Pictured (Clockwise, from top left): Avery Bashaw, Aaryn Cantu, Jen Dalton, John Smalt, Kelly Kresen, and Alec Edmonds.
Triple 8 Management partners George Couri and Bruce Kalmick have made staff additions in both the company’s Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee offices. The staff changes include five new hires and one promotion in management and marketing, creating a total of 35 Triple 8 team members. The Triple 8 Nashville team has also moved their offices from Music Row to a newly renovated space in Wedgewood-Houston.
Joining the company are Aaryn Cantu, Jen Dalton, Alec Edmonds, Kelly Kresen and Jon Smalt. Additionally, former Marketing Assistant Avery Bashaw will take on a new role as Marketing Manager.
“Bruce, Jesse, Paul, and I are always looking to serve artists in more ways, and we have made it a priority to find driven, smart, dedicated professionals who share our vision” said Couri.
Jon Smalt joins Triple 8 Management as a Manager in the Nashville office. He is bringing with him artists Devon Gilfillian and Becca Mancari. He has drummed professionally for 10+ years, managed artists and produced records. He also owns two boutique music festivals.
Kelly Kresen joins the team as Day-to-Day Manager for Kaleo and will work out of the Nashville office. Kresen comes to Triple 8 from her role as VP of Partnerships and Strategy for Los Angeles-based music management company, Gin + Tonic. Prior to relocating to Nashville in July 2017, Kresen was a business and legal affairs executive at APA.
Jen Dalton joins Triple 8 Management as a Marketing Director. She has spent the last 13 years as a Regional Promotion Manager for Concord Music Group, RCA Records and Epic Records. Prior to that, she was the Music Director at KUBE-FM/Seattle, the Marketing, Events and Music Director at KKRZ-Portland and the Promotions Director for KNRK-Portland. Dalton will work out of Triple 8’s Austin office, where she has lived for eight years.
Aaryn Cantu joins the team as Marketing Assistant. Cantu has interned for Triple 8 on two separate occasions and will be based out of the Austin office.
Alec Edmonds completed internships at Triple 8 Management and Universal Music Group. Edmonds joins the team as a Day-to-Day Management Assistant in the Nashville office.
Avery Bashaw has been promoted from Marketing Assistant to Marketing Manager. In her new role, she will continue to work out of Triple 8’s Austin office.
Jordan Feliz Hit “The River” Certified Gold
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Centricity VP of Finance Ben Stauffer, VP of Publishing Chad Segura, Senior VP of A&R John Mays, Jordan Feliz, manager Adam Taylor, Centricity General Manager Steve Ford
Centricity Music artist Jordan Feliz is celebrating the most recent milestone for his hit “The River,” which has been certified Gold by the RIAA. Since its release, the track has also been honored with a GMA Dove Award nomination for Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, a K-LOVE Fan Award nomination for Breakout Single of the Year, and the New Release Today We Love Christian Music Awards trophy for Song of the Year.
“I’m just really grateful,” said Feliz, who recently celebrated the milestone with his record label Centricity Music, family, bandmates, and other industry partners. “It’s always an honor with something you’re a part of creatively, to see it resonate with so many people. It’s incredible to see what it is the Lord does with music, and to be part of what He’s done with this song is amazing.”
Feliz wrote “The River” with Colby Wedgeworth and Josh Silverberg, with Wedgeworth also producing the track. The song, Feliz’s first-ever release to Christian radio, served as the title track for his 2016 album, which solidified Feliz as one of CCM’s fastest rising artists and earned him the Dove Award for Best New Artist. This year he followed up with his sophomore album, Future.
This fall Feliz heads out on the 28-city Big Church Night Out tour with Crowder.
In Pictures: Kenny Chesney, Carly Pearce, Watershed Festival
/by Lorie HollabaughKenny Chesney And Espo Visit Backstage At The Tonight Show
Pictured (L-R): Kenny Chesney; John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, WMN)
Kenny Chesney appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week (July 31). With friends and team members joining him backstage, including Warner Music Nashville Chairman & CEO John Esposito, Chesney swapped stories with Fallon and performed his 30th No. 1 single, “Get Along.”
