Pictured (L-R): Natalie Grant, Bernie Herms

Heading into the 2017 Grammy Awards, CCM artist Natalie Grant and her husband, songwriter/producer Bernie Herms, are together nominated for five trophies.

Grant’s two nominations in the Best CCM Album (Be One) and Best CCM Song (“King Of The World”) categories mark her fifth and sixth nods, and the singer-songwriter hopes they mark her first Grammy wins. Grant’s first major label album for Curb Records, Stronger, released in 2001, though it wasn’t until 2012 that she earned her first Grammy nomination, in the Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance category, for her song “Alive.”

“My first Grammy nomination didn’t come until after I had been doing it for over a decade,” Grant says. “I’ve been doing it for 18 years now and I’m still getting nominated for Grammys. I feel like it is encouragement for struggling artists everywhere when the culture tells you your career will be done by a certain time.”

Herms has garnered three nominations, including a Best CCM Song nod as a co-writer for Hillary Scott and The Scott Family’s hit “Thy Will,” and two nods in the Best CCM Album category, for his work as producer on Be One, and on Hillary Scott and the Scott Family’s Love Remains. Herms’ career as a producer and songwriter has included work with Selah, Avalon, Danny Gokey and more.

“It’s the way we get to physically see the impact of a song you write,” Herms says of the nominations. “There is a lot of seclusion to what you do, at least with what I do in being a producer. So when your colleagues tell you they think it is remarkable with these nominations, it doesn’t get old. I’m a needy artist just like the next guy.”

Grant has been transparent on previous albums about the couple’s struggle to conceive and journey through IVF treatments, before they welcomed twin daughters Grace and Isabella in 2007. Grant is also open about her battle with postpartum depression after the birth of their third daughter Sadie in 2010. Grant has taken lessons from those trials and translated them into the hope and confidence found on “King of the World.”

“I wanted the music and message to reflect that, because I had been so honest about the struggle,” Grant says. “I wanted those same people that identified with that music and that message so strongly, to see that you can rise above.”

While the majority of the tracks from Be One center on finding a spiritual safe haven, the title track focuses on becoming that safe place for someone else.

“I loved the urgency in this song,” Grant says. “This was written pre-presidential election, but even in 2015, you could feel this tension in the atmosphere of our world. I feel like there was urgency in ‘Be One’ to become hope for others. Instead of sitting around and complaining about things that need to be different, start being that.

“At the end of the day what is really more right than anything else, is being full of grace, love and generosity. If we can get more of the faith-based community to live that way, our faith would have more of an impact on the world.”

The couple’s family struggle also influenced Herms’ “Thy Will,” which was co-written with and recorded by Hillary Scott. The writing collaboration began after a chance meeting with Scott and her husband Chris Tyrrell during a flight.

“They sat down in the row in front of us, and Hillary introduced herself, and said she was a fan of my music,” Natalie recalls. “It was such an organic moment. I was like, ‘But wait, I’m a fan of yours,’ and then she told Bernie she knew he writes and asked if he wanted to write together.”

At the time, Scott was in the middle of not only crafting her first gospel project, but dealing with personal tragedy. Unbeknownst to fans at the time, Scott had recently suffered a miscarriage. She brought the myriad of emotions and thoughts into the writing room with Herms and fellow songwriter Emily Weisband.

“Instead of hustling to write a hit, we just started talking and she shared stuff that her family has gone through,” Herms recalls of the session. “We did talk about how God works in our lives and not always in ways we are expecting. Sometimes they are painful. We haven’t experienced what she and her husband have experienced, but I’ve had the struggle of thinking at one time in my life, ‘I’m never going to be a father.’ I had that very clearly spoken to me by a physician. So, those are interesting dynamics and from that point I empathized.”

What resulted was an intensely personal song that struck a chord with listeners and topped the Hot Christian Songs chart.

The nominations are especially heartening, as the entire process for Be One, from the writing of the first track to the recording of the album’s final note, was completed in six weeks. Be One released in November 2015.

“It’s the fastest creative project I think either one of us has ever been a part of,” Grant says.

“I’m the kind of producer that slaves over details and puts 110 percent of love into the music I produce. To be honest, it’s not typical for me to be super quick, but I had no time to overthink stuff,” said Herms. “With this album, it felt like we found the inspired moments, and we went with our gut reaction to things. I think this is one of the strongest records we’ve made.”

Kirsten Arian. Photo: Jessica Steddom & CeCe Dawson

Nashville-based pop artist Kirsten Arian‘s song “Invincible” will be featured on The LEGO Batman Movie soundtrack, released via WaterTower Music. The LEGO Batman Movie releases Feb. 10.

Arian co-wrote the track with Australian songwriter Lindsay Rimes, who also produced the song. “Invincible,” an electronic pop song filled with arcadey synths, becomes an anthem for the character Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.

“They were looking for a song that was empowering, strong and about bringing people together,” says Arian.

