Fifteen of Nashville’s independent music venues and 120 Music City-based artists will come together for a series of 30 free livestreamed shows, to help Music City’s independent music venues and Nashville-based musicians who have been heavily impacted by the economic damage due to the COVD-19 pandemic.

Nashville’s Music Venue Alliance has teamed with the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp to launch the series of shows, titled Music City Bandwidth, which will begin Sept. 14 and run through October.

Artists taking part in the events include Andrew Combs, Brett James, Creature Comfort, Devon Gilfillian, Giovanni Rodriguez & 12 Manos, Jason Eskridge, Kalie Shorr, Marshall Chapman with Tommy Womack & Will Kimbrough, Patrick Sweany, *repeat repeat, The Last Bandoleros, The Pink Spiders, The Shindellas, The Wild Feathers, Trigger Hippy, Victoria Shaw, and Wooten Brothers.

Nashville venues taking part include 3rd and Lindsley, DRKMTTR, Exit/In, Mercy Lounge, The 5 Spot, The Basement, The Basement East, The Bluebird Cafe, The East Room, The End, The High Watt, The Listening Room, Rudy’s Jazz Room, Springwater, and Station Inn. The marketing initiative is being paid for by the Tennessee CARES Act funds earmarked for destination marketing organizations.

These 15 independent music venues have averaged a 90 percent revenue loss since mid-March. The Music Venue Alliance estimates 15 percent of them will permanently close in one month; 38 percent in six weeks; and 13 weeks from now all but one will permanently close without financial assistance. That could result in the loss of 5,600 annual concerts; $5 million paid to 46,000 musicians annually; 389 lost jobs; and more than $2 million in lost city and state taxes annually. The city recently approved $2 million in CARES Act funding for small music venues.

“We have crafted a unique, Nashville-branded virtual experience to go to a worldwide audience that promotes the Music City brand, the diversity of Nashville musicians and all the iconic independent music venues that are the soul of Music City,” said Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “If these music clubs don’t make it, our Music City brand and music ecosystem will be in great peril.”

Exit/In owner Chris Cobb, president of Music Venue Alliance Nashville, said, “Nashville’s independent music venues have been devastated by the pandemic. We have been closed since March, and even though we have operated frugally and responsibly, have been forced to lay off 90 percent of our employees. We fear many of us will close permanently. We know there are many people rooting for us to survive, and this marketing initiative is one of the first pieces of assistance to finally come through. Thank you to the state and the NCVC for this much-needed shot in the arm. We can’t wait to start booking shows again, supporting our ecosystem, and sharing music with the world from some of Nashville’s most beloved stages!”

“During the global pandemic, the music stopped — for fans, venues and musicians themselves. But Jack is here to help keep the music playing,” said Ed Carias, Jack Daniel’s U.S. brand director. “Music has always been at the heart of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, and we are excited to support talented artists at these iconic venues in Nashville while celebrating the friendship and fun that makes live music so special.”

The shows will not have live audiences due to social distancing and crowd limitation mandates. The concerts will be streamed around the world at musiccitybandwidth.com.

Donations to a relief fund for local venues and musicians can be made at musiccitybandwidth.com, where Music City Bandwidth t-shirts will also be available for purchase with proceeds benefiting these venues.

LiveXLive, a global platform for livestream and on-demand audio, video, and podcast content in music, comedy, and pop culture is holding its inaugural awards show, The Lockdown Awards, on Oct. 23.

Nominations will come from industry executives, peers and superfans plus LiveXLive subscribers who will be voting on winners in various categories: Best Virtual Festival, Best Show Shot with an iPhone, Best Use of Technology/Zoom, Favorite Remote Duet, Biggest Star Who Got It Right, The John Legend Award for Being Ubiquitous During a Pandemic and more.

The first-of-its-kind awards show honoring the best of content during the time of the COVID-19 streaming and at-home entertainment content consumer boom will be produced and distributed in-house by LiveXLive. The Lockdown Awards will include a virtual red carpet pre-show with celebrity appearances with social distancing guidelines and of course fashion and VIP digital meet and greets with nominees and winners.

