DISClaimer: The Enduring Greatness Of Tanya Tucker

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Greetings, and welcome to an all-female DisClaimer column.

If the boneheads at country radio won’t give you a fair shot, ladies, I certainly will. Especially when there’s this much talent to showcase.

Among those leading the charge today are Lauren Alaina, Mandy Barnett, Maddie & Tae, Allie Colleen and Kalie Shorr, all with worthy new tracks.

But I am completely awestruck by newcomer Caroline Watkins, who easily claims the DisCovery Award. If the rest of her songs are as strong as this, she’s a humongous talent.

I’m sure all of the women here will join me in bowing down to the enduring greatness of Tanya Tucker. She’s the Disc of the Day…..today and every day.

CAROLINE WATKINS/Drunk Girls in Bathrooms
Writers: none listed; Producer: Jason Massey; Publishers: none listed; CW
– “Where everybody’s your new best friend.” Gals cheer up one another, talk clothes and shoes, dry your tears, hold your beer while you fix your makeup. What a wonderful place the Ladies Room is. This song is genius. I totally love it.

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TANYA TUCKER/Bring My Flowers Now
Writers: Tanya Tucker/Brandi Carlile/Tim Hanseroth/Phil Hanseroth, Producer: Brandi Carlile/Shooter Jennings; Publisher: none listed; BMI; Fantasy
– If this doesn’t tug at your heart, you haven’t got one. A magnificent, meaningful ballad from one of the greatest country voices in history. I say, yes, bring this woman the accolades and praise she deserves RIGHT NOW. I say, yes, let’s give her a Grammy Award NOW. I say, yes, let’s put her into the Country Music Hall of Fame NOW.

ALLIE COLLEEN/Along The Way
Writers: Allie Colleen/Stephen McMorran; Producer: none listed; Audiam
– The percolating rhythm anchors a sweet vocal that urges you to climb your mountains and dream, but with love by your side. Very uplifting.

MADDIE & TAE/Everywhere I’m Goin’
Writers: Maddie Marlow/Taylor Dye/Josh Thompson/Jimmy Robbins; Producer: Derek Wells; Publisher: none listed; Mercury Nashville
– I so much welcome the return of these two. The title tune of the duo’s new EP has a similar feisty/sunny quality as their earlier work, but with added maturity and confidence. The vocal blend is as perfect here as it is on their excellent single “Die From a Broken Heart.”

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CLARE DUNN/Gold to Glitter
Writer: Clare Dunn/Ben West/Jamie Moore; Producer: Ben West/Clare Dunn; Publisher: none listed; MCA Nashville
– Her husky, powerful voice is in full flight here, as are her electric guitar chops. I still think she has a solid shot at pop stardom, because both this and her other new track, “Money’s All Gone,” rock a little too hard to qualify as “country.”

MANDY BARNETT/The End of the World
Writer: Arthur Kent/Sylvia Dee; Producer: Fred Mollin; Publisher: none listed; Melody Place/BMG
-Luminous. She towers over most of the competition as a Nashville Sound chanteuse. The song is a gorgeous Skeeter Davis classic from 1963. No current country stylist could bring it back more beautifully. The strings are super, too.

LAUREN ALAINA/The Other Side
Writers: Lauren Alaina/Jon Nite/Zach Kale; Producer: David Garcia; Mercury Nashville
– Lauren introduced this echoey ballad during her Dancing With the Stars spotlight earlier this week. It is a touching, spiritual ode to her late stepfather, whom she believes is her Guardian Angel watching her from the Other Side.

EmiSUNSHINE & THE RAIN/Crimson Moon
Writers: none listed; Producers: EmiSunshine/Tony Brown; Publisher: none listed; EmiSunshine
-She’s only 15, but she’s growing in leaps and bounds. The vocal performance and the songwriting are still on the juvenile side. I’d keep an ear on her future.

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LAINEY WILSON/Dirty Looks
Writers: Brent Anderson/Lainey Wilson/Smith Ahnquist; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: none listed; BBR
– There’s something uncomfortably compressed about this audio. It makes her sound artificial. She clearly has ability, but I don’t think this is a career-launching recording.

KALIE SHORR/Lullaby
Writers: Kalie Shorr/Robyn Collins/Will Stone; Producers: Skip Black/Kalie Shorr; Publisher: none listed; KS
– She’s getting over a relationship and sleeping alone with her own lullaby to soothe her. The mix is loaded with dynamics, ranging from hushed intimacy to full-on rocking. Tougher sounding than she used to be, this young woman is going places.

