Irlene Mandrell
From behind the drum set in her sister’s band to the corn fields of Hee Haw to being the ‘funny one’ on Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters television show, Irlene Mandrell has done it all. She’s a performer, a model, a comic, a singer, a musician, a mother and more.
2018 finds Irlene reflective and thankful; releasing new projects that look back on her life with clarity. She has recently released a new album dedicated to military and first responders called Thanks To You on Reviver Records. Likewise, Irlene has released a new country single to radio called “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Heartache,” also on Reviver Records.
Irlene has also become an author. Her book, God Rains Miracles, is an inspirational look at her family life and her faith.
“I have had all these stories forever,” she explained. “They’re family stories that happened both before and after I was born. It’s like ‘God rains miracles’ all the time, constantly all around me. I could be writing another book right now because they’re so constant.”
Irlene Mandrell with MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson
Irlene has also become the host of a YouTube series she has appropriately named “Now and Then,” distributed by The Nashville Soundbite. The series is a nostalgic look back on Mandrell Sisters memories, as well as new updates from Irlene. So far, the series has featured guest appearances from Charlie Daniels, John Schneider of The Dukes of Hazzard and Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys. Each video features a short interview and clips of Irlene interacting with her guests back on the Mandrell Sisters show.
“People have been great to do the videos with, so we’ll just keep going as long as we can drag people in,” Irlene said with a laugh.
Reflecting back on her sisters’ television show provides Irlene with plenty of fond memories.
“The girls and I always think about them as the best home movies ever,” she said. “We were already really close because Louise and I were part of Barbara’s band, so we traveled together growing up. When the show happened, we weren’t working together anymore so it was kind of like a reunion.”
The NBC variety show was one of the last successful prime-time TV variety shows. The Mandrell sisters sang and danced, entertained the audience with skits and comedy, and hosted guests like Brenda Lee, Alabama, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, The Statler Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, Minnie Pearl, Glen Campbell, Roy Rogers, Ray Charles and many more.
Each sister developed her own character during the show. Barbara, the leader. Louise, the smart one. And the striking, blonde Irlene, the funny one.
“It’s so nice that you say funny and not ditzy, right!” she laughed, “We had 12 writers. They spent a few weeks getting to know us before they started writing. So of course they’re going to exaggerate us. They take care of me because I’m the baby. But it also makes me take things not very seriously sometimes and just have fun with life. My dad always said if you make a mistake you gotta be able to laugh at it, so that makes me laughing all the time.”
Irlene Mandrell with MusicRow staffers.
After the Mandrell Sisters came to an end in 1982, Irlene found work on another hit variety show: Hee Haw. She eventually became a ‘Hee Haw Honey,’ a sought after role on the show, and often did skits as Kornfield Kounty’s telephone operator.
“Oh Hee Haw was funny,” she said, “we went from learning a drum solo a week. You really had to learn it because you first pre-recorded it and then you had to match it [during the taping]. Learning the dance and the comedy…everything was scripted, which we’d memorize.”
When asked about cue cards, Irlene said there were none. “No, we didn’t want to [use them],” she explained. “It just seemed so more real to us– to just have it down.”
However, cue cards were used during the jokes in the corn field to help create comedic reactions to the punch lines. Irlene adds, “Sam [Lovullo, the producer of the show] liked to not let anyone see the jokes until they held up the cue cards, and if you made a mistake, fine, they loved it!”
In addition to her newly released single “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Heartbreak,” Irlene is planning some Christmas shows later this year with her children Vanessa, Christina and Deric.
BMI Foundation Announces Opening Of 2019 Scholarship Season
/by Lorie HollabaughThe Foundation will administer five songwriting and composing scholarship competitions, judged by a panel of international musicians. These annual programs include the BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship, BMI Student Composer Awards, John Lennon Scholarships, peermusic Latin Scholarship and the Nashville Songwriting Scholarship. In addition, the Foundation administers two scholarship competitions outside the area of music creation: the newly revamped BMI Founders Internship Program for broadcasting students, and the Woody Guthrie Fellowship for scholars pursuing topics or themes related to American folk music.
