Photo Courtesy Fathom Events
Television star, actress, singer, and songwriter Kathie Lee Gifford has lent her artistry to a new film, Then Came You. Gifford wrote, produced, and starred in the film, and she wrote the music with Music Row hit-maker Brett James. Film distributor Vertical Entertainment plans a one-night showing of Then Came You nationwide via Fathom Events on Sept. 30, followed by an on-demand and digital release on Oct. 2.
Then Came You tells the story of Annabelle Wilson, Gifford’s character, who is suddenly widowed after a 32-year marriage. While reading her late husband’s will, she discovers that upon his death he wishes to be cremated and have his ashes put in a ‘box of chocolates’ because Forrest Gump was his favorite movie.
Annabelle makes a list of their favorite 20 movies, sells her house and the hardware store she and her husband owned in their hometown of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and sets out on a traveling adventure. In honor of the movie Braveheart, Annabelle goes to Scotland first. There she meets an Inn owner, Lord Howard Awd (played by Craig Ferguson), and the two develop an unlikely friendship that ultimately leads to love. The only problem is that Lord Howard Awd is engaged to Clare (Elizabeth Hurley).
Then Came You starring Kathie Lee Gifford. Credit: Vertical Entertainment
MusicRow spoke to Gifford, who now calls Tennessee her home, about the film, writing with Brett James, and what the Nashville creative community means to her.
MR: You wrote, produced, starred in, and composed the music for Then Came You.
Yes! I would have also catered it, but everybody would have died of starvation. I would do whatever it took to get this movie made.
How did you get to know Brett James?
In June of 2017, The Today Show sent Hoda [Kotb] and me down to Nashville to cover the CMAs. One of the segments we were going to do was about what it’s like to sit in one of those famous ‘writer’s rooms’ with some of the best writers in town. I am a writer, people didn’t know that I was a writer, but I have been for many years. I knew that I should have a little something prepared to go into the segment, so I wrote a very short, funny little lyric and just brought it in. They said, ‘You’re going to be writing with Brett James,’ and I had never heard of him. They said, ‘Well, he’s one of the greatest writers in town,’ and they rattled off a few songs he had written and I went ‘That’s enough. That’s good!’ ‘Jesus Take The Wheel’ is all I needed to hear!
We came down and wrote this silly little song and did a 15-second, ‘nothing burger’ of an interview, it might have lasted 2 minutes on the air. As we were wrapping up and putting all of our stuff away, getting ready to go to the next shoot—which was going to be hot chicken, giving everybody a taste of Nashville—Brett came over to me and said, ‘Kathie, I was a huge fan of your husband, and I’m so sorry that you lost him. How are you doing? How are you and your kids?’ I said, ‘Brett, I’m great. We’re great. I found him that morning and the look on his face was of wonder and awe. He saw Jesus and Jesus took his breath away. And one day I’m going to write that song.’ He just looked at me and goes, ‘Well, let’s write that song.’ So I came back to Nashville the next week and went over to Music Row where his office was.
I didn’t know what to expect. I want to learn every day; I’ve done a lot of things in this life and I’ve been extremely blessed and had success that I could have never dreamed of, but I have tons yet to learn. And I knew I could learn something from this man, but I didn’t want to insult him. I didn’t know what to do actually. So I came with three little lines: ‘A little kiss, a little coffee, a little moment to pray. Our Sunday mornings always started that way.‘ And Brett goes, ‘Well, that’s how we’re going to start our song.’ So we wrote a song called ‘He Saw Jesus,’ and then we made plans for him to come to my house in Connecticut a couple of weeks later and make the demo because I have a studio in my house up there. So that’s how it all started.
How did Brett get involved with the movie?
[He got involved] when I was there working with him. I always have in my bag the next project I’m working on. I have a yellow, legal pad and all my big pens. I don’t write on a computer. He goes, ‘What are you working on now?’ I said, ‘You know what, I’m writing a movie for a friend of mine. I just adore him. His name is Craig Ferguson.’ He goes, ‘Oh, I love that guy! I miss him on The Late Late Show. Can I look?’ So he took out the script, and I know no more how to write a hit song than I know how to write a broadway musical or know how to write a movie, I just do it. I have no idea what I’m doing, I just sit down and do it.
I had written half of the movie perhaps at that time, but I already started writing songs for it. I had written all of the lyrics for a song called ‘Once Again,’ and Brett takes it out and looks at it and he goes, ‘Oh my gosh, Kathie, these lyrics are gorgeous. Let’s write this one next.’ I just thought, ‘Well, I’ve got one of the top writers in the world wrangled here, I ain’t gonna let him go. Let’s do it!’
So when he came to my house to record, ‘He Saw Jesus,’ we wrote ‘Once Again.’ And that’s how he came to write all of the songs for the movie with me, and then he scored it with our dear friend whom he introduced me to. He’s the best gift Brett ever gave me, Sal Oliveri, this amazing producer in Brentwood, who has become a dear, cherished friend. We wrote all the songs together and then Brett and Sal scored the film.
