Ashley Ray To Release 5-Song EP

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This Tuesday (5/4) Show Dog-Universal Music artist Ashley Ray will release her first 5-Song EP, with several tracks written by the Kansas bred singer/songwriter.

For the past 18 months, Ray has been on the road opening for artists like Jason Aldean, Randy Rogers Band, Willie Nelson, Wade Bowen, Miranda Lambert and Cross Canadian Ragweed. She spent the better part of this past year touring with Eric Church, opening shows on his Young & Wild Tour.
According to her label, Tuesday’s EP release is an attempt to meet the demands for music from her ever-growing legion of fans.

Ray’s current single, “Dirt Cheap” which features Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band, has broken into the Top 20 and continues to climb the male-dominated Texas Music Chart.

On May 14, Ray kicks off the Country Throwdown Tour in Tampa, Florida. The festival-style tour features over ten artists including headliners Montgomery Gentry and Jamey Johnson.

Tunecore/MySpace Music Expand Offerings for Musicians

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TuneCore, the world’s largest digital distribution and promotion service, has established a marketing partnership with MySpace Music that will allow MySpace Music artists a 50% discount for TuneCore digital distribution. Registration with TuneCore will enable artists to now earn royalties on their licensed content and have any of their music and/or ringtones distributed to the iTunes Store, AmazonMP3, eMusic and many others stores while keeping all of their rights and getting all of the money from the sale and use of their music.

In addition, MySpace Music is providing a MyAds credit to market and promote themselves on MySpace as well as all the additional marketing and promotion, sales data, educational and other services of TuneCore.

In the coming months, MySpace artists will be able to log into TuneCore using their MySpace ID, providing a more seamless experience.

More details are available here.

Apple Shuts Down Streaming Service Lala

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Apple will shut down the recently acquired Lala.com on May 31, 2010, according to a message on its website. The announcement has prompted speculation that Apple is ready to make use of Lala’s staff and technology to roll out its own cloud-based service. Apple acquired Lala in December 2009.

Lala allowed users to access their music content from a Web-based interface. Songs could be listened to one time for free and users could purchase Web-only, non-downloadable versions of singles called Web songs at 10 cents per song, and purchase mp3 music downloads. At the time of its purchase by Apple, Lala boasted more than 8 million songs in its catalog.

Current Lala users will be able to log in until the end of May, and any credit in the form of Lala web song purchases will be applied to purchases at the iTunes Store.

Although Apple has not announced plans to offer its own music-streaming service, the shuttering of Lala is being  interpreted as the next stage in the creation of a rumored web- or subscription-based upgrade to the iTunes Store.

Kid Rock to Host CMT Awards

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Kid Rock announced today (4/29), via his website, that he will be hosting the upcoming 2010 CMT Music Awards.

“The rumors are true,” Kid Rock says. “I’m hosting the CMT Awards live from Nashville on June 9. All I can promise is I will be awesome.”

The 2010 CMT Music Awards will air live on June 9 at &:00 PM CT from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are already confirmed to perform on the show.

Kid Rock’s history with CMT including his 2001 appearance on CMT Crossroads with Hank Williams Jr. At last year’s CMT Music Awards, he won in the Wide Open Country Video of the Year category for his song, “All Summer Long.”

Kid Rock is currently hosting his Chillin’ the Most Cruise to the Cayman Islands. Later this summer, he will be performing on Bon Jovi’s tour of stadiums in the U.S., Canada and England.

Jackson To Play For West Virginia Miners

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Country music superstar Alan Jackson will dedicate his May 22nd show at the Charleston, WV Civic Center to the families who lost loved ones in the Upper Big Branch Mining Disaster in Montcoal, West Virginia. Profits from the show will go to the Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund administrated by the West Virginia Council of Churches.

“This is a very wonderful donation from Alan and, on behalf of our state, I’m honored for our miners, their families and the rescue workers,” said West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. “Alan is a world-famous entertainer who has never forgotten his small-town roots and the importance of family.”

“We are thrilled that Alan Jackson, an entertainer who sings about the working family, has committed his upcoming show in Charleston to the families of the fallen miners at the Upper Big Branch mine,” said The Rev. Dennis Sparks, Ex. Dir. WV Council of Churches. “On behalf of the Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund, thank you Alan and we look forward to a great concert in West Virginia.”

On April 5th, 2010, 29 miners lost their lives and two were injured in the tragedy at the Upper Big Branch Mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston.  It was the country’s worst mining disaster in four decades.

Douglas Corner Hosts Tribute to Norro Wilson

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An SRO crowd of Nashville music industry figures came out to Douglas Corner Wednesday night (4-28) to salute famed writer/producer/Grammy winner and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Norro Wilson. The evening featured music from Wilson backed by retro-country band, 45 RPM.

Wilson, who has produced or co-produced such stars as Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain, John Anderson, Sammy Kershaw and George Jones, thrilled the crowd when he got up to sing a few of his self-penned hits – “The Grand Tour,” “A Picture of Me Without You” (both made famous by George Jones) and the No. 1 hit by Charlie Rich, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” among others.

Wilson teased his former business partner and co-producer, Buddy Cannon, who was in the audience, saying, “There’s no way you’ll tune this!” Also sighted in the  crowd were Cannon’s daughter, the bluegrass singer Melonie Cannon, producer Garth Fundis, singer Darryle Singletary and former Music Row executives Chuck and Sandy Neese.

The 45 RPM band is entirely made up of either Nashville session players and/or songwriters. The band’s mission is to play only classic, traditional country music, performing nothing released later than the ‘70s.

