Robert Earls
Robb Earls, one of the founding figures of Nashville’s new-wave rock scene of the 1980s, has died at age 69.
A vocalist, songwriter and synthesizer performer, Earls led the acclaimed techno-pop bands Factual, Warm Dark Pocket, Big Bong Theory and This Midnight Stream. He was also active as a producer/engineer for David Olney, Lambchop, Webb Wilder and many others.
Born Robert W. Earls Jr., the pop/rock pioneer was a Nashville native who came of age musically at the nightclub Phranks ‘N’ Steins (1909 West End Avenue, the basement of where the St. Mary’s Bookstore is today). During the venue’s heyday in 1979-80, the punk, new-wave and techno-pop scenes in Music City were born. Early Nashville modern-rock acts during this era included Cloverbottom, File 13, The Ratz and Committee for Public Safety.
After a brief stint in the group Actuel, Robb Earls formed Factual in early 1981 with drummer Bone Brown, bassist Johnny Hollywood and guitarist Skot Nelson. Unlike most studio synth acts, Factual was equally potent as a live band.
The group swiftly grew from being a Nashville club attraction to a touring as a popular phenomenon in Atlanta, Louisville, Chapel Hill, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Athens, Raleigh, Memphis, Birmingham and Chicago. It eventually scored a showcase at the famed Danceteria in New York City.
Factual made its disc debut with tracks on the local-rock compilations Never In Nashville (1981) and The London Side of Nashville (1982). In the summer of 1982, it issued its debut single “Think to the Beat” / “Your Way” on red vinyl. Reviewers favorably compared the band to Joy Division, Ultravox and Human League. The sound was catchy and highly danceable, yet shot through with socially conscious lyrics.
In 1983 came a blue-vinyl, four-song, mini-LP, which was also favorably reviewed. Factual headlined that fall at the Nashville Music Association’s multi-act extravaganza at Municipal Auditorium called Entertainment Expo.
Robb Earls next formed Warm Dark Pocket with vocalist and synth player Marilyn Blair. The act issued a four-song, techno-pop mini-LP in 1986. Following that, Big Bong Theory was his experiment in psychedelic rock.
Since the 1990s, Robb Earls had been working as the Sound Vortex studio owner, as well as an engineer and producer. In addition to Olney, Wilder and Lambchop, he worked with DeGarmo & Key, Bonepony, Tom House, Doug Hoekstra, Jet Black Factory, Clockhammer, Paul K., Silvain Vanot, Tom Ovans, Dessau and more, including a number of European artists.
While working on a solo project, Earls discovered the work of Nashville rock songwriter Carole Edwards. The two formed This Midnight Stream and issued a full-length, dance-pop CD titled Cinematic in 2001. He was a strong advocate of the Nashville independent-music community by then and remained so thereafter.
Robb Earls died on March 11. He is survived by children Emily and Edwin, sister Karallyn Earls Streit and six cousins. A Celebration of Life will be held at a future date. Condolences may be offered online here.
Nashville Rock Innovator Robb Earls Passes
/by Robert K OermannRobert Earls
Robb Earls, one of the founding figures of Nashville’s new-wave rock scene of the 1980s, has died at age 69.
A vocalist, songwriter and synthesizer performer, Earls led the acclaimed techno-pop bands Factual, Warm Dark Pocket, Big Bong Theory and This Midnight Stream. He was also active as a producer/engineer for David Olney, Lambchop, Webb Wilder and many others.
Born Robert W. Earls Jr., the pop/rock pioneer was a Nashville native who came of age musically at the nightclub Phranks ‘N’ Steins (1909 West End Avenue, the basement of where the St. Mary’s Bookstore is today). During the venue’s heyday in 1979-80, the punk, new-wave and techno-pop scenes in Music City were born. Early Nashville modern-rock acts during this era included Cloverbottom, File 13, The Ratz and Committee for Public Safety.
