Chris Lane’s “Big, Big Plans” Tops The Charts

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Chris Lane has reached the top of the charts with his latest single, “Big, Big Plans” which landed at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Country Airplay and Country Aircheck/Mediabase Airplay charts, while also reigning atop the Billboard Canada Country Airplay and Mediabase Canada Country charts. “Big, Big Plans” is Lane’s third career chart-topper in the U.S., and his fourth No. 1 in Canada.

The Gold-certified smash which was written by Lane, Jacob Durrett and Ernest Keith Smith, has tallied 149 million on-demand streams and marks Lane’s first No. 1 as a songwriter. Penned ahead of his engagement to now-wife, Lauren, the song was first heard in their heart-warming proposal video. Once released, “Big, Big Plans” inspired more than 20 onstage fan proposals during Lane’s Big, Big Plans Tour, and countless others shared online.

“As an artist the most rewarding thing for me is writing a song and hearing fans sing it back, and make it part of their own story as well,” said Lane. “It’s been so much fun to see the way such a personal song for me has impacted other people over time. From proposing to my wife, to seeing others’ proposals at shows and on social media, to it now hitting No. 1 on country radio is unbelievable. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Virtual Holiday Concerts: Jake Owen, Musicians On Call, MusiCares

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Jake Owen Teams With Outback Steakhouse For Virtual Holiday Concert

Jake Owen. Photo: Robby Klein

Jake Owen has partnered with Outback Steakhouse for a December Facebook Live virtual concert. This holiday concert ‘Made For You’ (the name of Owen’s recent single) will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 16 and was filmed at the newest Outback Steakhouse in Nashville. Back in August, Outback and Owen partnered on their first virtual concert to provide fans with music entertainment during the stay-at-home orders, with the event attracting over 152,000 viewers.

For a limited time, Outback will offer Jake Owen Made For You gift cards and gift box sets with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Jake Owen Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that offers financial support on a national level to children battling cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases through St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, while also providing assistance to various youth organizations and charities in Owen’s hometown of Vero Beach, Florida and surrounding Indian River County.

 

Musicians On Call Presents Hope For The Holidays Concert

Leslie Odom Jr., Meghan Trainor, Josh Groban, HAIM, JP Saxe and Pentatonix will perform on Hope for the Holidays Presented by Citi, a virtual concert for patients, families and frontline caregivers presented by Musicians On Call. This one-of-a-kind festive concert experience also features holiday messages from artists including Dolly Parton, Kelly Clarkson, Billie Eilish and more. MOC will share the concert with their extensive network of hospitals around the country and they have also teamed up with the American Hospital Association to provide access to 5,000 AHA member hospitals and health systems nationwide.

It will be available on-demand for patients to view throughout the month of December. You can send a musicaleCard, recorded by a Musicians on Call volunteer, to a Healthcare Hero here. For every eCard, Musicians On Call also provides a song for a patient in the hospital.

 

Nashville Artists Give Back To MusiCares With Online Christmas Special

Louis York, Ty Herndon, Maggie Rose, Emily West, Crystal Lewis, The Young Fables, The Shindellas, Meghan Linsey and more are performing in A One Mic Christmas, an independent online holiday special benefiting MusiCares. The show, produced by Hope Tree Entertainment and Cotton Mill Live, will be broadcast online Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. CT. A One Mic Christmas is free to view, but patrons that donate on the website will gain access to un-aired, bonus performances from the star studded line-up.

“With music industry revenues impacted by the pandemic, MusiCares has been a lifesaver to many artists in Music City and around the country. This event is our small way of showing our gratitude,” said producer Patryk Larney of Hope Tree Entertainment.

The LEE Initiative Partners With TPA To Feed Live Music Professionals During Holiday Season

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The LEE Initiative, a non-profit launched by Lindsey Ofcacek and Edward Lee to address issues in the restaurant industry, announced Tuesday (Dec. 15) a partnership with the Touring Professionals Alliance (TPA), a non-profit that provides aid to those working behind the scenes of live music as the industry faces unprecedented hardships due to COVID-19, to launch the Touring Professionals Relief Kitchen (TPRK). TPRK’s first initiative will feed touring professionals in the major music cities of Nashville, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York this holiday season. In Nashville, the initiative is partnering with the restaurants Audrey and Chaatable.

