Blanco Brown’s infectious viral hit “The Git Up” has music lovers across the globe getting down to what he calls “TrailerTrap,” a country-rap hybrid of 808s, guitar, some lap steel, snares, and lyrics that touch on both his rural and urban upbringing—not to mention Brown’s customized line dance for “The Git Up” that spurred #thegitupchallenge. The track follows in the wake of the recent red-hot explosion of the country trap microgenre, as evidenced by Lil Nas X’s 12-week reign atop the Billboard Top 100, with the 3x Platinum-selling “Old Town Road,” as well as its remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
Brown’s “The Git Up” is notching some impressive chart distinctions of its own. “The Git Up” has topped Spotify’s global and domestic Viral 50 chart for the past couple of weeks, and crowning Spotify charts in countries including Australia, France, and Germany along the way. The song is the most-streamed, on-demand country track this week, with 13.5 million streams, and has generated more than one million video clips on social media platform TikTok. Brown welcomed fellow BBR Music Group/BMG labelmate Lainey Wilson for an official dance tutorial video #thegitupchallenge, which has more than 4 million views on YouTube.
“When you have a true hit record, like this is, you’re trying not to get in the way of it,” BBR Music Group Exec. VP Jon Loba. “This is one is one of those once in a lifetime records. It is connecting across every demo. There is young, old, country, urban, black, white, international, domestic. There are absolutely zero barriers to this, which is the perfect opening for Blanco because, from the moment I met him, he made it clear he wants his music to have a unifying purpose.”
This week, track was released to country radio, with an official country radio tour happening in July, bolstered by early support from heavy hitters in the country radio community.
“The song was extremely catchy and fun and the man’s lyrics were totally country. Unique is an understatement!” Cumulus’ NASH Director of Programming John Shomby recalls of first hearing the track.
Prior to signing with BBR Music Group last year, Brown had already earned a Grammy nomination for his work with Childish Gambino, provided vocals on Fergie’s Double Dutchess album, wrote for R&B singer Monica, and did background vocals and arrangements on of Kane Brown’s early demos and EPs.
Blanco was raised in Atlanta, but spent his summers in Butler, Georgia (the town counted a population of 1,972 residents in 2010), and grew up soaking in both urban and country sounds. His recently released, four-song EP deftly blends the nuanced, detailed storytelling of country music with dance-ready beats as he traces his childhood in “Ghett Ol’ Memories,” and weathers heartbreak on “Georgia Power.”
MusicRow recently spoke with Brown and BBR Music Group’s Jon Loba about the viral success of “The Git Up,” and the stories behind the music on Brown’s new EP.
MusicRow: With this song exploding as quickly as it has around the world, how has that changed or impacted the marketing plan you had in place from the beginning?
Loba: I honestly felt like we had to build a domestic story before we could really engage the other territories. But with this success, we haven’t had to wait for that build. Instead of doing domestic US and then the world, everything is happening together. Also, usually you would build a story or a brand in the country space, and if it had a chance to work in other genres, then you take that story to the other genres. With this record, those other genres are already coming to us. They’re already jumping on board. But Blanco’s intention has always been to live in the country music space.
With country radio, I really wanted to build a story and have radio coming to us saying, “What is this? Tell us more about it.” And then we would develop a radio plan. That’s exactly what has happened—it’s just happened at an enormously accelerated pace. The discussions we are having now with radio I thought they would happen in September or October, and that we’d go for for airplay on a Blanco single the top of next year, but we have been overwhelmed by the connection to this song.
MR: How did you discover each other?
Loba: I happened to be in LA for some meetings and Zach Katz was running [BMG] North America at the time. He and I were sitting in his office and he said, “Hey, a lawyer friend is coming in and he’s probably bringing in an urban act, so you are welcome to stay, but if you have any other work you need to get done, don’t feel like so have to stay,” so I bounced out of his office to make a couple calls. Ten minutes later I got a text from him that said, “Get in here immediately.” I walked in and Blanco started playing. I was just completely blown away. And I thought immediately what he is doing is not just genre-bending, but genre-defining.
I said, “You can clearly do any kind of music you want, but where do you want to live?” and he said, “I want to be a country artist first.” And if you go back, there’s a YouTube video from 2006 where he’s being interviewed and they ask him about making his own music. Even then, he says he’d mix country and trap music.
MR: Blanco, how did you first realize music was something you had a talent for?