After a brief stint in the group Actuel, Robb Earls formed Factual in early 1981 with drummer Bone Brown, bassist Johnny Hollywood and guitarist Skot Nelson. Unlike most studio synth acts, Factual was equally potent as a live band.
The group swiftly grew from being a Nashville club attraction to a touring as a popular phenomenon in Atlanta, Louisville, Chapel Hill, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Athens, Raleigh, Memphis, Birmingham and Chicago. It eventually scored a showcase at the famed Danceteria in New York City.
Factual made its disc debut with tracks on the local-rock compilations Never In Nashville (1981) and The London Side of Nashville (1982). In the summer of 1982, it issued its debut single “Think to the Beat” / “Your Way” on red vinyl. Reviewers favorably compared the band to Joy Division, Ultravox and Human League. The sound was catchy and highly danceable, yet shot through with socially conscious lyrics.
In 1983 came a blue-vinyl, four-song, mini-LP, which was also favorably reviewed. Factual headlined that fall at the Nashville Music Association’s multi-act extravaganza at Municipal Auditorium called Entertainment Expo.
Robb Earls next formed Warm Dark Pocket with vocalist and synth player Marilyn Blair. The act issued a four-song, techno-pop mini-LP in 1986. Following that, Big Bong Theory was his experiment in psychedelic rock.
Since the 1990s, Robb Earls had been working as the Sound Vortex studio owner, as well as an engineer and producer. In addition to Olney, Wilder and Lambchop, he worked with DeGarmo & Key, Bonepony, Tom House, Doug Hoekstra, Jet Black Factory, Clockhammer, Paul K., Silvain Vanot, Tom Ovans, Dessau and more, including a number of European artists.
While working on a solo project, Earls discovered the work of Nashville rock songwriter Carole Edwards. The two formed This Midnight Stream and issued a full-length, dance-pop CD titled Cinematic in 2001. He was a strong advocate of the Nashville independent-music community by then and remained so thereafter.
Robb Earls died on March 11. He is survived by children Emily and Edwin, sister Karallyn Earls Streit and six cousins. A Celebration of Life will be held at a future date. Condolences may be offered online here.
TwentySeven Music Publishing Signs Jennifer Smestad
/by LB CantrellJennifer Smestad. Photo: Ryan Noble
TwentySeven Music Publishing, led by music executive Barry Weiss and songwriter-producer Jenna Andrews, have signed Jennifer Smestad to a worldwide publishing deal, in partnership with Sony Music Publishing.
Smestad’s RECORDS Nashville/Sony Music Nashville debut single, “Half The Man,” written with Josh Metheny and Erik Halbeg, released in 2020 and has gone on to garner more than 18 million streams and 100k consumption units.
The Arizona native moved to Nashville in 2016 to pursue her musical dreams as a singer-songwriter, after her faith and family helped her overcome Tourette’s Syndrome, OCD and social anxiety diagnoses. She has garnered a wealth of performing experiences, from time with the Miss America pageant to performing at churches, ballparks, and various music venues. Smestad is managed by Hill Entertainment Group and is gearing up to release new music in the coming weeks, as recently teased to her more than 228,000 TikTok followers.
Pictured (L-R, top row): Jennifer Smestad, Grace Jones (Hill Entertainment Group); (L-R, middle row): Greg Hill (Hill Entertainment Group), Barry Weiss (TwentySeven Music Publishing); (bottom row): Jenna Andrews (TwentySeven Music Publishing)
“We’re delighted to have Jennifer join the TwentySeven family,” shared both Weiss and Andrews. “Her songwriting has already touched countless people across the world and we’re excited see what she’ll accomplish next.”
“At the beginning of 2020, I set a big goal to sign a publishing deal within a year,” said Smestad. “I can’t believe it’s a year later and it’s actually happening! I’m so grateful to Barry, Jenna, and TwentySeven for believing in me and taking a chance on me.”
