Nashville Film Festival Announces New President, Board Members

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Anastasia Brown

The Nashville Film Festival has announced its new and returning board members for the 2017-2018 year and new leadership for the ever-growing festival. Anastasia Brown of Format Entertainment has been named President of the festival and Jim Scherer of Whizbang, Inc., has been named Vice President. Adrien Good of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. has been named treasurer, and Natasha Corrieri of ServisFirst Bank will remain as secretary.

Brown possesses 25 years of experience in music supervision, television & film production, publishing, artist management, A&R and music placement.  She served as the music supervisor of the Lionsgate film, The Shack and is a co-producer of the soundtrack. As a music supervisor Brown has worked on projects with Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Dove wins and nominations. Her credits include The Shack (Lionsgate) The Americans (FX,) The Darkest Hour (New Regency), Footloose (Paramount), August Rush (WB), It’s Complicated (Universal Pictures), documentary For the Love of Music: the Story of Nashville, Taken (Sci-Fi,)  and more. As a producer she has developed four television series and two films including I Saw The Light, a biopic on the life of Hank Williams, Sr. (Sony Classics.) Brown has placed close to 50 songs in major films and television series over the last three years.  She is currently a music curator for Reese Witherspoon’s brand and clothing line, Draper James, providing southern music for her worldwide lifestyle followers.

New members include David Haspel of Haspel Communications, Inc., Tracy Gershon of Red Light Management, Adrien Good of Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc., Claude Kelly – American Singer-Songwriter, Brittany Schaffer of Loeb & Loeb, Scott Waugh – American Film Director, and Julia Bonner of Pierce Public Relations.

2017-2018 Nashville Film Festival Board 
President: Anastasia Brown
Vice President: Jim Scherer
New Members:
David Haspel
Tracy Gershon
Adrien Good
Claude Kelly
Brittany Schaffer
Scott Waugh
Julia Bonner

Returning Members:
Taryn Anderson
Anastasia Brown
Scott Borchetta
Cary Nelson-Burch
Natasha Corrieri
Shannon Casey
Steven Gaydos
Marcella Gomez
Ken Levitan
William Lowery
Bob Raines
Courtney Ross
Jim Scherer
Conrad Schuck
Dawn Soler
Stacey Widelitz

(L-R): Jim Scherer (Vice President), Ted Crockett (Executive Director), Anastasia Brown (President), Tracy Gershon (Red Light Management), William Lowery (APA)

Sara Knabe Named VP/A&R At BBR Music Group

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BBR Music Group has appointed Sara Knabe to the newly-created position of VP/A&R. In hew new role, she will be responsible for BBR Music Group’s roster of artists across imprints Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records, Red Bow Records, and Wheelhouse Records, as well as scouting, signing, and developing new talent for the roster.  She will report directly to Jon Loba, EVP BBR Music Group and Zach Katz, BMG US President Repertoire & Marketing.

Knabe comes to BBR from BMG, where she started as Sr. Director, Creative and was elevated to VP, Creative in 2016.  She has worked with an impressive list of songwriters and artists including Jay DeMarcus, Ruston Kelly, Tony Lane, Jim Lauderdale, Gordie Sampson, Lucie Silvas, Wynn Varble, and many others. During her time at BMG she and her team secured an abundance of placements for BMG writers and chart-topping songs include “God, Your Mama, And Me” and platinum-certified “H.O.L.Y.” by Florida Georgia Line, as well as songs recorded by Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, George Strait, and others.

“We couldn’t be more excited to have Sara take on this new role at BBR Music Group, a move that truly illustrates the strategic alignment between BBR and BMG,” said Loba. “Her extensive experience, proven track record of success, and impeccable reputation within the creative community ensures that we’ll continue to develop and grow our artists careers. Stay tuned for some amazing artistry.”

Lifenotes: Elvis Presley Associate Red West Passes

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Robert Gene “Red” West was an actor, a bodyguard, a hit songwriter, a karate instructor, an author, a Hollywood stunt man and a boxer, but will be forever remembered as a founder of Elvis Presley’s “Memphis Mafia” of inner-circle buddies.

West died on July 18 at age 81 in Memphis. He reportedly suffered an aortic aneurism while at Baptist Memorial Hospital there.

The athletic, 6’2” West first befriended Presley when both were students at Humes High School in Memphis. The football player protected the future star from bullies, which prefigured his later role as Presley’s bodyguard. In 1955-56 he drove the emerging recording artist to his show dates, beginning their long professional relationship.

