Behind The Music Reveals Lambert’s Journey to Stardom

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Miranda Lambert Behind The Music premiered on VH1 last month, tracing the singer’s story from humble Texas roots to Country music stardom. The episode includes numerous exclusive interviews with the artist, her family, peers, and the industry execs that helped drive her success.

Blake Shelton talks openly about his wife and their love story. Fellow stars Sheryl Crow, Hillary Scott, and Loretta Lynn discuss Lambert’s talent. Music Row figures on the show include Joe Galante weighing in from the label perspective, and Tracy Gershon on discovering Lambert on Nashville Star.

Lambert discusses writing her album Revolution, which propelled her career forward and went on to win a Grammy and rack up at the CMA Awards.

Select footage also includes Lambert’s Pistol Annies cohort Angeleena Presley, and songwriter Marshall Chapman.

See the full episode or bonus clips. A sneak peek is embedded below.

Crowdsourcing Engages Fans, Fuels Traffic

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Crowdsourcing has been growing in popularity among marketers in recent years and offers numerous ways to engage music fans. The buzzword is derived from the concept of outsourcing a service to a crowd, instead of seeking answers internally. Essentially, it taps the consumer masses for collaboration and feedback.
Today crowdsourcing continues to evolve, with a variety of industries using it for product development, research, and marketing. In return for participation—usually done online—consumers receive prizes ranging from cash to gift cards to artist merch.
Crowdsourcing fuels peer-to-peer marketing, where fans encourage their friends to participate, and share videos, exclusive content, and coupons.
The music biz has been using it for fan engagement, such as recent initiatives by Paul McCartney and Florence and the Machine. The industry brains behind the famed Beatle created a contest where fine artists designed a work inspired by his music. A similar competition was held to design a dress for Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welsh, which solicited 60 million votes according to a press release from Talenthouse, the social crowdsourcing company that was tapped by Universal Music Group for both projects. From a marketing perspective, it is a way to drive traffic to the artists’ websites and social networks, as well as engage consumers who entered the contests or voted for the winners.
Social media is a key component of most crowdsourcing websites, because the companies require a Facebook or Twitter account to log in. Some, like Talenthouse, run user voting through the social media sites. Connecting through Facebook allows marketers to gather the user’s FB info, including gender, list of friends, “likes,” email address, and access to post to the wall, with user permission.
Numerous crowdsourcing websites have popped up in recent years such as Krush.com, Crowdtap.com, and Prizes.org. Each site works a little differently, but they mostly have users answer polls, solve problems, or give feedback on products. Among the big-name brands on board are Old Navy, American Express, and Adidas.

CCM Artist Dan Peek, Formerly of America, Dead at Age 60

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Christian-music recording artist Dan Peek passed away on Sunday, July 24, at his home in Farmington, MO.
Peek’s CCM work topped the gospel charts and earned a Grammy Award nomination, but he was best known for his earlier tenure in the pop group America. He sang and played on such America hits as “A Horse with No Name” (1972), “I Need You” (1972), “Ventura Highway” (1972), “Tin Man” (1974), “Lonely People” (1975) and “Sister Golden Hair” (1975).
He wrote “Lonely People,” as well as such America tunes as “Rainy Day,” “Everyone I Meet Is From California,” “Don’t Cross the River,” “Saturn Nights,” “Simple Life” and “Woman Tonight.”
He left the group in 1977. He renewed his Christian faith and embarked on a second career while former partners Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell continued America as a duo. Peek’s CCM debut album, All Things Are Possible, was released in 1979. It was nominated for a Grammy. Its title tune was a No. 1 CCM hit, crossed over to the mainstream pop charts and became a top-10 A/C hit.
The CCM field was quite young at the time. Dan Peek was a pioneer of the genre alongside such other former pop stars as Barry McGuire, Richey Furay, Larry Norman and Noel Paul Stookey.
Peek’s second CCM collection, 1984’s Doer of the World, also had a title tune that became a top-10 hit on the gospel charts. Peek’s 1986 album, Electro Voice, included a remake of America’s “Lonely People” with rewritten, Christian-oriented lyrics. It and the album’s title tune both became top-10 gospel hits.
Other albums included Cross Over (1987), Bodden Town (1999) and Caribbean Christmas (2000). During the 1990s, Peek also recorded four CCM albums as a member of the group Peace.
Dan Peek published an autobiography titled An American Band: The America Story in 2004. No cause of death has been made public.

