Pickler OK

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2The latest in a series of magazine features focusing on Nashville’s lovely country artists involves Kellie Pickler in a six page spread for OK Magazine. Billed as Southern Belle, Pickler dishes about life on the road and as a member of country music family.

“Of course I would love to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry,” she says looking to the future. “It would be such a huge honor. Country music has embraced and nurtured me.” She also jokes about living in a trailer. “Funny. As a child I thought ‘I’m going to be a big country star and get out of this damn trailer.’ Then I go and get one. I mean, it’s a $1 million trailer but it’s still a trailer.”

Pickler has been on the Taylor Swift Fearless Tour, but is currently on a two-week hiatus to headline a shows in Harris, MI.and other midwest stops.

Shape magazine recently featured bikini-clad Julianne Hough, Martina McBride and LeAnn Rimes on its cover.

Bonnaroo Attendance Up From 2008

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The Troo Music Tent at the Bonnaroo featured Nashville bands The Features, The Protomen, and Heypenny. In addition to sharing Nashville roots, the three groups also won festival slots through “The Road to Bonnaroo” competition, co-sponsored by BMI, Bud Select, and venue partner, Mercy Lounge. Pictured at the Troo Music Tent are (l-r): BMI Sr. Dir., Writer/Publisher Relations Mark Mason, Bonnaroo co-founder and producer and AC Entertainment President Ashley Capps, Mercy Lounge GM Drew Mischke, BMI Dir. of Writer/Publisher Relations Bradley Collins, BMI Asst. VP Writer/Publisher Relations Clay Bradley, and BMI Assc. Dir., Writer/Publisher Relations Dave Claassen. Photo by Erika Goldring

The Troo Music Tent at Bonnaroo featured Nashville bands The Features, The Protomen, and Heypenny. The groups won festival slots through “The Road to Bonnaroo” competition, co-sponsored by BMI, Bud Select, and venue partner, Mercy Lounge. Pictured at the tent are (l-r): BMI Sr. Dir., Writer/Publisher Relations Mark Mason, Bonnaroo co-founder and producer and AC Entertainment President Ashley Capps, Mercy Lounge GM Drew Mischke, BMI Dir. of Writer/Publisher Relations Bradley Collins, BMI Asst. VP Writer/Publisher Relations Clay Bradley, and BMI Assc. Dir., Writer/Publisher Relations Dave Claassen. Photo: Erika Goldring

Early estimates project that 75,000 people attended Bonnaroo last weekend in Manchester, Tenn. This is an increase from 70,000 in 2008, and just shy of the 80,000 tickets that would sell out the festival. Producers Ashley Capps of A.C. Entertainment, and Jonathan Mayers of Superfly Presents, arranged for about 125 acts this year, and are already working on the line-up for 2010 and 2011, because the event can be years in the making. Celebrities are regular attenders at the annual festival, with Drew Barrymore, Justin Long and Cameron Diaz all being spotted this year.

Friday Night Music Fest 09

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Music Fest09: Friday Night’s show, unlike the previous evening’s heavy storms, enjoyed cool, dry breezes and provided a perfect LP Field “country concert” climate. Performers included Luke Bryan, Rodney Atkins, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Jake Owen, Little Big Town, Zac Brown Band and surprise guest Kid Rock who closed it down.

Your Humble Scribe was perched mid-field directly behind the lighting techs with a bird’s eye view. The photos below are iPhone snaps. It actually takes a minimum of six lighting technicians to run the Music Fest stage. One handles the “spectacular” light effects, another deals with the lights that shine on faces of the performers, a third controls the followspot operators perched high up behind the lighting tent shown in the first photo below. Others control the video shown on the screens and produce/direct the multi-camera shoot.

Less than an hour to go, the Friday night crowd arrives...

Less than an hour to go, the Friday night crowd arrives...

Lady Antebellum endured some rocky sound issues, but recovered strongly. Vocals and solid song material are their secret weapons.

Lady Antebellum endured some rocky sound issues, but recovered strongly. Vocals and solid song material are their secret weapons.

Jake Owen's songs and performance hit the crowd hard, sliding easily from ballad to uptempo.

Jake Owen's songs and performance hit the crowd hard, sliding easily from ballad to uptempo.

