Jesse and Stevie Frasure. Photo: Ford Fairchild
Multi-hyphenate Jesse Frasure has built his reputation on being a go-to writer and producer who can create chart-topping musical earworms in an array of genres. He’s earned 16 No. 1 hits as a songwriter and/or producer, including Kane Brown’s hit “One Thing Right,” featuring Marshmello, “Who I Wanna Be” and “Mr. Almost” for Meghan Trainor, Lauren Alaina’s breakthrough hit “Road Less Traveled,” and Kacey Musgraves’ “Wonder Woman.” Frasure was named BMI’s 2018 Country Songwriter of the Year, and has earned four consecutive CMA Triple Play Awards.
As DJ Telemitry, Frasure has toured with Florida Georgia Line, and Thomas Rhett and DJed events for Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Drake, and more.
“Everything I do kind of complements everything else,” Frasure says. “I enjoy all of that and I didn’t want to be put in a box.”
That mantra also sums the work he and wife Stevie Frasure do in leading Roc Nation’s Rhythm House publishing unit, which they launched in 2016 in a joint venture with Warner Chappell.
Stevie, Vice President of Rhythm House Music in Nashville, oversees all aspects of daily operations. She launched her career at Warner Bros Records and Lyric Street Records, followed by roles at EMI Nashville Publishing, where she rose to Creative Director, before joining ole Songs Publishing as Creative Director in 2009.
Rhythm House’s roster includes Frasure’s own writing and production, as well as the signing and development of others including Cary Barlowe, Brandon Day, Steven Lee Olson and Alysa Vanderheym, who are finding success in multiple genres. Vanderheym co-wrote the current Kygo and One Republic single “Lose Somebody,” and is known for her work on Florida Georgia Line’s Platinum-certified “Talk You Out Of It,” among other tracks. Olson is known for hits including Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and Kip Moore’s “More Girls Like You.” North Carolina native Day has production and writing credits for The Plain White T’s and Big & Rich. Barlowe has penned hits for TobyMac, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, and more.
Jesse had previously worked at Major Bob Music Publishing for 15 years, rising to VP of A&R. working as both a publisher and songwriter. Warner Chappell’s Ben Vaughn reached out to him.
“I had reached the top of where I was going to get there, but I didn’t want to jump into another position at a corporate publishing company where I would have a ton of roles. My whole career has always been wearing a lot of hats. Every time people said, ‘Pick one lane,’ I kind of ignored that,” he says.
MusicRow spoke to Jesse and Stevie Frasure about launching Rhythm House, the company’s multi-genre successes, and the state of Nashville songwriting.
MusicRow: What attracted you to the idea of launching Rhythm House?
Stevie: We knew who Roc Nation was just because we love all music genres and Jesse was obsessed with Jay-Z.
Jesse: They felt like we could be a liaison between them and Nashville so we started about five years ago. We’ve kind of been the little engine that could. We keep things small. My wife and I came up through publishing so our belief is a boutique publisher should give you more support you have more attention. We do believe very much in outside cuts. Fortunately, we’ve been able to keep singles on the charts.
MusicRow: Stevie, how did you become involved in Rhythm House?
“I have been in publishing for about 15 years. We were not going to work together, we were very much NOT going to do that,” Stevie recalls. “I was with Pat Higdon and Patrick Joseph Music, and we were downsizing. I love Pat and he was paying me out of his pocket and I thought, ‘I could pitch some back catalog of Jesse’s, and Cary Barlowe who we signed to Rhythm House as our first writer, Jesse had worked with him before. As we got Cary, I just thought, ‘Well I’ll pitch Cary’s songs, too.’ I just became like ‘I guess I work here now.’ After a few years of working with Rhythm House and deciding who we would sign next, I was like, ‘I guess I should get a Rhythm House email.’
MusicRow: Early on, Jesse became known for remixing releases and working in the EDM world. Now, it’s become much more common for country songwriters and artists to do those types of collaborations and remixes in the past few years.
Stevie: I remember in our apartment off Eighth Avenue we had a spare bedroom and any time we were not working or hanging out with songwriters, he would be sitting there at a small rig making remixes. It was the beginning of country music going remix for dance clubs and I remember Universal would say, ‘Hey can you remix this Kip Moore song?’ or things like that. He would put out indie remixes that would get picked up and he was DJing. It was hard at first because it was the good ole boys way of thinking, like, ‘If you ain’t country, you ain’t worth a damn in town.’ Luckily when he was at Major Bob, Shane Stevens would be like, ‘I would love to top line this,’ and it would be like a German cut. Cary would be like ‘I think TobyMac would love this.’ That became the first, ‘Oh, it’s Christian music but it’s pop music.’ And he would make quick loops and demos. The songwriters loved it and it turned into a Hot Celle Rae cut, and “Sun Daze” for FGL. For FGL to take him on the road as a DJ and then write with him, it was the beginning of seeing country music say, ‘Oh, we have a Nelly collab. Jesse was really ahead of the game in that way.