What inspired you to write Then Came You?
Because of Brett’s schedule and my schedule, I kept coming down to Nashville on weekends. I was happy to get away from the world I was living in then. I’d lost my husband, it was lonely. I loved getting on a plane and coming to Nashville and getting just immersed in the creative joy of being here. Every time I would get on a plane to go back to New York and I would say to myself, ‘Why am I so happy here?’ And it dawned on me, because people are joyful here. People aren’t screaming at each other. I didn’t realize how much my soul had been sucked dry in that culture of chaos in New York. I had been there 40 years, I raised my children there. I married the love of my life there and he died in my arms, but along the way that culture sucked me dry. And I knew that I was dying, I know that sounds dramatic. It’s meant to. I was dying of loneliness.
There’s a line in the movie that I wrote for Craig. This heroin, Annabelle, is a widow, and the only life she had ever had was with this man that she married. She gave up her dreams for him. At the time I knew that there was 17 million widows in America and 5 million widowers. The other interesting statistic is that of all the mature adult women in our country, approximately 49% of them—this was a statistic from two years ago—are alone. They’re either single because they never married, they’re divorced or they’re widowed. So there’s a huge demographic out there of people that are alone. They’re sad, they’re lonely and they need hope, so I wanted to write this movie for two people like that. They don’t know yet that God loves them, they’re doing the best they can do.
In the movie when Annabelle says, ‘I love you, Fred, and I always will, but I have to go make new memories or the old ones are going to kill me.’ That’s the way I felt. [The movie] is not an autobiographical, the only thing I have in common with Annabelle is that she’s a widow, but I didn’t want it to be autobiographical. I wanted my imagination to soar, I’m bored with me. My life is nothing to sing about, but I can make up other people’s that are wonderful.
You’re putting a duet with Brett, “Whiskey and Wine,” out as a single. Tell me about writing that one.
It’s perfect for the movie. Because of my theater background, I don’t sit down to write a hit record, but I write for the characters. We shot our movie in June, so the Christmas before…I had been going through one of the worst depressions of my life for about a year. All different things that converged at the same time, like an imperfect emotional storm. My mother had passed, different friends of mine had been caught up in the MeToo movement that didn’t deserve it and I was crushed for my friends, and I was missing my husband. We were down at our house in the Keys, and my kids were there with their loved ones. Everybody had somebody but me, and only people that have lost the love of their life understand how that feels. It’s Christmas, and everybody’s happy. All of a sudden it dawns on you that the world is made up of couples and you’re not one anymore. So it was Christmas Eve, one of the darkest nights of my life and I sat down and wrote, ‘I’ll bring the whiskey, I’ll bring the wine, I’ll get my guitar, I’ll go and get mine.‘ And then when I gave it to Brett, it became this joyful thing. I wrote it in the saddest, worst night of my life in a year and a half, but it was there! This hopeful place was still there.
So we wrote ‘Whiskey and Wine’ and did a demo on it. Sometimes the demo doesn’t turn out the way you want, so I put my voice on it and then it still wasn’t as good. So he called me and says, ‘Kathie, you want me to sing it with you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, duh!’ So he came in and sang it with me and then it came to life. Our director [Adriana Trigiani] loved it so much because Annabelle, my character, was going to sing it with somebody in this Scottish pub, so she said, ‘Brett why don’t you just come [be in the movie]?’ It’s an independent movie, we can do anything we want. Brett said ‘Yes’ to Adriana, next thing you know, he’s in the movie.
What has Brett and the Nashville music community meant to you?
Oh my gosh, where do I start? I had no idea when I just picked up moved. I’m like Annabelle, that we have in common. There’s a song that Brett and I wrote in the movie that the amazing Katie O sings, it goes ‘How do I begin to begin again, breathe deep and let all the fresh clean air in? How do I find courage to say, I’m going to start a brand new life today.‘ And Brett wrote, ‘Here I go, taking a ride on a brand new road. Who knows if I’m going to make it, but I’m going to try, try. All you need is a new set of wings to fly, fly on my way to a new life, and new everything’s.‘
And that’s what it is all about.
Marv Green Signs Publishing Deal With Sony/ATV
/by Jessica NicholsonMarv Green
Songwriter Marv Green, who has penned hits including George Strait’s “It Just Comes Natural,” Carrie Underwood’s “Wasted,” and Lonestar’s “Amazed,” has inked a global publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville.
Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston said, “Championing the songs of Marv Green is a true honor— he has crafted timeless hits that capture the heart and soul of country music. The way he weaves his West Coast cool into every one of his songs makes each single a notch above the rest. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Marv to our Sony/ATV Nashville family.”
Green said, “I’m beyond excited to start a new catalog of songs with Sony/ATV and their inspiring creative team.”
Green moved from Southern California to Nashville in 1993 and built a song catalog that includes Tim McGraw’s “Shotgun Rider,” Rodney Atkins’s “Farmer’s Daughter,” Brooks & Dunn’s “Proud of the House We Built,” Eric Church’s “Creepin’,” the Merle Haggard/Willie Nelson collaboration “Live This Long,” Chris Young’s “Who I Am With You,” and the eight-week No. 1 hit “Amazed,” recorded by Lonestar.