In Color: Jeffrey Steele, Nashville In Napa, and Dierks Bentley

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Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Mark Mason, Jody Williams, Mary Loving, and David Preston, with (seated) 3 Ring Circus’s Casey LeVasseur, Jeffrey Steele, and Stephanie LeVasseur

Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Mark Mason, Jody Williams, Mary Loving, and David Preston, with (seated) 3 Ring Circus’s Casey LeVasseur, Jeffrey Steele, and Stephanie LeVasseur

Perennial hitmaker Jeffrey Steele carved time out of his busy schedule to celebrate the success of his No. 1 single “Here” at a private dinner hosted by BMI at Fleming’s on Monday, June 8. Recorded by Rascal Flatts, “Here” marks Steele’s eighth No. 1 hit, four of which have been recorded by the band. Steele and the top-selling trio’s past collaborations include “These Days,” “My Wish,” and “What Hurts the Most.”

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(L-R): ASCAP's Mike Sistad, SunTrust's Lori Stone, songwriters Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall, Jessica & Frank Rogers, and Debi Cali Photo: Alan Mayor

(L-R): ASCAP's Mike Sistad, SunTrust's Lori Stone, songwriters Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall, Jessica & Frank Rogers, and Debi Cali, Photo: Alan Mayor

Producer Frank Rogers is spearheading a new charity called NOTES that will fund programs that bring music, art and literacy to school age children. He co-founded the initiative with Debi Cali of Baldacci Family Vineyards in Napa Valley, CA. Rogers announced the first fundraiser yesterday at ASCAP. Nashville in Napa will take place Sat., Aug. 1 at the Baldacci Family Vineyards, including performances by Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall and others, and food and wine by Napa chefs and winemakers. www.NashvilleInNapa.com
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(L-R): CMT Host Lance Smith; Director of Public Affairs, CMT One Country Lucia Folk; and Dierks Bentley; Photo: Ben Wilder

(L-R): CMT Host Lance Smith; CMT One Country Dir. of Public Affairs Lucia Folk; and Dierks Bentley; Photo: Ben Wilder

Dierks Bentley stopped by CMT Top 20 Countdown to chat with host Lance Smith about his latest video, “Sideways,” which is making its way up the countdown, as well as his new partnership with CMT One Country to bring his annual “Miles & Music For Kids” fundraiser nationwide, with proceeds benefiting Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. The “Miles & Music For Kids” kick off event will be held at Nashville’s Riverfront Park on Sun., Oct. 11.

Alan Jackson To Play Europe For First Time in 19 Years

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alan-jacksonAlan Jackson is set for his first string of European dates since 1990. He will perform in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, on August 13, 14 and 15, respectively. These will be his first-ever shows in Scandinavia. In Norway, where where his latest release Good Time has already sold Platinum, fans snapped up 14,000 tickets within days of them going on sale. Jackson has fans around the world, and they are constantly requesting that he tour their home countries. His 1990 European dates included Germany and the UK.

Twitterific: MusicRow Debuts Chart, Twitter Stops Fake Accounts

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twitter-logoEver been duped into following a celeb imposter on Twitter? You’re not alone. So the brains behind the microblogging site have begun working on a new feature called “Verified Accounts.” The beta version will debut this summer, with a special seal to help users differentiate between the real and fake Oprah, Brad Paisley, etc. First up, the company plans to tackle accounts belonging to public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well-known individuals at risk of impersonation.

MusicRow has a new Twitter chart, ranking the Country music artists with the most followers. Click here to check it out.

Dierks and CMT Partner For Charity Events

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dierksDierks Bentley’s annual “Miles & Music For Kids” fundraiser is expanding beyond Nashville with the help of CMT One Country. The motorcycle ride and concert featuring Bentley and friends will grow to include six markets in 2009 and 2010, with proceeds benefiting Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. As part of CMT’s involvement, “Miles & Music For Kids” and Children’s Miracle Network will be promoted on all of its media channels—on-air, online and via radio.

The series of events will take place in Phoenix (Bentley’s hometown), Seattle, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and, of course, Nashville. Each fundraiser will benefit the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals in that area. The 2009 kick off fundraiser will be held at Nashville’s Riverfront Park on Sunday, October 11 and, as always, will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, which is part of the Children’s Miracle Network.

