MCN Promotes Dunn To VP Client Services

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Craig Dunn

Web design and e-commerce shop Music City Networks has named Craig Dunn as Vice President of Client Services.

After spending seven years on the road with Sara Evans, Dunn served as Music City Network’s Senior Account Manager, leading MCN’s internal team in the brainstorming and execution of online creative, marketing and community building strategies for clients such as Evans, Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Little Big Town, Alison Krauss, and several more. Dunn also started MCN’s burgeoning ticketing division, now offering ticketing services to over 10 industry clients.

Along with his work at MCN, Dunn is the SOLID 2010 Communications Committee Chairperson.

Dunn can be reached at 615-250-2130 ext. 224 or via email craig@musiccitynetworks.com.

Producer Worley Launches Skyville Records

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Paul Worley

Renowned music producer Paul Worley, along with partners Wally Wilson and Glen Morgan, have formed a new record label, Skyville Records. The label is the latest venture of the threesome who formed Skyline Music Publishing six years ago.

“This label is a natural extension of the artist development that we have always done,” Worley says. “It makes more sense now than ever as the music industry must create new ways of doing business.”

Wally Wilson

Records produced by Worley have sold more than 125 million units worldwide and have generated over one billion dollars in sales. He previously served as Executive VP at Sony Music Nashville and later as the VP and CCO at Warner Bros. Records in Nashville. Worley has discovered, developed and produced some of the most successful acts in country music history, such as the Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride, Big & Rich and most recently, Lady Antebellum.

Wilson is a Grammy-nominated hit record producer, music publisher and an accomplished musician, receiving numerous BMI and ASCAP Awards for his musical accomplishments. He is also a songwriter, penning hits for artists as diverse as Rascal Flatts, The Neville Brothers, Joe Cocker, Amy Grant, Vince Gill and many more.

Glen Morgan

Morgan is the co-founder of a prominent law firm in Beaumont, Texas and has  worked directly with Worley and Wilson in a business management role.  Joining executives Worley, Wilson and Morgan at Skyville will be Katie Voorhis (Head of Operations and Administration),Tristan Lora (Mgr.Tour Operations), Padget Crossman (Mgr. New Media Marketing), Paige Conners (A&R Administration), Peggy Fernandez (Executive Assistant Financial) and Jeremy Witt (Mgr. Studio Operations).

Larry Pareigis and his Nine North team will coordinate all national radio promotion activities for Skyville.

The first signing on the label’s artist roster is Stealing Angels. The trio will debut their first single, “He Better Be Dead” on July 12. They are currently on a national radio promotion tour and playing fairs and festivals around the country this summer.

Skyville Records is located at 2603 Westwood Drive in Nashville and can be reached at (615) 320-7052 or wally@skynash.com.

Trailer Choir Releases Debut CD

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Show Dog-Universal Music will release Trailer Choir’s debut CD, Tailgate, on July 6. The group’s first full-length CD features its upcoming new single release, “Shakin’ That Tailgate,” a song they premiered on the recent CMT Music Awards.

Fans that loved their signature song, “Rockin’ the Beer Gut,” won’t be disappointed, as that song as well as “Last Man Standing” and “Off the Hillbilly Hook,” and six new tracks make up Tailgate. Produced by Toby Keith and Mark Wright, the CD continues with the feel good type of music Trailer Choir has come to be known for and what band member Butter calls “cold beer country.”

Over the course of the next few weeks, the band will be profiled in Country Weekly and the new People Country special. Trailer Choir will be GAC’s Artist of the Month for July. They will also be featured on GAC’s On The Streets and CMT Insider and Top 20.

For additional information on the band, as well as concert dates, visit www.trailerchoir.com.

ICE Slams Movie Pirates

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In a high profile crackdown, federal authorities seized the domain names of nine websites accused of illegally distributing first run movies such as Toy Story 3 and The A-Team. All nine sites had domain names that were registered via U.S. registration services according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Some computers used to run the sites were located in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, however others were stored in Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. and the Czech Republic.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency announced it had seized assets, funds and equipment in what it termed an ongoing investigation. ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton admitted that the foreign based websites might reappear at different addresses. Sites included in the shut down were TVShack.net, Movies-Links.tv, Filespump.com, ZML.com, Now-Movies.com, ThePirateCity.org, PlanetMoviez.com, NinjaVideo.net and NinjaThis.net.

