Worley Establishes Hometown Cancer Center

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Stroudavarious Records artist Darryl Worley has long dreamed of opening a cancer treatment center in his hometown, and that dream is finally coming true. On Wednesday, March 3 at 10:00 a.m. CT, the groundbreaking ceremony of The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center is set to take place in Savannah, TN.

In 2005, Worley and representatives of Hardin Medical Center and Hardin County Community and Healthcare Foundation joined forces to put a plan into action to open The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center, which will now afford both radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients. The building will be located on the campus of Hardin Medical Center and is envisioned to allow cancer patients to receive therapy without the long drives currently required of many who need these treatments.

“It’s been our dream to build this cancer treatment center here in Hardin County for several years now, and the people of Hardin County and the West Tennessee area have done a lot to help make this dream a reality,” says Worley. “We have a really high cancer rate in our general area and all of our lives have been affected by the dreaded disease, so there is a lot of passion in this for everyone.”

“Having the capability to provide additional therapies here in Hardin County will save so many hours of traveling for patients,” says Hardin Medical Center CEO, Charlotte Burns. “I know it is this human side of combating cancer that has touched Darryl’s heart so deeply.”

Worley, who lost both of his grandfathers and one of his aunts to cancer, knows all too well the emotional and physical tolls it takes when a loved one has the disease. “I know what it cost when they had to go out of town for treatment,” Worley says. “I don’t want anyone else having to make those trips, adding to what they are already going through.”

The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center has received a guaranteed maximum price of $2.0 million for construction of the building. The Hardin County Community and Healthcare Foundation, Inc. has taken on a mission of raising the construction costs, already raising over $1.6 million to date through donations and pledges. Of the money already raised, the singer’s own charity, The Darryl Worley Foundation, has made a $600,000 donation to the cause.

Del Casino Exposes Copyright ‘Gap’

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Copyright Office Acknowledges Problem; to Extend ‘Notice of Inquiry’

[Press Release] – Intellectual Property and Copyright Law Attorney Casey Del Casino, of Adams and Reese, received notice from the U.S. Copyright Office that his observation regarding a “significant gap” in the termination rights provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976 will result in the office to issue a ‘Notice of Inquiry’ –  soliciting opinions and experiences of various authors and stakeholders to make recommendations to Congress about necessary amendments to the Copyright Act.

The gap deals with Section 203 and Section 304 of the Copyright Act and could affect many songwriters and publishers in Nashville, said Del Casino, as he released his findings in a recent presentation to the Nashville Bar Association Intellectual Property Section held Wednesday at the offices of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).

Casey Del Casino

Del Casino, who has been having discussions with counsel for the Copyright Office about this “gap” for nearly a year now, also advised the NBA IP Section, along with NSAI’s Bart Herbison, Executive Director, and Debi Cochran, Legislative Director, that he had just received an email from counsel for the Copyright Office, advising that they are preparing a ‘Notice Of Inquiry’ with respect to this “gap” in the termination rights provisions of the Copyright Act for release in mid-March.

Under Section 203, the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license of copyright or any right under copyright, executed by the author on or after January 1, 1978, is subject to termination and Section 203 further provides that:

“Termination of the grant may be effected during a period of five years beginning at the end of 35 years from the date of execution of the grant; or if the grant covers the right of publication of the work, the period begins at the end of 35 years from the date of publication or at the end of 40 years from the date of execution of the grant, whichever term ends earlier.”

Section 304 states that:
“In the case of any copyright subsisting in either its first or renewal term on January 1, 1978 … the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer of the renewal copyright or any right under it, executed before January 1, 1978 … is subject to termination under the following conditions: (3) Termination of the grant may be effected at any time during a period of five years beginning at the end of 56 years from the date the copyright was originally secured, or beginning on January 1, 1978, whichever is later.”

Del Casino said the gap is best illustrated by the question of when would the transfer of a copyright in a musical composition, created and published in 1979, which was written pursuant to a long-term exclusive songwriting agreement, dated January 1, 1976, be terminable and under which provision of the Act – Section 203 or Section 304.

“There are real world consequences to the confusion outlined in these two sections. The termination provisions of the Act are silent with respect to the termination of a transfer of copyright in a work, which transfer of copyright purportedly occurred, prior to January 1, 1978, in a work created, subsequent to January 1, 1978,” said Del Casino.

