Lucie Silvas
The evening before Lucie Silvas released her own lush pop project, E.G.O., she was in the audience for Beyonce and Jay Z’s headlining show at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.
But unlike many attending, Silvas decided to take a few photos, then put away her phone and let her self be immersed in the pop and R&B melodies.
“I decided to just stand there and watch, and I can remember every single element of that show,” she recalled the morning of her own E.G.O. album release on Aug. 24. “Our memories of things actually get worse the more we use our phones.”
For Silvas, like many artists, whether independent or major label-affiliated, she depends on social media as a key marketing component. Like her fellow artists, Silvas relates to having moments of struggle when it becomes easy to measure artistic worth by way of clicks, likes and retweets.
This idea of feeding off of attention is the central muse of the album’s title track, “E.G.O.”—an acronym for “Everybody Gets Off”—penned with Elise Hayes and Natalie Hemby.
“We all get caught up in this idea of ‘We have to be seen and heard.’” Silvas shared. “The platforms have opened for people to say things that people need to hear and listen to. But the flip side—and there is a flip side to everything—is the darker side of needing attention, of feeling like you are invisible if you don’t have it. That’s a very dangerous thing that I buy into a million times a day. And I hate that I do that. So this song, it’s a wink, a tounge-in-cheek thing, saying, ‘I don’t get hungry because I’m always full of myself.’ That’s how I feel when I post in Instagram. It’s so conceited and yet I’m laughing at myself at the same time, because this world is about the appearances of things. I think it’s good to lighten the mood and say there is a very funny look at this.”
Silvas calls the album, recorded at Battle Tapes, a few streets over from Silvas’ home in East Nashville, a true community effort. Natalie Hemby, Tenille Townes, Kate York, Keelan Donovan and John Osborne (Silvas’ husband and member of duo Brothers Osborne) are a few of the artists and writers who contributed to the project.
“After making the album, I realized that I made this record mostly with artists, which is eye-opening for me, because they know my heart and I know theirs.”
Donovan contributed both writing and vocals to the at once self-recriminating and pining “My Old Habits,” penned with Silvas and Daniel Tashian.
“His voice felt right for that subject matter, of falling back into terrible things you might have said you are done with. There is a very longing tone in his voice that is very rock ‘n’ roll.”
Engineer Jeremy Ferguson was brought on board after Osborne suggested she listen to new albums from The Brummies and Steelism, two projects Ferguson previously worked on.
“He was a big fan and I listened and I was blown away by the sound and the general landscape. Jeremy was this very understated and extremely knowledgeable producer and engineer and I knew that combo of him and Jon Green from the UK was going to be great.”
Silvas and Green are both UK natives that have known each other since they were teenagers. Green first introduced Silvas to the Nashville songwriter community in 2007.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” she says of having Green produce and co-write on the album. “He’s seen me go through a lot of things both musically and personally. It just brings me to the edge of tears thinking about it because it’s just friends making music. We had no constraints, no rules, just a great town with great support.”
Silvas’ voice is bold and sultry on the driving groove of album opener, “Kite,” which is also the first song Silvas penned for the album, alongside Hemby and Gabe Simon. If you got to keep her steady/She’ll blow you off like cheap confetti, she admonishes on the track. Maybe you’re down to earth but she’s gonna own the sky. “We wanted the song to be about this woman who was so fiery and ambitious and couldn’t be held down. She didn’t want her spirit to be dampened by anybody.”
The vocal Silvas recorded for the demo was so unadulterated and bold that they kept it on the final project. “It just felt so free, like ‘Ok, the record has started now.’
That self-assurance presents itself more subtly even in the breezy, soft ‘70s vibe found in “Girls From California.”
“When I’m recording a song, I like to visualize when you are. I think of it on a Santa Monica pier as the sun is going down. It’s a reflective song, saying, ‘I’m not going to necessarily be everything you want, whether it’s music or a person, but this is me and if I had the inclination to change, I would, but I won’t. It feels like a peaceful way of saying that.”
The timelessness of the track set a standard for the album. “I wanted this to be a pop record that wouldn’t age. I don’t want to copy someone who has made a beautiful record in the past—the Jackie Wilsons, and Ray Charles and Roy Orbisons. They have made perfect records that can’t be replicated so all I can do is take those influences and try to make a modern record. “Girls From California” definitely set the tone of those things.”
