Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, More Set For ACM Awards Performances

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Mickey Guyton. Photo: Mathieu Bitton

Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line, Mickey Guyton and Morgan Wallen have been added to the lineup of artists for the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sept. 16.

Hosted by reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year and 15-time ACM Award-winner Keith Urban, the awards will be broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House stage from 8:00-11:00 PM ET live/delayed PT) on CBS and will be available to stream on demand on CBS All Access.

Brown will perform his current single “Worldwide Beautiful”; Bryan will perform his 25th No. 1 hit “One Margarita”; Church will perform his new single “Stick That In Your Country Song”; Dan + Shay will offer up their current song “I Should Probably Go to Bed”; Florida Georgia Line will perform their latest chart-topper “I Love My Country”; Guyton will sing her stirring song “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”; and Wallen will perform his multi-week No.1 smash “Whiskey Glasses.”

For the first time in the show’s history, the awards will take place in Nashville, broadcasting from three iconic venues: Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. Previously announced artists performing on the show include Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Riley Green, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi, and Tenille Townes. Artists at The Bluebird Cafe include Jimmie Allen, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert featuring songwriters Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick, and Tim McGraw.

More performances, unique collaborations and surprising moments will be announced in the coming weeks.

Porter’s Call To Host Virtual Evening Of Stories

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Porter’s Call is hosting a “Virtual Evening Of Stories” on Wednesday, Sept. 2, featuring authors and songwriters. Renowned authors Amena Brown and Jon Acuff are the evening’s Storytellers for the event, while Andrew Ripp, Drew and Ellie Holcomb, Tiera, and Bear Rinehart are the special musical guests.

Brown is an author, spoken word poet, and speaker whose work interweaves keep-it-real storytelling, rhyme, and humor. She has crafted five spoken word albums and two non-fiction books. Acuff is the New York Times best-selling author of six books including his most recent, Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done.

The special evening helps support Porter’s Call, which aids artists with the counseling, support, and encouragement they may need in times of struggle. Services at Porter’s Call are provided at no charge. More information on the live stream can be found here.

Filmore’s ‘State I’m In’ Slated For September

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Filmore’s debut album, State I’m In, is set for release Sept. 25. The 18-song album, produced by Zach Abend, chronicles a chapter in Filmore’s life that has been full of changes, including his recent engagement this summer to longtime girlfriend Paige, planning a Fall wedding, and seeing his fan base continue to grow amidst a global pandemic.

“This album is a look into my life over the last few years. It’s the ups and downs in relationships, experiences from my hometown, life on the road, and living in Nashville,” said the Missouri native. “I wrote every song from a real and personal place with amazing writers and friends. My hope is that you can listen to this album from start to finish and know who Filmore is by the end. Knowing that these songs relate to others, to help them get through a break-up, or celebrate love, or just let them enjoy a night out with friends, is why I made this album. State I’m In can be a state of mind or a specific location that helps you remember a moment in your life. For me, every one of these songs represents a moment in time that made me who I am today.”

The Curb recording artist has already accumulated over 146 million career on-demand streams and been featured on Spotify’s noteworthy ‘New Music Friday,’ ‘Hot Country’ and ‘Wild Country,’ as well as appearances on NBC’s “TODAY” and The Bobby Bones Show.

State I’m In Track Listing:

