Artist News: Currington Comments On Festival, Holly Williams Engaged

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BillyCurringtonAs reported in this morning’s subscription-only @MusicRow, there was a horrific accident on Saturday night at the Big Valley Jamboree music festival in Camrose, Alberta. Gale force winds caused the stage to collapse just as Billy Currington was finishing his set.  Here is a bit more of the story courtesy of his label, UMG Nashville:

Currington was taken to the hospital and suffered a minor concussion but is expected to make a full recovery. He has been released from the hospital and has returned to his home in Nashville. Currington’s bass player Alex Stevens was pinned under the wreckage of the stage for half an hour while rescue personnel removed debris to free him. Stevens underwent immediate surgery to repair a severed artery and nerves in his left arm and is currently receiving treatment in Nashville. Currington sent a message to his fans today via Twitter, “The boys and I are very grateful to be home and for life itself. We thank you for your prayers and concern and will see you on the road again soon.” Currington also comments from his home in Nashville, “my heart goes out to the family of Donna Moore who was killed and all of the other fans who were hurt on Saturday.”

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Holly Williams is engaged to Nashville drummer Chris Coleman. He proposed last week while the two were picnicking and searching for civil war relics in Leipers Fork, TN. Coleman surprised her with the antique ring by hiding it in an engraved wooden box and burying it for her to discover. No wedding date has been set.

Williams is currently touring in support of her sophomore album on Mercury Records, Here With Me. In addition to opening select dates for Sugarland, she will be joining Madeleine Peyroux on tour during the month of August.

Holly Williams and fiance Coleman

Holly Williams and fiance Chris Coleman

Musical Chairs at BMI and Sony/ATV

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Russ-Blose-09Broadcast Music, Inc. has promoted Russ Blose to Assistant Vice President, Strategic Operations where he will manage the Operations/Analysis & Information group, which is moving from BMI’s New York facility to Nashville. That department’s functions are being merged with the Strategic Solutions Group already managed by Blose. In addition, he will lead the department charged with business continuity and IT disaster recovery and the corporate capital expenditure approval system.

Reporting directly to Senior Vice President, Operations & Information Technology Milt Laughlin, Blose is based in the Nashville office. Blose was formerly Senior Director, Strategic Solutions, a position he has held since joining the organization in 2005.

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wigginsSony/ATV Nashville has hired seasoned songplugger Kim Wiggins as Creative Manager. She was previously with Blacktop Music and Acuff-Rose Music Publishing where she worked with some of the industry’s top songwriters.

To contact Wiggins, call 615-726-8300 or email her at kim.wiggins@sonyatv.com.

Taylor Swift In Feature Film “Valentine’s Day”

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Swift has been photographed in several scenes alongside Taylor Lautner, who starred in the blockbuster Twilight.
Swift has been photographed in several scenes alongside Taylor Lautner, who starred in the blockbuster “Twilight.”

Taylor Swift has an acting role in the upcoming romantic comedy Valentine’s Day. The film from director Garry Marshall is the story of five interconnected couples in L.A. who make-up and break-up based on the expectations surrounding the holiday. The top-notch casts also include Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Shirley MacLaine, Ashton Kutcher, Patrick Dempsey and numerous others. Swift also had a cameo in the Hannah Montana movie, and has acted on CSI.

According to IMDB, the movie is scheduled for a Feb. 12, 2010 release by New Line Cinema. Director Marshall is behind a string of hits including Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, The Runaway Bride, and Beaches.

Paparrazzi shot of the Taylors on set.
Paparrazzi shot of the Taylors on set.

Womack, Pickler Help CMA Songwriters Series Spread Word About Country Music

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kpicklerThe popular CMA Songwriters Series, which has played to sold-out crowds in New York City for the past five years, will be hitting the road this Fall with s hows in Los Angeles and Chicago. Each concert will feature a songwriter/artist alongside hit tunesmiths and will be hosted by Bob DiPiero, writer of hits such as “You Can’t Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl” recorded by Brooks & Dunn, “Blue Clear Sky” recorded by George Strait, and “Gone” recorded by Montgomery Gentry.

On Tuesday, Sept. 15 the L.A. event at the House of Blues will feature Kellie Pickler and songwriters Chris Lindsey (“Amazed,” Lonestar and “Let’s Make Love,” Tim McGraw w/ Faith Hill), and Aimee Mayo (“This One’s For the Girls,” Martina McBride and “Red High Heels,” Pickler). The Los Angeles show is sponsored by Electronic Arts and is in conjunction with The L.A. Office RoadShow, the “must attend” event for brands, entertainment marketers and agencies. KKGO, Go Country 105 FM, the station under the direction of Senior Manager Country Programming Charlie Cook will support the event. Tickets will be available for $12.50 via Ticketmaster.

leeannwomackLee Ann Womack will headline two shows in Chicago: Friday, Oct. 2 at Joe’s Bar, and Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Chicago Country Music Festival. Joining her will be Dean Dillon (“The Chair,” “Unwound,” “Ocean Front Property,” and “Marina Del Rey,” George Strait and “A Lot of Things Different,” Kenny Chesney), and Scotty Emerick, (“I Love This Bar,” and “Good As I Once Was,” Toby Keith and “Beer For My Horses,” Keith and Willie Nelson).

