Emmylou, Lady A Among MusiCares Gala Performers

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Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris

A superb tribute line-up is set for the MusiCares Person of the Year event honoring Neil Young on Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 in Los Angeles. Scheduled to perform at the annual highlight of Grammy week are Emmylou Harris, Lady Antebellum, Sheryl Crow, Patty Griffin, T Bone Burnett, Norah Jones, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Elton John, k.d. lang, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco, Crosby Stills & Nash, John Mellencamp, Leon Russell, Jackson Browne, Everest, and Josh Groban.

Lady Antebellum

Lady Antebellum

Jack Black will host the evening honoring legendary artist and activist Young as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year. Proceeds from the annual tribute — now in its 20th year — provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need.

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. The telecast will be broadcast live on CBS.

Video: Paisley on Leno’s Ten @ Ten

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brad-paisley-ar10Brad Paisley joined Jay Leno via satellite on Friday night for the Ten @ Ten segment. Here’s the video in case you missed it.

Publishing Update: BMG Rights Mgmt.; Israelite Re-ups

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bmgBMG Rights Management, the global company which purchased the Crosstown Songs America catalog earlier this year, has officially established it US operations and announced the opening/transitioning of offices in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. The Nashville office will continue being headed by Dann Huff along with Sr. VP Creative Darrell Franklin. The publisher is home to Neil Thrasher, Desmond Child, Jonathan Singleton and more.

Laurent Hubert has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, North America, and will be building US operations from the company’s New York office. Deirdre O’Hara has been appointed Chief Creative Officer, North America, and will work out of Los Angeles and New York. Both will report to Hartwig Masuch, CEO of BMG Rights Management. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, BMG Rights Management also has offices in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The music venture, which is owned by Bertelsmann and KKR, purchased Crosstown for an estimated $70 million.

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David Israelite

David Israelite

David Israelite has accepted a contract extension to continue his role as President and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) through 2014. Israelite has served in this capacity since February, 2005 and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the NMPA’s operations, from legal strategy and implementation to government affairs and advocacy.

His tenure to date has produced legal successes on behalf of publishers, including work on the Copyright Royalty Board’s royalty rate setting deliberations, negotiating a rate agreement with multiple industry trade groups on interactive streaming and limited downloads, a recent settlement with the RIAA regarding late fee payments to publishers and songwriters, and the PRO-IP Act.

Citadel To File Chapter 11

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citCitadel Broadcasting plans to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection before the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The radio broadcaster is in talks with lenders over the prearranged bankruptcy plan which has lenders exchanging Citadel’s $2 billion in debt for about 99.5 percent equity in the reorganized company, the Journal said. The creditors have until Tuesday to accept the deal.

It was reported that JP Morgan Chase & Co and General Electric Co’s GE Capital, which hold about 40 percent of the debt, are on board with the plan.

If the deal goes through, Citadel Chief Executive Farid Suleman would likely remain in his post, heading the company’s network of 165 FM stations, 58 AM stations, and the ABC Radio Networks.

Jason Michael Carroll Headlines In Nashville

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Arista Nashville artist Jason Michael Carroll played his first Nashville headlining concert recently at Nashville's Exit/In last night. Carroll's current single is “Hurry Home,” from his second album, Growing Up Is Getting Old. Pictured (L-R): Red Light Management’s Jeri Cooper; Sony Music Nashville’s Paul Barnabee and Jim Catino; Red Light’s Greg Hill; Carroll; Sony Music Nashville’s Skip Bishop and Tom Baldrica; Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson; and Sony Music Nashville’s Ray Uhlir and Heather McBee.

Arista Nashville artist Jason Michael Carroll played his first Nashville headlining concert recently at Nashville's Exit/In. Carroll's current single is “Hurry Home,” from his second album, Growing Up Is Getting Old. Pictured (L-R): Red Light Management’s Jeri Cooper; Sony Music Nashville’s Paul Barnabee and Jim Catino; Red Light’s Greg Hill; Carroll; Sony Music Nashville’s Skip Bishop and Tom Baldrica; Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson; and Sony Music Nashville’s Ray Uhlir and Heather McBee.

