Hidden History of Music Row, a new book from Arcadia Publishing and The History Press, features the hidden secrets and little known gems about Nashville’s Music Row. The book was written by Elizabeth Elkins and Vanessa Olivarez, (aka the alt-country singer-songwriter duo Granville Automatic,) along with historian/museum consultant/writer Brian Allison.

The book sets out to tell the full, unadulterated story of the heart of Music City, and digs into the dreamers, doers, architects, madmen, ghosts, and hitmakers that made these avenues and alleys world-famous.

Between its covers, readers will find never-before-seen photos of Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Kris Kristofferson, and Shel Silverstein and interviews with multi-Platinum writers and performers, all painting a picture of Music Row’s beautifully gritty boom.

“Getting the opportunity to write a book was a real surprise for us as a band,” co-author Elkins explains. “An editor at the History Press found us through an article in The Bitter Southerner about our last album Radio Hymns. That record was all about Nashville’s lost history and he felt it would be interesting for two songwriters with a love of history to team up with a historian and tell the stories of this extraordinarily complicated, mysterious, and mythical place, warts and all.”

Hidden History of Music Row is now available for purchase here.

The Recording Academy has formed a new Black Music Collective of prominent Black music creators and professionals who share the common goal of amplifying Black voices within the Academy and the music community. Jeffrey Harleston, Jimmy Jam, Quincy Jones, Debra Lee, John Legend, and Sylvia Rhone will serve as honorary chairs of the new Recording Academy BMC.

A leadership committee will be confirmed in the coming weeks and will work with the honorary chairs to propel the collective’s mission. Recording Academy Trustee Riggs Morales and Washington, D.C. Chapter Executive Director Jeriel Johnson will lead the initiative internally.

As a part of the Recording Academy’s commitment to evolving hand-in-hand with its membership, the collective will serve as a space for members to speak openly about new and emerging opportunities in Black music across all genres and identify ways to drive more representation.

“The Black Music Collective is necessary to help drive the Recording Academy into a new era. Creating an open space for Black music creators can only benefit our membership as a whole,” said Harvey Mason jr., Chair and Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “Through the past few months, I’ve been personally invested in propelling this collective along with Chapter leadership within the Academy. Together, we will elevate Black music creators within our organization and the industry at large.”

“As Black music continues to drive culture, it is essential we grow and maintain representation within the Academy and the music industry,” said Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the Recording Academy. “We’re thrilled to help develop the leaders of tomorrow with impactful educational and experiential programs that we will announce in coming weeks.”

In July 2020, the Academy announced a partnership with the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, Color of Change, and set forth to create a Black music advisory group. The Black Music Collective fulfills this promise and is bringing together creators and business leaders to create a pipeline of future industry trailblazers. Leaders will meet regularly and initiate programs that will encourage participation and accelerate Black membership in the Recording Academy.

This year’s Country Music Association Awards, set for Nov. 11, won’t have a live in-house audience of wall-to-wall fans and music industry members packing Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, as it has in years past.

In a recent letter to CMA members, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern noted that venue capacity for the upcoming 54th annual CMA Awards will be limited to essential personnel only. No tickets will be sold for this year’s CMA Awards, which will air on ABC beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Nov. 11.

Sony Music Nashville artist Miranda Lambert topped this year’s nominees with seven nominations, and making CMA Awards history in the process, as the first female artist to earn a record-breaking 55 total career nominations, breaking Reba McEntire’s record (McEntire earned her 51st career nomination this year). Lambert’s nominations include Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year (“Bluebird”), Album of the Year (Wildcard), Song of the Year (“Bluebird”), Musical Event of the Year (“Fooled Around And Fell In Love”), and Music Video of the Year (“Bluebird”).

Two more Sony Nashville artists, Luke Combs and Maren Morris also top this year’s nominations, with Combs earning six nominations (including his first for Entertainer of the Year) and Morris earning five nominations, adding to her previous 16 nominations and two wins.

Chase McGill. Photo: Jessica Amerson

Chase McGill has extended his global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. The company has also acquired interest in McGill’s catalog.

In only two years, McGill has notched five No. 1 singles including “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” (Luke Bryan), “Lose It” (Kane Brown), “Break Up In The End” (Cole Swindell), “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home” (Justin Moore) and “I Love My Country” (Florida Georgia Line). In 2019, McGill received two Grammy nominations, an ACM Writer of the Year nomination, a CMA Triple Play Award, and took home the NSAI Song of the Year award for “Break Up In The End.”
The songwriter continues his hot streak with recent cuts by Thomas Rhett, Morgan Wallen, Swindell, Moore, Chris Young, Gary Allan and Travis Denning, to name a few. Across his catalog, McGill’s songs have been recorded by Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Luke Combs, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Brett Young, Little Big Town, HARDY and Michael Ray, among others.

“Having Chase come to town with only a few songs and watching him put in the hard work, define his writing style, and gain the admiration of the Nashville writing community has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career,” said Travis Gordon, Senior Director A&R, UMPG Nashville. “Through this journey, he’s become an integral part of the UMPG family. We’re so proud of the strong catalog of hits he is continuing to build and excited to stay working alongside him in the future.”

“Like a lot of songwriters who move to Nashville, I didn’t have any family in town,” said McGill. “Over the years with Universal Music Publishing, that has all changed. If I’m out of town on a bus run, I know my wife can call anyone in that office for anything she needs, and they’ll be there in a hurry. Pair that with their work ethic, wisdom, leadership, and strategy, the decision to stay right where I’m at, was a no-brainer.”