  1. New To This (Tyler Filmore / Adam James / Ian Keaggy)
  2. Slower (Tyler Filmore / Steven Jones / Justin Ebach)
  3. Country Song (Tyler Filmore / Justin Ebach / John-Luke Carter)
  4. W.I.L.D. (Tyler Filmore / Michael Whitworth)
  5. State I’m In (Tyler Filmore / John-Luke Carter)
  6. Heart’s Having A Hard Time (Tyler Filmore / Hannah Ellis / Jason Massey)
  7. Blue Skies (Tyler Filmore / Cary Barlowe / Jesse Frasure)
  8. Nothing’s Better (Tyler Filmore / John Luke Carter / Michael Whitworth)
  9. Busy (Tyler Filmore / Justin Ebach)
  10. Love That About You (Tyler Filmore / Benji Davis / John-Luke Carter / Michael Whitworth)
  11. My Place (Tyler Filmore / John-Luke Carter / Justin Ebach)
  12. Other Girl (Tyler Filmore / busbee / John Luke Carter / Josh Kear)
  13. Pictures On The Fridge (Tyler Filmore / Jordan Schmidt / Bob DiPiero)
  14. Me Lately (Tyler Filmore / John-Luke Carter / Jimmy Robbins)
  15. Day Hour Minute (Tyler Filmore / Justin Ebach / Josh Miller / Zach Abend)
  16. London (Tyler Filmore / John-Luke Carter)
  17. Livin Easy (Tyler Filmore / John-Luke Carter / Jason Massey)
  18. Anyone But Me (Tyler Filmore / Jason Massey / Hannah Ellis)

Amazon Music Allows Artists To Integrate Twitch Livestream Performances

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Amazon Music and Twitch have teamed to allow Twitch’s livestreaming functionality to integrate into the Amazon Music app, allowing artists to connect via livestream to Amazon Music’s more than 55 million customers on all streaming tiers.

Fans will have a variety of ways to discover artist live streams within the Amazon Music app, including a push notification from artists they follow when they go live on Twitch; and through Amazon Music’s new “Live” browse page. Amazon Music has also made it simple for artists to link their Twitch channel with Amazon Music, using the newly-launched Amazon Music for Artists app.

“The combination of live streaming, coupled with the on-demand playback of songs on Amazon Music is groundbreaking,” said Ryan Redington, Director, Amazon Music. “We’re providing artists with more tools to instantly engage with fans, and this new feature couldn’t arrive at a more crucial time in the industry. More than 1,000 artists have already connected their Amazon Music accounts to Twitch, and this is just day one. Together with Twitch, we’re making it possible for artists across all genres, at all moments of their careers, to harness the social power of live streaming to create more engagement with their recorded catalog.”

“Twitch has always been about connecting amazingly talented creators live with fans everywhere,” said Tracy Chan, VP, Head of Music at Twitch. “That’s why we’re excited to announce the next phase of our ongoing partnership with Amazon Music that unlocks an entirely new world of live music experiences and engagement by connecting Twitch live streams and Amazon’s catalog of recorded music. Especially now, in a time when traditional venues are closed and tours have been cancelled, musicians are looking for new ways to continue creating, connect with fans, and build community. Twitch has become the place to co-create shared live experiences, and it’s now accessible in-app for Amazon Music’s 55 million customers.”

BMG Revenues Rise 4.8% In First Half of 2020

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Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous negative impact on the live music business and on record stores around the world, BMG’s latest numbers show that revenues for the company increased by 4.8% during the first half of 2020, to $308 million.

Digital accounted for 83% of recordings revenue and 48% of music publishing revenue during the period.

Streaming of BMG’s recorded catalog was up 49% year-over-year, while overall recorded streaming was up 26%.

Key drivers of the results were a strong performance by the company’s music publishing business and surging streaming numbers for the company’s recording artists.

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “To deliver a record result in the midst of a pandemic is a remarkable achievement. It is a testament to our artist-centric business model, but also to our 926-strong team worldwide who went to extraordinary lengths to maintain service to our artist and songwriter clients.

“Our growth is almost entirely organic,” he added. “Despite the high levels of M&A in the wider music industry, we have not made a major acquisition since 2017. Our focus is on growing by delivering better, fairer, more efficient services to artists and songwriters. There is no doubt musicians are hurting through the pandemic, particularly with the loss of live business. That puts a particular responsibility on record labels and music publishers to help artists and songwriters maximize their earnings.”