Tickets to the Oct. 2 event at Joe’s Bar are $20 each and will go on sale August 7. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster or at Joe’s (cash only-no service charge). The Chicago Country Music Festival takes place October 3 and 4 in Grant Park. The event is free and open to the public.

NYT Profiles Country Youth Movement

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Whitney Duncan

Whitney Duncan

New York Times writer Jon Caramanica puts the crosshairs to Nashville’s country music youth movement in an article titled, Country’s New Face: It’s Young and Blond.

Ms. Swift, 19, who has sold more than seven million records in the last four years, has proved to be seismic in Nashville. And thanks to the pop crossover success of Ms. Swift and Carrie Underwood, 26, who has sold 10 million albums, notions of where a country star might fit in are being rewritten almost daily.

Ms. Swift was among the first country artists to aggressively use online media to promote herself. “That helped apply a lot of pressure to radio, or helped them notice her, depending how you look at it,” Mr. Ross said. But country music still lags behind other genres in its use of the Internet. Music Row recently began publishing a chart tracking Twitter followers of country acts. Apart from Ms. Swift, Ms. Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, no country artist has more than 100,000 followers, a threshold crossed by several major and minor stars in other genres: Justin Timberlake, Moby, Matisyahu, Jim Jones, even Jon Secada.

Read the full story [New York Times; Country’s New Face: It’s Young and Blonde]

Fairway Fun—Ladies Golf Tournament

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1st-Place1st Place Team: “Miss Trumped” (L-R) Nicole Pope Gaia, Renee White, Scott Siman, Carrie Simons, Teresa Siman. Photo: Kevin Lamb
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The 22nd Annual Music Row Ladies Golf Tournament roared down the fairways Monday, July 27 at Old Natchez Country Club (1323 Sneed Road) driving and putting to benefit United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee (UCP).

Sponsored by ASCAP, Tim McGraw, UMG Nashville and UBS, this annual tournament has become one of the music business’ most creative and charitable events. With the help of hundreds of music logoindustry professionals and several Country Music stars, over one million dollars has been raised for UCP. The day began—pre-tee off—with breakfast sponsored by Bread & Co. Teams enjoyed lunch courtesey of Jim ‘N Nicks. Kenny Chesney sponsored a 19th Hole Happy Hour. The tournament concludes with a Loveless Café-sponsored dinner, awards ceremony and a silent auction to benefit UCP.
Participating celebrity players and caddies included Jason Aldean, Joey Feek (of Rory & Joey), Rachel Proctor, Emily West, plus songwriters Hillary Lindsey (“Jesus, Take the Wheel”, “This One’s For the Girls”), Lori McKenna (“Stealing Kisses”) and Liz Rose (“Teardrops on My Guitar”, “White Horse”).
Company sponsored teams included 19 Entertainment, Anchor Down Entertainment, Avenue Bank, Big Loud Shirt Industries, Big Tractor, Cherry Heart Music, Chumley Productions, CMA, Coburn Music Inc., Corlew Music Group, Curb Records, Inc., EMI Music Publishing, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Hampton Music Publishing, Larga Vista Music, LLC, Martin, Allbee, & Associates, LLC, Melanie Howard Music, Inc., Montage Music Publishing, Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, NARAS, Ole Songs Inc., RS Planes Inc., S1Songs American LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Stroudavarious, LLC, Suntrust Bank, The Kella Stephenson Company, UMG Nashville, Universal Music Publishing, Inc., Universal Records South, Warner Music Group Services and Zavitson Music Group.

2nd-Place

2nd Place Team: “Harry Putter” (L-R) Margaret Durante, Cynthia Anderson, Jennifer Zuffinetti, James Stroud, Laura Stroud, Adam Zuffinetti, Jason Krupek. Photo: Alan Mayor

McDaniel Benefit Aug. 13

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mcdanielThe country music community is coming together to raise funds for Grand Ole Opry star Mel McDaniel.  The 66 year-old is slowly recovering from a June 16 heart attack.  Family, friends and fans are gathering Thursday, August 13 at 6 p.m. at the Nashville Palace to pay tribute and raise money for this cherished member of Music City.

