Pictured (L-R, front row): Ritz McCain, Darcie Van Etten, Avery King, Rachel Guttmann, Sean Fallon, Erin Pettit; (L-R, middle row): Leah Hudson, Marquis Hardin, Tatiana Angula, Maddy Stessman, Maddy Sundquist, Jenna Smith; (L-R, bottom row): Ryan Cunningham, Parker Stacey, Chris Fairbank, Rio Van Rissengham, Zach Green, Chantrel Reynolds, Jenn DiChiara. Photo: Chrissy Yoder

Society of Leaders in Development (SOLID) has announced its board for the organization’s 25th anniversary year. The Executive Board includes President Avery King (Elicity Public Relations), Vice President Rachel Guttmann (Taylor Guttmann, PLLC), Treasurer Sean Fallon (Indian Moon), and Secretary Darcie Van Etten (Roundhouse Entertainment).

The SOLID Alumni Board also announced Erin Pettit (Wiles + Taylor & Co) as the new Alumni President. Alumni Board members include Grayson Flatness (CORE Crew), Amy Kadish (Secret Road Music Services), Zach Hartley (United Talent Agency), Claire Rex (Triple 8 Management), and Geoff Turner (Red 11 Music).

“I’m incredibly excited to announce our 2022 SOLID Board. This group is already hard at work to make sure our 25th anniversary year is our most successful yet. This will be my fifth year on the board and in that time I’ve been able to see SOLID launch new fundraising initiatives, create a diversity and inclusion task force and even host global networking and educational events while overcoming the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says King, who’s serving her second term as president this year. “Each year I’ve watched this organization develop some of Nashville’s best industry leaders and cannot express my gratitude enough for being able to lead this group of individuals into such a celebratory year. I have no doubt that this board will make our SOLID alumni incredibly proud of what’s to come over the next 12 months.”

SOLID Community Chairs of 2022:
Communications Chair: Jenna Smith, SESAC
Communications Co-Chair: Jenn DiChiara, Reliant Talent Agency
Education Chair: Tatiana Angulo, ISA + JUDE
Education Co-Chair: Rio Van Risseghem, The Orchard
Community Outreach Chair: Maddy Sundquist, MadKat Management
Community Outreach Co-Chair: Chantrel Reynolds, MTheory
Social Chair: Maddy Stessman, Academy of Country Music
Social Co-Chair: Zach Green, BMG
Ambassadorship Chair: Chris Fairbank, Triple 8 Management
Ambassadorship Co-Chair: Marquis Hardin, Concord Music Nashville
Music Market Chair – Ryan Cunningham, ONErpm
Music Market Co-Chair: Parker Stacey, Collective Artist Management
Music Market Co-Chair: Leah Hudson, Banner Music
Diversity and Inclusion Chair: Ritz McCain, Spotify

Carly Peace. Photo: Allister Ann

Carly Pearce is extending her headlining “The 29 Tour” into 2022 with eleven additional dates through March and April. Special guest Hannah Ellis has also been added to open the shows.

The new round of shows will kick off in Chattanooga on March 10 and culminate on April 9 in Toronto before Pearce joins Kenny Chesney’s 2022 “Here And Now Tour.” The additional headline dates will go on sale this Friday (Dec. 17) at carlypearce.com.

“The experiences that allowed me to write 29 and 29: Written In Stone were some of the most difficult moments of my life but seeing so may faces singing every word of these 15 songs night after night, reminded me of how powerful honesty can be in connecting us with others,” says Pearce. “The way you all showed up is so special, and I’m so grateful to announce another round of ‘The 29 Tour.'”

Pearce has also partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 of every ticket will go to support tornado recovery efforts in her home state of Kentucky. PLUS1 is a partner to over 200 leading artists, events, and brands in unlocking funding and building visibility for initiatives delivering access, equity, and dignity to all people.

“There are a lot of people from my Kentucky home who are going through a really devastating time right now with their lives completely changed overnight so having the opportunity to help with some of the rebuilding is so important to me,” adds Pearce.

