Loretta Lynn answers press questions during her 50th anniversary party. Photo: © Eric Adkins

Country music icon Loretta Lynn was showered with industry awards and heartfelt praise at a celebration marking her 50 years in country music on Friday (9/24) at her Hurricane Mills ranch outside Nashville.

The Academy of Country Music, Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. and BMI each made award presentations during the invitation-only event billed as “A Tribute to an American Icon.” Ronnie McDowell presented Lynn with a hand-painted portrait of the legendary performer, and noted Nashville composer Bill Walker gave Lynn an arrangement of “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” originally penned for the television special, “Loretta Lynn on Broadway.”

Selected media and industry, as well as Lynn’s close friends and family, attended the packed ceremony. The evening’s activities included a catered reception, media Q&A session and the awards presentations, hosted by John Carter Cash. A performance by Lynn’s sister, Crystal Gayle, followed the event.

Pictured (l-r): ACM Pres./GAC executive Sarah Trahern, Loretta Lynn, ACM former Chairman John Grady, ACM current Chairman/CRB Execuive Director Bill Mayne. Photo: © Eric Adkins Photo.

BMI Director David Preston presented Lynn with an award commemorating her 50 years in the Country music industry. Photo: © Eric Adkins Photo.

John Carter Cash (l) looks on as Ronnie McDowell (c) presents Loretta Lynn with “Reflections of a Coal Miner’s Daughter,” his hand-painted portrait of her. Also pictured is Jim Sanders, owner of Loretta Lynn’s Kitchen restaurant. Photo: © Eric Adkins Photo.

Jamey Johnson and Matthew McConaughey on the set of Johnson's new video last week.

Jamey Johnson recruited actor pal Matthew McConaughey to direct and star in the video for his latest single “Playing The Part.” The shoot took place last week at the famed Los Angeles intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Ave. The song is the lead single from Johnson’s double album, The Guitar Song, which debuted at No. 1 last week on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

Johnson first met McConaughey backstage at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2009 in Las Vegas, right after winning the Song of the Year trophy for “In Color.” McConaughey told Johnson he had been listening to his album That Lonesome Song and even quoted lyrics from a few tracks. They became fast friends and Johnson performed at McConaughey’s 40th birthday celebration.

When discussions began about the music video for “Playing the Part,” Johnson called McConaughey to ask if he would make a cameo appearance. After several conversations, McConaughey decided he wanted to direct the music video since he had so many ideas for the concept.

McConaughey told today’s Los Angeles Times, “With a lot of artists, their art is one thing and they’re another but there is no separation between Jamey’s music and him. Jamey doesn’t perform, he’s just who he is. His music is about real life: hard, honest, and funny. His subjects are simple and universal but his point of view on them is where he’s a poet—like his first person point of view as the heartache in his song ‘Heartache.’ He sings about and paints pictures of places we’ve all been before but the way he sees them is his and his only.”

McConaughey, his girlfriend Camila Alves, and Johnson at the 2009 ACM Awards.

Influential and beloved music executive Frances Preston will be presented with the Mentor Award during the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony on October 17.

“Frances is the consummate mentor,” said Roger Murrah, Chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation. “She has mentored an industry of dreamers and professionals. The award could not be going to a more deserving person.”

Preston influenced and nurtured the careers of thousands of songwriters, performers and publishers in all genres of music during her five-decade career at BMI, which began with opening the organization’s Nashville office in 1958. Her numerous awards and accolades include induction to the Country Music and Gospel Music Halls of Fame, CMA’s Irving Waugh Award of Excellence, a National Trustees Award from the Recording Academy, Person of the Year at MIDEM, and the President’s Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).

Recognized around the world as a vigilant defender of the rights of music creators, she is also known for her philanthropic activities including work with the T. J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research, and the namesake Frances Williams Preston Research Laboratories at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony is one of the music community’s favorite annual events. The evening features tributes and performances of the inductees’ songs by special guest artists. NSAI will presents its awards for the year’s Best Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artist, as well as the Top 10 “Songs I Wish I Had Written,” as determined by professional songwriters.

The 40th Anniversary Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony is presented by AT&T, and will take place at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Tickets for the event are $200 each. A limited number of seats are available to the public this year and may be purchased by contacting event director Mark Ford at 615 256 3354 or [email protected].

Starting Oct. 4, fans can hear one new track per week from Taylor Swift’s upcoming Speak Now release. The star’s label home Big Machine has partnered with iTunes, Comcast, XfinityTV.com and E! News Daily to debut songs for the three weeks leading up to the album’s Oct. 25 street date.

On Mondays starting Oct. 4, the songs will be available in advance as an exclusive 30-second preview, along with a brief interview with Taylor on Comcast On Demand, online at XfinityTv.com, and on E! News Daily. On the following Tuesdays, starting Oct. 5, the tracks will be up for purchase on iTunes. Here’s the schedule: October  4 & 5 “Speak Now;” October  11 & 12 “Back To December;” October 18 & 19 “Mean.”

The complete track listing for Speak Now is as follows:
1. Mine
2. Sparks Fly
3. Back to December
4. Speak Now
5. Dear John
6. Mean
7. The Story of Us
8. Never Grow Up
9. Enchanted
10. Better Than Revenge
11. Innocent
12. Haunted
13. Last Kiss
14. Long Live

SESAC hosted a “Give + Love” blood drive and spare change/canned food donation event for the American Red Cross and Second Harvest Food Bank at its Nashville headquarters. A steady stream of artists, songwriters and Music Row personnel stopped by to lend a hand with donations. The event, which was sponsored by Urban Flats, Provence Bread & Café, vitaminwater and MusicRow Magazine, helped raise enough blood to help over 80 patients and provide over 500 meals for Nashville’s hungry.

Pictured (L-R): American Red Cross’s Raquel Reed, SESAC’s Tim Fink, songwriter Lance Miller, songwriter Easton Hamlin, SESAC’s Shannan Hatch, songwriter Rob Hatch and Second Harvest Food Bank’s Betsega Bakele & Leigh Clark. Photo: Peyton Hoge

•••••••••••••••••

A mix of Nashville executives and artists turned out for rising country singer Tyler Reeve‘s industry showcase at the Mercy Lounge. Reeve delivered an eight-song set before jumping back on his tour bus and heading to Tallahassee, Fla. The husky-voiced singer performed a mix of material from his 2008 debut, Whiskey Down, as well as several songs from his upcoming release, to be co-produced this fall by hit songwriter and producer Jonathan Singleton. Reeve was the only independent artist featured on the Country Throwdown Tour’s Outlaw Stage this summer, following a breakout year that saw him perform nearly 250 shows in 2009.

Tyler Reeve (l) after his industry showcase at Mercy Lounge with fellow 2010 Country Throwdown Tour performers Emily West and Jonathan Singleton. Photo: Bev Moser

••••••••••••••

Troy Olsen was overwhelmed when he got to meet legendary Grand Ole Opry member Little Jimmy Dickens backstage at the Ryman.

EMI Records Nashville’s Troy Olsen made his debut on the famed Ryman Auditorium stage recently. The Arizona native performed his new single “Good Hands” as well as “Tumbleweed” and “Summer Thing” for the crowd. Click here to check out Troy’s GAC Webisode series “Livin’ The Dream with Troy Olsen.”

Olsen is currently on his headlining “Get Right Tonight Tour” in advance of the October 5 release of his self-titled debut EP. The club tour hits over 40 cities before the tour concludes on November 20 in Denver, CO.