The Civil Wars' Sophomore Project a Sales Success

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civil wars111The Civil Wars’ self-titled sophomore album debuted as the week’s best-selling album, with 115,878 units sold, according to Soundscan. The Civil Wars topped the all-genre chart. The album features Joy Williams and John Paul White’s current single “The One That Got Away.”
The duo was nominated for two Country Music Association Awards in 2012, including Vocal Duo of the Year and Musical Event of the Year (“Safe and Sound,” Taylor Swift Feat. The Civil Wars). The same song netted White, Williams and Swift a Grammy award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. That same year, they won Duo/Group of the Year from the Americana Music Association.
Their debut project, Barton Hollow, was released in 2011.

Hunters Hayes Gets Platinum Treatment–Twice

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hunter hayes11Hunter Hayes has twice the reason to celebrate. The singer-songwriter’s Atlantic Records’ debut album, Hunter Hayes, has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In the same week, his current single “I Want Crazy” also reached platinum-selling status.
Hayes is set to headline the CMT On Tour: Hunter Hayes’ Let’s Be Crazy Tour this fall. Before then, he will make his first trip overseas, visiting Japan and Thailand for several promotional appearances and performances, including a show with Jason Mraz at the Sonic Bang Festival in Bangkok on Aug. 24. On Aug. 26, Hayes will visit Studio Coast Tokyo. He also has performances lined up at Tower Records Shibuya on Aug. 28 and at Tower Records Osaka on Aug. 29.

Weekly Register: A Trip To Bakersfield

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vince-gill-paul-franklin-bakerfield-featured1Vince Gill & Paul Franklin‘s Bakersfield debuted Top Five this week with 12k units sold. Thirty-four percent of the units sold were digital, landing the project at No. 4 on the top Country albums chart. The collaborative tribute album from MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group not only honors the city’s biggest artists, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, but also the guitar and steel players that helped create and define the Bakersfield, Calif., country sound.
The No. 1 top Country album this week continues to be the unstoppable Florida Georgia Line as Here’s To The Good Times sells another 28k units for a RTD of 945k.  (On FGL’s track side, “Cruise,” combined versions, also keeps the hammer down at No. 1 on the Country tracks chart with another 108k sold this week for a RTD total of 5.5 million.) Blake Shelton‘s Based On A True Story album sells another 16k units this week in the No. 2 spot while Hunter Hayes‘ self-titled album at No. 3 sells 13k (921k RTD).

Paul Franklin and Vince Gill

Paul Franklin and Vince Gill


Luke Bryan‘s “Crash My Party” single sells 62k this week, accumulating an impressive 1.2 million RTD in 18 weeks and perching at No. 2 on the Country tracks. Another 18-week success story is Hayes’ “I Want Crazy” selling 57k this week with a total 1.1 million RTD at No. 3.
Upcoming album releases in August to watch out for include Warner Music Nashville artists Brett Eldredge (Aug. 6, Bring You Back) and Charlie Worsham (Aug. 20, Rubberband); Bryan’s Capitol Nashville project, Crash My Party on Aug. 13 and the Show-Dog Universal project Alabama & Friends, set for release Aug. 27. Carrie Underwood‘s The Blown Away Tour:LIVE [DVD] is set to release from Sony Nashville on Aug. 13.

Brett Eldredge Goes Gold Before Debut Album Release

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Written by: Michela Gacioch & Eric Parker

Pictured (L-R) Front: Chris DeStefano (Co-writer/producer), Camille Alston, Brett Eldredge, Chris Stacey (SVP Promotion, WMN), Ashley Gorley (co-writer), Lou Ramirez (Regional Promo Mgr – SW, WMN). Back: Josh Van Valkenburg (Dir. A&R, EMI Music Publishing), Rob Baker (RLB Artist Management), Peter (Strickland (EVP & GM, WMN), Scott Hendricks Sr. VP A&R, WMN),Kevin Herring (VP National Promotion, WMN) and Chad Schultz (National Dir. Radio Interactive Mktg., WMN)

Pictured (L-R) Front: Chris DeStefano (Co-writer/producer), Camille Alston, Brett Eldredge, Chris Stacey (SVP Promotion, WMN), Ashley Gorley (co-writer), Lou Ramirez (Regional Promo Mgr – SW, WMN). Back: Josh Van Valkenburg (Dir. A&R, EMI Music Publishing), Rob Baker (RLB Artist Management), Peter Strickland (EVP & GM, WMN), Scott Hendricks (Sr. VP A&R, WMN), Kevin Herring (VP National Promotion, WMN) and Chad Schultz (National Dir. Radio Interactive Mktg., WMN)


