Circle Network Counts Down To 56th ACM Awards With 16-Hour ‘ACM Awards Circle’

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Circle announced today (April 13) that they will be ringing in the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards with a special collection of programming leading up to the live award show.

ACM Awards Circle will kick off their 16 hours of programming at 10 a.m. CST on Saturday, April 17, during which past and present ACM Award winners and nominees will be highlighted with special guests, including Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Brothers Osborne, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Toby Keith, Parker McCollum, Blake Shelton, Tenille Townes, and more.

ACM Awards Circle will celebrate with an ACM themed Opry Live performance on Saturday, April 17 at 9 p.m. CST at the Ryman Auditorium featuring Suzy Bogguss, Vince Gill, and this year’s ACM New Male Artist of the Year Jimmie Allen as well as a special appearance by New Female Artist of the Year Gabby Barrett. Immediately before Opry Live, a special livestream of Circle Sessions: ACM Awards with Luke Bryan, John Rich, Josh Turner and more will stream on Circle’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter at 7:30 p.m. CST.

“We are thrilled to work with Circle TV once again for the ACM Awards Circle special to kick off on April 17. Showcasing some of the biggest names in the genre, both past and present, as well as rising country stars, the 16-hour special is the perfect lead-in to the Award show,” says CEO of the Academy of Country Music Damon Whiteside. “This special offers something for every country fan to enjoy and serves as the perfect way to build anticipation leading up to this year’s show. A huge thanks to Circle TV for making this happen, and we look forward to seeing fans’ excitement as a result leading into the live telecast April 18!”

“Circle is honored to partner with the ACM Awards for the second year in a row to help with the lead up to the big night. Viewers can look forward to a curated mix of fan-favorite episodes featuring some of the biggest names in country music who have been a part of the awards throughout the years,” shares Circle Network’s General Manager Drew Reifenberger. “Our multi-platform network has been able to bring Nashville to the homes of millions around the world throughout the pandemic and we look forward to continuing this with ACM Awards Circle.”

ACM Awards Winners’ Circle will lead viewers into the highly anticipated 56th ACM Awards on Sunday, April 18 live at 7 p.m. CST on CBS and will also be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+. The show will make history as it airs live from Nashville, TN broadcasting from three of Music City’s most legendary venues – the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, and Bluebird Cafe.

The ACM Awards Circle full programming schedule can be found here: https://www.circleplus.com/schedule/.

‘Skyville Live: Jerry Lee Lewis’ To Make Television Debut Tonight

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Skyville Live: Jerry Lee Lewis will debut on CMT tonight (April 13). The show includes a stellar lineup of artists honoring the music icon including George Strait, Toby Keith, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack, Waylon Payne and a special performance from The Killer himself.

Originally filmed in 2017, the Skyville Live show marked the 60th Anniversary of mega-hits “Whole Lotta Shakin’” and “Great Balls of Fire,” both of which were recorded at Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based Sun Records and are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Originally aired online, fans can catch the TV debut of the show on CMT at 9 p.m. CT and on CMT.com.

“Not only did I get to enjoy my music through the renditions of some of the finest musicians in the world, they also all happen to be my friends. What an honor,” says Lewis in reflecting on the event.

Jerry Lee Lewis is one of only two living members of the first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where he was inducted alongside Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and more in 1986. He is also a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Mississippi Music Hall of Fame, The MAX Hall of Fame and has received countless awards and honors from organizations worldwide. Lewis has had 17 top 10 country albums and 30 top 10 country hits.

First Annual Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival Slated For August

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The First Annual Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival is set to take place in downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge on August 19-22. The nights will be filled with performances from top songwriters including Tony Arata, Lee Roy Parnell, Will Nance, Steve Dean, and many more.

Songwriters attending the conference will have the opportunity to be mentored one-on-one by industry professionals, perfect their craft, perform live shows, collaborate in writing sessions, and advance their careers. Industry executives attending this year include Mark Brown, SVP & GM Round Hill Music, Blake Chancey, music producer and owner of RPM Music Group. Devon O’Day, songwriter, career radio host, and streaming host of Mainstream Today will be hosting the event.

Nestled in the heart of The Great Smoky Mountains, the three-day conference and live music event will feature nightly shows by hit songwriters in venues including The Listening Room—Pigeon Forge, Ole Red, SkyLift Park, Park Vista Hotel and The Historic Gatlinburg Inn.