Touring professionals, which include tour managers, production managers, sound engineers, sound, lighting and video technicians, bus and truck drivers, roadies, venue personnel and many more, have been unable to work for months since live music shuttered across the nation in early March. Touring Professionals Alliance was created earlier this year to provide resources, including mental health resources, to those working in the live touring industry. The TPA was recently granted 501(c)3 status, allowing the organization to further expand efforts in the new year.

“Touring Professionals Alliance is steadfastly focused on providing aid to the thousands of individuals who work behind the scenes in live music touring who have been severely impacted by the pandemic,” says Jerome Crooks, co-founder, Touring Professionals Alliance, and tour manager for bands such as Nine Inch Nails, TOOL, Soundgarden, and Beastie Boys. “We are grateful to The LEE Initiative for the partnership in providing meals to those in our industry in need.”

“The music industry has been affected by this pandemic in the same way that the restaurant industry has and TPA has a similar mission to ours at The LEE Initiative. People have already lost so much and are at risk of losing more and we want to help ease their burden in whatever way we can. This is what it means to say we are all in this together. We are proud to have each other’s backs,” says Lee, co-founder of The LEE Initiative.

The Touring Professionals Relief Kitchen will serve meals in Nashville, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York on Tuesdays and Thursdays out of partner restaurants. Each restaurant will distribute 200 meal boxes a night, with each box serving two people. The partner kitchens are:

Nashville
Audrey
Chaatable

Los Angeles
Sqirl
Alta
Petit Trois

Chicago
Girl & the Goat
Alinea Restaurant Group

New York
Hometown BBQ
Momofuku

For more information on the relief efforts and for specifics on dates and locations for meal pick-ups, please visit www.leeinitiative.org.

The Highwomen Lead Americana Music Award Winners

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Pictured (L-R, top row): The Highwomen, John Prine; (L-R, bottom row): Black Pumas, Brittany Haas

Winners of the 19th annual Americana Music Honors & Awards were announced Tuesday (Dec. 15), with The Highwomen earning three honors and the late John Prine being named Artist of the Year.

In lieu of the usual awards ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium, the Americana Music Association revealed winners via social media channels.

Supergroup The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires) swept in three out of the six membership-voted awards categories with wins for Album of the Year for their self-titled debut, produced by Dave Cobb; Song of the Year for “Crowded Table,” written by Carlile, Hemby and Lori McKenna; and Duo/Group of the Year.

Following a prolific couple of years thanks to his critically acclaimed final album The Tree of Forgiveness, Prine became the first artist in Americana Honors & Awards history to be posthumously nominated in the Artist of the Year category. This is his fourth Artist of the Year win since 2005. He also received the 2003 Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting.

Rising duo Black Pumas were named Emerging Act of the Year after garnering praise for their full-length debut, Colors. The band has sold out multiple tours across North America and Europe while making national television appearances and receiving multiple Grammy nominations.

Regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation, Brittany Haas takes home the award for Instrumentalist of the Year. A member of the quartet Hawktail, Haas has also lent her virtuosic skills to collaborators including Steve Martin, Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn and others over the years.

“I could not be more proud of this slate of winners,” shared Executive Director of the Americana Music Association, Jed Hilly. “Although we terribly miss celebrating together at the Ryman as we usually have in years past, we’re thrilled to still be able to recognize these distinguished members of our community.”

NPR Music’s World Café, SiriusXM Outlaw Country, Gimme Country and several radio stations that report to the Americana Radio Charts will be celebrating this year’s nominees and winners with special programming.

2020 Americana Honors & Awards Winners

Album of the Year: The Highwomen, The Highwomen, produced by Dave Cobb

Artist of the Year: John Prine

Song of the Year: “Crowded Table,” The Highwomen, written by Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna

Duo/Group of the Year: The Highwomen

Emerging Act of the Year: Black Pumas

Instrumentalist of the Year: Brittany Haas

Season 2 Of ‘The Song’ Returning In January

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Nationally syndicated television series The Song–Recorded Live @ TGL Farms will return Jan. 2, 2021 with 15 new episodes. The one-hour season opener features Train, Jason Mraz, Jewel, Richard Marx, Clint Black, Gavin DeGraw and a special Marley Family Celebration Of “One Love” with Stephen Marley.