Among the evening’s performers were Jimmy Melton, Dirk Johnson, Mark Johnson, Mike Johnson, Joanie Keller Johnson, Gregg Galbraith, Joe Spivey and Eddy Anderson.

Norro Wilson (center at the mic) is pictured performing with the 45 RPM Band

Int’l Country Music Festival Returns to Belmont

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The 27th Annual International Country Music Festival will be held at Belmont University Thursday, May 27 through Saturday, May 29. Co-Chairs for the event are Don Cusic and James Akenson.

This year’s program features over 40 scholars of country music from across the nation presenting a wide variety of topics. 

The Keynote, Rounder Records at 40: History, Present and Future by Ken Irwin and Marian Levy, co-founders of Rounder, and scholar Dr. Michael Scully, will be on Thursday evening.

On Friday evening, there will be a panel, Backing the Hits: Backup Singers Reflect On Their Role in Making Hits Happen, moderated by Dr. John Rumble, Senior Historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame. This event will be held at Historic RCA Studio B and feature background singers Gordon Stoker, Millie Kirkham, Delores Edgin and Louis Nunley.

At the Friday luncheon, the Belmont Book Award, given annually for the Best Book on Country Music published the preceding year and the Lifetime Achievement award “for linking books with country music” will be given along with the Charlie Lamb Excellence in Country Music Journalism Awards.

Scholars and writers speaking at the conference include Dr. Bill Malone, Dr. Neil Rosenberg, Dr. David Pruett, Dr. Don Cusic, Dr. Ray White, Mr. Packy Smith, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, Dr. Wayne Daniel, and Mr. Tony Russell.

Stage Three Music Signs Dean Alexander

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Stage Three Music, Inc. has announced the signing of writer/artist Dean Alexander to their writer roster. Alexander continues to play various stages across the country opening up for artists such as Josh Turner. Also, he currently performs as part of Laura Bell Bundy’s band and has performed live with her at the ACM’s, Good Morning America and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

(l-r) Tim Hunze, Stage Three Music; Dean Alexander; Missy Roberts, Stage Three Music.

Opry Unveils 85th Birthday Plans

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Grand Ole Opry stars Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Ricky Skaggs, and Steve Wariner will take the Opry stage Tuesday, May 25 to officially launch a months-long celebration of the Opry’s 85th birthday with an all-star guitar jam. As a part of the Tuesday Night Opry, each Opry member will take the stage individually followed by a guitar jam finale featuring the group’s take on some of the most popular songs in Opry history.

The night will signal the start of a celebration that will continue throughout the year as the Opry celebrates its 85th birthday with country music’s most popular artists and biggest fans.

Among the highlights of the celebration launching May 25:

  • Two new 20-foot, 3,000-pound steel and aluminum Opry 85th guitars will be unveiled outside the Grand Ole Opry House, officially welcoming visitors to the Opry party. Both fans and superstars will also be invited to sign other oversized guitars on display throughout the landmark birthday year. In addition, larger-than-life Opry 85th décor featuring Opry members including Trace Adkins, Charlie Daniels, Loretta Lynn, and others will cover much of the front façade of the Grand Ole Opry House.
  • Opry performances are scheduled for up to four days a week this summer (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) with upcoming performances by Lady Antebellum, Oak Ridge Boys, Charley Pride, Josh Turner, and more.  Opry Country Classics runs Thursdays through June 17 and again this fall at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and Hee Haw alum Mike Snider honors the Opry’s rich country comedy traditions in Pickin’ & Grinnin’:  A Grand Ole Comedy Revue on select dates June through October in Studio A at the Opry House. Meanwhile, the popular show, Always…Patsy Cline will return to the Ryman this summer.
  • A gallery showcasing some of the Opry’s most memorable moments captured by Opry photographers Chris Hollo and Les Leverett is one of three new exhibits set to open in celebration of the Opry’s 85th in the Grand Ole Opry Museum.
  • In celebration of the Opry’s 85th, a who’s-who of celebrities will appear as guest announcers while the show will also launch an I’m With The Band series. I’m With The Band will invite personalities from outside the country world who have an interest in music to sit in with the Opry band for a song on country music’s most revered stage.
  • As fans come to Nashville for CMA Music Fest, a  June 11 Guitars of the Stars Benefit Auction will give fans the unique opportunity to bid on acoustic guitars decorated by some of country music’s most popular stars including award-winners Luke Bryan, The Judds, and Darius Rucker. Proceeds will benefit the Opry Trust Fund, which has for more than 40 years assisted members of the country music community in need.

The Opry’s 85th Birthday Bash weekend featuring Opry Birthday Shows and an Opry Plaza Birthday Party is scheduled for Oct. 8–9.
For more information call (800) SEE-OPRY or visit opry.com/85.

Joe Nichols Broadway Role Unlikely

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CMT.com is reporting that Joe Nichols may not be part of the Broadway musical, Pure Country. Nichols had been cast as Rusty, the lead role in the Broadway version of the 1992 George Strait film. Rehearsals were scheduled to begin earlier this year for the production which was also to star Lorrie Morgan.

“The status is, I don’t think it’s gonna happen for me,” said Nichols, who pointed to the economy as a reason for the delay of the production. “When they backed up the show, it put us in a difficult situation because we had blocked off about six to eight months of time just for that show. That’s without touring, no media, no nothing. So now I just don’t see that we could probably take another six-month gap in our schedule, especially with how hot ‘Gimmie That Girl’ is and the album.”

Nichols did say he believes the production will go forward, but added, “If we’re in it, it might be a long shot.”