Del Casino studied and researched the provisions for about a year, originally acting on behalf of a client, who had entered into a long-term exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher in 1976 and later created musical compositions in 1979, pursuant to the agreement. Del Casino said notices of termination were served upon the successor-in-interest to the original publisher by the original songwriter in February 2008, pursuant to Section 203 of the Act for the musical compositions, created in 1979.

“In passing the termination rights provisions of both Section 203 and Section 304 of the Act, Congress expressed its belief of the need for a safeguard to protect authors against unrenunerative transfers due to both the unequal bargaining power of authors and the impossibility of determining a work’s value until it had been exploited,” said Del Casino. “In light of these goals, it is our belief that this gap between these Sections renders the termination of certain transfers of copyright in certain works impossible … Many publishers will appreciate more certainty as to whether terminations are effective, not only so they can respond accordingly to terminations served on them but so they can properly asses the value of their copyright portfolios.”

Del Casino is Special Counsel with the Special Business Services Practice Group in the Adams and Reese Nashville Music Row office. He has extensive experience in handling intellectual property and copyright law matters for members of the entertainment industry including artists, record companies, songwriters, publishers, managers, producers and executives.

Bobby Karl Works the (CRS) Room – Chapter 333

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The music at Country Radio Seminar is abundant.

Taylor Swift “and friends” capped the festivities on Tuesday (2/23) with a Music City Jam at the Convention Center. The “friends” turned out to be Gloriana and Julianne Hough. Taylor was presented with a plaque for 10 million units sold.

On Wednesday (2/24), UMG brought out almost its entire roster (minus Shania and Strait) to the Ryman. As “ringmaster” Royce Risser explained, everybody got one song, performed acoustically. Jamey Johnson drew a standing ovation for his “That’s Why I Write Songs, as did Vince Gill with a moving “Bread and Water.” Among the newcomers, both Randy Montana and Mallary Hope won over fans. Ryan Bingham sang his Oscar-nominated “The Weary Kind” from the acclaimed film Crazy Heart.

The 18 performers also included Lee Ann Womack, Easton Corbin, David Nail (singing powerfully), Ashton Shepherd, The Randy Rogers Band, Sugarland, Gary Allan, Josh Turner, Billy Covington, the aforementioned Julianne Hough, Laura Bell Bundy, Josh Kelley and Coldwater Jane.

That night (2/24), Rascal Flatts saluted country radio with a party celebrating the group’s 10th anniversary. The most emotional moment was bringing Marty Raybon on stage for “Church on the Cumberland Road.” It was a lovely, heart-tugging gesture. Several stations were recognized for supporting Rascal Flatts. It turns out that KBEQ in Kansas City was the first to play “Prayin’ for Daylight,” the band’s debut single. Meanwhile, Lady Antebellum was entertaining a packed house at the Hard Rock (2/24).

The CMA research study was unveiled Thursday morning (2/25). Country music buying is down 28%. The number of country fans is slightly down, but the ones we have are listening to radio longer and want the playlists to be less repetitive (hello!).

The CRS exhibit hall is now an exhibit hallway, outside the Renaissance Ballrooms. There can’t be more than a couple dozen booths up there, so it looks pretty sad.

Working the Convention Center (2/25) were Jack Ingram, Lynn Anderson, The Harters, Veronica Ballestrini, Burns & Poe, Adam Fisher, The Jane Dear Girls and Gwen Sebastian. Sharon Eaves had Bryan White in tow. He has a new CD titled Dustbowl Dreams and in April will be showcasing at Birdland in Manhattan along with Gary Burr and Victoria Shaw.

Clay Underwood has news, too. He has signed a song publishing deal with Mike Hollandsworth and Full Circle Music. The new duo Mollie & Jackie is putting out a single to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Titled “You Can’t Say Love Enough,” it features a bunch of celebrity guest vocalists, including Larry Gatlin, Dolly Parton, Wayne Newton, Bill Anderson, Steve Wariner, Mark Collie, Cowboy Troy, Heidi Newfield and Heartland.

Thursday’s Sony luncheon (2/25) was turkey and dressing with all the trimmings. Skip Bishop hosted. Danny Gokey sang splendidly on the rocking, soaring “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me.” Just before he competed on American Idol, Danny’s wife died. It turns out that so did the wife of his single’s co-writer, Kent Blazy. So this song has special meaning. “I’m excited about life again,” explained Danny, dedicating “I Will Not Say Goodbye” to his late spouse.

Brooks & Dunn announced that the finale concert of their Last Rodeo tour will be in Nashville on August 10 and that its proceeds will go to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. The organization’s Kyle Young lauded them as “good citizens.” The duo answered audience questions and told highly amusing anecdotes about The Rolling Stones, souvenir photos and a grease-spewing smoke machine.