Mark Your Calendar—September 2020

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Single Add Dates


September 7
The Desert City Ramblers/Comin’ Home/Crane Creek Records
Tom Sexton/Population 2/Lots To Do Music, LLC

September 8
Cody Johnson/Dear Rodeo/Warner/CoJo/WMN

September 14
Chris Janson/Waitin’ on 5/Warner Music Nashville
Gary Allan/Waste Of A Whiskey Drink/EMI
Calamity Jane/The Mountain/Mountain Records
Robert Ray/Think About You/Big Rig

September 21
Miranda Lambert/Settling Down/Vanner Records
Caylee Hammack/Just Friends/Capitol
High Valley/Grew Up On That/Warner/WEA
Elvie Shane/My Boy/Wheelhouse
Eric Burgett/Sometimes Late At Night/Bow To Stern Records

September 28
Shane Owens/Everybody Dies But Not Everybody Lives/AmeriMonte Records

Album Releases


September 4
HARDY/A ROCK/Big Loud Records
All Them Witches/Nothing As The Ideal/New West Records
Carolina Story/Dandelion/Black River Americana
Lauren Alaina/Getting Over Him/Mercury Nashville
Tyler Rich/Two Thousand Miles/The Valory Music Co.

September 11
Delta Spirit/What Is There/New West Records
Mickey Guyton/Bridges/Capitol Nashville
Riley Green/If It Wasn’t For Trucks/BMLG Records

September 18
Keith Urban/The Speed of Now Part 1/Capitol Nashville
Alecia Nugent/The Old Side of Town/Hillbilly Goddess Music
Smith & Wesley/Greetings From The Land of Y’all/BFD/Audium Nashville
Luke Laird/Music Row/CN

September 25
Carrie Underwood/My Gift/Capitol Nashville
Skip Ewing/Wyoming/Write! Records
Terri Clark/It’s Christmas…Cheers!/Mercury Nashville
Justin Moore/Live at the Ryman/The Valory Music Co.
Granger Smith/Country Things, Vol. 1/BBR Music Group
Texas Hill/Texas Hill

Industry Events


September 16-18
Americana Music Association Foundation’s Thriving Roots: A Virtual Community Music Conference

September 16
55th Academy of Country Music Awards
Americana Awards

September 22
Nashville Songwriter Awards (Virtual)

Hot Country Knights Mockumentary Coming To Quibi

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The Hot Country Knights are starring in a new 10-episode Quibi series. Dierks Bentley (aka Knights member Doug Douglason) serves as Executive Producer of the mockumentary, alongside manager Mary Hilliard Harrington and Critical Content’s Jenny Daly and Tom Forman.

In the series, Bentley attempts to rescue the ’90s band from “30 wasted years and countless bad decisions,” and give them one more shot at glory with a new album The K Is Silent and their first nationwide tour, and fans can now follow their career on the platform. Fans can download the Quibi app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Famous for never giving up on the dream of the ‘90s, the Hot Country Knights are comprised of band leader Douglas (“Doug”) Douglason, lead bass player Trevor Travis, lead guitarist Marty Ray (“Rayro”) Roburn, keytar/fiddle player Terotej (“Terry”) Dvoraczekynski, steel guitarist Barry Van Ricky and percussionist Monte Montgomery.

Critical Content is a leading global independent content studio. Launched in October of 2015, the company focuses on unscripted and scripted programming for broadcast, cable and digital platforms. Critical Content currently has more than 50 projects in production for more than 30 different networks. Recent series include “Catfish” (MTV), “Very Cavallari” (E!), “StayHere” (Netflix), “Get a Room with Carson & Thom” (Bravo), “Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour” (A&E), “Who Shot Biggie & Tupac?” (FOX), “Caribbean Pirate Treasure” (Travel Channel), “The Case Of: JonBenét Ramsey” (CBS, Netflix), “The Great Food Truck Race” (Food Network), “Disney’s Fairytale Weddings” (Freeform), “Racing Wives” (CMT), HOME FREE (FOX), “American Spring Live” (PBS), “Portals To Hell” (Travel), “Hanging With The Hendersons” (Animal Plant), “StartUp” (Crackle, Amazon), and “Limitless” (CBS).

