Song for song, Brandy Clark might be the finest young writer-artist working in music today.
She stated her case in two, triumphant, sold-out shows at City Winery over this past weekend. In performance after performance, she was greeted by rapturous applause. Her devoted followers often began clapping at the first instrumental notes of songs that they had obviously committed to memory.
Clark mixed material from her masterful 2013 collection 12 Stories with songs drawn from her current Big Day in a Small Town album. Listening to either dazzling collection can be a jaw-dropping experience as each song seems as perfectly crafted as the one before.
Her songwriting brilliance was matched by her breezy, immensely likeable stage personna. Clark’s wry comments in between tunes were easy-going, charming and pithy.
The Belmont graduate’s songs were breathtaking, whether she was breaking hearts with the ballad “Hold My Hand,” humorously threatening homicide in “Stripes,” describing the deadened emotions of “The Day She Got Divorced” or splitting from a drunk lover via the rhythmic “Hungover.” All of these can be found on 12 Stories.
She described a series of tunes that included that album’s “Get High” as “the substance-abuse portion of our show.” Clark also introduced a new song, “When I Get To Drinkin,’” which will be on her upcoming live album. A preview of it was released on Record Store Day.
“Someday, I want to do a whole album of drinking songs,” she commented. “No, I’m serious.”
The Big Day in a Small Town songs were equally potent. Clark is a strikingly empathetic writer, expertly sketching a portrait of a struggling mother in “Three Kids, No Husband.” She wryly described “Daughter” as “a revenge song,” since it wishes that her ex has an offspring who breaks his heart.
Charlie Worsham. Photo: Allister Ann
Even when being ironic, her deep humanity shines through her lyrics. “Broke” and “Love Can Go to Hell” were excellent examples of this. “Girl Next Door” used humor to tell her truth. Yet as we chuckled over her wit, she tossed in the profoundly moving, conflicted and aching “You Can Come Over.”
Her emotional-bullseye vocal delivery and excellent acoustic guitar playing were backed by a simple bass, keyboard and/or guitar accompaniment. Intriguingly, Clark’s set did not rely on any of the familiar hits she’s written for others, such as Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two” or Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow.”
One segment of her show featured Clark trading country oldies with her opening act, Charlie Worsham. She chose Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.” He tried the Kenny Rogers classic “Sweet Music Man” and, oddly, the singularly unattractive Conway Twitty hit “Tight Fittin’ Jeans.”
Worsham’s opening-act set featured blazing solo guitar work, looped percussion tracks and sure-footed tenor singing. He largely emphasized the songs on his just-released sophomore collection The Beginning of Things. Like Clark, he left the audience applauding wildly.
On Friday evening, Brandy Clark bid us farewell with her vivid, blue-collar, hard-luck bopper “Pray to Jesus.” Then she returned to the venue to leave another another spellbound audience on its feet in ovation on Sunday.
Industry Ink: Jann Wenner, National Association Of Talent Directors, Peter Cooper
/by Lorie HollabaughJann Wenner Biography Set For October Release
Photo by Mark Seliger
Jann Wenner‘s life and career will go under the microscope for the first time in a biography in Joe Hagan’s long-awaited project–STICKY FINGERS: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine (Knopf), which is due out October 24. In the book Wenner opens up his personal and professional life to the scrutiny of a journalist for the first time, and the book examines his life, from his youth in San Francisco and the rocky first days of Rolling Stone, to his seismic rise as a 1970s kingmaker of rock and a media mogul of Manhattan. The book draws from Wenner’s vast archive of correspondence and rare documents, items that have never before been made available to a journalist.
NATD Firing Up The Grill For Annual Picnic
Peter Cooper Celebrates Book Release With Station Inn Show
Peter Cooper. Photo: Stacie Huckeba
To celebrate the release of his new book, Peter Cooper will perform with some musical compadres and include a few readings from Johnny’s Cash & Charlie’s Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music, at the Station Inn May 26. Doors open at 7 p.m., music starts at 8 p.m., and he will be joined by Don Schlitz, Lloyd Green, David Olney, Eric Brace, Thomm Jutz, a band featuring bassist Mark Fain, drummer Lynn Williams, and violinist Andrea Zonn, Kim Carnes, Fayssoux Starling McLean, Jon Byrd, and Chris Richards.
