Pictured (L-R): Tony Conway, Lorrie Morgan, David Kiswiney

Lorrie Morgan has returned to booking agency Buddy Lee Attractions (BLA), the organization that was involved in launching her performing career.

BLA Senior VP David Kiswiney and CEO Donna Lee will serve as her agents.

“Lorrie Morgan is the essence of pure country music. There isn’t a better female talent out there that can deliver the truth and honesty in a country song better that Lorrie. Everyone at BLA is excited to have Lorrie back on the roster again. We feel as if she has ‘come home’, and are looking forward to a great partnership,” said Kiswiney.

Following in the footsteps of her father, Country Music Hall of Fame member George Morgan, Lorrie signed with BLA in the early phases of her career where former BLA booking agent Tony Conway booked her for 33 years before becoming her longtime and current manager at Ontourage Management.

Morgan released two albums this year, including Letting Go…Slow, and the compilation project A Picture Of Me. Upcoming performances include a stop at the Grand Ole Opry on July 8.

Hazel Smith To Be Honored At ‘Music Row Storytellers’

Hazel Smith

Hazel Smith will be honored during the first Music Row Storytellers event, part of an event series designed to honor those that make the music industry fascinating—the journalists, interviewers, reporters, show hosts and others who chronicle and share the stories of Music Row and its music makers.

The event will be held on Monday, Aug. 15 at Well Placed Smile (907 Gleaves St., Nashville, TN 37203). A 6 p.m. cocktail reception will be followed by a 6:30pm program honoring Smith and benefiting Music Health Alliance. The evening will be filled with smiles, laughter and stories from Hazel and surprise guests who’ve been part of her career.

Smith moved to Nashville in the late ’60s, and became a songwriter, publicist, manager and journalist. Smith coined the phrase “Outlaw Music” to describe the sound that she was hearing from then-clients Kinky Friedman, Tompall Glaser, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Hazel would go on to tell many more of Music Row’s stories as a writer for Country Music magazine, a radio reporter, and a regular columnist for CMT.com.

Kip Moore will headline the Me and My Kind Tour with special guest Jon Pardi this fall. The tour launches Sept. 30 in Oklahoma City.

Moore will also headline Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater for The Big 98’s annual Guitar-B-Que on Aug. 10, a live concert and guitar auction to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“Being out on the road is where me and the band feel most at home,” said Moore. “Even though we’ve been nonstop already this year with the headlining shows in The UK and the Miranda tour, it just doesn’t feel natural to slow down, our live show is when we are in our element. I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to test some new material that we’ve been working on out on the road and having Jon out with us too, I’m sure we’re going to get into some trouble out there.”

Me and My Kind Tour Dates:

Sept. 30: Oklahoma City
Oct. 1: Fort Worth, Texas
Oct. 6: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Oct. 8: Toledo, Michigan
Oct. 13: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Oct. 20: Boston
Oct. 21: Pittsburgh
Oct. 27: Bemidji, Minnesota
Oct. 28: St. Paul, Minnesota
Nov. 10: Atlanta
Nov. 11: Birmingham, Alabama
Nov. 12: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Nov. 17: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Nov. 18: Peoria, Illinois
Nov. 19: Kansas City, Missouri
Dec. 1: New York City
Dec. 3: Philadelphia
Dec. 8: Detroit

BMI Teams With Retail Association Of Maine

Pictured (Standing, L-R): BMI Songwriters Dave Pahanish, Hugh Mitchell. Kneeling: Reny’s Store Manager Carl Hodge, BMI’s Dan Spears, Retail Association of Maine Executive Director Curtis Picard.

BMI joined forces with the Retail Association of Maine on Friday and Saturday (June 10-11) to help celebrate their Shop Second Saturday campaign by bringing two award-winning Nashville songwriters to the state. BMI songwriters Dave Pahanish and Hugh Mitchell performed at three different locations in support of the initiative aimed at supporting Maine retail stores. Among the venues was Reny’s, a family-owned chain of Maine department stores with 16 locations that have been in operation since 1949.

BMI’s 8th Off 8th At Mercy Lounge

Pictured (L-R): Walking Man’s Jonathan Draper, songwriter Chloe Kat, Walking Man’s Mick Utley, BMI’s Nina Carter and songwriter Ron Gallo.

Holt, Flack Team For Redjett Artist Management

Pictured (L-R): Kendra Flack, Lauren Daigle, Blanca, Leigh Holt

Music executive Leigh Holt has teamed with Red Barn founder Kendra Flack to develop new artist management agency Redjett Management. Based in Franklin, Tennessee, the company offers day-to-day artist management and tour management/logistics services. Their clients include Christian artists Lauren Diagle and Blanca.

Holt, a former Warner Music Nashville VP of Strategic Partnerships, launched maddjett, a full-service agency designed to build brands, businesses, and partnerships, in 2013.

Flack’s career includes work in show production, set design and tour management for tours including Winter Jam and for artists including Kari Jobe.