Chris Janson Celebrates Triple Platinum Certification

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Pictured: Warner Music Nashville EVP/GM Ben Kline with Chris Janson. Photo: Courtesy Warner Music Nashville

Chris Janson was presented with a special plaque during his performance Friday night (Aug. 28) as part of the “Live at the Ryman” exclusive virtual concert experience.

The acclaimed entertainer translated his signature high-energy performance to the new medium with performances of fan favorites, including his recent multi-week No. 1 “Done,” and his new single “Waitin’ On 5.”

Warner Music Nashville EVP/GM Ben Kline took the stage to present Janson with a plaque commemorating the milestone of “Buy Me A Boat” being certified triple Platinum.

Ryman Auditorium To Reopen For Limited Capacity Live Audience Concerts On Friday

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Scotty McCreery. Photo: Jeff Ray

The Ryman Auditorium will reopen for limited capacity live audience concerts beginning Friday, Sept. 4, with Scotty McCreery‘s headlining concert, part of the Live at the Ryman series. The concert will mark the first performance with a live audience at the Ryman since venue shutdowns began in mid-March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The venue will be limited to 125 ticketed attendees (approximately 5% of the venue’s capacity). The audience will be physically distanced inside the venue with “POD” seating, allowing groups of 2-6 people per pod. Masks will mandatory for all guests, as well as for all Ryman Auditorium operations and production staff. There will be designated restrooms, entrance and exit points for the main floor and balcony seating. There will be no food or beverage service, though complimentary bottled water will be available. All Ryman Auditorium staffers will undergo temperature checks.

In-venue tickets for the McCreery show begin at $89, which include an exclusive Hatch Show Print poster and in-person access to the artist Q&A prior to the show. Livestream ticket prices begin at $10 with VIP upgrades available for $40 (livestream ticket and virtual artist Q&A) and $95 (livestream ticket, virtual artist Q&A, autographed Hatch Show Print poster and series t-shirt). All merchandise is available for purchase in advance online to commemorate the landmark series. In-venue tickets for the Sept. 4 show are on sale at ryman.com.

The Live At The Ryman series will continue with concerts from Brett Young (Sept. 11) and Old Crow Medicine Show (Sept. 18).

Each concert in the series is produced by the same team that has produced the weekly Saturday live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry since the early days of the pandemic when all events with a live audience were suspended. Live At The Ryman uses the Mandolin livestream platform, giving fans at home access to a front row seat.

Willie Nelson, Margo Price, Chris Stapleton Set For Farm Aid 2020

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On Sept. 26, Farm Aid will celebrate its 35th anniversary via a virtual festival, “Farm Aid On The Road,” with performances from the festival’s board members Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young, as well as Brandi Carlile, Jack Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, and Chris Stapleton.

The lineup also includes Black Pumas, Edie Brickell (with Charlie Sexton), Jamey Johnson, Jon Batiste, Kelsey Waldon, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, Valerie June, the War and Treaty, and more.

This year’s virtual event will be aired from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 26, via the FarmAid YouTube channel, AXS TV and fans.com.

“This pandemic and so many other challenges have revealed how essential family farmers and ranchers are to the future of our planet,” Willie Nelson said via a statement. “Farm Aid 2020 is going to give the whole country a chance to learn about the important work of farmers and how they’re contributing to our well-being, beyond bringing us good food.”

Farm Aid launched on Sept. 22, 1985 in Illinois, and has been held annually since 1992.

“Since we started in 1985, Farm Aid has kept its finger on the pulse of farm country and deployed funds and resources to help farm families confront the challenges they face,” Farm Aid Executive Director Carolyn Mugar said in a statement. “It’s clear that this is a critical moment for farmers and ranchers. We risk losing their important contributions to our communities and our families if we do not adequately respond as a country.”