Country Weekly Readies Annual Fashion Show

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The 4th Annual Country Weekly Fashion Show and Concert will take place Tuesday, June 8 at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon. The event, sponsored by Durango and Lifetime Television, will benefit Musicians On Call. While the line-up has not been set for the pre-CMA Music Festival lunchtime bash, past participants have included Chris Young, Chuck Wicks, Montgomery Gentry, Clay Walker, Lorrie Morgan, and Tanya Tucker, among others.

The Wildhorse will be serving a buffet lunch, which will be included in this year’s ticket price. During lunch, there will also be an acoustic performance by a special artist. 

The doors will open at 11 a.m. and the acoustic show will start at 11:30 a.m., followed by the Fashion Show at noon. Immediately after the Fashion portion of the event, some of the artists will also perform.

Premium seating tickets close to the runway are available. General admission tickets start at $35. For tickets and more information click here.

Texas Showman Johnnie High Dies

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Johnnie High with young LeAnn Rimes

Johnnie High, the music impresario behind Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue in North Texas for more than 30 years, died Wednesday (3/17) of congestive heart failure. He was 80. High’s Opry-style show helped launch the careers of country stars including LeAnn Rimes, Gary Morris, the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack and many others. High also made it possible for many North Texans to live out their dreams onstage before members of a loyal audience, some of whom attended the show faithfully for years.

“It’s hard to let go of a man who has done so much for this industry,” said longtime friend Bill Mack. “He was determined to help people get into one of the most complex businesses in the world.”

High began his Saturday show in 1974 after converting an old movie theater outside of Dallas into the Grapevine Opry. There, he gave Boxcar Willie and Rimes, then a child, some of their first stage experience.

Since 1995, Johnnie High’s Country Music Revue has been a weekly fixture at a former Arlington movie theater. It now airs nationally in syndicated television.

Cumulus Radiothon’s Huge Success

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Cumulus Nashville is reporting that its 4th Annual Radiothon for the Nashville Rescue Mission was a huge success. Tuesday (3/16), all five of the cluster’s stations (SuperTalk 99.7-WTN; 92Q Nashville’s Big Station-WQQK; 95.5 The Wolf-WSM; 97.1 RQQ Nashville’s Rock Station-WRQQ; and i106-All the Hits-WNFN) went commercial-free from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the goal of raising enough money for 56,000 meals for Nashville’s homeless.

Listeners called in pledges and dropped off donations at Camper’s Corner RV Superstore and Lexus of Nashville ranging from one meal ($2.26) to thousands of dollars. Because of the generosity of people within the Nashville community and the range of the radio signals, the radiothon was able to reach its goal, raising around $120,000 with more pledges still rolling in.

“We are proud to have been a part of something amazing and issuing a call to action that will make a real impact on the Nashville community,” say Mark Sullivan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cumulus Nashville.  “Thank you, Nashville, Smyrna, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, and to all those in our listening area who answered the call. You never cease to amaze me.”

“We are grateful for Cumulus Broadcasting’s efforts on behalf of the poor and hurting of our community.  The outpouring of generosity from this year’s event will provide over fifty-thousand meals to hungry men, women and children arriving at our doors seeking help,” explains Don Worrell, President and CEO of the Nashville Rescue Mission.

Shoney’s® Catering donated food for all the workers of the radiothon this year.  Other sponsors for the radiothon include Fifth Third Bank and Buffalo Wild Wings.

UMG Tests Lower CD Prices

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The Universal Music Group has announced that it will begin testing a new pricing structure in the second quarter designed to get single CDs in stores at $10 or less. The company’s Velocity program will introduce the lower CD prices. Single CDs will have the suggested list prices of $10, $9, $8, $7 and $6.

UMG labels also plan to market more deluxe versions of albums that can sell at higher prices for the more devout music fans and collectors. The company is hoping that the lower prices will be offset by increasing CD sales.

Back in 2003, UMG became the first major to address declining sales when it initiated Jumpstart pricing, which offered CDs at $10.35. The other majors balked at lowering prices until years later.

“After extensive consumer research and conversations with our retail partners, we found that there is a large segment of consumers who want to purchase CDs, but have been holding back due to a difficult economy and the value proposition of physical media,” said UMGD President/CEO Jim Urie. “This test will seek to address these issues by offering a greater selection at sharper pricing, creating an even more compelling physical entertainment option for music consumers. We think [the new pricing program] will really bring new life into the physical format.”