“Miles & Music For Kids” began in 2006 in Nashville and since that time has raised more than half a million dollars for Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital.

Flatts Make Most of Sponsorships

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flattsThe Rascal Flatts American Living Unstoppable Tour opens this weekend with shows in St. Louis, Missouri and Indianapolis, Indiana. The band garnered sponsorship from JCPenney which is promoting its affordable, clothing brand called American Living. An associate sponsorship from Hersheys was also negotiated. Also on the tour are Darius Rucker and Cledus T Judd.

In conjunction with the sponsorship, Rascal Flatts has written a song to be used in American Living commercials and which will be available only on a special version of the band’s new CD Unstoppable sold at JCPenney. Net proceeds from the sale of albums will be donated to the JCPenney Afterschool Fund, which provides children in need with access to life-enriching after school programs.

Bruce Rodgers created the new set for the tour, with lighting design by Bob Peterson. The outing requires 55 crew members traveling in 13 trucks and 10 buses.

Swift Gets Positive Press On Dateline

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Last night’s Dateline NBC piece on Taylor Swift was undeniably flattering. The hour-long segment followed her through preparations for a headlining tour, portraying her as one of the most hands-on young entertainers in the business. She was shown participating in every aspect of her career—designing the stage, auditioning back-up dancers, decorating her backstage vibe room and tour bus, and leading concert rehearsals—all while posting messages for her Twitter followers.

Her mother and closest confident Andrea Swift told the newsmagazine, “Every single decision that’s made, whether it’s talking about artwork that’s gonna go on the side of the buses for the tour or a script that needs to be read, you know, almost invariably, someone in the room says, ‘Have you checked with Taylor?’”

Swift told NBC’s Hoda Kotb it can be hard to be in charge of people twice her age. “There are times when you get frustrated, but the one thing you always focus on is treating people well. You just cannot storm off and freak out. People don’t take you seriously if you scream, if you raise your voice, especially when you’re a 19-year-old girl.”

Dateline asked promoter Louis Messina about her string of sell-out dates. “Throughout my whole career, I’ve never seen anything like this. I said this to her as Bruce Springsteen was the voice of his generation, Taylor is the voice of her generation.”

With 7 million albums sold, Swift and her team are as driven as ever. Scott Borchetta, President & CEO, Big Machine Records told Dateline, “You have to be careful in this moment. You’re never bigger than the game. The minute you think you’re bigger than the game is the minute that you start to lose the game.”

Also making an appearance on the show was hard working Nashville publicist Paula Erickson, seen rushing Swift off to the red carpet of Hannah Montana: The Movie.

Courtesy: Dateline NBC

Courtesy: Dateline NBC

Rucker Reaches Out via iPhone

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darius13Darius Rucker’s new iPhone/iPod touch app is the first from a country music artist to reach this writers desk. Downloadable for FREE, the nifty 35 MB code works much like a personal web browser dedicated to one site. Navigation is divided into seven categories: Welcome, Latest News, Tour Dates, Music Videos, Song samples/purchase links, Darius TV and Twitter.

Inside the tour dates area are direct links that open mobile Safari and enable fans to purchase tickets. Music Video has both still images and embedded videos that are loaded on the phone and can be viewed with or without a network connection. Darius TV is dedicated to behind-the-scenes humorous video clips and outtakes.

The app’s look and feel is clean and intuitive. Fans will appreciate having a “clubhouse” where they can go at any time to hangout and get the latest news. Like a web site, content can be updated when desired, giving the artist a direct-to-the-fan syndicated information channel. Artist apps have been extremely popular in other music formats and range from the simple, but informative—like Rucker’s version—to collections of bells and whistles with built in contests, social networking access and even the ability for fans and the artist to chat online in the app’s private chat room.

As today’s media landscape continues to fragment, it becomes more difficult to attract a large-scale audience in one place at the same time making social networking and iPhone-type apps more important than ever. Newspapers, network TV and radio are examples of media with shrinking audience. Consumers have now added new on-demand media outlets to their infotainment choices and view that content across a variety of screens—TV, computer and mobile.

“Fans can now access my music, tour stops and stay in touch with me through their devices so it’s my way of saying ‘thanks’ for spreading the word about the music,” says Darius Rucker. Savvy marketers realize that Rucker’s gift is a two way street that will please fans and pay career dividends.