Burt Bacharach, composer of over 70 Top 40 Hits, has signed an exclusive administration deal for North America with Universal Music Publishing Group for his catalog and new material. Bacharach is focusing on the country genre with much of his new material, and is working closely with UMPG Nashville Executive Vice President/General Manager Kent Earls and UMPG Nashville staff, as well as collaborating with Universal’s country songwriters including Lori McKenna.
During his long career, Bacharach has won eight Grammys Awards, three Academy Awards, and an Emmy Award.
“When we met with Burt, I was thrilled to learn that he wants to especially focus on county music, a genre where he enjoyed one of his first big hits with ‘The Story of My Life’ for Marty Robbins. His classic melodies are the perfect marriage for our Nashville storytellers,” says Earls.
“It’s great to be able to work with people who have the same passion and love for songwriting that I do, and Zach (Horowitz), Kent and his staff have made it clear that for them, the music comes first. I’m excited to continue working to make great songs with the UMPG team and their songwriters,” says Bacharach.
Bacharach’s agreement with UMPG encompasses the entirety of his New Hidden Valley Music catalog, including “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Walk On By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and more.
Bacharach’s songs have been recorded by numerous artists, including Luther Vandross, Elvis Presley, Diana Krall, The Carpenters, Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66, Bette Midler, Neil Diamond, The Beatles, Tom Jones, Stan Getz, Barbra Streisand, and many others.
 

Songwriter Keesy Timmer has signed with Nashville publishing company Blue Guitar Music.

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CAA’s John Huie spoke at SOLID‘s third general assembly meeting of the year, held at BMI.

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NPG PR has hired publicist Meg Ryan. Ryan will be based in Nashville and will aid in day-to-day public relations activities such as tour press, strategic planning, media relations and overall client management for NPG PR’s eclectic roster of music, corporate, television and event clients. Ryan’s background includes time at Sandbox Entertainment, Big Machine Label Group and most recently SunFire Entertainment.

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The CMA Songwriters Series returns to Joe’s Bar in Chicago for a special night on Aug. 1 at 8:30 p.m./CT. Celebrating its ninth remarkable year, the CMA Songwriters Series features guests Matraca Berg, Kristian Bush, Bobby Pinson and Bob DiPiero, who will also serve as the evening’s host. Tickets are on sale at joesbar.com.

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Tennessee will be home to a new music festival beginning in October. The Fly Free Festival 2013 will take place in Adams, Tenn. on Oct. 11-13. The lineup includes Papadasio, Moon Taxi, Cloud Cult, Jeff The Brotherhood, RJD2 and others. For more information, visit flyfreefest.com.
 
 
 
 

The Music Row area is set to get yet another apartment building. The Nashville-based Stonehenge Real Estate Group will soon break ground on a 153-unit project. Artisan on 18th will be located at the intersection of 18th Ave. S. and Chet Atkins Place, with plans to open by summer 2014. According to the Nashville Post, five buildings that currently house music businesses will be razed in order to construct the apartments.
Stonehenge also developed Music Row’s Note 16 apartments and Eleven North in the Gulch.
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ole has acquired a music publishing catalog comprised of music from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s film and television releases between 1993 and 2012.
The catalog includes compositions from a variety of TV shows such as Wheel of Fortune, Breaking Bad, Dawson’s Creek, The Nanny, Rescue Me, and films including Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, Groundhog Day, Rudy, Jumanji, Legends of the Fall, Moneyball, Mr. Deeds, The Patriot, The Quick and the Dead, Superbad, Step Brothers, Stuart Little, and Hotel Transylvania, among others.
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ASCAP songwriters Jessi Alexander, Brandy Clark, Josh Osborne and Trevor Rosen were the featured writers-in-the-round at The Circle Sessions, held at Joe’s Bar in Chicago on Wednesday, June 26. The Circle Sessions is a semi-monthly acoustic showcase, presented by Joe’s Bar and Black Label Booking, that unites some of Nashville’s most talented country music songwriters to share the stories behind their hit songs and perform them acoustically in an intimate setting. The unique event serves to bring the in-the-round concept to new audiences outside of Music City.

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Skillet, a Christian rock band that formed in Memphis, Tenn. in 1996, celebrated the release of their project Rise last week in New York. Atlantic Records hosted a party at New York’s Hudson Hotel to commemorate the band’s new project and the RIAA Platinum certification of their 2009 release Awake and their hit single “Monster.” Attending the event festivities included Atlantic Records’ Craig Kallman (Chairman/CEO), Julie Greenwald (Chairman/COO) and Pete Ganbarg (EVP/Head of A&R). Adding to the platinum honors were the RIAA Gold certifications for the band’s singles “Hero” and “Awake & Alive.”

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Third Coast Talent Agency has signed on to represent artist Moe Bandy. Bandy’s singles include “Bandy The Rodeo Clown,” “Till I’m Too Old To Die Young,” “Americana,” “Hank Williams You Wrote My Life,” “It’s a Cheatin’ Situation,” “Just Good Ol’ Boys,” “Barstool Mountain,” “I Cheated Me Right Out of You,” and more.
Third Coast also represents Jeannie Seely, Gene Watson, Janie Fricke, Little Jimmy Dickens and Johnny Rodriquez.

Sony/ATV recently signed Jody Stevens to an exclusive publishing agreement. Stevens worked on Luke Bryan’s album Tailgates and Tanlines and forthcoming Crash My Party release, with his dad producer, Jeff Stevens. Bryan and his manager Kerri Edwards were on hand to celebrate the signing. Jody Stevens was formerly a member of duo Fast Ryde.

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Sony/ATV recently re-signed Michael Carter to an exclusive publishing agreement. Carter co-wrote Craig Campbell‘s single “Outta My Head” as well as multiple Luke Bryan recordings. Additionally, Carter has recent cuts by Chris Young and Thomas Rhett. Bryan and Kerri Edwards joined his longtime band leader, Carter, to celebrate.