DISClaimer Single Reviews: Mitchell Tenpenny Shows His Star-Making Potential

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Mitchell Tenpenny. Photo: Matthew Berinato

The listening highlights were sparse today in DISClaimer.

To be sure, there is a lot of competent music making at play in this stack of sounds. But as for real excitement, only a few created it.

The best of the batch are Jenny Tolman, Niko Moon, Jake Hoot and our Disc of the Day winner, Mitchell Tenpenny.

The DISCovery Award goes to the already TV-famous Chayce Beckham.

CHAYCE BECKHAM / “Doin’ It Right”
Writers: Andy Albert/Chayce Beckham/Lindsay Rimes; Producers: Lindsay Rimes/Ross Copperman; Label: Wheelhouse/BBR
–The reigning American Idol champ introduces the title tune of his EP with style. His vocal warmth and hidden power are bolstered by a chiming production on this mid-tempo banger. Confidence, professionalism and passion are the hallmarks here.

NIKO MOON / “Easy Tonight”
Writers: Niko Moon/Patrick Davis/Wyatt Durette/Levi Lowery/Kevin Mac/Anna Moon/Joshua Murty; Producers: Niko Moon/Joshua Murty; Label: RCA
–A summer groove, for sure. Electronic finger snaps, twang guitar, light percussion thumps and a mellow vocal delivery are all mighty attractive. With seven writers listed, I’m guessing somebody is getting a free ride.

JENNY TOLMAN / “Married in a Honky Tonk”
Writers: Dave Brainard/Jenny Tolman/Bill Whyte; Producer: Dave Brainard; Label: Old Sol
–This has just about everything going for it: Witty lyrics, country-rock sparks, personality vocals, kickin’ production. For sheer unadulterated talent, this lady stands head and shoulders above her country-music peers. And in a case of life imitating art, Tolman and producer Brainard were married last month in Jackson, Wyoming, which is where she shot this tune’s video.

MITCHELL TENPENNY / “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades”
Writers: Dallas Wilson/James Mitchell Tenpenny; Producer: Mitchell Tenpenny/Jordan M. Schmidt; Label: Sony
–Audio charisma that’s so strong you can feel it in your bones. His feathery vocal performance ranges from a whisper to a scream while the big production crashes like waves around him. A star-maker of a single.

JAKE HOOT & BRITTNEY HOOT / “Wherever Time Goes”
Writers: Jake Hoot/Houston Phillips/Michael Farren; Producer: Danny Myrick; Label: ONErpm
–The giant winner of The Voice has a gigantic voice to match his stature. The surprise is that his wife can vocally hold her own harmonizing with his massive power. Together, they make this super romantic ballad an electrifying listening experience.

DOLLY PARTON / “Woman Up”
Writer: Dolly Parton; Producers: Dolly Parton/Richard Dennison/Tom Rutledge; Label: Butterfly
–Dolly’s mystery-thriller novel Run Rose Run (with James Patterson) continues to dominate the fiction best-seller lists in its second month of release. Its soundtrack album features this feisty feminist county rocker that is shot through with her one-of-a-kind personality. A fun frolic.

KRISTIAN BUSH / “Everybody Gotta Go Home”
Writers: Kristian Bush/Taylor Davis/Steve Bogard; Producer: Kristian Bush; Label: Big Machine
–This is the lead-off track on Bush’s new album. Before he was in Sugarland, the singer-songwriter was in the folk-pop act Billy Pilgrim and the rock jam band Dark Water. His eclectic musical nature is on full display here as the country-pop ditty is punctuated with R&B horns, rock percussion and cheerleader backing vocals.

BILLY RAY CYRUS, SNOOP DOGG & THE AVILA BROTHERS / “A Hard Working Man”
Writers: Bobby Ross/IZ Avila/Billy Ray Cyrus/C Broadus; Producer: The Avila Brothers; Label: Avila Brothers/BMG
–Complete, thorough and unremitting audio junk.

ADAM HOOD / “Business With Jesus”
Writers: Adam Hood/Pat McLaughlin; Producer: Brent Cobb; Label: Southern Songs
–Hood has songwriting credentials to spare, with cuts by Miranda, Cody Jinks, The Oaks, Travis Tritt, Whiskey Myers, LBT, Lee Ann Womack, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Anderson East, Frankie Ballard and Drake White, among others. This Dixie-fried band bopper has a groove-soaked, funky backbeat that is wildly infectious.

THOMPSON SQUARE / “Country In My Soul”
Writers: Lainey Wilson/Daniel Ross/James McNair; Producers: Mickey Jack Cones/Derek George; Label: Quartz Hill
–The husband-wife duo returns following a long silence with this strongly sung rocker. I just wish the song was stronger and the production was more imaginative.