Brown: My whole family sang and played music. My dad put a guitar in my hand at age five, because he played guitar and I guess he wanted me to play. I remember growing up, listening to Tim McGraw, and Johnny Cash. My uncle wrote like little country songs and my dad would play on the guitar. But at the same time I was listening to Outkast and people like that in the hood. So I always had both sides of the genres stuck in my head.
Really, my influences just came from being in the hood around the rap music and then in the country around the country music and then bringing country music back to the hood. My auntie lived with us and we all stayed in a two-bedroom apartment—there were like 12 of us. Brick walls and even the floors were like concrete. If you had to drill a nail in the wall, you were drilling into the brick. So growing up like that influenced my music.
MR: What were some of the early venues you played?
Brown: Me and my brothers, we were in a R&B group called Times 3 and we would play clubs that we weren’t supposed to be in, like Club 3 in Atlanta. We would come home, do homework, practice, then go do shows. People would always be like, “How are you playing these clubs?”
MR: When did you start incorporating elements of country music into your art?
Brown: I started infusing country music with it in like 2008. My friends would laugh, like, “Man, you black, you can’t love country music.” I was like, “I mean look at Darius Rucker,” and they were like, “Man he tricked everybody, he was with Hootie and the Blowfish.” I was like, “You might have a point but I’m still going to play country music.” Around 2011, I started mixing it with 808s and then starting calling it Trailer Trap.
MR: What was the process for building “The Git Up”?
Brown: I started with a lap steel, but then I played it for the first time. I made a dope couple of riffs and I picked out the riff that stood out to me most. Then I looped it and added a beat box, 808s, snares, high hats and stuff. And then after I added that, I was like, “Man, this right here so fun, it brings me so much joy.” I decided to write my dance onto that. I said, “I can write a song to this, but why not give people something to smile and have joy to, just like it’s bringing to me?”
MR: What was your reaction to the success of “Old Town Road,” and did its success affect the promotional plan for “The Git Up”?
Loba: I thought we would probably have to fight to get [“The Git Up”] through gatekeepers and I thought we would find a specialized audience. Then, I was in the Berlin airport getting ready to fly to London for C2C and I saw the Lil Nas X record popping up everywhere on Spotify and Apple. And I was like, ‘What is this?’ When I heard it, I got so insanely excited. It was the first realization to me that we were right, there is a huge consumer demand for this.
We had always planned to release his debut EP the week before CMA fest. But when he brought us “The Git Up,” he showed us the short video clip of himself doing the dance. We wanted to move fast, so we put that up. We knew it was going to take a couple of weeks to get it up on all the DSPs so we uploaded it directly to SoundCloud. Then it started getting picked up by creators on TikTok and Triller and Instagram and it exploded from there. I think it’s important to note that all our friends at the streaming services recognized as well that “The Git Up” would probably be a phenomenon and that it would do that on its own. So when we released the EP, the streaming services have not focused on “The Git Up.” They wanted to focus on the EP and let “The Git Up” do its own thing.
MR: When did you realize the international potential for this song?
Loba: I realized that there were absolutely zero barriers to this song was when our French office said, “Hey, we want to take this to radio.” Because France is, traditionally, such a domestically-focused market. They don’t have a lot of incoming international repertoire and when Shazam started exploding in that country and our team said, “Hey, we want to go chase this.” That sort of proved to me that this is a completely borderless, limitless song.
MR: This song has been serviced to country radio and a radio tour is happening soon. Given the success of this song on streaming platforms, why is it so important to make a concerted effort at country radio?
Loba: With Blanco, I knew from that first meeting that he wanted to be deep in that country community. Say whatever you want, you can’t say this song isn’t country. And you have behind that song a man whose actions will show our country radio family that he intends to be there. When you look at icons in our format, they usually came from the fringes. I remember with Jason Aldean, in those early days JoJamie Hahr and everyone were tearing out their hair because people were saying, “That’s not country. That’s rock ‘n’ roll.” And now Jason’s one of the biggest mainstays in country music and changed the genre along the way. It’s bold to say something like this about this so early, but I know Blanco Brown and I know his heart. I know given the opportunity he’ll be in the genre as long as he wants, and as long as the genre wants him.