Green currently has a Top 10 hit with Tim McGraw’s “I Called Mama.”
Along the way, Green has earned BMI’s Song Of The Year in 2000, BMI’s Songwriter Of The Year in 2001, as well as an ACM Song Of The Year and Grammy nomination for “Amazed.”
Cumulus Media Appoints Andy Winford As KSKS-FM Program Director
/by Jessica NicholsonWinford has 17 years of radio broadcasting experience and has programmed at KAT Country 103 since 2016.
Patty Hixon, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Fresno, said, “I am thrilled to have Andy join our team in Fresno. KISS is a formidable brand in Central California and having Andy take on this new challenge along with programming KAT Country in Modesto will provide a wonderful synergy never before seen in Central California. Two very historical brands will be super-serving our listeners during this most critical time in our lives. Andy has great knowledge of both markets and platforms…He’ll be a great asset to KISS!”
Winford added, “I couldn’t be more excited to lead Central California’s most powerful country brand. The cupboard is full of excellent talent and a sales and marketing team second to none. Time to go to work!”
RECORDS Nashville Signs Chase Martin
/by Jessica NicholsonStanding, left to right: Sara Gil (RECORDS), Brendan Rich (Wide Open Music), Lauren Hamrick (Wide Open Music), David Enriquez (RECORDS), Steve Williams (Wide Open Music), Andrew Saltman (RECORDS). Sitting, left to right: Ash Bowers (Wide Open Music/RECORDS Nashville), Chase Martin (principal artist), Barry Weiss (RECORDS). Photo Design credit: Evelyn Mostrom
RECORDS Nashville, an imprint of Sony Music, has signed singer-songwriter Chase Martin to the label.
The now 22-year-old South Carolina native moved to Nashville after graduating from high school one year early, with a 5.0 GPA and a perfect ACT score. Since relocating to Music City, she has played venues including The Bluebird Cafe and The Listening Room.
“I’ve thought Chase was a star since the day I met her,” says Ash Bowers, President, RECORDS Nashville. “She’s so talented and hardworking. Considering all she’s achieved on her own, I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together with her great music.”
Martin’s new single, “Levi Denim,” written by Abby Anderson, Matt Stell and Allison Veltz Cruz (with production by Bowers) will release Oct. 9.
Co-founded in 2015 by Barry Weiss and based in New York City, RECORDS began as a joint venture with SONGS Music Publishing. The label saw early success with their first two signings, platinum selling singer Noah Cyrus and legendary hip-hop artist Nelly. In 2017, when Kobalt bought SONGS, Sony Music partnered with RECORDS. Since joining forces with Sony, RECORDS has signed a diverse roster of burgeoning young stars, including worldwide superstar 24kGoldn who’s current single “Mood” is #2 in the US and globally and the critically acclaimed Lennon Stella. They are also home to 2019’s heralded debut project, Labrinth, Sia & Diplo present…LSD. Two years ago, RECORDS signed their first country act, Matt Stell. His debut single, “Prayed For You,” reached No. 1 on country radio and has been certified Platinum. Following this success, they also signed buzzing country artist Chris Bandi, as well as newcomers including Jennifer Smestad, Dylan Brady, Chase Martin and Lathan Warlick.
Dolly’s Rags-to-Rhinestones Career Explored In New Ultimate Time Life Collection
/by Lorie HollabaughSome of the incredible highlights of icon Dolly Parton‘s remarkable career have been curated into a huge, new one-of-a-kind 19-DVD set from Time Life – Dolly: The Ultimate Collection.
The set includes seven episodes of Parton’s early appearances on The Porter Wagoner Show, 22 of her own star-studded variety shows in the ‘70s and ‘80s, to concerts, as well as TV appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Crook & Chase, performances on the Country Music Association Awards in the ’70s, and blockbuster collaborations with her closest friends, this collection includes tons of rare and unique Dolly footage and bonus features like Dolly’s University of Tennessee Commencement Address and the Imagination Library Dedication Ceremony at The Library of Congress.
The set also includes never-before-seen interviews with Brandi Carlile, Miley Cyrus, Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Kenny Rogers, Marty Stuart, Lily Tomlin, and Carrie Underwood and a free Bonus DVD with the complete authorized BBC documentary Dolly Parton: Here I Am as well as an exclusive collector’s book filled with photos, Dolly in her own words, and loving tributes from her famous friends.
“It’s been an amazing journey and you’ll find some of my most precious highlights included here in this collection.” Parton said. “Thank you to the wonderful folks at Time Life for putting this together. What a delightful trip down memory lane….just the hair styles and outfits alone are worth a look and I’m surprised there are still any rhinestones left in this world! I hope you enjoy these moments as much as I did.”
The set is not available at retail, it’s only available via direct response or online at timelife.com.