MusicRow: One of the more recent hits was Kane Brown’s “One Thing Right,” featuring Marshmello. How did that come about?
“That song came from a writing retreat with Kane and it was a little too progressive for his album at the time. So these toplines instead of sitting there and you’ve got an artist who is open to collaborations, and it makes a lot of sense where we go, ‘If this doesn’t make your record, can we send it around?’ But it’s given us a whole other world and route for pitching. Outside of just pop artists, there is this whole world of DJs. The powerful thing about the EDM world is they get playlisted globally. Shane McAnally co-wrote “Are You With Me,” which became a Lost Frequencies EDM hit. The song’s probably one of the bigger earners in his catalog.
And Kane, he’s probably one of the smartest collaborators in our genre. It’s a pop mentality. For so long in Nashville, we were so worried about, ‘Oh, you’re over-collaborated’ or ‘If you put this out right now, it will take attention away from your radio single.’ But I think consumers listen to any music just like they do a Drake song. Drake may drop a single tomorrow that’s not on his album, and fans will listen.
MusicRow: What is the process like for vetting songwriters when you are looking to add to the Rhythm House roster?
Jesse: If 10% of what we write gets cut, we’re successful. So that means, we are getting told ‘No’ a lot. If you write 200+ songs last year, and in any given year, winning Writer of the Year is probably six-eight singles, tops. So that average ratio is scary and crazy. If you are being told ‘No’ more than ‘Yes,’ you have to really go to bat for someone. Sometimes you can have a prolific songwriter, but personality-wise, it just doesn’t fit. We’ve curated a roster that really complements each other.
MusicRow: How are you seeing the success of TikTok affect music publishing?
I’m not skeptical of TikTok and I love the idea. To me, it’s getting more attention for artists who already have a foundation. I’m not sure that I’ve seen, other than a Lil Nas X moment, something where it’s launched careers just yet. I think it’s very possible that it will, but we have to be careful because we too easily chase something. Everyone’s going to sign a Luke Combs or look to TikTok. It becomes something where people are following numbers only. Are they going to go to this person they found on TikTok and go through their whole catalog, or is it just because it was a TikTok challenge?
Stevie: If TikTok can bring forward amazing singers or talented, then I think it can translate, but I think for publishers, we are not going to go sign someone because they had a big TikTok hit. It might draw our attention, but I think TikTok is being taken into consideration for artists who are already having a moment with a certain song to make it even bigger.
How is TikTok affecting publishing catalogs?
There’s an artist named BØRNS who had “Electric Love” that hit on TikTok and a five-year-old album was brought back to life. Fleetwood Mac, the fact that they are discovering catalog songs more than they were from Spotify or iTunes, which makes me excited. Fleetwood Mac has the No. 1 song because of a guy skateboarding with an Ocean Spray bottle. That’s when I started to go, ‘Wow, if this can be a catalog discovery thing,’ Then those [piles of songs that have seen their glory days can find new life.
MusicRow: You recently launched the “Little Bit Country” radio show on Apple Music, where you get a chance to look deeply at how hit songs are crafted.
It takes people behind the scenes and shows them that the matrix of this industry us way more interconnected between genres. Sean Douglas wrote from Thomas Rhett on “Die A Happy Man,” and Dan+Shay’s “I Should Probably Go To Bed, but also for Lizzo (“Cuz I Love You”) and Demi Lovato. Even a song like “God’s Country,” we’ll deconstruct that and go, ‘Man, it reminds me of if Imagine Dragons met Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive,” meets Charlie Daniels Band’s kind of southern gothic story. It’s showing the audience that the way they listen to music is kind of the way we write music. Steph Jones who wrote [Kelsea Ballerini’s] “Hole in the Bottle” with me, is also on the Blackpink song (“Love to Hate Me”). We don’t look at music genres.
MusicRow: Stevie, you began working on a Nashville-based show focusing on women in the music industry, alongside Mickey Guyton, Caroline Bryan, Caroline Hobby and several others. How is that project going?
