Pictured (L-R): Chris Willman, Leslie Fram, Callie Cunningham, Beth Laird, Stephanie Wright, Nicolle Galyon. Photo: Rick Diamond
Ahead of CMT’s Artist Of The Year live event on Wednesday, Oct. 17, Variety hosted its first brunch in accordance with a longstanding partnership to reveal its Nashville-focused print issue.
As with CMT’s 90-minute television event—designed to give female artists voice and airplay, exclusively honoring females this year—the Variety print issue also features the magazine’s top 25 picks of exclusive female country music executives.
Billed as Breaking Down The Barrier: A Conversation About Women In Country Music, the Oct. 16 brunch was held on Cambria Nashville Downtown hotel’s fifth floor True Bar & Music Room with a panel discussion in addition to a performance by Big Machine Records’ Carly Pearce. CMT’s Sr. VP of Music & Talent Leslie Fram co-hosted the panel with Variety writer Chris Willman. Four female executives and creatives on the stage were Red Light’s Callie Cunningham, Creative Nation’s Beth Laird, UMG Nashville’s Stephanie Wright and CMT’s Next Women Of Country mentor/songwriter Nicolle Galyon.
The 40-minute talk cited the marketshare for women on country radio airplay continues to decline, and a new trend for female country artists siding in pop music and tours (Maren Morris and Niall Horann, Cam and Sam Smith, Kacey Musgraves and Harry Styles, Kelsea Ballerini and Kelly Clarkson). The panel was asked if female writers/artist still feel they have a place in country music. The panel responded:
Pictured (L-R): Nicolle Galyon, Stephanie Wright, Leslie Fram, Carly Pearce, Chris Willman, Beth Laird, Callie Cunningham. Photo: Rick Diamond
Laird: “I work with Kassi Ashton, who is definitely an authentic female with a strong opinion that I love. The No. 1 question she gets is, ‘Are you country? Are you really country? Do you want to be country?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, I grew up country…I love country…I live here…’
“It’s interesting…making sure she proves she’s [country], defining her intentions if she wants to be played on country radio, and that she swears that’s what she wants and who she is. Why does she have to keep saying it?”
Cunningham: “…same experience with [my artist] Bailey Bryan. When she was on radio tour, it was having to defend why she wants to be in this genre, constantly. It’s so frustrating because country music was built on songwriting, experience and being who you are. We need to encourage that—especially in young female artists—but at the same time there’s this other side of the argument that there’s so little space for female artists in country radio, maybe they should [just] fit in. We need to be encouraging these artists to be confident and [that they] don’t need to defend themselves when they walk in a room. If they’re authentic to who they are, people will flock to that, otherwise it’s not going to be impactful and nobody’s gonna care.”
Wright: “You want the artist to be honest and true to who they are. I don’t know that they need to go pop, saying I don’t have a place in this format. They do have a place in this format. You don’t want to skew them one way or the other. You just have to figure out how to get exposure because there’s an audience out there who wants to hear what these artists have to say.”
Galyon: “Most of the female writers have discussed if we have made it this far, we’ve made a pretty deliberate attempt to write mostly male songs, whether that was natural or not. Luckily for me that came natural, so I’m very fulfilled with my job [as a writer]. But there are some writers where that’s not their strength. I can’t tell you how many times we feel great finishing a song saying wow any guy could sing that. But when we finish a female song and say anyone could sing that, we think nobody will do anything with it.”
Other vulnerable moments came when Galyon confessed although she had a community of men supporting her, she downplayed certain parts of her femininity in the writing room, being the only woman.
“I [didn’t] want to be too emotional or be too passionate or too aggressive,” she said. “Luckily for me, when I became a mom I didn’t have energy to have filters anymore, so I turned in to a lot bigger version of myself, in a beautiful way. It’s been cool to move forward being as feminine as I truly, honestly am, and to see what that brings out with the brothers I work with in a creative space.”
