Niemann’s “Lover, Lover” Gets Gold Certification

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Jerrod Niemann made a return visit to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry this past week. Pictured (l-r): Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Gary Overton; Desert Rose Band’s John Jorgenson; Restless Heart’s Larry Stewart; Niemann; Fitzgerald Hartley’s Bill Simmons; Grand Ole Opry VP/GM Pete Fisher; and Sony Music Nashville Promo VP Skip Bishop. 2010 Copyright Grand Ole Opry. Photo by Chris Hollo

Jerrod Niemann’s first No. 1 hit is now also his first RIAA-certified Gold Digital Single. “Lover, Lover” has been a breakthrough song for the Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville artist and his album, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury, has been in the Top 3 country best-sellers since its release.

After a quick stop in Nashville last week that included a performance on the Grand Ole Opry, Niemann is maintaining a busy schedule on the road, and he’ll be opening Gary Allan’s Get Off on the Pain Tour beginning September 9.

Today, it was announced that Niemann and Miranda Lambert will perform at Dierks Bentley’s “Miles & Music for Kids” benefit for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Oct. 17 at Nashville’s Riverfront Park. This week Niemann also turns up in People magazine’s music section and Blair Garner’s “The Buzz” page in Country Weekly.

Dierks Plans “Miles And Music For Kids”

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Dierks Bentley will host his fifth annual “Miles & Music for Kids” celebrity motorcycle ride and benefit concert on Oct. 17 in Nashville. For the concert at Riverfront Park, Bentley has recruited special guests Miranda Lambert and Jerrod Niemann, with more to be announced in coming weeks.

In only five years, the event has attracted over 30,000 fans and raised an impressive $1.2 million for children’s hospitals in Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta.

“Miles and Music is one of the greatest things we do all year,” says Bentley. “The Nashville community has been coming out year after year to support us…crazy to think we’ve been doing it for five years now. So many people contribute their time and money to make this a success…looking forward to making year #5 bigger and better than ever.”

This year, the hour-long motorcycle ride will kick off at a new location, Harley-Davidson of Columbia, and end at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville for the concert.

Tickets for the family-friendly event go on sale on Fri., Aug. 20 through Ticketmaster. Tickets for the ride, concert and commemorative T-shirt are $50, or $20 for the concert only. Special VIP packages are also available.

Sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, all proceeds from the Nashville event will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

Casey James Signs Record Deal With 19/BNA

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Sony Music Nashville has added another American Idol alum to its roster. Casey James, who finished third on the show’s most recent season, has inked with 19 Recordings/BNA Records. The Cool, TX native is currently on the American Idols Live! Tour 2010, and will soon be at work on his debut album, set for release next year.

Though he had been fronting the Casey James Band since 2008, the artist had never even seen a single episode of the top rated show before auditioning in Denver and winning a golden ticket to Hollywood.

“All my life I have wanted this and now my dream has come true,” says James. “Words can’t describe how thankful and blessed I am for the opportunity to give back to all those who have supported me. I’m going to work hard to make the best album possible! I want to thank my Momma for making me go to Denver. Look out! I’m Nashville bound!”

Sony Music Nashville Chairman and CEO Gary Overton adds, “We at Sony Music Nashville are incredibly excited about signing Casey James. I flew to New York to see him live with the American Idol Tour and I was blown away with his voice, guitar playing and stage presence…and so were the thousands of fans in the amphitheatre. He has honed his skills as a showman with his years of performing live on stage! I can’t wait to get him into the studio to begin recording his debut album.”

Among the other Idol stars who have joined the Sony Music Nashville family are Carrie Underwood, Kelly Pickler and Danny Gokey.

Canadian Country Org Gets New Exec

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The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has named Don Green Executive Director of the Association. Green starts at the CCMA on Monday, August 23 and will be onsite at Country Music Week Edmonton, September 8-12. Current interim Executive Director, Sheila Hamilton will remain on staff through the Fall to ensure a flawless transition.

Green is currently the VP of Operations of Puretracks (division of Somerset Entertainment), a leading North American digital music provider and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University. Prior to Puretracks, Green gained extensive business and leadership experience at Bell Canada in a diverse range of senior management roles, including marketing, sales, public relations, and strategic planning.