Carrie Underwood Welcomes The Holiday Season With Christmas Album ‘My Gift’ [Interview]
/by Jessica NicholsonLast week, Carrie Underwood picked up her third Entertainer of the Year honor from the Academy of Country Music (this year in a shocking co-win with Thomas Rhett)—and with good reason. There aren’t many forms of entertainment she hasn’t conquered.
Ever since her win on American Idol in 2005, followed by her smash hit “Jesus Take The Wheel,” and 8x Platinum debut album Some Hearts, she’s kept putting points on the board, solidifying her image as a multi-faceted entertainer.
In addition to 27 No. 1 radio singles (14 of which she had a hand in writing), multi-Platinum albums, sold-out headlining tours, and seven Grammy wins, Underwood took on the daunting task of leading a live-televised musical, when she portrayed Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music Live!, played a substantial supporting role in the inspirational movie Soul Surfer, and made appearances on television shows including How I Met Your Mother, Blue Bloods, and more. With fellow country star Brad Paisley, Underwood had an 11-year run as one of the most successful hosting duos for the CMA Awards, and then returned last year to host the show alongside Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire. She has also been the face and voice of Sunday Night Football since 2013.
That’s just film and TV.
She released her own athleisure line, Calia by Carrie, and earlier this year, she authored the wellness book Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, And Get Strong With The Fit52 Life, and later launched an accompanying fit52 fitness app. Over the past few years, before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down music tours around the world, Underwood upped the ante on her own tours with the in-the-round spectacles that were her 2016 Storyteller Tour-Stories In The Round (with 92 shows playing to over 1 million attendees) and last year’s Cry Pretty Tour 360, which played in more than 60 cities. She also stepped into the co-producer role for the first time on her previous album Cry Pretty.
Now, she’s adding another layer with her first full-length Christmas project, My Gift, which arrives today (Sept. 25), with a vinyl version set for Oct. 30. The 11-track album blends classics such as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Away in a Manger,” alongside a few songs penned specifically for the album, including “Let There Be Peace,” and “Sweet Baby Jesus,” all bonded by gorgeous orchestration and Underwood’s glorious voice.
“These are all songs that I’ve been singing my whole life, but I don’t think I’ve ever sang them by myself—just in church or choir. We would go caroling when I was a kid and we’d go down to the nursing home on Christmas Eve and sing for the residents,” Underwood says.
Shortly after she wrapped her Cry Pretty Tour 360 last year, she began mapping out plans for the new album. Though most of the songs on the album are familiar, Underwood says it was still an interesting musical puzzle to put together.
“I had the illusion that making a Christmas album was just going to be super easy. Right? I knew I wanted to do a lot of standards, and then when you have been singing something your whole life, and there’s so many different versions, it was interesting to find a way that it’s still true to tradition, but then also find yourself in it as an artist. I made demos on my phone before we went to record them just so everybody could get a handle of what things were going to sound like.”
Oh, and then there was the challenge of making an album that is heavy on orchestration and choir vocals during the COVID-19 pandemic, where social distancing mandates can make those types of recordings difficult. Grammy-winning producer, mixer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Greg Wells (Adele, Celine Dion, P!nk) helmed the orchestral arrangements (with an orchestra led by David Campbell), working from Los Angeles, while Underwood’s vocal parts were recorded in Nashville.
“I was so fortunate to ask Greg to be part of this. I knew I was lucky to work with him in the beginning but definitely when the world kind of shut down, I was so glad this [project] was in his hands because we were just finding new ways to do things and he can play so many instruments himself at home and ended up kind of doing that as we were working on the album.”
While Underwood recorded in Nashville’s Addiction Sound Studios, Wells was in Los Angeles, but would join her in the studio virtually, via an iPad.
“It was a small space, because even when things started opening back up, I was like, ‘I don’t know how I feel about that,’ and it ended up being perfect because it was just a skeleton crew. Everyone was trying to be very mindful of how to do things, so it was best for Greg to handle orchestrations in L.A.. He would send me video clips of what they were doing and he would text me things so I kind of got to be part of what they were doing, so he was definitely keeping me updated.
“It was so good for me to get out of my album-making formula. I like to say there are steps to making an album—you start at step one and go to the end. And we started in the middle and then went back to step three and found our own way through it. And it was so nice to be able to sing, to see happy music in the middle of crises.”
Underwood also includes a few collaborations on the album, most notably with John Legend on “Hallelujah,” an original song Legend wrote with Toby Gad.
“He had heard I was doing this Christmas project and they sent the song over. I loved it and loved his voice on the demo—obviously, what’s not to love about his voice? So we asked him if he would be interested in singing it with me. He recorded his part in Los Angeles and I recorded my part in Tennessee. I was so sad we didn’t actually get to record it together, but everybody was kind of avoiding travel and it just ended up being such an amazing puzzle to do this whole project. And the song is uplifting, it’s a love song and a Christmas song, and just fit the project perfectly.”