Mel was born in Checotah, Oklahoma in 1942.  When he was 14, he decided to pursue a career in music after seeing Elvis Presley on television.  He signed with Capital Records in 1976 and the hits followed.  Well known McDaniel classics include, “Louisiana Saturday Night,” “Stand Up,” and the Number One hit “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On.” Three years ago, Mel’s home state of Oklahoma recognized his many accomplishments to date and inducted him into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

The August 13 concert and benefit for Mel has a long list of entertainers lined up to perform including T. Graham Brown, Buddy Jewel, David Ball, Tommy Cash, Ricky Lynn Gregg, plus Opry regulars Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jack Greene, Charlie Louvin, Jean Shepard and many more. In addition to the show, there will be a silent auction and many items to bid on like vacations, autographed items from the stars, sports memorabilia, gift certificates and much more.
Tickets for the Mel McDaniel benefit at the Nashville Palace are $10 at the door.

Buxton, Pinson & Belmont Visits London

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buxton

Sarah Buxton hangs with the KNIX Phoenix crew on Sat. July 25 when she opened for Keith Urban. (L-R) Kris Lamb (Lyric Street), Ben Campbell (KNIX Morning Show co-host), Sarah Buxton, Mark Medina (PD/KNIX), Matt McAllister (KNIX Morning Show co-host)

pinsonBobby Pinson friends and family celebrated the success of his latest chart triumphs, “Already Gone,” and “It Happens.” Hosted by BMI the group had lots to celebrate since Pinson has had recent hits recorded by Toby Keith, Sugarland, Trent Tomlinson and more. (L-R) Stage Three’s Steve Lewis and Lionel Conway, Bobby Pinson, BMI’s Perry Howard, and Stage Three’s Tim Hunze and Missy Roberts.

cusic

Belmont University led by Don Cusic (middle) sent a group of students to London to more closely examine European music business models. The group visited IFPI, the international trade organization for recording labels to hear a presentation from Gabriella Lopes (fourth from left) on international trends.

NSAI Song Contest Returns With Jewel Mentoring Session

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jewelThe 10th annual NSAI Song Contest Presented by CMT, will kick off August 1 and run through October 31, with this year’s Grand Prize winner receiving a mentoring session with Jewel.

The nationwide competition will result in one Grand Prize Winner and one CMT Listeners’ Choice Winner. Professional songwriters, publishers and others from the industry will select the finalists and the Grand Prize Winner, and the finalists’ songs will be posted online for fan voting from January 20 through February 26, 2010. Last year there were more than 94,000 votes for the CMT Listeners’ Choice.

In addition to the mentoring session with Jewel, prizes include a single-song professional demo, tickets to the 2011 CMT Music Awards, a private tour of CMT’s studios, a performance at the legendary Bluebird Café, meetings with major music publishers and a one-year membership to NSAI, just to name a few.

“By offering meetings with major publishers, we don’t just get aspiring songwriters’ feet in the door; we rip the door off its hinges and create an opportunity for them to build relationships with top-notch songwriters, publishers and music industry executives that would normally take years to establish. As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we hope to continue that trend and build upon NSAI’s legacy of educating, promoting and protecting songwriters in all genres,” says NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison.

All genres of music are encouraged. The entry fees are $35 for  NSAI members, and $45 for non-members, per song submitted. Proceeds benefit the NSAI Legislative Fund to protect the rights of songwriters. Details at www.nsai.cmt.com.

SOURCE Awards Tonight

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sourceSOURCE, a leading organization of women in the music business, will hold its annual Awards dinner tonight at the Musician’s Hall of Fame and Museum. The SOURCE Foundation Awards, which honors the pioneering women who helped establish the foundation of the music industry, will celebrate 2009 honorees Joyce Jackson, Peggy Lamb, Pat McCoy, Sandy Neese, Margaret Parker, and Marion Keisker MacInnes (posthumously).

“I love to watch the faces of the young women music executives at the SOURCE Foundation Awards Dinner. It is clear they respect the tradition of the past as they look forward to the future in the entertainment industry,” says SOURCE President Judy Harris.

2009 SOURCE Foundation Awards Honorees

Joyce Jackson (Jim Reeves Enterprises, Floyd Cramer, Dottie West, Mae Axton, Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Writer)

Peggy Lamb (Music City News, Hickory Records, Inc., Acuff Rose, Opryland Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing)

Pat McCoy (American Federation of Musicians, Local 257, Television Production Assistant, Charlie McCoy Enterprises)

Sandy Neese (Charlie Daniels Band/Sound Seventy Productions, The Tennessean, WMAK, MTM Records, PolyGram/Mercury Records)

Margaret Parker (WSM, Gaylord Entertainment)

Marion Keisker MacInnes (Posthumously) (WREC Radio, WHER Radio, Memphis Recording Services, SUN Records, Captain in United States Army)