“Although challenging, this season’s filming actually presented us with a unique opportunity to take the show to the artists and record them where they were most comfortable–in or near their own homes–and they all brought their A-Game,” said the show’s creator and Executive Producer Marc Oswald.

Returning hosts Krista Marie and Damien Horne traveled coast to coast—having coffee with Jason Mraz at the Mraz Family Farm, sipping wine with Pat Monahan of Train at Concannon Vineyard in Northern California, riding horses with Jewel in the Colorado Rockies, and filming Richard Marx as he performed at sunset in Malibu. Shooting wrapped where it all began, with Gavin DeGraw at TGL Farms located near Nashville.

Founding partner Ally returns to present Season 2, as The Song welcomes new partners Harley-Davidson and KICKER Performance Audio to the team.

The show is produced by Oswald Entertainment Group and Tupelo Honey, directed by David “Doc” Abbott and mixed by Tom Davis. Cary Glotzer serves as executive producer.

Gray Television is managing the syndication reaching more than 77 percent of US households in over 140 markets.

AXS TV acquired all 10 episodes from Season 1, which will continue airing through 2022.

Osborne, Montana, Smith Take Top Three On MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart

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Josh Osborne

Josh Osborne remains at No. 1 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart for the fifth consecutive week this week. The songs keeping Osborne at the top are “Happy Anywhere” (Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani), “Beers And Sunshine” (Darius Rucker), “How They Remember You” (Rascal Flatts), “7 Summers” (Morgan Wallen), “Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s” (Sam Hunt), “Next Girl” (Carly Pearce), and “Never Be Sorry” (Old Dominion).

Randy Montana shifts up to the No. 2 spot, with Parker McCollum’s “Pretty Heart,” Luke Combs’ “Better Together,” and Justin Moore’s “We Didn’t Have Much” fueling him. Ernest Keith Smith moves into the Top 3 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, with Morgan Wallen’s “More Than My Hometown” and “Somebody’s Problem,” Sam Hunt’s “Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s,” and Chris Lane’s “Big, Big Plans.”

The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital download track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.

Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.

Weekly Register: Carrie Underwood’s ‘My Gift’ Stays At No. 1

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Carrie Underwood

Christmas music is ruling the charts again this week, with Carrie Underwood‘s My Gift staying at No. 1 on the country albums list, and coming in at No. 5 on the all-genre rankings.

There’s no movement in the country top 5 albums from last week, featuring holiday projects by Underwood (53K total consumption), Dolly Parton (No. 3, 31K), and Gene Autrey (No. 5, 21K), as well as Luke Combs‘ What You See Is What You Get at No. 2 (35K), and Chris Stapleton‘s Starting Over at No. 4 (27K).

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” comes in as the top streaming song in the nation, racking up 29 million streams this week and soaring over the 1 billion mark RTD. Last year it reached No. 1 for the first time ever.

Russell Dickerson’s “Southern Symphony” entered the country singles streaming chart at No. 72 with 1.8 million streams, and the album of the same title debuted on the country albums chart at No. 14 with 9.5K (3.1K album only/7.6M song streams).

Indie songwriter Trey Lewis is stirring up the country singles chart with “Dicked Down in Dallas,” which was last week’s top debut at No. 15, and slides to No. 3 this week.

The Top 5 Country songs
Luke Combs “Forever After All” 7.1M this week /82M RTD
Gabby Barrett “I Hope” 6.9M/497M
Trey Lewis “Dicked Down In Dallas” 6.3M/11M
Morgan Wallen “More Than My Hometown” 6.1M/192M
Morgan Wallen “Somebody’s Problem” 6.1M/27M

The overall top album this week belongs to pop hitmaker Shawn Mendes, who debuted Wonder with 89K (54K album only/44M song streams).