Stevie: It is still in the works. It’s evolved into the wives of some country artists talking about their lives and balancing everything. But Mickey Guyton is involved and how do we navigate being a woman in country music. Some are artists, some are moms. Caroline Hobby is amazing and she had started interviewing wives of country artists and it evolved from there. We have a production team and are still developing it. We will see where it goes. It will likely be a docu-series about being a wife and publisher and show a little bit of how they manage everything. Some of these women manage the whole behind-the-scenes career of their husbands.
MusicRow: The pandemic has obviously impacted touring, but what are you seeing ahead for writer and publishers for 2021?
Jesse: There are so many records being worked on right now, Obviously Thomas Rhett just announced he’s coming out with one. We have a cool thing we are working on for Kelsea. There will be so many albums dropping in the first quarter of 2021, it’s crazy. The amount of songs we’ve been pitching, all the writing we’ve been doing this year, it’s been almost more than ever.”
Warner Chappell Extends Pub Deal With Logan Wall
/by Jessica NicholsonLogan Wall. Photo: Alex Ferrari
Producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Logan Wall has extended his global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music Nashville.
Wall co-wrote Brantley Gilbert’s current single “Hard Days,” as well as Logan Mize’s “Grew Apart,” which has earned more than 9 million global streams following features on Spotify’s Hot Country, New Boots, U.S. Viral 50 and Apple Music’s Today’s Country.
Wall is currently producing the upcoming album from Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Tom Douglas, and has cuts with artists including Larry Fleet, Augustana, and Donovan Woods, working in multiple formats including country, indie-alternative, Americana, and contemporary Christian.
In 2019, Wall launched the Skinny Studio in the heart of Downtown Nashville to serve as a creative haven for players, poets, and artists looking for a place to write their stories. Wall is managed by Michelle Szeto at Paquin Entertainment.
Ashley Gorley, Warner Chappell, “One Man Band” Lead ASCAP 2020 Country Awards Winners
/by Jessica NicholsonAshley Gorley. Photo: Josh Ulmer
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) are honoring the writers and publishers behind many of the most-performed songs of the year with four days of tributes as part of the 58th annual ASCAP Country Music Awards, revamped in a creative virtual format for 2020.
Ashley Gorley won his eighth consecutive ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year.
“It’s very fun to be relevant and feel like I’m doing the job I’m supposed to do,” Gorley told MusicRow. “I’m thankful to get to collaborate with new artists and writers and for radio to continue to play them. I wasn’t sure what would happen this year and or when certain songs would fall on the calendar and stuff, so I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
Among the songs being honored by ASCAP this year is Brett Young’s “Catch,” which Young wrote with ASCAP writer Gorley, as well as Ross Copperman. Young joined Gorley on a Zoom call to discuss their win for “Catch.”
“We were in the middle of writing another song when Ashley thought about the idea for ‘Catch’,” Young recalls. “He got up and left the room in the middle of the session so he wouldn’t lose the idea for it, and we booked a different writing time to work on it. It was one of our faster writes.”
“It happens a lot to me, where an idea for a song will come out of something we say in a different session. Then it kind of wrote itself in a great way,” Gorley added.
“For me, my favorite thing about ‘Catch,’ other than the play on words, is how the script is flipped. When you hear this story, it’s always about a girl going out with her girlfriends, who doesn’t want to be bothered by a dude,” Young says. “With this, it’s a dude going out and he just wants a baseball game, his buddies, and a beer, and so I like how there is this subtle role reversal. It made for a fun write.”
Trio Avenue Beat, signed with Big Machine and Gorley’s Tape Room Records, were among those honoring Gorley with a video tribute performance, conjuring up pop versions of several of Gorley’s signature written hits.
Old Dominion’s “One Man Band,” penned by Josh Osborne alongside Old Dominion’s Brad Tursi, Matthew Ramsey, and Trevor Rosen, was named ASCAP’s Country Music Song of the Year. ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams surprised the four writers with news of the win via a virtual event.
“We are a band of songwriters, so all of our initial goals were songwriter goals. We went to the ASCAP awards, and were standing in the back, dreaming of getting one some day. It’s pretty special to look back on your career and realize that the road you took to get there is pretty amazing,” Tursi told MusicRow via a Zoom call, as the band was working up an acoustic performance of the song for ASCAP’s country honors.
While most songwriters solely pitch songs to other artists after a song is penned, the members of Old Dominion say they are “fortunate to be in this band and see the vision of how we will perform it and bring it to life.”
