Luke Bryan Teams With Eventful For Album Release
Capitol Records Nashville artist Luke Bryan is teaming up with live music website Eventful to give fans across the nation the chance to bring his album release show to their city. Bryan’s sophomore album, Doin’ My Thing, is scheduled for release on October 6. The singer/songwriter will utilize Eventful Demand, which enables fans to influence where their favorite artists perform by creating grass-roots campaigns to “Demand” the artists to come to their town, and no one knows the destination of the show but the fans. Bryan will set his sights on whichever city rallies and delivers the most “Demands” by the end of the competition. Launched today (5/4), the Demand competition will continue through 4:00 CT on July 10. Fans can join the competition and Demand a performance from Luke Bryan by clicking here.
“I have the greatest fans in the world,” said Bryan. “So working with Eventful makes sense because it’s a great opportunity to give a little back to the fans and give them the chance to be an active part of my album release.”
ole, Canada’s largest independent music publisher has announced the launch of musicnow, the company’s new state-of-the-art song search database. Debuting today (5/4), on the ole website at www.olemm.com, musicnow is a user-friendly e-tool for artists, producers, music supervisors, film directors and video game producers who need to locate and instantly license music from the ole catalog. musicnow is a powerful search engine using multiple criteria to search for music, including genre, tempo, era and style. Users can request a quote directly from their handheld or contact ole’s administration department directly, with the goal of same-day clearance turnaround. musicnow provides access to ole’s 40,000-plus songs, including hits like Taylor Swift’s “White Horse,” Alannah Myles’ “Black Velvet,” Lone Star’s “I’m Already There” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Miss Independent.”
Mother’s Day is coming this Sunday (5/10), and, not surprisingly, Taylor Swift is ready. Swift is offering fans a special self-produced music video for her song “The Best Day” from her No. 1 album Fearless and the chance to send a personal e-card to their own mother. Fans can visit a custom landing page to see a special video message from Taylor and view the new video, which Swift compiled as a surprise for her mom using old home movies from her childhood. The video for “The Best Day” is being cross-promoted via radio station websites, social networks, and major music portals.
Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean will once again host his annual Jason Aldean: Concert For The Cure during CMA Music Festival at the Wildhorse Saloon to benefit Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Following his evening performance on the big stage at LP Field, Aldean will invite a few special guests to join him for a late night concert that will also feature a silent auction with items from some of country music’s biggest stars. Fellow Georgia native Luke Bryan is the first guest performer to be added to the lineup. Breast cancer touched Aldean personally when a close family friend passed away from the disease at only 26 years old. Since that tragic loss, the “She’s Country” singer has been committed to lending his celebrity in the search for a cure.
Reba’s highly anticipated and as yet untitled debut album for the Valory Music Company is due to hit the streets on August 18, and the project is already generating a serious buzz four months out from its release date. In an interview with USA Today’s Brian Mansfield, Reba credits her time hanging out with tour mate Kelly Clarkson with influencing her approach to song selection for the new album, the production of which was split between her longtime producer Tony Brown and Mark Bright (Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts).
The Academy of Contemporary Music, a UK-based music school, is set to create what it describes as “a new model for music education” as it opens it first U.S. campus at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2009. The new school, known as the ACM@UCO, will provide unique educational opportunities and targeted, innovative classes for U.S. students who aspire to a career in the music industry. The school will open in The Oklahoma Hardware building, on Flaming Lips Alley in the heart of Oklahoma City’s vibrant Bricktown area. Founded in 1995 in the U.K., the school has established a new paradigm for contemporary music education and, in the last year alone, has won a Queens Award for Innovation in Education and has seen recent graduates Newton Faulkner and Amelle Berrabah (Sugababes) release No. 1 albums in the U.K. Scott Booker, manager of Oklahoma-based rock band The Flaming Lips and CEO of the ACM@UCO, saw a need for the school in the U.S.
Tracy Lawrence and his label, Rocky Comfort Records, are offering an exclusive and innovative digital music download package to live music enthusiasts. In partnership with Basecamp Productions, a production and online distribution company, Lawrence and Rocky Comfort have introduced the Front Porch Live Concert Series, a download service offering fans the opportunity to purchase a digital download package of select Tracy Lawrence concerts.
The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has announced its 2008 winners. The grand prize goes to Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall of Brisbane, Australia for their song “Caught In The Crowd,” a pop song with a message about schoolyard bullying and peer pressure. The Grand Prize winners take home $25,000 and over $20,000 in prizes – the largest Grand Prize of any songwriting competition. With judges including Tom Waits, Rob Thomas, Ray Davies, Chaka Khan, McCoy Tyner, Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Cure’s Robert Smith , the ISC Grand Prize recognizes excellence in the craft of songwriting. In its seventh year, ISC received over 15,500 songs from amateur and professional songwriters from 100 countries worldwide, confirming ISC’s status as the leading global songwriting event. In all, ISC bestows prizes on 62 winners, awarding more than $150,000 in cash and prizes. For a complete list of 2008 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, click 
This Tuesday (5/5), Columbia Nashville artist Gretchen Wilson will travel to Capitol Hill to hand deliver nearly 10,000 letters from volunteers across the nation to both Tennessee congressmen and senators urging them to increase funding for adult education programs. For Wilson, the issue of adult education is very personal. Until last year, she was one of the millions of Americans who hadn’t finished their high school education. A dedicated mother, it was important for Wilson to earn her diploma not only for herself, but to prove to her 8-year old daughter Grace how important education is.