“The Listening Room is thrilled to support the Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival,” says Chris Blair, owner and operator of The Listening Room. “As we open our new music venue in Pigeon Forge this summer, we are excited to host these talented songwriters, and infuse even more live music into the Smokies.”

On August 19, there will be a special kick-off celebration commemorating the legacy of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the writers behind many hits, including “Rocky Top,” which has become the unofficial anthem of East Tennessee. The Bryants, who are highlighted in Ken Burns acclaimed documentary, Country Music, will be remembered with the installation of a new TN Music Pathways Marker at The Historic Gatlinburg Inn. Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to book writing sessions in historic room #388 where many of the Bryant’s tunes were penned.

There are a variety of options to attend, with most performances free and open to the public. Special events can be attended with a $30 membership, one-night show tickets, or special event tickets, all of which are available at gatlinburgsongwriters.com/attend.

Nashville Music Equality To Present ‘A Night With A Legend: Sam Moore’

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Nashville Music Equality is hosting a special virtual Night With A Legend, a conversation with the legendary “Soul Man” Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, hosted by NME’s President, Shannon Sanders on April 20. The evening will feature a discussion exploring Moore’s career and his story navigating the music industry.

Moore is best known for his work with the historic soul duo Sam & Dave, a group that sold more than 10 million records worldwide with hits “Hold On I’m Coming,” “I Thank You,” “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” “Soul Sister,” “Brown Sugar,” “Wrap It Up” and the monster hit “Soul Man,” which catapulted up both the pop and R&B charts. The music and sound of Sam & Dave became so popular that the duo served as the inspiration for The Blues Brothers parody by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Moore has maintained his appeal and his stardom as a solo artist and continues to tour, scoring critical acclaim for his work.

He is also a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and enjoyed success in the country realm with his duet of “Rainy Night In Georgia” with Conway Twitty (Conway’s last recording), which earned them a Platinum record as well as two CMA award nominations.

To attend the event, register here.

Jennifer Nettles Announces New Broadway Inspired Album ‘Always Like New’

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Jennifer Nettles. Photo: Shervin Lainez

Multi-Grammy Award-winning recording artist Jennifer Nettles has announced that she will be expanding her musical versatility with a new album that defies genres and includes a collection of American Songbook classics. Nettles’ album, Always Like New, will be available June 25 via Concord Records on CD, vinyl, and digital.

Teaming up with Grammy and Tony Award-winning orchestrator Alex Lacamoire, best known for his work on Broadway’s critically acclaimed shows Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and In the Heights, Nettles has reimagined, arranged, and produced beloved songs from the stage while also infusing her signature sound. Through this album, Nettles hopes to give these timeless works of art a new context and meaning in our current landscape.

“As a child who grew up in musical theatre, this album feels like a homecoming to me. I savored every note of singing and arranging these songs with Alex Lacamoire. It is thrilling to be able to celebrate this amazing songwriting with arrangements and vocals that allow them to be rediscovered anew,” says Nettles.

Executive produced by Adam Zotovich (Dear Evan Hansen, The Color Purple, An American in Paris), this project spans classics from “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” (Oklahoma) and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” (My Fair Lady) to contemporary favorites including “You Will Be Found” (Dear Evan Hansen), “Wait for It” (Hamilton) and “It All Fades Away” featuring Brandi Carlile (The Bridges Of Madison County).

Always Like New is available for pre-order and digital pre-save now, and the lead single “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat” is also available to stream.

Always Like New Track List:
1. Wouldn’t It Be Loverly from My Fair Lady
2. Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ from The Boat from Guys and Dolls
3. Wait For It from Hamilton
4. Almost Like Being In Love from Brigadoon
5. It All Fades Away featuring Brandi Carlile from The Bridges Of Madison County
6. There’s A Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute from Barnum
7. Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ from Oklahoma!
8. Anyone Can Whistle from Anyone Can Whistle
9. You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen
10. Tomorrow from Annie

Chris Stapleton Earns Second No. 1 Song As An Artist

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Chris Stapleton. Photo: Becky Fluke

Chris Stapleton has secured the No. 1 spot at country radio’s Mediabase Chart this week with his recent album’s title track, “Starting Over.” Written by Stapleton and Mike Henderson, “Starting Over” becomes the Kentucky natives’ second chart-topping single as an artist following his 2018 hit “Broken Halos.”