Taylor Swift Calls Scooter Braun’s Acquisition Of Her BMLG Masters “My Worst Case Scenario”
/by Jessica NicholsonTaylor Swift Lover album cover
Taylor Swift has spoken out against today’s announcement that Scooter Braun has acquired the Nashville label where Swift’s music career started, Scott Borchetta‘s Big Machine Label Group. The acquisition included Swift’s back catalog of album masters through 2017’s reputation project.
In November, it was announced that Swift had left her longtime label home at Big Machine, and had signed with Universal Music Group. Her first album for Universal, Lover, releases Aug. 23.
In a lengthy Tumblr post, Swift revealed she had “pleaded for the chance to own my own work,” calling the sale of Big Machine to Braun’s Ithaca Holdings “my worst case scenario.”
She also takes aim at Big Machine’s Borchetta and Braun, saying, “This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.
“When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”
Big Machine Records has not responded to a request for comment.
Read the full note from Swift below:
BREAKING: Artist Manager Scooter Braun Reaches Deal To Acquire Big Machine Label Group
/by Sherod RobertsonScott Borchetta, Scooter Braun.
Ithaca Holdings LLC., a media holding company led by SB Projects founder Scooter Braun, and Big Machine Label Group, a leading independent record label founded by Scott Borchetta, announced today a finalized contract under which Ithaca Holdings will acquire Big Machine Label Group. The combination creates one of the most powerful label, management, streaming, publishing and media companies by combining complimentary services, artists, executives and expertise.
The acquisition encompasses all aspects of BMLG’s business, including its client roster, distribution deals, publishing sides and owned artist masters. The masters from Taylor Swift’s albums with BMLG are included in the acquisition portfolio.
Borchetta will join the Ithaca board, acquire a minority interest in Ithaca and remain President and CEO of BMLG. BMLG will continue normal operations out of Nashville.
The Carlyle Group, which initially invested in Ithaca in 2017, is supporting the transaction, alongside Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings, through an additional equity investment by way of its Carlyle Partners VI fund. Carlyle will remain a minority shareholder in Ithaca and continue to support the combined company’s growth strategy with Jay Sammons, Head of Carlyle’s Global Consumer, Media and Retail team, remaining on Ithaca’s Board.
“The idea of Scott and I working together is nothing new, we’ve been talking about it since the beginning of our friendship,” said Braun. “I reached out to him when I saw an opportunity and, after many conversations, realized our visions were aligned. He’s built a brilliant company full of iconic songs and artists. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? By joining together, we will create more opportunities for artists than ever before, by giving them the support and tools to go after whatever dreams they wish to pursue.”
“Scooter and I have been aligned with ‘big vision brings big results’ from the very first time we met in 2010,” said Borchetta. “Since then I have watched him build an incredible and diverse company that is a perfect complement to the Big Machine Label Group. Our artist-first spirit and combined roster of talent, executives, and assets is now a global force to be reckoned with. This is a very special day and the beginning of what is sure to be a fantastic partnership and historic run.”
Ithaca’s recent transactions include the launch of Mythos Studios in partnership with Marvel Founding Chairman David Maisel, the acquisition of Atlas Publishing and partnerships with Jason Owen’s Sandbox Entertainment as well as Morris Higham Management. Ithaca also has a long-standing investment in and partnership with Aubrey “Drake” Graham and Adel “Future” Nur. In 2019, Ithaca launched Raised in Space, an investment fund focused on the intersection of music and technology led by former BMG President Zach Katz. In addition, Ithaca houses Braun’s SB Projects, which services some of the biggest pop-culture icons in the world, including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, J. Balvin, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Zac Brown Band, Dan + Shay and many more.
Founded in 2005 by President and CEO Scott Borchetta, BMLG is home to Taylor Swift’s music catalogue and superstar artists such as Reba Mcentire, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts, and Lady Antebellum. The label group encompasses four imprints including Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., BMLG Records and Big Machine/John Varvatos Records. In 2012, BMLG launched publishing company Big Machine Music which today publishes hit songwriters such as Luke Combs, Jonathan Singleton, Brandy Clark and Laura Veltz.
BMLG signed Taylor Swift at the beginning of her career and helped develop her into a global superstar. The label released all six of Swift’s multi-platinum studio albums including Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and reputation. Under Big Machine, Swift earned 10 GRAMMY® nominations and broke records by becoming the only artist in Nielsen Music history to achieve four million-selling weeks.
