The full lineup has been unveiled for this year’s Boots And Hearts Music Festival, taking place Aug. 8-11 at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, Ontario.

As previously announced, Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett and Cody Johnson will headline the festival and perform along with Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Megan Moroney, NeedToBreathe, Nate Smith, Lonestar and Madeline Merlo.

The four-day event will launch with the annual Kick-Off Party on Thursday night (Aug. 8), starring Midland, Lonestar and 2023’s Emerging Artist Showcase winner Shantaia.

On Friday (Aug. 9), Jess Moskaluke and Nate Haller will join Boots And Hearts first-timers Johnson, Brothers Osborne and Moroney on the Main Stage. Chayce Beckham will headline the Front Porch Stage, which will feature Redferrin, Kalsey Kulyk, Buck Twenty and Taylor-Rae.

Matchbox Twenty will also take the Main Stage, marking their only Canadian date for the year, in addition to headliner Rhett, NeedToBreathe, Hunter Brothers and Elyse Saunders on Saturday night (Aug. 10). Jackson Dean will headline the Front Porch Stage that day, with Bryan Martin, Lauren Watkins, Texas King and Alee performing as well.

“The growing popularity of country music not only attracts a wider audience but allows an opportunity for more creativity in curating our artist lineup. It’s important to us to unite fans and create lasting memories with an experience they can’t get any where else,” says Brooke Dunford, Boots And Hearts’ Director of Talent Buying & Business Development. “Continuing with the tradition of creating a unique experience for our fans, we are ecstatic to welcome legendary rock band Matchbox Twenty to our stage. We always strive to curate a lineup that delivers electric energy for both fans and artists, and we’re confident this year’s lineup will do exactly that.”

On Sunday (Aug. 11), Aldean, Pearce, Smith and Merlo will be joined by Alexandra Kay on the Main Stage. The Front Porch Stage will showcase Alana Springsteen, Dillon James, Dayna Reid and Brian John Harwood throughout the day. Canadian group Emerson Drive will then headline that night and play together for the last time before they retire after nearly 30 years.

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has taken legal action against music streaming platform Pandora in the United States District Court located in Nashville. According to The MLC, it seeks to recover unpaid royalties and late fees due under the compulsory mechanical blanket license obtained by Pandora to reproduce and distribute musical works in America via its consumer music streaming platform.

The MLC was appointed by the Register of Copyrights to administer the blanket license and is the only entity authorized to collect and distribute the license royalties and enforce the license obligations on behalf of rightsholders. The action asserts that Pandora has underreported and underpaid mechanical royalties due in connection with the operation of its ad-supported music streaming offering marketed as “Pandora Free,” and further says that Pandora Free is an interactive service under the law, meaning that mechanical royalties are due for all streaming activity on the service. According to the organization, Pandora has only reported a portion of the activity on Pandora Free and refused to report and pay mechanical royalties for the rest of the activity.

The company now seeks corrected usage reporting and associated unpaid royalties and late fees for periods dating back to Jan. 1, 2021, along with an order requiring compliance going forward.

“The MLC has worked closely and tirelessly with blanket licensees to ensure their compliance with the compulsory license terms. Our team repeatedly sought to resolve this issue directly with Pandora, but Pandora has refused to correct their reporting or royalty payments,” says Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “The MLC is the only entity that has the statutory authority under the Music Modernization Act (MMA) to take legal steps to enforce the obligations of streaming services. We have brought this action to ensure that our members receive all the mechanical royalties they are due in connection with the use of their songs by Pandora on the Pandora Free service.”

A lineup of talent is set to celebrate music star Mavis Staples with performances during “Mavis Staples 85th: All-Star Birthday Concert.” Presented by Blackbird Presents and Live Nation, the tribute is set for April 18 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles.

Those performing include Chris Stapleton, The War And Treaty, Black Pumas, Grace Potter, Hozier, Jackson Browne, Jeff Tweedy, Michael McDonald, Nathaniel Rateliff, Norah Jones, Robert Randolph, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’ and more.