Little Big Town, Midland, Judah & The Lion Sign On For YouTube’s ‘Cash Fest’ Concert Honoring Johnny Cash

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YouTube has announced a Nashville concert, Cash Fest, to celebrate the music of Johnny Cash, as well as the Nov. 11 premiere of the YouTube Originals documentary The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash.

Cash Fest will take place Nov. 10 at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium and will feature performances from Little Big Town, Midland, Judah & The Lion, Elle King, Matt Shultz (Cage the Elephant), Cam, Grace Potter, Devin Dawson, Drew & Ellie Holcomb, Lucie Silvas, Wilder Woods, John Oates, John Carter Cash & Ana Cristina Cash, Carlene Carter with the Carter Family, and more, performing their favorite Johnny Cash songs.

Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit MusiCares®, helping musicians with critical assistance in times of need. Tickets are available at tpac.org.

The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (TRAILER), created with the full cooperation of the Cash estate and rich in recently discovered archival materials, is a 90-minute documentary from Emmy Award-winning director Thom Zimny (Elvis Presley: The Searcher, Springsteen on Broadway) that explores the artistic victories, the personal tragedies, the struggles with addiction, and the spiritual pursuits that colored Johnny Cash’s life. The documentary will be available for free on YouTube Originals on Nov. 11.

 The documentary originally made its debut in March at the SXSW Film Festival and also screened recently at the 50th Annual Nashville Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival as part of the event’s Backlot Series. The Gift: The Journey Of Johnny Cash: Original Score Music From A Film By Thom Zimny, will be released in November by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

Pandora Introduces Full Song Credits For Music Library

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Pandora has announced it is displaying full song credits for millions of tracks in its music library, detailing all of the people – both in front of the mic and behind-the-scenes – who have played a role in the creation of the songs.

Full song credits are accessible to users across all tiers of service on the web at Pandora.com and on Pandora’s new desktop apps for Mac and Windows. The first few credits are visible on a song’s details page. To view the full list of credits, click on “See All Song Credits” to see all of the people who participated in bringing tracks to life. 

ACM Announces Newly-Elected Officers, Board Of Directors

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The Academy of Country Music has announced the newly-elected officers and board of directors for the 2019-2020 term.

Previously announced officers include Chairman Ed Warm, President Lori Badgett, Vice-President Chuck Aly, Treasurer Carmen Romano, Sergeant-at-Arms Gayle Holcomb, Parliamentarian Paul Moore and Secretary Tommy Moore.

This year, seven of the 13 qualifying professional categories were elected by the Academy’s membership. In addition to those elected, director-at-large positions have been appointed. Directors are elected from each category based on the number of members in that category. Each director serves staggered two-year terms, with half the board membership changing each year.

“We are excited for the Academy to have such a powerful and talented group of leaders, committed to not only sharing their time and energy with the organization, but to providing their expertise and industry knowledge,” Warm said.

Newly-elected members of the Board of Directors include:

Chuck Ainlay
Jimmie Allen
Enzo DeVincenzo
Crystal Dishmon
Ryan Dokke
Kerri Edwards
Rusty Gaston
Roger Gearhart
Ben Kline
Cris Lacy
Steve Lassiter
Kelly Rich*
Brittany Schaffer
Reid Shippen
Troy Vollhoffer
Derek Wells

Newly appointed director-at-large members of the Board of Directors include:

Randy Bernard
RAC Clark
John Dennis
Seth England
Greg Hill
Will Hitchcock
Mason Hunter
Andrew Kautz
Jeff Krones
Beth Laird
Daniel Miller
Lynn Oliver-Cline
Tree Paine
Chris Parr
Jennie Smythe
Brian Wright

 

A full list of ACM officers and Board of Directors is below:

OFFICERS
Chairman – Ed Warm, Joe’s Live
President – Lori Badgett, City National Bank
Vice President – Chuck Aly, Country Aircheck
Treasurer – Carmen Romano, FBMM
Sergeant-at-Arms – Gayle Holcomb, WME
Parliamentarian – Paul Moore, PGM Connections, LLC.
Secretary – Tommy Moore, Academy of Country Music