Following 2015’s entry Letters To Ghosts, which was largely inspired by a past romantic breakup, Silvas explores a lighter nuance to her music this time around.
“I’m at that age where I’m over trying to control or imagine where I’m going. I feel closer to my family than ever before and I think this album is a message of ‘This is what I’m doing, because it makes me happy.’ I think there is empowerment in that.”
Silvas will join Dierks Bentley’s Seven Peaks Festival in Colorado this weekend, followed by an opening slot for Cam at the Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 26. The BMG writer’s E.G.O. will be released by Downtown Music Group.
Thousand Foot Krutch Frontman Trevor McNevan To Release New EP Sept. 14
/by Jessica NicholsonThe first single from FIGHT MUSIK VOL. 1, “These Lines” is available at Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon.com and more.
Track List:
Beastmode
Freq Show
Hip-Hop His(Tory)
These Lines
Fire In The Booth
Man Vs Machine
Home
Who Are We
Luke Bryan To Be Guest Game Picker For ESPN
/by Jessica NicholsonLuke Bryan. Photo: Jim Wright
Luke Bryan will take his “What Makes You Country Tour XL Stadium Sized” to Chicago’s Wrigley Field this Saturday but before hitting the concert stage Luke will make a stop in South Bend, Indiana to serve a celebrity guest game picker on ESPN’s College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. As the Fighting Irish and the Wolverines are set to play at Notre Dame Stadium to launch their season opener, Luke will visit the iconic set, located in the Library Quad, with host Rece Davis and analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard.
“I love the excitement as college football season begins,” shared Luke. “Even on tour, we make plans to watch the games every Saturday by setting up our own tailgate area outside our buses.”
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot is kicking off its 2018 season campaign by paying homage to where it all began: The University of Notre Dame. The 10-time Emmy award-winning pregame show begins at 9 a.m. on ESPN, with Luke expected to appear around 11:30 a.m. He, along with the other analysts, will make his picks for college football’s opening weekend.
NATD’s September Speaker Series To Focus On Streaming
/by Lorie HollabaughThe Nashville Association of Talent Directors has announced the next installment of their “Breaking Artists” Speaker Series September 20 which will focus on streaming and its impact on the Nashville music industry.
Panel guests for this installment will include Emily Cohen (Amazon Music), Jay Frank (UMG), Margaret Hart (YouTube Music) and Brittany Schaffer (Spotify). The series will be held at the CMA Event Space, Level One and is free for NATD members; others wanting to attend can purchase tickets for $10 here.
Farris, Self & Moore Reflects On Three Years, Promotes Two
/by LB CantrellPictured (back row L-R): Sarah Grissom, Tina Banjo, Tim Lane, Kella Farris, Gator Pizer, Taylor Baird, Matt Najdowski; (front row L-R): Brittney Schoessel, Hannah Haggerty, Amanda Mitchell, Catherine Moore, Stephanie Mundy Self, Hollister Whaling. Photo: Meredith Bustillo
The full-service business management and financial planning firm, Farris, Self & Moore (FSM) is celebrating three years of business and several staff elevations within the company. Kella Farris, Stephanie Mundy Self and Catherine Moore started the firm in 2015 and 2018 finds them with ten additional staffers and a growing clientele. FSM offers services from accounting and business management to financial planning services for touring artists and hit songwriters. They describe it in four words: “Authentic, Boutique, All-In and Innovative.”
Pictured (L-R): Hollister Whaling, Amanda Mitchell
Client Managers Hollister Whaling and Amanda Mitchell have risen to Junior Business Managers after having both been in business management for seven years. Whaling spent time at New West Records in Athens, Georgia, and American Songwriter in Nashville before venturing into business management. Mitchell’s stops include Universal Music Group, the Country Music Association, the Grand Ole Opry and The Roanoke Civic Center.
“The growth and success of FSM wouldn’t be possible without our entire team,” comments Farris. “We are so pleased and proud to announce the promotion of Hollister Whaling and Amanda Mitchell to Junior Business Manager. The level of service they provide is representative of FSM’s core value of being “All In” for our clients. We feel blessed and excited to continue to serve our clients and strive to remain the boutique choice for artists and songwriters who need full-service business management and comprehensive financial planning.”