This achievement comes just a week ahead of the 56th ACM Awards where Stapleton leads nominees with a whopping six nominations in four categories: Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year (Starting Over as both artist and producer) and Song of the Year (“Starting Over” as both artist and songwriter). Stapleton is also slated to perform at the awards ceremony which will air on CBS this Sunday, April 18 at 7 p.m. CST.

These nominations celebrate a monumental year for Stapleton following the release of Starting Over which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart in November of 2020. The fourteen-track record Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb.

Former 12th & Porter Location Transformed Into New Event Space

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Nightscape

A new event and entertainment space, Nightscape, is slated to open up this fall in the old 12th & Porter location in downtown Nashville.

The transformative event and entertainment space will use built-in 360-degree 3D projection mapping and other sensory elements including surround sound, customizable lighting, unique scents and more to envelop guests in real or imaginary worlds and environments. The idea is the brainchild of entrepreneur Mike Weinberg, who has spent nearly his entire life in the entertainment industry from his early days as a child actor, to his teen years creating and running his own lighting and DJ company in L.A., and his career at CAA following graduation from the University of Michigan.

Nightscape

“Projection mapping is a visual catalyst to create amazing events and experiences,” says Weinberg. “It’s not just a one trick pony, but rather a platform that will redefine how people can see, create, and recreate inside physical spaces. We’re excited to bring this to the market and grow in an industry that has so much potential. When the building became available, I knew it would be a perfect fit for the first location of Nightscape. 12th & Porter has such a rich history as a concert venue in Nashville and putting in a creative concept like Nightscape seemed like such a great way to pay homage to that history while creating a really modern, state-of-the-art venue to carry the space forward,”

Nightscape will offer ticketed public events that will be announced via an online calendar. All private events in the space will be facilitated by a partnership between Nightscape and local events company, Infinity Hospitality. The creative content arm, Nightscape Studios, will be responsible for developing and producing opportunities with brands, bands, artists, chefs, and other creatives looking to take advantage of Nightscape’s unique capabilities.

Nightscape

Country Music Hall Of Fame Unveils Two Online Exhibits

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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is offering fans access to two new, free-to-access online exhibits: “Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter” and “Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City.” These multimedia exhibits are the first designed exclusively for the museum’s website.

Curated specifically for an online audience, “Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter” draws from the museum’s exhibit galleries and permanent collection to explore the artistry of Western-wear designers, often known as “rodeo tailors,” whose couture designs helped create the indelible “rhinestone cowboy” image for country music. The exhibit examines the emergence of this unique look in the 1940s and 1950s, largely from the tailor shops of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, who carved a successful niche for themselves by embracing America’s fascination with cowboy culture and Western imagery. Viewers will learn how the creative vision of the early designers, including ”Rodeo Ben” Lichtenstein, Nathan Turk and Nudie Cohn endures today, especially through Cohn’s former apprentices  Manuel Cuevas and Jaime Castaneda, each of whom moved from Mexico to Los Angeles.

Today’s designers’ modern spins on classic Nudie suits and vintage stage costumes have been spotted on a wide range of recording artists including Charley Crockett, Jenny Lewis, Post Malone, Midland, Margo Price and Lil Nas X. The exhibit includes detailed color photos of stage wear, tools of the trade and historical photographs and video. Artifacts include a three-piece cowgirl costume designed by Nathan Turk for Rose Maddox, lead singer in her family band, the Maddox Brothers & Rose; Hank Thompson’s boots, featuring a fantastical scene commemorating his career-launching 1948 hit “Humpty Dumpty Heart,” created by Nudie Cohn’s master embroiderer Viola Grae; a Manuel jacket, with fleur-de-lys embroidery and rhinestones, designed for Roseanne Cash, and much more.

Originally presented in the museum’s galleries from 2015-2018, “Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City” has been adapted for an online audience. The exhibit explores  Bob Dylan’s Nashville recordings in the 1960s and his impact on the local music industry; the role of Johnny Cash’s groundbreaking TV show in expanding the perception of Nashville as a music center welcoming to all; and the importance of the community of ace session musicians, known as the “Nashville Cats,” whose members included Kenny Buttrey, Lloyd Green, Charlie Daniels, Charlie McCoy, Jerry Reed and Hargus “Pig” Robbins and others. The Cats are featured on many significant recordings of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, including Neil Young’s Harvest, Leonard Cohen’s Songs from a Room, the Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, and multiple Dylan albums.