Los Angeles-native, Arian moved to Nashville in 2012 and has gone on to win the Music City Breakthrough competition before signing with RareSpark Media Group. Her album, Higher Than Heaven, was recorded at Nashville’s Blackbird Studio.

Arian will celebrate the release of “Invincible” at The High Watt in Nashville on Feb. 20.

Jason Aldean is among the artists receiving Gold and Platinum RIAA certifications for January 2017. Aldean received double-platinum certifications for sales on his Wide Open and My Kinda Party albums. Several artists achieved gold status with their singles during the month of January as well, including Aldean for “Lights Come On,” Cole Swindell for “Middle Of A Memory,” and Granger Smith for “Backroad Song.”

Multi-Platinum (2X):

Wide Open – Jason Aldean
My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean

Gold Album:

Little Bit Of Life – Craig Morgan
How Country Feels – Randy Houser
Thompson Square – Thompson Square
Move – Third Day

Multi-Platinum Single:

“Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy” Big & Rich

Platinum Single:

“Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy” – Big & Rich
“From The Ground Up” – Dan + Shay
“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” – Chris Tomlin

Gold Single:

“Middle Of A Memory” – Cole Swindell
“Backroad Song” – Granger Smith
“Lights Come On” – Jason Aldean

Josh Turner

Josh Turner’s trademark deep vocals are in fine form on Deep South, his new album set for release March 10 on MCA Nashville.

On  Thursday, Feb. 2, at Nashville’s Eugenia Hall studio, Turner previewed his first new music since 2012. It’s a project that blends today’s radio-ready country with the traditionalism that drew fans in the first place. Six albums into his career, the multi-Platinum singer looks like he hasn’t aged a bit.

Turner thanked his hero, Randy Travis, who was watching in the intimate crowd, adding that the icon was one of his biggest inspirations and also has “the best hair in country music.”

Performing with his band in-the-round, Turner invited songwriters who contributed to the new album to join him onstage for the stories behind the songs, many of which he was hearing for the first time.

Lead single “Hometown Girl” shows Turner veering into new territory, but not so far that he leaves longtime fans in the dust. He recalled the first time producer Kenny Greenberg played the song for him: “It was different for me, but it definitely felt like a hit.” (Indeed, the song is No. 6 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart.) Written by Daniel Tashian and Marc Beeson during a session at the Big Yellow Dog offices, the co-writers recounted Tashian handling most of the melody and Beeson parlaying his sharp wordsmith skills into a song inspired by a high school crush.

With multiple producers on Deep South, Turner’s longtime collaborator Frank Rogers worked studio magic on the title track. A solo-write by Turner, the fun song checks off all things Southern, from fried chicken to shuckin’ corn.

Al Anderson, Brandon Kinney and Ben Daniel talked about their sunny tune “Where The Girls Are.” After a stalled attempt at penning a Stevie Ray Vaughan-style song, they chased down a title inspired by Kinney’s preschooler son, who loves to chase girls.

Steven Dale Jones discussed his co-write with Justin Ebach and Brad Tursi, “Never Had A Reason.” A love song with lyrics about leaving notes on the counter, and happily staying home on Friday night, Jones said, “It’s about how love changes what you do and how you act.”

Turner said he loves the way it “evokes emotion,” and complimented Jones on being “a very thoughtful writer. No nonsense.”

Jonathan Singleton is one of Turner’s go-to songwriters, and with good reason, he is one of the pens behind the singer’s biggest hit to-date, “Why Don’t We Just Dance.”

On the upcoming album, Singleton contributed the cut “Southern Drawl,” written with Andrew Dorff, who passed away in December. Singleton came up with the idea about hearing the words “I love you,” in a “sweet, soft, slow, Southern drawl.” Turner recalled the first time he met wife Jennifer, and hoping that when he heard her speak a drawl would spill out.

While the song was an ideal match for Turner’s voice, there was one lyric he just couldn’t bring himself to sing. Originally composed with a line about “lips redder than Alabama Crimson,” the diehard Clemson Tigers fan changed the words to “Alabama sunset.”

Turner closed with “Why Don’t We Just Dance.” He said, “This song has sent a jolt of electricity through every crowd we’ve played it for.” That evening was no exception.

Deep South Track Listing:
1. Deep South
2. All About You
3. Hometown Girl
4. Beach Bums
5. Southern Drawl
6. Where The Girls Are
7. Never Had A Reason
8. Wonder
9. One Like Mine
10. Lay Low
11. Hawaiian Girl

Luke Bryan represented Nashville well during Super Bowl 51 on Sunday evening (Feb. 5), with an understated, steady rendition of the national anthem at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Prior to Bryan’s performance, performers Phillipa Soo, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Jasmine Cephas Jones, who originally portrayed the Schuyler Sisters as part of the Broadway hit Hamilton, offered a rendition of “America The Beautiful.”

The New England Patriots would go on to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28.