Business models for the non-licensed sites were not all download based. Some of them featured streaming and sold advertising. Morton told the WSJ that distribution technologies like BitTorrent that do not not store copies in a central location are much more difficult to control. “It’s a challenge,” Morton said. “There’s a level of sophistication government can’t always match. I don’t think we’ve stopped Internet piracy in a day, but this is going to be a sustained effort.”

According to TorrentFreak.com, a blog “dedicated to bringing the latest news about BitTorrent and everything that is closely related to this popular filesharing protocol,” movies-links.tv is already operational under the new domain name of watch-movies.tv.info and TVshack.net has now moved to TVshack.cc.

The piracy shutdown and reopening is reminiscent of the cat and mouse game which authorities have played with illegal music downloaders and copyright pirates which to date have failed to stem the growth of illegal downloads. According to the IFPI Digital Music Report 2010, illegal distribution of TV content is growing faster than music and movie piracy. Los Angeles manager Simon Renshaw is quoted in the study saying, “The music industry was hit first, but now with increased broadband you have a situation where all the creative industries are at a tipping point. You can see it in the collapsing DVD market; you can see what’s going on in TV, newspapers and magazines. And now we’re seeing the same thing in the book publishing business. You’re going to start seeing piracy of novels and reference books.”

The MPA, which represents movie studios, estimates that illegal streaming and film downloads—digital piracy— now accounts for 40 percent of of its piracy  problem by volume and is growing.

Buddy Miller Is Hall of Fame’s Artist in Residence

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Acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist Buddy Miller will bring his guitar, his songs and some of his favorite collaborators when he takes the Ford Theater stage as the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s 2010 Artist-in-Residence. Miller will serve as host and curator for the intimate evening performances, which are slated for August 10, 17 and 24 at 7:00 PM.

Miller’s residency marks the official re-opening of the Museum’s Ford Theater, which was damaged in the catastrophic flood that hit Nashville in May. And, for the first time, attendees will have a choice of ticket options for each performance, including exclusive packages that provide dinner, reserved parking and a commemorative Hatch Show Print poster. In addition, the Museum’s galleries will be open to all ticket holders prior to each performance beginning at 5:15 PM. Miller is featured in the Museum’s newly expanded core exhibit, “Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music.”

Established in 2003, the Museum’s residency program annually honors a musical master who can be credited with contributing a large and significant body of work to the canon of American popular music. Honorees are given a blank canvas – the Museum’s acoustically pristine, 213-seat Ford Theater – to deliver an up-close-and-personal musical experience. Previous honorees include Cowboy Jack Clement, Earl Scruggs, Tom T. Hall, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Douglas and Vince Gill.

“Buddy Miller is a one of those rare, gifted musicians who has not only built an impressive resume of relevant, multilayered compositions and recordings that document the pain, joy and triumph of the human experience, but who also possesses a genuine passion for facilitating the visions of others through producing, songwriting and musical accompaniment,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “His unflinching dedication to his craft, along with his collaborative spirit, makes him a perfect fit for the Museum’s artist-in-residence series.”

Buddy Miller residency event tickets can be purchased exclusively by Museum members for $40 beginning Friday, July 16, at 9:00 AM by visiting the Museum’s website (a one-year Museum membership is $35, and ticket buyers must purchase membership prior to the on-sale date). Tickets will go on sale for $45 to the general public at 9:00 AM Tuesday, July 20, and should be purchased via the museum’s website. There is a four-ticket limit, per show, to each order. For more information, call (615) 416-2001 or visit the museum’s website.

Gokey’s Latest Single “Most Added”

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19 Recordings/RCA Nashville artist Danny Gokey has this week’s most added single at country radio, with the poignant “I Will Not Say Goodbye” topping the most-added lists.

It’s an exciting week all around for Gokey, who’ll celebrate the 4th of July with a return to his Milwaukee hometown and a headlining performance on the final night of Summerfest. Billed as “The World’s Largest Music Festival,” the 11-day, multi-stage festival will feature Gokey headlining the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard Stage with an opening act close to his heart.

Milwaukee central-city school students participating in the after-school Sophia’s Heart Music & Arts Program – part of Gokey’s Sophia’s Heart Foundation – will showcase their talents, with the Sophia’s Heart Children’s Community Choir featuring 7th and 8th grade students, led by Music Director Jeff Krumbein, and the Sophia’s Heart Children’s Dance Team, led by Dance Instructor Val Young.

