Nashville is set to usher in 2017 with what the city does best: music. Numerous NYE shows are set across the city on Dec. 31. A listing of several top events follows:

Keith Urban will ring in the new year at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park as part of Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight event. The free street party and concert will also include Styx, A Thousand Horses, Moon Taxi, Charlie Worsham, and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, all performing as the city counts down to celebrate 2017 with fireworks and the Music Note Drop at midnight.

Old Crow Medicine Show, with guest Dom Flemons, has a sold out show at the Ryman Auditorium.

John Prine, Jason Isbell, and Kacey Musgraves will celebrate the new year with music at the Grand Ole Opry House.

City Winery will welcome Marty Stuart and his fabulous superlatives for a late show beginning at 11 p.m.

Widespread Panic will spend New Year’s Eve, Dec. 30, & 31 in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena.

The Bluebird Cafe will bring a bevy of songwriters for two shows on NYE (7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows), including Thom Schuyler, Fred Knobloch, Tony Arata, and Jelly Roll Johnson.

The Grascals will perform at Nashville’s Station Inn, beginning at 9 p.m.

The Listening Room Cafe has seats available for their NYE dinner and show. Seats can be reserved here.

Wildhorse Saloon all-day celebration broadcasted LIVE on national TV featuring Tom Yankton, Whiskey, Cash & Roses, Two Way Crossing, and Phil Vaught. More information here.

MusicRow looks back on its 2016 events including the MusicRow Chart Annual Airplay Awards, the annual Rising Women On The Row breakfast and the reader-voted MusicRow Awards.

MusicRow CountryBreakout Awards

Pictured (L-R): Craig Shelburne, Kelsea Ballerini, Sherod Robertson

MusicRow held its 14th Annual Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards on Feb. 8 at Margaritaville in downtown Nashville. Winners include:

Male Artist of the Year: Jason Aldean
Female Artist of the Year: Kelsea Ballerini
Breakout Artist of the Year: Kelsea Ballerini
Duo/Group of the Year: Florida Georgia Line
Independent Artist of the Year: Erica Nicole
Label of the Year: Capitol Records Nashville
Songwriter of the Year (three-way tie): Shane McAnally, Ashley Gorley, Josh Osborne

At each awards show, MusicRow also honors one of its MusicRow panel radio station reporters. This year, Melissa Frost of KRRV-FM (Alexandria, La.) was honored as MusicRow’s Reporter of the Year.

Florida Georgia Line accepts MusicRow No. 1 Challenge Coins for five chart-toppers on the CountryBreakout chart. Pictured (L-R): Craig Shelburne; Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley; MusicRow‘s Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson.

Rising Women on the Row

Pictured (L-R): Craig Shelburne, Amanda Cates, Leslie Roberts, Cris Lacy, Abbey Adams, Risha Rodgers, Sherod Robertson. Photo: Molly Hannula

MusicRow honored five music industry superstars on April 8, 2016 during its fifth annual Rising Women on the Row breakfast, held at the Omni Nashville.

The event saluted Sony/ATV’s Creative Director of A&R Abbey Adams, Maverick Nashville’s head of marketing and digital strategy Amanda Cates, Warner Music Nashville’s VP of A&R Cris Lacy, BMI’s executive director of writer/publisher relations Leslie Roberts, and WME’s first female partner in Nashville Risha Rodgers.

The morning also included an interview with AEG Live Sr. VP executive Ali Harnell, and a performance by Capitol Records Nashville rising artist Mickey Guyton.

MusicRow Awards

Pictured (L-R): Sherod Robertson, Lori McKenna, Kent Earls, Craig Shelburne. Photo: Moments by Moser

MusicRow held its 28th Annual MusicRow Awards at BMI on June 29 in front of a packed house. The 2016 awards honored MusicRow‘s Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians for playing on the most top 10 albums during the awards timeframe in addition to the reader-voted Breakthrough Artist and Songwriter and Producer and Song of the Year.

Song of the Year was presented to McKenna for her solo-penned “Humble and Kind,” recorded by Tim McGraw for Big Machine Records. She shared the award with the song’s publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville.

Morris was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year for achieving her first Top 10 single as a songwriter during the eligibility period, with the song “My Church.” She is represented by BMI, published by Big Yellow Dog Music and is a Columbia Nashville recording artist.

Breakthrough Artist of the Year went to RCA Nashville’s Old Dominion. The quintet was honored for achieving significant career progress for the first time.

Producer of the Year was awarded to Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton, A Thousand Horses, Wheeler Walker Jr.). This year marked the first nomination and win for Cobb, who is a producer-in-residence at historic Studio A in Nashville.

Earlier in the event, awards were also presented to Nashville session musicians who earned the most credits on albums that reached Billboard’s Top 10 Country Albums Chart during the eligibility period.

The list includes: Shannon Forrest, drums; Charles Judge, keyboards; Justin Niebank, engineer; Paul Franklin, steel; Wes Hightower, vocals; Ilya Toshinskiy, guitar; Jimmie Lee Sloas, bass; and Stuart Duncan and Larry Franklin (tie), fiddle.

28th Annual MusicRow Awards (C) Moments By Moser Photography

United Record Pressing. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser

United Record Pressing (URP) has left its historic facility in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood to expand, according to a social media post.

The company is moving operations to its new 142,000-square-foot facility located on Allied Drive in South Nashville. The new facility was purchased in 2014.

The move was expected, but the status of the 1962 factory has long been up in the air.

URP commented the Chestnut Street location will be preserved.

“We love our Chestnut Street location and have every intention to honor and preserve it,” URP responded. “However, as we respond to our customers’ requests for greater capacity, high quality, quick turnarounds, and outstanding customer service, we’re excited to introduce our new modern facility to the world. We will resume production and normal business hours on January 3, 2017.”

The company, which opened in 1949, had the capacity to manufacture more than 30,000 vinyl units per day in the old location. Since its opening, that two-building, 65,000-square-foot site served not only to press records, but accommodate top artists and clients, such as Vee Jay Records and Motown, having been run by people of color. URP created what we now call the “Motown Suite,” an apartment located above the factory.

Plant tours were put on hold in August 2016, having offered guests a peek into the history of those suites. Frozen in time were the same novel 60’s furnishings, dinette sets, and phone books that these label execs and artists were offered. Original “mother” disc archives were also cataloged at the site.

December 22th was the last work day for the facility. Many of the 22 presses, now out of production, have been moved to the new facility.

“It’s a bitter-sweet thing to leave this place, but we’re excited for the expansion where we can continue to make vinyl records like we have been since 1949,” said a statement from URP on social media.

In a little more than two weeks after the wildfires that spread across Sevier County, Tennessee, Dolly Parton and the Dollywood Foundation’s My People Fund has distributed its first round of cash assistance for 884 families who lost their primary residence (renters and homeowners).

In part, the fund was supported by Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund telethon on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Thanks to generous people from coast to coast and Parton’s friends, the total amount raised during the event has climbed to $9.3 million.

“It’s a blessing during this holiday season that we are able to help as many families as we have so far,” Parton said. “We know there are more families out there who need our help and we encourage them to be in contact with us before our January distribution.”

More than 1,300 families are said to have been displaced during the tragedy. A pre-application for those affected is available at dollywoodfoundation.org.

“As, Dolly said, the response has been overwhelming,” David Dotson, Dollywood Foundation President said. “We will distribute all $9.3 million to the families affected. That will insure all of the money raised will go to where Dolly promised it would go.”

The next distribution is Jan. 26 and 27, 2017 at the LeConte Events Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

InDo, Richlyn Marketing, First Note Play Raise Money For Dolly Parton’s My People Fund

A holiday party on Dec. 15 hosted by InDo, Richlyn Marketing and First Note Play raised $6,751 for Dolly Parton’s My People Fund. Bose provided sound and Nantahala Brewing Company provided craft beer for the jam-packed party.

The party featured music from Jamie Kent, Andrew Leahey, Anthony Peebles, Will Thompson, Ross Livermore, and Jenny Tolman.

“We are thrilled by the response from our colleagues, friends, and co-sponsors in joining together for this great holiday jam to raise money for Dolly’s My People Fund,” said Kate Richardson of InDo Nashville and Richlyn Marketing.

Charlie Worsham Launches Scholarship Fund

Charlie Worsham

Charlie Worsham recently hosted the first annual Follow Your Heart Scholarship Fund Gala in his hometown of Grenada, Mississippi. Worsham has partnered with the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to provide a scholarship for youth to achieve great things in the arts.

The first gala raised approximately $40,000. For more, visit crowdrise.com.

Operation Troop Aid Honors David Ball

Mark Woods honors David Ball

David Ball was recently honored by Operation Troop Aid and presented with the 2016 Operation Troop Aid Chris Kyle “Patriot Award.”

Recognized for his unwavering and impassioned support of, and contributions to, the United States Armed Forces and their families, the Grammy Award winning country music recording artist was formally honored at his annual Christmas show, which was held on Dec. 16 at Puckett’s Grocery in Franklin, Tennessee.

“In several years over, David and his band have dedicated their time and talents to perform at numerous shows for the benefit of Troop Aid, raising crucial funding needed to send care packages to our troops,” said Operation Troop Aid Founder Mark Woods. “David’s artistry, legacy of family and Spirit of Patriotism is exactly the reason this award exists.”

“These young men and women work so hard for us; we want them to know we’re thinking about them. I am very honored to represent this award,” said Ball.