TV series The Song, led by Marc Oswald, Trey Fanjoy and Cary Glotzer, is set to premier the week of Jan. 4, 2020. The multi-genre music, entertainment and lifestyle show reveals the stories behind some of the biggest rock, pop, country, triple A, R&B and hip hop songs.

Oswald will serve as executive producer alongside Tupelo Raycom CEO/Founder Glotzer, while film/video/commercial director Fanjoy will direct the new series. The Song will be presented by Ally and Nashville Music City and distributed by Gray Television, which owns and operates network affiliated stations in 93 US television markets.

“At the heart of Nashville is our songwriter community,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “To showcase the songs and songwriters, alongside the artists, is like a peek under the hood of the music that drives our lives—and Nashville gets to be the car.”

Season one, slated to begin recording in October, will consist of nine 30-minute episodes plus a one-hour “Best of The Song” finale. Each episode will be centered around a specific hit song. The songwriter or songwriters will talk in-depth about their journey, the inspiration for the song, how it evolved, and how the song eventually changed their lives forever. The artist who recorded the song will discuss what that same song means to them, what they thought when they first heard it and the impact it made on his/her life and career. Each episode will include three song performances from the songwriter and artist’s catalogs including the featured selection. Additional special guest artists chosen by the songwriter and artist may be woven in to various episodes.

The series will be filmed at TGL Farms in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and co-hosted by Krista Marie and Damien Horne. Following each conversation the writer and artist will take the stage at TGL Farms for a concert in front of a small live audience of approximately 75. The series has established partnerships with the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Belmont University to provide scholarship and internship opportunities for their programs.

“We’ve been lucky enough to spend our entire careers making a living in the music and TV business, and we (all of us, actually) owe every ounce of our success to the creative stories and melodies contained in the songs we love so much,” said Oswald.

Glotzer continued, “This project carries with it the responsibility to shine the brightest light possible on some of the greatest songwriters, artists and songs in American pop culture.”

“I think music fans need a show like The Song,” said Fanjoy. “It’s a fresh, in-depth look into the inspiration and magic behind some of their most beloved hit records. I’m extremely excited to be collaborating with such incredible talent on this series. We have a shared goal to celebrate the musical genius at the core of these hit songs and elevate them with unforgettable performances. I know this series is going to be truly special.”

On Tuesday (July 9) BMI and Pinnacle Bank welcomed Nashville’s newest hitmakers for an evening of networking in BMI’s Nashville office. The first of three installations in BMI’s Next Big Wave series, attendees of 2019’s first session were BMI country and pop songwriters looking to secure their first publishing deal. The evening provided a unique opportunity for the budding creatives to connect with other writers at similar points in their careers.

Designed to forge personal relationships, foster professional connections and inspire growth and creativity within promising careers, each event in the series is specifically tailored to a different group of new arrivals. With three evenings dedicated respectively to songwriters without publishing deals, new music industry hires and songwriters who have recently secured their first publishing deal, attendees have the opportunity to mix and mingle with their peers.

BMI’s Creative team is on-hand for a unique opportunity to network and educate attendees about BMI’s role in their individual careers. The series allows Nashville’s rising talent to create lasting relationships with BMI and beyond for a stronger Music Row community.

Middle Tennessee State University has announced that a newly renovated live entertainment venue on the MTSU campus will be named the Chris Young Café to honor the multi-Platinum entertainer’s continued support of his alma mater.

The newly named Chris Young Café, located in a standalone dining building and surrounded by residence halls, will be a teaching and practice space for student performers and technicians during the day and a performance venue at night for music, radio broadcasts, comedy and other entertainment. At a celebratory event on Tuesday (July 9), MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee thankedYoung for lending his name for the venue—and for giving $50,000 for renovations.

“The Chris Young Café will encourage our students to dream bigger,” McPhee said. “Chris studied at MTSU and then launched a successful music industry career, so every time they see his name on the café, their aspirations will seem a little more obtainable if they follow in his footsteps and work as hard as he has.”

Young, who attended MTSU in 2005, is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and has earned 2 billion on-demand streams, 12 million singles sold and 11 career No. 1 singles. He has two Grammy nominations, as well as award nods from the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards.

A global ambassador for country music, Young has maintained his ties to the Murfreesboro campus, funding an annual scholarship for recording industry students beginning in 2016 and donating a selection of his touring audio equipment in 2012.

“MTSU will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Young. “It helped me launch my music career and I’m glad for the opportunity to give back to the University.

“I’ve been in that building before when I was still on campus,” Young said with a smile. “The fact that it’s going to turn into an incredible space for students to learn and perform, I am jealous that that is going to exist and I’m also very honored to be a small part of it.”

Located in the Woodmore Building and formerly known as the Cyber Café, the facility has 3,200 square feet of community and dining space with two raised platform stages. The College of Media and Entertainment assumed management of the performance space last year, when faculty from the Department of Recording Industry began work to ready the café for shows.

Media and Entertainment Dean Ken Paulson said the college was “grateful to Chris for giving our students this hands-on opportunity to learn.

“When you’re teaching students how to manage, book and promote a concert hall, club or theater, having a working venue on campus is invaluable,” Paulson said.

Recording Industry Chair Beverly Keel said Young’s support “means so much to the university, faculty and students.

“His generosity will allow our students to gain real-world, hands-on experience in performing and live sound,” Keel said. “He is a wonderful role model for our students, not only because of his success, but because of his desire to continually give back and help others.”

In a conversation after the announcement, Keel and Young talked about his time at MTSU, and the potential of the Chris Young Café.

“The Chris Young Café means that our audio production students will get live sound experience, the students that want to be songwriters and artists will get performance experience, our music business students will get experience in booking and promoting shows and then also, it’s going to have that sense of community where everyone can come together in support. What would that have meant to you if you had had that during your day?” Keel asked.

“I mean, we did have a lot of that,” Young replied. “That’s what’s really cool about MTSU. [The Chris Young Café] is really focusing it and giving it a place to exist. It always existed in one form or another. We were always going to somebody, saying ‘Hey, I’ve got to play a show, do you know anyone that can run sound? Do you know anybody that’s an audio engineer?’ So a lot of those things already existed, this will hopefully just help students grow exponentially faster at whatever their craft is.”

“A lot of what was impressed upon me [at MTSU] is to know as much as you can about everything that’s involved in your career, because it’s never going to hurt. Just try everything out. By that I mean, even if it’s not going to be your focus, get a chance to see all facets of your career. Go ask somebody what they have to do to run lighting at a show, go ask somebody what they have to do to run front of house, if you’re a stage manager, what do you do, or a set carpenter. There’s so many different facets of a career.”

When asked about Young’s advice for current students, he said: “No matter what you want to do, not only should you work as hard as you can but also just understand as many of the facets of your industry as possible because you never know when that’s going to come in handy. Just knowing as much as possible about what you’re going into.”