DISClaimer: Laine Hardy Records A Love Letter To His Hometown

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Drink up, everybody.

The dominant theme in this stack of sounds is booze, booze and more booze. Lady Antebellum, Luke Bryan, Jameson Rodgers (with Luke Combs) and Brad Paisley all have new drinking songs, while Chingy’s collaboration with Meg & Tyler is their perfect party accompaniment.

The Disc of the Day goes to something a little deeper and a lot more rocking. It’s the always delightful Lee Brice and his “One of Them Girls.”
American Idol champ Laine Hardy earns this week’s DisCovery Award.

LUKE BRYAN/One Margarita
Writers: Michael Carter/Matt Dragstrem/Josh Thompson; Producers: Jeff and Jody Stevens; Publishers: Sony-ATV Cross Keys/243 Music/Round Hill/Matt Drag/Big Loud Proud/Big Machine/Two Laine Collections, ASCAP/BMI; Capitol Nashville
-Bopping and charming. As sunny as the summer that will soon be here.

PARKER McCOLLUM/Like A Cowboy
Writers: Al Anderson/Chris Stapleton; Producer: Jon Randall Stewart; Publisher: none listed; MCA Nashville
-Somewhat disappointing. It’s meant to be a thoughtful ballad, but his delivery is bland.

BRAD PAISLEY/No I In Beer
Writer: Brad Paisley/Kelley Lovelace; Producer: Brad Paisley/Dann Huff/Luke Wooten; Publisher: none listed; Arista
– It’s about togetherness, which is something we probably all need to hear right now. Especially packaged with the wry, good-natured delivery this guy specializes in. A smile and a head bob.

LADY ANTEBELLUM/Champagne Night
Writers: Andrew DeRoberts/Charles Kelley/Dave Haywood/Dave Thomson/Ester Dean/Hillary Scott/Madeline Rae Merlo/Patricia Conroy/Ryan Tedder/Shane McAnally/Tina Annette Gemza; Producer: Shane McAnally/Andrew DeRoberts; Big Machine
-This happy little ditty competed on the TV show Songland. “Drinking beer on a champagne night” sounds exactly like a summer jam.

JAMESON RODGERS & LUKE COMBS/Cold Beer Calling My Name
Writers: Alysa Vanderheym/Brett Tyler/Hunter Phelps/Jameson Rodgers; Producers: Chris Farren/Jake Mitchell; Publishers: none listed; River House Artists/Columbia Nashville
– Every time Combs takes the mic, he takes over the song. He’s such a powerful, personality-packed vocalist that Jameson just can’t keep up. Nevertheless, it’s a country-music rousing good time.

MITCHELL TENPENNY/Here
Writers: Jordan Schmidt/Marc Beeson/Mitchell Tenpenny; Producer: Jordan Schmidt; Producer: none listed; Riser House Entertainment/Columbia Nashville
– Live it up while ya can, sez Mitch. The busy-busy track scampers nervously behind him while he gives the lyric plenty of oomph and vocal charisma. Less production, please.

LEE BRICE/One Of Them Girls
Writers: Ashley Gorley/Ben Johnson/Dallas Davidson/Lee Brice; Producers: Ben Glover/Kyle Jacobs/Lee Brice; Publishers: none listed; Curb
-This man can do no wrong, it seems. This terrific tempo tune describes being completely smitten by an independent, self-sufficient gal. The lyric is cool, and it goes without saying that Lee sings the fire out of it.

WILLIAM MICHAEL MORGAN/Cowboy Cool
Writers: William Michael Morgan/Doug Johnson/Adam Wood; Producer: Doug Johnson & Adam Wood; Publisher: none listed
-He’s such a wonderful country singer. The paint-by-numbers song does nothing for me.

LAINE HARDY/Ground I Grew Up On
Writers: Brandon Kinney/Brett Beavers/Josh Thompson; Producer: Michael Knox; Publisher: none listed; Hollywood Records/19 Recordings
– This boyish 2019 American Idol winner brims with sincerity on this love letter to his hometown. Earnest and warm and endearing.

MEG & TYLER & CHINGY/The Woah Down
Writers: Chingy, Meghan Linsey, Tyler Cain; Producer: Tyler & Chingy; Publisher: none listed; Full Dekk
– “Meg” is Meghan Linsey, formerly of Steel Magnolia and solo. “Tyler” is her fiancé Tyler Cain. Chingy is, of course, a hip-hop superstar. Their collaboration is meant to be an “Old Town Road” or “The Git Up” kinda thang. Meg sings the hoedown dance instructions, but it’s mainly Chingy’s record, thanks to his distinctive midwestern drawl. The whole thing is as catchy as the dickens.