“I look forward to working with all key CCMA stakeholders to deliver the mandate of the Association,” Green said. “It’s an honor to work within a genre that I have listened to and loved since my childhood.

“We took our time to find the ideal candidate for this role,” said Chair of the CCMA Board of Directors, Jackie Rae Greening. “Don has a lot to offer and we look forward to having him as leader of our growing Association.”

For more information about Country Music Week 2010, the Canadian Country Music Awards or the CCMA visit www.ccma.org.

CMA Noms To Be Revealed Over 2 Days

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Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley will reveal the nominees for select CMA Awards on Sept. 1.

Final nominees for The 44th Annual CMA Awards will be announced over two mornings, on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

On Wednesday, Sept. 1, Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert will announce the final nominees in five CMA Awards categories live from the Good Morning America studios in New York City on ABC. The announcement will air in the 8:30 AM/ET half-hour segment of the morning news program.

On Tuesday, Aug. 31, Justin Moore and Chris Young will announce the finalists in seven CMA Awards categories from Nashville at a press conference at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

In Nashville, Steel Magnolia will announce the finalists for the 2010 CMA Broadcast Award Personality and Radio Station of the Year in four categories (small, medium, large, and major markets), as well as the finalists for the CMA National Broadcast Personality.

The 44th Annual CMA Awards, known as “Country Music’s Biggest Night(TM),” will be broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00-11:00 PM ET) on ABC.

CMT Insider Special Edition: 2010 CMA Awards Nominations, featuring in-depth coverage of the nominations, artist interviews, and more, will premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 1 (11:00 AM/ET), with several re-airings scheduled.

CMA’s official radio partner, Premiere Radio Networks, will carry the Awards and Broadcast Award nominations live to Country Radio as they are announced each day.

And don’t forget, the CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock special will air Wednesday, Sept. 1 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC.

Social Media Success Story CJaye LeRose

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Online marketing success stories are becoming more and more common and CJaye LeRose is the latest example. She started a YouTube channel in April 2009 to raise awareness about pet adoption, and posted a self-penned song along with dog rescue videos. Now the Texas native has had more than one million video views on YouTube and is planning the release of a full length album.

For LeRose, the next step after YouTube was starting a Twitter account, inspired partly by MusicRow’s Twitter chart which ranks country singers by the number of followers. 

In less than six months, she’s gained 10,000 followers and moved up to No. 55 in the rankings. LeRose calls the whole experience “surreal.”

Lately she’s been in Nashville prepping for the release of her debut album, Date With The Tub, due this fall. She has recruited Music City Networks to build a web site at www.cjayelerose.com, completed a photo shoot with Melinda Norris, and made a video for lead single, “The Porch,” with Gamma Blast director Chad Denning.

LeRose’s first performance in Nashville will be at Crownover Tisinger’s End of The Row Party to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation. It is set for Sept. 16 at the law offices at 1701 18th Avenue South.

Graph shows LeRose's strong growth in Twitter followers in recent months.

Date Set For Grammy Noms Concert

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Taylor Swift won four Grammys at last year's awards.

The GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night® will air live on the CBS Television Network on Wednesday, Dec. 1 from 10–11 PM ET/PT. The one-hour special will announce nominations in several categories as well as feature performances by past GRAMMY winners and/or nominees. Presenters, performers and additional information will be announced shortly. No word on when the full list of nominations will be revealed.

The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011, airing live at 8 PM ET/PT on CBS.

For updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy®’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

Warner Adds Niederhauser; CRS Liner Registration Open

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Mark Niederhauser

Mark Niederhauser will join the Warner Music Nashville promotion team as Southwest Regional Promotion Manager starting September 7. He will report directly to Vice President of Promotions Bob Reeves.

Warner Music Nashville is home to Atlantic Records, Warner Bros. Records and Word Label Group.

Niederhauser can be reached after September 7 at Mark.Niederhauser@wmg.com.

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Following its successful debut at CRS 2010, Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced artist registration for its CRS 2011 digital liners program is now open.