The Sophia’s Heart Music & Arts Program works to encourage students to live their dreams and provides a safe place for children to strive toward attaining their dreams through setting goals, discipline, and practice. For more on the good work of Sophia’s Heart, visit them online at www.sophiasheart.org.

Gokey’s “I Will Not Say Goodbye,” a song the New York Times calls “devastating,” is the newest single from his debut album, My Best Days, which also features his recent hit, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me.”

Buffett Reschedules Gulf Coast Concert

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UPDATED CMT AIRTIME SCHEDULE: Due to the uncertainty of the weather surrounding tropical storm Alex, Jimmy Buffett has postponed his Jimmy Buffett & Friends concert. Originally scheduled for Thursday, July 1 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, the concert, with scheduled guests Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Allen Toussaint, Sonny Landreth and Jesse Winchester, has been rescheduled for July 11.

Although the storm is not expected to directly impact the area, potential threats to the stability of the stage due to heavy surf conditions on the beach forced the cancellation.

“This is a disappointment,”  said Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft, “But Jimmy Buffett is still coming to the Gulf Coast on July 11, and tickets will be honored at that time,”

“Nobody hates this more than I do, but I guess, as the song says, it’s hard to reason with hurricane season,” Buffett said. “For those going anyway, thank you. … For the rest of you, we will see you July 11.”

CMT Presents Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live From the Gulf Coast, originally scheduled for July 1, has also been rescheduled to air live and commercial-free on July 11 at 6:00 PM/CT on CMT. Performances will be simulcast live on Radio Margaritaville, available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, and streamed live on www.CMT.com.

CMT Presents Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live From the Gulf Coast will encore Wednesday, July 14 at 10:30 PM; Saturday, July 17 at 9:30 AM; and Sunday, July 18 at 2:00 PM. Excerpts and artist interviews will be available at www.CMT.com.

Universal Ups Forman to Sr. Creative Dir.

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Cyndi Forman

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) today announced the promotion of Cyndi Forman to Senior Creative Director, Nashville. Forman was previously Creative Director.

Reporting directly to Pat Higdon, President, UMPG Nashville, Forman will focus on furthering artist and writer development and finding key opportunities for UMPG writers both past and present. Forman has secured many cuts and was responsible for the recent signing of 18 year old artist Hunter Hayes. The writers she works with include recent Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee Matraca Berg, Jimmy Melton, and Andrew Dorff.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to offer Cyndi this well deserved promotion,” commented Higdon. She is one of Nashville’s most respected songpluggers and has definitely earned the respect of her peers.”

After obtaining her Music Business degree from Belmont University, Forman became Creative Director at Balmur Entertainment. In 2002, she joined Almo Irving Music which became part of UMPG in 2003 where she assumed the role of Creative Director.

UMPG Nashville continually delivers hits for country music’s most elite artists including Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Gretchen Wilson, Trace Adkins, Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, and many more.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (6/30/10)

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I don’t really have a Song of the Day category, but maybe I should.

Dave Gibson’s “King Me,” Donna Beasley’s “Under the Rushes” and Flynnville Train’s “Preachin’ to the Choir” are all excellent examples of song craftsmanship. So is “You Take Yourself with You,” which wins Bo Bice his first Disc of the Day award.

There’s a youngster down in Texas named Nick Verzosa who has an EP called The Smoking Gun. It contains a fine little single titled “Back When Love Was Easy” which earns him our DisCovery Award. Call the always delightful Gerrie McDowell for more info.

BRAD HINES/Please Don’t Push Me Down
Writer: Brad Hines; Producer: Walt Wilkins & Greg White; Publisher: Brad Hines, ASCAP; Blue Boot (www.bradhinesmusic.com)
—The track is okay, but his singing is somewhat colorless, and the song is as dull as dirt.

JIMMIE VANZANT/Too Much Town, Not Enough Ground
Writer: Charlie Craig/Mel Besher ; Producer: Charlie Craig; Publisher: Sock and Roll/Songmachine/Callie Cat, BMI; EPS (CDX) (www.jimmievanzant.net)
—Solidly country, with plenty of twang, drawl and more than a little “outlaw.” Very cool sounding. Jimmie is the cousin of Ronnie, Johnny and Donnie, famed for their work in Lynyrd Skynyrd and .38 Special. (As “Van Zant” Johnny and Donnie have also sung country music.)