Review: David Nail Sells Out Exit/In

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A capacity crowd gathered at Exit/In last night (7/28) for MCA artist David Nail’s sold out Nashville show with up-and-comer Russell Dickerson. Nail’s soulful brand of country music was a smart fit for the venerable Elliston Place venue that has hosted acts as diverse as Talking Heads and Vince Gill.
Unsigned Russell Dickerson opened the show. A tall drink of water with a Telecaster, Dickerson mixes bright Keith Urban melodies with a loverman charm reminiscent of James Otto. He directed everyone to his Twitter page @russelled, where they could all get “Russelled” on a regular basis. His EP Die To Live Again is currently available on iTunes, as is his latest single “That’s My Girl.”
David Nail took the stage after a brief intermission, dressed in a gingham shirt and vest that were completely sweat-soaked within a matter of minutes. He opened his set with a slowed-down, moody take on “Looking For A Good Time” from his 2008 collection I’m About To Come Alive. The band rolled immediately into “This Time Around,” followed by a cover of Train’s “Respect.” A total of five songs flew by without a single word to the audience, and I was starting to get worried he might not acknowledge us at all.
As if reading my mind, Nail greeted the crowd right before song six.
“I promised myself I wasn’t gonna talk much and I don’t plan to,” he stated. “But it means more to me than you can know that we sold this bitch out tonight.”
Alright, fair enough.
Nail’s excellent set showcased his 2009 hit “Red Light” as well as his current single “Let It Rain” and “I’m About To Come Alive” (another Train song). The audience was also treated to some new material, including a dedication to his wife called “Catherine,” and a couple other covers like Ryan Adams’ “Firecracker” and Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be.”
In case you haven’t seen this guy perform live, let the record show that he’s one heck of a singer. His soulful inflections and impressive range approached the sublime, and his powerful voice is always front and center in the mix. His merch table had plenty of t-shirts and accessories, and bizarrely, underwear emblazoned with the David Nail logo. (Hey, I guess Christmas isn’t that far away…)
Also in the crowd enjoying the show were muzzbuzz colleagues Karen Light, Erin Duvall, Kama Upton, John and Jill Ettinger, Amanda Eckard, Kristen McCrary, the UMG Nashville crew including Tom Lord and Katie Dean, and reps from CAA who booked the show.
For his encore, Nail’s band churned up an extended blooze jam before segueing into the piano intro for his hit “Turning Home.” He followed that with a funky mashup of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Easy Like Sunday Morning,” before closing out the evening with the Tom Petty rave-up “You Wreck Me.”
As he finished “Turning Home,” Nail expressed his gratitude once again.
“When this show got booked, I called the booking agency and said ‘Man, I don’t know if I’m big enough to play Nashville.’ I can’t tell you how important that song has been to me so I’m just gonna shut up and sing, ok?”
David, keep singing like you did last night and you’ll be just fine.

