The Judds, Ray Charles, Eddie Bayers, and Pete Drake will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, it was announced this morning (Monday, Aug. 16) via a virtual press conference. Hall of Famer Reba McEntire announced the honorees.
Five-time Grammy, nine-time CMA and seven-time ACM Award-winning iconic duo, The Judds were announced as the inductees in the Modern Era Artist category.
“When we moved to Nashville in the late 70s, still struggling to make ends meet and dressing Wy and Ashley in thrift store dresses, I could’ve never imagined the success we achieved as The Judds,” says Naomi Judd. “I am beyond thrilled and humbled for this incredible recognition. There’s no greater pinnacle in country music than the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
“This moment takes me back to 1983 when Mom and I first started,” says Wynonna Judd. “We would get in the car and visit multiple radio stations a day. It kind of feels like I’ve hit the lottery. It is so surreal. John Lennon always said that he just wanted to be remembered, and now we’re truly part of history, or I should say HERstory. What an honor.”
R&B, pop, and country icon Ray Charles was selected to be inducted in the Veteran Era Artist category.
“I’d like to thank everyone who voted to induct Ray Charles into the Country Music Hall of Fame,” says Valerie Ervin, Ray Charles Foundation President. “Needless to say, Ray Charles loved country music. As a matter of fact, he risked a lot in 1962 when he decided to record Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. I cannot express enough how happy and honored Ray Charles would be at this moment in time, as I am for him. Congratulations to all the fellow inductees and as Ray Charles would say, ‘That is so nice.’”
Eddie Bayers was selected for the honor in the Recording or Touring Musician category. Bayers is the first drummer inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“My heartfelt thanks to those who voted for me,” says Bayers. “I’ve been blessed to be a recording musician for 58 years, and it continues. I’ve been in the Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Band for 18 years, and it continues. I’ve been in the Opry Band for 18 years, and it continues. Now I’m blessed to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which will be everlasting.”
There was a tie in the Recording or Touring Musician category, and the late steel guitar player Pete Drake was also selected. Drake is the first pedal steel player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well.
“I am so happy for Pete to receive this well-deserved honor,” says Drake’s widow, Rose Drake, on behalf of the family. “We are deeply touched and honored for the great recognition of this unique and talented icon that enriched so many illustrious recordings with his special steel guitar tone and sound that distinguished itself, in hundreds of successful recordings.”
A formal induction ceremony for Bayers, Charles, Drake and The Judds will take place at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the CMA Theater at a to-be-determined date. The induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame Class of 2020, which includes Dean Dillon, Marty Stuart and Hank Williams Jr., is scheduled for this November, pending public health guidance and the state of the pandemic. Since 2007, the Museum’s Medallion Ceremony, a reunion of the Hall of Fame membership, has served as the official rite of induction for new members.
“The works of this year’s inductees span crucial timestamps of country music history,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This impressive career landmark is the pinnacle of accomplishment in country music and I’m so proud to see Eddie, Ray, Pete, Naomi and Wynonna getting their much-deserved plaques on the wall of the Rotunda. Today’s fans and generations to come will forever be reminded of the distinct impact each made on this genre.”
“These people saw through artificial divisions, moved beyond rigid stylistic restrictions, and connected with worldwide audiences,” says Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Chief Executive Officer. “In revealing their individuality, they taught us about commonality. Lately, we’ve lived through a time of division and a time of isolation. But in the music of these greats, we find connection and inclusion.”
Bios for each inductee are below:
Modern Era Artist – The Judds
Country music has a long history of family ties, and the genre has never had another family like The Judds. One of the most successful duos in country music history, mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna scored 20 Top 10 hits, including 14 No. 1s, between 1984 and 1991. Those recordings —“Mama He’s Crazy,” “Why Not Me” and “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘bout the Good Old Days)” among them —stood out not only because of Wynonna’s disarming voice and Naomi’s unique approach to harmonies but also for their way of combining folk, bluegrass and blues into a sound like nothing else at the time.
The Judds. Photo: Kristin Barlowe
Naomi — born Diana Ellen Judd on January 11, 1946 — grew up in Ashland, KY, the daughter of a filling-station owner and his wife. She married as a teenager and had two daughters, Christina and Ashley Ciminella. Following a move to California and a divorce, Diana raised her daughters in California. As part of a fresh start, all three took Diana’s maiden name. Diana and her older daughter changed their first names, as well. Diana became Naomi, a biblical figure she admired, and Christina became Wynonna, using an adapted spelling of Winona, the northern Arizona town mentioned in the song “Route 66.”
Naomi financed the family’s move to Nashville by renting her restored 1957 Chevrolet — the same she’d drive from California to Tennessee — for use in “More American Graffiti” and by securing roles for her and Wynonna in the film. They made the move in 1979, and Naomi took a job as a nurse at Williamson County Medical Center. In early 1980, she and a 15-year-old Wynonna began appearing in the early mornings on WSM-TV’s The Ralph Emery Show. Emery dubbed them the “Soap Sisters” after Naomi told him she made her own lye soap.
Their break came via a chance encounter with Nashville producer Brent Maher, whose teenage daughter — a schoolmate of Wynonna’s — was injured in a car accident. Maher had seen the Soap Sisters’ television performances and recognized Naomi, one of his daughter’s nurses. When Maher’s daughter was dismissed from the hospital, Naomi gave Maher a tape she and Wynonna had made on a portable tape recorder in their kitchen. Maher began working with the two singers and, following a live audition in the offices of RCA Records’ Nashville office, they secured a recording deal with RCA Records/Curb Records.
The Judds made their debut in late 1983 with “Had a Dream (For the Heart),” a B-side for Elvis Presley seven years before. It began with a simple guitar strum, followed by a line of a cappella vocal from Wynonna. The record only cracked the Top 20, but the record’s less-is-more approach made the necessary impression. The follow-up, “Mama He’s Crazy,” went straight to No. 1, immediately making The Judds country music’s most successful mother-daughter act since Mother Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters. “Mama He’s Crazy” was the first of eight straight chart-toppers for the duo and earned Naomi and Wynonna their first of five Grammy Awards.
On the strength of “Mama He’s Crazy” and the six-song Wynonna & Naomi EP, The Judds won the Horizon Award at the 1984 CMA Awards ceremony (where Naomi famously began her acceptance speech by exclaiming, “Slap the dog and spit in the fire!”). They released their first full-length album, Why Not Me, the following week.
The Judds went on to win nine CMA Awards and seven from the Academy of Country Music, dominating both organizations’ vocal duo categories through the 1980s. In 1986, The Judds received their first of three CMA Awards nominations for Entertainer of the Year, making 22-year-old Wynonna the youngest person ever to be nominated for the honor. She held that distinction for more than 20 years.
