Public TV Show Spotlights Songwriters
Legends & Lyrics, a new Public Television show spotlighting high-profile artist/songwriters alongside some of the not so well known songwriters behind the hits, will air weekly through the months of April and May. In each episode, artists including Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Loggins, Charlie Daniels, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, John Hiatt, 3 Doors Down, Kip Winger and others perform “in-the-round,” sharing their most memorable songs and the inspiration behind them. A “Rising Star” segment will feature artists and writers including The Laws, Stephanie Chapman, Corinne Chapman, Jonathan Singleton, Nathan Lee, Mike Musick, Will Hoge and more. Legends & Lyrics blends live performances from intimate halls, with season one shot in Shreveport, Louisiana’s Scottish Rite Theatre and in Nashville at the historic Masonic Lodge. Also woven into each episode are one-on-one conversations with legendary artists such as Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Ray Stevens, Steve Cropper and others who have left an indelible mark on the music industry. Check local listings for air dates and times. For more information visit legendsandlyrics.com.
AT&T is currently in talks with Apple to extend its exclusive US agreement to sell the iPhone from 2010 to 2011, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said that he plans to shift the company’s focus away from the US landline phone business into wireless. Apple’s 
iPhone has sold 17 million units worldwide since it was launched in June of 2007. Apple has a number of relationships with other wireless carriers who service the iPhone in 80 countries. Those carriers include 02 in the United Kingdom, Softbank in Japan, Orange in France and T-Mobile in Germany. on, was too high, the Journal said, quoting people familiar with the discussions.
New Warner Bros. artist Jessica Harp, formerly known as the blond half of chart-topping duo The Wreckers, has gone brunette and set out on a solo career with new single, “Boy Like Me.” This week, the Scott Spear-directed video for “Boy Like Me” is featured on iTunes as “Music Video Of The Week,” and is available for free download. The song is the leadoff track from Harp’s upcoming solo debut, A Woman Needs, which is scheduled for a summer release. You can watch a preview of the “Boy Like Me,” video below or get the complete video for free by clicking 
CMT has announced the start of voting today (4/13), announcing finalists for the 2009 CMT Music Awards, country music’s only entirely fan-voted awards show. Dynamic duo Sugarland leads the pack with six first-round nominations followed by Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift who have four each. Beginning today (4/13), at 10:00 AM/CT, fans can vote on CMT.com to determine the final nominees for CMT’s eighth annual awards show. Videos that debuted on CMT between January 18, 2008 and February 23, 2009 are eligible. This year’s awards includes a new category, CMT Performance of the Year, spotlighting a live performance from the past year. Finalists were determined by an industry panel that includes noted country music journalists, as well as music industry, music retail and CMT executives. Streaming clips of nominated videos can viewed at CMT.com.
Opry Originals: The Shop On Broadway, a Grand Ole Opry-themed retail store, is set to open on Nashville’s Lower Broadway area at 300 Broadway on Thursday, April 16. A rhinestone-studded ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Monday, April 20 followed by a week of grand opening events. With a design sensibility dubbed “Country Archeology,” the free-standing, 5,000 square-foot store will bring together the roots of the Grand Ole Opry and country music’s contemporary culture in a collection of old and new, brought to life through media, graphic imagery, and re-claimed materials and finishes. Reminiscent of a market, the space will encourage hands-on interaction and invite guests to discover and take home their own piece of the Opry lifestyle. The store will showcase an extensive line of lifestyle products including Opry-branded clothing; local artisan merchandise; a new Opry Country Kitchen line of food products; dinnerware and home furnishings. The store will also feature artist appearances and book/record signings as well as listening stations, photo opportunities, and food and beverage offerings. Included among the store’s apparel offerings will be an “Opry by Manuel” collection of jackets, shirts, and jeans designed exclusively for the Opry by legendary clothier Manuel. The 300 Broadway structure was built circa 1911 as the home of the Broadway National Bank. It housed banking institutions until 1987 and has been occupied by R.C. Mathews and The Mathews Co. since 1991.