While the song does mark the first love song the group has released, Ramsey says it is also a nod to the bond the members in Old Dominion have as a group.
“There are ups and downs in this industry, but we don’t have to be on this ride alone,” he says. “We have each other to go through the highs and lows with and that one of the great things about being a band.”
Warner Chappell Music was named ASCAP Country Music Publisher of the Year for an eighth consecutive time, for publishing songs including “One Man Band,” “10,000 Hours,” “After A Few,” “God’s Country” and more. Warner Chappell Music Nashville President Ben Vaughn accepted the honor from his car in front of the ASCAP Nashville headquarters, saying, “”We wanted to say thanks to ASCAP, thanks to Guy (Moot) and Carianne (Marshall) for all their support, thank you to our songwriters for being amazing and also our team wants to say thanks to everyone.”
ASCAP is honoring this year’s winners with a series of videos, featuring the winners being surprised with the news of their accolades, as well as videos of acoustic performances from artist-writers including Carly Pearce and Matt Stell.
Pearce is being honored for her work as a songwriter on her chart-topping hit “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” a duet with Lee Brice.
“They signed me when I was 19 years old, and Mike Sistad has been there every step of the way,” Pearce told MusicRow. “To have him in my corner all this time with unwavering faith, it’s so special.”
“I Hope You’re Happy Now” marks Pearce’s second No. 1 hit, following her breakthrough “Every Little Thing,” which she also co-wrote.
“All I try to do is write my truth and write what I know and the fact that that’s translating in such a big way and making my dreams come true, it pushes me to do more of that,” she says.
For a full list of winners, visit ascap.com.
Rhythm House’s Jesse And Stevie Frasure: No Boundaries
/by Jessica NicholsonJesse and Stevie Frasure. Photo: Ford Fairchild
Multi-hyphenate Jesse Frasure has built his reputation on being a go-to writer and producer who can create chart-topping musical earworms in an array of genres. He’s earned 16 No. 1 hits as a songwriter and/or producer, including Kane Brown’s hit “One Thing Right,” featuring Marshmello, “Who I Wanna Be” and “Mr. Almost” for Meghan Trainor, Lauren Alaina’s breakthrough hit “Road Less Traveled,” and Kacey Musgraves’ “Wonder Woman.” Frasure was named BMI’s 2018 Country Songwriter of the Year, and has earned four consecutive CMA Triple Play Awards.
As DJ Telemitry, Frasure has toured with Florida Georgia Line, and Thomas Rhett and DJed events for Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Drake, and more.
“Everything I do kind of complements everything else,” Frasure says. “I enjoy all of that and I didn’t want to be put in a box.”
That mantra also sums the work he and wife Stevie Frasure do in leading Roc Nation’s Rhythm House publishing unit, which they launched in 2016 in a joint venture with Warner Chappell.
Stevie, Vice President of Rhythm House Music in Nashville, oversees all aspects of daily operations. She launched her career at Warner Bros Records and Lyric Street Records, followed by roles at EMI Nashville Publishing, where she rose to Creative Director, before joining ole Songs Publishing as Creative Director in 2009.
Rhythm House’s roster includes Frasure’s own writing and production, as well as the signing and development of others including Cary Barlowe, Brandon Day, Steven Lee Olson and Alysa Vanderheym, who are finding success in multiple genres. Vanderheym co-wrote the current Kygo and One Republic single “Lose Somebody,” and is known for her work on Florida Georgia Line’s Platinum-certified “Talk You Out Of It,” among other tracks. Olson is known for hits including Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and Kip Moore’s “More Girls Like You.” North Carolina native Day has production and writing credits for The Plain White T’s and Big & Rich. Barlowe has penned hits for TobyMac, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, and more.
Jesse had previously worked at Major Bob Music Publishing for 15 years, rising to VP of A&R. working as both a publisher and songwriter. Warner Chappell’s Ben Vaughn reached out to him.
“I had reached the top of where I was going to get there, but I didn’t want to jump into another position at a corporate publishing company where I would have a ton of roles. My whole career has always been wearing a lot of hats. Every time people said, ‘Pick one lane,’ I kind of ignored that,” he says.
MusicRow spoke to Jesse and Stevie Frasure about launching Rhythm House, the company’s multi-genre successes, and the state of Nashville songwriting.
MusicRow: What attracted you to the idea of launching Rhythm House?
Stevie: We knew who Roc Nation was just because we love all music genres and Jesse was obsessed with Jay-Z.
