Mike McVay

This year’s Academy of Country Music (ACM) radio remotes, dubbed Westwood One Backstage at the ACMs, and slated for March 31-April 1, will feature live performances from some of country music’s rising stars each day.

BMLG group Delta Rae launched the event Thursday evening (March 30) with a pre-remote performance while BBR Music Group’s Walker McGuire is slated to perform on Friday (March 31) and a trio of Curb Records artists: Lee Brice, Mo Pitney and Jerrod Niemann will perform Saturday (April 1).

The radio remotes lead into the 52nd annual ACM Awards, which will be held at Las Vegas’ new T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, April 2 and broadcast live on CBS.

Cumulus/Westwood One Sr. VP/Content & Programming Mike McVay sees the performances as a win-win for both radio stations and artists.

“Not only will those artists have their music exposed and heard, but for the stations, it creates more of a showbiz atmosphere,” McVay tells MusicRow. “If you are a station and you are recording live back to your stations, you want the audience to have a feel for what is going on at the ACMs. You want almost that circus-like feeling, so having an artist perform at the end, so that the loud music is not interfering with everybody doing their local broadcasts, I think rewards the stations. It enables them to share with the audience what it feels like to be backstage at the ACMs.”

Stations will be able to use brief portions of the performances on-air if they choose.

Also new for the radio remotes this year is the location, as Westwood One Backstage at the ACMs moves from the MGM Grand to T-Mobile Arena’s Lucky Live Lounge. Meanwhile, the number of participating stations has been cut to 30 stations.

With nearly 100 artists expected to attend the remotes throughout the weekend, McVay says trimming the number of stations was a necessary move.

“It helps make sure we can let the artists have more time with each station,” says McVay. “Too many stations cuts down on the amount of time an artist can spend with each, and it would put an artist in the position sometimes where they would have to eliminate some stations or they would have to leave a station too soon. We didn’t want anyone left out and felt by having fewer stations we could make it a better quality and the stations are generally large market stations.”

Among those stations participating in Radio Row are Westwood One stations, Radio Disney, CBS Radio, and more. Among the artists participating are Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Michael Ray, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, the Backstreet Boys and more.

Westwood One will offer plenty of additional audio content to stations before and after the ACM Awards, including a one-hour red carpet special, a three-hour ACM Awards companion radio segment, and a one-hour post-show wrap-up, all hosted by Shawn Parr and Elaina Smith.

“In the past we have had special remotes. Then, in the evening radio people would be there watching the show. By connecting it, I think we made it more convenient for artists and radio stations, but it elevated the atmosphere,” McVay says.

Mike McVay, Leslie Fram

The Innovation in Music Awards has announced Mike McVay, Senior Vice-President/Content & Programming for Cumulus Media and Westwood One, as the recipient of the Heritage Award in Innovation and Leslie Fram, Senior Vice President of Music Strategy at CMT, as the recipient of the Innovation in National Media Award.

The inaugural event will be held June 6 at the Westin Hotel in Nashville.

McVay oversees the programming of 450 radio stations and two radio networks. Mike is a 40-year programmer with consulting, management, ownership, sales, programming and on-air experience, as well as having developed and launched several nationally syndicated programs. He has programmed around the world as a consultant with more than 300 stations to his credit. Stations programmed or consulted include those in America, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Grand Cayman and Puerto Rico.

McVay is a recipient of the Rockwell Award, was ranked #4 among America’s Top-Programmers by Radio Ink magazine, is #14 on the Top-40 Most Powerful Broadcaster list from Radio Ink and he was named one of the Titans of Talk by NTS magazine every year 2012-2016. McVay was also recognized as Broadcast Executive of the Year for the now defunct Radio & Records Magazine (2006, 2007 and 2008). He is a member of the Country Radio Broadcasters board of directors, on the board of directors for the Country Music Association (CMA), a board member for the National Radio Hall of Fame & Museum, a Gracie Voter for the Alliance for Women in Media and is chairman of the Radio Show Steering Committee for the 2017 NAB/RAB Convention.

At CMT, Fram oversees all music integration with the CMT brand for original programs, CMT.com and video airplay across all platforms. Negotiating vital partnerships with label and indie acts for exclusive content and premieres, she spearheaded new avenues to reveal and showcase on-the-rise talent, per the development of the digital series “Concrete Country” and the movement of “Next Women of Country,” designed solely to empower the female voices of country music.

Fram also serves on the board of the Academy of Country Music and has received honors such as the TJ Martell Award, NARAS-Atlanta Chapter Heroes Award, and Lifetime Achievement Inductee in the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

Founder Of Innovation In Music Awards, CEO Cold River Records, Pete O’Heeron commented, “We are excited to start this event with such well-respected names as Mike McVay and Leslie Fram. They were the first two phone calls for our inaugural show. Mike’s lifetime of innovation in programming and Leslie’s innovative program Next Women Of Country Music make them a “slam dunk” for this event!”