KAMARA THOMAS / “No Peace at Appomatox”
Writers: none listed; Producer: none listed; Label: KT
–The Kamara Thomas album Tularosa: An American Dreamtime is a song cycle about the American West. In tandem with the record, she’ll have a summer residency at the Santa Fe Arts Institute and a two-year teaching fellowship at Princeton beginning in the fall. On this draggy, borderline-irritating track from the collection, she applies a sleepy, languid vocal delivery to an atmospheric folkie/acoustic track with a meandering melody.

LEVI HUMMON / “For Me”
Writers: Levi Hummon/Trannie Anderson/Jimmy Robbins; Producers: Eric Arjes/Jimmy Robbins; Label: LH
–This is a piano ballad about aspiring to improve and trying to find the better angel inside so that you can be worthy of her love. Nicely done.

On The Cover: Jason Aldean Graces Cover Of MusicRow Magazine’s 2022 InCharge Issue

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MusicRow, Nashville’s leading music industry trade publication, is proud to announce the 2022 release of its flagship print directory, InCharge. Multi-Platinum entertainer and country mainstay, Jason Aldean, graces its cover.

Over the past 16 years, Aldean has released nine studio albums and bolstered 26 No. 1s, 15 billion streams, and over 20 million albums sold. With his tenth studio project—a double-album titled Macon, Georgia—releasing on April 22, Aldean is gearing up to take the road this summer on his “Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour.” The trek will launch on July 15 in Scranton, Pennsylvania and will span 34 cities.

MusicRow‘s InCharge issue highlights some of the most influential music industry executives in the Nashville entertainment community. This year’s edition includes 381 profiles which are accompanied by contact information, career biographies, and detailed board and organizational membership affiliations.

This annual guide also includes a company appendix, record label staff appendix, and a professional categories appendix, which lists executives by their areas of expertise, including label, talent agency, management, music publishing, legal, finance, performing rights organizations and more.

“Our industry is filled with both opportunities and challenges. The leaders featured in this publication are able to identify and navigate both successfully while guiding the industry forward. From the restructuring of distribution channels due to changing technology, to unexpected hardships created by a pandemic, these executives champion and lead our industry through triumph and evolution,” says MusicRow Owner/Publisher, Sherod Robertson.

In this issue of InCharge, MusicRow also takes a deep dive into the world of the metaverse as it becomes more and more buzzworthy in our culture. Tracing the journey that its cutting-edge technology has taken so far, this article also looks ahead to potential uses pertaining specifically to the music industry and opportunities that the metaverse may offer in the years to come.

Single copies of MusicRow’s 2022 InCharge issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $110, and are included with yearly MusicRow memberships.

My Music Row Story: Fusion Music’s Daniel Miller

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Daniel Miller

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

 

This edition of “My Music Row Story” is sponsored by Worldwide Stages.

 

Daniel Miller is Managing Partner of Fusion Music where he and his team guide the careers of Martina McBride, Riley Green, Lily Rose, Cassadee Pope, Laine Hardy, and pop artist Jeffrey James. Miller, who has 20-plus years of management experience, opened Fusion Music in 2013 and aligned with Red Light in 2014. In 2015, he was named to the MTSU College of Media and Entertainment Wall of Fame, and has served as an adjunct professor there.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? How did you get into the music business?

It’s hard to believe that this August will mark 25 years from when I moved here. I grew up on a small family farm in rural Missouri. My only exposure to the outside world was the local country radio station and the three or four TV channels our antenna would pick up. I was a finance and banking major at the University of Missouri in the early ’90s when I made friends with the owner of the local country nightclub who managed a band out of Nashville. I soon transferred to MTSU for their Recording Industry Management program. On the day I moved, my mom took me to lunch at the old Shoney’s on Demonbreun and said, “I have no idea what you’re about to do, but I know you’ll figure it out.”

Pictured (L-R): Chris Ferren (Fusion Music), Martina McBride, Daniel Miller at ACM Honors in 2019

Take me through your career journey thus far.

I had only been at MTSU a few weeks when I had the chance to volunteer for the radio remotes at the 1997 CMA Awards. I met Wes Vause, who eventually got tired of me badgering him over email and introduced me to Schatzi Hageman. They ran their independent PR firms out of a shared office space and gave me my first opportunity to learn the business. It’s hard to even remember how we got so much done without Internet access or cell phones back then, but we did.

After graduating from MTSU, I took a position with Simon Renshaw’s management company handling ticketing for the Dixie Chicks 2000 “Fly Tour.” Later that year, I moved over to Borman Entertainment in the middle of the first Tim McGraw and Faith Hill “Soul2Soul Tour,” assisting the great, late Joni Foraker. I spent the next 13 years there working in various support positions. In 2007, Lady A walked in the door and that was my first real shot at being an overzealous day-to-day manager. Gary Borman was a brilliant visionary to learn from.