UMG plans to maintain its current pricing for digital product.

Gretchen Wilson Opens Online Store

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Singer/songwriter/record company owner Gretchen Wilson has announced the opening of her new online store at www.redneckrecordsstore.com. In addition to her new album, I Got Your Country Right Here, and other fan-favorite Gretchen Wilson merchandise, the Grammy Award-winning country star is offering fans an exclusive I Got Your Country Right Here — Deluxe Edition. The first 500 copies sold will be personally autographed by the singer.

The package is offered at $49.99 and includes:
I Got Your Country Right Here CD
32-page full-color photo book never-before-seen pictures of Wilson at work and at play
Poster-size replica of the U.S. Constitution
3′ x 5′ “I Got Your Country Right Here” Flag

“We wanted to have an online store where my fans could order something they may not have been able to get at a concert or something unique like the Deluxe Edition package,” Wilson says. “My fans know what I stand for, and I feel like this will be something they will be proud to display in their homes.”

Wilson established her own Redneck Records label last year. Her debut single for the label, “Work Hard, Play Harder,” recently cracked the Top 30. She is currently in the final week of her two-month club tour promoting the new album and will be back in Nashville to perform at Operation Yellow Ribbon at Lipscomb University Allen Arena on Tuesday, March 23.

Rucker Hosts “Hootie” Golf Tourney

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Steve Azar, Colt Ford, Dan Tyminski and Jack Ingram will join Darius Rucker at the annual Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament. Joining those country stars at the golf tournament with the very long name will be Hootie & the Blowfish members Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim “Soni” Sonefeld. The event is scheduled for April 12 at the Dye Club at Barefoot Resort & Golf in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“Country music artists and country radio have really embraced me, so it’s great to see so many of my new friends joining us in an effort to raise money for the Hootie & The Blowfish Foundation,” said Rucker. “Each year, the list of great athletes and celebrities continues to grow, and to know we come to Myrtle Beach to have fun and raise money for a great cause.”

Other PGA Tour players attending this year include Jim Furyk, John Daly, Woody Austin, Rich Beem, and LPGA player Kristy McPherson. Other celebrities and athletes participating in the event include wrestler Ric Flair (“The Nature Boy”), NASCAR’s Kyle Petty and Michael Waltrip, NFL Hall-of Famer Gale Sayers, along with Bernie Kosar, Jim McMahon, Kordell Stewart, and Boomer Esiason.

All proceeds from the event benefit the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, which supports the educational needs of children in South Carolina and the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation. Last year, the event raised $155,000 for various South Carolina charities. Click here for more information.

Zac Brown Finds Way To Fans’ Hearts Through Food

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Multi-talented musician Zac Brown is using his newfound star status to share one of his other loves with fans—food. He has a new cookbook out, a line of seasonings, and is hosting Eat And Greets on tour.

The Southern Ground cookbook offers 27 of the former chef’s favorite comfort-food recipes such as Southern Fried Chicken, Hearty Brunswick Stew, Farmer’s Fried Green Tomatoes and Revival Peach Cobbler; alongside personally selected photographs, poems and passages. The recipes are even printed on removable index cards to preserve the book while cooking.

The singer-songwriter also has a Southern Ground Grub Food Line featuring GA Clay Rub, and Brown Sauce, coming soon. He first created the recipes for his former Atlanta restaurant, Zac’s Place.

On the first leg of their national Breaking Southern Ground tour, Zac Brown Band began hosting “eat-and-greets.” This year they’ll continue the pre-show ritual by inviting upwards of 75 fans from each show to join the group while dining on southern-cuisine specialties created by Brown.

“Obviously we’re always working on our music, but with this tour we’re building an experience that involves all senses to ensure that it blow fans away every time,” says Brown. “When people come to our show, we want them to smell the food cooking, taste our favorite recipes, watch our home videos of the road, listen to some great new artists and feel our excitement—a full five-sense experience.”

Matt Hargis Promoted At Capitol; Absolute Publicity Adds Mary Michael

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Steve Hodges, Senior Vice President, Promotions for Capitol Records Nashville announced today (3/16) the promotion of Matt Hargis to Director Regional Promotion for the Southeast. He will replace Angela Lange who has joined EMI Records Nashville as Vice President of Promotion.

