Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer To Release ‘Not Dark Yet’ In August

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Artists and sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer will release their long-awaited collaboration album Not Dark Yet on August 18 via Silver Cross Records/Thirty Tigers.

Recorded in Los Angeles in 2016 with producer Teddy Thompson, the album finds the sisters reinterpreting songs ranging from the Louvin Brothers, Nick Cave, Kurt Cobain, Merle Haggard, Jason Isbell/Amanda Shires and Jessi Colter, among others. They close the album with their own co-written track, “Is It Too Much.”

Collectively, the two have released 24 albums and earned a Grammy as well as an Oscar nomination, but Not Dark Yet marks their first album together.

Not Dark Yet Track Listing

My List – The Killers
Every Time You Leave – The Louvin Brothers
Not Dark Yet – Bob Dylan
I’m Looking For Blue Eyes – Jessi Colter
Lungs – Townes Van Zandt
The Color of a Cloudy Day – Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires
Silver Wings – Merle Haggard
Into My Arms – Nick Cave
Lithium – Kurt Cobain
Is It Too Much – Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer

Eric Church Offers Fans Last Chance At Bridgestone Tickets With Pop-Up Store

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Eric Church will wrap up his wildly successful Holdin’ My Own tour with two sold-out shows at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena May 26-27, and will open his pop-up store in East Nashville over the weekend from 10-6 p.m. each day featuring rare items including Church’s Gibson Hummingbird Dark Signature autographed guitar and custom Jack Daniel’s barrels. The store, located at 218 South 11th Street, will open again June 8-11 at CMA Music Fest during the same hours and will feature exclusive merch like a custom Orion Cooler and vintage tour T-shirts and posters.

Fans hoping to score tickets to the sold-out finale shows at Bridgestone this weekend have one more chance to find them if they visit the Nashville pop-up. By purchasing the store’s exclusive poster they have a chance of finding a pair of hidden tickets to the Friday and Saturday night shows. This year Church will also debut a never-before-seen design of his These Boots by Lucchese cowboy boot line called “The Chattanooga Lucy” during the Bridgestone Arena shows May 26 and 27.

Those wanting to get a virtual peek at the pop-up store items before it officially opens can visit Church’s Facebook page on Thursday, May 25 at 11 a.m. CT to get a tour via Facebook Live. A portion of the proceeds from the pop-up store (now in its third year at CMA Fest) benefits Church’s non-profit organization Chief Cares, which serves over 2.5 million people around the globe. More information on the Chief Cares Fund can be found at ericchurch.com/chiefcares.

 

Industry Pics: Dierks Bentley And Brett Young Celebrate RIAA Honors, Morgan Evans Makes Opry Debut

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Dierks Bentley Celebrates Multiple RIAA Certifications

Kicking off the new leg of his What The Hell tour at the Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, Maryland) on Friday night (May 19), Dierks Bentley was also presented with several RIAA certifications. His album Black was recognized as being gold-certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. Additionally, Bentley’s songs “Somewhere On A Beach” and “Different For Girls” were both recognized for platinum sales, while his latest single, “Black,” was recognized as being gold-certified.

Pictured (L-R): Dierks Bentley and Jonathan Lamy, Executive Vice President, Communications and Marketing, RIAA.

 

Brett Young Earns Two Gold Certification Plaques

Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta and BMLG EVP and BMLG Records President Jimmy Harnen presented Brett Young with his double gold certification plaque today for his first two singles “Sleep Without You” and “In Case You Didn’t Know.” “Sleep Without You” already hit No. 1 on Country radio and “In Case You Didn’t Know” is on its way. Though Young only recently received the gold-certification plaque for “In Case You Didn’t Know,” it was announced today (May 24) that the song has actually earned platinum sales.

Pictured (L-R): Scott Borchetta, Brett Young, Jimmy Harnen

Pictured (L-R): Red Light Management’s Van Haze and Haley McLemore Haze, BMLG’s Scott Borchetta, Brett Young, BMLG’s Jimmy Harnen, Red Light Management’s Enzo DeVincenzo

 

Warner Music Nashville’s Morgan Evans Makes Grand Ole Opry Debut

Warner Music Nashville artist Morgan Evans made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday, May 19.

Pictured (L-R): Dan Rogers, Grand Ole Opry; Nick Hartley, Fitzgerald Hartley; Leslie Fram, SVP, Music Strategy, CMT; Morgan Evans; Justin Luffman, VP Brand Management, WMN

Jamie Floyd Joins Writer’s Den Music Group Roster

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(L-R): Sarah Feldman (Creative Director, Writer’s Den Music Group) Bobby Rymer (Partner/GM, Writer’s Den Music Group) Jamie Floyd, Lydia Schultz (Manager, Creative Services SESAC)

Jamie Floyd has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Writer’s Den Music Group.