Charlie Cook On-Air

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Charlie Cook

The R Word

I know many of you as I have been in this business for 40 years. All of my business life has been in radio and most of it in Country Music. I lived in Nashville in the mid and late ’80s but have been coming to town since the mid ’70s for the Country Radio Seminar.
I am currently on the board of both the ACM and the CMA. I was chairman and president of the ACM in the old days and served on the CRB board for over 20 years. I was president of the CRB for a year or two during that span.
Today I am Director of Programming and Brand Management for West Virginia Radio Corp, based in Morgantown, WV and president of McVay/Cook and Associates a media consulting company based in Cleveland. I live in Morgantown and pay property taxes in California. That’s for another article.
This introduction is to lay out some credentials as David Ross has asked me to write a weekly column for MusicRow and I am most often going to come at it from my perspective of being from the radio community.
Hanging out as much as I do with record employees, and others making their living in Country Music I can feel the boos rising from Nashville. I don’t think that the two industries are at cross purposes, but we have some things that should be addressed with a blunt force. I trust that David knows what he is getting into with me as a contributor. I am closer to the end of my career than the beginning of my work life. I am not looking for a job. I have enough friends and I will say what I believe to be true.
I also understand that many others will have a different, very worthwhile opinion. I hope that we can all listen and maybe even change…not our stand on things, but our rigidity towards the other side.
I will talk about things that impact the record, publishing, production and promotion community from the radio side. I want to explore playlist size, PPM (a new system for measuring the radio audience in the top 48 markets), promotion for play, research and many other things that make our jobs easier and harder at the same time.
The R Word
I would like to start off today with the R word. I hear from record promotion staffers (I suspect that this is coming from higher up the chain) that research is the devil’s tool. It is only evil when it presents an excuse for radio to not play or stop playing one of their songs. John Hart is the most popular guy in town when the information is positive. Research cuts both ways and it is only as credible as the source. It is also only as credible as the question asked.
Many music research projects are done in a vacuum. Listeners should be informed why the information is being collected. If you ask a person, “do you like chocolate?” you’re going to get on answer based on how they feel right now about chocolate. If you ask them, “do you like chocolate more than vanilla to the conclusion of not having vanilla for the next ten weeks?” you might get a completely different answer.
“I am going to play you the new Dudley Doofus song. Please tell me, on a scale of one to five how much you like the song.” This is a very different question than, “in the context of the radio station you listen to everyday, how would you rate this Dudley Doofus song? Would you like to hear it more or less than your current favorite song on the radio?”
Let’s get back to my first comment about giving something back to the listener. Giving them more of what they like is all about understanding what makes them gravitate to a specific radio station and a particular artist.
In Nashville you have three radio stations that play current-based Country Music. The top songs are all the same across these three music stations. I can tell you the one station in that mix who is doing some music research. It is WSM-FM. I can tell by the difference in the songs once you get below the top tunes.
You know that there is more than just music in the mix on successful radio stations. If, as I contend, WSM-FM is researching their music, how come they are not the number one Country station in town? Well, they are still trying to find their footing with their morning show. They have been many different things over the years. Live 95, 95 the Wolf and now WSM-FM. The listener knows that 95.5 plays Country Music, but what is happening around the music is less defined.
The company has been successful in Dallas and Indianapolis with their Country products, where they get the morning shows right. Both of these stations have had long time images, built by another company and not tinkered with (outside of personnel) by the parent company. I know that research has driven those decisions.
Asking the listener, understanding the listener and delivering the goods, based on that, will win. Everytime.

Hall of Fame Shares Expansion Details at Fundraising Launch

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Pictured at today's event. (L-R): Museum Director Kyle Young, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford and Steve Turner, chairman of the museum's Board of Officers and Trustees. Photo: Donn Jones


The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum this morning (7/28) launched a capital campaign to fund an expansion that will more than double the size of the current facility, as well as offer Nashville a new performance venue.
“This is an unbelievable moment in the history of this museum and in the history of Nashville,” said Hall of Fame Board Chairman Steve Turner. “The campaign will finance a 200,000-square-foot museum expansion that will connect structurally and financially with the Omni Nashville convention hotel. This is an unprecedented public-private partnership made possible by the vision and stewardship of Mayor Karl Dean.”