Blake Shelton, Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton, FGL, Lauren Daigle Among Billboard Music Award Winners
/by Lorie Hollabaugh(Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images via ABC)
Blake Shelton and Kenny Chesney were among the big winners at last night’s Billboard Music Awards, with Shelton taking home Top Country Artist honors and Chesney scoring two wins, for Top Country Tour and Top Country Collaboration for “Setting The World On Fire” with P!nk. Drake was the night’s top winner though, receiving a whopping 13 trophies including Top Artist and beating out Adele’s previous record of 12 wins.
Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller continues to rack up awards, receiving the 2017 Billboard Music Award trophy for Top Country Album, and Florida Georgia Line‘s “H.O.L.Y.” was named Top Country Song during the evening, which was broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. FGL teamed with John Legend for a mashup of the award-winning song which in an unexpected collaboration, and Sam Hunt performed a stripped-down version of his crossover smash “Body Like A Back Road” during the telecast.
Lauren Daigle took home Top Christian Artist honors for the night, and Hillary Scott and the Family won Top Christian Song for “Thy Will.” Kirk Franklin was named Top Gospel Artist, Tamela Mann‘s One Way received the Top Gospel Album trophy, and Travis Greene‘s “Made A Way” took home Top Gospel Song honors.
Justin Timberlake‘s “Can’t Stop The Feeling” was awarded Top Selling Song and Top Radio Song honors during the ceremony, which also honored Cher with its Billboard Icon Award. A full list of winners can be found here.
(Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images via ABC)
Singer-Songwriter Jillian Cardarelli Teams With WME, Suretone Entertainment, Loeb and Loeb
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Matthew Malcolm (WME), Corey Wagner (Suretone), Brittany Schaffer (Loeb and Loeb), Jillian Cardarelli
Singer-songwriter Jillian Cardarelli has signed with William Morris Endeavor exclusively for worldwide representation. The news comes after signing a management deal with Suretone Entertainment, the powers behind music heavyhitters ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac and Lonestar. Additionally, Loeb and Loeb has come onboard for legal representation.
Currently on tour with Lonestar, Cardarelli is preparing for the Spring release of her debut single, “Re-Run,” penned by Maren Morris, Tina Parol and Jordan Reynolds. An EP release is planned for the summer.
Cardarelli has been a regular National Anthem performer for sports organizations including the Boston Bruins, the Boston Celtics, Baltimore Orioles, and the Nashville Predators. As a songwriter, she recently landed her first major label cut with Australian artist Jody Direen on ABC Music.
Casey James Signs With Spielberg/Dries Management
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Neal Spielberg, Casey James, and Gene Dries
Singer-songwriter Casey James has signed with Spielberg/Dries Management for representation.
In 2010, Neal Spielberg and Gene Dries combined their experience to form Spielberg/Dries Management. The company also oversees careers for blues artists Tracy Nelson and Russell Morris. Both Spielberg and Dries worked for Warner Bros. Records, with Spielberg in sales/marketing and Dries in rock radio promotion. They began individually working with artists and labels before teaming to manage several blues and country artists.
Dries co-managed 10-time Grammy winner Take 6, and is the creative director for the Las Cruces Country Music Festival. Spielberg worked as a consultant with Merle Haggard, Neal McCoy, Equity Records (Clint Black, Little Big Town, Kevin Fowler), and Gloriana. Spielberg also works with the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
“It was important for me to find genuine partners who have a passion for this music and the conviction to support my vision as an artist,” said James. “I’m an avid, dedicated fan of this genre with a deep respect for the traditions and the musicianship that makes it great. Neal [Spielberg] and Gene [Dries] are believers – and that is what I was looking for in a management team.”
Casey’s career has taken him from an American Idol ninth season finalist to signing with Sony’s BNA Records/19 in 2012 and releasing his self-titled debut album. That same year, he transitioned to Columbia Nashville and began work on his second album, which was not released. After five years, Sony and James parted ways.
Texas native Casey recently recorded a roots and blues album, Strip It Down, which includes 14 tracks written or co-written by James. The album was funded via a Kickstarter campaign.
“We could not be more excited to be working with an artist like Casey James,” said Spielberg and Dries. “His talent as an entertainer, musician, and songwriter make him a triple threat and look forward to working with him in the coming years.”
Rascal Flatts To Return To Las Vegas For Limited Engagement At The Venetian
/by Dan_Strassberg“Vegas just keeps pulling us back in,” said Gary LeVox. “Our previous two residencies were such an amazing experience and opportunity to connect with our fans on a more intimate level. I think moving over to The Venetian will provide a totally different setting and fan experience that we’re really excited about!”