Floyd recently co-wrote the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds film Dog Years. She is also a member of the duo Stranger Friends with John Martin, and the two are working on their debut album.

“Her work ethic and talent are unmatched. We are looking forward to trying to keep up with her,” says Bobby Rymer, Partner/GM, Writer’s Den Music Group.

“Over the years I have always admired Bobby and his big heart for songs,” says Floyd. “I ended up running into him while I was waiting tables at [Nashville restaurant] Lockland Table last winter and fatefully it led to our new partnership! I’d been working hard on my own and held out for the last few years looking for the right publisher. I feel fortunate to say I have found a home at Writer’s Den and am so grateful and excited for our future!”

Floyd spoke to MusicRow earlier this year about her work in the recent documentary The Last Songwriter, which premiered at the Nashville Film Festival in April. The documentary chronicles Floyd’s struggle to balance her creative pursuits as a Grammy-nominated songwriter with the necessity to make a living. At the time, Floyd said her (then unofficially announced) new deal made for a happy update to her story.

“A year ago we were in the thick of filming the restaurant scenes,” Floyd told MusicRow. “If you had told the girl mopping at the restaurant a year ago, that exactly a year later that would be completely taken out of the picture, I don’t know if I would have believed you. I am one of many songwriters that have this exact storyline. It’s meant to encourage my generation to not give up, if they know that this is what they are supposed to do.”

A Retrospective on MusicRow’s Song of the Year Winners

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Lori McKenna performs Song of the Year “Humble And Kind” at the 28th Annual MusicRow Awards. Photo: Moments By Moser

Following yesterday’s (May 23) announcement of this year’s nominees for the 29th annual MusicRow Awards, we reflect on the Song of the Year award.

The category has evolved since it’s inception. From 1985 until 1997, MusicRow presented a Top Songwriter Award to the writer with the most top-20 singles for the year.

In 1996, the Song of the Year category was officially established and continues today. MusicRow has presented the Song of the Year award 21 times—each year since 1996.

Lori McKenna is the winningest songwriter in MusicRow Awards history, with credits on “Humble and Kind,” “Girl Crush,” and “Stealing Kisses.”

Additionally the MusicRow Song of the Year often goes on to win CMA Song of the Year, including “Humble and Kind” (2016), “Girl Crush” (2015), “I Drive Your Truck” (2013), “If I Die Young” (2011), “The House That Built Me” (2010) and “In Color” (2009).

The Best Songs Are The Ones You Write Alone
7 Song of the Year winners were solo-writes:

“Humble and Kind,” Lori McKenna
“Stealing Kisses,” Lori McKenna
“If I Die Young,” Kimberly Perry
“Letter To Me,” Brad Paisley
“Red Ragtop,” Jason White
“Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” Alan Jackson
“Friends,” Jerry Holland

They Sure Know How To Pick ‘Em
These artists have recorded more than one MusicRow Song of the Year.

Brad Paisley: “Letter To Me,” “Whiskey Lullaby,” “He Didn’t Have To Be”
Miranda Lambert: “All Kinds of Kinds,” “The House That Built Me”
Tim McGraw: “Humble and Kind,” “Red Ragtop”

The Chosen Few
Only three songwriters have won the Song of the Year award multiple times.

Lori McKenna: “Humble and Kind,” “Girl Crush,” “Stealing Kisses”
Allen Shamblin: “The House That Built Me,” “Don’t Laugh At Me”
Brad Paisley: “Letter To Me,” “He Didn’t Have To Be”

Subscribed members of MusicRow will receive ballots by email on Wednesday, May 24. Voting closes on Tues., May 30 at 5 p.m. CT. If you do not have a subscription, you may subscribe to receive your ballot and invitation.

Songwriter Rounds: Backstage Nashville, Olivia Lane’s “Diva Jam,” “Story And A Song” Writer’s Night

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Backstage Nashville To Welcome Jenny Gill, Gary Nicholson, Buddy Owens, Ray Stephenson

Backstage Nashville will welcome Gary Nicholson, Buddy Owens, Jenny Gill, and Ray Stephenson for its upcoming show at 3rd & Lindsley on May 27 at 12:30 p.m.