After they exited, Alan Jackson walked out unannounced, saying, “How y’all doin?’” He asked for the house lights to be turned up so that he could see everybody. “These are hard for me, these luncheon things,” he drawled, recalling when he played for the Ramada Inn Sunday brunch crowd for four hours for $25. “I just thought about that. Today, I don’t even get $25.”

His relaxed yet moving set included “Here in the Real World,” “Good Time,” “Little Bitty,” “Remember When” and “Livin’ on Love.” After performing “Mercury Blues,” he told the crowd that a then-unknown Keith Urban was in its video, playing guitar. He introduced a new tune titled “God Bless the Working Man” and asked the audience for requests. “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Song for the Life” ensued. During “Chattahoochie,” he tossed guitar picks to the delighted crowd. He dedicated his finale, “The Way I Am,” to Merle Haggard.

“I want to say, seriously, I know how lucky I am,” said the eternally humble superstar.

Joey + Rory Go Viral For ACM Votes

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Sugar Hill artists Joey + Rory are on the campaign trail. Nominated for an ACM Award in the Top New Duo category, the husband-and-wife team have gone viral, posting a new original song, “It’d Be Nice,” on You Tube that ever-so-gently and oh-so-cleverly pleads with fans to support them in the fan-voted category. Sample lyric: “We’ve had some time to think about it friends, and it don’t really matter if we win…but it’d be nice.”

Beginning today (2/26), and continuing through Friday, March 12 at 4 p.m. CT, fans can log on to www.VoteACM.com to go directly to the ballot page being hosted at GAC’s website and vote in three newcomer categories including Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Duo and Top New Vocal Group. Additionally, each of the nine finalists is featured in “ACM Showcase 2010” now airing on GAC.

One winner in each of the three categories will be announced mid-March and will move on to compete for Top New Artist. Voting for the Top New Artist category will begin on VoteACM.com Thursday, April 1 and will close April 18. The winner will be announced during the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, April 18.

You can check out the Joey + Rory video below.

CMT Gets Interactive With New Look

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Beginning today, music videos on CMT will sport a new look which includes a new graphics treatment that displays artist and song title information at the top of the screen throughout the entire song. At the end of each video, the graphics will then rotate to display record label, album, director and songwriter information.

Ringtone messaging is featured in each video for additional interactive opportunities utilizing CMT Mobile. The new graphic look, which was created by CMT’s in-house team, is a music television first and allows the network to place even more emphasis on music discovery.

“We constantly hear about the country audience struggling to identify who sings what, and want to aid our artist and label partners in solving that,” says Jay Frank, CMT’s Senior Vice President of Music Strategy. “Having an artist and title visible throughout each video allows us to position country artists better than any other outlet. With this change, CMT once again leads in cross-platform innovation and further emphasizes why we are consistently the top TV destination for country music discovery.”

The new video treatment launched today during music video hours, and will be featured during CMT Top 20 Countdown, which premiered at 10:00 a.m. CT today (2/26).

Dierks Does Dallas For Kids

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Capitol Records artist Dierks Bentley is continuing his nationwide Miles & Music for Kids celebrity motorcycle ride and concert series with a stop in Dallas-Fort Worth on Sunday, April 25. Presented by Nationwide Insurance, proceeds from the event will benefit both the Children’s Medical Center Dallas and Cook Children’s in Fort Worth.

The hour-long ride will depart Harley-Davidson of North Texas in Carrollton and travel to Billy Bob’s Texas in Fort Worth. The trek will culminate with a special concert featuring Bentley and a handful of surprise Texas music heavyweights.

“I’m going to try and keep all my special guests a secret for as long as I can,” Bentley says. “I’ll just say that they are five of my favorite Texas country artists, and you better get there early because if you don’t, they will drink all the beer.”

Tickets for the family-friendly event go on sale March 1 through Ticketmaster. Prices start at $20, with special VIP packages also available.

Last year, Bentley joined forces with Nationwide Insurance, CMT One Country and the Children’s Miracle Network to expand the successful Miles & Music for Kids event to six cities across the country in 2009 and 2010, with all proceeds benefiting Children’s Miracle Network hospitals in those areas.  Since it began in 2006, Miles & Music for Kids has raised over $1 million.