Loretta Lynn Details Patsy Cline Friendship With New Video For "I Fall To Pieces"

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Loretta Lynn celebrated her 88th birthday earlier this week on Tuesday (April 14) and is releasing a new video today for “I Fall to Pieces.” Created by director Aaron Ray, the video celebrates Loretta’s friendship with the late country legend Patsy Cline, and features custom illustrations and animations.

In the spring of 1961, Cline suffered severe injuries in a car accident. While Cline was in the hospital, Lynn appeared on the radio show Midnight Jamboree, and dedicated a performance of Cline’s hit “I Fall to Pieces” to the ailing singer. Upon hearing Lynn, Cline had her husband arrange for Lynn to pay a visit, and the two clicked immediately.

“Friendship can help us during difficult times, like what we are all going through now. I wanted to share this song and video in honor of Patsy,” said Loretta.” “She was my friend, mentor, my strength and I miss her to this day.”

The track and video are in celebration of the new book Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust (released April 7 through Grand Central Publishing), an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that changed country music indelibly and is also a meditation on love, loss and legacy. The “I Fall to Pieces” video includes quotes from the book.

Lynn’s newly-recorded version of “I Fall to Pieces,” one of Cline’s most-recognizable hits, was released digitally on April 3 through Legacy Recordings. The track was recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee and produced by Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash, who produced Lynn’s Grammy-nominated album, Full Circle, as well as her last studio album Wouldn’t It Be Great, which received a Grammy nomination for the title track.

YouTube video

Luke Combs Captures What So Many Are Feeling In New Song "Six Feet Apart"

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Luke Combs. Photo: Jim Wright

Luke Combs debuted a new song during his livestream Wednesday evening (April 15), and the song captures what so many are going through during these days of social distancing and stay-at-home orders.

“Six Feet Apart,” which Combs penned with Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder, focuses on the simple pleasures and social interactions that so many take for granted, and things that so many look forward to after this time of social distancing finally comes to an end—a hug, visiting bars, and hanging out with friends and family.

There’ll be crowds and there’ll be shows, he sings, referencing the many concerts, music festivals and social events that have been stalled or canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The song acknowledges the uncertain times but also the hope of better days in the lyrics, It’s a mystery I suppose just how long this thing goes/There’ll be life after dark/Someday when we aren’t six feet apart.

See the full performance below:

YouTube video

Curb Records, Mike Curb Foundation Partner With Community Organizations To Provide Meals For Homeless

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Curb Records and The Mike Curb Foundation, along with the community leaders of the Nashville Rescue Mission, Second Harvest Food Bank, Room In The Inn, Safe Haven, and Chick-fil-A, are making sure Nashville’s homeless population are taken care of during the pandemic by providing over 24,000 meals. Food started being served this past Sunday (April 12), and will continue through the end of the month.

“We are so grateful for this gift from Mike Curb and The Mike Curb Foundation,” shares Glenn Cranfield, President and CEO of the Nashville Rescue Mission. “This donation will do so much more than just satisfy hunger pains, it sends a message to our most vulnerable neighbors that they matter, and someone genuinely cares about them. We are honored to be a part of this endeavor.”

Due to the tornado in Nashville last month and the current coronavirus, many of the homeless in Nashville are without food and shelter. The Nashville Rescue Mission began providing a portion of these meals on Easter Sunday and will continue providing meals through the end of April. Second Harvest Food Bank is providing a portion of the meals at the Nashville Fairgrounds, which has opened its facilities to the homeless as social distancing keeps many out of the shelter, and The Room In The Inn is providing a portion of the meals at their facility as well.

“I’d like to thank our good friends Jim Van Hook and Susan and Rod Riley for partnering with us at their Chick-fil-A here in Nashville, and creating and assembling great food on such short notice. It’s wonderful to partner with such caring people at this time,” said Curb. “I also want to thank Glenn Cranfield for his incredible leadership in coordinating this effort, along with Father Charles Strobel and Rachel Hester from the Room In The Inn. I also want to thank Nancy Keil and Kim Molnar from Second Harvest Food Bank, and Rachael Wilkins from Safe Haven.”

Americana Music Association Launches Livestream With Ed Helms, The Bluegrass Situation

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The Americana Music Association has partnered with The Bluegrass Situation and its co-founder, actor/comedian/musician Ed Helms, to present Whiskey Sour Happy Hour, an online variety show benefiting MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund and Direct Relief. The show, presented in part by TX Whiskey and Allbirds, will debut on April 22 at 8 p.m. ET.