Laird also candidly confessed her multi-Grammy-winning writer Lori McKenna was hesitant to write down her goal to achieve music’s top trophy, prior to receiving them.
“We do goal sheets every year and [Lori] wouldn’t write them down,” Laird said. “I learned sometimes you’re almost scared to say exactly what you want and go after it. I don’t know why, as females, we’ll have our dream inside and not say exactly what it is because what if I fail, or can’t get there? It was really empowering for us to see the power in setting a goal, writing it down, telling people around you, and having the support—especially from other females—in reaching that goal.”
Carly Pearce performs at Variety and CMT’s Breaking Down The Barrier: A Conversation About Women In Country Music. Photo: Rick Diamond
Just In: ACM Announces Changes To Categories, Submissions Process
/by Jessica NicholsonThe ACM Board voted to update 10 category names (changes noted below); the updated name changes do not impact criteria for any of the awards.
The new submission process will allow Academy members to engage in the ACM awards process to present all eligible recordings and artists for consideration to the voting membership. The change aligns the following six categories with the submission process already in place for the Radio awards, Video of the Year and Industry awards categories:
Album of the Year
New Female Artist of the Year (formerly New Female Vocalist of the Year)
New Male Artist of the Year (formerly New Male Vocalist of the Year)
New Duo or Group of the Year (formerly New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year)
Music Event of the Year (formerly Vocal Event of the Year)
Single of the Year (formerly Single Record of The Year)
Remaining awards categories – including Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year (formerly Female Vocalist of the Year), Male Artist of the Year (formerly Male Vocalist of the Year), Duo of the Year (formerly Vocal Duo of the Year), and Group of the Year (formerly Vocal Group of the Year) – will continue to be determined via write-in from the professional membership.
“We remain committed to ensuring the ACM Awards process is a dynamic and relevant one, reflecting an ever-changing musical landscape,” said ACM CEO Pete Fisher. “This latest evolution to a submission approach reflects the desire of our awards Committee, and ultimately our Board, for greater member engagement across the entire awards process.”
The submissions eligibility period for the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards is Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 31, 2018. Key dates for Academy professional members for the 2019 ACM Awards cycle are as follows:
New Membership/Membership Renewals Opens: Oct. 29, 2018
Submissions Period Opens: Dec. 3, 2018
DEADLINE for New Membership/Renewals Closing: Dec. 31, 2018
Submissions Period Closes: Jan. 4, 2019
First Round Voting: Jan. 18, 2019 – Jan. 24, 2019
Second Round Voting: Feb. 4, 2019 – Feb. 11, 2019
Final Round Voting: March 11, 2019 – March 19, 2019
New membership applications and existing membership renewals open on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 at 9 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. CT with a deadline to apply by Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 at 5 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. CT for members to be eligible to vote during the 2019 awards cycle. Interested applicants can apply online at acm.com.
The 54th Academy of Country Music Awards will broadcast live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 8 p.m. PM ET/delayed PT on CBS.
Joe Nichols Exits BBR Music Group
/by Jessica NicholsonJoe Nichols
Joe Nichols has exited BBR Music Group, MusicRow has confirmed. Nichols was the flagship artist on the label group’s Red Bow Records imprint, which launched in 2012; the Red Bow imprint folded in July 2018, with the artists formerly part of Red Bow being evaluated at that time.
During his time with BBR, Nichols released the albums Crickets (2013) and Never Gets Old (2017), along with the Gold-selling singles “Sunny and 75” and “Yeah.”
During his career, Nichols has notched six No. 1 hits and eight Top 10 singles, including “Brokenheartsville,” “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” and “The Impossible.” He is a four-time Grammy nominee and winner of the ACM’s Top New Male Vocalist honor, as well as the CMA’s Horizon Award.