“We love getting to open new creative doors for talented songwriters, composers and scholars across the country,” said BMI Foundation President Deirdre Chadwick. “So many of our award recipients have gone on to have flourishing careers, in part because of programs like these that afford them continued educational and development opportunities.”
Applications must be completed online no later than Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, and complete details can be found at bmifoundation.org/
Nashville Songwriting Scholarship
The fourth annual Nashville Songwriting Scholarship will award $5,000 for the best original song in any of the following genres: Americana, blues, bluegrass, contemporary Christian, country, folk, and roots. The contest is open to students between the ages of 17 and 24, who are enrolled in any college or university located in the United States. Grammy-winning recording artist and BMI songwriter Kacey Musgraves endorses the competition and serves as a final judge.
BMI Founders Internship Program for Radio Broadcasting
Established in 2015, the BMI Founders Award is an annual internship program open to radio broadcasting students nationwide. The award commemorates the group of radio industry leaders who founded Broadcast Music, Inc. in 1939. A 4-6 week paid internship with a major broadcaster is awarded based on merit and the best original essay response submitted to the competition, and recognizes a student with the potential to become an innovator in the rapidly changing field of broadcast radio.
BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship
The fifth annual BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship will award $5,000 to a rising jazz star pursuing a graduate degree in Jazz Studies, Jazz Performance, or related majors. The award was established in 2015 in honor of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, a lifetime achievement recognition program of the National Endowment for the Arts.
BMI Student Composer Awards
The 67th annual BMI Student Composer Awards will award $20,000 in prizes to young composers engaged in the study of classical music. Co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, the competition is open to all composers studying classical music who are age 27 or younger and citizens of the Western Hemisphere. Classical music luminaries such as John Adams, Aaron Jay Kernis and Augusta Read Thomas received their earliest recognition through this program. *Please note that the application deadline for this program is Friday, February 1st, 2019.
John Lennon Scholarships
The 22nd annual John Lennon Scholarships will award three prizes totaling $20,000 to U.S. college-student songwriters (age 17 to 24) for the best original songs submitted to the competition. Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono in conjunction with the BMI Foundation, this scholarship program honors the memory of one of the preeminent songwriters of the 20th century, John Lennon, and has become one of the nation’s most esteemed accolades for emerging artists.
peermusic Latin Scholarship
Established by music publisher Ralph Peer II and generously funded by peermusic, the 16th annual peermusic Latin Scholarship competition will award a $5,000 scholarship for the best original song or instrumental composition in any Latin genre. The contest is open to students between the ages of 17 and 24, who are enrolled in any college or university located in the United States and Puerto Rico. Acclaimed Latin artist and BMI songwriter Gloria Trevi serves as honorary spokesperson for the competition.
Woody Guthrie Fellowship
The 14th annual Woody Guthrie Fellowship will award up to $5,000 for scholarly research at the extensive Woody Guthrie Archives, a paper-based research repository located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Applicants must have a research project that leads to the creation of an original scholarly publication or product and requires a minimum of two weeks of research at the Archives. Established in 2005 in cooperation with the Woody Guthrie Center, the Woody Guthrie Fellowship seeks to encourage unique exploration into the life and legacy of one of the most influential folk musicians in American history, Woody Guthrie.
PR Changes: Music Business Association, The Recording Academy, CMT, Kore PR
/by Jessica NicholsonThe Press House Adds Music Business Association To Client Roster
The Press House, a full-service PR and branding firm with offices in New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles, has added the Music Business Association to its client roster.
The Music Business Association is a not-for-profit membership organization that advances, promotes and invests in the future of the music business by providing a trusted forum where ideas and cooperation flourish. Through events, education and engagement, the association brings together the full breadth of the industry for unparalleled access to networking, resources and thought leadership.
The association’s annual conference, Music Biz 2019, is set to take place Sunday, May 5 through Wednesday, May 8 at the new JW Marriott Nashville.