BamaJam Lineup Keeps Growing


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The 3rd Annual Verizon Wireless BamaJam Music & Arts Festival has announced additional performers to the event’s growing lineup. Grammy award winners the Zac Brown Band, multi-platinum hit-makers Travis Tritt and Train, Nashville Star winner Chris Young, Grand Ole Opry favorites Marty Stuart & his fabulous Superlatives, ACM award winner Rodney Atkins, and American Idol alum Danny Gokey join dozens of other artists in Country, Rock, Bluegrass and Alternative music at the 3-day festival taking place, June 3-5 in Enterprise, Alabama.

More than 40 entertainers are set to appear on Verizon BamaJam’s four stages during the 3-day Festival. To date, organizers have announced Jake Owen, Miranda Lambert, LoCash Cowboys, Dierks Bentley, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Colt Ford and Blackberry Smoke, along with country newcomers Matt Kennon and Houston County. Kenny Chesney will headline the 3rd annual event, offering a rare opportunity to catch the country superstar in one of just 10 appearances he’ll make in 2010.

3-day festival tickets are available now until March 13 for $99. One day flex tickets are available only until March 13 for $49. For more information, call 877-422-6252 or click here.

CMA Unveils Research Follow Up

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The Country Music Association released key findings from its fourth quarter 2009 follow up to its original 2008 Country Music Consumer Segmentation Study during CRS-41 at the Nashville Convention Center today (2/25). The extensive research project is the foundation of CMA’s mission to be an educational resource for the music industry.

Over the past two years, CMA, in partnership with The Right Brain Consulting LLC and Chicago-based Leo Burnett Company, has interviewed nearly 10,000 adults in an effort to provide the industry with sweeping fan understanding to help drive industry vitality in challenging economic times.

“As company budgets for research are reduced, or eliminated, it is more important than ever that CMA assumes a leadership role by providing this timely and in-depth look at our consumer as a benefit to our stakeholders,” said Steve Moore, Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors. “As an industry, we can’t ignore the facts in front of us. Information is critical to the decision making process for any business.”

Jana O’Brien, Principal for The Right Brain Consumer Consulting, LLC, presented the findings. Overall, the impact of the U.S. economic downturn is impossible to ignore. The country music industry is facing revenue pressure from a range of consumer-based fronts including the economy, a decline in the country fan base, reduced consumer country music spending, and a continued move away from buying full albums to single songs or acquiring “free” music.

Fans dipped slightly in 2009 from 2008: 37 percent vs. 39 percent of Adults 18-54, including a drop in the size of the lucrative CountryPhiles and MusicPhiles segments. These two segments account for the bulk of country music category spending. Their share has dropped from 70 percent in 2008 to 55 percent in 2009. As a result, total country fan spending on CDs, legal music downloads, and concerts declined an estimated 28 percent since 2008.

At the same time, there is positive momentum in fans’ attitudes toward the country genre with increased engagement in free pipelines including radio and the Web. Consumers’ overall attraction to country music is due to the music’s personal relevance and uplifting nature in good times, and bad.

Two in five fans feel better about country music than they did in 2008. Country’s unique characteristics and connection to “real life” make it appealing in challenging times. And they are more optimistic about their own economic future. Twenty-eight percent of fans now rate their personal finances as “Excellent/Very Good” vs. just 7 percent in 2008.
The country fan is still an attractive consumer segment for potential sponsors. Income levels are in line with average American adults, with strong gains in those who are college-educated (64 percent vs. 34 percent in 2008).

The role of country radio has been strengthened by the challenged economy. Usage and average hours spent listening are up significantly. Not surprisingly, the study identified radio, along with word-of-mouth from friends and family, as the No. 1 influencer in fans’ music taste and behavior.

Monthly country music radio listening is up from 79 percent of fans in 2008 to 93 percent today. Weekly country radio listening hours are up to an estimated 9.9 hours per fan from 6.4 in 2008. With Americans economically stressed and working harder to make ends meet, radio is potentially a strong performer due to its portable, free, and “workplace-acceptable” nature, which allows fans to take it wherever they go.

Fan responses did indicate a strong desire for radio improvements that testing shows would strengthen the fiscal health of the country music industry. There is consistent feedback from year-to-year with one third of the fans tested saying that they would listen to country music radio more if there was less repetition and a wider variety of songs. New product concept testing among the prime country fan segments showed strong industry-building potential of “deep cuts” radio programming. Thirty-seven percent of these fans rated such a “go deep” idea “Extremely Relevant/Relevant.” The consensus was that playing a wider, deeper variety of cuts by an artist would influence genre investment, with 44 percent of fans saying it would increase the likelihood that they would by more CDs.