Dennis Quaid To Host One Night Takeover On Circle
/by Lorie HollabaughDennis Quaid. Photo: Danielle Piazza
Dennis Quaid is hosting a special one-night network takeover of Circle Network on Monday, March 22. The evening will include Circle Sessions: Dennis Quaid where Quaid relives some iconic roles, talks about his faith, his new film projects including portraying President Ronald Reagan in a new feature film biopic, REAGAN, scheduled for release in 2022, his new gospel album slated for release this summer, and more.
Additional Dennis-themed programming includes a performance on Grand Ole Opry’s Opry Live, My Opry Debut, a sneak peek of Circle Country Countdown, and Phil Vassar’s Songs from the Cellar.
“I’ve been writing and performing songs long before my first acting role. I learned to play guitar before I ever memorized a script, so it’s been a lifelong dream to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. And to open up about my passion with Circle viewers was an added bonus,” Quaid said.
“Circle is honored to have a celebrated artist and actor Dennis Quaid join our network for a night that celebrates his accomplished career highlights and spotlight moments,” said Drew Reifenberger, Circle Network General Manager.
Brett Eldredge Launches The #GoodDayMovement
/by LB CantrellBrett Eldredge. Photo: Greg Noire
Brett Eldredge has launched the #GoodDayMovement, which is a campaign designed to serve communities in need.
In honor of Good Samaritan Day on March 13, and Women’s History Month, Eldredge partnered with the renowned Little Beet restaurant in New York City last Friday (March 12) to donate healthy meals to the women’s shelter Homes for the Homeless, an organization that provides families experiencing homelessness with more than just a place to sleep and eat. They provide on-site childcare, early education programming, after school recreation, and employment training intended to ensure a holistic and community-oriented support system for families.
To join The Locals, Eldredge’s fan club, and be part of the #GoodDayMovement, check for the weekly challenge here.
“I love random acts of kindness, and just helping others. A lot of people have randomly acted in kindness to me in my life. I just know how it feels and how much we need it right now,” Eldredge said in a recent press event.
Photo: Courtesy Warner Music Nashville
The movement aligns with the Warner Music Nashville recording artist’s newest single, “Good Day.”
The single, off his fifth studio album Sunday Drive, was written by Eldredge alongside Daniel Tashian and Ian Fitchuk, and walks listeners through the powerful process of positive thinking. It arrived as Top 2 most added at country radio on its add day.
“Daniel and Ian are very unique creators and individuals, which I love,” Eldredge said. “This was our first day to ever write and I was so excited but I didn’t know what it was going to be like. It was just an incredible experience and out of my comfort zone. It was a totally different style of writing.
“Daniel was sitting on the floor and cutting out cardboard and paper, storyboarding the lyrics we were writing in very strange looking ways, but it made me think in a different way. Ian would hop on one instrument to another, and Daniel would hop on one instrument to another,” Eldredge said. “I started to feel this new wavelength that I was writing on. With this song, it was what I was going through in my life. I needed to find a good-feeling song that was more than just a good-feeling song. It’s an intention, I’m making this choice to try to turn my life around just today, just in this moment. It’s gonna be a good day, even if it’s 42 degrees, cold and rainy.”
Chart Action: Lady A Sweeps Chart Stats
/by Alex ParryLady A is most added across all three country radio charts this week with their single “Like A Lady.” On the Billboard Country Airplay chart, the trio debuts at No. 24 with 82 new station adds and a spin gain of +1,466. On Mediabase, they received 84 adds, +1,511 spins, landing them at No. 30. On the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart, Lady A earn 25 new ads, +265 spins and debuts at No. 58.
“Like A Lady” was written by Hillary Scott, Dave Barnes, Michelle Buzz, Martin Johnson and Brandon Paddock. It is the first single off their upcoming eighth studio album. Scott leads the band with joyful vocal abandon on the track. “Like A Lady” was produced by Dann Huff and features lush vocal stacks, arena-sized drums and an ‘80s pop sound.