In its 14 years of existence, BMLG companies have amassed over 118 No. 1 songs and sold over 65 million albums worldwide. Six of the top 10 digital Country songs of all time have all been released by BMLG or by BMLG artists including Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” as well as their collaboration with Bebe Rexha titled “Meant To Be”; Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now”; Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me”; and The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.”
Industry Pics: Abby Anderson, Eddie Montgomery, Lorrie Morgan, NSAI
/by Haley CrowAcademy of Country Music Welcomes Abby Anderson to LA Office
Abby Anderson at ACM Office in Encino, California on Friday May 10, 2019. Photo: Michel Bourquard/Courtesy of the Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music welcomed Black River Entertainment recording artist Abby Anderson to the office while she was in Los Angeles recently. While at the Academy, Anderson performed her current single, “Good Lord,” and songs from her most recent EP, I’m Good.
Click here to watch a video from Anderson’s visit featuring an exclusive interview and clips from her performance.
Grand Ole Opry Celebrates Eddie Montgomery, Lorrie Morgan Anniversaries
Pictured (L-R): Angie Gentry, Eddie Montgomery, Jennifer Montgomery; Lorrie Morgan. Photo: Chris Hollo/Courtesy Grand Ole Opry LLC
The Grand Ole Opry recently celebrated Opry membership anniversaries with Lorrie Morgan and Eddie Montgomery (Montgomery Gentry).
Montgomery commemorated the 10th anniversary of Opry membership for Montgomery Gentry, inducted on June 23, 2009. He shared the evening with friends and family including his wife Jennifer and Troy Gentry’s wife Angie.
Earlier this month, Morgan celebrated her 35th anniversary as an Opry member.
NSAI On The Hill
Pictured (L-R): Lacy Green, Congresswoman Martha Roby (AL-02), Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), Jamie Floyd, and Chris Housman. Photo: Courtesy NSAI
Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22) and Congresswoman Martha Roby (AL-02) relaunched the bipartisan Songwriters Caucus in the 116th Congress on Tuesday (June 25). The caucus will serve as a forum for Congress to engage with America’s songwriters and explore policy issues that affect their often-unrecognized contribution to the music industry.
Bart Herbison, Jennifer Turnbow, and songwriters Lacy Green, Jamie Floyd, and Chris Housman are currently in D.C. visiting several members of Congress, including a visit with Congressman Deutch.
Promotions, Exits At Warner Music Nashville Radio & Streaming Dept.
/by Jessica NicholsonWarner Music Nashville has promoted three members of its Radio & Streaming department, and announces two exits.
Current WAR Team Northeast / Midwest Manager Anna Cage will join the WMN Team as their National Director, overseeing artists including Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Cale Dodds, Cody Johnson, Cole Swindell and Hunter Hayes. Reporting to VP Radio & Streaming, Tom Martens, the role has been held by Katie Bright who is leaving the company after seven years.
“We’re looking forward to Anna’s long-awaited return to Nashville, where her reputation as a fearless advocate for artists precedes her,” said Martens. “She has the enthusiasm and experience to make this role her own and take the team to new heights as Katie did.”
Heather Propper, who has been supporting the WAR Team since April, will make her move to the company permanently as she takes on Cage’s Northeast / Midwest Manager role and will continue reporting to WAR National Director James Marsh. In addition, Justin Newell will be stepping into the role of Team WMN’s West Coast Manager. This role is currently held by Warner Music Nashville staple Rick Young, who plans to officially take his leave in September after nearly 20 years with the company.
“It has always been very important to us at Warner Music Nashville to foster and develop talent so that we have a strong team of leaders ready to guide us forward,” said SVP Radio & Streaming, Kristen Williams. “I am so pleased that we are continuing to champion that mission with Justin’s promotion and officially adding Heather to the team. They each have an amazing drive and passion for our artists and I know that their transitions into these regions will be absolutely seamless.”
“Katie and Rick have been incredible assets for Team WMN,” added Williams. “We are so grateful to have had them both fighting for our artists day in and day out. With her fierce personality, Katie was the driving force behind nearly a dozen No. 1 singles for Blake Shelton and helped elevate artists like Brett Eldredge and Cole Swindell to multiple chart-toppers. Rick’s unmatched dogged mindset likes chasing airplay but he’s ready to be done chasing airplanes. After nearly three decades on the road, 14 of those with WMN, he deserves a break! We know they are both armed and ready for the next adventure and we are excited to champion them every step of the way.”