Garth Brooks Announces Multi-Year Stadium Tour, Notre Dame Television Special
/by Jessica NicholsonGarth Brooks will hit the road again in 2019. The superstar announced plans for a multi-year stadium tour this morning (Oct. 17) during a press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The tour will visit 10-12 cities each year for the next three years, with most of those stops being at college stadiums. The tour’s initial two cities will be St. Louis, Missouri, and Glendale, Arizona. No official dates for either tour stop were announced, though Brooks said he will announce the first five stops on the stadium tour before Christmas.
“I wanted to call it the ‘big ass stadium tour,’ but they voted me down on that one,” Brooks said during the press conference. “This is the most time I’ve ever put into anything … All the logistics of it is a step up for me.”
Brooks is slated to play Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 20, making Brooks the first artist to perform at the venue. Earlier today, it was announced that the show will be captured as part of a primetime television special, Garth: Live At Notre Dame!, set to air Sunday, Dec. 2 on the CBS Television Network.
He says the Notre Dame show inspired the upcoming tour.
“This was not a planned thing,” Brooks said. “We were supposed to take a whole year off [but] we saw it as a blueprint of what could be.”
Brooks’ previous multi-year tour, which ran from 2014-2017, ended in December 2017 with shows in Nashville. Brooks will release the next installment of his anthology, titled Anthology Part III Live, on Nov. 20.
RJ Curtis Named Executive Director For Country Radio Seminar
/by Jessica NicholsonRJ Curtis
The Country Radio Broadcasters/Country Radio Seminar has announced long-time radio and industry veteran, RJ Curtis as the incoming Executive Director of the non-profit organization. Curtis, who currently serves as the Nashville Editor for All Access Music Group, will start his new position on Nov. 12 and until then, can then be reached at rjcurtis@allaccess.com.
Curtis fills the position most recently held by Bill Mayne, who has served as Executive Director of the organization for nearly a decade. This past April, Mayne announced that he would be leaving his position following the 50th Anniversary year of Country Radio Seminar. Curtis will work alongside Mayne through the end of his term, which is May 2019.
Curtis commented, “CRS has been an important part of my professional life for 35 years, never ceasing to challenge, reward, and re-ignite my zeal for our format and its many stakeholders. At my very core, I’m a radio guy and will always think like one, but I’ve also been fortunate to work in other segments of this industry, gaining additional perspective and learning a ton. Two decades on the CRB Board encompassed those various experiences; together, all have more than adequately prepped me for what I consider the opportunity of a lifetime at CRB. Concurrently, I’ll have the honor of working with Bill Mayne until his triumphant sign-off in May. He’s been a mentor, brother, and friend to me since 1983, and – fun fact – brought me to my first CRS in 1985, while serving as my PD at KZLA/Los Angeles. Following his legendary stewardship of CRB is a daunting task, and a responsibility I’ll take seriously.”
CRB Board President, Kurt Johnson, said, “Among some great candidates for this role, RJ stood out. His unequalled experience and passion for Country Radio, Country music, and CRB made him the right person at the right time. We’re beyond excited to have him lead CRS into its sixth decade.”
Curtis has served on the CRS Board of Directors since 1999, with a deep involvement in CRS leadership for 19 of those 20 years. He’s a longtime member of the CRS Executive Committee and a past CRS Board President (2004-2007). Since 2009, Curtis has been the organization’s Vice-President, and Chairman of the Country Radio Hall Of Fame, administered by CRS.
For the past 12 years, Curtis has been working on the trade publication sector of the music business as a journalist, providing news, insight, and perspective on country radio and its evolution. Since 2013, he’s been the Nashville Editor for the All Access Music Group; previously, Curtis was VP/Country for Country Aircheck, and Country Editor for the legendary Radio & Records Magazine. His professional diversity includes experience on the label side with Arista Nashville, handling Dir./Midwest Promotion responsibilities.
Curtis’ core background is radio. Curtis launched his broadcast journey fresh out of high school and spent 30 years in the business, 27 exclusive to Country radio and a combined 17 years in three different decades at Country KZLA/Los Angeles. His tenure there included every aspect of programming and management, including weekends, mornings, plus APD/MD, PD and OM responsibilities.