Red West was an ex-Marine, a Golden Gloves competitive boxer and a karate instructor who spent 20 years with Presley. Along with his cousin Sonny West, plus Junior Smith, Cliff Gleaves, Charlie Hodge, Lamar Fike, Joe Esposito, Gene Smith, David Hebler, Jerry Schilling, Alan Fortas, Billy Smith and Marty Lacker, he was one of the superstar’s constant companions.

Many other relatives, friends, employees, confidantes and assorted “yes” men were also part of this entourage over the years. They served as bodyguards, girl-procurers, chauffeurs, drug sources, car buyers, sports-team members, road managers, juvenile pranksters and foils for Presley’s whims. Although few of them were actually paid salaries, they were rewarded with many lavish gifts. The press dubbed them “The Memphis Mafia” in 1962.

Unlike many of the others, Red West displayed other talents. He became a stunt man on the Nick Adams TV series The Rebel in 1959-61 and appeared in the 1965 Robert Conrad series The Wild, Wild West.

On the big screen, Red West took roles in Two for the Seesaw (1962), The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Walking Tall (1973). He also had small parts in many Presley films, such as Flaming Star (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), Viva Las Vegas (1964) and Live a Little, Love a Little (1968).

In addition, West co-wrote several of the star’s songs, including “Separate Ways” (1973), “If Every Day Was Like Christmas” (1966), “If You Think I Don’t Need You” (1972), “That’s Someone You Never Forget” (1967) and “If You Talk in Your Sleep” (1974).

West’s co-written “I’m a Fool” was recorded by both Rick Nelson and Dino, Desi & Billy, for whom it became a 1965 hit. His songs were also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis (“Set My Mind at Ease”), Pat Boone (“A Thousand Years”), Little Milton (“If You Talk in Your Sleep”), Johnny Burnette (“Big, Big World”) and others.

Presley’s father, Vernon Presley, fired Red West in 1976, supposedly as a cost-cutting measure. The following year, West co-wrote the first of the Presley “tell-all” books, Elvis: What Happened. This was the memoir that unveiled the superstar’s drug abuse. Presley died of drug complications two weeks after the book’s publication.

Red West’s acting career thrived in subsequent years. His later movie credits include the memorable Patrick Swayze feature Road House (1989), plus The Legend of Grizzly Adams (1990), Natural Born Killers (1994), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Cookie’s Fortune (1999), Glory Road (2006), The Rainmaker (1997), Forty Shades of Blue (2005) and the critically acclaimed Goodbye Solo (2008).

He also had recurring roles in the TV series “Black Sheep Squadron” (1976) and “The Duke” (1979). Over the years, West appeared on such TV shows as “The A-Team,” “Knight Rider,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza,” “Get Smart,”
“The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Fall Guy.”

Red West’s survivors include his wife of 56 years, Pat — who was one of Presley’s secretaries — and sons John and Brent.

MusicRowRecess: Lady Antebellum Takes On Sam Hunt In Latest Parody Video

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Lady Antebellum members Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood get silly in their latest video, parodying Sam Hunt‘s smash hit “Body Like A Back Road,” with the tune and video “Party In A Bathrobe.”

The good times roll in this spoof video, shot aboard a tour bus. Kelley and Haywood groove to a backing track of Hunt’s song, adding a new set of lyrics to the song, championing the benefits of living the bathrobe life on the road. The video includes two hashtags for the parody, including #2Blessed2bDressed and #ROBElife.

Past hits that Lady A has given the parody treatment include Easton Corbin’s “A Little More Country Than That,” and Lee Brice’s “Love Like Crazy.”

YouTube video

Industry Ink: Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum, TSA Precheck, ASCAP

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Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Poets and Prophets Series To Honor Sharon Vaughn

Sharon Vaughn

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum will feature Sharon Vaughn in the next installment of the museum’s special songwriter series, Poets and Prophets, to take place Saturday, Aug. 5, at 2 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater. Vaughn will perform briefly during the program. Following the program, she will sign commemorative posters from Hatch Show Print.

After moving to Nashville in 1969, she released a series of singles on labels including ABC/Dot.

Vaughn’s songwriting successes including “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” recorded by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, “Y’all Come Back Saloon” (the Oak Ridge Boys), “I’m Not That Lonely Yet” (Reba), “‘Til A Tear Becomes A Rose” (Lorrie Morgan/Keith Whitley), “Out Of My Bones” (Randy Travis) and more. In 2009, her song “Release Me,” recorded by Swedish singer Agnes, reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Poets and Prophets is included with museum admission and free to museum members. Seating is limited, and passes are required for admittance. Museum members can reserve program passes by phone (615-416-2050) or via e-mail (reservations@countrymusichalloffame.org). The program will be streamed live at www.countrymusichalloffame.org/.