Luke Combs’ Grand Ole Opry Induction Slated For July 16
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured: John Conlee, Chris Janson, and Craig Morgan invite Luke Combs to be the next member of the Grand Ole Opry. Photo: Chris Hollo/Grand Ole Opry
Luke Combs will be officially inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday, July 16. The CMA and ACM Award-winning artist made his Opry debut less than three years ago and was surprised with the Opry invitation on June 11 by Opry members John Conlee, Chris Janson and Craig Morgan.
Among the Opry members scheduled for the July 16 show are the Opry’s newest member, Kelsea Ballerini, Joe Diffie, The Gatlin Brothers, Vince Gill, Janson, Del McCoury Band, Morgan, and Mark Wills. Tickets are on sale now at opry.com.
Tree Vibez Music Promotes Two
/by Jessica NicholsonEmily Peacock, Adam Romaine
Tree Vibez Music, founded by hitmaking country duo Florida Georgia Line, has promoted two staffers, with Emily Peacock and Adam Romaine rising to new roles. Peacock has been named Creative Director, while Romaine’s role has been expanded to Creative Director/Tour Manager.
Peacock is an Indiana native with eight years of music business experience, including previous stops working for Bob DiPiero, Tom-Leis Music, and Advanced Alternative Media (AAM).
Since the company’s founding, Romaine has worked as manager of the Tree Vibez Music Bus. This mobile studio, which allows artists and writers to work together on the road, has now hosted over 100 of the industry’s top songwriters, and visited more than 200 cities on tour.
“Anyone who books a TVM writing session is aware of Emily’s superior attention to detail,” says TVM General Manager Leslie T. DiPiero. “She has an enviable work ethic and insatiable love of country music songs. Her dedication to our team and writing roster is invaluable.”
TVM founders and FGL members Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley add, “Emily has been a light of positivity since the day she walked through the doors of Tree Vibez,” shares Kelley. “We are so thankful to have her on our team.” Hubbard adds, “Her excitement for life and music inspires the whole building and her ability to build everyone up is so admirable. She continues to motivate every writer on the roster to be the best version of themselves. We love you Em and are so thankful for you.”
“Adam has been a huge asset to TVM and brings such a special gift to the family,” note Hubbard and Kelley. “Adam loves to invest in all the writers’ lives and has a way of bringing out the best in people,” shares Kelley. Hubbard adds, “It takes a special person to manage the TVM Bus and be on the road every weekend connecting the writers and artists and creating opportunities for everyone to flourish. Adam does that so well. We are so thankful to have him on our team.”
DiPiero says, “Adam’s passion for songwriters fuels the TVM Bus every week and his natural instincts for writer combinations is one of our secret weapons. The added bonus is everyone wants to hang and create with ‘Romie’ since he is one of the best guys you will ever meet.”
The Tree Vibez roster includes Corey Crowder, James McNair, RaeLynn, Daniel Ross, Jordan Schmidt, Canaan Smith, Jared Mullins, and Ernest. The company has earned nine No. 1 hits, 26 singles, and 140 releases to date.
Opry Entertainment Group Honored With Nine 2019 Telly Awards
/by Lorie HollabaughCurrent Opry NextStage Class member Tenille Townes. Photo Credit: Danielle Piazza
The Opry Entertainment Group has won nine Telly awards in three categories for their unique, online content series. Winners included Opry Debut segments on Travis Denning, Tenille Townes, and Abby Anderson and a documentary segment on Ashley Campbell.
Within Opry Entertainment Group, the digital content team is made up of seasoned filmmakers who actively produce innovative, creative web content covering lifestyle, food, cocktails, music and more across the social channels of their iconic entertainment brands including the Grand Ole Opry, Ole Red, Ryman Auditorium and 650 AM WSM. All of the content is published on YouTube, where together, the channels exceed half a million subscribers and over 225 million views.
“These honors spotlight our commitment to producing superior quality content featuring unique approaches to artist-centered storytelling,” said Scott Bailey, Opry Entertainment Group president. “We are thrilled that the Opry Entertainment video production team was recognized for their exceptional work, which offers a unique look at the Opry, Ryman, and the city of Nashville and allows fans to deepen their connection with the artists they love.”