Carly Pearce Thrills Hometown Fans On Rascal Flatts Tour Date
Carly Pearce. Photo: Rachel Deeb
Carly Pearce made her debut at Riverbend Music Center Sunday night (Aug. 5). The Taylor Mill, KY native made an impressive return to her Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky hometown area on Rascal Flatts’ Back To Us Tour. “Last night was an absolute dream! I literally sat in those seats watching Rascal Flatts on stage for one of my first concerts,” shared Carly. “Next to the Grand Ole Opry, Riverbend has been on a pedestal ever since I was a little girl and throughout the years seeing shows with my best friend Kara, who I reminisced with all day! This area shaped me into the person I am and the music that’s made so many memories.”
Watershed Wraps Successful Three-Day Run
Walker McGuire, Dillon Carmichael, Abby Anderson Set For Dierks Bentley’s Seven Peaks Festival
/by Jessica NicholsonWhen Dierks Bentley’s new Seven Peaks Music Festival hits Buena Vista, Colorado over Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 31-Sept. 2), several talented newcomers from the country and roots genres will come along for the ride. Abby Anderson, Boy Named Banjo, Brown & Gray, Cody Canada, Dillon Carmichael, Travis Denning, Walker McGuire, Mipso and Rapidgrass will perform on the “Whiskey Row Stage,” named for Bentley’s bar and grills.
Friday, Aug. 31, dubbed Hot Country Night, will feature performances from Clint Black, Sawyer Brown, Terri Clark, David Lee Murphy, and Bentley’s own Hot Country Knights. Main Stage artists for the Seven Peaks Music Festival include Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne, Sam Bush, Dan+Shay, Elle King, LANCO, Del McCoury, Lucie Silvas, The Cadillac Three, and Kiefer Sutherland.
Passes for the Labor Day weekend destination experience are available now at sevenpeaksfestival.com.
Industry Ink: Sony Music Nashville Staffing Changes
/by Jessica NicholsonSony Music’s Fount Lynch Exits
Fount Lynch
Sony Music Nashville’s VP, Media Fount Lynch will exit the company for an as-of-yet undisclosed new role. No word on plans for a replacement at Sony Music Nashville at this time. Lynch started his role at Sony in 2014, after 14 years with UMG, where he began his career as an intern in the label’s marketing/PR department in January 2001.
Sony Music Nashville Adds Assoc. Director, Promotion and Artist Development
Olivia Laster
Meanwhile, Sony Music Nashville EVP of Promotion and Artist Development Steve Hodges has announced the appointment of Olivia Laster to Associate Director, Promotion and Artist Development, Sony Music Nashville.
Prior to accepting the position of Associate Director Promotion and Artist Development, Laster worked at Sony Music Nashville as Promotion Specialist for Arista Nashville. While in this position, she aided in the facilitation of brand partnerships with Sarah Cannon’s Band Against Cancer, Sandals Resorts and Hard Rock Hotels, as well as incorporated radio promotion into various label departments’ strategies. She worked on artist projects including Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, LANCO and Seth Ennis, among others.
Olivia Laster graduated from Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. She is a member of SOLID.
Downtown Music Publishing Acquires Rights To Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight”
/by Jessica NicholsonDowntown Music Publishing has added a classic hit to its catalog, having acquired 100 percent of the rights to “Dixieland Delight,” which was written by Ronnie Rogers and appeared in 1983 as the lead single from Alabama‘s The Closer You Get album.
The track has been covered by Tim McGraw and Old Crow Medicine Show, and has become a staple of football games around the Southeast.
“Modern music publishing is often equated with chasing the charts or signing a new artist,” said Andrew Sparkler, Downtown’s SVP Business Development. “While we’re extremely enthusiastic about our roster of active songwriters and the work of our global A&R team, we will always be humbled by the opportunity to represent iconic songs like “Dixieland Delight;” words and music that have stood the test of time and become such an integral part of the fabric of America’s diverse popular culture.”
Downtown’s Nashville office has been aggressively expanding its catalog in the past year, with the signing of John Prine, acquiring the catalogs of Major Bob Music and launching Songs Without Borders. In the past year, Downtown has had 11 singles on the country radio charts, including three No. 1 singles.
Weekly Register: Kenny Chesney, Cody Jinks Offer Top Country Debuts
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Cody Jinks, Kenny Chesney
Warner Music Nashville/Blue Chair artist Kenny Chesney‘s Songs For The Saints crowns this week’s top country albums rankings, according to Nielsen Soundscan. As reported earlier today, the project moved 77K in total consumption in its debut week.