The Washington Post is reporting that Universal Music Group and Google have finalized a deal to create a new music video service called Vevo, a site billed as a “premium online music hub built for consumers, advertisers, and content owners,” which is expected to launch before the end of the year. The two companies will share advertising revenue generated by the site. Under the agreement, Vevo will exist as a central repository of all UMG video content, including music videos, interviews, concert footage and so on, with YouTube providing the technology behind it. The two companies say that at launch the site will have more traffic than any other music video site on the web. Users will be able to access the content through the main hub at VEVO.com or through a VEVO channel on YouTube through a VEVO branded player. Vevo will service the 
content to other streaming video services online, starting with YouTube. As its existing licensing deals with others such as Yahoo, MTV and AOL expire, those too will syndicate their content from Vevo. UMG CEO and chairman Doug Morris is charged with bringing the other major and independent labels on board.
We always knew that, underneath that tough exterior, Miranda Lambert was a softie. And now the hit Columbia artist is a softie on the outside as well. Lambert is one of three artists (R&B songstress Jazmine Sullivan and indie rocker/actress Zooey Deschanel are the others) who will offer their interpretations of the familiar “the touch, the feel of cotton” music in a new advertising campaign for Cotton Incorporated, the research and promotion company for U.S. cotton growers. The melody for the well-known jingle, which was retired in 2001, was revived because “It’s the right message at the right time,” says Glenn Sciachitano, Director of Consumer Advertising at Cotton Incorporated. The television commercials, created by DDB New York, began airing on April 5 as part of a The Fabric of My Life advertising campaign that also includes print and Internet components. The print campaign shows stills from the commercial shoot and highlights cotton wardrobe worn by the vocalists, along with notes from the singers about what that garment means to them. Internet components are slated to roll out in late May and will include an interactive look inside Lambert’s closet. “My style in three words is comfortable, funky, my own,” Lambert said. “Cotton is a big part of that style so I was very excited to be part of this campaign.”
The 26th Annual International Country Music Conference will be held May 21-23 at Belmont University. The event features appearances by some of the top historians and scholars in country music and includes presentations of The Belmont University Book Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award and The Charlie Lamb Awards. This year’s conference will also include special panels on legends Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, as well as address the topic of how to define country music. The panel “Defining Country Music: What It Is and Does It Matter” will be hosted by Dr. Don Cusic, author of Discovering Country Music, Ronnie Pugh, author of Ernest Tubb: Texas Troubadour, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, author of The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers, as well as Dr. Erika Brady and Dr. Patrick Huber. Special papers on Hank Williams will be presented by Jim Murphy, Tom Wilmeth and Colin Escott. Additionally, Barry Mazor, Dr. Tim Wise, Dr. Anthony Lis, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, Dr. Nolan Porterfield and Dr. Catherine Davies will present papers on Jimmie Rodgers. The event will be co-chaired by James Akenson and Cusic. Registration is $100 and checks should be sent to James Akenson, Box 5042, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, 38505. The 2008 ICMC Program Schedule can be found 
Country news, music and lifestyle website Digitalrodeo.com will sponsor Nashville’s first-ever Andy Griggs Celebrity Poker Tournament, to be held Thursday, June 11 at Cadillac Ranch. The winnings from the tournament will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and other charities. Celebrity players from country music, sports, film and television, as well as professional poker players, are scheduled to participate. Confirmed attendees will be posted online at www.DigitalRodeo.com and www.AndyGriggs.com. Country artist and World Series of Poker participant, Andy Griggs, will host the event, beginning at 2 p.m. on Thursday (6/11). The event will also include an in-the-round jam session and a silent auction and door prizes. Griggs is the first country artist to receive sponsorship into the main event at the World Series of Poker. He outlasted every non-poker celebrity in the tournament, including his sponsor, WSOP champion Doyle Brunson. Griggs went on to register an impressive finish in the top 12 percent of the 2008 competition. Leading up to the tournament, DigitalRodeo.com will feature a weekly poker tip from Griggs on his profile page at www.DigitalRodeo.com/AndyGriggs.
Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® and Edison Research have posted the full results of their National Country Radio P1 Study online in the form of a video slideshow, complete with audio commentary. The presentation, which was originally given this year at CRS-40 in Nashville, may be viewed at either www.CRB.org or