AFFILIATED
Jackie Campbell, 615 Leverage
Beville Dunkerley, Pandora
Kelly Rich, Amazon
Brittany Schaffer, Spotify
Sally Seitz, Apple Music

ARTIST/ENTERTAINER/MBI
Chuck Ainlay
Jimmie Allen
Reid Shippen
Derek Wells
Trisha Yearwood

CLUB/CASINO/CONCERT-VENUE OPERATOR
Roger Gearhart, Graham Brothers Entertainment
Troy Vollhoffer, Premier Global Production

COMPOSER
Lee Thomas Miller

MANAGER
Enzo DeVincenzo, 377 Management
Crystal Dishmon, Shopkeeper Management
Kerri Edwards, kpentertainment

MEDIA/PUBLIC RELATIONS
Ebie McFarland, Essential Broadcast Media

MUSIC PUBLISHER/PRO
Frank Liddell, Carnival Music
Rusty Gaston, Sony ATV Music Publishing

RADIO
Jackie Stevens, EMI Records Nashville

RECORD COMPANY
Ryan Dokke, Curb | Word Entertainment
Ben Kline, Warner Music Nashville
Cris Lacy, Warner Music Nashville
Cindy Mabe, Universal Music Group Nashville

TALENT AGENT
Becky Gardenhire, WME
Steve Lassiter, APA

TALENT BUYER/PROMOTER
Ali Harnell, Live Nation
Stacy Vee, Goldenvoice

TV/MOTION PICTURE
Tom Forrest, taillight

DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Randy Bernard, Bob Doyle & Associates
Bobby Bones, The Bobby Bones Show
RAC Clark, Lion’s Heart Entertainment
Leslie Cohea, Sandbox Entertainment
Charlie Cook, Cumulus
George Couri, Triple 8 Management
Kele Currier, ASCAP
John Dennis, Dennis Entertainment
Seth England, Big Loud
Chris Farren, Combustion Music
Leslie Fram, CMT
Nick Hartley, Fitzgerald Hartley
Greg Hill, Hill Entertainment Group
Will Hitchcock, Morris Higham Management
Mason Hunter, BMI
Andrew Kautz, BMLG
Jeff Krones, CAA
Beth Laird, Creative Nation
Jon Loba, Broken Bow Music Group
Michael McAnally Baum, SMACK
Shawn McSpadden, Red Light Management
Daniel Miller, Fusion Music
Curt Motley, UTA
Brian O’Connell, Live Nation
Lynn Oliver-Cline, River House Artists
Tree Paine, Premium PR
Chris Parr, MAVERICK
Rod Phillips, iHeart Media
Tim Roberts, Entercom
Jennie Smythe, Girlilla Marketing
Clarence Spalding, MAVERICK
Brian Wright, Universal Music Group Nashville

PAST CHAIRS
Paul Barnabee, FBMM
Duane Clark, FBMM
Darin Murphy, CAA
Ken Robold, Sony Music Nashville
Ken Tucker, Wheelhouse Records
Ben Vaughn, Warner Chappell

EX OFFICIO PAST CHAIRS
Rod Essig, CAA
Mark Hartley, Fitzgerald Hartley
Butch Waugh, Studio2bee

The Recording Academy Creates New Social Campaign To Highlight Creative Credits

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The Recording Academy is creating a new social media initiative, Behind the Record, aimed to spotlight the numerous producers, engineers, songwriters, mixers, instrumentalists, and other creators who contribute to the recording process.

With Behind the Record’s Oct. 25 launch, the Recording Academy will give credit where credit is due, igniting a cultural conversation by inviting artists across all genres to recognize their collaborators’ incredible behind-the-scenes work on the tracks, records, and albums loved by music fans across the globe.

“It’s our responsibility, as a service organization, to serve our membership community of creative professionals and to ensure we celebrate and recognize all the incredibly talented musicians and creators who are making the music we love,” said Deborah Dugan, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “Credits have been a casualty of the digital age, for all that we gained with streaming we lost in the opportunity for recognition and even discovery. Behind the Record champions all professional music creators and aims to connect with artist fan bases in order to give recognition to those who work tirelessly on these recordings.”