Telly Award wins included:
GOLD
“Better Half – Christina Ballard – Designer of Old Smokeys Boots” (Documentary: Individual)
“Family Tradition – Ashley Campbell Follows in Her Late Father’s Footsteps” (Documentary: Individual)
SILVER
“Why Not Me – The Sonny Melton Story” (Documentary: Individual)
“My Opry Debut – Travis Denning” (Documentary: Individual)
“My Opry Debut – Tenille Townes” (Documentary: Individual)
“My Opry Debut – Abby Anderson” (Documentary: Individual)
BRONZE
“Backstage at the Ryman – Tori Kelly” (Editing)
“Backstage at the Ryman – Tori Kelly” (Live Events)
“Opry NextStage – Tegan Marie – In the Making” (Documentary: Individual)
Founded in 1979, the mission of The Telly Awards is to honor excellence in video, across all screens. It first began with local, regional and cable television commercials, with non-broadcast video and television programming added soon after. Today, the Telly Awards recognize a new era of digital content as well, including web series, VR, 360 and beyond.
MusicRow Pics: 31st Annual MusicRow Awards
/by Haley CrowPictured (L-R): MusicRow Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Alecia Davis. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
The 31st annual MusicRow Awards were celebrated Wednesday night (June 26) during an all-new, expanded ceremony in Nashville.
Held at the War Memorial Auditorium, the gala attracted top music industry executives and talent to reveal winners in an expanded 11 category lineup, including attendees Tenille Townes, Dann Huff, Jeremy Bussey (“Girl Goin’ Nowhere”), CAA, and UMG Nashville. Also presented at the 2019 MusicRow Awards were the Top 10 Album All-Star Awards, recognizing session musicians achieving the most marks on albums that charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s albums sales chart throughout the prior year. See full winner list here.
MusicRow Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson co-hosted with respected television host, entertainment journalist, writer and producer, Alecia Davis. During the ceremony, a surprise appearance was made by national television personality Kathie Lee Gifford.
Supporting Sponsors for the 2019 MusicRow Awards were CAA; Keller, Turner, Andrews, Ghanem, PLLC; Vaden Group|Elliott Davis. Partners for the 2019 MusicRow Awards were City National Bank and RAM.
For a full recap, read Robert K. Oermann’s writeup here.
Pictured (L-R): MusicRow‘s Lorie Hollabaugh, Jessica Nicholson, Haley Crow, Sherod Robertson, Alex Kobrick, Eric Parker and LB Rogers. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured: 2019 Talent Agency of the Year winners CAA. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured: Capitol Records Nashville’s Caylee Hammack. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow.
Pictured (L-R): Morgan Clark and David Ross. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): Ellen May, Kristin Cantrell, and Becky Harris. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): SESAC’s Amanda Terranova, Zach Green, Edie Emery, Tim Fink, and Jenna Smith. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): Bob and Leslie DiPiero. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow.
Pictured (left): Big Loud Records/Tree Vibez Music artist HARDY. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured: Sea Gayle Records artist CJ Solar. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): Blain Rhodes, Tom Luteran, Josh Van Valkenburg, Josh Tomlinson, and Katie Kerkhover. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): Craig Campbell, guest, and James Elliott. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured: Songwriter Tofer Brown. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured: Nashville School of the Arts Trey Jacobs and guests. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Pictured (L-R): Jamie Bruno (Being Bob Music/Tom-Leis Music), Bob DiPiero (BMI Icon/Hall of Fame Songwriter), Leslie T. DiPiero (Tree Vibez Music), Emily Peacock (Tree Vibez Music), and Jason Gantt (2019 Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year Nominee). Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
DJ Moose. Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Photo: Steve Lowry for MusicRow
Warner Chappell Music Extends Deal With Songwriter Caroline Watkins
/by Jessica NicholsonWarner Chappell Music (WCM) has extended a worldwide publishing deal with Nashville native and singer/songwriter, Caroline Watkins. She is currently touring and will open for country superstar Brett Eldredge in Massachusetts on Aug. 9-10.
By the age of 16, Watkins landed her own round at the Bluebird Café and before graduating high school, signed her first deal with WCM. She was recently selected as the second-ever recipient of Miranda Lambert’s “Women Creators” scholarship at Belmont University, where she studied music and business. Just last year, her music made its silver screen debut in the romantic drama, Forever My Girl, starring Alex Roe, Jessica Rother, and John Benjamin Hickey.
Watkins is currently writing and recording for her first EP.