Jesse: They felt like we could be a liaison between them and Nashville so we started about five years ago. We’ve kind of been the little engine that could. We keep things small. My wife and I came up through publishing so our belief is a boutique publisher should give you more support you have more attention. We do believe very much in outside cuts. Fortunately, we’ve been able to keep singles on the charts.
MusicRow: Stevie, how did you become involved in Rhythm House?
“I have been in publishing for about 15 years. We were not going to work together, we were very much NOT going to do that,” Stevie recalls. “I was with Pat Higdon and Patrick Joseph Music, and we were downsizing. I love Pat and he was paying me out of his pocket and I thought, ‘I could pitch some back catalog of Jesse’s, and Cary Barlowe who we signed to Rhythm House as our first writer, Jesse had worked with him before. As we got Cary, I just thought, ‘Well I’ll pitch Cary’s songs, too.’ I just became like ‘I guess I work here now.’ After a few years of working with Rhythm House and deciding who we would sign next, I was like, ‘I guess I should get a Rhythm House email.’
MusicRow: Early on, Jesse became known for remixing releases and working in the EDM world. Now, it’s become much more common for country songwriters and artists to do those types of collaborations and remixes in the past few years.
Stevie: I remember in our apartment off Eighth Avenue we had a spare bedroom and any time we were not working or hanging out with songwriters, he would be sitting there at a small rig making remixes. It was the beginning of country music going remix for dance clubs and I remember Universal would say, ‘Hey can you remix this Kip Moore song?’ or things like that. He would put out indie remixes that would get picked up and he was DJing. It was hard at first because it was the good ole boys way of thinking, like, ‘If you ain’t country, you ain’t worth a damn in town.’ Luckily when he was at Major Bob, Shane Stevens would be like, ‘I would love to top line this,’ and it would be like a German cut. Cary would be like ‘I think TobyMac would love this.’ That became the first, ‘Oh, it’s Christian music but it’s pop music.’ And he would make quick loops and demos. The songwriters loved it and it turned into a Hot Celle Rae cut, and “Sun Daze” for FGL. For FGL to take him on the road as a DJ and then write with him, it was the beginning of seeing country music say, ‘Oh, we have a Nelly collab. Jesse was really ahead of the game in that way.
MusicRow: One of the more recent hits was Kane Brown’s “One Thing Right,” featuring Marshmello. How did that come about?
“That song came from a writing retreat with Kane and it was a little too progressive for his album at the time. So these toplines instead of sitting there and you’ve got an artist who is open to collaborations, and it makes a lot of sense where we go, ‘If this doesn’t make your record, can we send it around?’ But it’s given us a whole other world and route for pitching. Outside of just pop artists, there is this whole world of DJs. The powerful thing about the EDM world is they get playlisted globally. Shane McAnally co-wrote “Are You With Me,” which became a Lost Frequencies EDM hit. The song’s probably one of the bigger earners in his catalog.
And Kane, he’s probably one of the smartest collaborators in our genre. It’s a pop mentality. For so long in Nashville, we were so worried about, ‘Oh, you’re over-collaborated’ or ‘If you put this out right now, it will take attention away from your radio single.’ But I think consumers listen to any music just like they do a Drake song. Drake may drop a single tomorrow that’s not on his album, and fans will listen.
MusicRow: What is the process like for vetting songwriters when you are looking to add to the Rhythm House roster?
Jesse: If 10% of what we write gets cut, we’re successful. So that means, we are getting told ‘No’ a lot. If you write 200+ songs last year, and in any given year, winning Writer of the Year is probably six-eight singles, tops. So that average ratio is scary and crazy. If you are being told ‘No’ more than ‘Yes,’ you have to really go to bat for someone. Sometimes you can have a prolific songwriter, but personality-wise, it just doesn’t fit. We’ve curated a roster that really complements each other.
MusicRow: How are you seeing the success of TikTok affect music publishing?
I’m not skeptical of TikTok and I love the idea. To me, it’s getting more attention for artists who already have a foundation. I’m not sure that I’ve seen, other than a Lil Nas X moment, something where it’s launched careers just yet. I think it’s very possible that it will, but we have to be careful because we too easily chase something. Everyone’s going to sign a Luke Combs or look to TikTok. It becomes something where people are following numbers only. Are they going to go to this person they found on TikTok and go through their whole catalog, or is it just because it was a TikTok challenge?
Stevie: If TikTok can bring forward amazing singers or talented, then I think it can translate, but I think for publishers, we are not going to go sign someone because they had a big TikTok hit. It might draw our attention, but I think TikTok is being taken into consideration for artists who are already having a moment with a certain song to make it even bigger.
How is TikTok affecting publishing catalogs?
There’s an artist named BØRNS who had “Electric Love” that hit on TikTok and a five-year-old album was brought back to life. Fleetwood Mac, the fact that they are discovering catalog songs more than they were from Spotify or iTunes, which makes me excited. Fleetwood Mac has the No. 1 song because of a guy skateboarding with an Ocean Spray bottle. That’s when I started to go, ‘Wow, if this can be a catalog discovery thing,’ Then those [piles of songs that have seen their glory days can find new life.
MusicRow: You recently launched the “Little Bit Country” radio show on Apple Music, where you get a chance to look deeply at how hit songs are crafted.
It takes people behind the scenes and shows them that the matrix of this industry us way more interconnected between genres. Sean Douglas wrote from Thomas Rhett on “Die A Happy Man,” and Dan+Shay’s “I Should Probably Go To Bed, but also for Lizzo (“Cuz I Love You”) and Demi Lovato. Even a song like “God’s Country,” we’ll deconstruct that and go, ‘Man, it reminds me of if Imagine Dragons met Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive,” meets Charlie Daniels Band’s kind of southern gothic story. It’s showing the audience that the way they listen to music is kind of the way we write music. Steph Jones who wrote [Kelsea Ballerini’s] “Hole in the Bottle” with me, is also on the Blackpink song (“Love to Hate Me”). We don’t look at music genres.
MusicRow: Stevie, you began working on a Nashville-based show focusing on women in the music industry, alongside Mickey Guyton, Caroline Bryan, Caroline Hobby and several others. How is that project going?
Stevie: It is still in the works. It’s evolved into the wives of some country artists talking about their lives and balancing everything. But Mickey Guyton is involved and how do we navigate being a woman in country music. Some are artists, some are moms. Caroline Hobby is amazing and she had started interviewing wives of country artists and it evolved from there. We have a production team and are still developing it. We will see where it goes. It will likely be a docu-series about being a wife and publisher and show a little bit of how they manage everything. Some of these women manage the whole behind-the-scenes career of their husbands.
MusicRow: The pandemic has obviously impacted touring, but what are you seeing ahead for writer and publishers for 2021?
Jesse: There are so many records being worked on right now, Obviously Thomas Rhett just announced he’s coming out with one. We have a cool thing we are working on for Kelsea. There will be so many albums dropping in the first quarter of 2021, it’s crazy. The amount of songs we’ve been pitching, all the writing we’ve been doing this year, it’s been almost more than ever.”
Dan + Shay Welcome The Holiday Season With “Take Me Home For Christmas”
/by Jessica Nicholson“This is our first original Christmas song, and we had a blast writing and recording it,” the duo’s Dan Smyers said. “It was cool to get in the holiday spirit a little early this year, because I think we could all use some extra positivity and cheer. Our fans have asked for Christmas music every year, so I hope you all have as much fun listening to it as we did making it.”
Dan + Shay will be joined by Justin Bieber for the world television premiere of their No. 1 global hit “10,000 Hours” during the CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Dan + Shay added four CMA nods this year to their career-total 10 nominations, with an additional two going to Dan Smyers as producer in the Single of the Year and Musical Event of the Year categories. Their current single, “I Should Probably Go To Bed,” has already accumulated more than 100 million global streams and is approaching Top 10 at country radio.
Thomas Rhett Namechecks Country Classics In Upcoming Single
/by Jessica NicholsonThomas Rhett is paying homage to several timeless country classics with his upcoming single. The singer-songwriter, who recently tied with Carrie Underwood for ACM Entertainer of the Year, shared snippets of his new track, “What’s Your Country Song,” a taste of the music that will be on his forthcoming fifth studio project from The Valory Music Co. He penned the song alongside Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Parker Welling.
The new track namechecks several country songs, including Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight,” Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee,” Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places,” Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine,” and even Rhett Akins’ “That Ain’t My Truck.”
“We wrote this song on the road last year in Dallas, Texas,” Thomas Rhett said. “It’s really about how I was noticing that no matter where you live or where you’re from, everyone has a little bit of country inside their bones.”
Thomas Rhett is nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year at next week’s CMA Awards, as well as for Musical Event of the Year for “Be A Light,” featuring Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott and Chris Tomlin.
