially in the wild and on sale. The 14-song set hit bins and digital download locations on Monday (10/25) giving it one day longer than the usual 6-day release schedule to log what seems destined to become a record breaking debut week.

Industry guesstimators are predicting sales in the 800-900k range while admitting the possibility that Ms. Swift may break the one million mark. A quick look at our Album Sales Benchmarks sidebar shows that Swift is highly likely to eclipse Eminem’s 2010 record, has a strong likelihood of erasing Shania Twain’s record status and will easily surpass debut week sales of her own previous album, Fearless. Remaining to be seen is whether the 20-year-old who penned all 14 songs on her new disc can also join Garth Brooks and Lil Wayne in the mile high one million+ club!

A quick look around the net shows that Amazon is selling the digital album today (10/27) for a low $3.99, and the plastic CD format for $8. The iTunes download contains a digital booklet and allows fans to “complete the album” (not pay for tracks they they already own), but rings the register at a higher $13.99. Aiming at the Target, fans can find an exclusive CD with extra content for $14.99 or the regular CD edition for $9.99.

Taylor Swift pictured on the red carpet of the CMT Awards. Swift offers a hidden message, "CMT Awards," in the lyrics for the song "The Story of Us," in the liner notes. Many people speculate the track is directed at John Mayer. Photo: izzynashville.com

Odds makers expect that Swift’s Speak Now will become country music’s largest-ever selling digital week album. Writer Randy Lewis points out in the LA Times, “The enthusiastic response to the album runs counter to the downward trend of overall record sales, which in the latest reporting period were 14% lower than in the same period last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Just two weeks ago, Toby Keith’s Bullets in the Gun set a new record for the lowest sales figure for a No. 1 album debut –71,000 copies– since SoundScan began monitoring retail sales in 1991. Swift also would counter the trend of artists who have been unable to match or top their previous sales figures. Her 2008 sophomore album, Fearless, debuted at No. 1 after selling 592k copies in its first week of release.”

Not surprisingly Swift is blanketing the media. Here’s a few of her higher profile appearances: On Thanksgiving night, NBC will air the one-hour primetime special Taylor Swift – Speak Now. On 10/26 she visited The Today Show (NBC) and The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS), followed by stops at Live! With Regis & Kelly (10/27), Dancing With the Stars (11/2) and an album release party on Ellen (11/1).

According to www.metacritic.com Speak Now is getting highly favorable reviews from both critics and fans…

Sugarland Sweetens Sales Chatter

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Sugarland topped both album charts this week as its Incredible Machine churned out sales of almost 203k units with about 19% sold in the digital format. Nashville rockers Kings of Leon earned the No. 2 spot on all genre album sales with its fifth album,
 Come Around Sundown, which shifted about 184k copies. Also new this week is Union from Elton John and Music City resident Leon Russell which scanned almost 80k to earn the No. 3 rank, all genre.

The list of new country albums and the added sales they represent has been steadily elevating country’s weekly sales totals pushing it up 7% this week to a total of 771k. (Readers may recall that last week’s math showed that average weekly sales of 1.67 million units through year end would be necessary to equal last year’s country album sales totals.) Last week country sales were off 12.5% and this week have improved slightly, now down a more modest 12.3%.

Moving to the Tracks chart for Digital Genre Country the love story is all about the Hendersonville 20-year old. Taylor Swift owns three of the Top 4 track spots with “Mean” (163k+), “Back To December”
(70k+) and “Mine” (49k). (Big Machine’s The Band Perry owns the No. 3 position with “If I Die Young” (58k) giving the label all four top slots.

Garth Brooks to Host Flood Relief Concert in Nashville

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Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood will hold a flood relief concert on Friday, Dec. 17th at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville.

Governor Phil Bredesen, Mayor Karl Dean, Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker, Congressman Jim Cooper and State Rep. Marsha Blackburn were in attendance at a press conference this morning, October 28th, at the State Capitol.