Between 1984 and 1991, The Judds released six studio albums and an EP, their stripped-back style helping revive the popularity of acoustic sounds in country music and opening up the genre for more traditional approaches.
In October 1990, Naomi announced her retirement from performing due to chronic hepatitis. That retirement would come after the 124-date Love Can Build a Bridge Farewell Tour, which wrapped December 4, 1991, at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. They have occasionally reunited since then, notably for the 1994 Super Bowl halftime show, a 2000 reunion tour, a 2008 performance at the Stagecoach Festival and the Last Encore Tour in 2010-2011.
Following the Love Can Build a Bridge Farewell Tour, Naomi and Wynonna pursued separate career paths. Wynonna launched a solo recording career with three No. 1 singles and a 5x Platinum album, Wynonna, in 1992. Naomi published her autobiography, “Love Can Build a Bridge,” in 1993. Wynonna published her own memoir, “Coming Home to Myself,” in 2005. Naomi pursued acting and television, hosting a talk show and serving as a judge and mentor on an entertainment competition series.
Together, the Judds have 16 Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum albums and longform videos, led by 2x Platinum albums Why Not Me and The Judds Greatest Hits. Wynonna has another half-dozen albums and videos certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
During 2018-2019, Naomi and Wynonna were the subjects of the Country Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, “The Judds: Dream Catchers,” which followed the duo from their beginnings in Eastern Kentucky to the peak of their careers. At the time, museum CEO Kyle Young quoted “A Million Miles to the City,” a song by another Kentuckian, Tom T. Hall, adding that the tale of The Judds was “a million-mile story, told with heart and soul, about a miraculous, fortunate and harmonious journey.”
In her autobiography, Naomi wrote of her first visit to Music Row and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, saying, “It was as if we’d entered the pearly gates and were riding down streets of gold” and comparing the Hall to “a cathedral filled with holy relics.”
Now she and Wynonna have found a permanent home in the cathedral.
Veterans Era Artist – Ray Charles
With one album, Willie Nelson has said on more than one occasion, Ray Charles did more for country music than any single artist has ever done. The album, of course, was 1962’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Though it remains Charles’ best-known album, it was far from his only foray into country music; it wasn’t even his first. The Genius of Soul’s love of country music goes back to his earliest days.
Ray Charles. Photo: Courtesy of The Ray Charles Foundation
Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, GA, in 1930 but raised across the state line in Greenville, FL, where juvenile glaucoma took his eyesight by age 7. During the school year, he attended St. Augustine’s State School for Blind and Deaf Children. There, he studied Mozart, Chopin and Bach and when he got to stay up past nine o’clock on a Saturday night, he tuned into the Grand Ole Opry to hear Roy Acuff, Grandpa Jones and Eddy Arnold.
From Florida, Charles headed west. He made his first records for the Swing Time and Down Beat labels. His records began charting nationwide once he signed with Atlantic Records in 1952, first on the R&B charts (“I’ve Got a Woman,” “A Fool for You,” “Drown in My Own Tears”), then on the pop charts (“Night Time Is the Right Time,” “What’d I Say”).
Charles began to show his affinity for country after his national breakthrough with “What’d I Say.” For his follow-up, he recorded a rave-up cover of Hank Snow’s 1950 country smash “I’m Movin’ On.” It reached No. 40 on Billboard’s pop chart and No. 11 on the R&B chart. It was also his last charting single for Atlantic. He soon signed with ABC-Paramount, where he had his first chart-topping pop hits with “Georgia on My Mind” in 1960 and “Hit the Road, Jack” in 1961.
Having finally established himself as a national act — and with his contract up for renewal — Charles decided to test his label’s faith: He would record an album of country songs. ABC’s president, Sam Clark, warned Charles that he might lose fans with such a concept. Charles, who’d seen white singers cover Black artists with great success, figured he could flip the script and gain more fans than he’d lose. His prediction turned out to be accurate.
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became Charles’ first album to top Billboard’s pop albums chart. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1, an achievement it would take a country album from Nashville 30 years to match.
Charles’ 12 selections for the album spanned three decades of country songs, from Floyd Tillman’s late-1930s favorite “It Makes No Difference Now,” to Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s “Bye Bye Love,” which already had a track record with crossing formats, having been a Top 5 hit in pop, country and R&B. That made it perfect for Charles, who was looking for standards, or songs that could become standards. He picked songs associated with Arnold and Hank Williams, as well as a Don Gibson B-side called “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
“I Can’t Stop Loving You” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart, Charles’ third — and biggest — chart-topper. It sold so briskly that one Atlanta distributor told Billboard that “people who don’t even own record players are buying it.”
Charles released another dozen songs, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volume 2, which included covers of Jimmie Davis’ “You Are My Sunshine,” Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and Fred Rose and Hy Heath’s “Take These Chains From My Heart,” which Williams also recorded.
The Modern Sounds albums’ across-the-board success changed the way the world saw Nashville and the way Nashville saw the world. Charles’ big-band and string-and-voice arrangements gave Nashville’s producers and arrangers a new palette. Nashville publishers found fresh markets for their catalogs as other pop and R&B singers sought to replicate Charles’ approach.
Charles also showed the full magnitude of commercial potential country music had when racial and stylistic barriers between the music and the audience were stripped away.
Charles returned time and again to country’s catalog with remakes of Buck Owen’s “Crying Time” and “Together Again” and albums like 1965’s Country and Western Meets Rhythm and Blues and 1970’s Love Country Style. Despite his track record of success with the material, Charles didn’t appear on the Billboard Country singles charts as an artist until more than 30 years into his recording career (though Jerry Lee Lewis did manage a modest hit by covering Charles’ “What’d I Say” in 1961).
In the early 1980s, the head of CBS Records’ Nashville division, Rick Blackburn signed Charles to Columbia Records. He’d made modern sounds with country and western music, now he wanted to make modern country sounds. It was a “lifelong dream,” he told journalist Robert K. Oermann, “to do country music with country people.” He released a half-dozen albums for Columbia between 1983 and 1988, including his 1985 No. 1 duet with Willie Nelson, “Seven Spanish Angels.”
The following year, Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1987, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Charles won 17 Grammy awards across 44 years, including Best Rhythm and Blues Recordings for “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Crying Time” and his version of Harlan Howard’s “Busted.” He was also nominated for two CMA Awards in 1985, the CMA Horizon Award and CMA Vocal Duo of the Year with Willie Nelson for their duet, “Seven Spanish Angels.”
Eight of his Grammys came posthumously. Charles died of liver cancer on June 10, 2004, shortly after completing an album of duets called Genius Loves Company that would go on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. True to form, he gave country a prominent role in the project.
