Pictured: Adam Hambrick. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

Capitol Records Nashville/Buena Vista Records’ artist Adam Hambrick recently visited the MusicRow offices to play some new songs. Hambrick is currently on his Fall tour, and just released his newest single, “Forever Ain’t Long Enough.” Hambrick shot the fun video at Lebanon, Tennessee’s Snow White Drive In.

Hambrick welcomed his second child into the world this summer. His first single was a song inspired by becoming a parent, “Rockin’ All Night Long.”

“I know that when you look at me, you don’t think, ‘Man, that man is real deal, country and western musician,'” Hambrick said laughing. “But when I was a kid, country music was the very first thing that left a mark on me. It gave me a definition, and gave me a baseline for what a song was supposed to be.

“So last year I got to release my first single to country radio, it was a dream come true. I knew when I wrote this song from the beginning that it was special to me. It was pitched a little bit before I had a record deal. But when it came time to put a single, it was the obvious choice. This is the kind of story I want to tell, this is the kind of song I want to sing. I like tell people this song is about the moments that you can’t sleep on,” he said before he went into the tender song.

Pictured (L-R): Adam Hambrick and MusicRow Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson. Photo: Haley Crow/MusicRow

Hambrick had a bit of success at country radio before acquired his recording contract.

“I moved to Nashville six years ago write songs. The storytelling, the songwriting, that’s what always moved me. That’s what I always wanted to do, and then I got the opportunity to do that. I could not believe that I was in Nashville getting to make music for a career. If that wasn’t enough, somebody actually cut one of my songs. Dan + Shay recorded this song, and it was my first No. 1 as a songwriter,” he said as he played the duo’s 2017 hit “How Not To.”

Hambrick also has co-written Justin Moore’s “Kinda Don’t Care” and “Somebody Else Will,” as well as Lindsay Ell’s “Waiting On You.”

The Arkansas native can thank Justin Moore for his entrance into the music community in Nashville. “I was making music on my own back in Arkansas. I had made a record of just songs that I’d written in college and shortly after, and I just went into the studio with some buddies and I made this record. Then a few months later, I was on Good Morning, Arkansas, the local 8 a.m., channel seven show in Little Rock. And Justin Moore just happened to be home and watching. And he called his producer Jeremy Stover, and Stover sent me email the next day, which I thought was junk mail; and it turns out it wasn’t. So I called him.

“I feel like I’ve had a lot of those very serendipitous kind of moments. It’s been magical,” Hambrick said.

Pictured: MusicRow staffers with Adam Hambrick. Photo: Woody Bomar

Photo Credit: Steve Lowry/Ryman Auditorium

Scotty McCreery is planning a show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville next Spring. The March 11 show will be the Triple Tigers recording artist’s first concert at the “Mother Church” in six years.

“When you play in Nashville, you’ve got to be on your A-Game, and when you play the Ryman Auditorium, you have to give it everything you’ve got,” said an excited McCreery. “I cannot wait to be back on that stage where my heroes have performed. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. We’re going to have a fun night.”

Tickets go on sale this Thursday, Oct. 3, at 10:00 am Central at Ryman.com and Ticketmaster.com, with the Scotty McCreery Fan Club Pre-Sale happening tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 10:00 am CT, and the Ryman Pre-Sale taking place on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 10:00 am CT. Special guests for this show will be Heather Morgan and Adam Doleac.

McCreery is currently in the Mediabase Top 40 and rising with his song “In Between,” the third single from his album Seasons Change. He co-wrote all 11 songs on the album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and achieved one of the strongest first weeks for a country album in the last year, moving over 40,000 albums in the first week alone. The first single from the album was the Platinum-certified No. 1 hit “Five More Minutes,” the song that Nashville Songwriters Association International named one of the “Top 10 Songs We Wish We’d Written” in 2018. “This is It,” the album’s second Platinum-certified single which spent two weeks at No. 1, was inspired by the North Carolina native’s engagement to his high school sweetheart (and now-wife) Gabi and has quickly become a wedding song standard.

Raffaella Braun

Triple Tigers Records has announced that Raffaella Braun has joined the label as Director, National Promotion. She reports to Partner and GM Norbert Nix, as well as Sr. VP, Promotion Kevin Herring. Braun will relocate to Nashville, following eight years in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Reuniting with Kevin Herring, and learning once again from his leadership is more than I could wish. Add the ability to work under the equally revered and loved Norbert Nix with a proven team of excellent, devoted and invested regionals and you have a dream opportunity!” said Braun. “Triple Tigers’ focused approach to their artists and development, across various platforms (most importantly country radio!) is something this landscape demands. And I look forward to returning to my adopted home of Nashville, which holds my friends, philanthropy, heart and Calypso Cafe obsession!