The Recording Academy Adds Sunshine Sachs As PR Partner
CMT’s Amanda Murphy Exits
Ashton Shepherd Joins Kore PR
Ashton Shepherd
Ashton Shepherd, known for her singles “Look It Up,” “Sounds So Good,” and “Takin’ Off This Pain,” has joined the artist roster at Kore PR.
“Ashton is a phenomenal artist whose authenticity is irrefutable,” exclaims Kore Public Relations owner Dawn DeJongh. “We are proud to join her in writing the next chapter of her artistry.”
Garth Offers Up In-Depth Look At Life On The Road With ‘The Anthology Part III’
/by Lorie HollabaughThe five-CD anthology contains 52 live recordings, including the new live album, TRIPLE LIVE, which is the soundtrack of the record-breaking, number one tour in North American history, The Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood. The collection also includes over 100 behind-the-scenes and performance photos, and over a dozen augmented reality experiences that can be experienced through downloading the Garth Live app and holding it over the book cover and various photos inside the anthology to watch Garth’s LIVE story come to life.
Through interviews with the band and crew, fans get an insider’s look at Garth’s early days as a bar bouncer and playing with only a few people watching at Willie’s Saloon in Stillwater, OK, to being an opening act for Reba, The Judds and Kenny Rogers and finally headlining his own tours throughout the ’90s and becoming an international star.
The collection, the third part of Garth’s massive five-part anthology, will be on sale November 20.
Paul Barnabee Joins FBMM
/by Jessica NicholsonPaul Barnabee
Longtime Sony Music executive and respected music industry veteran Paul Barnabee has joined FBMM (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.).
“Our FBMM family is excited to welcome Paul,” said Duane Clark, owner and vice chairman at FBMM. “Coming to us from a different side of the industry gives him a unique perspective, and FBMM’s executive team is excited to add another layer of industry expertise for our clients.”
A Long Island native, Barnabee moved to Nashville in 1995 to accept a position as senior director of finance at Sony Music Entertainment. He later became senior vice president in sales, finance and operations. In 2011, he was appointed as senior vice president of marketing for Sony and its three imprints, RCA, Columbia and Arista Nashville. In this role, Barnabee led his department in the creation and execution of strategic marketing initiatives for a number of global music artists. He also directed the development of industry campaigns to attract new artists to the label.
“FBMM is known worldwide as a leader in business management, and it’s an honor to join a company of this caliber,” Barnabee said. “This firm does great work with integrity and always puts its clients first, which is incredibly important to me. It’s amazing to see the dedication and breadth of services FBMM provides. I am very excited to be a part of a team driven to help artists achieve their goals.”
Barnabee earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Albany, SUNY and his CPA license in the state of New York. He served on the board of directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee for five years and now serves on the board of the Academy of Country Music (ACM) as a past chairman. He currently serves as vice chairman of ACM’s charitable arm, Lifting Lives.
Taylor Swift To Open American Music Awards In October
/by Lorie HollabaughA 19-time American Music Award winner, Swift garnered four 2018 nominations and is the current record holder of most wins for Artist of the Year, a category for which she is nominated again this year, along with nominations for AMA Tour of the Year, Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock, and Favorite Album – Pop/Rock.
Set to take the stage on the heels of her record-breaking reputation stadium tour, Swift joins previously-announced performers benny blanco with Halsey and Khalid, Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Mariah Carey, Ciara featuring Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Panic! At the Disco, Post Malone ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Carrie Underwood and a moving tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.
Hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross, the show will broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Spotify Announces Integration With Google Maps
/by Eric T. Parker“We’ve previously seen how well navigation works in harmony with music through our integration with Waze in 2017,” reads a statement from Spotify. “Starting [October 1], millions of Google Maps users across Spotify markets will be able to to ‘jam through the traffic jam’ on both iOS and Android. After connecting your Spotify account, you’ll be ready to start.”
Playback controls like pause, play, or skip are enabled within the Google Maps navigation settings to enjoy music and podcasts from Spotify during active navigation. Through a simple entry-point from the Google Maps app into Spotify, users are able to browse songs, albums, and playlists. A banner in Spotify will return users to active navigation.
The integration will be rolling out to all Google Maps users over the next few days with the latest version of Spotify.