Hosts, guest appearances and performances are set to be announced in the coming weeks. Airing from Los Angeles and New York, The Lockdown Awards will pay tribute to artists and independent venues across the country who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and where many of the performances will be hosted.

“We are living in the most unique of times,” stated LiveXLive’s CEO and Chairman, Robert Ellin. “The establishment of LiveXLive’s Lockdown Awards is rooted in our cultural ethos to provide fans and artists opportunities to perform and provide content to fans in significant ways. This event is honoring those artists who have brought energy, joy and fun to fans around the world. Our team at LiveXLive believes that acknowledging the best of performance and production value is a tribute to those who have innovated, and revolutionized the live-touring model during this unprecedented and historic time.”

Bipartisan Congressional support has continued to grow for the Save Our Stages Act (S. 4258, H.R. 7481) since it was introduced in July. To date, 144 U.S. Senators and Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation, which is aimed at providing relief to independent live venues, promoters and festivals across the nation that have been shuttered with no revenue and high overhead since March with no timeline for reopening.

When asked if the shutdown were to last six months or longer with no meaningful federal assistance, 90% of The National Independent Venue Association members said they would be forced to fold forever.

Introduced in the Senate by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and in the House by Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT) and Roger Williams (R-TX-25), the Save Our Stages Act provides vital support for independent live music venues that have lost nearly 100% of their revenue since the pandemic began in March, yet have enormous fixed overhead with rent/mortgages, insurance, taxes and utilities still due.

“Our members expected resolution in July and have held out past their breaking points borrowing or scraping together anything they could until Congress makes a decision, but there is no further to go,” Dayna Frank, president of NIVA and CEO of First Avenue Productions in Minneapolis. “Businesses will be closed, and homes will be lost if Congress doesn’t take immediate action. We need action now.”

In June, more than 600 artists, including Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Mavis Staples, Lady Gaga, André 3000, Coldplay, Willie Nelson, Jerry Seinfeld and Billie Ellish sent a letter to Congress advocating on behalf of NIVA.

“Independent live music and entertainment venues help bring together and entertain Americans across the country,” said Rep. Peter Welch. “Any music fan or performer knows that a livestream is just not the same as a live concert. Unfortunately, the PPP and other federal aid programs simply do not work for live music venues that cannot reopen until we stop virus transmission. I am pleased that more than 100 members across the political spectrum recognize the importance of these venues, and have cosponsored this bill to make sure venues get the support they need to survive the pandemic so they are ready to host all of us at a show in the future.”

Southerland

Matt Chase and Chris Rogers of the country duo Southerland have signed a worldwide publishing deal with Reservoir.

The deal includes rights to the duo’s entire catalog, including their new single/major label debut “Thing Is,” out now via River House Artists/Sony Music Nashville, plus future works.

Nashville-based Chase and Rogers originally met in 2016, after being paired through friends for a writing session, and spent the next few years playing college towns and dive bars before officially forming as Southerland in 2019. They have shared stages with Luke Combs, Lauren Alaina, Eli Young Band, Brantley Gilbert, Montgomery Gentry, Darius Rucker, Morgan Wallen, and more.

Now signed with River House Artists/Sony Music Nashville, Southerland are releasing their debut single “Thing Is,” which was co-written by Chase, Rogers and their frequent collaborator Greg Bates, and was produced by Trent Willmon. The duo is currently in the studio and plan to release more music later this year.

“Southerland is a breath of fresh air for country music,” said Reservoir EVP of Creative, John Ozier. “Honest, lyrical integrity coupled with their country roots and harmonies remind me of ‘90s country—when country music was really gold. I think country fans from all generations are going to love them. There is a little Brooks & Dunn, a little Luke Combs, and a lot of hits in their future and we’re proud to be their publisher.”

“We are so happy to join this amazing company! Not only because they are visionaries in their field, but they are true ‘song people’ who allow us to create the music that we want and guide us to not only better ourselves as songwriters, but as storytellers,” said Southerland. “We are so excited for the future with Reservoir on our team!”