Tickets starting at $49 (plus applicable fees) go on sale to the public Friday, June 2 at 10 a.m. PST and can be purchased at any box office at The Venetian or The Palazzo, online at ticketmaster.com or venetian.com or by calling 702.414.9000 or 866.641.7469. A limited number of VIP packages with meet and greets will also be available.
Rascal Flatts fan club members will have access to a pre-sale beginning Monday, May 22 at 10 a.m. PST. American Express® card members will have access to a pre-sale beginning Thursday, May 25 at 10 a.m. PST. Grazie loyalty members, SiriusXM, Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers will receive access to a pre-sale beginning Wednesday, May 31 at 10 a.m. PST. All pre-sales will end Thursday, June 1 at 10 p.m. PST.
The trio is promoting their tenth studio album, Back To Us (Big Machine Records), which includes their current single, “Yours If You Want It.”
LifeNotes: Former Songwriter Bob Forshee Dies
/by Robert K OermannBob Forshee
Musician Bob Forshee passed away peacefully at age 80 on Thursday, May 11, surrounded by his family.
Forshee had a 36-year career with State Farm Insurance. But in the early 1960s, he was a Nashville songwriter whose works were recorded by such Grand Ole Opry stars as Jan Howard, Jimmy C. Newman and Skeeter Davis.
He was a 1959 graduate of the University of Missouri who worked as a schoolteacher before moving to Nashville to pursue his songwriting aspirations. Signed by Ray Price’s Pamper Music in 1962, Forshee had a number of songs recorded during the next three years. Burl Ives, Paul Peek, Connie Francis, Jake & Josh, Mac Wiseman, Linda Manning and Sonny Williams were among the artists who released Forshee’s songs.
The songwriter’s biggest copyrights were Darrell McCall’s Top 20 country success “A Stranger Was Here” and Top 30 country hits by Buddy Meredith (1962’s “I May Fall Again”) and Hank Cochran (1963’s “A Good Country Song”).
Forshee also had success in pop and r&b thanks to Etta James recording his “Would It Make Any Difference to You” and “I’d Like to Hear That Song Again” in 1963.
In more recent years, “I May Fall Again” has been revived by Johnny Rodriguez in 1996 and by Paul Pace in 2003.
The songwriter’s Pamper contract evidently expired around 1966. He left music professionally, but played guitar at home for the rest of his life. Survivors include Nancy Stasser Forshee, his wife of more than 50 years, plus daughter Sharon, sons David and Mark, brother Tom and five grandchildren. A celebration of his life was held privately.
A gathering of family and friends is scheduled for Thursday, May 25, from 3 p.m.-7 p.m. at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home, located at 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville.
Brandy Clark Triumphs At Nashville’s City Winery
/by Robert K OermannSong for song, Brandy Clark might be the finest young writer-artist working in music today.
She stated her case in two, triumphant, sold-out shows at City Winery over this past weekend. In performance after performance, she was greeted by rapturous applause. Her devoted followers often began clapping at the first instrumental notes of songs that they had obviously committed to memory.
Clark mixed material from her masterful 2013 collection 12 Stories with songs drawn from her current Big Day in a Small Town album. Listening to either dazzling collection can be a jaw-dropping experience as each song seems as perfectly crafted as the one before.
Her songwriting brilliance was matched by her breezy, immensely likeable stage personna. Clark’s wry comments in between tunes were easy-going, charming and pithy.
The Belmont graduate’s songs were breathtaking, whether she was breaking hearts with the ballad “Hold My Hand,” humorously threatening homicide in “Stripes,” describing the deadened emotions of “The Day She Got Divorced” or splitting from a drunk lover via the rhythmic “Hungover.” All of these can be found on 12 Stories.
She described a series of tunes that included that album’s “Get High” as “the substance-abuse portion of our show.” Clark also introduced a new song, “When I Get To Drinkin,’” which will be on her upcoming live album. A preview of it was released on Record Store Day.
“Someday, I want to do a whole album of drinking songs,” she commented. “No, I’m serious.”
The Big Day in a Small Town songs were equally potent. Clark is a strikingly empathetic writer, expertly sketching a portrait of a struggling mother in “Three Kids, No Husband.” She wryly described “Daughter” as “a revenge song,” since it wishes that her ex has an offspring who breaks his heart.
Charlie Worsham. Photo: Allister Ann
Even when being ironic, her deep humanity shines through her lyrics. “Broke” and “Love Can Go to Hell” were excellent examples of this. “Girl Next Door” used humor to tell her truth. Yet as we chuckled over her wit, she tossed in the profoundly moving, conflicted and aching “You Can Come Over.”