Ricky Skaggs. Photo: Sherod Robertson


Due for completion in spring 2014, the expansion will triple the current exhibit space, include an 800 seat theater, and offer an educational center with children’s gallery, classrooms and recording studio. It will be connected to the Omni on three levels. Tuck Hinton Architects, who built the magnificent current building, are returning for the expansion.
“Since the Museum opened in 2001, it has become one of Nashville’s signature cultural assets and a key economic engine,” said Mayor Dean. “This [expansion] commitment is valued at over $30 million, which the Museum will return to city coffers through a long-term lease agreement.”
Today’s event marked the beginning of the public phase of the $75 million fundraising initiative called “Working on a Building: Country Music Lives Here Campaign.” Thanks to generous donations by Nashville and nationwide power brokers, many of whom gathered today, $56.8 million was raised during the campaign’s silent phase. More than $48 million of that comes from donors who contributed $1 million or more, including a lead gift of $6.5 million from Steve and Judy Turner.

Alan Jackson. Photo: Sherod Robertson


Among those celebrating the success thus far and championing the project’s next phase was Ford Motor Co. executive chairman Bill Ford, whose family name brands the theater where today’s assembly took place. He is serving as honorary co-chair of the campaign with Kris Kristofferson.
An event at the Country Music Hall of Fame wouldn’t be complete without music. In keeping with the campaign’s mantra, Ricky Skaggs kicked things off with Bill Monroe’s bluegrass breakdown “Working On A Building.” Buddy Spicher kept the mood lively with a fiddle jam. Alan Jackson performed “You’ve Been Lonesome, Too,” a song partially written by Hank Williams and completed by Jackson, which will be on an Oct. 4 release called The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams (Egyptian Records/CMF Records/Columbia Records). Then Jackson closed with his classic “Chattahoochee,” chuckling as he encouraged Mayor Dean to get up and dance.
Dean proudly told Bill Ford that he has been driving a Ford Mustang for 12 years. He wasn’t the only one, Jackson and Lynn Anderson also shared that they are loyal Ford owners.
Besides Ford and Kristofferson, the capital campaign committee also includes Earl Bentz, Mark Bloom, Bill Denny, Mike Dungan, Rod Essig, Vince Gill, Randy Goodman, Keel Hunt, Ken Levitan, Brian O’Connell, Ken Roberts, John Seigenthaler, Steve Turner, Ernie Williams and Jody Williams.


Rendering of CMHoF expansion, as seen from 4th Ave.



Theater rendering




Event Hall rendering


 

Kidman To Film In Nashville

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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on the red carpet of the 2011 Golden Globe awards.


Nicole Kidman’s new movie Stoker will be filmed in Nashville, specifically in Belle Meade, reports The Tennessean.
The project is described as a vampire thriller; the name a nod to Dracula author Brahm Stoker.
The story centers on a teenage girl named “India Stoker,” played by Mia Wasikowska of Alice In Wonderland fame, who is coping with the unexpected arrival of her strange uncle after the death of her father.

London’s Daily Mail reported earlier this year that Kidman will star as the mother and fellow Oscar winner Colin Firth will play the uncle.

The script was penned by Prison Break star Wentworth Miller.
 
 

Week Two Is Like The "Morning After"

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This graph is intended to provide a snapshot of sales during the last half of 2010. Compare the list of upcoming releases in the text with what happened in 2010 to help determine if the country format will end up in positive sales territory for 2011.