During a recording career that spanned more than 50 years, Charles rarely conformed to anyone else’s notions about country music, how it should sound, or how it could sell. His genius extended beyond country music, but it always included it. And when Charles performed country and western music, he didn’t just create modern sounds. He created timeless ones.
Recording and/or Touring Musician – Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake (tie)
Eddie Bayers
Eddie Bayers has been a first-call drummer in Nashville for nearly 50 years, so it’s appropriate that he’ll be the first drummer inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Recording and/or Touring Musician category. Bayers has been an indispensable part of the musical foundation during country music’s most commercially successful years. Laying down the groove on some 300 Gold and Platinum records, he is the beat behind some of country’s most popular artists and leaves an enduring impact on the industry as a whole.
Eddie Bayers. Photo: Rick Malkin
Bayers moved to Nashville in 1974, living for a while in his car. He auditioned for a spot as a keyboard player at the Carousel Club in Printer’s Alley and wound up playing in a quartet with drummer Larrie Londin, who had played on many Motown Records sessions before settling in Nashville. Under Londin’s mentorship, Bayers transitioned from keyboards to drums, the Carousel gig sustaining him as he developed his drumming skills.
Bayers eventually moved into studio work, with early sessions playing for Anne Murray, Mickey Gilley, Charlie Rich, and others, including Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs album. Maher brought him in to play on demos for a mother-daughter duo. Those sessions formed the core of The Judds’ debut EP, 1983’s Wynonna & Naomi, and Bayers ended up being the only drummer for every studio album his fellow Hall of Famers recorded, and continued to record with Wynonna Judd when she launched her solo career.
Bayers developed longstanding working relationships with artists like Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney, recording with them over a series of albums and hits.
Other country acts who have employed Bayers on their records include Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Tammy Wynette and Trisha Yearwood. Beyond country, he has recorded with acts such as The Beach Boys, John Fogerty, Mark Knopfler, Richard Marx, Aaron Neville, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger and Steve Winwood.
He has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry’s House Band since 2003 and received a 2004 Grammy nomination as part of The Notorious Cherry Bombs. He is also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Medallion All-Star Band.
Bayers was named the Academy of Country Music’s top drummer 14 times between 1991 and 2010, including an 11-year stretch where he won every year. The Country Music Association has nominated him for Musician of the Year 10 times. DRUM magazine named him one of the Top 10 Session Drummers of All Time, and he is a member of Modern Drummer magazine’s Honor Roll. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored him as one of its “Nashville Cats” in 2010. He was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.
Bayers’ impact on the music industry has been felt far beyond the drummer’s stool. He has worked with students and faculty at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, which bestowed its American Master Award on him in 2015. He has also served multiple terms on the Board of Trustees for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).
Pete Drake
Country music as the world knows it wouldn’t sound like country music without the pedal steel guitar. And the pedal steel wouldn’t sound like pedal steel without Pete Drake.
Pete Drake. Photo: Courtesy of Rose Drake
Drake helped define the sound of the pedal steel on some of country music’s most enduring hits, among them Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man,” Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”
In 1959, Drake moved to Nashville with the goal of playing on the Opry, as his hero Byrd had. He backed Don Gibson, Marty Robbins and Carl and Pearl Butler, but he didn’t take to road life, so he decided to stay in Nashville and try to become a session musician.
Drake could make the pedal steel sing, moving a bar across its strings to make it swoop and sigh, and pressing its pedals or squeezing its knee levers to make it moan. The pedal steel, Drake liked to say, was the closest instrument to the human voice. Not only could he make the pedal steel sing, but he could also make it talk. Literally. After seeing a film with musician Alvino Rey and his “talking” steel guitar, Drake developed one of his own.
Drake used his “talk box” on station breaks for Nashville radio station WSM-AM and on records like Roger Miller’s “Lock, Stock and Teardrops” and Jim Reeves’ “I’ve Enjoyed as Much of This as I Can Stand.”
In 1966, Drake played on sessions for Elvis Presley’s How Great Thou Art album. He also appeared on the soundtracks for Presley films “Spinout,” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “Double Trouble,” “Clambake” and “Speedway,” work that opened doors to acceptance in the pop and rock realm.
He played on Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding, recorded in Nashville in 1967, as well as on Dylan’s subsequent albums, Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait. The Dylan recordings led to an invitation from George Harrison to fly to London and play on sessions for his All Things Must Pass album. At those sessions, Drake met a 20-year-old Peter Frampton and demonstrated his talk box for the fascinated young guitarist (Frampton would take the effect to multi-Platinum heights a few years later on records like “Show Me The Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do”). Drake also invited Ringo Starr to Nashville and, within a matter of days, was producing Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues album with country musicians, marking the first time a Beatle had recorded in the United States.
The country sessions continued, as well, with Drake playing on records by artists including Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, Ronnie Milsap, the Oak Ridge Boys, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, The Statler Brothers, Hank Williams Jr. and Ray Charles. During his lifetime, Drake played on 118 Gold and Platinum albums, but his impact was felt beyond the recording sessions on which he played.
Drake was inducted into the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1987. The following year, on July 29, Drake died at his Brentwood, TN home due to complications from emphysema. He was posthumously inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame (2007) and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (2010).
Drake is the first pedal steel player to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Recording and/or Touring Musician category.
Mitchell Tenpenny Invites Fans Into His ‘Midtown Diaries’ Out In September
/by Lorie HollabaughMitchell Tenpenny. Photo: Matthew Berinato
Riser House/Columbia Nashville recording artist Mitchell Tenpenny is rolling out his new eight-song EP, Midtown Diaries, on Sept. 10.
All eight tracks on the new project were co-written by Tenpenny, including his current single “Truth About You,” which became the largest streaming debut of his career, garnering 2.5 million streams in its first three days of release. Tenpenny also helped co-produce Midtown Diaries alongside Jordan M. Schmidt.
“We’ve waited a very long time to bring our fans a new collection of music,” said Mitchell. “I’m so pumped with their enthusiasm each time we release a new song. Their feedback is priceless and it lets us know exactly how we are doing and feeds my creativity.”
Tenpenny’s No. 1 debut single, “Drunk Me,” has been certified 2X Platinum and has amassed over 500 million on-demand streams. The breakout track was featured on his introductory 2018 album, Telling All My Secrets, which earned him the best first week showing for any major label country debut LP. Since then, he has been nominated for New Male Artist of the Year at the ACM Awards and Breakthrough Video (“Drunk Me”) at the CMT Music Awards, while also seeing his “Alcohol You Later” and “Anything She Says” singles certified gold.
This fall Tenpenny will accompany Chris Young on his Famous Friends Tour 2021, playing 13 arena and amphitheater dates from October through December. The run will kick off Oct. 21 at Little Rock, Arkansas’s First Security Amphitheater.