STEVEN L. SMITH/I Stole The Bible
Writer: Steven L. Smith; Producer: Steven L. Smith; Publisher: none listed, ASCAP; Vinyl (track) (www.slsmith.info)
—Bellowing and blustery, with a southern-rock vibe.

DAVE GIBSON/King Me
Writer: Dave Gibson/Craig Monday; Producer: Dave Gibson; Publisher: Savannah’s House/Songs of Bud Dog/Music of Windswept Pacific, BMI/ASCAP; Savannah (www.savannahmusicgroup.com)
—I love a good story song, and this one is a dandy. He sits down to play checkers with an old man, and they share yarns, lies and truths. Sung with heart, produced with taste and written with class.

PHILIP DAIN POWELL/Save Me A Place At The Table
Writer: Philip Dain Powell/Keith Lambert/Corky Holbrook/Barton Stevens/Josh Kitchen/Traci Ann Stanley; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Billy Ray Crittendon/Circle of Life/Gregory K. Swint/Sixteen Stars/Chuck Jones/Music of Three, BMI; PDP (www.pdpmusic.biz)
—There’s just a little too much vibrato in this vocal. But it does add emotional impact to the lyric about dying.

BO BICE/You Take Yourself With You
Writer: Bo Bice/D. Scott Miller; Producer: Bo Bice & D. Scott Miller; Publisher: Sugarmoney, BMI; Saguaro Road (track) (www.bobice.com)
—He competed as a rocker on American Idol, but this Nashvillian’s new single will fit any country playlist like a glove. The soaring, highly melodic choruses and advice-from-daddy lyric are both just terrific. Bo rules on this majestic outing.

NICK VERZOSA/Back When Love Was Easy
Writer: N. Verzosa; Producer: Walt Wilkins; Publisher: Tiyaga, BMI; Indie Extreme/Fontana (track) (www.nickverzosa.com)
—Highly listenable and loaded with hooks. The tempo chugs right along, guitars punctuate his phrasing and the production is crystal clear.

FLYNNVILLE TRAIN/Preachin’ To The Choir
Writer: Justin Wilson/Adam Wheeler; Producer: David Barrick & Flynnville Train; Publisher: Music of Stage Three/Noble Vision, BMI/ASCAP; Next Evolution (track) (www.flynnvilletrain.com)
—It is a rousing, working-man’s anthem about how messed up everything is. Well penned and performed. The soul-sister gospel harmonies are a plus.

PATTY LOVELESS/Drive
Writer: Patty Loveless/Emory Gordy Jr.; Producer: Emory Gordy Jr.; Publisher: Clay Root/Jahazah, BMI; Jahazah (CDX) (615-478-0391)
—The song is accompanied by a public service announcement about the lung condition COPD (which Patty’s sister Dottie died of), so the lyric about “breathe deep and drive” is extra special. Emory’s snappy, punchy, rocking production is perfect, and Patty’s fiery vocal is, as usual, a country lover’s delight.

DONNA BEASLEY/Under The Rushes
Writer: Donna Beasley; Producer: Tom Spaulding & Donna Beasley; Publisher: Bless Her Heart, ASCAP; Strange Magic (track) (www.donnabeasley.com)
—Ms. Beasley’s CD has a cast that’s a who’s-who of the Music City alt-country scene, including Chuck Mead, Elizabeth Cook, Kenny Vaughan, Tim Carroll and Bob Britt. On its title tune, her languid vocal spins a tale of small-town romance, pregnancy and betrayal. Highly recommended.

Artist Roster To Add Categories

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The first round of listing updates for the 2010 Artist Roster went out via e-mail, earlier this week, to labels, managers, publicists and talent agents who were included in last year’s edition. The new edition is scheduled to hit streets on August 25.

This year’s offering will also include free listings for promotion companies, web developers, online marketing firms and image consultants. Companies that want to be included can take advantage of the free listings by going to (https://musicrow.com/artist-roster).

Ad sales for the issue are also underway. To reserve space, e-mail sales@musicrow.com or call 615-349-2171.

The Artist Roster contains company appendices complete with client rosters. Included artists are drawn from the ranks of Nashville’s major, mid-size and indie country record labels. Inclusion in the company appendices requires that a business be Nashville-based and/or have significant Nashville clients.