Week Two is traditionally like the “morning after.” The sales party fireworks, stimulated from high visibility press exposure and the flexing of high-dollar marketing muscles, become dim as labels wake to a new reality. Traditionally, the hangover from the week two sales drop falls in the 60% range. This week new albums from Blake Shelton and Chris Young suffered the “week two” blues dropping 60% and 65% respectively. Also in “week two” is Ashton Shepherd who debuted with under 11k units, but fell 56% nevertheless.
Although the “week two” folks always take the biggest  W/W (week over week) hit, Blake, Chris and Ashton weren’t alone this week. W/W country album sales fell 16% on average and the Top 75 current list tumbled 27.5%.
The good news remains that the country format overall is up YTD 1.4%. Upcoming announced powerhouse releases are scarce, but crafty labels have a habit of clutching release information tightly to hinder competitor planning. Here’s a few of the names that should send SoundScan dials spinning: Eric Church 7/26, Trace Adkins 8/2, Luke Bryan 8/9, Lady Antebellum 9/13, LeAnn Rimes 9/27, Martina McBride 10/18 and Miranda Lambert 11/1.
RIP Amy Winehouse
A few notes on the U.S. sales ramifications of Amy Winehouse’s recent sad passing as calculated by Nielsen SoundScan.
>>More Amy Winehouse albums were purchased in the past week (ending 7/2411) than during the first six months of the year (50,000 this week vs. 44,000 YTD 2011 as of 7/17/11), according to Nielsen SoundScan.
–Back To Black – 37,000 total sales (36,000 are digital albums)
–Frank -7,600 total sales (7,000 are digital)
>>More than 95% of all Amy Winehouse album sales this week were digitally downloaded (46,000+ sales), according to Nielsen SoundScan.
>>Total U.S. spins for Amy Winehouse songs on Saturday, July 23, increased 170% over the previous week’s total spins, according to Nielsen BDS.
Thought For Today
This industry will soon need new revenue yardsticks. Something easy to understand, reliable and painstakingly accurate. SoundScan is quite satisfactory for point of sale at retail, however as the industry continues to evolve, it no longer provides the total picture. For example, what about endorsements, touring, paid TV appearances, clothing lines, etc. As artist brands continue to evolve, tracking album and single sales, both physical and digital is slowly becoming less representative of the total energy artist machines generate.
 
 

DISClaimer Single Reviews (7/27/11)

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Is it hot enough for you?
There’s nothing like Nashville in July-August to wear you out. And there are no ballads in this week’s column to cool you off.
The new sounds from Bomshel, Randy Travis, Montgomery Gentry and Marlee Scott are particularly hot stuff. Justin Moore follows up his tender “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” with a scorching little attitude tune titled “Bait A Hook.” The boy is on a roll. Hand him a Disc of the Day award.
Perhaps the hottest sounding performance of the day came from some unknown Texans billed as Brad Dunn & Ellis County. They’re an Austin bar band. Their CD shines with promise. Hands down, my DisCovery Award of the week.
MARLEE SCOTT/Beautiful Maybe
Writer: Tania Hancheroff/Marcus Hummon/Tia Sellers; Producer: David Kalmusky; Publisher: Universal/MGB/Careers/Ourtrinity/Coburn/Sillers with an I Think Tank, ASCAP/BMI; CO5 (www.marleescott.com)
—Brightly optimistic and positive. Produced with clarity and class. Irresistibly rhythmic, to boot.
RANDY TRAVIS/Everything And All
Writer: Troy Jones; Producer: Kyle Lehning; Publisher: Tiltawhirl/Carnival, BMI; Warner Bros.
—His burnished baritone voice remains one of the truly great things about the country-music format. This uptempo twangfest is a delightful showcase for it. Spin it.
RYAN TURNER BAND/Sweet Time
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; RTB (www.ryanturnermusic.com)
—The track has a cool nervous energy about it. His vocal doesn’t have a huge amount of personality, but he gets the job done on this tempo celebration.
BOMSHEL/Halleluy’all
Writer: Josh Kear/Mark Irwin; Producer: Chad Carlson; Publisher: Global Dog/Big Yellow Dog/LunaLight/Green Vinyl, ASCAP; Curb
—I dig these gals. If this sizzling, frothy, beat frenzy doesn’t get folks out onto the dance floor, I can’t imagine what will. Crank it up.
KATIE QUICK/Best In Me
Writer: Katie Quick/Ben Goldsmith; Producer: Katie Quick & Chip Hardy; Publisher: Katiequickmusic, BMI; KQ (track) (www.katiequick.com)
—She wrote all 14 tunes on her Valley Between Love CD, including this hand-clapping, banjo-propelled, sunny, toe-tapper of a single. Sweet as candy.
THE BAND PERRY/All Your Life
Writer: Brian Henningsen/Clara Henningsen; Producer: Nathan Chapman; Publisher: EMI Blackwood/How Bout That Skyline/Cactus Moser, BMI; Republic Nashville (track)
—This plea for lifelong devotion goes down smoothly, thanks to the lilting mandolin work, gentle percussion and oh-so-creamy vocal harmonies. The bluesy bridge is especially cool with its melodic shift and chiming bells.
BRAD DUNN & ELLIS COUNTY/Red White And Blue
Writer: Brad Dunn & Ellis County; Producer: Kevin Szymanski, Brad Dunn & Ellis County; Publisher: none listed; BD (track) (www.reverbnation.com/bradleyddunn)
—The grinding groove makes it sound kind of like a countrified ZZ Top. The title refers to the Texas state flag, and everything about this screams Lone Star State roadhouse rawk. The song and performance are both loaded with sweaty macho attitude. I’ll bet these guys are great live. Even the ballads on the band’s Ranch Cat album seethe with personality and individuality.
JUSTIN MOORE/Bait A Hook
Writer: Rhett Akins/Justin Moore/Jeremy Stover; Producer: Jeremy Stover; Publisher: EMI Blackwood/Rhettneck/Big Music Machine/Double Barrel Ace/Super 98/EMI April/Songs of Countrywood, BMI/ASCAP; Valory Music
—Her new boyfriend can’t hold his liquor, drives a Prius and eats sushi. But he can’t catch fish, skin a deer, drive a truck or belt Jack Daniels, so the redneck singer isn’t worried a bit that she’ll come running back. Highly humorous, enormously rhythmic and deeply drawled.
JOEL WARREN & JASON ALLEN/Straight Up Country
Writer: Steve Guidos/Bill Warrington/Ward Tolbert; Producer: Eric Paul; Publisher: Wynnestar/Bill Warrington/Song Brook, BMI/ASCAP; Wynnesong (track) (www.joelwarrencountry.com)
—The swingin’ honky-tonk band kicks up plenty of dust. Jason has the pipes to front the sound. Joel doesn’t.
MONTGOMERY GENTRY/Where I Come From
Writer: Rodney Clawson/Dallas Davidson; Producer: Michael Knox; Publisher: Big Red Toe/Amarillo Sky/EMI Blackwood/String Stretcher, BMI; Average Joe (CDX) (615-733-9983)
—Pretty much what you might expect from the title—a defense of the small-town, countrified lifestyle. It is better written than most songs like this, and the boys deliver it with their trademarked propulsive punch.