Despite the rain in Nashville on Tuesday (July 30), Brett Eldredge celebrated the forthcoming Aug. 6 release of his debut album, Bring You Back, at Nashville’s Marathon Village. The evening featured Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, beverages and brownie desserts courtesy of Eldredge’s mother. The soulful singer delivered the Atlantic Records album in its entirety for an audience including friends, family and industry executives.
Throughout the evening, Eldredge’s powerhouse performances included “Bring You Back,” which he delivered with songwriters Ross Copperman and Heather Morgan, and the current single, “Don’t Ya,” alongside co-writers Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. To commemorate the Top 5 single’s success, Warner executives presented the newcomer his first RIAA Gold single plaque, in addition to recognitions for the co-writers.
Additional performances included “Tell Me Where To Park” with one of the song’s co-writers Jon Nite. Barry Dean and Luke Laird helped perform their co-write “Gotta Get There,” while Tom Douglas performed on the emotional ballad, “One Mississippi,” which he co-wrote. Culminating the evening was a tribute to the late Lindsay Walleman of Warner Music Nashville with a rendition of the Ross Copperman and Natalie Hemby co-written song, “Go On Without Me.”
“I wish I could personally deliver the album to each and every one of my fans,” said Eldredge. “To celebrate my debut album and my first Gold single with everyone that has stood by me on this ride, was an amazing night and one that I will never forget.”
The entertainer’s party will continue next week as he headlines New York City’s Highline Ballroom on Aug. 6, the same day Bring You Back hits shelves. He will make his late night TV debut the next evening on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, followed by appearances on Live with Kelly & Michael and Today on Aug. 9.
Eldredge has opened 19 shows on Taylor Swift’s RED Tour. This summer he can be seen throughout the country at fairs and festivals, in addition to select tour dates with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert.
Bring You Back Track Listing
1) Tell Me Where To Park (Eldredge/Nite/Becker)
2) Don’t Ya (Eldredge/DeStefano/Gorley)
3) Bring You Back (Copperman/Morgan)
4) On And On (Eldredge/Laird/McAnally)
5) Gotta Get There (Eldredge/Laird/Dean)
6) One Mississippi (Eldredge/Douglas)
7) Beat Of The Music (Eldredge/Copperman/Morgan)
8) Waited Too Long (Eldredge/Crisler)
9) Mean To Me (Eldredge/Carusoe)
10) Signs (Eldredge/Crisler/Anderson)
11) Raymond (Eldredge/Crisler)
12) Go On Without Me (Eldredge/Copperman/Hemby)

Weekly Register: Summer Slump Lingers

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Josh Thompson

Josh Thompson


Summer sales are plodding along without many noteworthy country debuts. As a result, year-to-date sales are shrinking.
Josh Thompson’s “Cold Beer With Your Name On It” brought a sip of relief this week, selling 12.5K tracks out of the gate. It is his first release on Show Dog Universal Music and has an official radio add date of Aug. 12.
The latest album from revered songwriter Guy Clark, My Favorite Picture of You, debuted with 5.6K units.
In the rest of the country world, Florida Georgia Line continued its reign at No. 1 on the albums and tracks charts. Here’s To The Good Times sold 30K for a RTD total of 917K, and “Cruise” kept speeding with 119K TW for a RTD total of 5.4 million (both versions combined).
Pop hitmaker (and Taylor Swift bestie) Selena Gomez had the week’s highest album debut with 97K.
The Vince Gill & Paul Franklin album Bakersfield was released Tuesday by MCA Nashville, so next week’s report will include sales numbers for it.
On the horizon in August are albums from new Warner Music Nashville artists Brett Eldredge (Aug. 6, Bring You Back) and Charlie Worsham (Aug. 20, Rubberband) which are getting good word of mouth around The Row. The lone release from a star next month is Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party (Aug. 13, Capitol Nashville). Lead single and title track is burning hot, selling 66K downloads this week for a RTD total of 1.1 million.
Meanwhile the Show-Dog Universal project Alabama & Friends, set for release Aug. 27, has real hit potential (remember Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee?).

MCA Releases Gill & Franklin’s 'Bakersfield,' Announces Website, Tour

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bakersfield album11With today’s (July 30) release of Vince Gill and Paul Franklin’s album Bakersfield, a 2013 tour has been announced in addition to an interactive promotional website for the MCA Nashville project: roadtobakersfield.com.
Updated weekly, the newly created website is designed to draw fans into the Bakersfield milieu with music and videos from Gill, a Country Music Hall of Famer, and Franklin, a 19-time recipient of MusicRow’s steel guitar musician award. Additionally, users are able to upload, decorate, and share photos with period garb from either Owens’ band, the Buckaroos, or Haggard’s band, the Strangers.
Gill and Franklin’s full-band tour is set between August to November, with an obligatory Bakersfield, Calif. stop on Oct. 25. Full dates listed below.
Gill and Franklin cover five songs from each artist, paying homage to their distinctive West Coast honky-tonk sound. Order your copy here.
Meanwhile, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Bakersfield Sound exhibit is scheduled to run through the end of 2013 in Nashville.
Gill and Franklin’s Bakersfield Tour:
Aug. 8                         Niagara Falls ON
Aug. 9                          Malone, NY
Aug. 10                        Cohasset, MA
Aug. 11                        Westhampton Beach, NY
Aug. 22                        Halifax, NS
Aug. 23                       Moncton, NB
Aug. 24                        Moncton, NB
Aug. 25                        Sydney, NS
Aug. 27                        Kingston, ONT
Aug. 28                        Syracuse, N.Y.
Sept. 6                         Springfield, Ohio
Sept. 7                         Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Sept. 8                         Kansas City, Mo.
Sept. 28                       Hillsdale, Mich.
Sept. 29                       Louisville, Ky.
Oct. 10                        Shippensburg, Pa.
Oct. 11                        Windsor, Ont.
Oct. 12                        Zanesville, Ohio
Oct. 20                       Niceville, Fla.
Oct. 24                        Mesa, Ariz.
Oct. 25                        Bakersfield, Calif.
Oct. 26                        Turlock, Calif.
Oct. 27                        Carmel, Calif.
Oct. 29                        Redding, Calif.
Oct. 30                        Santa Rosa, Calif.
Nov. 1                         Visalia, Calif.
Nov. 2                         Palm Desert, Calif.
Nov. 3                         Tucson, Ariz.