Country fans are adopting new media and technology at a brisk pace. An estimated 18 percent of country music radio listening is via online streaming, podcasts, or cable TV “radio.” Nearly one in four visit country radio station websites on a monthly basis. Fully 78 percent of country fans now have home Internet access and 61 percent of fans go online monthly to explore country content. Access for CountryPhiles is up from 48 percent in 2008 to 60 percent in 2009. And four out of five of those CountryPhiles without home access go online at another location, including at work or through friends and family.

YouTube has become the dominant web destination for country content, with 40 percent of online fans visiting monthly. This is likely the primary destination for viewing music videos. While the web is increasingly important, the frequency of fan web engagement with country content should not be overestimated. Only four online destinations attract one in four country fans in an average month – YouTube, iTunes, country artist/band websites (as an aggregate), country radio station sites (as an aggregate). Only YouTube and Pandora achieve weekly visitation by more than one in 10 fans (all other measured destinations are 10 percent or less). Social networking sites are growing as country content destinations, but still visited monthly by only a minority of fans: Facebook (20 percent), MySpace (18 percent), and Twitter (10 percent).

By comparison, 93 percent listen to country radio, 55 percent watch CMT, and 25 percent watch GAC monthly.
Key retailers and e-tailers – such as Walmart, iTunes, Target, etc. – are becoming more important. With fewer brick and mortar retailers carrying CDs and physical product, Walmart’s domination and Target’s No. 2 status is solidifying. Walmart was the source for 48 percent of fans’ last CD purchases (up from 44 percent in 2008) and Target was up to 16 percent from 12 percent in 2008.

iTunes accounted for 72 percent of last country music downloads, up from 56 percent in 2008. Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and all other sources showed relative declines of 28 to 46 percent as last purchase source. Nearly half of last “free” downloads were acquired through legal methods including free from iTunes, company promotions, or artist Websites. Building industry partnerships with these key purchase pipelines appears to be vital to ensure the future health of consumer spending.

The country music fan landscape is a combination of change, challenge, and a glimmer of cheer: The change is the continued shift from paid to free engagement and consolidation in retail pipelines. The challenge is the economy, the downsizing of the Country fan base, with fewer lucrative Core fans, fewer units purchased, and a desire for more variety at radio. The glimmer of cheer? An attractive fan demographic, positive genre attitudes, higher fan purchase penetration, growing fan Web access, and Country radio as the No. 1 source and influencer.

The full two-year research initiative is the largest and most comprehensive study in the 50-plus-year history of the Country Music Association. The study was created to define the country music consumer: to identify their behaviors and tastes, to closely examine what motivates them to invest in the artists and music. The study began in the summer of 2008, with the CMA Country Music Fan Discovery and BrandProspect Segmentation. The results were culled from a phase one sample of nearly 7,500 individuals; a second callback sample of 1,850; and 10 focus groups from three regions of the country including Charlotte, Chicago, and Phoenix. In November 2008 a follow up study focused on the economy and Internet connectivity was conducted to determine the impact of the growing economic crisis on the fan base. A quantitative online and telephone survey was conducted among 542 Country Music fans ages 18-54.

In 2009, CMA Prime Prospect Study was fielded in May with a quantitative online and telephone survey among 712 Country fans ages 18-54 in the four most lucrative fan segments identified as CountryPhiles, MusicPhiles, Today’s Traditional, and Pop Country consumers. In November 2009, the current CMA Country Music Fan Tracking Study took place with quantitative online and telephone survey among 1,087 country music fans age 18-54.

“The project is the most far-reaching and comprehensive study of the country music consumer ever undertaken by the industry,” Moore said. “The large sample of nearly 10,000 consumers gives the study statistical reliability and provides a foundation for industry dialogue as we prepare for the future.”

The industry’s “bread and butter” is the “Core.” They are music lovers who drive extensive revenue and they can be divided into two groups: CountryPhiles and MusicPhiles. CountryPhiles are passionate fans of Country Music. They appreciate the core values of the format and the artists. And, their commitment translates to both significant engagement time and industry revenue. MusicPhiles are extremely hip, high tech, engaged music lovers who happen to include country music in the mix. The MusicPhiles are “music ambassadors” who spend as much or more on buying country music CDs for others as for themselves. Today’s Traditional and Pop Country consumers are the CountryPhiles and MusicPhiles in training. They have a fair amount of engagement with the format, but aren’t spending money. With that in mind, it is important to maximize and grow the potential spending of these two groups. From the beginning of the study, CMA sought to establish a Consumer Definition as a baseline for current and future study.