When did you start your own company?

In the summer of 2013, I was convinced it was time to step out on my own, so I created Fusion Music. It was the wrong time, and I made every mistake imaginable, but no one could have convinced me otherwise. I quickly found out what I knew and mostly what I didn’t. Six months into it, Coran Capshaw extended the opportunity to partner with Red Light Management. His knowledge and intuition are highly underrated and Red Light gave us a place to incubate our business. We still work with them across all our artist projects.

Today our roster includes Martina McBride, Riley Green, Lily Rose, Cassadee Pope, Laine Hardy, and developing pop artist, Jeffrey James. My original business plan had a concept for content development but aside from a couple TV production credits, it didn’t pan out as I had hoped…until now. We recently started consulting on brand direction for The Morning Hangover, and have begun looking at unscripted TV concepts. We’re also about to start construction on a content studio adjacent to our new office in Berry Hill.

Pictured (L-R): Dylan McGraw (Fusion Music), Daniel Miller, Lily Rose, Daira Eamon (Lily Rose fiance), Lexi Howder (OH Creative) at the 2022 ACM Awards

We’re not the biggest or flashiest—nor will we ever be—and I’m fiercely protective of our team and the culture we’ve built. Chris Ferren was our first intern eight years ago, and he was recently elevated to VP of Artist & Business Development. He, Nicholas Garvin, Danielle Broome, Dylan McGraw, our co-managers and the extended management team we work with are relentless in finding the best opportunities we can to set our artists up for success.

When did Martina join the roster? How did you two come together?

We met with Martina in the fall of 2015 and I told her, “I know your catalog. I know your career.” Working with an iconic artist was a bucket list dream of mine and over the past six years, we have worked to build upon her incredible catalog and touring history.

You have several artists who are owning their own lane such as Lily Rose and Riley Green. What would you say is the ticket to developing a new artist who is different from your ordinary country artist?

It’s important to me that each of our artists have a unique career path and none are too similar or in direct competition with another. We don’t commit to a client relationship unless we can make a significant difference. The vision is ultimately theirs and we work to surround them with the resources needed to reach their goals. Then we move the goalpost. The secret recipe lies within the artists themselves, whether they know it at first or not.

I don’t think this is unique to us, but we look closely at each artist’s life—from childhood to the present moment—and try to understand their values and what motivates them. The superstar armor comes off at the door and we work as partners to create the most authentic connection between who they are and what they sing about. That’s easier said than done.

Pictured (L-R): Daniel Miller, Riley Green, RAC Clark, Zach Sutton (Red Light Management)

Riley Green knows his brand with laser-sharp precision and is a natural-born entertainer. He already had an incredibly passionate team around him when we came on board a few years ago. Our focus has been to show how who he is off stage informs the lyrics in his songs.

WME brought Lily Rose to us. I was not familiar with her music yet and until then had refused to use TikTok or take artists emerging from the platform seriously. She showed me how wrong I was. Her progressive approach challenges us to find a unique cross-section of fans influenced by a completely different generation of music and her fans are unconcerned with the genre confines.

What is something people might not know about what you do?

Philanthropic work is required of the team and expected of our artists. We owe our privilege and success to society whenever possible. The Academy of Country Music gave me an opportunity to serve on their board of directors a few years ago and I quickly learned more about ACM Lifting Lives and the significant impact it makes on our community and countless other benefactors. After witnessing the insurmountable reach of their COVID-19 Response Fund, I was honored to accept a leadership position on Lifting Lives’ board of directors.

When do you feel most fulfilled in your role?

We encourage all our artists to be completely unrealistic with their dreams and then we try our damnedest to bring them to life.  Every big “first”—single release, album release, or tour—is uniquely special. Nothing is more magical than standing at front of house for the top of a big show and hearing the thunderous crowd respond to an artist’s entrance onto the stage. That beats any amount of money you could ever earn.

My other passion is mentoring people up. I had the great privilege to be an adjunct professor for a few semesters at MTSU and loved sharing our daily experience with excited young students. After my time is done on Music Row, I hope to bore students with my stories.

Pictured (L-R): Daniel Miller, Cassadee Pope, Shannon Radel (Rising Star Travel)

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Don’t go bankrupt buying your own hype.

Who are some of your mentors?