In the intervening years away from Los Angeles, Curtis oversaw two additional radio brands as PD and OM of KNIX/Phoenix and KCYY/San Antonio, respectively. His diverse radio background includes national syndication, too, as OM for the Blair Garner-hosted After Midnite, and creator of several long-form programs for Premiere Radio.
During his nearly 40 years in Country music, Curtis has volunteered his service to the industry as a member of the CMA, ACM, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital Radio Advisory Boards, in addition to his involvement with Country Radio Seminar.
The 50th Anniversary Country Radio Seminar will be held February 13-15, 2019 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
SESAC Names Kelli Turner As President/COO
/by Jessica NicholsonKelli Turner
Kelli Turner has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of SESAC Holdings, it was announced today by John Josephson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SESAC Holdings, Inc. Turner, based in Nashville, will continue to report to Josephson and will oversee SESAC’s day-to-day operations and continue to play a key role in setting the strategic direction as well as the overall corporate management of the company. The company’s finance and corporate development functions will continue to report to Turner.
“Kelli’s promotion to President and COO is a well-deserved recognition of the role that she’s been playing at the company for the past few years. We joined SESAC at roughly the same time and we’ve been partners in driving each of the major developments that have taken place at the company since 2014,” said Josephson. “Her extensive experience and exceptional skills in driving and managing change will be invaluable as we continue to advance SESAC’s business as well as its mission in this dynamic marketplace. It’s an exciting time for the company, and we look forward to the next phase of its growth as well as continuing to execute on our mission to drive value for our writer and publisher affiliates.”
Turner previously served as Executive Vice President of Operations, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer of SESAC. In this role, she led the acquisitions of the mechanical rights organization Harry Fox Agency (HFA) and the Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI), transitioning SESAC from a performance rights organization to a music rights organization. In 2017, Turner, along with Josephson, led the sale of SESAC Holdings to Blackstone Group’s Core Equity fund.
Before joining SESAC, Turner served as President and Chief Financial Officer of RSL Management Corporation. Prior to that, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., and held executive level positions at Time Warner Inc.
Turner was honored by the T.J. Martell Foundation’s “Women of Influence Awards,” and as one of Billboard magazine’s “Women in Music” in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Last year, she was named “CFO of the Year” by the Nashville Business Journal. Turner holds an undergraduate business degree and law degree from The University of Michigan.
Kenny Chesney, Thomas Rhett Added As Headliners For 2019 Tortuga Music Festival
/by Lorie HollabaughChesney, a champion of the festival and its work around ocean conservation and stewardship since its first year, returns to headline the three-day oceanfront experience for the fourth time. It was also revealed that Danielle Bradbery, Kane Brown, Sheryl Crow, Delta Rae, Lindsay Ell, Morgan Evans, Flo Rida, Chris Janson, Jillian Jacqueline, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, Cody Johnson, Elle King, Dustin Lynch, Maddie & Tae, Midland, Maren Morris, David Lee Murphy, Carly Pearce, Cassadee Pope, RaeLynn, Michael Ray, Trombone Shorty, Mitchell Tenpenny and The Wailers will take the stage, with more acts to be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival has also added a third Next from Nashville stage for 2019 which will bring more acts to the festival than ever before. The event strives to raise funds and awareness of the issues that the world’s oceans currently face, as well as supporting marine conservation and research. Attendees can also learn more about where a portion of the proceeds from their passes go at Rock The Ocean’s Conservation Village and attend an arena of exhibits within the festival grounds, where they can experience games, interactive touch tanks, cooking exhibitions, the latest ocean technology, and learn how they can help make a difference.
Tortuga Music Festival passes go on sale Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. ET at tortugamusicfestival.com.