Ticket prices will be $25 and complete ticket information for the general public will be announced on Wednesday, November 3rd, at noon (CST). Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee‘s flood relief efforts. The historic May flood caused considerable damage throughout middle Tennessee and more than $2 billion in damage in Nashville.


Broken Bow Names Rick Shedd SVP

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Rick Shedd

Broken Bow Records CEO/President Benny Brown has named Rick Shedd Senior Vice President of Operations for Broken Bow Records and Stoney Creek Records, effective immediately. Shedd has been a longtime consultant for the label and will report directly to Brown.

Exiting the label is Executive Vice Pres./General Manager Jim Yerger.

“Over the last decade, Rick has proven to be a loyal, hard working, and very valuable asset to our company. We look forward to him expanding his role within our organization,” says Brown. “All of us wish Jim nothing but the best and much success in his future endeavors.”

“I have worked with the BBR family as a consultant for many years now and when the opportunity became available to become a full-fledged member of the family, it was an easy decision,” adds Shedd. “I have immense respect for Benny and his labels and I’m thrilled with the confidence he has entrusted in me. I’m looking forward to being a part of the continued growth and success in the future.”

Broken Bow’s major release from star Jason Aldean is set to drop Nov. 2.

Jim Yerger can be reached at Jim.Yerger@me.com

Rick Shedd can be reached at rickshedd@brokenbowrecords.com or at 615-244-8600.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (10/27/10)

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Better late than never, they say.

As She’s Walking Away” is already in the top-10, but I’m just now getting around to it. That’s because I had to go out and buy the Zac Brown Band album that it is on. If this were most country acts, that would really tick me off. But I don’t mind financially supporting a group this good one bit. The best prices, by the way, are at the f.y.e. store on West End.

Oh, and did I mention that it also earns a Disc of the Day award for The Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson?

Nashville newcomer Coy Taylor is our DisCovery Award winner for this column. But the best news of the day is the presence of enduring favorites Marc Beeson and Raul Malo and even older class acts like Curly Putman and Jack Greene.

COY TAYLOR/Bigger Than Life
Writer: Rivers Rutherford; Producer: Brady Seals; Publisher: none listed; CT (track) (www.coytaylor.com)
—This thumping country rocker has plenty of “bottom” in its mix. Coy Taylor’s drawling vocal has enough oomph to ride on top of the grinding guitars and insistent beats. He is a former Kentucky/Indiana/Cincinnati club attraction who recently moved to Music City. Promising, in a Jason Aldean/Rodney Atkins kinda way.

RAUL MALO/Living for Today
Writer: Raul Malo; Producer: Raul Malo; Publisher: Raul Malo, BMI; Fantasy (track) (www.raulmalo.com)
—Raul’s new CD is titled Sinners & Saints. This track has a vintage rock ‘n’ roll feeling with its stuttering organ, barrelhouse piano and sharp, echoey guitar pings. The melody is simple and straightforward, as are the rollicking groove and his vocal delivery. In the finale, “We’re just living for today,” is repeated over and over and over again, which explains the 5:14 running time.

KYLE PARK/All Night
Writer: Ben Clark/Kyle Park; Producer: Kyle Park; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Winding Road (track) (www.kyleparkmusic.com)
—This singer-songwriter’s five-song sampler begins with this breezy charmer. The chorus tune is ridiculously catchy. The acoustic guitars scamper around beautifully. And his boyish tenor sounds like innocent springtime. As I’ve mentioned about him before, he is also a terrific record producer.

JACK GREENE & GEORGE JONES/Two Old Cats Like Us
Writer: Troy Seals; Producer: Penn Pennington; Publisher: none listed; Pretty World (track) (www.jackgreeneopry.com)
—This veteran Grand Ole Opry star’s newest CD is titled Precious Memories, Treasured Friends. On it, he sings his signature song Statue of a Fool as a solo. But most of the selections are duets with the likes of Lorrie Morgan, Vince Gill, Charley Pride, Larry Gatlin and Merle Haggard. This lead-off song is a swinging, big-band romp with The Possum. Hearing these two voices with a loud, fat brass section is ear-opening, to say the least.