Universal To Open Crowd-Funded Project To Reprint Vinyl Albums

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uvinyl logoUniversal Music’s London-based Uvinyl is gearing up to launch “The Vinyl Project,” a crowd-funded re-pressing resource for rare and deleted records. The Uvinyl website allows the public to choose the re-pressing of selected LPs. In a hybrid of pre-ordering and Kickstarter, users must buy a copy of the LP if the proposal for reprinting is approved.
An initial list of albums for The Vinyl Project is yet to be announced and there is no official launch date for the project.

Industry Photos: NAMM Summer Conference

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The music product industry recently converged in Nashville to celebrate the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Summer show. Held July 11-13, the event boasted 422 exhibiting companies representing more than 1150 brands (a 12 percent increase over the previous year). The conference included 157 first-time exhibiting companies and many returning brands.
The conference offered plentiful opportunities for musical showcases, exhibits and educational seminars. Professional development included the Retail Boot Camp, the Retail Summit and the Idea Center sessions. “Insight,” hosted by Vince Gill and Tom Bedell on the first night of the show, brought together the music industry’s iconic names for a panel covering everything from lessons learned during their careers, to what the leaders would do if they were king for a day, and their first concert.
Honoring NAMM’s Top 100 Retailers has become one of the most-anticipated facets of NAMM’s summer show. Beacock Music Company was honored as the Dealer of the Year during an awards event July 12.

NAMM1--Gill, Peavey, Ball and Gretsch

Pictured (L-R): Vince Gill, Hartley Peavey, Sterling Ball, and Fred Gretsch appear during NAMM’s summer event at Music City Center. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NAMM


NAMM1--overall photo

Pictured: Attendees in the trade room at NAMM’s summer event at Music City Center. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NAMM


NAMM1--group shot

Pictured (Top L-R): Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp. Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO of Martin Guitars Chris Martin, president of The Gretsch Company Fred Gretsch, D’Addario & Company CEO Jim D’Addario, musician Sterling Ball, co-owner of Taylor Guitars Bob Taylor, president of Sabian Andy Zildjian. (Bottom L-R): NAMM CEO and President Joe Lamond, CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation Hartley Peavey, founder of Two Old Hippies Tom Bedell, and singer/songwriter Vince Gill. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NAMM


NAMM1--martin, zildjian, taylor daddario

Pictured (L-R): Chris Martin, Andy Zildjian, Bob Taylor, and Jim D’Addario appear during NAMM’s summer event at Music City Center. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NAMM


NAMM1--Shapiro lamond luehrsen dean

Pictured (L-R):Nancy Shapiro, President and CEO of NAMM Joe Lamond, Executive Director of NAMM Foundation Mary Luehrsen, and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NAMM

Little Big Town's 'Tornado' Certified Platinum

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Little Big Town

Little Big Town


Little Big Town‘s current album, Tornado, has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for recognition of 1 million units shipped. Tornado was released in September 2012. The Jay Joyce-produced project includes the hits “Pontoon” and “Tornado,” as well as the group’s current single “Your Side of the Bed.”
Little Big Town will join Keith Urban on his Light the Fuse Tour starting this summer. Earlier this year, they headlined the sold-out Tornado Tour which visited more than 25 cities nationwide.

More Artists Turn To Kickstarter To Finance Projects

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kickstarter logo11Jo Dee Messina recently raised more than $100,000 to fund her next music project via campaign raiser Kickstarter.com, and additional country artists have also turned to the fundraising site to stem new projects.
Ty Herndon has already raised more than $15,000 toward his $25,000 goal to finance his first country album since 2007’s Right About Now. Herndon has a track listing for the project available and has already begun recording. His lead single is “Lies I Told Myself.” The deadline for the project is Aug. 6.
Riders In The Sky also turned to Kickstarter for a new project, although it is not an album. Instead, they hope to raise $14,500 for a feature-length, animated kids film The Cartoon Cowboys. The project also features work from Bill Hughes, who worked on Dark Horse comics, including the Star Wars Droids franchise in the late 1990’s. The deadline for the campaign is Aug. 3 and they have raised over $6,000 as of this posting.
Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott are very close to having their goal of $30,000 met for their album Memories and Moments. The release date for the project is set for Sept. 17, 2013.  They have already raised  over $25,700 for the project, and their goal deadline is July 24.