 

Olivia Lane Announces Lineup For Fourth Annual Diva Jam

Artist Olivia Lane will host her fourth annual Diva Jam at The Listening Room Cafe on Saturday, June 10 from 2-5 p.m. during the CMA Music Festival. The series will feature rising female voices including April Kry, Megan & Liz, Colby Dee, Maggie Baugh, SaraBeth, Lucy Angel, Lena Stone and Shelley Skidmore.

“I’m so excited to return for a fourth year with Diva Jam! There are so many talented women in this town that I’m lucky to call friends. Nashville has a real community of women who want to help one another and that has inspired me to continue this amazing event!” said Lane.

 

Brickshore Media Launches Monthly Writer’s Night

Nashville PR/Marketing firm Brickshore Media and online media outlet Pop Blitz Magazine have teamed for a monthly writer’s night. “Story And A Song,” will be held the last Monday of every month and will feature some of the best new talent in Nashville.

The inaugural show will take place Monday, May 29 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. CT at Nashville venue The Country, and will feature music from Julia Capogrossi, James Hatem, Amy Taylor and Derek Andrew. They will take the stage separately for a 20-minute acoustic set. The event is free and open to the public. The Country is located at 110 28th Ave. in Nashville.

peermusic Renews Long-Term Publishing Deal For Earl Scruggs Catalog

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Earl Scruggs

peermusic has renewed its long-term global publishing deal for the catalog of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs. During his life, Scruggs was a collaborator with and close friend to many at peermusic, including peermusic founder Ralph Peer. Scruggs died in 2012.

“It’s hard to think of a more perfect model for the relationship between a songwriter and a publisher than Earl Scruggs and peermusic,” said Kathy Spanberger, President and COO-peermusic Anglo American Region. “Earl and peermusic worked together successfully for decades to share his music with the world, and I’m so glad that his sons, Gary, Randy and peermusic have the opportunity to extend this partnership.”

“Our father left an incredible legacy with his music, and our family wants to do everything we can to preserve that legacy so that his songs can be enjoyed by generations to come,” said Randy and Gary Scruggs in a joint statement. “peermusic is the publisher he trusted for many years—they’ve been friends to our family throughout the years and they know his catalog as well as anybody, so keeping our dad’s catalog with peermusic was an easy decision.”

Scruggs, a gifted songwriter and five-string banjo player, revolutionized the bluegrass genre with a three-fingered picking style that has since become a hallmark of bluegrass banjo. He began his career in 1945, when he joined Bill Monroe’s band and met Lester Flatt. The two were mainstays of Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys for a little over two years before striking out on their own.

Performing as Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, the band eventually began playing major folk festivals as well as some of the nation’s biggest stages, including Carnegie Hall and the Newport Folk Festival. Among their signature recordings are “Earl’s Breakdown,” “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (the iconic opening and closing theme for The Beverly Hillbillies) and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” (a song Scruggs wrote and recorded in 1949, which was featured prominently in the 1967 film Bonnie And Clyde).

In 1969 Scruggs began pursuing a solo career by enlisting his sons Gary and Randy to perform with him as the Earl Scruggs Revue. The group found success recording for Columbia Records throughout the 1970s. Scruggs is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Hall of Fame as well as a recipient of four Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Medal of Arts.

NSAI Celebrates No. 1 Songs

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Picture (L-R): Bart Herbison, NSAI Executive Director; Steve Bogard; Tim DuBois; Lee Thomas Miller, NSAI Board President.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) honored 42 Nashville-associated writers who contributed to Nashville-associated songs that topped the Billboard Airplay, Digital, Hot or Mediabase charts from December 2016 to March 2017.  

The Maggie Cavender Award of Service was presented to songwriter and music-industry veteran Tim DuBois. The NSAI No. 1 Party was held on Monday, May 22, at the Music Mill, NSAI’s headquarters on Music Row.

Songwriters who were recognized.

 

Songs Recognized
“A Little More Summertime”/Jason Aldean
Jerry Flowers, Tony Martin, Wendell Mobley

“Sleep Without You”/Brett Young
Justin Ebach, Kelly Archer, Brett Young

“May We All”/Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw
Jamie Moore, Rodney Clawson

“Dirty Laundry”/Carrie Underwood
Ashley Gorley, Hillary Lindsey, Zach Crowell

“Chain Breaker”/Zach Williams
Jonathan Smith, Mia Fieldes, Zachary Williams

“Glory (Let There Be Peace)”/Matt Maher
Christopher Stevens, Matt Maher, Rachel Popadic

“Blue Ain’t Your Color”/Keith Urban
Clint Lagerberg, Hillary Lindsey, Steven Lee Olsen