Underwood’s five-year-old son Isaiah Fisher adds his sweet voice alongside his mother’s on one of Underwood’s favorite Christmas classics, “Little Drummer Boy.”
“He loves to sing. He loves music. I didn’t know what to expect, or if he would even want to do it. But he was all about it and excited about it and it was such a great thing to be sharing what I love to do—singing—with him and see him love it as well. I was asking my producer, like, ‘How did he do?’ I feel like to anybody in the music community, I’ve been like, ‘Listen to this!’ because I’m just such a proud mom, and they’ve been very complimentary and I feel like they mean it. He’s always had the sweetest little kid voice.”
The album’s crescendo comes with the original track “Let There Be Peace,” a Gospel-inflected siren call for unity that Underwood co-wrote with Brett James (a co-writer on her debut smash “Jesus Take The Wheel”) and David Garcia, who co-produced her Cry Pretty album.
“We wrote that in the beginning of everything shutting down. We actually wrote that on Zoom. We wanted to have a choir feel to it and a soulful, simple song that everyone could sing with. Brett had that idea and we just rolled with it. I thought if I was going to write on Zoom, I wanted it to be people that I’m super comfortable with. On the demo, the entire choir was made of Brett James singing multiple parts and just stacking the vocals.”
Having one person stacking vocals for a demo is one thing, but they had to be strategic in crafting a choir sound for the full-fledged album, given social distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their secret weapon? The McCrary Sisters, who have previously worked with Underwood on songs including “Choctaw County Affair” from her Storyteller album and her Ludacris collaboration, “The Champion.”
“We knew we wanted a choir, but obviously at that time we couldn’t get a choir because you couldn’t social distance enough to have a choir. So Greg said, ‘Do you have any ideas on how we do this?’ And I said, ‘What about The McCrary Sisters?’ I have worked with them in the past and they are artists themselves and I was like, ‘I bet during this time they had been around each other, and would feel comfortable being around each other.'” The McCrary Sisters agreed, and they added in Brett James’s voice as well.
Underwood prepared for creating renditions of classics such as “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” and “Mary, Did You Know?” by culling numerous previously-done renditions, noting things she gravitated toward.
“I went through like every single song and I went on my iTunes and just started listening to so many versions, and marked down notes to give him an idea of what I was looking for, like Celine Dion’s version of ‘O Holy Night’ is so beautiful and big and classic. That was one I referenced. One the flip side, I didn’t think I would find a version I liked of ‘Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,’ because so many are so march-y. I was like, ‘How can we get away from that?’ And he had the idea of me singing a cappella. I tried it and it ended up being so unique and it had a certain feeling about it that made me really happy and that’s why we put it first on the album.
“There’s so much about it that I’m so proud of and I’m glad I just finally got to make a Christmas album. I’ve been wanting to for a long time,” she says.
And in truly versatile entertainer fashion, Underwood has teamed with HBO Max for a Christmas special to coincide with the album. The special will be executive produced by Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks for Playtone, along with Underwood and her manager Ann Edelblute; the show will tape this fall and will include a live orchestra and choir (no air dates have been set so far).
Though no one could have predicted the uncertainty and tragedies that the world has experienced this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Underwood says she is even more grateful to be able to make a project that can help comfort and uplift those who hear it.
“I’ve wanted to make this project for so long, and it just seemed to be the right year for it. It ended up really being the right year for it, and we didn’t even didn’t even know 2020 was going to be like it is. It just feels like it’s a fitting time to release an album like this.”
Photo: Joseph Llanes
Kent Blazy Gets ‘Authentic’ On New Collection
/by Lorie HollabaughKent Blazy is releasing a brand new project, Authentic, today.
The hit singer/songwriter also played electric guitar on the new album, which also features Jon Pardi’s bass player, Lee Francis, and drummer, Kevin Murphy locking in the groove, Steve Allen from the pop band 2020 on electric guitar, and Josh Martin on guitar, mandolin, and vocals.
“My aim was to have this record bring hope,joy, gratitude and fun to anyone listening,” Blazy said. “I am blessed to have two songs that are on this album that have been recorded by other artist, but not yet released on their individual projects. Garth Brooks has recorded, ‘Me Without You’ and Steve Wariner recorded ‘Scotty Moore.’ It was an emotional and joyful experience to play with other musicians again and to hear them bring to life the songs I had been creating. I love the way it all came together with ease. I miss playing live and doing album release shows and look forward to the day that will be possible again. I hope the listeners will enjoy hearing these songs as much as I did creating it.”
The new music is available to order on Kent Blazy’s website kentblazy.com and on streaming and digital platforms.
Blazy is a current Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee. The Kentucky native is known for his writing collaborations with Garth Brooks, which yielded the classics “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til The Sun Comes Up),” “Somewhere Other Than The Night,” “It’s Midnight Cinderella” and “She’s Gonna Make It.” Kent also was a co-writer on the Brooks & George Jones duet “Beer Run,” as well as on “That’s What I Get For Lovin’ You” by Diamond Rio, “My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me” by Danny Gokey, and “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” by Chris Young, among others.