Canaan Smith Announces Sophomore Album, ‘High Country Sound’
/by LB CantrellCanaan Smith. Photo: Kurt Ozan
Artist-songwriter Canaan Smith announced his sophomore album, High Country Sound, will release on April 2 via Round Here Records.
High Country Sound serves as the long-awaited follow-up to his 2015 debut album, Bronco, and marks his first major release under Round Here Records. The 12-track project features everything from bluegrass-tinged, swampy sing-alongs like “Catch Me If You Can” featuring Brent Cobb to raw, lyrically driven ballads including “Like I Ain’t Missin’ You,” with each tune peeling back a different layer on what he refers to as “Canaan Country.”
Smith makes his debut as sole producer on eight of the 12 tracks, while co-producing the rest of the set alongside Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. As a writer, his credit is on every single song on the project.
“This whole album felt like a chance to make something that I truly wanted, which was extremely liberating—but also nerve-racking because I became the one responsible for the project,” Smith says. “I really focused on having fun with it, and I didn’t feel pressure from anyone to do anything in particular—it all came from a place of my own personal love for these songs. Taking control and kind of steering the project in the way I wanted just made the outcome that much more special, and I couldn’t be prouder of it.”
High Country Sound Track Listing:
1. “Grounded” (Canaan Smith, Jim Beavers, Ben Stennis) *
2. “Mason Jars & Fireflies” (Canaan Smith, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder) *
3. “Colder Than You” (Canaan Smith, Jared Mullins, Corey Crowder) ^
4. “High Country” (Canaan Smith, Blake Redferrin, Corey Crowder) ^
5. “Catch Me If You Can” ft. Brent Cobb (Canaan Smith, Brian Kelley, Tyler Hubbard, Jason Afable) *
6. “Cabin In The Woods” (Canaan Smith, Josh Miller, Brian Kelley, David Garcia) ^
7. “American Dream” (Canaan Smith, Blair Daly) *
8. “Sweet Virginia” (Canaan Smith, Brian Kelley, Tyler Hubbard, Corey Crowder) ^
9. “Still” (Canaan Smith, Ben Stennis, Jim Beavers) *
10. “Like I Ain’t Missin’ You” (Canaan Smith, Blake Redferrin, Jason Afable) *
11. “Highway Blues” (Canaan Smith, Jake Rose, Brian Kelley) *
12. “Losin’ Sleep Over A Girl” (Canaan Smith, Marv Green, Kyle Fishman) *
* Produced by Canaan Smith
^ Produced by Canaan Smith, Brian Kelley + Tyler Hubbard
Bob Kingsley’s ‘Book Of Records’ Print And Audio Book Slated For 2022
/by Lorie HollabaughBob Kingsley
A new career retrospective on the late legendary broadcaster Bob Kingsley, Bob Kingsley’s Book Of Records, a career-spanning first-hand account of the format’s most engaging artists, songwriters, producers, and executives, is set for release in early 2022.
Authored by Bob himself throughout his lifetime, readers will take a journey through the format’s past, present and future in the collectible hardcover new book. Never-before-heard stories will be paired with fresh interpretations from creators and industry friends in the collection. In tandem with the recent donation of The Bob Kingsley Archive to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, all proceeds from the print book and also an audio book will be allocated to the Museum’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.
“It only seems appropriate that we remember Bob today, on what would be his 82nd birthday, with a book that chronicles the music he loved and the stories he spent a lifetime documenting,” says Nan Kingsley, President of KCCS Productions, Inc. “For sixty years Bob was a part of country music in many capacities, but his global reach on radio was his most important and lasting contribution to the Nashville community. I am so pleased to see Bob’s first-hand take on so many of the legends, superstars, and new artists be brought to life. Bob never lost his passion for listening to new music and learning from those who made it. I think that will be evident when readers digest this project.”
The print book, which will be published by Nautilus Publishing, will also include hundreds of rare photographs. Throughout his career, notes and audio documentation were kept and transcribed, with the intent for Bob to one-day share this living history.
“Bob Kingsley changed country radio forever, and he was a constant figure in the format’s history for sixty years,” says Neil White, Creative Director & Publisher at Nautilus. “We could not be more thrilled to collaborate with Nan and her team on this project. No other radio voice in country music has had the impact Bob had, and I am pleased that his journey through the years will be documented forever in Book Of Records.”
Dustin Lynch Enlists MacKenzie Porter For Stirring Duet, ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’ [Interview]
/by LB CantrellDustin Lynch is giving a second life to a track first shared on his Tullahoma album, this time enlisting rising singer-songwriter MacKenzie Porter to complete the duet.
“Thinking ‘Bout You (feat. MacKenzie Porter),” co-written by Lynch, Andy Albert, Hunter Phelps, and Will Weatherly, tells the exciting and relatable tale of exes reconnecting via a phone conversation.
“The chorus was a bit of a one-take, lyrically, for me,” Lynch tells MusicRow of the “Thinking ‘Bout You” writing session. “I was just name-checking places that people have ended up or I’ve done life at through the years. There’s definitely a personal connection to the lyric of the song.”
The duet originally appeared as a collaboration on Tullahoma with Lauren Alaina. When Alaina wasn’t available to be a part of the single release, Lynch put a call out to the country music community for submissions for the part from up-and-coming female artists.
“I had my team remove all the names from the submissions and just number them so I wouldn’t be persuaded based on if I knew who it was, what camp they’re a part of, what they look like. On my first listen I ended up pointing to file number two or whatever it was. Two weeks later, I’m still listening through and keep coming back to it. It ended up being MacKenzie Porter,” Lynch explains. “We all gravitated to her performance, and I think there’s reason for that.
“For me it was an opportunity to reach down and lift a new artist up, I take pride in hopefully shining a little bit of light, if we have some success with ‘Thinking ‘Bout You,’ on MacKenzie’s career.”
The music video, directed by Justin Nolan Key, plays off the phone conversation story line, with Lynch and Porter assuming the roles of a former couple reminiscing over the phone.
Donovan Woods To Release ‘Without People (Deluxe)’ On March 26
/by Lorie HollabaughDonovan Woods is releasing a new deluxe edition of his 2020 album, Without People, featuring four bonus tracks, including two new originals and two alternate mixes, on March 26.
The album includes a new piano rendition of “Grew Apart,” and an acoustic interpretation of “Whatever Keeps You Going” that pairs Woods with the voices of the J.P. Robarts Public School Music Project in London, Canada. The school’s choir (consisting of grades 3-8) formerly sang with Woods in 2019 at one of his concerts in London. Woods always wanted to feature the choir on a project, but during the pandemic, he learned that while the schools had reopened, the children were only allowed to hum during choir practice due to the nature of health and safety protocols. He then, with the help of their parents and choir director Jane Kennedy, enlisted the children’s choir to individually submit homemade cell phone videos of themselves singing the song.
“This deluxe version is really in place of what live shows might’ve been like if the pandemic hadn’t happened,” says Woods. “Among my favorite parts of playing live are presenting songs in a different context and introducing new material, and this deluxe version is doing that type of work.”
Since its release on Woods’ own Meant Well label in 2020, Without People has racked up 10 million streams and counting.
Gabby Barrett Notches Second MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart No. 1
/by Alex ParryGabby Barrett earns the No. 1 spot this week on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart with “The Good Ones.” The single was written by Barrett, Zach Kale, Emily Landis, and Jim McCormick.
Her previous single, “I Hope,” spent 27 weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, making it the longest-leading No. 1 by an unaccompanied female artist in the history of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Barrett recently released a a 7-track Live From The Goldmine EP. Her debut album for Warner Music Nashville, Goldmine, surpassed 1 billion streams within seven months of its release.
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