Barry Gibb Collaborates With Jason Isbell, Dolly Parton, Brandi Carlile, Keith Urban, And More On New Album
/by Jessica NicholsonSinger, songwriter and producer Barry Gibb has teamed with producer Dave Cobb on a project that finds Gibb collaborating with several of Nashville’s top artists to craft new renditions of hits from the catalog of songs he crafted and recorded alongside his late brothers and Bee Gees bandmates Robin and Maurice.
The result, Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook, Vol. 1, recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studios, and set to release Jan. 8 via Capitol Records. The 12-track project includes collaborations with Alison Krauss, Brandi Carlile, David Rawlings, Dolly Parton, Gillian Welch, Jason Isbell, Jay Buchanan, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, Olivia Newton-John, Sheryl Crow and Tommy Emmanuel.
Gibb announced the project with the release of “Words of a Fool,” with Isbell.
Gibb says, “From the first day we stepped into RCA Studios in Nashville (the very place where Elvis, Willie, Waylon, Roy, the Everly Brothers and so many other legends made their magic) the album took on a life of its own. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to work with Dave and all the artists who stopped by. They were all incredibly generous with their time and talent. They inspired me more than words can express. I feel deep down that Maurice and Robin would have loved this album for different reasons. I wish we could have all been together to do it…but I think we were.”
Cobb adds, “It was truly an honor to work with one of my heroes. The Bee Gees’ first album has always been a staple for me and it was surreal to get to witness the genius of Barry Gibb in the studio—he’s one of the greatest of all time!”
Isbell says, “Barry Gibb is one of the greatest songwriters and singers in popular music history, and I’m happy to say he still has that beautiful voice and that magical sense of melody. Working with him on this project has been one of the great honors of my career. He’s a prince.”
The Bee Gees wrote “Islands In The Stream,” which Dolly Parton and the late Kenny Rogers turned into an iconic duet that topped Billboard‘s Hot 100 in 1983. The song yielded Barry, Maurice and Robin a CMA Song of the Year nomination in 1984. Olivia Newton-John sings on the Barry Gibb-penned “Rest Your Love On Me,” a Top 40 country hit for the Bee Gees in 1979 and later a No. 1 country hit for Conway Twitty in 1981.
Gibb has nine No. 1 singles as as performer, 16 No. 1s as a songwriter and 14 as a producer. He’s earned eight Grammys, the Grammy Legend Award and most recently the 2015 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the American Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, the BMI Icon Award, four BMI Songwriter of the Year Awards, four BMI Song of the Year Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Barry received one of Britain’s highest honors when the Bee Gees were made Commanders of the British Empire and, in 2018, was Knighted “Sir Barry Gibb” by Prince Charles for his services to music and charity.
GREENFIELDS: THE GIBB BROTHERS’ SONGBOOK, VOL. 1 TRACK LIST
1. “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You” with Keith Urban
2. “Words of a Fool” with Jason Isbell
3. “Run to Me” with Brandi Carlile
4. “Too Much Heaven” with Alison Krauss
5. “Lonely Days” with Little Big Town
6. “Words” with Dolly Parton
7. “Jive Talkin’” with Miranda Lambert, Jay Buchanan
8. “How Deep Is Your Love” with Tommy Emanuel, Little Big Town
9. “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” with Sheryl Crow
10. “To Love Somebody” with Jay Buchanan
11. “Rest Your Love On Me” with Olivia Newton-John
12. “Butterfly” with Gillian Welch, David Rawlings
Chrissy Metz Releases Christmas Track
/by Lorie HollabaughChrissy Metz
Chrissy Metz is releasing her first holiday song today—a heartwarming rendition of the Bing Crosby classic “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
“’I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ is not only nostalgic but incredibly special to me because it’s my Mom’s favorite Christmas song,” says Metz. “This year it takes on a whole new meaning as we all more than ever want to be with loved ones, especially during the holiday season.”
Metz’s current single “Talking To God” is playing on country radio now. The This Is Us actress made her debut at the famed Grand Ole Opry this summer after signing a record deal with Universal Music Group Nashville earlier this year. In 2019, she starred in the film Breakthrough, and performed the film’s theme song, “I’m Standing With You,” at the Academy of Country Music Awards, joined by Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Maddie & Tae, and Mickey Guyton. Earlier this year, she performed the song at the 92nd Academy Awards, where the track scored a nomination for Best Original Song.
Luke Dick Chats About ‘Red Dog’ On ‘And The Writer Is…With Ross Golan’ Podcast
/by Lorie HollabaughLuke Dick. Photo: Adam Murphy
Luke Dick is the latest guest on the podcast “And The Writer Is…with Ross Golan,” where he shares stories about growing up in rural Oklahoma, breaking in as a Nashville songwriter, and becoming an accomplished filmmaker with his most recent autobiographical documentary Red Dog, available on Hulu.