Paul Cauthen, Orville Peck Team For Some ‘Unrighteous Brothers’ Fun On New Collaboration
/by Lorie HollabaughPaul Cauthen and Orville Peck have joined forces on a fun new project as “The Unrighteous Brothers” and released their debut via digital retailers. Proceeds from the collaboration will be donated to MusiCares, helping musicians with critical assistance in times of need.
The project finds the pair covering the legendary Righteous Brothers hits “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and “Unchained Melody,” which were produced by Beau Bedford and Butch Walker and recorded at the legendary RCA Studio A in Nashville.
“When I first heard Orville’s voice, I knew we’d sound good together,” said Cauthen. “I’ve always wanted to cover some Righteous Brothers tunes, but it took time to find the person I could pull it off with. I knew Butch and Beau would be perfect for this project. I pitched the idea to Orville and we were off to the races. I’m glad the world will finally get to hear The Unrighteous Brothers. Never knew the unrighteous could be so righteous and I’m damn lucky to be a part of it.”
Peck said, “I’ve been obsessed with Paul ever since I first heard his voice a year or two ago. I finally got to see him play while we were both on tour in Nashville and that’s when we first met. He has such a larger than life, soulful presence, so when they brought me the idea of us doing The Unrighteous Brothers, it was just a no-brainer.”
“The Unrighteous Brothers” will also be released as a limited edition 7-inch single for Record Store Day’s “RSD Drops” this Saturday (Sept. 26) via the New West Records distributed Lightning Rod Records.
Ray Stevens Showroom CabaRay To Reopen In October
/by Lorie HollabaughRay Stevens is reopening his West Nashville showroom, CabaRay, following the government-mandated shutdown due to COVID-19 earlier this year. The country funnyman will resume live concerts at the entertainment venue on Thursday, Oct. 1, and concerts will be held every Thursday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. CT.CabaRay will reopen with a limited capacity of 125 concertgoers with socially-distanced tables setup throughout the venue. During the initial reopening phase, dinner will not be available, but Stevens plans to offer guests snacks, drinks and desserts.
“We are reopening CabaRay on Oct. 1,” Stevens said. “We’re excited to be able to get back to playing music, singing, laughing and having fun, all at a CDC-approved social distance of course!”
Perennial funnyman Stevens kept his trademark humor intact during the shutdown with the release of “The Quarantine Song.” The tune originally debuted on RFD-TV’s Larry’s Country Diner and was later uploaded to the internet. To date, the video has surpassed one million views on YouTube and currently boasts more than 6.9 million views on Facebook, totaling an audience of nearly eight million.
Kathie Lee Gifford Talks New Movie, Working With Brett James, And New Beginnings [Interview]
/by LB CantrellPhoto Courtesy Fathom Events
Television star, actress, singer, and songwriter Kathie Lee Gifford has lent her artistry to a new film, Then Came You. Gifford wrote, produced, and starred in the film, and she wrote the music with Music Row hit-maker Brett James. Film distributor Vertical Entertainment plans a one-night showing of Then Came You nationwide via Fathom Events on Sept. 30, followed by an on-demand and digital release on Oct. 2.
Then Came You tells the story of Annabelle Wilson, Gifford’s character, who is suddenly widowed after a 32-year marriage. While reading her late husband’s will, she discovers that upon his death he wishes to be cremated and have his ashes put in a ‘box of chocolates’ because Forrest Gump was his favorite movie.
Annabelle makes a list of their favorite 20 movies, sells her house and the hardware store she and her husband owned in their hometown of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and sets out on a traveling adventure. In honor of the movie Braveheart, Annabelle goes to Scotland first. There she meets an Inn owner, Lord Howard Awd (played by Craig Ferguson), and the two develop an unlikely friendship that ultimately leads to love. The only problem is that Lord Howard Awd is engaged to Clare (Elizabeth Hurley).
Then Came You starring Kathie Lee Gifford. Credit: Vertical Entertainment
MusicRow spoke to Gifford, who now calls Tennessee her home, about the film, writing with Brett James, and what the Nashville creative community means to her.
MR: You wrote, produced, starred in, and composed the music for Then Came You.
Yes! I would have also catered it, but everybody would have died of starvation. I would do whatever it took to get this movie made.
How did you get to know Brett James?
In June of 2017, The Today Show sent Hoda [Kotb] and me down to Nashville to cover the CMAs. One of the segments we were going to do was about what it’s like to sit in one of those famous ‘writer’s rooms’ with some of the best writers in town. I am a writer, people didn’t know that I was a writer, but I have been for many years. I knew that I should have a little something prepared to go into the segment, so I wrote a very short, funny little lyric and just brought it in. They said, ‘You’re going to be writing with Brett James,’ and I had never heard of him. They said, ‘Well, he’s one of the greatest writers in town,’ and they rattled off a few songs he had written and I went ‘That’s enough. That’s good!’ ‘Jesus Take The Wheel’ is all I needed to hear!