Thomas Archer Extends Deal With MV2 Entertainment
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Nicole Sherrill – Creative Director, Ben Strain – Creative Director, Mike Whelan – Senior Creative Director, Thomas Archer, Tony Harrell – General Manager, Lauren Davis – Artist Management and Contract Administration
Photo by Lindsey Parrish.
MV2 Entertainment has extended its deal with hit songwriter Thomas Archer. Archer has had recent hits with artists Luke Combs (“Hurricane”) and Walker Hayes (“You Broke Up With Me”).
“We are excited to move forward with Thomas as he continues his growth and success as one of Nashville’s top-tier young writers,” said MV2 General Manager Tony Harrell.
Archer, born and raised in Georgia, made his move to Nashville in 2012 after securing numerous cuts with independent artists, which caught the ear of Nashville publishers and helped him land his first publishing deal. Since moving to Nashville, Archer has become a well-known name in the songwriting community and is poised to have a breakout year.
MV2’s roster of writers includes Thomas Archer, Nick Donley, Jimmie Deeghan, Eric Dodd, Clay Mills, Robert Arthur and artist Nora Collins.
One-On-One With Irlene Mandrell: New Music And Video Series
/by LB CantrellIrlene Mandrell
From behind the drum set in her sister’s band to the corn fields of Hee Haw to being the ‘funny one’ on Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters television show, Irlene Mandrell has done it all. She’s a performer, a model, a comic, a singer, a musician, a mother and more.
2018 finds Irlene reflective and thankful; releasing new projects that look back on her life with clarity. She has recently released a new album dedicated to military and first responders called Thanks To You on Reviver Records. Likewise, Irlene has released a new country single to radio called “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Heartache,” also on Reviver Records.
Irlene has also become an author. Her book, God Rains Miracles, is an inspirational look at her family life and her faith.
“I have had all these stories forever,” she explained. “They’re family stories that happened both before and after I was born. It’s like ‘God rains miracles’ all the time, constantly all around me. I could be writing another book right now because they’re so constant.”
Irlene Mandrell with MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson
Irlene has also become the host of a YouTube series she has appropriately named “Now and Then,” distributed by The Nashville Soundbite. The series is a nostalgic look back on Mandrell Sisters memories, as well as new updates from Irlene. So far, the series has featured guest appearances from Charlie Daniels, John Schneider of The Dukes of Hazzard and Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys. Each video features a short interview and clips of Irlene interacting with her guests back on the Mandrell Sisters show.
“People have been great to do the videos with, so we’ll just keep going as long as we can drag people in,” Irlene said with a laugh.
Reflecting back on her sisters’ television show provides Irlene with plenty of fond memories.
“The girls and I always think about them as the best home movies ever,” she said. “We were already really close because Louise and I were part of Barbara’s band, so we traveled together growing up. When the show happened, we weren’t working together anymore so it was kind of like a reunion.”
The NBC variety show was one of the last successful prime-time TV variety shows. The Mandrell sisters sang and danced, entertained the audience with skits and comedy, and hosted guests like Brenda Lee, Alabama, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, The Statler Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, Minnie Pearl, Glen Campbell, Roy Rogers, Ray Charles and many more.
Each sister developed her own character during the show. Barbara, the leader. Louise, the smart one. And the striking, blonde Irlene, the funny one.
“It’s so nice that you say funny and not ditzy, right!” she laughed, “We had 12 writers. They spent a few weeks getting to know us before they started writing. So of course they’re going to exaggerate us. They take care of me because I’m the baby. But it also makes me take things not very seriously sometimes and just have fun with life. My dad always said if you make a mistake you gotta be able to laugh at it, so that makes me laughing all the time.”
Irlene Mandrell with MusicRow staffers.
After the Mandrell Sisters came to an end in 1982, Irlene found work on another hit variety show: Hee Haw. She eventually became a ‘Hee Haw Honey,’ a sought after role on the show, and often did skits as Kornfield Kounty’s telephone operator.