H20 Artist Agency Relocates To Brentwood

Scott Huie

Longtime Christian music booking agent Scott Huie has relocated his H2O Artist Agency to Brentwood, Tennessee. The office is now located at 7106 Crossroads Blvd., Ste. 215 in Brentwood.

Huie also returns as the exclusive booking agent for Newsboys, after previously representing the band for 15 years. H2O Artist Agency’s roster also includes Peter Furler; singer/songwriter Ryan Stevenson; band Rush of Fools; hard rock mainstay Seventh Day Slumber; singer/songwriter Trevor Morgan; Classic Imperials; and vocalist Karyn Williams.

Since beginning his career in Christian music in 1985, Huie spent six years at the H1 Agency and International Creative Management in New York, as well as nine years at Nashville-based Vanguard Entertainment. He founded the H2O Artist Agency in 1999, where he initially represented Newsboys.

Huie can be reached at 615-454-3635 and [email protected].

Kenny Chesney Invites Friends To Play to 46,000 Fans in Texas

Kenny Chesney at AT&T Stadium. Photo: Jill Trunnell

Kenny Chesney‘s 2016 Spread the Love Tour stop at Dallas/Fort Worth’s AT&T Stadium played to over 46,000 fans on Saturday (June 4). The event featured guests Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, Old Dominion, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in addition to players, and country icon Randy Travis, who even joined Chesney on stage. Chesney performed “Diggin’ Up Bones” in his honor.

Dolly Parton Launches Pure And Simple North American Tour

Pictured (L-R): National Shows 2’s Darin Lashinsky, APA’s Steve Martin, Dolly Parton, CTK Mgmt’s Danny Nozell, and Webster PR’s Kirt Webster. Photo: Jeremy Westby

Dolly Parton kicked off her North American Pure And Simple Tour in North Carolina on Friday (June 3). The icon has been featured in many publications recently, including CNN and Oprah.

Fontanel Hosts Memorial Day Event With Big & Rich

Big & Rich front center, and a cast of musicians and friends join in honoring Medal of Honor recipients. Middle row, third from left: Colonel Roger Donlon, U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.). Standing front row beside John Rich is Sgt. Gary Beikirch, U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.). Also pictured: Parmalee and Thompson Square.

Fontanel held Camp NASH, the first annual Memorial Day weekend celebration, with over 3,000 attendees on Monday (May 30). The family-friendly, country music lifestyle event featured multiple performance stages with Big & Rich, Thompson Square, Parmalee, Chuck Wicks, Rae Lynn, and Breaking Southwest.

The event benefitted the Special Forces Charitable Trust, and was sponsored by Nationwide Express in addition to representation from Cumulus Media and Love’s Travel Stops.

Dan+Shay Visit iHeart New York During Album Launch

Pictured (L-R): Marissa Morris, iHeart; Dan Smyers; Tom Poleman, iHeart; Shay Mooney; John Sykes, iHeart.

Dan + Shay stopped by the iHeart Media studios in New York City on Monday (June 6) while making press visits surrounding their latest album, Obsessed, which was released Friday, June 3.

In order to house its expanding staff, talent agency APA recently relocated to a spacious 14,900-square-feet office on the top floor of One Nashville Place, located at 150 4th Ave. N. in downtown Nashville. They will celebrate the move next week with an open house to showcase its upscale new location.

The new facility provides APA more than double the space of its previous 7,000-square-feet location at 3010 Poston Avenue. Panoramic views overlook downtown Nashville, as well as Nissan Stadium and the Cumberland River. Other amenities include sleek interiors, an abundance of natural lighting, and the convenience of being in close proximity to the hustle and bustle of downtown.

“If we have clients performing at the Ryman Auditorium or the Schermerhorn Symphony Center or the amphitheater, any of the downtown venues, we can walk there,” says APA Sr. VP Steve Lassiter. “It will be extremely convenient for CMA Music Fest coming up.”

The company’s new location offers some much-needed breathing room from APA’s former property. “We had 7,000 square feet in the old building,” says Lassiter. “We were completely out of space. We had assistants in the hallways, people sharing offices. We felt it was time to move downtown.”

Since the relocation, APA has hired three additional agents, as well as a staffer to handle tour sponsorships and branding. They have also relocated a television agent from their Beverly Hills office.

After looking at five available properties, APA signed the lease at One Nashville Place in November 2015. They plan to sell APA’s former property at Poston Avenue.

“The timing was perfect,” says Lassiter. “When we looked at the space in September, there was a law firm that had just vacated the space, and it was clearly the perfect one that suited our needs.”

APA represents clients including BlackHawk, Charlie Daniels Band, Clint Black, Crystal Gayle, David Lee Murphy, Don Williams, Doug Seegers, Dolly Parton, Hailey Whitters, Jesse James Decker, Keith Anderson, Leon Russell, Little Texas, Phil Vassar, Sawyer Brown, Tanya Tucker, Tonic, Travis Tritt, and more.