Midtown Diaries Track List:
1. To Us It Did (Mitchell Tenpenny/Michael Hardy/Jordan Schmidt)
2. Good Thing (Mitchell Tenpenny/Thomas Archer/Kyle Fishman)
3. I Can’t Love You Any More (Mitchell Tenpenny/Michael Hardy/Jordan Schmidt)
4. Bucket List (Mitchell Tenpenny/Chris DeStefano/Laura Veltz)
5. Truth About You (Mitchell Tenpenny/Matt Alderman/Thomas Archer)
6. A Girl’s Love (Mitchell Tenpenny/Jordan Schmidt/Brad Tursi)
7. Don’t Let Me Let You (Mitchell Tenpenny/Daniel Ross/Michael Whitworth)
8. She Hates Me Too (Mitchell Tenpenny/Kyle Fishman/Justin Wilson)
BREAKING: The Judds, Ray Charles, Eddie Bayers, Pete Drake To Be Inducted Into Country Music Hall Of Fame
/by LB CantrellThe Judds, Ray Charles, Eddie Bayers, and Pete Drake will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, it was announced this morning (Monday, Aug. 16) via a virtual press conference. Hall of Famer Reba McEntire announced the honorees.
Five-time Grammy, nine-time CMA and seven-time ACM Award-winning iconic duo, The Judds were announced as the inductees in the Modern Era Artist category.
“When we moved to Nashville in the late 70s, still struggling to make ends meet and dressing Wy and Ashley in thrift store dresses, I could’ve never imagined the success we achieved as The Judds,” says Naomi Judd. “I am beyond thrilled and humbled for this incredible recognition. There’s no greater pinnacle in country music than the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
“This moment takes me back to 1983 when Mom and I first started,” says Wynonna Judd. “We would get in the car and visit multiple radio stations a day. It kind of feels like I’ve hit the lottery. It is so surreal. John Lennon always said that he just wanted to be remembered, and now we’re truly part of history, or I should say HERstory. What an honor.”
R&B, pop, and country icon Ray Charles was selected to be inducted in the Veteran Era Artist category.
“I’d like to thank everyone who voted to induct Ray Charles into the Country Music Hall of Fame,” says Valerie Ervin, Ray Charles Foundation President. “Needless to say, Ray Charles loved country music. As a matter of fact, he risked a lot in 1962 when he decided to record Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. I cannot express enough how happy and honored Ray Charles would be at this moment in time, as I am for him. Congratulations to all the fellow inductees and as Ray Charles would say, ‘That is so nice.’”
Eddie Bayers was selected for the honor in the Recording or Touring Musician category. Bayers is the first drummer inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“My heartfelt thanks to those who voted for me,” says Bayers. “I’ve been blessed to be a recording musician for 58 years, and it continues. I’ve been in the Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Band for 18 years, and it continues. I’ve been in the Opry Band for 18 years, and it continues. Now I’m blessed to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which will be everlasting.”
There was a tie in the Recording or Touring Musician category, and the late steel guitar player Pete Drake was also selected. Drake is the first pedal steel player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well.
“I am so happy for Pete to receive this well-deserved honor,” says Drake’s widow, Rose Drake, on behalf of the family. “We are deeply touched and honored for the great recognition of this unique and talented icon that enriched so many illustrious recordings with his special steel guitar tone and sound that distinguished itself, in hundreds of successful recordings.”
A formal induction ceremony for Bayers, Charles, Drake and The Judds will take place at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the CMA Theater at a to-be-determined date. The induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame Class of 2020, which includes Dean Dillon, Marty Stuart and Hank Williams Jr., is scheduled for this November, pending public health guidance and the state of the pandemic. Since 2007, the Museum’s Medallion Ceremony, a reunion of the Hall of Fame membership, has served as the official rite of induction for new members.
“The works of this year’s inductees span crucial timestamps of country music history,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This impressive career landmark is the pinnacle of accomplishment in country music and I’m so proud to see Eddie, Ray, Pete, Naomi and Wynonna getting their much-deserved plaques on the wall of the Rotunda. Today’s fans and generations to come will forever be reminded of the distinct impact each made on this genre.”
“These people saw through artificial divisions, moved beyond rigid stylistic restrictions, and connected with worldwide audiences,” says Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Chief Executive Officer. “In revealing their individuality, they taught us about commonality. Lately, we’ve lived through a time of division and a time of isolation. But in the music of these greats, we find connection and inclusion.”
Bios for each inductee are below:
Modern Era Artist – The Judds
Country music has a long history of family ties, and the genre has never had another family like The Judds. One of the most successful duos in country music history, mother Naomi and daughter Wynonna scored 20 Top 10 hits, including 14 No. 1s, between 1984 and 1991. Those recordings —“Mama He’s Crazy,” “Why Not Me” and “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘bout the Good Old Days)” among them —stood out not only because of Wynonna’s disarming voice and Naomi’s unique approach to harmonies but also for their way of combining folk, bluegrass and blues into a sound like nothing else at the time.
The Judds. Photo: Kristin Barlowe
Naomi — born Diana Ellen Judd on January 11, 1946 — grew up in Ashland, KY, the daughter of a filling-station owner and his wife. She married as a teenager and had two daughters, Christina and Ashley Ciminella. Following a move to California and a divorce, Diana raised her daughters in California. As part of a fresh start, all three took Diana’s maiden name. Diana and her older daughter changed their first names, as well. Diana became Naomi, a biblical figure she admired, and Christina became Wynonna, using an adapted spelling of Winona, the northern Arizona town mentioned in the song “Route 66.”
Naomi financed the family’s move to Nashville by renting her restored 1957 Chevrolet — the same she’d drive from California to Tennessee — for use in “More American Graffiti” and by securing roles for her and Wynonna in the film. They made the move in 1979, and Naomi took a job as a nurse at Williamson County Medical Center. In early 1980, she and a 15-year-old Wynonna began appearing in the early mornings on WSM-TV’s The Ralph Emery Show. Emery dubbed them the “Soap Sisters” after Naomi told him she made her own lye soap.
Their break came via a chance encounter with Nashville producer Brent Maher, whose teenage daughter — a schoolmate of Wynonna’s — was injured in a car accident. Maher had seen the Soap Sisters’ television performances and recognized Naomi, one of his daughter’s nurses. When Maher’s daughter was dismissed from the hospital, Naomi gave Maher a tape she and Wynonna had made on a portable tape recorder in their kitchen. Maher began working with the two singers and, following a live audition in the offices of RCA Records’ Nashville office, they secured a recording deal with RCA Records/Curb Records.