I was raised by strong, independent women so it’s not surprising that my mentors are also. Schatzi Hageman, Karen Krattinger, JoAnn Burnside, Joni Foraker, Donna Jean Kisshauer, and Sandra Westerman gave me opportunities I didn’t deserve and taught me the business. Ed Hardy, Joe Galante, Clarence Spalding and Paul Worley have been incredible resources over the years.

If you could change anything about the Nashville music industry, what would it be?

We have a songwriting community in Nashville like none other in the world but can’t find a way to properly pay them for their works that fuel the entire industry.

What is one of your favorite experiences in the industry that you will share for the rest of your life?

This job isn’t real life. Most of the world works a whole lot harder for much less money. We have been fortunate enough to have artists tour the world and it is overwhelming when an audience in a foreign country sings back every word of their songs.

John Esposito Reportedly Transitioning To Chairman Emeritus At Warner Music Nashville

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John Esposito. Photo: Eric Brown

According to reports, Warner Music Nashville’s John “Espo” Esposito will be transitioning from Chairman/CEO to Chairman Emeritus beginning in early 2023. The news was originally published by Billboard. Warner Music Nashville has not confirmed with MusicRow despite multiple attempts.

In his emeritus role, Esposito will likely remain involved in strategy and long-range planning, as well as serve in an advisory role.

As noted by Billboard, it is expected that either Ben Kline and Cris Lacy will take over running the day-to-day running of the company in a phased transition. In 2019, Kline was elevated to Executive VP/General Manager and Lacy to Executive VP/A&R.

Esposito took over operations at WMN in 2009 after seven years at WEA Corp. where he served as President/CEO of WMG’s sales and marketing division. In 2019, Esposito also signed a new multi-year contract with the company.

WMN’s roster includes Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Dan + Shay, Chris Janson, Ashley McBryde, Cole Swindell, Brett Eldredge and Gabby Barrett, among others.

This story is developing…

Eric Church Reclaims Top Spot On The MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

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Eric Church. Photo: Joe Pugliese

Eric Church moves into the top spot on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart with his current single “Heart On Fire,” of which he is the sole writer.

Because he is the only writer on “Heart On Fire,” all of the points earned from the song’s airplay, digital download track sales, and streams go entirely to Church on the Songwriter Chart.

Shane McAnally falls to No. 2 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart. He has five charting songs, including Old Dominion’s “No Hard Feelings,” Kenny Chesney’s “Everyone She Knows,” Walker Hayes’ “AA,” Sam Hunt’s “23,” and Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde’s “Never Wanted To Be That Girl.”

Ashley Gorley (No. 3), Ben Johnson (No. 4) and Michael Hardy (No. 5) round out the top five this week.

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital download track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.

Garth Takes Show ‘Off The Rails’ At Nissan Stadium

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Garth Brooks returns to Nissan Stadium on Friday, April 15, 2022. Photo: MusicRow

Garth Brooks returned to Nashville this weekend after his original July 31 stop at Nissan Stadium was postponed due to bad weather and then later, cancelled due to the rise of Covid-19 cases at that time.

His return to Nashville included two shows, packing the stadium each night, on Friday (4/15) and Saturday (4/16) with the Friday night show only being announced three weeks ago.

On Friday night, Brooks was quick to confess he was taking this show “off the rails” with an unplanned and unscripted show. And in a way that only Brooks can do, he was able to immediately connect with fans on a one-on-one and personal level despite performing a stadium show.

Early into Friday’s performance, Brooks talked directly to people in the audience who were holding up signs and messages for the iconic singer. He added, “This is like request night. I like this!”

In March 2019, he launched The Stadium Tour, which has consistently broken stadium attendance records. Brooks confessed that the night was about being grateful and shared that the 2-night visit to Music City was bringing a record 71,000 fans together that weekend.

Garth Brooks returns to Nissan Stadium on Friday, April 15, 2022. Photo: MusicRow

“We’re going to treat this less like a concert and more like a party,” proclaimed Brooks and the fans were there for it.

Among his many hits played during his two-hour set, he performed many fan-favorites including Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Fishin’ in the Dark,” Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “The Thunder Rolls,” “Rodeo,” “The River,” and many others.

An emotionally charged Brooks professed, “This will be a night I never forget,” before performing his Billy Joel penned tune, “Shameless.” The thunderous ovation led him to praise the Friday night crowd by instructing them to tell anyone they knew that was coming to the next day’s show, “They better pack their fucking lunch if they’re going to beat this crowd here!”

That fueled the exuberant fans to an even higher escalation confirming Brooks wasn’t lying.

Garth Brooks returns to Nissan Stadium on Friday, April 15, 2022. Photo: MusicRow

Earlier this month, Brooks announced he will open a new entertainment concept and bar in Nashville at 411 Broadway and will take over a 3-story, 40,000+ square foot property that he purchased in December of last year. He gave a subtle nod to that announcement on Friday by introducing his 1990 hit, “Friends in Low Places,” saying, “Let’s see if we can play a song that may be the name of a bar.”