Lauren Alaina Pays Tribute To ’90s Female Superstars With New Single
/by Jessica NicholsonIn 2017, Mercury Nashville/Interscope artist Lauren Alaina celebrated her first No. 1 single with “Road Less Traveled,” a soaring affirmation anthem aimed at dreamers of all ages. Alaina, who is nominated for a second time in the New Artist of the Year category at the upcoming CMA Awards in November, keeps that positive outlook going as she says hello to the decade of scrunchies, faded denim, and radio waves where the ladies dominated in her latest single, “Ladies In The ‘90s.”
The track pays homage to hits from both pop artists Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and country stars including Shania Twain and Reba.
“Ladies In The ’90s” follows her guest appearance on the Platinum-selling track “What Ifs” with Kane Brown, which earned Collaborative Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards earlier this year. Alaina also took home the ACM’s New Female Vocalist title in May. Last year, she was named Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year at the MusicRow Awards, and earned CMT’s Breakthrough Video of the Year for “Road Less Traveled.”
Alaina recently discussed her new single, work on an upcoming album, and her biggest ’90s idol.
Your new single “Ladies In The ’90s” is equal parts nostalgia and female empowerment. How did the song idea come about?
I have been asked more times than I can count who my main musical influences are and what inspired me to become a singer/songwriter in the first place. One day I really thought about the question. I realized my heart dreamed the dream and the women dominating on the radio made me believe in it. I would sing my heart out in the living room to Whitney, Britney, Shania, Faith Hill, Reba, Christina Aguilera, and so many more. Those women were living proof that I could be a woman on the radio.
With the ongoing conversation about females on country radio these days, I wanted to address it. Instead of being bitter and hateful about how I believe women should be heard, I wanted to remind people of a time where women were unapologetic about being women and owned every ounce of it. Those women continue to be proof that little girls can dream big dreams and accomplish them. Also, I missed scrunchies, and now I have excuse to wear them again.
You include so many iconic ’90s song titles in this new track. Which title was the hardest to fit in?
It was a bit of a puzzle to put together. I feel like the songs eventually fell into their own place.
Do you think that the female empowerment component of ’90s songs plays a part in the recent surge of fans and artists loving on that particular decade of music?
I think good songs last a lifetime. No one can ever take away iconic songs and moments in music. There will only ever be one “Man, I Feel Like A Woman.” That song will be a huge song forever. I think it was such an important message for women and will always be. That’s just one example of the many. I love how fierce and true the women in the nineties were. I hope I can have even a fraction of that.
You have already been performing the song in concerts. What has the fan reaction been so far?
The response at our shows has been blowing my mind. People are already singing every word and it’s brand new. I had the most amazing moment at a show recently. There was the most beautiful little girl in the front row. I noticed when “Ladies” came on, she sang every word. The song had only been out for five days. I let her sing a quarter of the song. It was a moment I will never forget. It made me so proud to hear that little girl singing all of the songs that made me fall in love with singing. I hope I can be that for her.
If you had to choose, who is your biggest ’90s idol and why?
Phew. That is so hard. I would have to say Dolly Parton. She didn’t come out in the nineties, but she knows no time in her career. She’s a Lady of all the times. I respect her so much. She is one of the sweetest women I have ever met, and she is a total boss. She is the definition of owning your brand and expanding it to the moon. I love her so much.
How far along are you in the album-making process for your next project?
I have just begun the process. “Ladies” is the only song I have recorded so far. I’m writing and getting going. I’m so excited to see where the songs take me.
How do you feel your music has evolved since Road Less Traveled?
Road was a record of growth. I feel like I’m in a completely new chapter of life for this one. I am just getting started on it, but the songs feel like an extension of where I’ve been.
CMT, ‘Variety’ Host Pre-Show Panel Of Nashville Women Executives And Creatives
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Chris Willman, Leslie Fram, Callie Cunningham, Beth Laird, Stephanie Wright, Nicolle Galyon. Photo: Rick Diamond
Ahead of CMT’s Artist Of The Year live event on Wednesday, Oct. 17, Variety hosted its first brunch in accordance with a longstanding partnership to reveal its Nashville-focused print issue.