Triple 8 Management Expands Staff, Reveals Relocation
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (Clockwise, from top left): Avery Bashaw, Aaryn Cantu, Jen Dalton, John Smalt, Kelly Kresen, and Alec Edmonds.
Triple 8 Management partners George Couri and Bruce Kalmick have made staff additions in both the company’s Austin, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee offices. The staff changes include five new hires and one promotion in management and marketing, creating a total of 35 Triple 8 team members. The Triple 8 Nashville team has also moved their offices from Music Row to a newly renovated space in Wedgewood-Houston.
Joining the company are Aaryn Cantu, Jen Dalton, Alec Edmonds, Kelly Kresen and Jon Smalt. Additionally, former Marketing Assistant Avery Bashaw will take on a new role as Marketing Manager.
“Bruce, Jesse, Paul, and I are always looking to serve artists in more ways, and we have made it a priority to find driven, smart, dedicated professionals who share our vision” said Couri.
Jon Smalt joins Triple 8 Management as a Manager in the Nashville office. He is bringing with him artists Devon Gilfillian and Becca Mancari. He has drummed professionally for 10+ years, managed artists and produced records. He also owns two boutique music festivals.
Kelly Kresen joins the team as Day-to-Day Manager for Kaleo and will work out of the Nashville office. Kresen comes to Triple 8 from her role as VP of Partnerships and Strategy for Los Angeles-based music management company, Gin + Tonic. Prior to relocating to Nashville in July 2017, Kresen was a business and legal affairs executive at APA.
Jen Dalton joins Triple 8 Management as a Marketing Director. She has spent the last 13 years as a Regional Promotion Manager for Concord Music Group, RCA Records and Epic Records. Prior to that, she was the Music Director at KUBE-FM/Seattle, the Marketing, Events and Music Director at KKRZ-Portland and the Promotions Director for KNRK-Portland. Dalton will work out of Triple 8’s Austin office, where she has lived for eight years.
Aaryn Cantu joins the team as Marketing Assistant. Cantu has interned for Triple 8 on two separate occasions and will be based out of the Austin office.
Alec Edmonds completed internships at Triple 8 Management and Universal Music Group. Edmonds joins the team as a Day-to-Day Management Assistant in the Nashville office.
Avery Bashaw has been promoted from Marketing Assistant to Marketing Manager. In her new role, she will continue to work out of Triple 8’s Austin office.
Natalie Hemby Inks New Publishing Deal
/by Jessica NicholsonNatalie Hemby
Natalie Hemby, known for penning No. 1 songs including “Downtown” (Lady Antebellum) and “Pontoon” (Little Big Town), has inked a global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group.
The Nashville native has also written chart-topping songs including Little Big Town’s “Tornado,” Miranda Lambert’s “White Liar,” “Only Prettier,” “Baggage Claim” and “Automatic,” in addition to 10 tracks on Lambert’s double-album The Weight Of These Wings. Other hits in Hemby’s catalog include Kelly Clarkson’s “Don’t Rush” (ft. Vince Gill), Justin Moore’s “You Look Like I Need A Drink,” “A Little More Love,” with Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice, and the Labrinth hit, “Jealous.”
“Universal Music Publishing has always been a company not only passionate about music and songs, but also about the songwriters. I am beyond excited to be a part of such a dynamic group of people who are heartfelt and dedicated to their writers,” said Hemby.
“We’ve always had a deep admiration for Natalie’s writing and artistry. She is an extremely versatile tunesmith with a once in a lifetime voice who can balance hit songs with lyrical integrity,” said Kent Earls, UMPG Nashville’s Executive Vice President and General Manager. “Natalie is a dream come true and we’re elated she chose UMPG to represent her.”
In addition to writing hit songs for other artists, this singer-songwriter released the documentary and album Puxico in 2015. She co-produced and co-wrote the songs featured in the project. Last year, she opened shows for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw’s Soul II Soul Tour, as well as shows for Amy Grant and Gill. Most recently, she’s opened shows for Lambert and Little Big Town on their The Bandwagon Tour.
Brothers Osborne Expand Headlining World Tour, Team With The Wild Feathers And Lucie Silvas
/by Jessica NicholsonThe duo is currently on the road with Dierks Bentley’s Mountain High Tour, and will perform their single “Shoot Me Straight” on the ABC television special CMA Fest, which airs Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. CT.