We came down and wrote this silly little song and did a 15-second, ‘nothing burger’ of an interview, it might have lasted 2 minutes on the air. As we were wrapping up and putting all of our stuff away, getting ready to go to the next shoot—which was going to be hot chicken, giving everybody a taste of Nashville—Brett came over to me and said, ‘Kathie, I was a huge fan of your husband, and I’m so sorry that you lost him. How are you doing? How are you and your kids?’ I said, ‘Brett, I’m great. We’re great. I found him that morning and the look on his face was of wonder and awe. He saw Jesus and Jesus took his breath away. And one day I’m going to write that song.’ He just looked at me and goes, ‘Well, let’s write that song.’ So I came back to Nashville the next week and went over to Music Row where his office was.
I didn’t know what to expect. I want to learn every day; I’ve done a lot of things in this life and I’ve been extremely blessed and had success that I could have never dreamed of, but I have tons yet to learn. And I knew I could learn something from this man, but I didn’t want to insult him. I didn’t know what to do actually. So I came with three little lines: ‘A little kiss, a little coffee, a little moment to pray. Our Sunday mornings always started that way.‘ And Brett goes, ‘Well, that’s how we’re going to start our song.’ So we wrote a song called ‘He Saw Jesus,’ and then we made plans for him to come to my house in Connecticut a couple of weeks later and make the demo because I have a studio in my house up there. So that’s how it all started.
How did Brett get involved with the movie?
[He got involved] when I was there working with him. I always have in my bag the next project I’m working on. I have a yellow, legal pad and all my big pens. I don’t write on a computer. He goes, ‘What are you working on now?’ I said, ‘You know what, I’m writing a movie for a friend of mine. I just adore him. His name is Craig Ferguson.’ He goes, ‘Oh, I love that guy! I miss him on The Late Late Show. Can I look?’ So he took out the script, and I know no more how to write a hit song than I know how to write a broadway musical or know how to write a movie, I just do it. I have no idea what I’m doing, I just sit down and do it.
I had written half of the movie perhaps at that time, but I already started writing songs for it. I had written all of the lyrics for a song called ‘Once Again,’ and Brett takes it out and looks at it and he goes, ‘Oh my gosh, Kathie, these lyrics are gorgeous. Let’s write this one next.’ I just thought, ‘Well, I’ve got one of the top writers in the world wrangled here, I ain’t gonna let him go. Let’s do it!’
So when he came to my house to record, ‘He Saw Jesus,’ we wrote ‘Once Again.’ And that’s how he came to write all of the songs for the movie with me, and then he scored it with our dear friend whom he introduced me to. He’s the best gift Brett ever gave me, Sal Oliveri, this amazing producer in Brentwood, who has become a dear, cherished friend. We wrote all the songs together and then Brett and Sal scored the film.
What inspired you to write Then Came You?
Because of Brett’s schedule and my schedule, I kept coming down to Nashville on weekends. I was happy to get away from the world I was living in then. I’d lost my husband, it was lonely. I loved getting on a plane and coming to Nashville and getting just immersed in the creative joy of being here. Every time I would get on a plane to go back to New York and I would say to myself, ‘Why am I so happy here?’ And it dawned on me, because people are joyful here. People aren’t screaming at each other. I didn’t realize how much my soul had been sucked dry in that culture of chaos in New York. I had been there 40 years, I raised my children there. I married the love of my life there and he died in my arms, but along the way that culture sucked me dry. And I knew that I was dying, I know that sounds dramatic. It’s meant to. I was dying of loneliness.
There’s a line in the movie that I wrote for Craig. This heroin, Annabelle, is a widow, and the only life she had ever had was with this man that she married. She gave up her dreams for him. At the time I knew that there was 17 million widows in America and 5 million widowers. The other interesting statistic is that of all the mature adult women in our country, approximately 49% of them—this was a statistic from two years ago—are alone. They’re either single because they never married, they’re divorced or they’re widowed. So there’s a huge demographic out there of people that are alone. They’re sad, they’re lonely and they need hope, so I wanted to write this movie for two people like that. They don’t know yet that God loves them, they’re doing the best they can do.
In the movie when Annabelle says, ‘I love you, Fred, and I always will, but I have to go make new memories or the old ones are going to kill me.’ That’s the way I felt. [The movie] is not an autobiographical, the only thing I have in common with Annabelle is that she’s a widow, but I didn’t want it to be autobiographical. I wanted my imagination to soar, I’m bored with me. My life is nothing to sing about, but I can make up other people’s that are wonderful.
You’re putting a duet with Brett, “Whiskey and Wine,” out as a single. Tell me about writing that one.