“Raffaella’s hard work ethic and strong relationships with radio makes her the ideal choice for our first-ever Director, National Promotion,” said Herring. “Having worked with her in the past, I know firsthand that she’s going to fit in perfectly with our label family.”

“With her unique background of industry experience, Raffaella brings both a diverse skillset and a strong passion for excellence to the Triple Tigers team,” said Nix.

Braun, a Vanderbilt University graduate, began her career at Premiere Radio Networks and Westwood One. She later transitioned to Creative Artists Agency as an agent. In 2011, she began an eight-year run with Warner Music Nashville as Manager, West Coast Radio and Streaming.

Braun is a member of both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, as well as an alum of SOLID. She served on the CRS Agenda Committee in 2017-2018 for the 50th year of CRS. A finalist for the 2008 Nashville Emerging Leader Awards, she went on to create Music Row Madness, an industry bowling event to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle TN, which grew last year to $50,000. She has helped Musicians on Call expand their volunteer mission at Phoenix Children’s hospital and she has been a longtime supporter of Nashville’s W.O. Smith School.

Ron Hill.

RCA Inspiration has appointed Ron Hill as VP, Artist Development, to oversee all A&R/Creative matters and the newly-launched Brand Partnership division for RCA Inspiration, Essential Sound, and Verity. He will report to Sr. VP/GM Phil Thornton.

Hill joins RCA Inspiration from Fo Yo Soul Entertainment, where he was most recently President for Kirk Franklin’s Dallas/Fort Worth-area company and Franklin’s manager for the past six years. The Dallas native began his career interning at Fo Yo Soul Entertainment in 2007, and began managing Franklin and became President of Fo Yo Soul in 2013, where his work has included A&R, music production, tour management, and other creative and business endeavors.

Among Hill’s recent creative work and honors include co-creating the annual Gospel festival “Exodus Music & Arts Festival” with Franklin, which launched in 2018; acting as a Consulting Producer in 2019 for Season 9 of BET’s “Sunday Best”; winning two GRAMMY® Awards at the 2019 and 2017 shows as a producer on Tori Kelly’s Best Gospel Album-winner Hiding Place and Kirk Franklin’s Best Gospel Album-winner Losing My Religion; and garnering two nominations in 2019 from the Stellar Awards (Producer of the Year) and upcoming Dove Awards (as a producer, for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year). Hill has executive-produced albums for Kirk Franklin, Tasha Page-Lockhart, The Walls Group, Christon Gray, and Geoffrey Golden, and was the tour manager for Live Nation’s first Gospel tour “The King’s Men Tour” that featured Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Sapp and Israel Houghton. He began his career in music while attending college in New Orleans.

Thornton says, “I have been working with Ron Hill for several years in conjunction with his work at Fo Yo Soul, and it is a joy to have Ron join the RCA Inspiration family in this new capacity as the VP of Artist Development. I look forward to collaborating with Ron on the development of our artists and the creative ideas and experience he brings, as we continue to shepherd Gospel and inspirational music to the next level.”

Hill adds: “I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve in this new role. Our genre is at a very pivotal moment in time and I believe now more than ever, Artist Development and A&R will help build lasting careers. I’m excited to have a hand in helping artists grow and reach a wider audience for the kingdom. I would like to thank Terry [Hemmings, Provident Music Group President/CEO] and Phil Thornton for this incredible opportunity, and Kirk Franklin for his continued support.”

Pictured (L-R): RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier and Miranda Lambert. Photo: Courtesy RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) hosted its first ever RIAA Honors event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. last Wednesday night (Sept. 25), celebrating country music icon Miranda Lambert as Artist of the Year.

Singer-songwriter and Lambert’s long-time collaborator, Natalie Hemby, was on hand to present the award. Lambert and Hemby performed two songs they wrote together, “Bluebird” from Lambert’s upcoming album, Wildcard, and the ACM- and CMA-awarded Song of the Year, “Automatic.”

“It is an honor to receive this award at such a pivotal time in the music industry. I’m incredibly thankful to make a living writing and performing music,” said Lambert.

The event was hosted by RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier.

Pictured (L-R): Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby. Photo: Courtesy RIAA