Celebration Of Life Set For Jeff Carlton
/by Jessica NicholsonCarlton died on Aug. 20, at age 66. Carlton spent more than 30 years in Nashville’s music publishing industry, championing songwriters including Tony Martin, Lee Thomas Miller, Monty Criswell, Jimmy Ritchey and more. To read Carlton’s full MusicRow obit, click here.
The family looks forward to hearing favorite memories of Carlton; guests are invited to bring a note to be included in a commemorative book.
To RSVP to the event, email info@smacksongs.com.
Morgan Evans’ Debut Album To Bow In October
/by Lorie HollabaughMorgan Evans’ debut album Things That We Drink To, is set for release Oct. 12, and pre-order for the project begins today. Evans co-penned every track on the album alongside producer Chris DeStefano, and the two also played every instrument on the sonically diverse project.
“My album is a collection of songs that I wrote over the last two years,” says Evans. “It’s my story. It’s leaving behind everything and everyone you know to chase down a country music dream on the other side of the world. It’s the excitement of the unknown, it’s the fun, it’s the loneliness and it’s the struggle. It’s losing someone and finding the strength to keep your head up and make them proud. It’s meeting a girl, falling hopelessly and marrying the love of your life. It’s the ‘Things That We Drink To’.”
The project has already produced a No. 1 hit with the first single, the buoyant “Kiss Somebody,” which Evans co-wrote with DeStefano and Josh Osborne. Fans will instantly receive that song and four others with a pre-order of the album, including “American” (Evans’ ode to the U.S. and the girl that makes it feel like home), love song “I Do,” the live-in-the-moment anthem “Young Again,” and his new single, “Day Drunk,” which claimed the No. 1 spot on Australia’s Country Airplay chart for eight consecutive weeks.
Official track list for Morgan Evans’ Things That We Drink To:
1. “American” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Josh Osborne)
2. “Kiss Somebody” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Josh Osborne)
3. “I Do” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley)
4. “Song for the Summer” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, David Hodges)
5. “Day Drunk” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Lindy Robbins)
6. “Dance with Me” feat. Kelsea Ballerini – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano)
7. “Me on You” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Josh Osborne)
8. “Things That We Drink To” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Josh Osborne)
9. “We Dream” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Jaren Johnston, Jon Nite)
10.“Everything Changes” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Blair Daly)
11.“Young Again” – (Morgan Evans, Chris DeStefano, Josh Kear)
Luke Bryan To Celebrate Grand Opening Of New Venue With Free Downtown Nashville Concert
/by Lorie Hollabaugh“I’ve been looking forward to this for some time,” said Bryan. “Couldn’t think of a better way to kick this place off than to have a big party right on the streets of Broadway!”
Inspired by Bryan’s childhood home near Route 32 Bridge in Lee County, GA and housed in Nashville’s iconic American National Bank Building, Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink is a 30,000 square foot complex featuring six levels of entertainment space with eight bars, four stages for live music and two restaurants. It includes Nashville’s only rooftop Sushi Bar, as well as a menu inspired by some of Bryan’s favorite dishes and one-of-a-kind drinks.
Dedicated parking for the event will be at Nissan Stadium.
Weekly Chart Report (8/31/18)
/by Alex ParryClick here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Report.
Lucie Silvas Spotlights Nashville’s Writing Community On New Album ‘E.G.O.’
/by Jessica NicholsonLucie Silvas
The evening before Lucie Silvas released her own lush pop project, E.G.O., she was in the audience for Beyonce and Jay Z’s headlining show at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.
But unlike many attending, Silvas decided to take a few photos, then put away her phone and let her self be immersed in the pop and R&B melodies.
“I decided to just stand there and watch, and I can remember every single element of that show,” she recalled the morning of her own E.G.O. album release on Aug. 24. “Our memories of things actually get worse the more we use our phones.”
For Silvas, like many artists, whether independent or major label-affiliated, she depends on social media as a key marketing component. Like her fellow artists, Silvas relates to having moments of struggle when it becomes easy to measure artistic worth by way of clicks, likes and retweets.