As with CMT’s 90-minute television event—designed to give female artists voice and airplay, exclusively honoring females this year—the Variety print issue also features the magazine’s top 25 picks of exclusive female country music executives.
Billed as Breaking Down The Barrier: A Conversation About Women In Country Music, the Oct. 16 brunch was held on Cambria Nashville Downtown hotel’s fifth floor True Bar & Music Room with a panel discussion in addition to a performance by Big Machine Records’ Carly Pearce. CMT’s Sr. VP of Music & Talent Leslie Fram co-hosted the panel with Variety writer Chris Willman. Four female executives and creatives on the stage were Red Light’s Callie Cunningham, Creative Nation’s Beth Laird, UMG Nashville’s Stephanie Wright and CMT’s Next Women Of Country mentor/songwriter Nicolle Galyon.
The 40-minute talk cited the marketshare for women on country radio airplay continues to decline, and a new trend for female country artists siding in pop music and tours (Maren Morris and Niall Horann, Cam and Sam Smith, Kacey Musgraves and Harry Styles, Kelsea Ballerini and Kelly Clarkson). The panel was asked if female writers/artist still feel they have a place in country music. The panel responded:
Pictured (L-R): Nicolle Galyon, Stephanie Wright, Leslie Fram, Carly Pearce, Chris Willman, Beth Laird, Callie Cunningham. Photo: Rick Diamond
Laird: “I work with Kassi Ashton, who is definitely an authentic female with a strong opinion that I love. The No. 1 question she gets is, ‘Are you country? Are you really country? Do you want to be country?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, I grew up country…I love country…I live here…’
“It’s interesting…making sure she proves she’s [country], defining her intentions if she wants to be played on country radio, and that she swears that’s what she wants and who she is. Why does she have to keep saying it?”
Cunningham: “…same experience with [my artist] Bailey Bryan. When she was on radio tour, it was having to defend why she wants to be in this genre, constantly. It’s so frustrating because country music was built on songwriting, experience and being who you are. We need to encourage that—especially in young female artists—but at the same time there’s this other side of the argument that there’s so little space for female artists in country radio, maybe they should [just] fit in. We need to be encouraging these artists to be confident and [that they] don’t need to defend themselves when they walk in a room. If they’re authentic to who they are, people will flock to that, otherwise it’s not going to be impactful and nobody’s gonna care.”
Wright: “You want the artist to be honest and true to who they are. I don’t know that they need to go pop, saying I don’t have a place in this format. They do have a place in this format. You don’t want to skew them one way or the other. You just have to figure out how to get exposure because there’s an audience out there who wants to hear what these artists have to say.”
Galyon: “Most of the female writers have discussed if we have made it this far, we’ve made a pretty deliberate attempt to write mostly male songs, whether that was natural or not. Luckily for me that came natural, so I’m very fulfilled with my job [as a writer]. But there are some writers where that’s not their strength. I can’t tell you how many times we feel great finishing a song saying wow any guy could sing that. But when we finish a female song and say anyone could sing that, we think nobody will do anything with it.”
Other vulnerable moments came when Galyon confessed although she had a community of men supporting her, she downplayed certain parts of her femininity in the writing room, being the only woman.
“I [didn’t] want to be too emotional or be too passionate or too aggressive,” she said. “Luckily for me, when I became a mom I didn’t have energy to have filters anymore, so I turned in to a lot bigger version of myself, in a beautiful way. It’s been cool to move forward being as feminine as I truly, honestly am, and to see what that brings out with the brothers I work with in a creative space.”
Laird also candidly confessed her multi-Grammy-winning writer Lori McKenna was hesitant to write down her goal to achieve music’s top trophy, prior to receiving them.