He played his proclaimed favorite song “The Dance,” written by Tony Arata, which is from his self-titled debut album, before offering an acoustic encore with just him and a guitar. During the encore, he sought out fans holding signs asking him to play particular songs and spoke directly to them before performing it.

He then made reference to a very young kid holding up a sign that read, “Shallow.”

After singing the first verse of the song, originally performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper from the movie A Star Is Born, the full band returned to the stage, and so did his wife and country music artist Trisha Yearwood to join him on the duet. The enthusiastic crowd convinced her to stay for another song and she did, with a flawless performance of “Walkaway Joe.”

Brooks is the first and only artist in history to receive nine Diamond Awards for the now nine Diamond-certified albums at over 10 million album sales each. And this night was evidence of why he remains the No. 1 selling solo artist in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA with over 157 million album sales.

For the last song of the evening, the country superstar performed “Standing Outside The Fire,” which perhaps embodies the inspiration we all needed to hear that night after having come through the storms of a pandemic… life is not tried, it is merely survived, if you’re standing outside the fire.

Garth Brooks returns to Nissan Stadium on Friday, April 15, 2022. Photo: MusicRow

The following evening, Brooks created an Opry celebration to open his Saturday (4/16) Nissan Stadium show.

Opry members Lauren Alaina, Larry Gatlin, Jeannie Seely, Trisha Yearwood, Chris Young, and special guest Chase Rice all performed, and WSM Radio personality Bill Cody served as announcer.

Young opened the show with his hit “Gettin’ You Home” before stepping into a host role and welcoming Rice to the stage for two songs. Yearwood performed her smash debut single “She’s in Love with The Boy” and was joined by Alaina, who she officially inducted into the Opry in February.

Young and Brooks collaborated on Brooks’ smash “Papa Loved Mama” before everyone including, Gatlin and Seely, gathered on stage to sing the Opry anthem “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”

As the performers took the stage at Nissan Stadium, the Grand Ole Opry simultaneously took place at the Opry House and was heard around the world on WSM Radio and online with performances by Opry members John Conlee, Carrie Underwood, Sam Williams, and more.

Eric Paslay: ‘I’ve Always Considered Being A Songwriter & Being An Artist The Same Thing’ [Interview]

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Eric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb

Platinum-selling, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Eric Paslay has been a familiar face in the Nashville songwriter and artist community for many years.

Since his first No. 1, Jake Owen‘s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” topped the charts in 2011, Paslay has had a hand in writing some of Nashville’s biggest hits, including Eli Young Band‘s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” Charles Kelley‘s “The Driver,” Rascal Flatts‘ “Rewind,” Love & Theft‘s “Angel Eyes,” and Keith Urban‘s “Wild Hearts,” among countless others. He’s also had success as an artist with songs such as 2014’s “Friday Night” and “She Don’t Love You.”

Now, as an independent artist, Paslay is putting his own spin on some of his biggest hits as he releases the third and final installment of Even If It Breaks Your Barefoot Friday Night. The project marks the first time he has recorded many of the songs made famous by his contemporaries, and also features some of his own tunes revisited.

With a busy spring ahead of him as he gears up for a trek across the UK with The Shires and the third release in his cutting-edge NFT series, Paslay recently caught up with MusicRow to discuss his new projects, upcoming plans, and his outlook on being a true singer-songwriter.

MusicRow: How did you first get into writing? When did you know that’s what you wanted to do professionally?

I grew up in Texas loving music and I’ve always been drawn to songs. I always thought that every singer wrote what they sang, so if I wanted to be a singer, I thought I needed to write songs. At 15, I got my first guitar and started writing, which led people to say, “Oh, you can sing and you can write songs? You could pull a Willie Nelson and have other people record your music.”

To me, though, I just pictured being a singer and a writer as the same thing. From the moment I started creating music, playing and performing, I’ve just written and have gotten really lucky that other people have recorded my songs.

When did you first get to Nashville and really immerse yourself into the songwriting world?

I moved to Murfreesboro in 2003 and finished up school for music business at MTSU. Brian Gowen was a guy that lived in my hometown that had a deal on Curb and his wife worked for DreamWorks. They were my inside look into realizing that this is a hard business, but [they told me] that I was really good at singing and writing. They encouraged me to find a reason to stick around.

Eric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb

I went to school for music business so that way if I was on the creative side, that’s great, but if I’m not, then I would still be working with music. I was trying to find any way that I could stick around and it worked out that I got to sing and write.