TOMMY ALVERSON/Texas One More Time
Writer: Tommy Alverson; Producer: Walt Wilkins, Tommy Alverson & Patrick McGuire; Publisher: none listed; Blue Boot (track) (www.tommyalverson.com)
—He sings well, and the band is top-notch. The colorless song, however, does nothing for me.

THE ZAC BROWN BAND & ALAN JACKSON/As She’s Walking Away
Writer: Zac Brown/Wyett Durrette; Producer: Keith Stegall & Zac Brown; Publisher: Weimerhound/Lil’ Dub/Angelika, BMI; No Reserve/Atlantic (track)
—The airy, sweet-sounding track contrasts with the downbeat, lost-love lyric. Heartbreak has seldom sounded prettier. And I like the idea of pushing the normally laid-back Alan into this wooshing, rush of a tempo tune.

THE LUCKY TOMBERLIN BAND/Honky Tonk Merry Go Round
Writer: Stan Gardner/Frank Simon; Producer: Lloyd Maines; Publisher: Sony-ATV Acuff-Rose, BMI; Texas World (track) (www.luckytomberlinband.com)
—Lucky’s lucky in that just about everyone in the group can sing lead, including such familiar names as Earl Poole Ball and Redd Volkart. On the CD title tune, a 1955 Patsy Cline chestnut, Lucky takes the lead duties, himself. But both Redd and Earl get to play dandy guitar and piano solos in mid-song. A good time is had by all.

CURLY PUTMAN & DOLLY PARTON/Made For Lovin’ You
Writer: Curly Putman/Sonny Throckmorton; Producer: Curly Putman & Adam Engelhardt; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree, BMI; CP (track)
—This living legend of country songwriting has a new CD called Write ‘Em Sad, Sing ‘Em Lonesome. He sounds simply splendid on it, giving us his own versions of his classics “My Elusive Dreams,” “Green Green Grass of Home,” “Older the Violin,” “Couldn’t Love Have Picked a Better Place to Die” and the like. There are three duets, one with Deborah Allen, one with Sarah Johns and this lovely ballad with Miss Dolly. The song was originally a 1993 hit for Doug Stone. The album is a fund-raiser for the Scott Putman Memorial Scholarship fund at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN.

MARC BEESON/Merciful Love
Writer: Allen Shamblin/Marc Beeson; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Built on Rock/Springfish, ASCAP; MB (track) (www.myspace.com/marcbeeson)
—I ran into Marc at the ASCAP awards, and the next thing I knew, a 12-track CD was in my mailbox. It’s a compilation of his latest demos, and it reminded me of how much I’ve always liked his singing, as well as his writing. This title tune, “Merciful Love” is guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings with its portrayal of an aging couple. She’s in a home and has forgotten all her songs, but she still smiles when he walks through the door. In addition to Allen, Marc’s songwriting collaborators on the collection include Tim Johnson, Mike Reid, Don Pfrimmer, Dave Robbins, Billy Austin and Rodney Clawson. Listening to something like this tells me why I fell in love with Nashville in the first place. You need to hear it, too.

POINT OF GRACE/Love And Laundry
Writer: Leah Crutchfield/Mallary Hope/Brian Nash; Producer: Nathan Chapman; Publisher: Sony-ATV/Songs for My Good Girl/ Kohaw Music obo itself and Rock Island Road Music LLC (ASCAP) c/o The Bicycle Music Company, BMI/ASCAP; Word (CDX)
—I heard these gals sing this on the Opry a few weeks ago and was instantly smitten with it. There hasn’t been a working-wife lyric this good in ages. Every detail is the absolute truth. And the propulsive production doesn’t hurt one bit. Essential listening.