Pearce will perform on New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash live on Dec. 31 on CBS and Paramount+.

Kelsea Ballerini Receives Two Year’s Worth Of RIAA Bling

Kelsea Ballerini. Photo: Katie Kauss

Black River Entertainment’s Kelsea Ballerini and her team gathered for a long-overdue celebration yesterday (Dec. 14) to honor a wave of RIAA certifications that the 2x Grammy award-nominated entertainer has earned over the last two years.

The multi-Platinum songwriter, producer, and author celebrated her debut album being certified both Gold and Platinum, as well as her sophomore album being certified Gold. Other certifications that were honored include: “Yeah Boy,” “Miss Me More,” “Homecoming Queen,” and “Hole in the Bottle” earning Platinum status; and “Better Luck Next Time,” “The Other Girl,” and “Half of My Hometown” achieving Gold status.

Overall, she has a career total of 21 Gold and Platinum single certifications, nine of those reaching the certification status in the last two years, and total streams exceeding 3 billion to date.

Cody Johnson Wraps Up A Monster Year, Adds One Billion Streams In 2021

Pictured (L-R): Trent Willmon (Producer, Ain’t Nothin’ to It), Missy Iredell (Sr. Dir. Artist Development, Warner Music Nashville), Cris Lacy (EVP A&R, Warner Music Nashville), Ben Kline (EVP/GM, Warner Music Nashville), Cody Johnson, John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, Warner Music Nashville), Shane Tarleton (EVP Artist Development, Warner Music Nashville), and Howie Edelman (Durango Artist Management). Photo: Courtesy of WMN

Platinum-selling recording artist Cody Johnson has experienced quite the year in 2021. In the last 12 months, Johnson has released a feature-length documentary, two celebrated albums, had his most successful single debut at country radio with “’Til You Can’t,” played sold out shows, and more. Johnson also increased his worldwide streams by nearly one billion in 2021.

The debut single from his recently released Human: The Double Album, “’Til You Can’t,” is currently climbing the country airplay charts. Written by Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers, the song continues to be a standout in consumption and streams, with more than 85 million global streams to date.

Johnson’s first holiday album, A Cody Johnson Christmas, was released last month. The ten-song collection includes two new original songs penned by producer Trent Willmon, as well as Johnson and Willmon’s newly imagined arrangements for the beloved Christmas carols “Away In A Manger” and “Silent Night.”

ASCAP Holds Annual ASCAP Foundation Country Workshop For 15 Rising Songwriters

Pictured (first row, L-R): LeAnn Phelan, Forest Whitehead, Kate Smith, Mark Woodring; (second row, L-R) Shai Littlejohn, Steve Schultz, Brian Bayley, Noah Lubert; (third row, L-R) Linda Mckenzie, Brodie Dawson, Elysse Yulo, Tawna Goforth; (fourth row, L-R) Selda Sahin, Allison Cipris, Brooke Malouf, Tanya Maksood.

The ASCAP Nashville membership team hosted its annual ASCAP Foundation Country Workshop in honor of Garth Brooks on Dec. 4. The workshop was held as part of an ongoing series designed to enhance the development and education of promising new songwriters.

The one-day, virtual event was hosted by music industry veteran LeAnn Phelan of LP Creative Management/LP Creative Therapy. Grammy-nominated ASCAP producer and hit songwriter Forest Whitehead joined the session as a special guest.

Fifteen country music songwriters were selected to participate in the exercise, which focused on helping the songwriters understand what publishers and labels are looking for, how to build a supportive team and the necessity of creating the right co-writing community.

Erv Woolsey Co. Inks Deals With Vince Herman

Pictured (L-R): EWC’s Allen Mitchell, Vince Herman, Erv Woolsey, Wimberley Music’s Eddie Tidwell, EWC’s Clint Woolsey and Chris Davisson. Photo: Brandon Hatton

The Erv Woolsey Co. has signed Vince Herman, lead vocalist and co-founder of the American Jam Band and Leftover Salmon, to a management deal for his forthcoming solo projects in partnership with Chris Davisson, one half of EWC client the Davisson Brothers Band. Herman has also inked a publishing deal under EWC’s Wimberley Music.