It’s perfect for the movie. Because of my theater background, I don’t sit down to write a hit record, but I write for the characters. We shot our movie in June, so the Christmas before…I had been going through one of the worst depressions of my life for about a year. All different things that converged at the same time, like an imperfect emotional storm. My mother had passed, different friends of mine had been caught up in the MeToo movement that didn’t deserve it and I was crushed for my friends, and I was missing my husband. We were down at our house in the Keys, and my kids were there with their loved ones. Everybody had somebody but me, and only people that have lost the love of their life understand how that feels. It’s Christmas, and everybody’s happy. All of a sudden it dawns on you that the world is made up of couples and you’re not one anymore. So it was Christmas Eve, one of the darkest nights of my life and I sat down and wrote, ‘I’ll bring the whiskey, I’ll bring the wine, I’ll get my guitar, I’ll go and get mine.‘ And then when I gave it to Brett, it became this joyful thing. I wrote it in the saddest, worst night of my life in a year and a half, but it was there! This hopeful place was still there.
So we wrote ‘Whiskey and Wine’ and did a demo on it. Sometimes the demo doesn’t turn out the way you want, so I put my voice on it and then it still wasn’t as good. So he called me and says, ‘Kathie, you want me to sing it with you?’ I said, ‘Yeah, duh!’ So he came in and sang it with me and then it came to life. Our director [Adriana Trigiani] loved it so much because Annabelle, my character, was going to sing it with somebody in this Scottish pub, so she said, ‘Brett why don’t you just come [be in the movie]?’ It’s an independent movie, we can do anything we want. Brett said ‘Yes’ to Adriana, next thing you know, he’s in the movie.
What has Brett and the Nashville music community meant to you?
Oh my gosh, where do I start? I had no idea when I just picked up moved. I’m like Annabelle, that we have in common. There’s a song that Brett and I wrote in the movie that the amazing Katie O sings, it goes ‘How do I begin to begin again, breathe deep and let all the fresh clean air in? How do I find courage to say, I’m going to start a brand new life today.‘ And Brett wrote, ‘Here I go, taking a ride on a brand new road. Who knows if I’m going to make it, but I’m going to try, try. All you need is a new set of wings to fly, fly on my way to a new life, and new everything’s.‘
And that’s what it is all about.
Edison Research Takes A Look At Radio Listener Profiles In New Survey
/by Jessica NicholsonThe study included more than 3,000 interviews, conducted in January and February 2020, prior to COVID-19 disruptions. These online interviews supplemented the Infinite Dial telephone-based survey.
The ethnicities of those taking part in the survey were 66% white, 13% African-American, 16% Hispanic-Latino, while 5% selected “other.” The country radio format had the highest percentage of white listeners in the study, at 87% (11% of Hispanic/Latino panelists listened to country, while 1% of African-American participants reported listening to the country radio format). The R&B radio format had the highest percentage of African-American listeners in the survey (55%), followed by Hip-Hop/Rap (25%) and contemporary Christian (19%).
The formats where P1 listeners were most likely to own an in-home radio include Classic Hits, Classic Rock, Country, Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, News/Talk, and Sports. Formats less likely to own an in-home radio include Alternative Rock, Contemporary Christian.
Among P1 listeners who were least likely to own a smart speaker are Country listeners, as well as listeners of Classic Hits, Classic Rock, Contemporary Christian, and News/Talk, while younger P1 listeners of Alternative Rock, Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, Hip Hop/Rap, R&B, Sports, and Top 40, are more likely to own one.
Study participants who listened mostly to Country radio reported using the social media platform Facebook the most (62%) followed by Instagram (10%) and Snapchat (8%). Country listeners reported that the audio brand they used most often was Pandora (30%), followed by Spotify (25%), with Apple Music trailing at 16%.
R&B listeners used YouTube for music most frequently with 57% reporting they had used YouTube for music or music videos in the last week, followed by Hip Hop/Rap listeners (55%), Hard Rock/Heavy Metal (50%), Top 40 (49%), Classic Rock (43%), Alternative Rock (42%), Contemporary Christian (39%), Country (38%) and Classic Hits (25%).
The survey also asked listeners to rate the importance of learning about and staying up to date with music. 41% of Country listeners said it was “somewhat important,” while 40% rated it as “not at all important.” Only 19% of Country radio listeners reported learning about and staying up to date with new music as “very important.” Contemporary Christian listeners mostly rated it as “somewhat important” (49%), while 41% rated it as “not at all important,” while only 10% considered it important to stay up to date with music. Meanwhile, the majority of Hip-Hop/Rap listeners (46%) rated it as “somewhat important,” while 37% rated it as “very important.”
The top platforms Country listeners, R&B listeners, and Contemporary Christian listeners used to keep up to date with music were AM/FM radio, YouTube and friends/family members. Hip-Hop/Rap listeners primarily used Spotify, YouTube and friends/family to learn about new music.
“Migrating loyal radio listeners from traditional radio hardware to smart speakers and mobile devices is essential to the future of radio,” said Ivey. “Consumers of audio should be thinking of radio when they make their listening choices.”
“Understanding the device ownership, discovery habits, social media preferences, and podcast tastes of P1 listeners is incredibly valuable insight for AM/FM radio stations as they continuously refine their online strategies,” said John Rosso, President of Market Development at Triton Digital. “Understanding how to reach their P1’s online will undoubtedly help broadcasters further engage with their most loyal listeners.”