Pictured: John Ozier (Reservoir EVP Creative), Lydia Slagle (The Secret Sisters), Laura Rogers (The Secret Sisters), Holly Lowman (Red Light Management), Ash Wolk (One Riot), Kirby Lee (Red Light Management), Greg Gallo (Reservoir VP Creative)

Music publisher Reservoir has teamed with Nashville-based, Americana/Roots boutique music publisher One Riot, to sign and develop new songwriters and manage writer catalogs. One Riot is headquartered out of Reservoir’s Nashville office and has creative offices in Los Angeles and New York.

The first signing under the Reservoir and One Riot joint venture is duo The Secret Sisters. The deal includes future titles from the sibling duo, including their Brandi Carlile-produced recent project Saturn Return.

“We are very excited to have signed our very first publishing deal as songwriters and to be joining the One Riot family. It’s been our desire to take our songwriting to the next level and we can’t wait to see what this partnership will inspire in us,” said The Secret Sisters. “Grateful for a team of good folks who believe in us!”

“One Riot was established to focus on the music that we hold closest to our hearts; music that embodies honesty and authenticity,” said Founder Amy Patton. “That is the legacy of many of the incredible artists in this genre and is the core of what we hope to cultivate within our community of songwriters. We couldn’t think of a better way to launch than with The Secret Sisters, who embody everything we love about this genre, as the first signing along with Reservoir, who shared our vision right out of the gate.”

“Reservoir’s expertise in creative, administration, and synch coupled with One Riot’s passion for the music and songwriters in this space, is a winning combination,” adds Reservoir EVP, Creative John Ozier. “Americana music spans a broad spectrum of styles including folk, country, blues, roots, gospel, soul, rock, and more, but one thing it all has in common is that it is song-driven music. The genre is often underserved due to the ambiguity of its definition, but it is our privilege to work alongside One Riot to amplify and celebrate the amazing musicians in this space, starting with The Secret Sisters.”

Pictured (L-R): Golnar Khosrowshahi (Reservoir Founder and CEO), Amy Patton (One Riot Founder), Rell Lafargue (Reservoir President and COO)

Pictured (L-R): Emily Evans, Tiffany Kerns

The Country Music Association has announced two promotions in support of ongoing strategic efforts. Emily Evans has been elevated to Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, while Tiffany Kerns adds Vice President, Community Outreach to her current role as CMA Foundation Executive Director.

“Both Emily and Tiffany have been key strategic leaders on our CMA team for a number of years,” says Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “Both possess a high level of integrity and are innovators in their respective fields. I’m pleased that both Emily and Tiffany will be interacting and engaging with our country music community and our CMA Board of Directors on a much deeper and more frequent level.”

In her new role, Evans will oversee programs and projects that support CMA’s mission and short-and long-term objectives, including the CMA Songwriters Series, CMA KixStart Artist Scholarship, various CMA industry task forces as well as the implementation of a company-wide CRM program. She will be responsible for overseeing all awards processes and special awards events, which include the CMA Awards, CMA Touring Awards, CMA Triple Play Awards, and the Country Music Hall of Fame inductions, among others. In addition, Evans will continue to lead all integrated marketing efforts with the organization’s network partner ABC in order to secure high-quality and high-value broadcast, social and digital content integrations.

Evans previously held the title of Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships. Prior to joining CMA in 2014, Evans held positions with st8tmnt, 13 Management, MAC Presents, and MAD Booking and Events. Originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, Evans graduated summa cum laude from Carson-Newman University with a degree in business management and marketing.

In addition to her current team consisting of Michelle Kirk (Director, Integrated Marketing), Megan Sykes (Director, Sales Development & Strategy), Kevin Coffey (Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships) and Lara Henley (Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships), Brenden Oliver (Senior Manager, Awards & Strategic Initiatives) and Michael Farris (recently promoted to Business Intelligence Lead) will now report to Evans. Contact Evans at eevans@cmaworld.com.

Kerns will continue to oversee CMA’s nonprofit arm, the CMA Foundation, as Executive Director and adds Vice President, Community Outreach to her role, creating and implementing CMA’s community outreach initiatives including the CMA Foundation as well as CMA EDU, the organization’s collegiate development program. She will also oversee CMA’s membership practices and programming to ensure transparency and integrity for CMA Awards voting, including the CMA Awards, CMA Touring Awards, CMA Triple Play Awards, and various CMA industry awards. Kerns will also provide strategic direction and management of CMA membership development, evaluating the effectiveness of existing structures and developing strategies to ensure effective membership recruitment and retention.

Prior to joining CMA in 2012, Kerns worked for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She is a 2018 Women in Music City Award recipient and led the CMA Foundation to receiving the 2017 National Stand for Music Award supporting music education advocacy. Originally from Bradenton, Florida, Kerns graduated from the University of Tennessee—Knoxville with a degree in political science and a minor in business administration.

In addition to her current team consisting of Lindsey Jones (Project Manager, Community Outreach), Falon Keith (Grants Associate) and Kate Kaltenbach (recently promoted to Manager, Membership Engagement), Angela Strader (recently promoted to Manager, Board & Membership Services) will now report to Kerns. Contact Kerns at tkerns@cmaworld.com.

Ingrid Andress has revealed the track list for her upcoming debut album, Lady Like, due out March 27. The album features Andress as a co-writer and co-producer on every song and includes her nearly Top 10 country single “More Hearts Than Mine,” which made history as the only solo female debut to crack the Top 20 on the Country Airplay chart in 2019.

The busy Colorado native will hit the stage at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena this weekend for back-to-back sold out nights to kick off Dan + Shay’s The (Arena) Tour, then join Thomas Rhett in May for the opening nights of his Center Point Road tour before heading out on Tim McGraw’s massive Here On Earth stadium tour this Summer.

Photo credit: Adam Davis

Maren Morris‘ album GIRL has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The accolade follows her recent two-week radio No. 1, “The Bones,” which made the song the first solo female back-to-back No. 1 since 2012, and her fourth No. 1 single to date.

Maren leads the 2020 ACM Awards nominations with five nods including Female Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for GIRL. Morris will launch her RSVP: The Tour trek in June, and will perform at the Houston Rodeo on March 7. Among her upcoming concert stops are the Governors Ball Music Festival, and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.