“We first had the opportunity to work together with Vince when he wrote the title track on Leftover Salmon’s latest studio album, Brand New Good Old Days, which we had the honor of publishing through Wimberley Music,” notes CEO & Founder Erv Woolsey. “We were so impressed by his talent and storytelling; we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with him now in this even bigger capacity.”

“Since moving to Nashville in April I’ve been lucky enough to write with some amazing new friends and begin working with the great folks at The Erv Woolsey Co. & Wimberley Music,” shares Herman. “It’s been a great experience stepping into this new musical world after years of a completely different way of doing things. I’m really looking forward to the good things to come.”

Herman is currently in the studio recording his first solo album, planned for release in 2022, with producer/engineer Dave “Ferg” Ferguson (Tyler Childers, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson).

Ronnie Milsap

Ronnie Milsap is looking back on holidays past this year.

The Country Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member recently released Christmas with Ronnie Milsap, a reissue of the only holiday album he’s ever recorded. The long out-or-print album was reissued by Craft Recordings.

When Christmas with Ronnie Milsap was originally issued in 1986, Milsap was at the height of his fame with huge crossover hits such as “Show Her,” “Stranger in My House” and the Grammy and ACM Award-winning “Lost in the Fifties Tonight (In the Still of the Night).”

Christmas with Ronnie Milsap finds the country icon’s signature soulful voice singing along to classics “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and “O Holy Night,” plus a selection of originals.

“I loved it,” Milsap told MusicRow when asked about revisiting the 35-year-old songs. “I had a great arranger named David Clydesdale. He put it all together [back then], and was great.”

A standout track on the project is an original called “Only One Night of the Year,” which highlights the six-time Grammy winner’s token country and R&B sound while he sings,“Cause for only one night of the year, you can see flying reindeer / And if you believe in Christmas Eve, there’s no telling who will appear.”

“Mike Reid played that live for me, it wasn’t on tape. He sat at the piano and played it live,” Milsap recalled of hearing “Only One Night of the Year” for the first time.

Overall, Milsap’s favorite on the collection is the classic “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

“I remember I [originally] recorded that out at the Castle [recording studio]. Bill Schnee mixed that song, and boy he made me sound great,” he said.

Milsap delivers a personal message on a spoken word track called “Christmas Thoughts,” before closing the project with “We’re Here to Love,” which originally appeared on his bestselling 1983 LP, Keyed Up.

While “We’re Here To Love” isn’t a Christmas song, it proves to be especially poignant in the divisive times of 2021. In the song, Milsap sings, “All the seasons that turn in between, it’s the love that you give and the hours you give / That’s the measure of the life that you lead.”

“That song is for everybody,” Milsap said. “[When we recorded that], we opened it up and had the studio full of a lot of folks that worked in the building. They all sang ‘We’re Here To Love.’ It was great.”

Today, Milsap goes into the holidays with some sorrow, as he lost his beloved wife Joycee this year and his son Todd in 2019. “All my favorite Christmas traditions involve my wife,” Milsap said.

Christmas with Ronnie Milsap follows his 29th studio album, A Better Word for Love, which he released earlier this year. The 78-year old country icon continues to release music that touches hearts and brings people together with his signature country soul.

Christmas with Ronnie Milsap is available for purchase now.

Jack White. Photo: David James Swanson

Jack White has announced the initial dates of his upcoming “Supply Chain Issues Tour” in 2022, which will include shows in North America, Europe, and the UK.

The tour will celebrate the upcoming release of two brand new albums: Fear Of The Dawn, which arrives everywhere via Third Man Records on April 8, and Entering Heaven Alive on July 22.

The tour includes White’s first headline shows in four years, and will kick off with two special Fear Of The Dawn album release shows on April 8-9 at Detroit’s Masonic Temple Theatre. The run will continue through August in Kansas City. Along the way, he’ll play two shows in Nashville on April 30 and May 1 at Ascend Amphitheater. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 17.