With Helms serving as host of the series, Whiskey Sour Happy Hour will draw on his long-running Whiskey Sour Radio Hour shows at LA’s Largo to bring music, comedy, and interviews directly into homes across the country and world. April 22nd’s edition of Whiskey Sour Happy Hour will feature music from Lee Ann Womack, Aubrie Sellers, Billy Strings, and Madison Cunningham, plus more surprise guests.

After the premiere on April 22, new shows will be broadcast every Wednesday at the same time for the following three weeks — April 29, May 6, and May 13. Confirmed guests for the series include Chris Thile, Yola, Sarah Jarosz, Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi, Rodney Crowell, Aoife O’Donovan, Robert Ellis, and Watkins Family Hour, to name a few. Additional guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

“As soon as we realized the severity of the current crisis, Ed and I both knew we had to do something to support both our musical and medical community — and not just a one-time thing, but something that could promote more sustained giving through multiple shows,” says BGS Co-Founder and Executive Director, Amy Reitnouer Jacobs. “In a short amount of time, our BGS family of artists have come together in such a big way to make this happen. It makes us feel like even though we’re all separated right now, we’re closer than ever before.”

Whiskey Sour Happy Hour can be streamed on the Association’s Facebook page, as well as on The Bluegrass Situation’s website, Facebook and YouTube pages. Fans are able to donate to MusiCares and Direct Relief here.

Colin Rushing Elevated To Chief Legal Officer Of SoundExchange

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Colin Rushing

Colin Rushing has been promoted to Chief Legal Officer of SoundExchange. With the promotion, Rushing will now lead SoundExchange’s business development strategy in addition to overseeing the company’s legal, regulatory, and enforcement initiatives. Rushing will serve in this role in Nashville.

Rushing has served as SoundExchange’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel since 2014. He has played a key role supporting SoundExchange’s successful advocacy for music creators, including securing a $150 million settlement with SiriusXM and a more than 40% increase in satellite radio rates in the last proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board. He was SoundExchange’s General Counsel prior to serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Before joining the company, Rushing practiced intellectual property and media law as an attorney at WilmerHale. Rushing was named to Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers list in 2018 and 2019.

“Colin is one of the music industry’s leading minds whose knowledge and dedication to fair payment has improved the livelihood of all music creators,” said SoundExchange President & CEO Michael Huppe. “I look forward to Colin serving in this new role and creating new opportunities for our organization and the overall music community.”

Rushing’s promotion comes at a time when SoundExchange is advocating for increased royalty rates for music creators during the Copyright Royalty Board’s “Web V” proceeding, and at a time when SoundExchange is expanding its suite of publisher services that includes tools like Music Data Exchange.

“SoundExchange is committed to maximizing the value of music, and to empowering music creators to thrive in a constantly shifting environment.  I’m proud to be a part of this team and excited to advance SoundExchange’s mission,” said Rushing.

Producer/Pianist Matt Rollings To Release First New Album In Three Decades

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Matt Rollings and Lyle Lovett. Photo:

Nashville-based pianist Matt Rollings is releasing his first solo album in over 30 years, Matt Rollings Mosaic, on Aug. 14. The album will be available for pre-order beginning today (4/16), and includes the new single, a cover of “Accentuate The Positive,” featuring his longtime friend and collaborator for more than three decades, Lyle Lovett.

Rollings invites some other big-name friends to lend their talents to the new album as well, including guest vocals from Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, The War And Treaty, Molly Tuttle, Buddy Miller, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Alison Krauss, and Vince Gill, among others. The project combines his own originals with timeless classics and some of the more famous tunes he’s performed over the years.

“I’m a piano player,” says Rollings. “I’ve made a career out of listening deeply and supporting other artist’s visions, and that’s brought a lot of joy and meaning into my life. With this record, though, it was time for me to explore my own vision. I called this album Matt Rollings Mosaic not only because it’s a mosaic of styles and genres and artists, but because I feel like I’m a mosaic myself. I love being a performer and a writer and an arranger and a producer, but so often, you’re made to feel like you have to pick just one. With this record, I got to choose them all.”