The Judds made their debut in late 1983 with “Had a Dream (For the Heart),” a B-side for Elvis Presley seven years before. It began with a simple guitar strum, followed by a line of a cappella vocal from Wynonna. The record only cracked the Top 20, but the record’s less-is-more approach made the necessary impression. The follow-up, “Mama He’s Crazy,” went straight to No. 1, immediately making The Judds country music’s most successful mother-daughter act since Mother Maybelle Carter and the Carter Sisters. “Mama He’s Crazy” was the first of eight straight chart-toppers for the duo and earned Naomi and Wynonna their first of five Grammy Awards.
On the strength of “Mama He’s Crazy” and the six-song Wynonna & Naomi EP, The Judds won the Horizon Award at the 1984 CMA Awards ceremony (where Naomi famously began her acceptance speech by exclaiming, “Slap the dog and spit in the fire!”). They released their first full-length album, Why Not Me, the following week.
The Judds went on to win nine CMA Awards and seven from the Academy of Country Music, dominating both organizations’ vocal duo categories through the 1980s. In 1986, The Judds received their first of three CMA Awards nominations for Entertainer of the Year, making 22-year-old Wynonna the youngest person ever to be nominated for the honor. She held that distinction for more than 20 years.
Between 1984 and 1991, The Judds released six studio albums and an EP, their stripped-back style helping revive the popularity of acoustic sounds in country music and opening up the genre for more traditional approaches.
In October 1990, Naomi announced her retirement from performing due to chronic hepatitis. That retirement would come after the 124-date Love Can Build a Bridge Farewell Tour, which wrapped December 4, 1991, at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. They have occasionally reunited since then, notably for the 1994 Super Bowl halftime show, a 2000 reunion tour, a 2008 performance at the Stagecoach Festival and the Last Encore Tour in 2010-2011.
Following the Love Can Build a Bridge Farewell Tour, Naomi and Wynonna pursued separate career paths. Wynonna launched a solo recording career with three No. 1 singles and a 5x Platinum album, Wynonna, in 1992. Naomi published her autobiography, “Love Can Build a Bridge,” in 1993. Wynonna published her own memoir, “Coming Home to Myself,” in 2005. Naomi pursued acting and television, hosting a talk show and serving as a judge and mentor on an entertainment competition series.
Together, the Judds have 16 Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum albums and longform videos, led by 2x Platinum albums Why Not Me and The Judds Greatest Hits. Wynonna has another half-dozen albums and videos certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
During 2018-2019, Naomi and Wynonna were the subjects of the Country Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, “The Judds: Dream Catchers,” which followed the duo from their beginnings in Eastern Kentucky to the peak of their careers. At the time, museum CEO Kyle Young quoted “A Million Miles to the City,” a song by another Kentuckian, Tom T. Hall, adding that the tale of The Judds was “a million-mile story, told with heart and soul, about a miraculous, fortunate and harmonious journey.”
In her autobiography, Naomi wrote of her first visit to Music Row and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, saying, “It was as if we’d entered the pearly gates and were riding down streets of gold” and comparing the Hall to “a cathedral filled with holy relics.”
Now she and Wynonna have found a permanent home in the cathedral.
Veterans Era Artist – Ray Charles
With one album, Willie Nelson has said on more than one occasion, Ray Charles did more for country music than any single artist has ever done. The album, of course, was 1962’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. Though it remains Charles’ best-known album, it was far from his only foray into country music; it wasn’t even his first. The Genius of Soul’s love of country music goes back to his earliest days.
Ray Charles. Photo: Courtesy of The Ray Charles Foundation
Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, GA, in 1930 but raised across the state line in Greenville, FL, where juvenile glaucoma took his eyesight by age 7. During the school year, he attended St. Augustine’s State School for Blind and Deaf Children. There, he studied Mozart, Chopin and Bach and when he got to stay up past nine o’clock on a Saturday night, he tuned into the Grand Ole Opry to hear Roy Acuff, Grandpa Jones and Eddy Arnold.
From Florida, Charles headed west. He made his first records for the Swing Time and Down Beat labels. His records began charting nationwide once he signed with Atlantic Records in 1952, first on the R&B charts (“I’ve Got a Woman,” “A Fool for You,” “Drown in My Own Tears”), then on the pop charts (“Night Time Is the Right Time,” “What’d I Say”).
Charles began to show his affinity for country after his national breakthrough with “What’d I Say.” For his follow-up, he recorded a rave-up cover of Hank Snow’s 1950 country smash “I’m Movin’ On.” It reached No. 40 on Billboard’s pop chart and No. 11 on the R&B chart. It was also his last charting single for Atlantic. He soon signed with ABC-Paramount, where he had his first chart-topping pop hits with “Georgia on My Mind” in 1960 and “Hit the Road, Jack” in 1961.
Having finally established himself as a national act — and with his contract up for renewal — Charles decided to test his label’s faith: He would record an album of country songs. ABC’s president, Sam Clark, warned Charles that he might lose fans with such a concept. Charles, who’d seen white singers cover Black artists with great success, figured he could flip the script and gain more fans than he’d lose. His prediction turned out to be accurate.
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music became Charles’ first album to top Billboard’s pop albums chart. It spent 14 weeks at No. 1, an achievement it would take a country album from Nashville 30 years to match.
Charles’ 12 selections for the album spanned three decades of country songs, from Floyd Tillman’s late-1930s favorite “It Makes No Difference Now,” to Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s “Bye Bye Love,” which already had a track record with crossing formats, having been a Top 5 hit in pop, country and R&B. That made it perfect for Charles, who was looking for standards, or songs that could become standards. He picked songs associated with Arnold and Hank Williams, as well as a Don Gibson B-side called “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
“I Can’t Stop Loving You” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart, Charles’ third — and biggest — chart-topper. It sold so briskly that one Atlanta distributor told Billboard that “people who don’t even own record players are buying it.”
Charles released another dozen songs, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volume 2, which included covers of Jimmie Davis’ “You Are My Sunshine,” Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and Fred Rose and Hy Heath’s “Take These Chains From My Heart,” which Williams also recorded.
The Modern Sounds albums’ across-the-board success changed the way the world saw Nashville and the way Nashville saw the world. Charles’ big-band and string-and-voice arrangements gave Nashville’s producers and arrangers a new palette. Nashville publishers found fresh markets for their catalogs as other pop and R&B singers sought to replicate Charles’ approach.
Charles also showed the full magnitude of commercial potential country music had when racial and stylistic barriers between the music and the audience were stripped away.
Charles returned time and again to country’s catalog with remakes of Buck Owen’s “Crying Time” and “Together Again” and albums like 1965’s Country and Western Meets Rhythm and Blues and 1970’s Love Country Style. Despite his track record of success with the material, Charles didn’t appear on the Billboard Country singles charts as an artist until more than 30 years into his recording career (though Jerry Lee Lewis did manage a modest hit by covering Charles’ “What’d I Say” in 1961).