A fun thing that people don’t know is that I actually had a record deal before I ever had a cut. I was signed to Capitol before I ever had a song recorded, which is crazy. “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” went No. 1 before I had “Friday Night” go No. 1. Most people think I rode the coattails of being a songwriter, but I actually had a record deal first.

You’re about to release the third installment of Even If It Breaks Your Barefoot Friday Night. What made you want to embark on this project and put your own spin on these songs?

Thanks to Jake [Owen], Eli Young Band, Rascal Flatts, Love & Theft and Charles [Kelley], I know how much goes into getting a song to No. 1. It takes hard work, luck, the stars, God, and everything else lining up at once—and a pocket book.

I get to play five No. 1s every night, and fans of mine have always asked, “Why don’t you record a studio version of ‘Barefoot’ or ‘Breaks Your Heart’?” I just decided to do it. The timing was now and I was able to legally re-record songs that I’ve recorded in the past. It sounded like a challenge, too. I play those songs the same way every night so I wanted to see if I could change it up a little bit. Mitch Furr, who produced the album, did amazing. He’s incredibly talented. I love him, I love the project, and I love how all the songs turned out. We didn’t recreate them too much but we didn’t copy them exactly either.

Do you consider yourself an artist or a songwriter first?

I’ve never considered them separate. I feel like I can get stuck in the, “You’re such a great songwriter. Oh, you sing too? That’s great! Anyway, what about your songs?” I’ve had hits as a singer, but I’ve always considered being a songwriter and being an artist the same thing. If you’re a singer, you’ve got to have something to sing, and I definitely put my time into trying to be as good of a writer as I can be.

People ask, “Man, why didn’t you cut ‘Barefoot?’” But the reality is that even if I did, and I recorded the exact same way with the exact same voice, it still might not have been heard because the stars didn’t line up. Maybe the team wouldn’t have been right or who knows. I mean, Lady A cut “Friday Night” and that was never singled, but I did and it worked out.

Youtube video

You’ve started releasing your own series of NFTs, the last of which comes out April 20. What do you think the future of that endeavor looks like?

It’s been really cool learning about that. With blockchain technology, the most simple way I can say it is that it’s an undeniable receipt. In the world of music, with ticket sales and all of that, I’m looking at mine as the never ending ticket.

With the first one, there were 100 of them. It’s $25 for private concerts from me. It’s the cheapest, best ticket I’ve ever sold. In a way, they’re a fan club. I’m trying to add never ending value to that and, hopefully, it’s worth a whole lot of money someday but no one will ever want to sell it because it’s too much fun to be in the club.

For the second one that we did, I built 10 lights out of antique string ball holders and used the black walnut base from a tree that fell from a tornado that hit us a couple years back. I actually gave one of them away and auctioned off the other nine.

Eric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb

With the third NFT drop, which is ridiculous and I’m probably way ahead of legal things and losing a fortune, I’ll be the first country artist to ever sell parts of my album. We’re auctioning off 10% of the net profits from the album. There’ll be 10 of those so people are literally getting an album with five guaranteed No. 1, two Grammy-nominated songs, a couple of CMA nominated ones and a couple ACM nominated ones.

Are there any plans for new music from you as an artist in the works? Is that something you’re interested in?

We’re already working on music before this one’s even been released. I’m definitely in the mindset of create, create, release, release while I’m able to do that independently. I don’t have a deal on a major right now, but if that occurs, I know that it’s more difficult to put out music, so right now I’m building a catalog of released music.

It’s fun because I keep my head down, write, and go perform. Last week I wrote with Charles and Dave [Haywood] from Lady A and Corey Crowder. We wrote an amazing song. That day I was writing with Lady A in mind, but if they don’t want to record it, then maybe I’ll record it someday or [someone else will.] That’s where the magic is. I love being able to create because there’s endless possibilities for a song. It has forever to be heard. In 200 years some kid on Mars might hear my song and go, “Wow, what an amazing song.” I love music because of that. I love getting to create it, whether I’m recording it or writing it.

Walker Hayes Earns Second MusicRow No. 1

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Walker Hayes. Photo: Robert Chavers.

Bouncing off the success of “Fancy Like,” Walker Hayes earns his second MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart No. 1 with “AA.” The single was penned by Hayes alongside Shane McAnally and Luke Laird, and produced by “Fancy Like” collaborator Joe Thibodeau.

“At the end of the day, we are all just doing the best we can,” Hayes says of the track, “and what I really mean to say with this song is just that I’m trying to stay the course. I’ve struggled with alcohol abuse and sometimes I wish I didn’t need AA, but I do. I think a lot of people can relate to that. I’m just trying to be the best dad and husband I can be. It’s not easy all the time, but my wife smiles a lot and my kids are growing up with more than I had, and that’s a really good thing.”

