Pictured (L-R): First Tennessee Bank’s Mark Ford and Bryan Bolton, Edwin McCain, First Tennessee Bank’s Andrew Kintz and Charles Kelley

ASCAP and sEVENTeen Event Management hosted the inaugural Snowmass Celebrity Ski Fest charity event in Aspen, Colorado, on Thursday, Feb. 22. Charles Kelley of trio Lady Antebellum headlined the exclusive event alongside pop singer-songwriter Edwin McCain. The evening was opened by a songwriters round featuring ASCAP hitmakers Chris DeStefano (“Don’t Ya,” “Something in the Water”), Jon Nite (“Boy,” “If I Told You”) and Steven Lee Olsen (“Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “More Girls Like You”).

ASCAP Creative Manager Beth Brinker said, “We changed the backdrop and raised the bar on a classic Nashville experience. The songs and voices that fill stadiums, in a cozy ski lodge setting – and all in the spirit of raising money for LadyAID and kids all over the world. The audience had a once-in-a-lifetime evening and we’re thrilled to say the inaugural Snowmass Celebrity Ski Fest was a success!”

The inaugural annual event raised money for LadyAID, a philanthropic effort founded by the members of Lady Antebellum – Dave Haywood, Kelley and Hillary Scott. Created in 2012, the multi-level organization garners awareness and support for children in need locally, nationally and globally, as it is a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Presented by ASCAP, the Snowmass Celebrity Ski Fest offered participants the opportunity to attend an intimate, Nashville “in-the-round” concert at T-Lazy-7 Ranch, a private lodge in the mountains of Aspen. The event was sponsored in part by First Tennessee Bank, Yeti, Columbia and Eddie Bauer.

Pictured (L-R): Guitarist Jason “Slim” Gambill and Charles Kelley. Photo: Ed Rode for ASCAP

Pictured (L-R): Guitarist Jason “Slim” Gambill, Steven Lee Olsen, Charles Kelley, Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite and Edwin McCain. Photo: Ed Rode Photography for ASCAP

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Alison Webber and Beth Brinker, Chris DeStefano, Jon Nite, Krystal Nite and Steven Lee Olsen in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Photo: Ed Rode for ASCAP

Pictured (L-R): Jon Nite, Charles Kelley, Edwin McCain, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker, Chris DeStefano, sEVENTeen Event Management’s Mollie Case, and Steven Lee Olsen. Photo: Ed Rode.

CMA Foundation Partners With Nicolle Galyon, Emily Weisband, Danielle Bradbery

Pictured (L-R): Nicolle Galyon, Danielle Bradbery and Emily Weisband gather prior to their performance Tuesday, Feb. 20 at CMA Songwriters Series presented by U.S. Bank at Wichita’s Crown Uptown Theatre. Photo: Amanda Eckard/CMA

The CMA Foundation partnered with award-winning songwriters Nicolle Galyon and Emily Weisband and country artist Danielle Bradbery to visit schools and surprise students and teachers throughout Kansas last week.

On Tuesday (Feb. 20), the group visited Wichita East High School and conducted an interactive songwriting workshop with more than 120 area music teachers to empower them with new, collaborative skills to use in their classrooms. Following the workshop, Bradbery, Galyon and Weisband took the stage at Wichita’s Crown Uptown Theatre for a special CMA Songwriters Series show presented by U.S. Bank. Galyon hosted the round and the three songwriters performed their works including “We Were Us,” “Sway,” “God Made Girls,” and “Gettin’ In The Way.”

Kansas school visits continued Wednesday (Feb. 21) when Galyon and Bradbery surprised students at Galyon’s alma mater Sterling High School to announce several donations to the school’s music program – nine guitars gifted by a donor, along with a drum kit and baby grand piano provided by the CMA Foundation. Galyon also unveiled a brand-new scholarship she is funding in partnership with the Wichita Community Foundation, the Autobiography Scholarship, which will be awarded to a deserving Sterling High School senior beginning this year.

The events continued Thursday (Feb. 22) following a performance by Galyon at the Kansas Music Education Association (KMEA) Conference in Wichita. Both Galyon and Bradbery met with KMEA Board members and all-state students prior to a songwriting session with teachers led by Galyon.

Festivities concluded Thursday evening at the KMEA President’s Concert during which the CMA Foundation-funded Salina South Middle School guitar class of Salina, Kansas performed under the direction of 2017 CMA Music Teacher of Excellence Matt Gerry.