Artists can participate in Behind the Record by:

  • Joining the Recording Academy and Behind the Record to help promote and share recognition for all creators.
  • Creating a custom Behind the Record Credit Cover on the Recording Academy’s campaign webpage
  • Posting your Credit Cover across social media channels and tagging those who worked on your project using hashtags #GiveCredit #WeAreMusic #BehindTheRecord

Artists can create Credit Covers for a single or album, and all covers will live in a gallery on the site for music fans to view and discover the roles of creatives behind some of their favorite records. In addition to supporting the initiative on social media, artists may also create a custom vinyl sleeve for “extra credit.”

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Ashley Gorley, Warner Chappell, Dan+Shay’s “Tequila” Among Top NMPA Gold & Platinum Winners

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David Israelite, Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser

During Wednesday evening’s (Oct. 23) Gold & Platinum Gala, held at Nashville City Winery, more than 65 Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum honorees were saluted in Nashville’s music community for reaching top sales milestones.

The 2019 Top Songwriter was Ashley Gorley (currently published by Round Hill), who earned 14 certifications for hits including “Play It Again,”  and “Marry Me.”

The 2019 Top Publisher was Warner Chappell Music Publishing, which earned 114 total certifications- 35 Multi-Platinum, 47 Platinum, 32 Gold. Warner Chappell Nashville President Ben Vaughn and his team accepted the award.

The 2019 Top Certified Song was awarded to “Cruise,” which released in 2012 but was certified eleven times Multi-Platinum this year. The songwriters for “Cruise” are Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Joey Moi, Jesse Rice and Chase Rice.

Hunter Hayes and Troy Verges perform “Wanted.” Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser

Songwriters Phillip LaRue, Billy Montana and Tofer Brown sang their Gold-certified single “Night Shift,” recorded by Jon Pardi to kick off the evening, and Hunter Hayes and Troy Verges performed their five-time Multi-Platinum hit “Wanted.”

The 2019 Platinum Anthem Award, given to the top-certified single released within the past year, went to Dan+Shay’s “Tequila,” certified three times Multi-Platinum, which was written by Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds and Dan Smyers. Galyon and Reynolds performed their hit for the audience to close the evening.

 

Cam celebrates “Burning House” being certified 2x Platinum. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser

Lee Brice. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser

American Music Awards: Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown Lead Country Contenders

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The American Music Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning (Oct. 24), and Luke Combs, Dan+Shay, Carrie Underwood and Kane Brown are among the leading country nominees.

Combs earned a nomination in the all-genre Best New Artist category, alongside Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and Ella Mai. Combs is also nominated for Favorite Male Artist-Country and Favorite Song-Country for “Beautiful Crazy.”

Dan+Shay also earned three nominations, including Favorite Duo or Group-Country, as well as Favorite Album-Country (Dan+Shay), and Favorite Song-Country (“Speechless”).

Underwood has two nominations, for Favorite Female Artist-Country, as well as Favorite Album-Country for Cry Pretty. Maren Morris and Kelsea Ballerini are also nominated in the Favorite Female Artist-Country category.

Brown has two nominations, for Favorite Male Artist-Country and for Favorite Album-Country (Experiment).

2019’s runaway hit, “Old Town Road” from Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, is nominated for Collaboration of the Year; the song’s video earned a nod for Favorite Music Video. The track is also nominated for Favorite Song-Pop/Rock and Favorite Song-Rap/Hip-Hop.

Lauren Daigle, for King & Country, and MercyMe are nominated for Favorite Artist-Contemporary Inspirational.

Post Malone leads this year’s overall nominees with seven nods, while Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish follow with six nominations apiece.

The 2019 AMAs will air live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 24 at at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Nominations in select categories are included below:

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY 
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY 
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY 
Kane Brown, Experiment
Dan + Shay, Dan + Shay
Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty

FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY 
Luke Combs, “Beautiful Crazy”
Dan + Shay, “Speechless”
Blake Shelton, “God’s Country”

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle
For King & Country
MercyMe

Kacey Musgraves Set To Break Attendance Record At Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena

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Kacey Musgraves. Photo: Kacey Musgraves/Facebook

Kacey Musgraves is set to make history with her Oh, What a World: Tour II headlining tour during the tour’s final stop at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena tomorrow night. She is set to break the female attendance record of any genre at Bridgestone with 18,373 projected attendees. Due to popular demand, the show was opened up to 360 and additional tickets have been released. Musgraves will be joined at Bridgestone Arena by special guests Maggie Rogers and Yola.