Booming Movie Biz Headed For Biggest Year Yet

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Chart from TheWrap.com

Chart from TheWrap.com

Hollywood is on track for its biggest year ever. TheWrap.com reports that domestic box office receipts will zoom past the $10 billion mark for the first time in history by the end of 2010. It’s surprising news considering the recession and the fact that there were almost 20 percent fewer films released in 2009 than in 2008.

Working in the film industry’s favor in 2009 is an increase in ticket prices and an increase in ticket sales. The average ticket price was up 4.2 percent to about $7.48 this year, pushed upward by numerous 3D movie releases which demand a higher cost per ticket. Also boosting the box office were popular franchises and sequels. And some Hollywood leaders believe that the recession helped, not hurt.

The economic downturn also effected the number of movies released this year, with some executives telling TheWrap that it created a barrier to entry for smaller indies and that major studios exercised more discretion.

With three full weekends left in 2009, total domestic theatrical distribution revenue stands at $9.64 billion [Exhibitor Relations], besting the previous full-year record of $9.621 billion set in 2007. Big releases still to come include The Princess and the Frog, Avatar, Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel and Sherlock Holmes. Exhibitor Relations predicts the year-end total will rise to $10.3 billion, while Hollywood.com estimates $10.6 billion.

Video Preview: Love And Theft, Joe Nichols, Chris Young

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Love And Theft, Photo: Ashley Heron

Love And Theft on the set of their new video. Photo: Ashley Heron

Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles gathered on 5th Avenue in Nashville to shoot the music video for their latest single, “Dancing in Circles.” Directing was Kristin Barlowe, who also directed their video for hit single, “Runaway.” While filming, a group of unexpected protesters rallied in the streets and the crew scrambled to capture them as part of the shoot. The video for “Dancing in Circles” debuts Dec. 14.

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Chris Young's new video.

Chris Young's latest video.

Chris Young has released his new single and video for “The Man I Want to Be.” The title track to his album was written by noted songwriters Brett James and Tim Nichols, and is a tale of hope and redemption. Young’s got a busy road schedule this month, hot on the heels of his recent No. 1 smash, “Gettin’ You Home.”

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Joe Nichols' new video.

Joe Nichols' new video captures his live performance.

Joe Nichols shot the music video for his new single, “Gimmie That Girl,” at Cowboys in San Antonio, TX with director Peter Zavadil. About his first live concert video, Nichols says, “There’s nothing like performing a song in front of an audience. The energy is something that’s hard to describe.”

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Bridgette Tatum on the set of of "I Like My Cowboys Dirty."

Bridgette Tatum on the set of of "I Like My Cowboys Dirty."

Hit songwriter Bridgette Tatum headed to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Whisky River bar in Charlotte, NC to make her video for “(I Like My) Cowboys Dirty.” It was directed by Dale Resteghini of Raging Nation Films and premiered on the National Finals Rodeo website Dec. 3 in conjunction with her performance at the Las Vegas event. The “director’s cut” version gives a behind-the-scenes look at making the video. Her album Sex, Church & Chicken will be released by Root 49 Records in 2010.

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“Wild Hog,” the new video from country singer Pat Garrett is now available online. He shot the video in Pennsylvania, featuring over 200 local motorcycle riders. Garrett was inspired to write the song by the hit movie, “Wild Hogs,” that starred John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy.

Left to right, Steve Pugliese, Jeff Hill, Rich Bredbenner, Pat Garrett, Joe Dell, and Bob Stevenson have a laugh at the sign outside The Bridge Inn in Pleasantville where dozens of motorcycles were parked, with permission by owners, during the taping of Garrett's new video "Wild Hog".
(L-R): Steve Pugliese, Jeff Hill, Rich Bredbenner, Pat Garrett, Joe Dell, and Bob Stevenson during the taping of Garrett’s new video “Wild Hog.”