Her emotional-bullseye vocal delivery and excellent acoustic guitar playing were backed by a simple bass, keyboard and/or guitar accompaniment. Intriguingly, Clark’s set did not rely on any of the familiar hits she’s written for others, such as Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two” or Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow.”
One segment of her show featured Clark trading country oldies with her opening act, Charlie Worsham. She chose Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man.” He tried the Kenny Rogers classic “Sweet Music Man” and, oddly, the singularly unattractive Conway Twitty hit “Tight Fittin’ Jeans.”
Worsham’s opening-act set featured blazing solo guitar work, looped percussion tracks and sure-footed tenor singing. He largely emphasized the songs on his just-released sophomore collection The Beginning of Things. Like Clark, he left the audience applauding wildly.
On Friday evening, Brandy Clark bid us farewell with her vivid, blue-collar, hard-luck bopper “Pray to Jesus.” Then she returned to the venue to leave another another spellbound audience on its feet in ovation on Sunday.
Carrie Underwood To Be Inducted Into Oklahoma Hall Of Fame
/by Jessica NicholsonCarrie Underwood.
The Oklahoma Hall of Fame has officially announced its 90th Class of 2017 honorees, and among the new honorees is reigning CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Carrie Underwood. Underwood will be honored during an induction ceremony in Oklahoma City on Thursday, Nov. 16 at the Cox Convention Center. The evening will be emceed by past Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductees Vince Gill and Kristin Chenoweth.
“I’ve always been proud to say I’m from Oklahoma,” Underwood said. “The people, culture, and environment molded me into the person I am today. It’s such an honor to be recognized among such great company by the Oklahoma Hall of Fame!”
The 2017 Class also includes Justice Tom Colbert, Sapulpa; Congressman Tom Cole, Moore; Bob Funk, Piedmont; Shannon Miller, Edmond; Phil Parduhn, Edmond; and Hal Smith, Ardmore. Those individuals who will be honored posthumously are Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, Chickasha; and Sequoyah, the Cherokee Nation I.T.
Previous inductees include fellow country artists Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton and more.
Along with being honored at the formal induction ceremony, the 2017 Honorees will be recognized in November with the unveiling of their portraits at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum, home of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In addition, their biographies, photos and fun facts will be accessible through interactive exhibits.
CMA Music Fest’s Fan Fair X To Host Hundreds Of Artists
/by Lorie HollabaughAmong the action inside Fan Fair X this year will be 130 exhibitor booths, the Radio Disney Country Stage, (which will host dozens of artists including Luke Combs, Jacob Davis, Seth Ennis, Hunter Hayes, High Valley, Levon, LOCASH, Scotty McCreery, RaeLynn, and more), a CMA celebrity auction of memorabilia, the CMA Close Up stage, (featuring Deana Carter, a CMA Fest Family Feud: Country Stars vs. Reality Stars, the Song Suffragettes featuring Jessie James Decker, Eric Paslay, Charley Pride, and many more), and an ultimate fan experiences drawing.
More than 80 artists are also scheduled to appear in the CMA booth this year, including Lauren Alaina, Kristian Bush, Brandy Clark, Chris Janson, Jana Kramer,Maddie & Tae, McCreery, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Kellie Pickler, Thompson Square, and more.
“For 46 years, our guests have traveled to Nashville from near and far to meet their favorite artists,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “What happens inside Fan Fair X is one of a kind and we thank our partners like Xfinity, Radio Disney Country, and Durango for helping us create meaningful moments fans will never forget.”
IBMA World Of Bluegrass Wide Open Stage Lineup Announced
/by Lorie HollabaughScheduled to perform at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater on the ticketed Wide Open Main Stage Sept. 29-30 are The Infamous Stringdusters, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Hot Rize, The Travelin’ McCourys, The O’Connor Band featuring Mark O’Connor, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Balsam Range, Lonesome River Band (celebrating their 35th anniversary as a band), Sierra Hull, Sister Sadie, Flatt Lonesome, and the 50th Anniversary of Japanese band Bluegrass 45, featuring the band’s original lineup.
Additional performers for the event will be announced in July.
“Working with our terrific Raleigh partners, we have another exciting Wide Open Bluegrass planned,” said Paul Schiminger, Executive Director of IBMA. ”It is a special experience like no other in the world for our bluegrass community. We are thrilled with the stellar lineup announced today for the Main Stage at the Red Hat Amphitheater. Don’t wait to buy your tickets because, as incredible as it might sound, we still have more amazing artists to be announced! Wide Open Main Stage truly is the jewel of the festival.”