Hargis has been with Capitol Records Nashville since 2006 and has most recently spearheaded national radio syndication and special projects for the label which is home to Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Kenny Rogers, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Emily West, Jennette McCurdy and Walker Hayes.

“Matt is one of the hardest working individuals in the music business,” explains Hodges. “I’m elated that he has agreed to take over the Southeast Region.  He has been, and will continue to be, an integral part of our Capitol team.”

“I am very excited to tackle this new challenge,” shares Hargis. “I want to thank Mike Dungan, Steve Hodges and Shane Allen for this amazing opportunity. I look forward to continue building on the great partnership Angela Lange has worked so hard to cultivate between Capitol Nashville and all of our radio friends in the Southeast.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••

Don Grubbs and Mary Michael

Publicist Mary Michael has joined the Nashville-based firm Absolute Publicity, Inc. as Managing Partner and Account Executive. Absolute Publicity is headed by President and CEO Don Grubbs. Effective immediately, Michael will be overseeing the company’s plans for expansion, and assist with publicity services for the roster which includes Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, Pam Tillis, WWE’s Mickie James, Jeff Cook, Danielle Peck, American Idol’s Mishavonna, Pro-wrestling Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, Scott Lindsey, Nash Street and Tay Humphrey.

Contact them at:

Don Murry Grubbs, President / CEO
o. 615.275.8380
[email protected]

Mary Michael, Managing Partner
o. 615-310-1159
[email protected]

1009 16th Ave S
Nashville, TN 37212

“Scene” Digs Into McGraw Movie

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Nashville Scene writer D. Patrick Rodgers on the local songwriters and musicians featured in the upcoming Gwyenth Paltrow, Tim McGraw flick, Love Don’t Let Me Down.

A Hollywood feature employs locals to tell a Music City story the right way — for once

It’s a Thursday night at Skyline recording studio, just off Eighth Avenue, a recording and rehearsal space much like any other in Music City. A few 12-packs of Coors Lite sit nearby, casually offered to visitors. A crop of young studio players has gathered to practice some songs. They’re cruising through a pop-country number called “Words I Couldn’t Say,” no sweat. It sounds like it could be a Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood tune — the sort of sugar-sweet, radio-ready gem these guys could track in a pass or two on any given day.

But they aren’t playing it live. They’re playing along to a track. All the pristinely pre-recorded parts are issuing forth from the P.A. speakers: drums, steel, bass, guitars, keys, a crystalline female lead vocal. The boys are just miming along.

Skylar Wilson barks out chord changes in the Nashville number system. This is his family’s studio, and, though he’s playing drums on these numbers, he seems to know every chord. He’s typically more of a keyboard guy, but like most everyone else in the room, he can get by pretty well on just about anything he picks up.

So why are they playing along to tracks? They’ve been cast as the backing band for two of Love Don’t Let Me Down’s lead characters, and they’re making sure they have all the changes just right for when they film a performance scene in the morning. This song, penned by Greg Becker, Tammi Kidd and Steve Robson, is to be performed by Chiles Stanton, a somewhat Taylor Swiftian up-and-coming singer played by Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester.

Keep reading.

Gloriana’s Milk-Based Promotion

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ACM’s Top New Vocal Group nominee and AMA Award winners Gloriana will be featured on over 50 million milk containers in schools across the U.S. as part of the Milk Rocks! campaign. The Gloriana Milk Rocks! campaign is going on now, and students can enter at www.milkrocks.com for a chance to win a $10,000 prize to use for future educational purposes from writing instrument company Paper Mate, along with three concert tickets and meet and greet passes to an upcoming Gloriana performance.

Gloriana, who are on the road with Taylor Swift and American Idol alum Kellie Pickler on the Fearless 2010 Tour through June, recently released their single “The World Is Ours Tonight,” which charted on the Billboard Digital Singles charts this week.

The milk carton side panels also include access to tips from Paper Mate on how to be green, including information on Paper Mate’s new Biodegradable* pen and mechanical pencil and the brand’s new writing instrument upcycling program. The Milk Rocks! Program promotes healthy lifestyles and nutrition with milk as the focus. They utilize milk carton side panels, lunchroom posters, and online initiatives to communicate their messages. Milk Rocks! features some of today’s most popular recording artists and emerging talent and is a member of the Ad Council’s Coalition for Healthy Children, whose mission is to provide clear, consistent, research-based messages to children and parents about the importance of practicing a healthier lifestyle and give them the means to improve their eating and physical activity habits.