“We do goal sheets every year and [Lori] wouldn’t write them down,” Laird said. “I learned sometimes you’re almost scared to say exactly what you want and go after it. I don’t know why, as females, we’ll have our dream inside and not say exactly what it is because what if I fail, or can’t get there? It was really empowering for us to see the power in setting a goal, writing it down, telling people around you, and having the support—especially from other females—in reaching that goal.”
Carly Pearce performs at Variety and CMT’s Breaking Down The Barrier: A Conversation About Women In Country Music. Photo: Rick Diamond
Reviver Records Signs Aaron Goodvin
/by Jessica NicholsonAaron Goodvin
Reviver Records has signed Canadian-born country singer/songwriter Aaron Goodvin with plans to release a new record in early 2019. The CCMA Award winner already has three Top 10 hits under his belt as an artist with “Woman in Love,” “Miss Me Yet,” and the Platinum-selling single “Lonely Drum.” Goodvin has also had songs recorded by Luke Bryan, Jon Pardi, and Cole Swindell.
“We’re very proud to have Aaron as part of the Reviver family,” said Reviver CEO David Ross. “He’s an incredibly talented artist whose music we have been fans of for quite some time. He’s a natural performer and so his success in such a short period of time comes as no surprise. We’re looking forward to being a part of Aaron’s musical future.”
After appearing as a writer on Luke Bryan’s multi-platinum selling album Crash My Party, Aaron’s star power continued to rise. His self-titled Warner Music Canada debut featured three Top 10 singles including the platinum certified smash hit “Lonely Drum.” The track has the honorable distinction of being the only Canadian country single released in the past two years to be certified Platinum. In both 2017 and 2018, Aaron was nominated for CCMA awards, winning the 2018 Songwriter of the Year award for “Lonely Drum.”
In February 2019, Aaron will be set to release his much-anticipated sophomore album on Reviver Records worldwide with Warner Music Canada continuing as his Canadian home, driven by the lead single “You Are” in Canada and a single released to radio in the US in early 2019.
Industry Ink: ACM, Leadership Music, Deluge Music, Songcraft Podcast
/by Lorie HollabaughACM Welcomes Walker Hayes
Pictured (L-R): Robert Carlton, SMACKSongs; Nick Di Fruscia, ACM VP, Awards & Membership; Walker Hayes; Jen Heaton, ACM Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships
The Academy of Country Music welcomed Monument Records recording artist Walker Hayes to the office while he was in Los Angeles recently for his packed out show at The Troubadour on Oct. 2. While at the Academy, Hayes performed his current single, “90’s Country,” and performed other songs off his current album, Boom.
Leadership Music To Hold Food Truck Friday
Leadership Music will host Food Truck Friday on Oct. 26 from noon-1:30 p.m. at 34 Music Sq. E. Among the vendors will be Roscoe’s, Flavor, Banjo’s, and King of Pop.
Madeline Merlo Inks With Deluge Music
Pictured (L-R): Ron Kitchener (RGK Entertainment) Madeline Merlo, Mark Friedman (president Deluge Music) David Robkin (Managing Member Deluge Music) Emily Dryburgh (Creative Manager Deluge Music)
Deluge Music has signed Madeline Merlo to a worldwide publishing deal. “We couldn’t be happier to have Madeline on board with us, she’s got what it takes to have a lasting career in Nashville!” says Deluge Music president Mark Friedman.
Lamont Dozier On Songcraft Spotlight On Songwriters’ 100th Episode
Lamont Dozier
The Songcraft: Spotlight On Songwriters Podcast will launch its milestone 100th episode today featuring a wide-ranging conversation with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Lamont Dozier. Best known as a member of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting and production team that was instrumental in defining the Motown sound, Dozier penned classics such as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” “Heat Wave,” “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” “Reach Out I’ll Be There” and a string of ten Top 10 pop singles for the Supremes, including “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
Launched in 2015, Songcraft is a bi-weekly podcast featuring in-depth career-spanning conversations with songwriters from a variety of genres and eras co-hosted by Paul Duncan and Scott B. Bomar.