“When I Pray For You”/Dan + Shay
Justin Ebach, Jon Nite, Dan Smyers, Shay Mooney

“A Guy With A Girl”/Blake Shelton
Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson

“Star of the Show”/Thomas Rhett
Ben Hayslip, Rhett Akins, Thomas Rhett

“Sober Saturday Night”/Chris Young featuring Vince Gill
Brad Warren, Brett Warren, Chris Young

“Dirt on My Boots”/Jon Pardi
Ashley Gorley, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure

“Today”/Brad Paisley
Ashley Gorley, Chris DuBois, Brad Paisley

“Love Broke Thru”/tobyMac
Bart Millard, Bryan Fowler, Christopher Stevens, Toby McKeehan

“Rise”/Danny Gokey
Benji Cowart, Josh Bronleewe, Danny Gokey

“Seein’ Red”/Dustin Lynch
Kurt Allison, Jason Sever, Steve Bogard, Tully Kennedy

Disney Music Group Signs Tina Parol To Publishing Deal

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Pictured (L-R): Emily Peacock, AAM; Dennis Lord, SESAC; Sarah Beth Gerlecz, Disney Music Group; Ciara Shortridge, Disney Music Group; Tina Parol; Leslie T. DiPiero, AAM; Shannan Hatch, SESAC; Lydia Schultz, SESAC.

Disney Music Group has signed Tina Parol to an exclusive worldwide agreement.

A first-generation American born to Polish immigrants, Parol started her career in music in the Big Apple as a pop artist on Universal Motown with a Top 40 single. Since moving to Nashville to pursue songwriting full time, she has had songs recorded by artists including Britney Spears, Jerrod Niemann, Dallas Smith, and Celine Dion. Her songs have been placed in shows on Fox, ESPN, Lifetime, MTV, NBC, CBS, and ABC, including two songs on the show Nashville.

Parol says, “I am honored, grateful and excited to be a part of such a diverse, talented and hard-working team that is Disney Music Group.”

Keith Urban, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, More To Play HGTV Lodge At CMA Music Fest

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The HGTV Lodge returns to the CMA Music Festival this year with plenty of star power and sizzle. The 3,500-square-foot Lodge will offer festival-goers live shows by Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Maren Morris, Bobby Bones, Brett Young, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Charlie Worsham, Chris Janson, Eli Young Band, Eric Paslay, Josh Turner, Kane Brown, Lauren Alaina, Luke Combs, Michael Ray, Old Dominion, RaeLynn, Russell Dickerson, Sara Evans and Tyler Farr. The HGTV Lodge will also host a special ASCAP songwriters round on Saturday afternoon (June 10). Great American Country’s Suzanne Alexander will serve as the Lodge emcee during the four-day event.

The Lodge will also feature special appearances by HGTV stars Jonathan and Drew Scott (Property Brothers), Mina Starsiak and Karen E Laine (Good Bones) and Dave and Kortney Wilson (Masters of Flip) and will host several must-see Facebook Live videos, including performances by Old Dominion and Morris and a Q&A session with Rucker.

“The HGTV venue provides an experience like none other for network fans and country music fans alike,” said Karen Bronzo, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing for Scripps Networks Interactive. “Visitors get a chance to meet their favorite HGTV stars and see musical performances by top country artists in an intimate, one-of-a-kind setting. It’s a remarkable way for the HGTV brand to interact with our fans and consumers.”

Schedule of Events* at HGTV Lodge (All times CST):
Thursday, June 8:
10:00 AM:  Michael Ray
11:00 AM:  Tyler Farr
12:00 PM:  Maren Morris
1:30 PM:    Keith Urban
4:30 PM:    Brothers Osborne

Friday, June 9:
10:00 AM:   Josh Turner
11:00 AM:   Sara Evans
12:30 PM:   Kane Brown
2:00 PM:     Bobby Bones
4:00 PM:     Charlie Worsham
5:00 PM:     Eli Young Band

Saturday, June 10:
10:00 AM:   Russell Dickerson
11:00 AM:   Old Dominion
12:00 PM:   Eric Paslay
2:00 PM:     ASCAP Songwriters Round
3:30 PM:     Meet and Greet with Jonathan and Drew Scott
5:00 PM:     Carly Pearce

Sunday, June 11:
10:00 AM:    Brett Young
11:00 AM:    Darius Rucker
12:30 PM:    Lauren Alaina
2:00 PM:      Chris Janson
3:00 PM:      RaeLynn
4:00 PM:      Luke Combs

*All appearances and times subject to change without notice.