WMBA Kicks Off 2018 With Top Industry Executives

Pictured (L-R): Charlene Bryant, Rachael Miller, Kortney Toney, Ellen Mundy,
Marcie Allen, Jana Horvath, Dana Dickie, Mary Larimer and Lauren Simon

The Women’s Music Business Association (WMBA) recently held its first two membership meetings of 2018 with guest speakers Marcie Allen (President, MAC Presents), Lindsey Clark (Deaton-Flanigen Productions) and Shannon Sanders (producer, Trustee and former President of The Recording Academy Nashville Chapter). The meetings were hosted by NSAI and The Recording Academy Nashville Chapter respectively.

“WMBA is grateful to have had Marcie Allen, Lindsey Clark and Shannon Sanders as our kickoff speakers for WMBA’s 2018 Membership Meetings. We are so thankful for their support of women and our organization. This has been such a fantastic way to kickoff what will prove to be the best year yet for WMBA. In addition to that, we are honored and excited to welcome a rockstar group of ladies to the WMBA family and look forward to the rest of 2018!” said Ellen Mundy (WMBA President).

Picttured (L-R): Lauren Simon, Dana Dickie, Mary Larimer, Shannon Sanders, Kortney Toney, Jana Horvath, and Ellen Mundy. Not pictured: Rachael Miller and Charlene Bryant.

Newsboys Launch Tour With Sold-Out Shows

Pictured (L-R): Jody Davis, Peter Furler, Duncan Phillips, Michael Tait, Phil Joel and Jeff Frankenstein. Photo: Caleb Cook

Christian rock band Newsboys launched their 2018 tour last weekend in California with sold-out shows at City National Civic in San Jose, Redding Civic Auditorium and the Visalia Convention Center, as well as a near-sellout crowd at Stockton’s Bob Hope Theatre.

The Newsboys United Tour showcases a headlining set from current members Michael Tait, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Jody Davis joined by former members Peter Furler and Phil Joel for a string of the most popular hits from the group’s three-decade career.

Produced by Premier Productions in partnership with the Newsboys, the tour is set to visit more than 30 additional cities across the nation, including Houston, Minneapolis, Dallas and Orlando, before wrapping May 6.

Pictured (Top Row): Duane Clark, Mary Ann McCready, Carmen Romano, Jamie Cheek, Chuck Flood and Julie Boos. (Bottom Row): Trey Dunaway and Frank Bumstead.

Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc., (FBMM) has elevated existing owners to more clearly defined leadership roles in the strategic oversight of the firm, to guarantee continuity of its clients’ financial management and security for decades to come. Previously, the owners and business managers did not use formal titles.

Julie Boos has been named Chairman, and will oversee and optimize the firm’s resources and client services. Jamie Cheek, President, will set the vision for the company’s continued growth and excellence. Duane Clark, Vice Chairman, will lead FBMM’s strategic plan implementation. Carmen Romano, Vice President and head of the firm’s New York office, will be dean of the firm’s learning and teaching academy, part of a commitment to teach future generations of FBMM leaders. Trey Dunaway, CFO, will also serve as treasurer and chief of compliance.

Founding owners Chuck Flood, Frank Bumstead and Mary Ann McCready will advance their roles as full-time business managers for their clients and be actively involved on boards including the Country Music Association, Country Music Hall of Fame, Memorial Foundation, Brookdale Senior Living, Nashville Wire Products, Country Radio Broadcasters and advocacy for the W.O. Smith Music School.

FBMM opened its doors in 1990, and its founding owners designed the firm’s succession plan in 2000. This commitment to succession planning early on in the company’s history was undertaken by founding owners Chuck Flood, Frank Bumstead and Mary Ann McCready in order to ensure that FBMM clients have a consistently rich mix of excellent business managers and financial resources available to provide counsel through the years ahead. This commitment to the long-term support of its clients, along with a focus on cultivating opportunities for staff members to grow as leaders inside the firm, is a tenet fundamental to FBMM’s original mission.

“Our longstanding clients and their other advisers want to know that the artists are, in word and deed, taken care of for the rest of their lives,” said Mary Ann McCready, founding owner of FBMM. “Chuck, Frank and I all feel strongly that the firm’s fiduciary and diligent oversight is independent of any one, two or three individuals. Nothing is more important than our clients’ financial well-being, so we purposefully selected a formidable team of passionate leaders and trusted advisers to next govern FBMM.

“These leaders are among the most highly regarded business managers in our industry and have worked with us to steer FBMM for a number of years,” McCready added. “Together, we created a collaborative team of professionals who have a deep understanding of our industry and will achieve the most advantageous results for our clients for generations to come.”