Eric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb
It has been six years since singer-songwriter Eric Paslay released his self-titled full-length debut album, which yielded his Gold-certified breakthrough single, “Friday Night” as well as “Song About A Girl” and “She Don’t Love You.”
Paslay, who had turned a college music publishing internship into a full-fledged songwriter position and later signed with EMI, rapidly built a reputation as an ace artist-writer, penning Jake Owens’ “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” Eli Young Band’s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” Love and Theft’s “Angel Eyes,” and Rascal Flatts’ “Rewind,” in addition to his own radio singles. In 2016, he earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Lady A member Charles Kelley’s solo track “The Driver,” which Paslay co-wrote and sang on (alongside Kelley and Dierks Bentley).
But then, after another single, “High Class” failed to crack the Top 30 on the country radio charts, Paslay’s career seemed to stall. Plans for a followup album were put on hold; he parted ways with EMI in 2018.
Still, Paslay kept writing, kept singing, kept forging ahead. Last year, he inked a publishing deal with Big Machine Music.
Then came a one-two punch: on March 3, tornadoes damaged sections of the home that Paslay shares with his wife Natalie and their daughter Piper. Shortly after, Paslay set out on a European tour, which had to be cut short; he returned home to Nashville as shutdowns began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like many, Paslay has learned to pivot; while touring is on hold, he went ahead with plans to release some long-awaited new music, issuing his full-length album Nice Guy on Aug. 14 via his own Paso Fino Records.
The dozen tracks on Nice Guy expand on his Heartbeat Higher EP from earlier this year, including that project’s four tracks alongside eight new songs. Paslay produced the album with Grammy Award-winning producer F. Reid Shippen and Tofer Brown, and recorded it at Nashville’s Sound Emporium.
“I’ve worked with Reid Shippen as an engineer on a lot of records. My first albums, I produced myself, I love that creative side of it. But I’m also smart enough to realize there’s incredibly better ears in town and Reid Shippen has the best ears in almost the world to be able to capture the music and also mix the way that he does. It feels like a real album. For probably 80% of the album, we didn’t even cut to a click track, so it might speed up, or they might slow it down a bit,” Paslay says.
The project features the very first love song he’s included on an album: “Heartbeat Higher,” featuring vocals from one of the song’s co-writers, Sarah Buxton.
“I was like, ‘How have we never put out a love song? Out of all the singles, how has there not been a love song?’” he marvels. “It feels so good to be free to put out music and it feels so good that I’m totally free to invite who I wish. Sarah Buxton is one of the best. She literally just sang the vocals on the floor live. We didn’t go back in the studio and retouch vocals. It was live and real and it was a lot of fun, I love her to death.”
“Heartbeat Higher,” like approximately half the album, had been languishing on a shelf at Paslay’s former label home.
“These songs have just been waiting and waiting to be heard. Some of these have been recorded four and five different ways. I didn’t have control of that clock and now I do.”
Now a free agent, he says his new album Nice Guy serves as a “greatest hits” of sorts, brimming with some of his favorite songs he’s written in the years since his debut—plus an acoustic rendition of Mike Posner’s 2015 smash EDM hit “I Took A Pill In Ibiza.” The song marks the first outside song Paslay has ever included on a project.
“I think it’s a beautifully heartbreaking song that Mike Posner wrote and I wanted to tip the hat to a broken heart that got covered up with a bunch of EDM music,” he says.
“Fingertips” pays tribute to his daughter.
“Before I had Piper, just the dream of being a musician, you’d like to write a song for your child if you ever have one some day and I’m glad that ‘Fingertips’ is the first one that I’ll be putting out that really was written for Piper.”
The syncopated “Nice Guy” is a tongue-in-cheek look at nice guys who finish last, while “Woman Like Her,” penned with Charles Kelley and Laura Veltz, pays tribute to lasting love.
“This song might be two or three years old,” Paslay says. “We were hanging out at Charles’ house and the idea came up. It’s just a sweet song and I know it really pulls in a lot of what Natalie is to me, even though not every line is exactly autobiographical. I need her more than she needs me. She’s just a great woman. We got married five years ago and honestly, I had never really dated anyone until her. I just had my head down working so hard on establishing a career that I either just thought I don’t have time to really get someone, or I don’t have enough money to actually have a family and it’s kind of amazing just how God brought her into my world.”
Like most artists Paslay has been off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but while the touring shutdowns have been a professional setback for most artists, Paslay has been looking for the silver lining, and savoring time with his wife and their 1 ½-year-old daughter.
“It’s been a sweet time with my little girl and my wife. It’s pretty sweet to have this much time with her, just watching her just grow up and getting to be dad full time.”
He also has an eye on putting out future music, relying heavily on Zoom for co-writing sessions, something that has opened up new opportunities.
“I just wrote a song with a K-pop guy in Korea. It’s opened up amazing new ways to write with people anywhere, at any time of the day. We always start with a bad joke, like ‘This isn’t a corona song is it?’ By the time people hear this, it could be two years from now.”
In the meantime, he hopes the homespun project serves as a hopeful reminder for other dreamers set on pursuing their own musical passions.
“It’s amazing just for music and for people that actually have a dream to not need a million dollars to achieve it. They literally can just record it in their bedroom and it could win numerous Grammys. So that’s a really cool thing for all those kids and all the grown-ups, and everyone that’s a dreamer trying to make music and hopefully be heard.”
From Byrds To Burritos And Beyond: Chris Hillman Looks Back In New Memoir
/by Lorie HollabaughChris Hillman is chronicling his legendary career as one of the pioneers and founding fathers of country rock in a new memoir, Time Between: My Life as a Byrd, Burrito Brother and Beyond, due out Nov. 17 on BMG Books.
In the book Hillman takes readers behind the curtain of his quintessentially Southern Californian experience. Raised in San Diego County’s then-rural Rancho Santa Fe, Chris grew up in an idyllic 1950s environment that was filled with TV cowboys, horseback riding, exploring the outdoors, surfing, and falling in love with music. When his older sister came home from college with records by folk artists such as Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, Chris was hooked. He soon fell in love with the bluegrass music of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and The Stanley Brothers, spending hours mastering the guitar and mandolin.
After playing the Southern California folk and bluegrass circuit, he joined Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke as an original member of The Byrds. He went on to partner with Gram Parsons to launch The Flying Burrito Brothers, recording a handful of albums that have become touchstones of the Americana genre.
In the new book he sheds new light on his sometimes-complicated relationship with Gram Parsons and offers insight into the real man behind the myth. He reveals what really happened on the Opry stage when the Byrds made their controversial appearance during the recording of the Sweetheart of the Rodeo sessions, and offers up details on the band’s disastrous trip to South Africa. From becoming one of the first musicians to move to the artistic enclave of Laurel Canyon, to quitting the Byrds, breaking new “outlaw country” ground with the Flying Burrito Brothers, recording with Manassas, and making the connections that launched the careers of Buffalo Springfield and Emmylou Harris, Hillman opens up the fascinating pages of his life and career with engaging detail.
The memoir includes a foreword by Dwight Yoakam and dozens of photos from Chris’ personal collection, and is packed with his encounters with characters like Lenny Bruce, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bo Diddley, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, and Buck Owens, as well as his musical collaborations with Clarence White, Bernie Leadon, Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Al Perkins, and more. From tales of hanging out at the famed Ash Grove club in L.A. as a teen to Hillman’s 2018 Sweetheart of the Rodeo anniversary tour with Roger McGuinn and Marty Stuart, the engaging book always comes back around to Hillman’s first love.
“I never thought about the money, the future, or chasing down stardom,” he writes. “It was always all about the music. And it’s not over — we’re not done.””
Jay And Allison DeMarcus Showcase Life Off The Road On New Netflix Series ‘DeMarcus Family Rules’
/by Jessica NicholsonAs one-third of superstar music trio Rascal Flatts for the past two decades, Jay DeMarcus is no stranger to the camera, whether that means appearing on awards shows, television interviews or performing at CMA Fest.
He has also been remarkably open about both the mountaintop highs that come with performing as part of a group that has earned 17 No. 1 hits and sold more than 23 million albums, as well as the darkest times in his life and career, when he released the book Shotgun Angels: My Story of Broken Roads and Unshakable Hope in 2019.
Starting today (Aug. 19), music fans and Netflix users can get an unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at what life is like in the DeMarcus household, tucked in Nashville away from the concert stages and awards shows, in the new Netflix series DeMarcus Family Rules.
Unfolding over the course of six episodes, DeMarcus Family Rules centers on Jay and his family, including his wife Allison DeMarcus, a media personality and Triple Crown beauty pageant winner-turned-co-executive director of the Miss Tennessee pageant, as well as their two children, Madeline (age 9) and Dylan (8).
The series, produced by Maverick TV USA, All3Media America, and Todd Chrisley Productions, follows the family as they juggle busy schedules, and navigate family relationships and differing parenting styles (with Allison being the more rule-oriented parent, versus Jay’s more free-wheeling style). Jay says a conversation with their close friends, Todd and Julie Chrisley of Chrisley Knows Best, set plans in motion for the show.
“We’d appeared on the Chrisley Knows Best show a handful of times, and Todd and Julie live right around the corner,” Jay says. “After we had been on there, we went to dinner one night and Todd said, ‘You know, I’ve never done any [shows] outside of my own family before, but I think you guys have a show. The way you are with each other, and your kids are so funny and unpredictable.’ He felt people would enjoy seeing a peek behind the curtain of what it’s like when I come home off the road.
“We had our little trepidations about having cameras follow us everywhere but the more we talked about it, the more he laid our fears to rest that he would protect us and make sure we were presented in the best light and protect the brand I had built with Rascal Flatts, which was important to me.”
A film crew joined the family to capture footage for the episodes over the course of three months from October through December last year.
“They filmed everything from our daughter’s birthday party to Thanksgiving,” Allison says. “With our kids, we are all normally running in 100 different directions—or at least we were at that time, obviously everything came to a screeching halt in March. But it was all filmed pre-COVID.”
“We didn’t map out anything,” Jay adds. “They just asked us what we would normally be doing during that time and I said, ‘I’m just getting off the road and it’s a big enough deal to try to come home and re-introduce myself into the family circle here, so they filmed a bunch of that. And they shaped the episodes after it was all filmed. We did a Thanksgiving scene where everyone came to town and this particular time was different from us because it was the first time our entire family was all around the table since Allison’s father had passed away in 2016. So we were dealing with a lot of deep things while the cameras were here.”
They say their children—especially son Dylan—adapted easily to the film crews.
“Our son [Dylan] is Jay’s child, so he does not mind the camera being around at all, and would honestly prefer if a camera was around all the time,” Allison says. “He was upset when people were leaving; he really wanted the cameras to come back. Madeline is a little more shy and reserved, so it took her more time to get used to things. But because we had been on the Chrisley’s [show] several times, it didn’t throw them too badly because they had had those experiences which I think put them and us at ease with the process as well.”
Though Jay’s Rascal Flatts bandmates don’t appear in the first episodes, he says there is a possibility they could appear on future seasons. For now, Jay, Allison and their family are watching the series’ first six episodes on Netflix alongside everyone else.
“We haven’t seen any of the final episodes,” Allison says. “We are going to be watching it when everyone else does. We are excited to see what their take was after they had stayed with us for weeks and how they pieced it all together.”
“We hope that everyone that watches the show will see a little bit of themselves in our family, and see that we deal with the same kinds of issues with kids, with our spouses and with whatever life throws at us,” Jay sums. “In a lot of ways, Allison and I feel like we are learning every day how to juggle the responsibilities of being good marriage partners, good parents and good family members. I hope people can identify with us and at the end of the day can laugh at themselves like we have done a lot through this process.”
Industry Ink: SMACK, peermusic, King Business & Financial Management
/by Lorie HollabaughAmber Anderson Joins SMACK As Executive Assistant
Amber Anderson
Amber Anderson has joined SMACK as Executive Assistant to CEO Shane McAnally and President Michael Baum. She comes to SMACK from 5by5 Agency, where she worked with companies to solidify their messaging and branding. At SMACK, Anderson will serve as the primary contact for McAnally and Baum.
“We are so excited to have Amber on board the Smack team. We have seen her experience and enthusiasm working indirectly with her for years, so having her as part of the team officially, is a perfect and natural fit!” says McAnally.
Heather Cook Promoted To Director Of Marketing And Brands At peermusic
Heather Cook
Heather Cook has been promoted to Director of Marketing and Brands at peermusic. Since joining peermusic in 2013, she has helped to land song placements for IKEA, Marriott, Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, KIWI Shoe Polish, Kay Jewelers, Pandora, Nordstrom, Hershey’s, ESPN and more. She has also been instrumental in brand partnerships and collaborations with EA Games, Dragon Age, Mist Twist (PepsiCo), and Question Tequila and in the company’s signings of The Royal Foundry, The Weeks, Grand Canyon Music (Bob Feldman), Kid Politics, Nikki’s Wives, Luna Aura, Jamie Kent and more.
Cook previously served as Creative Manager for peermusic’s Advertising Markets department where she helped manage promotional and marketing strategies for peermusic’s catalog and for its new, emerging repertoire. Prior to joining peermusic, Cook owned a small boutique management company, Cook’n Up Music, where she managed indie artists. In addition, she worked as Administrative Director for the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) in Nashville. Cook graduated Cum Laude from Belmont University.
Sienna Gomez Joins King Business & Financial Management
“We’re excited to have Sienna join our team to help serve clients to the best of our abilities, which is especially important during the current environment of our industry,” said Chris King, owner of KBFM.
Laura Bell Bundy Inks Album Deal With ONErpm
/by Jessica NicholsonLaura Bell Bundy
Musical solutions company ONErpm has signed a deal with Laura Bell Bundy for the release of her forthcoming album Women Of Tomorrow, set for release next year.
Yesterday, Bundy released her first single and video from the project, “Get It Girl, You Go,” featuring Shoshana Bean and Anika Noni Rose. The song examines women’s issues in a modern and at times theatrical way.
With this new release, ONErpm will share the music through various and unique verticals that will include a number of special events. The first will be partnering with the non-profit organization Women In Music (WIM) to present a “fireside chat” with Bundy, moderated by ONErpm’s General Counsel and Head of Business Affairs, Jennifer Newman Sharpe,who also serves on WIM’s Advisory Board.
Emmanuel Zunz, Founder/CEO of ONErpm states: “We are very excited to be working with Laura Bell Bundy, a true multi-hyphenate. Women of Tomorrow effortlessly blends timeless sounds with many of the pressing issues we are facing as a country and planet. ”
“Laura Bell’s music is a unique continuation of thought provoking, empowering, witty and extremely catchy. I feel honored to lead the conversation with Laura Bell at the upcoming WIM event to learn more about her incredible career and personal path and the process of creating this important album,” states Newman Sharpe.
Bundy says, “I’m so thrilled to be releasing my passion project about the female experience and gender equality with ONErpm. They understand that this isn’t just an album, this is a soundtrack to a movement. As women raise their collective voices, this album operates as the beat backing them up.”
MusicRow Honors Recipients “Virtually” At 32nd Annual Industry-Voted MusicRow Awards
/by LB CantrellThe 2020 MusicRow Award trophies. Photo: MusicRow
MusicRow, Nashville’s leading music industry publication, virtually presented its 32nd annual MusicRow Awards on Tuesday, Aug. 18 via a series of videos on all online MusicRow platforms.
Presenting Sponsor of the 2020 MusicRow Awards is City National Bank.
MusicRow Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson and respected television host, entertainment journalist, writer and producer, Alecia Davis, served once again as ‘hosts’ on each winner’s video.
“We are uniquely positioned to witness the hard work and dedication these artists, songwriters, and respective team members execute each and every day,” says Robertson. “It’s our privilege to use our platform to honor those deserving talents, and despite the unique challenges the pandemic has unleashed on all of us, these accolades are deserved now more than ever. Congratulations to all of our nominees and winners!”
Pop-country star Ingrid Andress swept every category she was nominated in, including Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year for her debut hit, “More Hearts Than Mine,” co-written with Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland.
Country hitmaker Luke Combs is the reigning MusicRow Award Artist of the Year, after winning the inaugural award last year.
The Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year Award, named in honor of the magazine’s legendary contributor, honors a Nashville developing artist who demonstrates significant talent and potential to rise. Nominated for the Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist Award were Avenue Beat, Jameson Rodgers, Niko Moon, Payton Smith, Randall King, and Trea Landon. Jameson Rodgers took home the 2020 honor.
The virtual celebration also included a video presentation of the Top 10 Album All-Star Awards, recognizing session musicians achieving the most marks on albums that charted in the top 10 of Billboard’s albums sales chart during the eligibility period. Steel player Paul Franklin continues his reign as the highest-earning Top 10 Album All-Star Musician this year, earning his 24th MusicRow Award. On the other hand, drummer Jerry Roe wins his first ever MusicRow Award, in a tie with Nir Z. See full winner list below.
There is a strong correlation between MusicRow’s Breakthrough Artist and Breakthrough Songwriter winners, many going on to win Grammys, CMA and ACM Awards having included previous recipients Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Lady A.
The 2020 MusicRow Awards once again tapped Nashville cement artist Santana Matlock for the exclusively designed artisan trophies. The East Nashville creator produced the design from his Abstrakt Concrete studio in East Nashville, in the composition of the trophy includes soil from Nashville’s famed Music Row.
LIST OF 32nd ANNUAL 2020 MUSICROW AWARDS WINNERS
Producer of the Year [VIDEO]
Dann Huff
Label of the Year [VIDEO]
UMG Nashville
Agency of the Year [VIDEO]
Creative Artists Agency
Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Randy Montana
Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year [VIDEO]
Ingrid Andress
Male Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Ashley Gorley
Female Songwriter of the Year [VIDEO]
Hillary Lindsey
Song of the Year [VIDEO]
“More Hearts Than Mine” — Songwriter(s): Ingrid Andress, Sam Ellis, Derrick Southerland
Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Jameson Rodgers
Breakthrough Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Ingrid Andress
Artist of the Year [VIDEO]
Luke Combs
MusicRow also honors the Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians at the 2020 MusicRow Awards, recognizing the studio players who performed on the most albums reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart during the eligibility period.
LIST OF MUSICROW’S 2020 TOP 10 ALBUM ALL-STAR MUSICIANS
Bass
Jimmie Lee Sloas
Drums (tie)
Jerry Roe
Nir Z
Engineer
Justin Niebank
Fiddle
Stuart Duncan
Guitar
Ilya Toshinskiy
Keyboards
Dave Cohen
Steel
Paul Franklin
Vocals
Russell Terrell
Billy Strings To Launch Drive-In Tour In September
/by Lorie HollabaughBilly Strings is embarking on a seven-night “Meet Me At The Drive-In Tour” which will kick off on Sept. 11 for three nights at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
The tour then heads to the Chicago area for two already sold-out shows on Sept. 16-17 at McHenry Outdoor Theater, followed by two nights in Peoria, Illinois at the Expo Gardens on Sept. 18-19. Presale tickets are available beginning tomorrow (Aug. 20) at 12 p.m. ET for Billy Strings newsletter subscribers. Public on-sale begins Friday, Aug. 21 at 12 p.m. ET.
All tickets are available via billystrings.com.
All CDC and local guidelines will be followed during the shows, and the band and crew are working closely with local promoters and government to ensure the shows meet or exceed all recommended standards.
The drive-in shows will support his latest album HOME, which fuses bluegrass with elements of punk, country, folk rock, and more into his own unique brew. The project includes guest appearances from Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle and was produced by Glenn Brown.
Meet Me At The Drive-In Tour Dates:
Sept. 11 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 12 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 13 @ Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes-Barre, PA
Sept. 16 @ McHenry Outdoor Theater | McHenry, IL – SOLD OUT
Sept. 17 @ McHenry Outdoor Theater | McHenry, IL – SOLD OUT
Sept. 18 @ Expo Gardens | Peoria, IL
Sept. 19 @ Expo Gardens | Peoria, IL
Writing/Production Duo The 720 Inks Publishing Deal with Warner Chappell Music Nashville
/by Jessica NicholsonBack (L-R): Will Overton (WCM), Joey Whalen (WCM), Ryan Beuschel (WCM), BJ Hill (WCM), Ben Vaughn (WCM), Cam Caldwell (Attorney), Katie Jelen (WCM), Phil May (WCM). Front (L-R): Patricia Ragan-Mainello (WCM), Jessi Vaughn (WCM), Jarrod Ingram (The 720), Blake Hubbard (The 720), Karen Harrison-Hite (WCM), Hannah Hall (WCM), Christina Wiltshire (WCM)
Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with Blake Hubbard and Jarrod Ingram, better known as The 720. The duo’s name pays homage to Ingram’s address in Nashville’s Charlotte Park neighborhood, where he and Hubbard spent time working on NF’s sophomore album, Therapy Session.
Hailing from Illinois, the up-and-coming writing/production duo has secured cuts with the likes of Jimmie Allen, NF, Matt Stell, Cassadee Pope, Lukr, Kate York, Erin McCarley, Lisa Ajax, and Andreas Moss. Notably, Hubbard and Ingram co-wrote “Looking Back” by Claire Guerreso, which landed a synch placement on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.
With their diverse musical abilities, The 720 has been writing with top country talent while also collaborating with great pop writers and artists that frequent Nashville.
Eric Paslay Returns With First Full-Length Album In Six Years, ‘Nice Guy’
/by Jessica NicholsonEric Paslay. Photo: Rachel Deeb
It has been six years since singer-songwriter Eric Paslay released his self-titled full-length debut album, which yielded his Gold-certified breakthrough single, “Friday Night” as well as “Song About A Girl” and “She Don’t Love You.”
Paslay, who had turned a college music publishing internship into a full-fledged songwriter position and later signed with EMI, rapidly built a reputation as an ace artist-writer, penning Jake Owens’ “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” Eli Young Band’s “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” Love and Theft’s “Angel Eyes,” and Rascal Flatts’ “Rewind,” in addition to his own radio singles. In 2016, he earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Lady A member Charles Kelley’s solo track “The Driver,” which Paslay co-wrote and sang on (alongside Kelley and Dierks Bentley).
But then, after another single, “High Class” failed to crack the Top 30 on the country radio charts, Paslay’s career seemed to stall. Plans for a followup album were put on hold; he parted ways with EMI in 2018.
Still, Paslay kept writing, kept singing, kept forging ahead. Last year, he inked a publishing deal with Big Machine Music.
Then came a one-two punch: on March 3, tornadoes damaged sections of the home that Paslay shares with his wife Natalie and their daughter Piper. Shortly after, Paslay set out on a European tour, which had to be cut short; he returned home to Nashville as shutdowns began due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like many, Paslay has learned to pivot; while touring is on hold, he went ahead with plans to release some long-awaited new music, issuing his full-length album Nice Guy on Aug. 14 via his own Paso Fino Records.
The dozen tracks on Nice Guy expand on his Heartbeat Higher EP from earlier this year, including that project’s four tracks alongside eight new songs. Paslay produced the album with Grammy Award-winning producer F. Reid Shippen and Tofer Brown, and recorded it at Nashville’s Sound Emporium.
“I’ve worked with Reid Shippen as an engineer on a lot of records. My first albums, I produced myself, I love that creative side of it. But I’m also smart enough to realize there’s incredibly better ears in town and Reid Shippen has the best ears in almost the world to be able to capture the music and also mix the way that he does. It feels like a real album. For probably 80% of the album, we didn’t even cut to a click track, so it might speed up, or they might slow it down a bit,” Paslay says.
The project features the very first love song he’s included on an album: “Heartbeat Higher,” featuring vocals from one of the song’s co-writers, Sarah Buxton.
“I was like, ‘How have we never put out a love song? Out of all the singles, how has there not been a love song?’” he marvels. “It feels so good to be free to put out music and it feels so good that I’m totally free to invite who I wish. Sarah Buxton is one of the best. She literally just sang the vocals on the floor live. We didn’t go back in the studio and retouch vocals. It was live and real and it was a lot of fun, I love her to death.”
“Heartbeat Higher,” like approximately half the album, had been languishing on a shelf at Paslay’s former label home.
“These songs have just been waiting and waiting to be heard. Some of these have been recorded four and five different ways. I didn’t have control of that clock and now I do.”
Now a free agent, he says his new album Nice Guy serves as a “greatest hits” of sorts, brimming with some of his favorite songs he’s written in the years since his debut—plus an acoustic rendition of Mike Posner’s 2015 smash EDM hit “I Took A Pill In Ibiza.” The song marks the first outside song Paslay has ever included on a project.
“I think it’s a beautifully heartbreaking song that Mike Posner wrote and I wanted to tip the hat to a broken heart that got covered up with a bunch of EDM music,” he says.
“Fingertips” pays tribute to his daughter.
“Before I had Piper, just the dream of being a musician, you’d like to write a song for your child if you ever have one some day and I’m glad that ‘Fingertips’ is the first one that I’ll be putting out that really was written for Piper.”
The syncopated “Nice Guy” is a tongue-in-cheek look at nice guys who finish last, while “Woman Like Her,” penned with Charles Kelley and Laura Veltz, pays tribute to lasting love.
“This song might be two or three years old,” Paslay says. “We were hanging out at Charles’ house and the idea came up. It’s just a sweet song and I know it really pulls in a lot of what Natalie is to me, even though not every line is exactly autobiographical. I need her more than she needs me. She’s just a great woman. We got married five years ago and honestly, I had never really dated anyone until her. I just had my head down working so hard on establishing a career that I either just thought I don’t have time to really get someone, or I don’t have enough money to actually have a family and it’s kind of amazing just how God brought her into my world.”
Like most artists Paslay has been off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but while the touring shutdowns have been a professional setback for most artists, Paslay has been looking for the silver lining, and savoring time with his wife and their 1 ½-year-old daughter.
“It’s been a sweet time with my little girl and my wife. It’s pretty sweet to have this much time with her, just watching her just grow up and getting to be dad full time.”
He also has an eye on putting out future music, relying heavily on Zoom for co-writing sessions, something that has opened up new opportunities.
“I just wrote a song with a K-pop guy in Korea. It’s opened up amazing new ways to write with people anywhere, at any time of the day. We always start with a bad joke, like ‘This isn’t a corona song is it?’ By the time people hear this, it could be two years from now.”
In the meantime, he hopes the homespun project serves as a hopeful reminder for other dreamers set on pursuing their own musical passions.
“It’s amazing just for music and for people that actually have a dream to not need a million dollars to achieve it. They literally can just record it in their bedroom and it could win numerous Grammys. So that’s a really cool thing for all those kids and all the grown-ups, and everyone that’s a dreamer trying to make music and hopefully be heard.”
BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records Signs Track45
/by Jessica NicholsonTrack45
BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records has signed Track45 to its roster. The Mississippi-born group includes siblings Jenna, Ben and KK Johnson. Track45 are managed by Missi Gallimore of T.R.U.T.H. Management and Borman Entertainment.
“Family is important to us, and we think the best families are all about helping each other become the very best versions of themselves. We’ve found that family with BBR,” said Track45 in a joint statement. “They dream and believe as big as we do, and we couldn’t ask for a better creative home!”
“Family acts have a rich history in the country music genre. There is something special about the creative process and art born out of those shared experiences and bonds. These COVID times have reminded us more than ever, the power and importance of family as we all get back to what really matters in life. Family has once again become the nucleus of life for so many,” said Jon Loba, EVP BBR Music Group “I cannot think of a better time to introduce the incredibly talented Track45. Their production and writing is at both turns so dynamic and original, yet so familiar and relatable. They explore themes and topics we all experience, yet do so in such a unique way…in perhaps a way only three siblings who grew up creating together could. We couldn’t be more excited to have them join the BBR/BMG worldwide family and like their music, announcing their signing in a progressive new way with a hologram from our friends at Jadu.”
After moving to Nashville, each of the Johnson siblings signed publishing deals and earned cuts from artists including Justin Timberlake, Charlie PuthLee Brice, HARDY, Lauren Alaina, and more. Byron Gallimore produced their upcoming EP.
‘American Idol’ Virtual Auditions For Tennessee Set For Aug. 24
/by Lorie HollabaughAmerican Idol is hosting open call virtual Zoom auditions for the competition in Tennessee on Aug. 24.
The show is hosting “Idol Across America,” its first-ever live virtual nationwide search for the next superstar, which will include remote auditions taking place across all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., for the first time since the show’s inception, making auditions easier than ever.
For more information on auditions, visit abc.com.