In the early 1980s, the head of CBS Records’ Nashville division, Rick Blackburn signed Charles to Columbia Records. He’d made modern sounds with country and western music, now he wanted to make modern country sounds. It was a “lifelong dream,” he told journalist Robert K. Oermann, “to do country music with country people.” He released a half-dozen albums for Columbia between 1983 and 1988, including his 1985 No. 1 duet with Willie Nelson, “Seven Spanish Angels.”
The following year, Charles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1987, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Charles won 17 Grammy awards across 44 years, including Best Rhythm and Blues Recordings for “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Crying Time” and his version of Harlan Howard’s “Busted.” He was also nominated for two CMA Awards in 1985, the CMA Horizon Award and CMA Vocal Duo of the Year with Willie Nelson for their duet, “Seven Spanish Angels.”
Eight of his Grammys came posthumously. Charles died of liver cancer on June 10, 2004, shortly after completing an album of duets called Genius Loves Company that would go on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. True to form, he gave country a prominent role in the project.
During a recording career that spanned more than 50 years, Charles rarely conformed to anyone else’s notions about country music, how it should sound, or how it could sell. His genius extended beyond country music, but it always included it. And when Charles performed country and western music, he didn’t just create modern sounds. He created timeless ones.
Recording and/or Touring Musician – Eddie Bayers and Pete Drake (tie)
Eddie Bayers
Eddie Bayers has been a first-call drummer in Nashville for nearly 50 years, so it’s appropriate that he’ll be the first drummer inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Recording and/or Touring Musician category. Bayers has been an indispensable part of the musical foundation during country music’s most commercially successful years. Laying down the groove on some 300 Gold and Platinum records, he is the beat behind some of country’s most popular artists and leaves an enduring impact on the industry as a whole.
Eddie Bayers. Photo: Rick Malkin
Bayers moved to Nashville in 1974, living for a while in his car. He auditioned for a spot as a keyboard player at the Carousel Club in Printer’s Alley and wound up playing in a quartet with drummer Larrie Londin, who had played on many Motown Records sessions before settling in Nashville. Under Londin’s mentorship, Bayers transitioned from keyboards to drums, the Carousel gig sustaining him as he developed his drumming skills.
Bayers eventually moved into studio work, with early sessions playing for Anne Murray, Mickey Gilley, Charlie Rich, and others, including Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs album. Maher brought him in to play on demos for a mother-daughter duo. Those sessions formed the core of The Judds’ debut EP, 1983’s Wynonna & Naomi, and Bayers ended up being the only drummer for every studio album his fellow Hall of Famers recorded, and continued to record with Wynonna Judd when she launched her solo career.
Bayers developed longstanding working relationships with artists like Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney, recording with them over a series of albums and hits.
Other country acts who have employed Bayers on their records include Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Tammy Wynette and Trisha Yearwood. Beyond country, he has recorded with acts such as The Beach Boys, John Fogerty, Mark Knopfler, Richard Marx, Aaron Neville, Stevie Nicks, Bob Seger and Steve Winwood.
He has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry’s House Band since 2003 and received a 2004 Grammy nomination as part of The Notorious Cherry Bombs. He is also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Medallion All-Star Band.
Bayers was named the Academy of Country Music’s top drummer 14 times between 1991 and 2010, including an 11-year stretch where he won every year. The Country Music Association has nominated him for Musician of the Year 10 times. DRUM magazine named him one of the Top 10 Session Drummers of All Time, and he is a member of Modern Drummer magazine’s Honor Roll. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored him as one of its “Nashville Cats” in 2010. He was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.
Bayers’ impact on the music industry has been felt far beyond the drummer’s stool. He has worked with students and faculty at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, which bestowed its American Master Award on him in 2015. He has also served multiple terms on the Board of Trustees for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).
Pete Drake
Country music as the world knows it wouldn’t sound like country music without the pedal steel guitar. And the pedal steel wouldn’t sound like pedal steel without Pete Drake.
Pete Drake. Photo: Courtesy of Rose Drake
Drake helped define the sound of the pedal steel on some of country music’s most enduring hits, among them Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man,” Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl” and George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”
In 1959, Drake moved to Nashville with the goal of playing on the Opry, as his hero Byrd had. He backed Don Gibson, Marty Robbins and Carl and Pearl Butler, but he didn’t take to road life, so he decided to stay in Nashville and try to become a session musician.
Drake could make the pedal steel sing, moving a bar across its strings to make it swoop and sigh, and pressing its pedals or squeezing its knee levers to make it moan. The pedal steel, Drake liked to say, was the closest instrument to the human voice. Not only could he make the pedal steel sing, but he could also make it talk. Literally. After seeing a film with musician Alvino Rey and his “talking” steel guitar, Drake developed one of his own.
Drake used his “talk box” on station breaks for Nashville radio station WSM-AM and on records like Roger Miller’s “Lock, Stock and Teardrops” and Jim Reeves’ “I’ve Enjoyed as Much of This as I Can Stand.”
In 1966, Drake played on sessions for Elvis Presley’s How Great Thou Art album. He also appeared on the soundtracks for Presley films “Spinout,” “Easy Come, Easy Go,” “Double Trouble,” “Clambake” and “Speedway,” work that opened doors to acceptance in the pop and rock realm.
He played on Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding, recorded in Nashville in 1967, as well as on Dylan’s subsequent albums, Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait. The Dylan recordings led to an invitation from George Harrison to fly to London and play on sessions for his All Things Must Pass album. At those sessions, Drake met a 20-year-old Peter Frampton and demonstrated his talk box for the fascinated young guitarist (Frampton would take the effect to multi-Platinum heights a few years later on records like “Show Me The Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do”). Drake also invited Ringo Starr to Nashville and, within a matter of days, was producing Starr’s Beaucoups of Blues album with country musicians, marking the first time a Beatle had recorded in the United States.
The country sessions continued, as well, with Drake playing on records by artists including Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, Ronnie Milsap, the Oak Ridge Boys, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, The Statler Brothers, Hank Williams Jr. and Ray Charles. During his lifetime, Drake played on 118 Gold and Platinum albums, but his impact was felt beyond the recording sessions on which he played.
Drake was inducted into the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1987. The following year, on July 29, Drake died at his Brentwood, TN home due to complications from emphysema. He was posthumously inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame (2007) and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (2010).
Drake is the first pedal steel player to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Recording and/or Touring Musician category.
Dan + Shay’s ‘Good Things’ Breaks RIAA Release Date Records
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, WMN); Lisa Ray (Sandbox Entertainment); Cris Lacy (EVP of A&R, WMN); Dan Smyers; Shay Mooney; Ben Kline (EVP/GM, WMN); Jason Owen (Sandbox Entertainment). Photo: Alan Poizner
Dan + Shay have reached another milestone in their red-hot career, as their new album, Good Things, becomes the first country album in the streaming era to achieve RIAA Gold certification at its release. The news comes right as the duo’s current single, “Glad You Exist,” claims the top spot on the Billboard and Mediabase Country Airplay charts, marking their sixth consecutive and ninth career No.1.