Matt Rollings Mosaic tracklist:
1) Take Me To Mardi Gras (ft. The War and Treaty)
2) Accentuate The Positive (ft. Lyle Lovett)
3) Stay (ft. Alison Krauss with Vince Gill)
4) Wade In The Water (ft. The War and Treaty with The Blind Boys of Alabama)
5) If I Had A Boat (ft. Ramblin’ Jack Elliott)
6) Spirits In The Material World (ft. Charlie Greene)
7) When You Loved Me Still (ft. Heidi Talbot)
8) That Lucky Old Sun (ft. Lyle Lovett, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Willie Nelson)
9) I’ll Come Knocking (ft. Lukas Nelson with Molly Tuttle and Buddy Miller)
10) Slumber My Darling (ft. Heidi Talbot with John McCusker)
11) Pontiac

Entercom’s Radio.com Announces Record Digital Audience

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Entercom has revealed a new record of 40 million monthly active users for radio.com, the company’s digital audio and content platform that is the digital home for all Entercom content across its 235 stations, along with hundreds of affiliate stations and numerous podcasts.

Radio.com has earned 63% year-over-year growth across all devices including mobile, smart speakers and desktop, with its web platform’s visitor base growing 107% year-over-year. Other year-over-year highlights for radio.com include a 22% increase in total listening hours, the eighth straight month of double-digit growth, as well as a 90% year-over-year spike in listenership on smart speakers, with 27% month-over-month growth. There has also been a 122% growth in video consumption across the platform, with radio.com live producing over 4,000 hours of live music and sports video content in March, an 18% year-to-date increase.

Tony Morreale Launches Morreale Entertainment

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Tony Morreale

Tony Morreale has launched Morreale Entertainment, a Nashville-based indie promotion, marketing, brand development and management company. The company will represent Aaron Watson‘s BIG Label Records and Jeremy McComb.

“I’m blessed to be able to continue to work with Aaron Watson and his manager, Gino Genaro, as we set up the release of Aaron’s new music while expanding my role into management with Jeremy McComb,” Morreale said. “This is a trying time for everyone, the music business included. I believe that in redefining success and our approach to it, we can develop and strengthen careers, engage fans and build the business.”

Over the past three decades, Morreale has spent time working at Evelyn Shriver Public Relations, Columbia Records, RCA Label Group, Average Joes Entertainment and more.

Morreale can be contacted at tonymorreale67@gmail.com.

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC Create Songwriters Fund In Support Of MusiCares COVID-19 Aid Endeavor

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Performing rights organizations ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC have announced contributions to create a fund as part of the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. While the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund helps all music industry workers in need, the funds collected from these performing rights organizations will go toward helping their respective songwriters, composers and lyricists. Members and affiliates of each contributing performing rights organization are encouraged to apply for a grant through the fund at musicares.org.

Since the fund’s establishment in March, with initial seed donations of $1 million each by MusiCares and the Recording Academy, millions more have been raised with the support of numerous partners. However, more is needed to meet the growing demand.

Harvey Mason jr., Chair and Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy said, “It’s inspiring to see every sector of the music industry band together during a time of need. With the help of these latest contributions and the generous donations over the past few weeks, we’ve been able to garner more than $10 million to provide aid for music people across all genres, crafts and disciplines affected by the coronavirus pandemic. That said, the need is still so great and these times remain critical for music people.”

Steve Boom, Chair of MusiCares, said, “We’re thrilled to see the continued support from organizations to help all the people who were depending on their next gig to make ends meet. There is still much more work to be done, and we hope that those who have supported us will continue to inspire others to do what’s needed for the music industry during this unprecedented time.”

Elizabeth Matthews, CEO of ASCAP, said,”Songwriters, composers and lyricists are the backbone of the music industry — not only is their craft vital to our creative culture and so many other businesses, they also help to lift up humanity in moments like these. We thank our fellow PROs for joining together with ASCAP to create and support this specially created fund through MusiCares and the Recording Academy that will provide our music writers with the emergency relief grants they need at this difficult time.”

Mike O’Neill, President & CEO of BMI, said, “The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund is an important resource for songwriters and composers, who, like so many, have been adversely impacted by the pandemic. BMI is grateful to be able to contribute to this initiative and help in some small way to ease the financial hardship of music creators during this trying time. We are happy to join ASCAP and SESAC in supporting this vital effort and we thank them, the Recording Academy, and MusiCares for helping all of our writers. The creative community is resilient and will continue to inspire the industry as we get through this together.”

John Josephson, Chairman and CEO of SESAC, said, “We recognize the profound impact which the COVID-19 pandemic and state-mandated shutdowns are having on songwriters as well as the global music community. We’re pleased to be joining with ASCAP and BMI to support MusiCares’ expanded funding in support of songwriter and composer applicants. It’s essential that we do all we can to make sure that our creators have the resources they need to navigate this crisis and continue practicing their craft.”