 

Global Entry TSA Precheck Event Set For August

A Global Entry TSA Precheck event will be held Aug. 29-30 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Thompson Nashville, located at 401 11th Ave. S. in Nashville. To RSVP, contact 615-928-5980 or contact globalentry@appointmentgroup.com.

 

ASCAP Showcases Songwriters At Forecastle Festival

Jeffrey James

This year’s ASCAP Hours at Forecastle Festival, held July 14-16 in Louisville, Kentucky, showcased new Nashville rock bands *repeat repeat, Jeffrey James, and FARRO. The event, which marked ASCAP’s 4th annual sponsorship, was curated by ASCAP Associate Creative Director Evyn Mustoe.

Evyn Musto and Farro

*repeat repeat with ASCAP’s Evyn Mustoe (right)

Black River Entertainment’s Jacob Davis Surprises With Three New Tracks

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Jacob Davis. Photo: Chris Polk / Getty Images

Jacob Davis is offering fans more of the songs that make up his energetic live shows, by delivering three new tracks today (July 21) to streaming services and digital retailers.

“James Brown,” a horn-driven, Louisiana soul-infused celebration and a staple in his live shows, was penned by Davis along with Scott Stepakoff and Jason Gantt.

Davis turned to Forest Glen Whitehead and Matt Jenkins to co-write the song “Real Love.” “My inspiration is my wife, but this a song that everybody can relate too,” Davis says. “It’s basically saying ‘we’ve got a good thing…and we know we do.’”

He penned “Got Me Like” with Whitehead and Jim Collins. “We wrote ‘Got Me Like’ after picturing a guy walking down the street…grinning ear-to-ear because he was crazy about a girl,” Davis says. “You can almost hear him singing the hook and walking with some swagger, hiding his excitement from her but on display for the world to see. I love its vibe—just such a happy song which is appropriate I guess as I’m such a happy guy.”

Davis has performed the songs in concert while opening for artists including Kelsea Ballerini and Sam Hunt, and now he’s making them available for fans to hear offstage. The tracks follows Davis’ first single, “What I Wanna Be,” from his upcoming full-length debut album on Black River Entertainment.

Apple Commercial To Spotlight Brantley Gilbert

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Brantley Gilbert

Big Machine Label Group artist Brantley Gilbert has teamed with Apple for a new commercial spot aimed at letting music fans get to know the platinum-selling singer-songwriter a bit better. The clip was filmed over two days just outside of Nashville in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee.

Gilbert worked with film/video/advertising director Anthony Mandler on the commercial, which will air on NBC on Sunday, July 23, prior to the Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Gilbert will also perform at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 24th running of the race.

“I’ve never been one for commercials,” Gilbert says. “But when we started talking to the folks at Apple, they were saying, ‘We want to capture you, the way you live and the values you hold. We want people to see your world, show them what you hear and respond to. If they see you, it says everything.’”

“We’re always looking for the right moments to crystalize careers. Moments that represent the artist and the artistic vision. Apple Music’s vision for Brantley and his music aligned perfectly with his own,” says Big Machine Label Group President and CEO Scott Borchetta. “He represents so much more than even any single song; he’s emblematic of a slice of America that can’t be bought, or sold, or stopped. It’s heroic, and whomever we teamed with, the alliance needed to represent that.”

Gilbert’s career accolades include two back-to-back platinum albums, Halfway to Heaven and Just As I Am, as well as an ACM Award, and a CMA Triple Play Award.

Chase Rice Sets Sept. 29 Release Date For Broken Bow Records Album ‘Lambs & Lions’

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Chase Rice will release his first album at his new label home Broken Bow Records, titled Lambs & Lions, on Sept 29.

The album features production work from Jacquire King, Ross Copperman, Mac McAnally, and Chris DeStefano, who contributed production to Rice’s previous album Ignite The Night.

The 10-song project includes the single “Three Chords & The Truth,” which Rice co-wrote with Jon Nite and Copperman. The track stemmed from Rice’s disappointment following a second failed radio single, after having previously enjoyed two Top 5 singles.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever know the full reason why I had to struggle through two failed singles in a row after such an amazing start, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. God had my back the whole time, whether I knew it or not. Out of those failed singles I got ‘Three Chords & The Truth.’ I was fed up with trying; whether that was trying to be something I’m not, trying to make music that people said I should make or trying to make music I felt people wanted to hear. Instead I decided I’m going to make music that I needed to hear. When you go through tough times the truth always has a way of finding its way to you. This song was my truth. It’s the soul of my childhood, the songs that went along with it and the memories associated with those songs. It’s my heart waiting to be heard, and the songs that shaped it, especially in the third chorus,” divulges Rice.