“Three years ago, Dan + Shay made history with ‘Tequila’ – and have continued on a meteoric rise ever since,” said Warner Music Nashville Chairman & CEO, John Esposito. “This extraordinary accomplishment is yet another testament to their unparalleled talent and work ethic. The first and only country album in the streaming era to be certified Gold upon release, are you kidding? That’s freaking insane! I couldn’t be one iota prouder that Dan + Shay are part of the Warner Music Nashville family. They are artists of a generation.”
The duo celebrated the new LP in a big way last Friday (Aug. 13) with the Good Things Album Release Concert at The Great Lawn in Centennial Park, marking the first time the Nashville park has ever hosted a major concert. Labelmates Ingrid Andress and Morgan Evans opened the show before the duo came out to a capacity crowd of 10,000 to perform tracks from the new album as well as some previous hits and fan favorites.
Following the performance, Dan + Shay were surprised with several plaques to add to their ever-growing collection, including Gold certification for Good Things, 4x Platinum certification for “10,000 Hours,” Platinum certification for “I Should Probably Go To Bed” and Gold certification for “Glad You Exist.”
“Congratulations to Dan + Shay on Good Things becoming the first country album in the streaming era to be RIAA certified Gold at release!” said Mitch Glazier, Chairman & CEO, RIAA. “Dan + Shay are no stranger to high-ranking Gold & Platinum achievements. Every Dan + Shay album released has been certified Gold or Platinum by the RIAA… Congrats to Dan + Shay and their team at Warner Music Nashville on this awesome milestone, which reflects years of incredible music and hard work.”
Their Dan + Shay The (Arena) Tour will resume this fall with new 2021 dates, beginning Sept. 9 in Greenville, South Carolina. The 30-stop explosive tour includes a night at the famed Madison Square Garden and will feature Atlantic Records’ The Band Camino and labelmate Andress.
Bexar Preview Major Label Debut Project With New Track, ‘Key To Life’
/by Lorie HollabaughChris Ryan and Logan Turner. Photo: Robby Klein
Bexar have announced plans to release their Warner Music Nashville debut EP, Pronounced Bear, on Sept. 3. To coincide with the EP announcement, BEXAR has released “Key To Life,” one of the tracks from the forthcoming collection.
A nod to the phonetic spelling of the band name, the EP was produced by Ross Copperman and Luke Laird, and features six songs that showcase the band’s fresh sound. “Key To Life” was cowritten by the band’s Chris Ryan alongside Barry Dean and Laird, and the banjo-filled tune provides a glimpse into the blend of Kentucky bluegrass and Texas country that encapsulates Bexar’s sound. “Key To Life” follows the release of “One Day” and “Again,” the band’s first major label single.
Bexar draws inspiration from Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers and Avicii. Comprised of Ryan (lead vocals/guitar) and Logan Turner (vocals/banjo/guitar), the band gets its name from Bexar County, Texas, where Ryan spent much of his childhood. Since their 2018 self-released EP, Bexar has accumulated nearly 40 million streams to date.
Two weeks after the release of the forthcoming EP, they group will join Keith Urban on Keith Urban Live – Las Vegas from Sept. 17-25. The residency will take place at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
King Calaway Shows Off New Sound With Upcoming ‘Midnight EP’
/by Lydia FarthingAshley Eicher and King Calaway hold a Q&A at Arrington Vineyards to discuss their upcoming Midnight EP on Wednesday, Aug. 11. Photo: Lydia Farthing
On Wednesday, Aug. 11, with the picturesque backdrop of Tennessee’s prized Arrington Vineyards around them, rising country band King Calaway showcased their upcoming EP, Midnight, to a group of industry friends and supporters. The four-song project releases on Friday, Aug. 27 via Stoney Creek Records.
BMG Nashville President Jon Loba introduced the now 5-piece band to the crowd. “I am personally so proud of the evolution of these men, and have never been more excited about what you’re about to hear and where they are in their career.”
Comprised of Chris Deaton, Simon Dumas, Chad Michael Jervis, Austin Luther, and Caleb Miller, the group shared all four of the tracks featured on the upcoming EP as well as four additional tracks.
“There was a lot of momentum that was happening towards the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020,” shared Jervis. “But through [the COVID-19 pandemic], it reinforced our commitment to each other and our passion for wanting to pursue our career.”
Ashley Eicher and King Calaway hold a Q&A at Arrington Vineyards to discuss their upcoming Midnight EP on Wednesday, Aug. 11. Photo: Lydia Farthing
The band began writing in August of 2020 with most of the songs being born out of Zoom writes. Digging their heels in, the five wrote over 80 songs over the last year.
To record, the five travelled to Asheville, North Carolina to live in a house together for three weeks. Inspired by the southern California, 1970s country sound, the group went to work to bring their new sonic direction to life. With the advice of one of the EP’s producers, Justin Niebank, the five bandmates played every instrument on Midnight, save the pedal steel which was helmed by Paul Franklin, giving the project a deeper sense of honesty and authenticity.
“Justin made it a point to make sure we were all playing it because that made it feel the most authentic,” the band explained. “Instead of making everything perfect, the fact that it all came from one of the five of us made it feel really honest.”
Through the four tracks featured on Midnight, the crowd was taken along a full spectrum of emotions from the lighthearted and easy on the ears “Homegrown” to the powerful and timely anthem, “More People,” encouraging small acts of kindness in our everyday lives.
The edgy, guitar licked “Heartbreaker” takes the EP one shade darker while “Good Time To Me,” which features MusicRow‘s newest CountryBreakout No. 1 artist Lainey Wilson, gives a welcomed bar-stomping, high-voltage energy to the project.
King Calaway. Photo: Courtesy of BBR Music Group
“I think this EP and these songs really represent the journey that we went on over the last year and a half,” Jervis explained. “Through all of the adversity, we stuck together, held it out, and now we’re here today. And we are all so thankful to be here today with all of you.”
Midnight Track List:
1. Homegrown – Chad Michael Jervis, Kevin Griffin
2. More People – Simon Dumas, Ryan Lafferty, Tina Parol Gemza
3. Heartbreaker – Simon Dumas, Neil Medley, Dave Cohen
4. Good Time To Me (feat. Lainey Wilson) – Charles Kelley, Russell Dickerson, Corey Crowder, Steven Lee Olsen
Jake Owen Pulls Through With No. 1 Most-Added Single At Country Radio
/by Alex ParryJake Owen debuts at country radio this week dominating the charts as the most-added artist and top spin gainer with his single, “Best Thing Since Backroads,” released via Big Loud Records. On the Billboard Country Airplay Chart, Owen debuts at No. 25 with 75 new station adds and +1,332 spins. On Mediabase, he raked in 84 stations and +1,432 spins landing at No. 33. On the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart, Owens earned 22 adds and +279 spins which puts him at No. 61.