Video: Cledus T. Judd “Tiger By the Tail (Tale of Tiger Woods)”

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Reacting at warp speed to the Tiger Woods controversy, Cledus T. Judd has released “Tiger By The Tail (Tale of Tiger Woods),” a parody of the 1965 Buck Owens song “Tiger By The Tail.”

Judd skillfully mines the golfing lexicon for double entendres, while brandishing his putter. The song offers the refrain “She was teed off from a tough lie/He tried to tell/And it looks like she beat Tiger all to hell” and features an unexpected Chris Brown reference near the end. Is this family-size serving of infidelity and domestic violence comedy gold or over the edge? See the video below.

Underwood Tour Opening In March

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carrie-newCarrie Underwood has a spring headlining tour in the works. Her Play On Tour, hydrated by vitaminwater®, opens March 11 in Reading, PA, and will hit more than 45 dates across North America. The arena run goes through the end of May and will feature special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. Tickets for all shows go on sale starting next Friday, December 18.

Underwood spent this past year writing and recording her third studio album Play On, performing only a few select concerts. Her previous tour, 2008’s highly successful Carnival Ride Tour wrapped after 137 shows with 1.2 million fans in attendance.

Play On debuted at the top of both the country and pop album sales charts and has sold over 700,000 copies in 5 weeks. The release earned the highest first-week sales of the year for any solo country artist at that point and makes Carrie the only country act in Nielsen SoundScan history to achieve first-week sales of more than 300,000 units on each of their first three albums.  Her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, is seven-times Platinum, and 2007’s Carnival Ride is triple-Platinum.

Please go to www.carrieunderwood.fm for up to date tour information.

Grammys To Honor Loretta Lynn, Harold Bradley, Walter Miller

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Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn, Harold Bradley, and Walter Miller will be honored by the Recording Academy this Grammy season. They will be feted at a special invitation-only ceremony to be held Saturday, Jan. 30, as part of Grammy week. A formal acknowledgment will also be made during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards telecast, set for the next day at the L.A. Staples Center.

Lynn, a three-time Grammy winner, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for her nearly 50 years in the music industry. She strutted to the forefront of country music with her 1960 debut single “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl,” and an illustrious career followed. She has had more than 70 hits including the classics “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” which was also the name of her autobiography that was later adapted into a Hollywood film. Her most recent success came in 2004 when she won a pair of Grammys for her collaboration with Jack White on the album Van Lear Rose.

Harold Bradley

Harold Bradley

Acclaimed musician Bradley and longtime CMA Awards producer Miller will receive Trustees Awards, recognizing outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity.

Often called the most recorded musician in history, Harold Bradley and his brother Owen built Music Row’s first recording facility the Quonset Hut in the 1950s. Harold was president of AFM Local 257 for 17 years and has served as its international vice president for the past 10 years. He was the first president of The Recording Academy’s Nashville Chapter and was also a Nashville session musician for more than 50 years, which earned him a place in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.

Walter Miller

Walter Miller

Miller has worked in television for more than 60 years as a producer and director of the Tony Awards, CMA Awards and for the last 29 years, the Grammy Awards. Miller was instrumental in helping shape some of Grammys’ most memorable moments including Aretha Franklin’s last-minute, unrehearsed rendition of “Nessun Dorma”; Bono presenting an award to Frank Sinatra; and Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang’s complex and thrilling piano performance of “Rhapsody In Blue.” The six-time Primetime Emmy® winner remains one of the most respected directors in the industry.

The Lifetime Achievement and Trustees awards are voted on by The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees. Leonard Cohen, Bobby Darin, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Michael Jackson, André Previn, and Clark Terry will also receive Lifetime Achievement Awards; and Florence Greenberg joins Bradley and Miller as a Trustees Award winner. AKG and Thomas Alva Edison will receive Technical Grammy Awards.