The tour, which kicked off in Amsterdam last October, has taken Musgraves around the globe, playing venues in North America, the U.K., Europe, Japan, China, New Zealand, and Australia. She recently played two sold-out nights each at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, and tomorrow night completes the Oh, What a World: Tour II with her first-ever arena show.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Musgraves has toured extensively, both as a headliner and supporting Little Big Town and Harry Styles. She became the first-ever female country artist to play Coachella, performed at Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 in South Africa, and continued to play major festivals including Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors Ball, and Newport Folk Festival, among others.

TobyMac’s Son Truett Foster McKeehan Passes Away At 21

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TobyMac

Truett Foster McKeehan, the eldest son of Christian rapper and entertainer TobyMac, has died. Truett was 21.

Truett passed away at his Nashville home sometime Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, a PR rep for TobyMac confirmed. The cause of death has not been determined.

“Toby was traveling back from Canada and did not get home to be with his family until after midnight last night so there is no statement, we just ask that everyone please be respectful of their privacy during this time and allow them to grieve their loss,” a spokesperson for TobyMac said.

Truett, the eldest of McKeehan’s five children, was also an aspiring rapper, who released music under the names Truett Foster, TRU, Shiloah, and truDog.

TobyMac included a song, “Scars,” on his most recent album, The Elements, which discussed his struggle with seeing Truett leave home.

Darrell Franklin To Lead Blackbird Music Publishing Group’s Nashville Office

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Darrell Franklin

Darrell Franklin has been named Sr. VP, Nashville of Blackbird Music Publishing Group, and will lead the company’s newly-opened office in Nashville’s Berry Hill area. Blackbird also has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and recently announced it had acquired the music catalog of composer Burt Bacharach.

The role reunites Franklin with Lance Freed, who in July was announced as President of the newly-formed Blackbird Music Publishing Group.

“My first boss when I got into publishing was Lance Freed at Rondor Music International,” Franklin tells MusicRow. “Lance approached me about the job at Blackbird and the more I talked to him the more excited I got about Blackbird and what their vision was.”

Franklin previously served as General Manager at 3 Ring Circus. Under Franklin’s leadership, the company celebrated several hits including “Raise ‘Em Up” (Keith Urban), “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” (Tim McGraw), “Yours” & “Blue Tacoma” (Russell Dickerson).

In 2009, Franklin was named Exec. VP for BMG Nashville. He oversaw the purchases of catalogs such as Evergreen, Bug, Chrysalis, Cherry Lane, Stage Three, and added writers including Hillary Lindsey, Rodney Crowell, Darrell Brown, The Civil Wars, Steve Robson, Chris Wallin, Chris Lindsey, Angelo, and Lucie Silvas. In 2013, he formed a publishing joint venture with BMG titled Darrell Franklin Music. The company began developing artist/writer Russell Dickerson, who now is signed with Triple Tigers.

Franklin also spent 14 years doing A&R with producer Dann Huff; along the way, Franklin found hits like “What Hurts The Most”, “My Wish” (Rascal Flatts), “I’m Tryin’” (Trace Adkins), “When The Lights Go Down” (Faith Hill), “Raining On Sunday” and “Making Memories Of Us” (Keith Urban). Early in his career, Franklin served as Sr. VP at Crosstown Nashville, developing writers and artists including busbee, John Paul White, Jonathan Singleton and Neil Thrasher.

“One of the biggest things I learned from those years was that you were hearing every song, every songwriter, all around the world and I felt like I was quickly able to do A&R from a songwriting standpoint because of that,” Franklin says. “It helped me identify people’s strengths and weaknesses and that made be better at setting up co-writes.”

Blackbird Music Publishing Group was founded by The Raine Group, Keith Wortman and Blackbird Presents, which provides production for large-scale concert events, TV series, broadcast specials and more. A few of Blackbird Presents’ well-known specials include “Willie: Life & Songs Of An American Outlaw,” “All In For The Gambler: Kenny Rogers’ Farewell Concert Celebration,” “Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard,” “The Life & Songs of Kris Kristofferson,” and more. Blackbird Presents is also creator/producer for The Outlaw Music Festival Tour, in partnership with Willie Nelson, as well as The American Roots Music & Arts Festival, in partnership with Eric Church.

“Music publishing is a natural next step for us given that our work across film, television, concerts, and festivals enables us to offer incredible opportunities to songwriters,” says Keith Wortman, CEO of Blackbird Presents.

Blackbird Music Publishing Group will announce initial Nashville signings in the coming weeks.