The all-digital process replaced the Artist Radio Taping Sessions at CRS 2010 and provides artists with more flexibility to record liners at their leisure. Artists will receive the liner requests directly from CRB by Nov. 3, 2010, and must submit the finished product back to CRB at liners@crb.org by Dec. 15, 2010. Stations wishing to participate in the program must register for CRS 2011 and submit their liners to CRB for review by Oct. 31, 2010.

Artists who sign up for the program are obligated to record up to three custom liners per station, up to 150 stations. One generic liner set will also be recorded by the artists for stations registering after Oct. 31.

Sixty-eight artists participated in the program’s debut at CRS 2010, from emerging acts to superstars such as Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Reba.

For specific radio attendee inquiries, contact Kristen McRary at (615) 327-4487 or Kristen@CRB.org. For specific artist inquiries, contact Chasity Crouch at (615) 327-4487 or Chasity@CRB.org.

Toby Keith Goes Deluxe

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Toby Keith is planning to release a deluxe edition of his new album when it comes out Oct. 5 via his label Show Dog-Universal Music. The special edition of Bullets In The Gun will have four live tracks which were recorded during his surprise “Incognito Bandito” show at The Fillmore in Manhattan. It is available for pre-order here.

Backed by an A-list band of session players assembled exclusively for the rare club performance, Keith’s set and bonus tracks include: Johnny Paycheck’s “11 Months And 29 Days,” Waylon Jennings’ “I’ve Been A Long Time Leaving (But I’ll Be A Long Time Gone),” Roger Miller’s “Chug-A-Lug” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown.”

Keith produced the album, joined by Mills Logan and Kenny Greenberg for the live session. He also wrote or co-wrote all 10 new songs, including six with Bobby Pinson, one with Scotty Emerick and Dean Dillon, and the title track with Rivers Rutherford. Keith also wrote two songs by himself, including the lead single “Trailerhood,” which is moving quickly to the top of the charts.

On the eve of his fifteenth studio album, Keith’s track record of success dates back to his first single and No. 1 smash, “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” in 1993.

His American Ride Tour, presented by Ford F-Series (it is his eighth consecutive year as the “Ford Truck Man”), continues to play for standing-room-only arenas and will reach more fans this year than it did in 2009.

Complete track listing:

1. Bullets In The Gun
2. Somewhere Else
3. Trailerhood
4. In A Couple Of Days
5. Think About You All Of The Time
6. Kissin’ In The Rain
7. Drive It On Home
8. Ain’t Breakin’ Nothin’
9. Is That All You Got
10. Get Out Of My Car

Deluxe Edition tracks:
11. 11 Months And 29 Days
12. I’ve Been A Long Time Leaving (But I’ll Be A Long Time Gone)
13. Chug-A-Lug
14. Sundown

Photos: Dave Bartholomew; Nashville Publishers Network

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Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Bartholomew recently stopped by BMI’s Music Row offices. The legendary songwriter, producer, musician, arranger and A&R man hooked up with Fats Domino and their collaborations sent shock waves from New Orleans, forever changing the soundscape of American music. Bartholomew wrote classics including “Ain’t That a Shame,” “I’m Walkin’” “Blue Monday,” “Walkin’ to New Orleans” “I Hear You Knocking,” “Let the Good Times Roll” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “One Night (With You),” and thousands more.

Pictured at BMI are BMI’s Perry Howard; Dave Bartholomew’s son, Ron; attorney Russ Hicks; Dave Bartholomew, Jr.; Dave Bartholomew, and BMI’s Thomas Cain and Clay Bradley. Photo by Drew Maynard

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New Revolution Entertainment’s Rob Dalton was the guest speaker at a recent Nashville Publishers Network meeting. The organization of independent song publishers meets monthly at BMI to share information about recording artists and labels who are looking for material. If you are interested in joining NPN, contact Frank Michels at 615-354-0670 or michels8@comcast.net.

Pictured at a recent Nashville Publishers Network meeting (L-R): Erik Thorson, NPN treasurer; guest speaker Rob Dalton of New Revolution Entertainment; Bob Dellaposta, NPN president; Bill Renfrew, NPN guest coordinator; Marc Rossi, NPN tip sheet writer; and Frank Michels, NPN vice president.