Nominations for awards are being accepted and reviewed by the IMA selection committee. Nominations can be made through the Innovation Music Awards Nomination Form.

Fort Knox Studios—including rehearsal space, production stages, co-working and business office space, and climate-controlled storage areas—has named Ray Amico as General Manager to run its new Nashville facility, overseeing day-to-day operations. Amico has relocated from Palm Springs, California, to Nashville.

The nearly 190,000 sq. ft. operation is still being constructed at 640 Massman Drive and aims to open fully later this year.

The facility offers both monthly and hourly rates for rehearsal rooms. There are 90 rehearsal spaces of various sizes available, with 24/7 access, for monthly rates beginning at $500/month. Many of the monthly rehearsal spaces are large enough for two bands to share.

Additionally, 20 rehearsal rooms are available for an hourly rate of $8 per hour, per person. The hourly rooms are approximately 300 square feet. Each hourly rehearsal space comes equipped with backline, as well as powered floor monitors and board, and mics. The rooms are acoustically tuned.

Office/business space is also available only to music, film, and creative technology-aligned businesses. The office and business spaces will include 24×7 access, furniture, interior design, event space and conference/breakout rooms, coffee and tea service, as well as wifi/internet access.

Ray Amico

During his more than 30 years in the music industry, Amico has served as Toni Braxton’s production manager, and Nashville native Kesha’s tour manager, in addition to work with Jane’s Addiction, Fiona Apple, Sinéad O’Connor, and comedians including “Weird Al” Yankovic and George Lopez.

Amico began working in the industry as a musician with bands in his native New York City, before working as a studio engineer for several years, and later running sound and organizing tour logistics for numerous bands. He added roles as FOH engineer, tour accountant before moving into production management and tour management.

Amico first interacted with as a customer with Fort Knox Studios Chicago, where the operation launched in 2009.

“My first experience with Fort Knox in Chicago, I was blown away by their diversity and what they were providing for the industry, by having a facility to provide hourly rentals for young, small bands who needed a place to work out of for hours at a time,” Amico tells MusicRow. “Then you had month-to-month rental space where engineers, songwriters, producers could bring in their own equipment, work in a 24/7 environment of their own choosing and it didn’t have to be in their garage or their basement, where their neighbors would complain. It blew my mind to be able to have all of that in one space, along with all the other amenities.”

He hopes to provide a unique combination of services to the Nashville music market.

“One thing I noticed in Chicago, that I hadn’t seen done anywhere else, was being able to physically place the industry directly next to the artists in one place. There are offices and interactions between management companies and artist relations and vendors, working physically in the same facility where the artists themselves are storing their gear and rehearsing out of and operating their tours out of. I think that is unique, having the ability to provide all of those different types of accesses and customizable studio spaces and office space in one place.”

For more, visit fortknoxstudiosnashville.com.

Dream Label Group Teams With Pure Flix Entertainment For Movie Soundtracks

DREAM Label Group is partnering with Pure Flix Entertainment to exclusively release the “Songs Inspired By” albums for all of the company’s upcoming films. The first release is The Case For Christ: Songs Inspired By The Original Motion Picture in connection with the upcoming film based on Lee Strobel’s best-selling book, The Case For Christ.  The album features songs from NewSpring Worship, New Hope Oahu, Lakewood, Seacoast Worship, G12 and many more. Both the film and the album will release on April 7.

‘Women Who Rock’ Speaker Series Rocks City Winery

Who Knew Nashville is presenting the Women Who Rock speaker series featuring Women in Nashville’s Music Business tonight at the City Winery at 6:30 pm. Hosted by Heather McBee, VP Nashville Entrepreneur Center, the event will include Lynn Morrow, Partner-in-Charge, Music Row office of Adams and Reese LLP; Erika Wollam Nichols, President/GM, The Bluebird Café; Kate Tucker, Independent Music Artist/Filmmaker; Carey Nelson Burch, President of Hideout Pictures; Jessie Scott, Program Director, WMOT Roots Radio; Holly Bell, CFO Skyway Studios/Founder of Nashville Access, and Channing Moreland & Makenzie Stokel, co-founders of EVAmore.

Concert Of Voices To Raise Funds For Alopecia

The National Alopecia Areata Foundation is kicking off a campaign with a fundraising concert HearUs! A Concert Of Voices, featuring singer/songwriter Dani Dease, on Monday, May 8, at Nashville’s City Winery. Other artists performing at the event include Becky Hibbs, Samuel, Georgia Van Cuylenburg, Miranda Soong, and Nell Sanders. The Concert of Voices Event will support the NAAF Community and enable them to show up in Washington DC later this year to be heard by the Food and Drug Administration at the long-awaited Patient Focused Drug Development meeting.