Editorial: Seduced By Technology?

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Sometimes the step-by-step development of an event, like technology, becomes society’s total focus and its historical, political or social meaning gets obscured. A space shuttle landing on the moon, an oil leak spewing in the Gulf of Mexico, the invention of nuclear power, or a demonstration for social change in Cairo’s Liberation Square. Is the medium actually the message as Marshall McLuhan prophesied in 1964? Has technology’s time horizon been curtailed to a day-by-day time cycle? What about its long term implications?
I’m reminded of Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949 by George Orwell. Highly praised for its ability to glimpse the future, this work of political fiction introduced terms such as doublethink, Big Brother, thoughtcrime and gave rise to the adjective, Orwellian. It was dystopian fiction about a political construct where society was ruled by an oligarchical dictatorship.
Orwell envisioned that it would be necessary to use brute force to enslave mankind in a way that would allow for a total and complete invasion of personal privacy, and glorify the end regardless of the means.
But what if Orwell got it wrong? How could he have imagined the Internet in 1949? Or the smartphone. Certainly not Facebook, Twitter, foursquare and Google+. Or a scenario where Big Brother was smart enough to create a subjugating influence so seductive and desired it didn’t require the force of a dictatorship?
Today we carry GPS-equipped phones that know exactly where we are 24/7. The words we search for online, our emails, personal calendars and more are perfectly positioned for Big Brother’s inspection in the cloud. And then there are the social networks where little by little we are pulling back the curtain on privacy and willingly sharing our every movement and thought with friends, followers, likes and circles…. Are we moths flying toward technology’s flame?
The important questions aren’t, “When will Google+ open up its new service to corporate brands?” Or what about the latest software update?
We should be asking, “Where are we going?”