Hayes currently sits at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, No. 13 on the Mediabase chart, and No. 14 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart with “AA.”

His “Fancy Like” Tour will wrap on April 30 in Louisville, Kentucky after a stop at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on April 29.

Click here to view the latest edition of The MusicRow Weekly containing the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart.

Now Open: Applications For MusicRow’s 2022 Annual Artist Roster Issue

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Applications for MusicRow‘s upcoming Artist Roster print issue are now being accepted through Friday, April 22, 2022 with the official form below. Previously included companies will be solicited separately.

This ultimate artist resource book includes the Artist Roster company directory, featuring contact information and artist rosters for Nashville record labels, managers, publicists, lawyers, talent agents, publicity and artist services companies (business managers, digital music, legal, marketing, radio promotion, and organizations).

Applications for Artist Roster 2022 are now closed.

For advertising opportunities in the Artist Roster print issue, email Sherod Robertson at srobertson@musicrow.com. Rate card information is available here. For questions regarding directory, please email LB Cantrell at lbcantrell@musicrow.com.

My Music Row Story: Essential Broadcast Media’s Ebie McFarland

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Ebie McFarland. Photo: Jon Paul Bruno

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Raised just 90 miles outside of Nashville in the small town of Waverly, Tennessee, Ebie McFarland, a Vanderbilt University grad, founded award-winning PR company Essential Broadcast Media, LLC in 2007. Since then, she has helped launch the careers of critically acclaimed artists such as Ashley McBryde, Caitlyn Smith and Whiskey Myers, as well as earned the trust of discriminating artists such as George Strait, Kenny Chesney and Eric Church. She has retained longtime clients such as Ryman Hospitality, Darius Rucker and Hootie & the Blowfish, further reinforcing McFarland and her team understand and execute the growing importance of telling one’s story with passion, grit and perseverance.

In addition to being a publicist and owner of Essential Broadcast Media, McFarland is highly involved in various organizations. She is Vice President of the ACM Board of Directors, and sits on the CMA Board of Directors, the ACM Lifting Lives Board, the Vanderbilt University Project on Unity and American Democracy Advisory Board, and the Millions of Conversations Advisory Council. She has been honored as part of Nashville Business Journal‘s 40 Under 40 list (2012), MusicRow’s Rising Women on the Row (2014), the CMA SRO Publicist of the Year (2015), CMA Publicist of the Year (2017, 2019), and with the Nashville Business Journal‘s Women in Music Award (2017).

Ebie alongside management with clients Kenny Chesney and Michael Franti at SoFi Stadium. Photo: Allister Ann

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? How did you get into music?

I grew up in Waverly, Tennessee. It’s an hour and a half west of Nashville. That’s why I ended up executive producing the Loretta Lynn “Hometown Rising” benefit concert, because that was my hometown that flooded last year. Until she retired, my mom was a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She and my dad met while camping and going to art experiences in Kentucky, years and years ago. My dad was always a painter, but grew up up on Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, and The Rolling Stones. I don’t remember this, but my first concert was Talking Heads when I was two years old. The first concert I really remember was Jon Bon Jovi.

I graduated high school in ’99 and went to Vanderbilt University. They did not have a music program at that time, so I did a bachelor of science. I have a cognitive studies major and a child development and women’s studies minor. It comes in handy working with artists because the best ones are a little crazy. Understanding and getting to the root of the origin story is probably the most exhilarating part of my job. If it is Ashley McBryde and “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” and that moment that fueled that chip on her shoulder. If it’s anything Eric Church offers up, I always feel like there’s a “why” with him. In working with new artists, like Caitlyn Smith and Walker Hayes, it’s understanding what stories to lean into that really connect and having that conversation with them that helps drill that down.

What happened after graduation?

I started working entry level at a PR firm that’s now defunct. I was at Webster & Associates for four years. I made $8 an hour so I also worked at a tanning bed and I bartended on weekends. I remember not being paid until every other week from one of the jobs and having to put an IOU for toilet paper [so I could take some] home until I could buy toilet paper and then pay them back. (Laughs)

It was dark days in PR early on. Even around the holidays, you weren’t guaranteed to make your paycheck because so many artists took the holidays off and it wasn’t tour season. I remember the looming threat from my boss at the time was, “We’ll see if we can keep the lights on this Christmas or if we need to light more candles.”

Pictured: Team Ashley McBryde at the Ryman after one of her AIMP wins. Selfie courtesy of Ashley McBryde.

You started your own PR firm in 2007. How did that come to be?