“For a first single off a new project to have this type of momentum is super exciting,” says Owen. “I’m very thankful for the continued support from country radio, and of course my incredible Big Loud team!”
“Best Thing Since Backroads” was produced by long-time friend and producer Joey Moi and written by Ben Johnson, Jordan Minton, Hunter Phelps and Geoff Warburton.
For more chart data, view the latest edition of The MusicRow Weekly.
Reba McEntire ‘Revived, Remixed, Revisited’ Her Career Of Hits On New Box Set
/by Lydia FarthingReba McEntire
Reba McEntire is set to release her new three-part box set, Revived Remixed Revisited, on Oct. 8. The trilogy is a reimagined collection of some of her most iconic songs spanning her entire career. One song from each installment– “Is There Life Out There,” “I’m A Survivor” (Lafemmebear Remix), and “Consider Me Gone”–are available everywhere now.
Revived includes some of McEntire’s biggest hits as they’ve evolved over the years in her live show and features new arrangements of fan favorites, like “Is There Life Out There” and “Can’t Even Get The Blues” recorded with her touring band.
Remixed puts a new spin on songs including “Little Rock” and “I’m A Survivor,” and on Revisited, Reba works with Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb to strip back and recut songs like “Somebody Should Leave” and “Consider Me Gone.” The third installment also features McEntire and Dolly Parton on the classic duet “Does He Love You.”
McEntire will join celebrated TV personality Nancy O’Dell on Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. CST for talkshoplive where fans can pre-order special autographed editions of the box set, plus hear stories around the making of the new collection.
Runaway June Opens New Chapter With Upcoming Western-Rooted EP
/by Lorie HollabaughRunaway June. Photo: CeCe Dawson
Runaway June is providing fans with a taste of their backstory EP on Friday, Aug. 20, the same weekend they join Luke Bryan on his Proud To Be Right Here Tour.
The new EP focuses on heartbreak, break-ups and moving on as their rock and Western sound colors the three-song project, produced by Dan Huff and Mark Trussell. With all three ladies — Naomi Cooke, Natalie Stovall and Jennifer Wayne — now married, backstory weaves the tale of where it all begins, before finding a happily ever after.
The fiery “Forgot About That” opens the project, romanticizing all the good memories that surface when you run into your ex while “Down The Middle” speaks to the realistic emotions following a gut-wrenching breakup. “T-Shirt,” a breezy, good riddance track, rounds out the project.
Honored as a coveted New Face at the 2020 Country Radio Seminar, the BBR Music Group/Wheelhouse Records trio’s latest single, “Buy My Own Drinks,” peaked at Top 5 on Mediabase Country Chart, the highest charting song by a female trio or group since The Chicks in 2003. Their 2019 debut album, Blue Roses, received critical acclaim and was included on Rolling Stone’s and Paste Magazine’s best albums of the year lists.
Runaway June. Photo: CeCe Dawson
Backstory Track List:
1. Forgot About That (Naomi Cooke, Jennifer Wayne, Corey Crowder, Emily Shackelton)*
2. Down The Middle (Naomi Cooke, Jennifer Wayne, Hannah Mulholland, Barry Dean, Tofer Brown)*
3. T-Shirt (Naomi Cooke, Jennifer Wayne, Adam Hambrick, Mark Trussell)^
*Produced by Dann Huff
^Produced by Mark Trussell
Renowned Singer-Songwriter Nanci Griffith Passes
/by LB CantrellNanci Griffith
American singer, guitarist, and songwriter Nanci Griffith passed away today (Friday, Aug. 13). She was 68.
Born Nanci Caroline Griffith in Austin, Texas, Griffith became known for her unique version of country-folk music.
She released over 20 albums, perhaps most notably her 1993 project Other Voices, Other Rooms, which consisted entirely of cover songs, in tribute to songwriters who influenced her own songwriting. Other Voices, Other Rooms earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1994.
As a songwriter, some of Griffith’s greatest hits include Kathy Mattea’s cover of “Love at the Five and Dime” and Suzy Bogguss’s hit with “Outbound Plane.”
Griffith was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the World Folk Music Association in 1995, and in 2008 the Americana Music Association awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award. Most recently Griffith was invited to be a member of the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association’s Hall of Fame. She was to be inducted in February of 2022.
“Nanci Griffith was a master songwriter who took every opportunity to champion kindred spirits, including Vince Bell, Elizabeth Cook, Iris DeMent, Julie Gold, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Eric Taylor and Townes Van Zandt,” said Kyle Young, CEO, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Her voice was a clarion call, at once gentle and insistent. Her brilliant album The Last of the True Believers is a template for what is now called Americana music, and her Grammy-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms is a compelling guide to 20th-century folk songs. Nanci offered gifts that no one else could give.”
Griffith is a survivor of breast cancer which was diagnosed in 1996, and thyroid cancer in 1998.
Her death was confirmed by her management company, Gold Mountain Entertainment. A cause of death was not provided.
Memorial services have not yet been announced.
In This Issue: MusicRow Awards Issue Features John Shearer, Dualtone Records, 615 Leverage + Strategy
/by Lydia FarthingNashville music industry publication MusicRow Magazine has released its 2021 MusicRow Awards, with Warner Music Nashville’s Gabby Barrett gracing the cover.
The MusicRow Awards print issue highlights this year’s MusicRow Awards nominees in a range of categories, including Producer of the Year, Label Group of the Year, Talent Agency of the Year, Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year, Male Songwriter of the Year, Female Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, Discovery Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and Artist of the Year.
The winners for the 33rd annual MusicRow Awards will be announced virtually among multiple MusicRow platforms on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Presenting Sponsor of the 2021 MusicRow Awards is City National Bank. This print issue also honors the Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians Awards, which will also be announced on Aug. 19, recognizing the studio players who played on the most albums reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Country Albums Chart during the eligibility period.
The 2021 MusicRow Awards print issue features acclaimed photographer John Shearer, celebrates 20 years of Nashville’s indie label Dualtone Records, and catches up with John Zarling and Jackie Campbell on their newest marketing and brand partnership company 615 Leverage + Strategy.
This issue also reassesses the state of independent venues and the touring industry as a whole as it begins to reopen amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and contains an informative roundup of music industry awards.
Single copies of MusicRow’s 2021 MusicRow Awards print issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $20, and are included with yearly MusicRow subscriptions.