This idea of feeding off of attention is the central muse of the album’s title track, “E.G.O.”—an acronym for “Everybody Gets Off”—penned with Elise Hayes and Natalie Hemby.
Silvas calls the album, recorded at Battle Tapes, a few streets over from Silvas’ home in East Nashville, a true community effort. Natalie Hemby, Tenille Townes, Kate York, Keelan Donovan and John Osborne (Silvas’ husband and member of duo Brothers Osborne) are a few of the artists and writers who contributed to the project.
“After making the album, I realized that I made this record mostly with artists, which is eye-opening for me, because they know my heart and I know theirs.”
Donovan contributed both writing and vocals to the at once self-recriminating and pining “My Old Habits,” penned with Silvas and Daniel Tashian.
“His voice felt right for that subject matter, of falling back into terrible things you might have said you are done with. There is a very longing tone in his voice that is very rock ‘n’ roll.”
“He was a big fan and I listened and I was blown away by the sound and the general landscape. Jeremy was this very understated and extremely knowledgeable producer and engineer and I knew that combo of him and Jon Green from the UK was going to be great.”
Silvas and Green are both UK natives that have known each other since they were teenagers. Green first introduced Silvas to the Nashville songwriter community in 2007.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” she says of having Green produce and co-write on the album. “He’s seen me go through a lot of things both musically and personally. It just brings me to the edge of tears thinking about it because it’s just friends making music. We had no constraints, no rules, just a great town with great support.”
Silvas’ voice is bold and sultry on the driving groove of album opener, “Kite,” which is also the first song Silvas penned for the album, alongside Hemby and Gabe Simon. If you got to keep her steady/She’ll blow you off like cheap confetti, she admonishes on the track. Maybe you’re down to earth but she’s gonna own the sky. “We wanted the song to be about this woman who was so fiery and ambitious and couldn’t be held down. She didn’t want her spirit to be dampened by anybody.”
The vocal Silvas recorded for the demo was so unadulterated and bold that they kept it on the final project. “It just felt so free, like ‘Ok, the record has started now.’
That self-assurance presents itself more subtly even in the breezy, soft ‘70s vibe found in “Girls From California.”
“When I’m recording a song, I like to visualize when you are. I think of it on a Santa Monica pier as the sun is going down. It’s a reflective song, saying, ‘I’m not going to necessarily be everything you want, whether it’s music or a person, but this is me and if I had the inclination to change, I would, but I won’t. It feels like a peaceful way of saying that.”
The timelessness of the track set a standard for the album. “I wanted this to be a pop record that wouldn’t age. I don’t want to copy someone who has made a beautiful record in the past—the Jackie Wilsons, and Ray Charles and Roy Orbisons. They have made perfect records that can’t be replicated so all I can do is take those influences and try to make a modern record. “Girls From California” definitely set the tone of those things.”
Following 2015’s entry Letters To Ghosts, which was largely inspired by a past romantic breakup, Silvas explores a lighter nuance to her music this time around.
“I’m at that age where I’m over trying to control or imagine where I’m going. I feel closer to my family than ever before and I think this album is a message of ‘This is what I’m doing, because it makes me happy.’ I think there is empowerment in that.”
Silvas will join Dierks Bentley’s Seven Peaks Festival in Colorado this weekend, followed by an opening slot for Cam at the Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 26. The BMG writer’s E.G.O. will be released by Downtown Music Group.
Warner Music Nashville’s Pickin’ On The Patio Highlights Devin Dawson
/by Jessica NicholsonWarner Music Chairman & CEO John Esposito surprising Devin Dawson with a Platinum plaque honoring the official RIAA certification of his debut single “All On Me.”
Devin Dawson hosted Warner Music Nashville’s Pickin’ on the Patio on Wednesday (Aug. 29). Before kicking off the set, WMN Chairman & CEO John Esposito surprised Dawson with a plaque commemorating the RIAA Platinum certification of his debut single “All On Me.” After inviting the audience to join him in wishing happy birthday to his mom via video, Dawson performed the hit song and other favorites from his album Dark Horse, including “Asking For A Friend.”
This fall, he will join Brett Eldredge on The Long Way Tour, in addition to headlining his own shows for the Stray Off Course Tour through the end of the year.