Blanco Brown, BBR’s Jon Loba On Launching “The Git Up” And Bringing “TrailerTrap” To Country Radio [Interview]
/by Jessica NicholsonBlanco Brown’s infectious viral hit “The Git Up” has music lovers across the globe getting down to what he calls “TrailerTrap,” a country-rap hybrid of 808s, guitar, some lap steel, snares, and lyrics that touch on both his rural and urban upbringing—not to mention Brown’s customized line dance for “The Git Up” that spurred #thegitupchallenge. The track follows in the wake of the recent red-hot explosion of the country trap microgenre, as evidenced by Lil Nas X’s 12-week reign atop the Billboard Top 100, with the 3x Platinum-selling “Old Town Road,” as well as its remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
Brown’s “The Git Up” is notching some impressive chart distinctions of its own. “The Git Up” has topped Spotify’s global and domestic Viral 50 chart for the past couple of weeks, and crowning Spotify charts in countries including Australia, France, and Germany along the way. The song is the most-streamed, on-demand country track this week, with 13.5 million streams, and has generated more than one million video clips on social media platform TikTok. Brown welcomed fellow BBR Music Group/BMG labelmate Lainey Wilson for an official dance tutorial video #thegitupchallenge, which has more than 4 million views on YouTube.
“When you have a true hit record, like this is, you’re trying not to get in the way of it,” BBR Music Group Exec. VP Jon Loba. “This is one is one of those once in a lifetime records. It is connecting across every demo. There is young, old, country, urban, black, white, international, domestic. There are absolutely zero barriers to this, which is the perfect opening for Blanco because, from the moment I met him, he made it clear he wants his music to have a unifying purpose.”
This week, track was released to country radio, with an official country radio tour happening in July, bolstered by early support from heavy hitters in the country radio community.
“The song was extremely catchy and fun and the man’s lyrics were totally country. Unique is an understatement!” Cumulus’ NASH Director of Programming John Shomby recalls of first hearing the track.
Prior to signing with BBR Music Group last year, Brown had already earned a Grammy nomination for his work with Childish Gambino, provided vocals on Fergie’s Double Dutchess album, wrote for R&B singer Monica, and did background vocals and arrangements on of Kane Brown’s early demos and EPs.
Blanco was raised in Atlanta, but spent his summers in Butler, Georgia (the town counted a population of 1,972 residents in 2010), and grew up soaking in both urban and country sounds. His recently released, four-song EP deftly blends the nuanced, detailed storytelling of country music with dance-ready beats as he traces his childhood in “Ghett Ol’ Memories,” and weathers heartbreak on “Georgia Power.”
MusicRow recently spoke with Brown and BBR Music Group’s Jon Loba about the viral success of “The Git Up,” and the stories behind the music on Brown’s new EP.
MusicRow: With this song exploding as quickly as it has around the world, how has that changed or impacted the marketing plan you had in place from the beginning?
Loba: I honestly felt like we had to build a domestic story before we could really engage the other territories. But with this success, we haven’t had to wait for that build. Instead of doing domestic US and then the world, everything is happening together. Also, usually you would build a story or a brand in the country space, and if it had a chance to work in other genres, then you take that story to the other genres. With this record, those other genres are already coming to us. They’re already jumping on board. But Blanco’s intention has always been to live in the country music space.
With country radio, I really wanted to build a story and have radio coming to us saying, “What is this? Tell us more about it.” And then we would develop a radio plan. That’s exactly what has happened—it’s just happened at an enormously accelerated pace. The discussions we are having now with radio I thought they would happen in September or October, and that we’d go for for airplay on a Blanco single the top of next year, but we have been overwhelmed by the connection to this song.
MR: How did you discover each other?
Loba: I happened to be in LA for some meetings and Zach Katz was running [BMG] North America at the time. He and I were sitting in his office and he said, “Hey, a lawyer friend is coming in and he’s probably bringing in an urban act, so you are welcome to stay, but if you have any other work you need to get done, don’t feel like so have to stay,” so I bounced out of his office to make a couple calls. Ten minutes later I got a text from him that said, “Get in here immediately.” I walked in and Blanco started playing. I was just completely blown away. And I thought immediately what he is doing is not just genre-bending, but genre-defining.
I said, “You can clearly do any kind of music you want, but where do you want to live?” and he said, “I want to be a country artist first.” And if you go back, there’s a YouTube video from 2006 where he’s being interviewed and they ask him about making his own music. Even then, he says he’d mix country and trap music.