Lambs & Lions Track Listing:

“Lions” (Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Chase Rice)
“On Tonight” (Jessie Jo Dillon, Chase McGill, Jon Nite)
“Unforgettable” (Chase Rice, Josh Miller, Steven Lee Olson, David Garcia)
“Eyes On You” (Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Chase Rice)
“Saved Me” (MCV, Josh Hoge, Chase Rice)
“One Love, One Kiss, One Drink, One Song” (Jesse Rice, Chase Rice)
“Jack Daniel’s Showed Up” (Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Chase Rice)
“Three Chords & The Truth” (Chase Rice, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite)
“Amen” (Rodney Clawson, Jamie Moore)
“This Cowboy’s Hat” featuring Ned LeDoux (Jake Brooks)

Artist Action: Shania Twain, Old Dominion, Kip Moore, Carly Pearce

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Shania Twain Releases “Poor Me” Today

Shania Twain has released a new single, “Poor Me,” today (July 21), a new track from her upcoming album, NOW. Shania recently released the full deluxe track listing for the upcoming Sep. 29 release to fans. An accompanying lyric video for “Poor Me” has also been released and can be viewed here.

 

Old Dominion Goes “Shoe Shopping”

Old Dominion is offering up an instant grat track, “Shoe Shopping,” today for those who pre-order the band’s anticipated sophomore outing, Happy Endings, which will release on Aug. 25. “Shoe Shopping” is Old Dominion’s third instant download available with pre-order of the album, along with “Written in the Sand” and “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart.” “Shoe Shopping” is now available to stream with “Written in the Sand” on Amazon Music Unlimited, while “No Such Thing as a Broken Heart” is available on both Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music. The band has given their fans an unexpected music video for “Shoe Shopping” premiering worldwide today, and for the next 48 hours, exclusively on Amazon Music.

 

Kip Moore Unveils ‘SLOWHEART’ Cover

Kip Moore has revealed the cover for his upcoming third studio album SLOWHEART, available Sept. 8.  Moore was inspired to name the release after his fiercely loyal fans who have adopted the name SLOWHEART themselves, and revealed the new cover image, which was taken in Costa Rica during Kip’s extended break earlier this year, on social media.

“My former guitar player called me a ‘slowheart’ many years ago, claiming I don’t just jump the gun and show all my cards or my emotions on what I truly feel,” said Moore. “He always said ‘you’re a slowheart, man…you observe before you act.’ I eventually named the band the slowhearts, and my fans are the slowhearts too. And so, its only fitting that the record I’ve been waiting to make, was named SLOWHEART.”

 

Carly Pearce Releases ‘Every Little Thing’ Video

Carly Pearce has just released a new video for her song “Every Little Thing.” She is the only solo female in the Top 20 on the country charts for the second week in a row, and “Every Little Thing” went No. 1 on SiriusXM The Highway and has over 4.4 million Spotify streams.

YouTube video

Caroline Jones’ New Country EP ‘Bare Feet’ Set For August Release

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Indie artist Caroline Jones will release her new six-song country EP Bare Feet on Aug. 25. The project was co-produced by Jones with Ric Wake (who has worked with Trisha Yearwood, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston), and features the single “Tough Guys,” which spent five weeks at No. 1 on CMT’s 12 Pack Countdown and reached the Top 20 on SiriusXM’s The Highway. Jones penned all of the EP’s songs and played all of the instruments (guitar, banjo, harmonica, keyboards, and lap steel) on the record with the exception of bass and drums.

The pre-order is available now on iTunes HERE.

Jones also hosts her own SiriusXM radio show “Art & Soul,” which airs bi-monthly on The Coffee House channel and delves inside the art of songwriting with guest singer/songwriters including Natalie Hemby, Regina Spektor, James Bay, and Steve Cropper.

Throughout the fall, she will continue touring with the Zac Brown Band on their Welcome Home Tour, and will also perform at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville as a part of WME’s “Speakeasy” showcase on Aug. 16.

BARE FEET TRACK LIST:
“The Difference (Goshdamn)”
“Rise (Sing it Loud)”
“Bare Feet”
“Country Girl”
“Tough Guys”
“Worth the Wait”