“With this information, we have a platform for continued growth and an opportunity to layer in additional studies as questions arise and our fans continue to evolve,” Moore said. “It is our responsibility as the trade association for the format to respond to changes in the marketplace by providing fact-based information to support industry growth.”
CMA will provide information from today’s presentation on the CMA member website, where CMA members can access the presentation and audio files with their member password.

TJ Martell Sets Honors Gala

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Business and music industry leaders and celebrities will gather at Nashville’s Hutton Hotel on Monday, March 22 to celebrate the T.J. Martell Foundation Honors Gala.

In Nashville, the Foundation annually supports cancer research through the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, in honor of Frances Preston, national President of the T.J. Martell Foundation and former President and CEO of BMI. Last year’s event raised over $400,000 to benefit cancer, leukemia and AIDS research.

Along with supporting this very worthwhile cause, the Gala will recognize Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, the Honorable William H. Frist, M.D., country music’s Brooks and Dunn, Michael Bolton and Susan Simons for their humanitarian efforts.

Entertainment for the invitation-only, black-tie event will include the Fisk University Jubilee Singers, Dave Mason and others yet to be announced.  The Honors Gala is also known for its marquee presenters, which this year features Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Ross Perot, Jr., Pete Coors and Frances Williams Preston.

“Even though this is our second year putting on the Honors Gala for the Martell Foundation, it is arguably one of the biggest nights in Nashville,” says Laura Heatherly, Executive Director of the Nashville branch of the T.J. Martell Foundation. “We are extremely grateful host such a wonderful event and honor five outstanding individuals, all in the name of benefiting the research at the Frances Williams Preston Laboratories at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.”

Governor Bredesen will receive this year’s Lifetime Humanitarian Award. Bredesen has been gracious with his support of numerous causes, including Nashville’s Table, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Cover Tennessee, the Heritage Conservation Trust Fund, the Land Trust for Tennessee and the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation.

The Lifetime Medical Achievement Award will go to Senator Frist. Along with establishing the Vanderbilt Multi-Organ Transplant Center, Senator Frist is known for his dedication to medical missions in developing nations through his work with Hope Through Healing Hands, the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the ONE campaign, which promotes global health as a currency for peace around the world.

Country superstars Brooks and Dunn will receive the Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award. After spending 20 years together, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn announced they will be going separate ways following their 2010 The Last Rodeo tour.

The inaugural Frances Williams Preston Lifetime Music Industry Award, whichrecognizes lifetime commitment of outstanding endeavors as a musician, will go to Bolton. Besides playing to sold out arenas worldwide, Bolton has sold
over 53 millions albums and won two Grammys for Best Male Vocalist and six American Music Awards.

Born and raised in Nashville, Simons will be honored with the Spirit of Nashville Award for her years of charitable service to Middle Tennessee. Simons has associated herself with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Alive Hospice, the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts, the Metropolitan Convention Center Commission, the Community Foundation, the Tennessee State Museum Foundation, United Way, and the International Women’s Forum, to name a few. Click here for more information.

Rascal Flatts Fetes Country Radio

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Last night (2/24) Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney gathered at Nashville’s Renaissance Hotel to relive the band’s favorite memories with country radio and celebrate the hundreds of programmers and on-air talent who have been a part of their ascension on the charts over the last ten years.

The band members took the stage and gave a special acoustic performance for the more than 300 assembled radio guests. Highlights included a rendition of Shenandoah’s “Church On Cumberland Road” with Marty Raybon along with their own version of “Jessie’s Girl” called “Bubba’s Girl,” which they created during their thirteen-week radio promo tour in 2000.

After looking back at photos from the band’s first ten years recalling memories from early gigs, LeVox declared, “The reason we’re here is because you gave us the chance to do all that. Thank you country radio for an amazing first ten years in the business.”

As the evening wrapped, Rascal Flatts honored several country radio stations and programmers who supported Rascal Flatts’ music over the last ten years. Celebrated for most radio airplay were WQIK/Jacksonville, WTQR/Greensboro, and KUBL/Salt Lake City. WCOL/Columbus, KNIX/Phoenix and WKHX/Atlanta were honored for the most spins for the band’s first single, “Prayin’ For Daylight” while KBEQ/Kansas City received the designation of being the first radio station in the country to play their debut single. All honorees received a custom Rascal Flatts 10-year commemorative Les Paul guitar.