Staples is both a Blues and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer as well as a civil rights icon and three-time Grammy winner. The Kennedy Center honoree has also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and National Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. Considered a soul, gospel and R&B pioneer, Staples was No. 46 on Rolling Stone’s 200 Greatest Singers of All Time list. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., performed at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration and for former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Over the past few decades, Staples collaborated with Prince, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire and Bon Iver, among others.

“At the end of last year, I was talking about retiring,” she says. “But after sitting with it for a while, I stopped myself and thought, ‘Well, what would I do?’ I asked the Lord, ‘Why am I still here? What do you want of me? Have you kept me around for a reason?’ And the only reason I could see is to sing my songs. That’s why I’m still here, and I’m looking forward to this show with my friends singing my songs too!”

“Producing this show is the honor of my life, as we all come together to celebrate a woman whom has given so much to so many over the years through her actions, her music and her magic,” says Keith Wortman, Blackbird Presents CEO & Chief Creative Officer.

Tickets for the celebration will be available this Friday (Feb. 16). For more information, click here.

Nate Smith has revealed his new EP, Through The Smoke, will arrive April 5. He dropped the debut single from the upcoming project, “Bulletproof,” on Friday (Feb. 9).

“I’ve been through a lot of adversity in my life, but ‘through the smoke’ came to mind one day and I thought that was the perfect way to describe making it through tragedy,” says Smith. “It captures what it looks like on the other side of heartbreak, on the other side of tragedy, on the other side of giving everything you’ve got to go after what you want to do in life. I think this EP is a transition between all the fire and pain and everything I went through, and then overcoming. And that’s what I want people to feel. It’s layered in there.”

Smith’s smash hit “World On Fire” has scored eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, which ties Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night,” Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and Lonestar’s “Amazed” for the second-longest No. 1 reign since the chart’s inception in 1990. The song also topped the Country Aircheck/Mediabase chart for three weeks. With over 170 million global streams to date, “World On Fire” follows Smith’s Platinum, multi-week No. 1 debut single “Whiskey On You.” Only 19 songs went No. 1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart last year, two of which belong to Smith.

Additionally, he kicked off his headlining “World On Fire Tour” last month, and will join Wallen for his “One Night At A Time 2024 Tour” this spring and summer.

Messina Touring Group, the promoter for touring giants such as Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Ed Sheeran, Eric Church, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Shawn Mendes and The Lumineers, has promoted three team members to VP roles.

Lauren Caire has been elevated from Director of Finance to VP of Finance, Keena Cheatham has risen from Promoter Rep to VP of Touring and LeeAnn Rotondo has been promoted from Director of Ticketing to VP of Ticketing.

“It thrills me to see our MTG team grow—these individuals are just another example of the incredible MTG team,” shares CEO Louis Messina. “Watching them grow and achieve makes me so happy; the success of our team is my biggest accomplishment.”

Caire joined MTG in 2015 as a Senior Accountant. She has since managed finances for the company and all of its tours, including a marquee year in 2023 anchored by Swift’s headline-dominating “Eras Tour,” Sheeran’s record-breaking “Mathematics World Tour,” Strait’s stadium run and more. The Nashville native also managed the design and opening of MTG’s first office outside of its Austin home base in 2019, expanding the promoter’s presence into Music City. She is currently overseeing MTG Nashville’s upcoming move to Nashville Yards.

Cheatham joined MTG in 2013 as a Promoter Rep on Swift’s “Red Tour,” and has had a role in over half of the MTG roster in both the pop and country music sectors. The MusicRow N.B.T. Class of 2024 member leads the charge for some of the promoter’s biggest clients, including serving as the point person for Sheeran since 2014 and playing an instrumental part in Church’s “The Gather Again Tour,” which reported over 860,000 in ticket sales, grossed over $100 million and took home the award for Top Country Tour at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards.

Rotondo joined MTG in 2015 as a Ticket Manager, primarily to assist with ticketing for Swift’s “1989 Tour.” Now she spearheads all ticketing for Swift’s tours, as well as many other MTG clients including Church, Chesney and Shelton. Under her direction, ticketing at MTG has evolved from an isolated process led by each touring team into an innovative model with a centralized department that leads all tours at the forefront of the quickly-evolving ticketing industry.

Congratulate Caire via [email protected], Cheatham via [email protected] and Rotondo via [email protected].