The exhibit features vintage clips from The Johnny Cash Show, and rare archival footage and images of artifacts including a mahogany 1949 Martin 00-17 that Dylan used in the early 1960s; Norbert Putnam’s Fender Precision bass, used on recordings by Linda Ronstadt (“Long Long Time”), Tony Joe White (“Polk Salad Annie”), Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, and Elvis Presley; and Cash’s Eaves Costume Company suit, which he wore on his network TV series The Johnny Cash Show.

“As a national history museum and global cultural institution, we are charged to consistently expand access to the museum’s collection and the interpretive work of our curators and historians, while advancing the documentation and preservation of American musical history,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “These online exhibitions, made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, enabled the museum to create this novel exhibit platform. With it, we are not only able to reshare the story of the artists and musicians who helped to broaden Nashville’s reputation as a true Music City, but also to tell a new story, that of the clothiers who created unmistakable designs that are now synonymous with country music.”

Ryman’s Bluegrass Nights Return In July

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Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Rhonda Vincent and Dailey & Vincent are set to perform during the Ryman Auditorium’s annual Springer Mountain Farms Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman this summer.

Presented by Springer Mountain Farms for three Thursday nights in July, the Nashville tradition will kick off Thursday, July 1, with both limited in-venue and livestream tickets available. Weather depending, all performances will follow a pre-show “Pickin’ on the Plaza” event on the Ryman’s PNC Plaza featuring live music from local bluegrass artists and bands presented by 650 AM WSM, as well as giveaways and raffles including the fan-favorite “Chicken Rich” contest presented by Springer Mountain Farms, a “Bluegrass Nights” title sponsor since 2006.

Series passes for livestream as well as individual show tickets for both livestream and in person are on sale now at ryman.com. Livestream series passes are $30, individual livestreams are $15 and in person tickets start at $45.

All events at the Ryman follow strict COVID-19 operating plans that include physical distancing, limited in-venue capacity, mandatory masks for all guests and staff, as well as enhanced cleaning practices.

Springer Mountain Farms Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman 2021 Lineup:
July 1 – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
July 8 – Rhonda Vincent
July 22 – Dailey & Vincent

BMI Elevates Leslie Roberts, Josh Tomlinson

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Leslie Roberts, Josh Tomlinson

BMI announced today (April 12) the promotion of Leslie Roberts to Assistant Vice President, Creative, Nashville.

Roberts, who has been at BMI for 11 years, provides guidance for BMI songwriters both creatively and administratively, and helps coordinate showcases, seminars, and other events in BMI’s stacked calendar. This year, she has been integral in re-signing BMI affiliates such as Parker Welling and Thomas Rhett. She is responsible for planning and hosting the BMI Christian Awards and co-hosting the BMI Country Awards and is involved with college programs and outreach such as Catalog Cast, which has expanded to three additional universities this year. Roberts also oversees record company rosters and represents BMI within the AIMP and the Gospel Music Association.

Roberts will continue to work closely with Vice President, Creative, Nashville, Clay Bradley, and will be responsible for ongoing outreach, support, and career guidance for BMI affiliates and the songwriting community in Nashville. Additionally, she will provide further direction for the office’s team of Creative representatives.

BMI also announced the promotion of Josh Tomlinson to Director, Creative, Nashville.

Tomlinson joined BMI in 2016 after graduating from Belmont University, and since joining the company, has expanded his role from working in the country genre to include the full scope of Nashville’s multi-genre music community. He has also taken over the management of BMI’s ongoing participation in local showcase, 8 Off 8th, and is instrumental in the execution of BMI’s Rooftop on the Row series. Tomlinson also serves as the Nashville liaison for BMI’s Partnership and Events team.

Bradley says, “Leslie’s contributions to our Creative department and her commitment to songwriters is invaluable. She is a highly respected member of our community and has built incredible relationships within the industry. For years, songwriters from all genres coming out of Nashville have benefitted from her experience and expertise, so this promotion is truly well deserved. I’m also excited to recognize Josh’s dedication and passion for our writers. He’s always looking for new ways to support the local creative community and I know he’ll continue that with even more drive and enthusiasm in his new role. I appreciate everything that Leslie and Josh do every day for our affiliates.”