MR: Blanco, how did you first realize music was something you had a talent for?
Brown: My whole family sang and played music. My dad put a guitar in my hand at age five, because he played guitar and I guess he wanted me to play. I remember growing up, listening to Tim McGraw, and Johnny Cash. My uncle wrote like little country songs and my dad would play on the guitar. But at the same time I was listening to Outkast and people like that in the hood. So I always had both sides of the genres stuck in my head.
Really, my influences just came from being in the hood around the rap music and then in the country around the country music and then bringing country music back to the hood. My auntie lived with us and we all stayed in a two-bedroom apartment—there were like 12 of us. Brick walls and even the floors were like concrete. If you had to drill a nail in the wall, you were drilling into the brick. So growing up like that influenced my music.
MR: What were some of the early venues you played?
Brown: Me and my brothers, we were in a R&B group called Times 3 and we would play clubs that we weren’t supposed to be in, like Club 3 in Atlanta. We would come home, do homework, practice, then go do shows. People would always be like, “How are you playing these clubs?”
MR: When did you start incorporating elements of country music into your art?
Brown: I started infusing country music with it in like 2008. My friends would laugh, like, “Man, you black, you can’t love country music.” I was like, “I mean look at Darius Rucker,” and they were like, “Man he tricked everybody, he was with Hootie and the Blowfish.” I was like, “You might have a point but I’m still going to play country music.” Around 2011, I started mixing it with 808s and then starting calling it Trailer Trap.
MR: What was the process for building “The Git Up”?
Brown: I started with a lap steel, but then I played it for the first time. I made a dope couple of riffs and I picked out the riff that stood out to me most. Then I looped it and added a beat box, 808s, snares, high hats and stuff. And then after I added that, I was like, “Man, this right here so fun, it brings me so much joy.” I decided to write my dance onto that. I said, “I can write a song to this, but why not give people something to smile and have joy to, just like it’s bringing to me?”
MR: What was your reaction to the success of “Old Town Road,” and did its success affect the promotional plan for “The Git Up”?
Loba: I thought we would probably have to fight to get [“The Git Up”] through gatekeepers and I thought we would find a specialized audience. Then, I was in the Berlin airport getting ready to fly to London for C2C and I saw the Lil Nas X record popping up everywhere on Spotify and Apple. And I was like, ‘What is this?’ When I heard it, I got so insanely excited. It was the first realization to me that we were right, there is a huge consumer demand for this.
We had always planned to release his debut EP the week before CMA fest. But when he brought us “The Git Up,” he showed us the short video clip of himself doing the dance. We wanted to move fast, so we put that up. We knew it was going to take a couple of weeks to get it up on all the DSPs so we uploaded it directly to SoundCloud. Then it started getting picked up by creators on TikTok and Triller and Instagram and it exploded from there. I think it’s important to note that all our friends at the streaming services recognized as well that “The Git Up” would probably be a phenomenon and that it would do that on its own. So when we released the EP, the streaming services have not focused on “The Git Up.” They wanted to focus on the EP and let “The Git Up” do its own thing.
MR: When did you realize the international potential for this song?
Loba: I realized that there were absolutely zero barriers to this song was when our French office said, “Hey, we want to take this to radio.” Because France is, traditionally, such a domestically-focused market. They don’t have a lot of incoming international repertoire and when Shazam started exploding in that country and our team said, “Hey, we want to go chase this.” That sort of proved to me that this is a completely borderless, limitless song.
MR: This song has been serviced to country radio and a radio tour is happening soon. Given the success of this song on streaming platforms, why is it so important to make a concerted effort at country radio?
Loba: With Blanco, I knew from that first meeting that he wanted to be deep in that country community. Say whatever you want, you can’t say this song isn’t country. And you have behind that song a man whose actions will show our country radio family that he intends to be there. When you look at icons in our format, they usually came from the fringes. I remember with Jason Aldean, in those early days JoJamie Hahr and everyone were tearing out their hair because people were saying, “That’s not country. That’s rock ‘n’ roll.” And now Jason’s one of the biggest mainstays in country music and changed the genre along the way. It’s bold to say something like this about this so early, but I know Blanco Brown and I know his heart. I know given the opportunity he’ll be in the genre as long as he wants, and as long as the genre wants him.