Brothers Osborne – World Tour Dates:
Aug. 26: Charlottesville, VA @ Jefferson Theatre
Aug. 31: Laramie, WY @ University of Wyoming Arena Auditorium
Sept. 5 Bethlehem, PA @ Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks
Oct. 7 Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre
Oct. 17 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House*^
Oct. 18 Abbotsford, BC @ Abbotsford Centre*
Oct. 19 Penticton, BC @ South Okanagan Events Centre*
Oct. 20 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall*
Oct. 21 Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Centre*
Oct. 24 Saskatoon, SK @ O’Brian’s Event Centre
Oct. 25 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts
Oct. 26 St Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre^
Oct. 27 Madison, WI @ The Sylvee^
Oct. 28 Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live^
Nov. 1 Toronto, ON @ Rebel Complex*
Nov. 2 Kitchener, ON @ Elements*
Nov. 3 London, ON @ London Music Hall*
Nov. 8 Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Civic Center Auditorium^
Nov. 9 Louisville, KY @ Palace Theatre~
Nov. 10 Fort Wayne, IN @ Clyde Theatre^
Nov. 25 Glasgow, Scotland @ O2 Academy Glasgow+
Nov. 27 Newcastle, England @ O2 Academy Newcastle+
Nov. 28 Manchester, England @ Academy Manchester+
Nov. 30 Nottingham, England @ Rock City+
Dec. 1 Porthcawl, Wales @ Planet Rock Festival
Dec. 2 London, England @ O2 Kentish Town Forum+
* Support from The Wild Feathers
+ Support from Lucie Silvas
^ Fan club pre-sale begins August 7 at 10am local time, general on-sale August 10
~ Fan club pre-sale begins August 14 at 10am local time, general on-sale August 17
LOCASH Inks Deal With BBR Music Group/BMG
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (Back Row, L-R): Andrea Knipp, Promotion Coordinator, BBR Music Group; Matt Holmberg, Secondary Radio Promotion, BBR Music Group; Renee Leymon, VP of Radio Syndication & Group Strategy, BBR Music Group; Ross Schilling, Vector Management; Carson James, Sr. VP Promotion, BBR Music Group; Ken Tucker, VP of Promotion, Wheelhouse Records; Brittany Pellegrino, Director of Promotion; Wheelhouse Records; Cait Gordon, Director of Promotion; Wheelhouse Records. Pictured (Front Row, L-R): Jon Loba, EVP, BBR Music Group; Preston Brust, LOCASH; Chris Lucas, LOCASH; Ken Levitan, Vector Management
BBR Music Group/BMG has announced the signing of country duo LOCASH as the latest addition to its roster of artists. LOCASH’s Preston Brust and Chris Lucas have been assigned to the Wheelhouse Records imprint, where they will join labelmates Trace Adkins, Granger Smith, Runaway June and Walker McGuire.
LOCASH has earned Gold-certified tracks like “I Love This Life” and their No. 1 chart-topper, “I Know Somebody,” which earned them nominations for ACM Awards for New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year, CMT Music Awards for Duo Video of the Year, and CMA Awards for Vocal Duo of the Year. In addition to their own radio success, Brust and Lucas have penned hits for country artists including Keith Urban (the No. 1 song “You Gonna Fly”) and Tim McGraw (the Platinum-certified “Truck Yeah”).
“LOCASH has accomplished so much on their own, people in the industry have really embraced them,” said Jon Loba EVP, BBR Music Group. “Their entrepreneurial spirit mimics our own and we are so excited to work with them and look forward to watching them soar.”
“We’ve known Loba for years and had our sights on BBR since before we signed our first deal but knew we had to get the timing right, now it just feels like all of the stars have finally aligned and this is where we’re supposed to be,” said Brust. “It is a bit of a ‘pinch me’ moment, we’re such big fans of everybody on the roster and are honored to be named alongside such incredible artists.”
“They have put together an incredible team at BBR and with the full support of BMG behind them, there’s no better team to help take our career to the next level,” said Lucas. “Talking with Zach Katz, who has made such an incredible impact on the music business and everybody on the BBR team, we could just immediately tell our music was going to be in the right hands and as a songwriter and artist, there is no better feeling.”