Red Dog brought his unconventional childhood story to the big and small screens earlier this year. Originally premiering at SXSW, the film follows Luke’s journey to learn more about the Red Dog, the Oklahoma City-based topless bar where his mother Kim worked while raising him. It features interviews and stories with former dancers, employees and patrons of the bar, and Luke carefully wrote, performed and curated the songs that appear in the film featuring some superstar friends like Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley. He’ll release Music From The Documentary Red Dog via UMG’s Ingrooves on Dec. 4. The album features 13 songs plus nine interludes from the film that help guide the story.
On Friday, Nov. 13, the latest focus track, “Blazer” featuring Dierks Bentley will be released to all digital and streaming partners. The project also includes The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney as a songwriter and producer, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby, and rising country artist Jackson Dean.
MUSIC FROM THE DOCUMENTARY RED DOG Track List:
1 – Red Dog Intro
2 – ”Oklahomie” – Performed by Hey Steve featuring Patrick Carney (Written by Luke Dick and Patrick Carney)
3 – Prison Tat (Interlude)
4 – Tattoo – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Laura Veltz and Jessie Jo Dillon)
5 – Got An Average (Interlude)
6 – Polyester – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Miranda Lambert (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)
7 – Plain White T – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde and Laura Veltz)
8 – It Wasn’t Normal (Interlude)
9 – Blazer – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Dierks Bentley (Written by Luke Dick, Joey Hyde and Jeff Hyde)
10 – Guy Named Rachel – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Rodney Clawson)
11 – Henceforth (Interlude)
12 – Nasty Kathy – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)
13 – Kool – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde and Jessie Jo Dillon)
14 – Solar Dryer (Interlude)
15 – B Level Hustler – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Jackson Dean (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)
16 – Vegas (Interlude)
17 – Dance Like Me – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Rick Brantley)
18 – Five O’Clock Shadow – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby and Rosi Golan)
19 – I Won (Interlude)
20 – Tiny Dreams – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jason Lehning and Patrick Carney)
21 – You’re Beautiful (Interlude)
22 – Mothers and Sons – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Natalie Hemby (Written by Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby)
Country Music Hall of Fame And Museum To Offer Free Admission To Service Members On Veterans Day
/by Jessica NicholsonTimed admission tickets can be reserved by calling 615-416-2001, or tickets can be obtained at the museum’s box office on Nov. 11. Valid military ID is required to claim tickets. Due to limited capacity, advanced reservations are highly recommended.
Additionally, the museum’s virtual Songwriter Session, set for Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. CT and featuring Bob Regan and Mike Byer, will also recognize those who serve and have served in the armed forces. A Nashville-based songwriter, Regan is founder and director of Operation Song, an organization that pairs professional songwriters with veterans, active-duty military and their families. Joining Regan is Byer, a veteran, songwriter and Operation Song program director.
Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood Prepping “Secret Project,” Says John Carter Cash
/by Jessica NicholsonAccording to a social media post, it seems Carrie Underwood and Reba are teaming for a new project.
John Carter Cash, the only child of music legends Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, shared a post on Instagram of Reba and Underwood at the Cash Cabin, with the photos accompanied simply with the hashtag #secretproject. No other details were given.
According to the Cash Cabin’s official site, Johnny Cash had the Cash Cabin built in 1979 as a place of refuge, away from the bustle of his busy music career. Beginning with American III: Solitary Man, Cash would record nearly half of the remainder of his American Recordings series at the Cash Cabin. June Carter Cash also recorded the project Press On (1999) and her final solo album, 2003’s Wildwood Flower, at the cabin. In 2003, Johnny made his final recording at the cabin, including “Like the 309” for the project American Recordings V: A Hundred Highways, and “Engine One-Forty-Three” for an album produced by John Carter, The Unbroken Circle, The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family.
Underwood and Reba, alongside Dolly Parton, co-hosted the CMA Awards last year, and Reba is set to return as a co-host this year, with Darius Rucker. Underwood earned her third Entertainer of the Year nomination heading into next week’s awards show. She is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, an honor she has previously taken home five times. Six-time CMA winner McEntire is nominated for Musical Event of the Year heading into this year’s show, for her work on Thomas Rhett’s “Be A Light,” which also features Chris Tomlin, Keith Urban, and Lady A’s Hillary Scott.