It’s truly a 10 year town. I started my company in 2007. Darius Rucker had signed with UMG and he was doing a “Hootie Homegrown Tour.” [At the time] I had all the rock acts. I had Sister Hazel, Hootie & the Blowfish, Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, and Hank Jr. When I found out Darius had signed, I started thinking it might be a good time to go out and super-service one or two clients and try to do this on my own. So I started the company when I was 26 years old. I very naively thought, “I can do this.”

I’m glad I bet on myself, but at the same time, when you have mentors helping you along the way, you learn so much faster. I’m super grateful for the mentors that were and still are there for me, including Doc McGhee and Joe Galante. I’m very fortunate, looking back, on the people that took time out of their days to help me.

How did you grow your roster from there?

After working with Darius for a few years, I started working with other management firms. I started working with Q Prime on Little Big Town. They left and went to Jason Owen, so Q Prime asked if I could work on Eric Church on the Carolina record. So Eric was my next big one as far as signing, and somebody that I’ve been with the longest. I started working with George Strait in 2012, ahead of Cowboy Rides Away, and did everything from the strategy on the announcement through the two-year tour into Vegas, then subsequently these stadium shows that he’s doing. I’ve been with George for 10 years now, and Kenny Chesney since 2014. I started working with Caitlyn Smith and Chase Rice around then, too.

I had been working with Miranda [Lambert] on the touring side for a few years, so I was very honored when she called. That’s a big change anytime an established artist makes a PR change. I thought I was going over to the office to talk about the tour, and I sat down with her and Marion [Kraft] and [they asked me to do] Palomino and everything from Miranda, with Mutt Nation, the forthcoming announcements that she has, and strategizing the Las Vegas announcements. It’s been a blessing to work with so many in-charge people who know who they are and know what they stand for. They know what they want to do.

Pictured: Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and Ebie ahead of his four 2019 Madison Square Garden shows. Photo: Brian Samuelson

Because you were young when you started your company, did you have to fight for people to take you seriously?

Yes and no. Enthusiasm goes so far. When the artist is fired up about an idea that I come to them with, then everybody else doesn’t really have a chance to undercut me. Being a little bold in that sense, as long as you really thought it out, [paid off]. Scott McGhee used to always say, “Is it important, is it urgent and is it interesting?” If it checks those three boxes, it’s worth taking to the artist. So I always try to answer those reasons before I take something to someone.

When do you feel most fulfilled in what you do?

Definitely at the live shows. When it’s all together and the fans gravitate toward a song; they have their phones up and they’re FaceTiming other people because they want to be in that moment with even more people, that’s the most fulfilling.

The happiest I get for an artist is when I hear a song that fulfilled the life it should have had. The saddest thing is when I hear a song and it never gets to reach that moment. There are so many hidden gems on albums that I don’t know why those songs were never smashes.

What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

To truly listen more. [I listen] in meetings when artists are talking. I feel like the access we’re given has pretty unparalleled insights. So in the moment, I try to be as present as possible, absorb it all, and then come back with, “Hey, here’s some ideas because I heard you when you said this.”

Galante is always saying use your voice and speak up in meetings, in the sense of CMA Board meetings. That’s why I probably volunteer so much. I sit on [a lot of boards]. That’s like a full time job, in addition to doing the job. (Laughs) I wish more industry members and artists had the time to dedicate to that because I think that’s where you can really impact real change—systemic, generational change.

Pictured: Ebie and George Strait

What are some things that you think are really great about our industry and what are some things that we could work on?

We can always be working on how we communicate. Working in communications, knowledge is power. There’s still folks that want to retain that power so they hold back on that knowledge. That doesn’t really help anyone. I get it, but at the same time, we as an industry could do a better job telling the story of what we are doing on a foundational level.

Country music is the soul of America. I’m very proud of our songwriters and the songwriting community. Anything we can do to further elevate their voices and their roles in the industry is important. Something that everyone on our roster, including the comedians, have in common is that they’re all storytellers. Every single one of them, even the Ryman. I mean, name a better stage; her story is insane. When we move too fast, we don’t do the story justice. If we could all just take a little bit more intention and time to do that, then we’ll all benefit.

What is a moment that you have had that your little kid self would think is so cool?

There was a moment on the George Strait tour where afterwards I went on George’s bus. We were recapping the weekend and he was playing some music. It wasn’t his music, he just had music on in the background. He and Martina [McBride] went into this moment of singing back and forth on the bus. For whatever reason, I jumped up and was singing with them. (Laughs) I will never forget it. I caught myself and was like “Oh, I can’t even sing!” I was just in the moment having so much fun. I remember George laughing and patting me on the shoulder. I got so carried away in the moment that I jumped in and crashed George Strait and Martina McBride singing. My younger self would’ve kicked myself off the bus. (Laughs)