CMT Remembers Charley Pride’s Legacy In New Special

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Charley Pride

CMT will air a special tribute to Charley Pride and his legacy on CMT Remembers Charley Pride set to run on Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on CMT. The special will include appearances and footage from some of Pride’s closest friends, colleagues and admirers, including Darius Rucker, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain and more, alongside his beloved family, his wife Rozene, son Dion, sister Maxine and his brother Joe.

The program is a celebration honoring the extraordinary life and legacy of one of the most influential, decorated and impactful country artists in the history of the genre. Featuring three decades of interviews and commentary from Pride himself, along with archival footage of his greatest hits and most memorable performances, the half-hour event follows the Country Music Hall of Famer from his humble beginnings in Mississippi to his rise to CMA Entertainer of the Year with an unprecedented string of hits. Despite facing pervasive racism throughout his career, Pride’s perseverance and unmatched talent transcended generations, broke down barriers and blazed a new path for black country artists.

The CMT special will also air during two encore presentations on Thursday, Dec. 17 (9 a.m. ET) and Saturday, Dec. 19 (12 p.m. ET).

Pride’s family and close friends will hold a private wake and memorial in Dallas this week, with future plans for a public celebration of life memorial ceremony to be announced at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Pride Scholarship at Jesuit Preparatory School, Saint Philips School & Community Center and/or The Food Bank.

The Other Nashville Society Teams With German Publisher For Virtual Songwriting Camp

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Last month The Other Nashville Society (TONS), which promotes Nashville’s multi-genre talent, teamed with leading German publisher Budde Music for a week-long virtual songwriting camp.

Over 40 artists, writers, and producers from both scenes took part in the event. From the TONS camp were writers including Jim Jonsin (Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Eminem), Nick Bailey (Maroon 5, Marshmello, Demi Lovato), Bailey Bryan (300 Entertainment), and Kyle Kelso (Kygo, Galantis, Lane 8). German collaborators included Steven Bashir (Felix Jaehn, Younotus , Lena), Kelvin Jones (Four Music / Sony), Robin Grubert (Nico Santos, Keri Hilson, Adel Tawil), and Conor Byrne (RCA / Sony).

In addition, major label execs from both sides of the Atlantic, including A&R from Epic Records, Warner Records, RCA Records, Capitol Records, Polydor Records, and Island Records, briefed the camp each morning on their artists’ current song needs.

Head of A&R, Prescription Songs Nashville / TONS Co-founder, Katie Fagan, said, “Our mission at TONS is to not only give a platform to our community of creators here in the U.S., but to help spread awareness across the globe that Nashville is a melting pot of successful multi-genre writers, producers and artists. When it came to international markets we wanted to connect with, Germany was at the top of our wishlist. Our friends at the Music Business Association (Music Biz) connected us to Germany’s top music business conference, Reeperbahn Festival. Through that connection, we met Peer Steinwald at Budde in Berlin. Very quickly, we all realized we were aligned on a camp, and within days we were making plans.”

Those plans for an in-person writing camp were altered due to the pandemic, so TONS and Budde shifted to a successful virtual event.

Billy Strings Kicks Off 12 Days Of Bluegrass For Charity

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Billy Strings is sharing twelve days of bluegrass beginning Monday (Dec. 14) as part of his “String The Halls: Home For The Holidays Edition” fundraising series.

Each day through Christmas Day, Strings will post a new performance video on his YouTube page at 11 a.m. ET culminating at 12 p.m. ET on 12/25 when audio for all twelve performances will be available to purchase/download via Nugs.net. There will also be a selection of limited-edition event posters and prints released each day via halfhazardpress.com.

“String The Halls” caps off a year of giving for Strings, who has already raised over $100,000 for charity in 2020 through a variety of live stream and socially distanced concerts. All proceeds raised will benefit several organizations including Musically Fed, Nashville Rescue Mission and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Additionally, in support of Strings, Nugs.net has launched a special discounted subscription campaign, which is available now through the end of the year.

Strings has enjoyed plenty of success this year and is nominated for Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards for his abum Home. The album reached No. 1 on both Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart and Bluegrass Albums chart and led Strings to debut at No. 11 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart.