Food, like music, is a time-honored source of comfort and community. Kitchen tables and music halls both bring people together to celebrate, commiserate, take a break from everyday mundane tasks, and find connection.
A new cookbook, All The Thyme in the World: A Collection of Recipes from the Grounded Music Industry, celebrates the dearly-held recipes from members of Nashville’s music community. Organized by music publicist Maria Ivey, the cookbook includes hundreds of recipes and stories from iconic music artists, music newcomers, songwriters, band leaders, drum techs, music agents, tour managers, performing rights organization execs, music journalists, a Grand Ole Opry host, and music fans.
“It’s all kinds of people,” Ivey says. “I really wanted it to be complete, and I think that kind of sums up the true meaning of a community cookbook, where each part honors the other part and recognizes their importance. I’d say maybe 75 percent of them put a little note in there about why they chose these recipes and who they got recipes from, and that’s been the best part.”
Hit songwriter Natalie Hemby contributed a black bean salsa. The Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale sent in a recipe for carrot cake. Bass player Tim Lefebvre, who played with David Bowie, contributed his mother’s breakfast casserole. Emmylou Harris’ gingerbread recipe is in there, as is Rosanne Cash’s potato salad recipe. Other contributors include Terri Clark, Kendell Marvel, Hailey Whitters, Mary Gauthier, Aubrie Sellers, Moon Taxi’s Trevor Terndrup, Pam Tillis, Aaron Watson and many more.
Dolly Parton contributed a recipe for her mother-in-law’s chili and spaghetti.
“I met my husband Carl Dean on the day I arrived in Nashville,” Parton writes in the book of the dish’s origins. “I was doin’ a bit of laundry at the Wishy Washy Laundromat, and there he was. The most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on. The first time he brought me home to meet his mom and daddy was also the same night he told them we were getting married. Mama Dean made a special spaghetti. Now, it’s a sentimental dish that I make for Carl a lot because it reminds us of the early days when we first got together.”
The idea for the book was sparked around the time the music industry was devastated as tours have been postponed and canceled, with numerous industry members losing work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ivey reached out to friends (and food lovers) in the music community with the idea for a community-style cookbook, and recipes began pouring in—20, then 50, 100, and now nearly 300 to date.
Ivey was inspired by Alton Brown’s foreword in The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, which praised older spiral-bound Junior League cookbooks as a source of “powerful medicine,” and she wanted the same for the music industry.
“I wanted the recipes people kept coming back to, the recipes they rely on, what their comfort food is,” Ivey says.
All funds from the cookbook will go right back into serving Nashville’s music community, aiding Music Health Alliance’s COVID-19 and Nashville Tornado Relief Fund. Many in Nashville’s music industry were severely impacted by tornadoes that ripped through the area in early March, followed closely by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone at Music Health Alliance, I keep calling them earth’s angels because that’s what they are,” Ivey says.
All The Thyme in the World: A Collection of Recipes from the Grounded Music Industry is $25 and can be pre-ordered at allthethymeintheworldcookbook.com.
BMG Expands Into Neighboring Rights Market
/by Lorie HollabaughBMG has set up a boutique performance rights service with its first new clients, UK DJ and producer Jonas Blue and founding member/lead singer of the legendary band The Who, Roger Daltrey.
The new service will be headed by VP Operations Strategy David Miller. Miller’s team will be responsible for ensuring each artist’s repertoire is registered accurately with collective management organizations in around 40 countries worldwide, tracking international income and ensuring faster royalty pay-through.
“There are some really great national performing rights agencies, but international performance is highly variable,” said Miller. “The best analogy is probably music publishing. Collection societies provide the backbone of collections, but publishers still add significant value.”
The deal with Daltrey includes classic recordings by The Who such as “My Generation,” “Pinball Wizard,” and “Who Are You,” as well as his own solo work. With Jonas Blue, BMG is representing performing rights in recordings such as “Perfect Strangers,” “Polaroid” and “Rise.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with the team at BMG for the next phase of my neighboring rights collection,” said Jonas Blue. “They have shown a considerable depth of understanding in this field, and I’m absolutely confident they will use their absolute best endeavours to be the best most efficient and pro-active team to handle this important side of our global business.”
The expansion into rights comes just four months after BMG moved into artist management in a partnership with Carl Stubner’s Shelter Music Group.
“We are delighted to welcome Jonas and Roger as we further extend our service offering to artists by offering a bespoke neighboring rights service,” said BMG COO Ben Katovsky. “We believe there is a substantial opportunity to increase artist income in this fast-growing area.”
Kathleen Edwards Readies New Project ‘Total Freedom’ For August
/by Lorie HollabaughKathleen Edwards. Photo credit: Remi Theriault
Kathleen Edwards is set to release her new album, Total Freedom, Aug. 14 on Dualtone. In advance of the new project, the album’s first single, “Options Open,” debuted yesterday (May 19).
Co-produced by Edwards, longtime collaborator/guitarist Jim Bryson and producer and musician Ian Fitchuk, Total Freedom marks a major return for Edwards, who took an extended step away from music in 2014. After spending the last six years running her coffee shop, bar and café in her hometown of Stittsville, Ottawa, Edwards is back with a refreshed creative outlook and a new sense of freedom.
“I had no desire to write, no desire to play,” she explains. “It allowed me all the time and space I needed to even just enjoy listening to music again. There were so many times where, if I was thinking about my own writing or playing, my heart just wasn’t in it. I don’t want to write songs that are going to keep me in a dark place for two years. I didn’t have to carry a lot of the pressure of whatever course I was on previously…There’s a pressure sometimes to keep that ball rolling, and that’s what was so freeing about stopping altogether and starting again. I realized I’m entirely in control and deciding what my course of action is.”
Total Freedom is Edwards’ fifth studio album, and her first since 2012’s Voyageur. She is a five-time Juno Award nominee, and has also had her music featured in several TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Hart of Dixie, House and more.
Nashville Cancels July 4th Concert, Shifts Fireworks Display To TV
/by Lorie HollabaughBrad Paisley.
Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th, Nashville’s annual 4th of July celebration downtown, will look a bit different this year understandably, and will this year honor healthcare heroes, first responders and frontline workers with a televised fireworks show. No artists will be performing this year, and no spectators will be allowed in the parks, but a short fireworks display set to recorded music by Nashville artists will air locally on NewsChannel 5.
Brad Paisley, who was previously scheduled to headline this year’s July 4th event, will instead headline the event in 2021.
“The community deserves a celebration and our healthcare and frontline workers deserve to be honored,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “Music City has consistently had one of the largest July 4th celebrations in the nation, and while the crowds will be asked to stay home this year and our fireworks display will be minimal, we still wanted to find a way to celebrate our country and our city during this difficult time.”
FGL Offers Up Summer ‘6-Pack’ In Advance Of Upcoming Album
/by Lorie HollabaughFlorida Georgia Line. Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC
Florida Georgia Line are breaking out some jams to help relieve some of the boredom of quarantine with their new 6-Pack EP, due out this Friday (May 22). This latest batch of tracks is available for preorder now at all streaming platforms and digital retailers, and includes the new song “Second Guessing,” from their recent appearance as guest artists on season two of NBC’s songwriting series, Songland. The slow-groove ballad they selected on the show was penned by songwriter Griffen Palmer and show producer Shane McAnally.
FGL teamed up with co-producer Corey Crowder for the new EP, which features songs that run from party-thumping anthems to gratitude-building ballads. Its assortment of flavors is perfect for summer and offers a taste of their upcoming fifth studio album on BMLG Records, due out later this year.
“This 6-Pack is like a variety pack – there is a little something for everybody: a love song, party songs, and songs that bring us together,” shares FGL. “We’ve been working real hard in the studio, and are just super excited to have new music out.”
1. “Beer:30” – Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, Canaan Smith, Ernest Keith Smith
2. “Ain’t Worried Bout It” – Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip
3. “Second Guessing (From Songland)” – Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, Ester Dean, Andrew DeRoberts, Shane McAnally, Griffen Palmer, Benjamin Simonetti, Ryan Tedder, Geoff Warburton
4. “Countryside” – Blake Redferrin, Jake Rose, Michael Whitworth
5. “U.S. Stronger” – Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley
6. “I Love My Country” – Kane Brown, Corey Crowder, Chase McGill, Ernest Keith Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Will Weatherly
Sam Hunt’s Southside Summer Tour 2020 Canceled
/by Jessica NicholsonSam Hunt‘s Southside Summer Tour 2020 is the latest tour to be canceled this year, according to a social media post from Travis Denning, who had been slated to open the shows, alongside Kip Moore and Ernest.
“To say the news today has been an absolute bummer would be an understatement,” Denning said via Twitter. “The day I got the call we were on the Sam Hunt tour was one I’ll never forget. I know it’s for the best, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset we won’t be singin’ country music all summer. I was so excited to play these new songs. Excited to tear up the country with my band and crew, and excited to write another chapter in this crazy life I’m lucky to live. Y’all stay safe, and I promise that when we get back on the road, it’ll be bigger and better than ever. Love y’all.”
CID Entertainment—which crafts top-shelf VIP packages for artist tours—also issued a statement that the tour has been canceled. Meanwhile, Live Nation’s official site lists nearly every show on the tour as being canceled as well, with a select few being rescheduled.
Hunt’s Southside Summer Tour 2020 was set to launch July 10 in Maine and conclude Oct. 10 in Georgia. Neither Hunt nor Moore have made public statements about the tour’s cancellation at this time.
The news follows announcements of tour postponements or cancellations from Reba, Thomas Rhett, Lady Antebellum, Chris Stapleton, Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flatts, Maren Morris, and more over the past few weeks.
The tour takes its name from Hunt’s recent chart-topping album Southside, which includes singles such as “Kinfolks” and his most recent “Hard to Forget.”
New Cookbook Collects Recipes, Stories From Nashville’s Music Community
/by Jessica NicholsonFood, like music, is a time-honored source of comfort and community. Kitchen tables and music halls both bring people together to celebrate, commiserate, take a break from everyday mundane tasks, and find connection.
A new cookbook, All The Thyme in the World: A Collection of Recipes from the Grounded Music Industry, celebrates the dearly-held recipes from members of Nashville’s music community. Organized by music publicist Maria Ivey, the cookbook includes hundreds of recipes and stories from iconic music artists, music newcomers, songwriters, band leaders, drum techs, music agents, tour managers, performing rights organization execs, music journalists, a Grand Ole Opry host, and music fans.
“It’s all kinds of people,” Ivey says. “I really wanted it to be complete, and I think that kind of sums up the true meaning of a community cookbook, where each part honors the other part and recognizes their importance. I’d say maybe 75 percent of them put a little note in there about why they chose these recipes and who they got recipes from, and that’s been the best part.”
Hit songwriter Natalie Hemby contributed a black bean salsa. The Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale sent in a recipe for carrot cake. Bass player Tim Lefebvre, who played with David Bowie, contributed his mother’s breakfast casserole. Emmylou Harris’ gingerbread recipe is in there, as is Rosanne Cash’s potato salad recipe. Other contributors include Terri Clark, Kendell Marvel, Hailey Whitters, Mary Gauthier, Aubrie Sellers, Moon Taxi’s Trevor Terndrup, Pam Tillis, Aaron Watson and many more.
Dolly Parton contributed a recipe for her mother-in-law’s chili and spaghetti.
“I met my husband Carl Dean on the day I arrived in Nashville,” Parton writes in the book of the dish’s origins. “I was doin’ a bit of laundry at the Wishy Washy Laundromat, and there he was. The most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes on. The first time he brought me home to meet his mom and daddy was also the same night he told them we were getting married. Mama Dean made a special spaghetti. Now, it’s a sentimental dish that I make for Carl a lot because it reminds us of the early days when we first got together.”
The idea for the book was sparked around the time the music industry was devastated as tours have been postponed and canceled, with numerous industry members losing work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ivey reached out to friends (and food lovers) in the music community with the idea for a community-style cookbook, and recipes began pouring in—20, then 50, 100, and now nearly 300 to date.
Ivey was inspired by Alton Brown’s foreword in The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, which praised older spiral-bound Junior League cookbooks as a source of “powerful medicine,” and she wanted the same for the music industry.
“I wanted the recipes people kept coming back to, the recipes they rely on, what their comfort food is,” Ivey says.
All funds from the cookbook will go right back into serving Nashville’s music community, aiding Music Health Alliance’s COVID-19 and Nashville Tornado Relief Fund. Many in Nashville’s music industry were severely impacted by tornadoes that ripped through the area in early March, followed closely by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everyone at Music Health Alliance, I keep calling them earth’s angels because that’s what they are,” Ivey says.
All The Thyme in the World: A Collection of Recipes from the Grounded Music Industry is $25 and can be pre-ordered at allthethymeintheworldcookbook.com.
WMA Launches Nashville PR Division
/by Jessica NicholsonJamie Cologna
Global music and entertainment agency WMA has expanded its Nashville operations with the launch of a new publicity division.
Former CAA and SMACKSongs employee, Jamie Cologna joins the company as the department’s first new hire and publicist. Cologna will work alongside the wider U.S. PR team, based out of New York’s headquarters, leading artist campaigns and assisting with the Nashville office which is overseen by former Sony Nashville and Warner UK Marketing executive, Hannah Dudley.
“I’m thrilled to see our Nashville operations and publicity team continue to expand with the new PR department,” said WMA founder and global CEO Seb Weller. “With such a wealth of talent in Nashville, I’m excited that we are now able to offer full-service PR to local artists and brands alongside our existing and global clients. With the addition of Jamie we are incredibly pleased to welcome another industry leader to our 50+ strong global team.”
“I’m incredibly excited to be joining WMA and to bring my love for PR to the team,” Cologna said. “WMA is such an innovative organization and the services they offer really do set them apart from the rest. I’m so grateful for their support and honored they chose me to expand their PR efforts in Nashville.”
WMA launched in 2013 and now includes more than 50 employees across offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Nashville and Melbourne, Australia. The WMA client roster includes brands spanning various sectors such as Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Spotify, Netflix, EA Games, Disney, Vevo and Adidas.
Rascal Flatts Cancel Farewell Tour
/by Jessica NicholsonRascal Flatts.
Rascal Flatts have announced the cancellation of their Farewell Life Is A Highway Tour, according to an announcement the trio made Tuesday (May 19) via social media.
“Flattheads, after a lot of difficult conversations that we never thought we would be having, we have decided that in the interest of the safety of everyone involved we will not be moving forward with our Farewell Tour. Refund information is available at livenation.com/refund. 2020 is still an important year for us as a band and a milestone we want to celebrate with our fans, so please stay tuned for some fun surprises coming your way soon! We love you and can’t thank you enough for being on this journey with us! Thank you for understanding. Stay safe, Rascal Flatts.”
The tour had been set to launch June 11, and would have included a Nashville stop at Bridgestone Arena in October. Several newcomers were set to open the shows, including Chris Lane, Chase Rice, Avenue Beat, Caylee Hammack, King Calaway, Matt Stell and Rachel Wammack.
Michael W. Smith To Headline Drive-In Concert In Franklin, Tennessee
/by Jessica NicholsonCCM superstar Michael W. Smith will headline a drive-in concert at Franklin, Tennessee’s Williamson County Ag Expo Center on Saturday, May 30, 2020 at 7 p.m. CT (gates opening at 5 p.m. CT). Fans can watch the concert from the safety of their cars, with concert audio available via a designated FM radio channel. LED screens will be mounted as well.
“This is going to be a fun night. I am so excited to see everyone, perform and lead worship in person again,” Smith says. “I just think it is going to be so unique, a night we will all remember.”
Since full-scale concerts have been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith has hosted weekly at-home concerts, titled “Worship Around the World,” via social media, drawing millions of viewers. Smith recently earned his first non-holiday Billboard No. 1 hit since 2004, with “Waymaker.”
Tickets for the show will be $40 per vehicle, and a portion of the proceeds will be dedicated to benefit Rocketown, which Smith founded in 1994 as a faith-based outreach facility in Nashville to serve youth. Rocketown offers live music, after school enrichments for youth and creative arts programs.
Some artists are offering drive-in concert shows as a way to offer live concerts to fans, with a way to have fans congregate while meeting social distancing safety measures.
Last week, Keith Urban hosted a live concert at Watertown’s Stardust Drive-In Theater, to honor Vanderbilt Medical workers. It was also announced that Eli Young Band will be among the artists performing a series of drive-up concerts at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Lady Antebellum Cancels Ocean 2020 Tour
/by Jessica NicholsonLady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum has canceled their Ocean 2020 Tour, according to a note they posted on social media on Tuesday (May 19). The trio previously postponed the dates, with a rescheduled start date of July 2 in Sacramento, California. The trio did not indicate that the shows would be rescheduled.
“Out of respect and love for our fans, crews and families, we’ve made the very difficult decision to not move forward with the Ocean 2020 Tour this summer with Jake Owen and Maddie & Tae,” the trio said in a statement. “This decision breaks our hearts but the health and well-being of those we love is our first priority.
“We dream about the day we can step back on stage, see all your faces and hear all of your voices singing back to us. Y’all are the reason we do what we do and we find peace knowing that it will be even more special once we get through this together—and we will. While we don’t have future plans to share just yet, we are working with our team around the clock to figure out when and how we can safely get on the road to see all of you. Until then, we’re going to continue to find ways to keep the music playing and stay connected with you.”
They also noted that fans will be refunded for tickets that were purchased. The Ocean 2020 Tour is the latest to be postponed or canceled, alongside tours from Kenny Chesney, Chris Stapleton, Rascal Flatts and Thomas Rhett in the past few days.