“Oh Hee Haw was funny,” she said, “we went from learning a drum solo a week. You really had to learn it because you first pre-recorded it and then you had to match it [during the taping]. Learning the dance and the comedy…everything was scripted, which we’d memorize.”
When asked about cue cards, Irlene said there were none. “No, we didn’t want to [use them],” she explained. “It just seemed so more real to us– to just have it down.”
However, cue cards were used during the jokes in the corn field to help create comedic reactions to the punch lines. Irlene adds, “Sam [Lovullo, the producer of the show] liked to not let anyone see the jokes until they held up the cue cards, and if you made a mistake, fine, they loved it!”
In addition to her newly released single “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Heartbreak,” Irlene is planning some Christmas shows later this year with her children Vanessa, Christina and Deric.
Weekly Register: Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, FGL Reign
/by Eric T. ParkerClockwise (From Top L): Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, Florida Georgia Line
Albums
Now in its second week of release, Carrie Underwood‘s Cry Pretty achieved 36K in total activity to keep its reign at No. 1 country (28K in album sales/8.5M in stream activity), now at No. 7 overall. Cry Pretty‘s debut marked the best-selling country album debut of 2018, the biggest country album debut since Aug. 7, 2015 (Luke Bryan’s Kill The Lights) and the biggest female country album debut since Oct. 22, 2012 (Taylor Swift’s Red).
Luke Combs holds steady No. 2 with his album This One’s For You with 23K in total activity (4.4K in album sales/21M in stream activity). Kane Brown‘s self-titled release moves up from No. 5 to No. 3 this week with 13K in total activity (2.9K in album sales/12M in stream activity). Chris Stapleton‘s 2015 debut Traveller reappears in the top 5 this week with 13K in total activity (3.5K in album sales/10M in stream activity) this week to claim the No. 4 slot. The self-titled effort from Dan + Shay slides up again for 12K in total activity this week at No. 5 (1.4K in album sales/13M in stream activity).
After debuting on Sept. 21, Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes Deluxe earned 10,247 in total activity this week (1K in album sales/11M in stream activity). No. 1 all-genre for the Billboard Top 200 is Brockhampton‘s iridescence, with total activity of 100K.
Singles
Turning to single stream activity, Kane Brown‘s “Heaven” again claims No. 1 with 7.9M this week. Dan + Shay‘s “Tequila” holds steady at No. 2 with 6.6M. Chris Stapleton‘s “Tennessee Whiskey” again earns No. 3 with 6.5M this week. Florida Georgia Line’s “Simple” slides up with 5.7M to land at No. 4, while Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” drops one to No. 5 with 5.7M this week.
Meanwhile, single sales activity this week finds FGL‘s “Simple” again at No. 1 with 9K. Kane Brown‘s “Homesick” reappears on the top 5, moving 8.9K to land at No. 2. Luke Combs‘ “She Got the Best Of Me” again takes No. 3 with 8.7K. Dan + Shay “Speechless” moves up to 8.3K at No. 4 while at the same time Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” moves in to No. 5 with 7K this week.
Billy Currington‘s “Bring It On Over” is the top debut this week at No. 21 with 3.8K, No. 90 overall.
Cody Johnson To Release ‘Ain’t Nothin’ To It’ In January
/by Jessica NicholsonCody Johnson. Photo: Cameron Powell
CoJo Music / Warner Music Nashville artist Cody Johnson will release his major label debut, Ain’t Nothin’ To It, on Jan. 18, 2019. The album follows his previous independent release which made its debut at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and No. 11 on the Billboard 200.
The lead single off the album “On My Way to You,” is already Top 35 at country radio and rapidly approaching the Top 30. The upcoming album will be available for fans to preorder on Oct. 26 and will include a gratis download of “On My Way To You,” along with four additional tracks on the album. Johnson once again tapped producer Trent Willmon when he went into the studio to record the album.
With over 350,000 hard tickets sold in 2017 alone, Johnson sold out shows in over two dozen states. With a rapidly expanding fan base, Johnson is doubling and tripling ticket sales each time he returns to perform in markets ranging from New York to Los Angeles. His upcoming Oct. 19 show at Marathon Music Works in Nashville sold out over a month in advance.