Pictured (L-R): Kimberly Dunn, Colleen Hoagland, Tatum Allsep, Shelia Shipley Biddy. Photo: Ashley Hylbert
For more of MusicRow‘s feature on Music Health Alliance, pick up the 2016 MusicRow Awards print issue, available now.
As a child growing up in Mississippi, Tatum Allsep assumed she would follow her family into a health care career. Her mother was a nurse, while her brother and grandfather were both surgeons.
Allsep moved to Nashville in 1993 to attend Vanderbilt University and pursue medicine, before the Nashville music industry came calling by way of an internship at MCA Nashville. She worked at MCA for the better part of a decade, and there met two women who became her biggest allies, Shelia Shipley Biddy and Kimberly Dunn.
Today, as founder and executive director for nonprofit Music Health Alliance (MHA), Allsep aims to be a healthcare resource for music industry members. Biddy serves as Music Health Alliance’s director of operations and certified senior advisor, while Dunn is director of advocacy and insurance.
The MHA reports that 76 percent of music professionals have no access to group health insurance, as they are self-employed or part of a small business. For many, a major unexpected health crisis can mean financial disaster. The majority of Music Health Alliance’s clients—79 percent—reside in the Middle Tennessee area, though many come from other music pockets across the nation, including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Georgia.
The stories of music industry members aided by Music Health Alliance–representing 4,000 music industry members and $10.8 million in healthcare cost reductions as of 2015—are numerous.
MusicRow spoke with Allsep and Biddy about the impact Music Health Alliance has had on Nashville’s music industry.
MR: Tatum, what made you passionate about the issue of health care in the music industry?
Allsep: I was pregnant with twins, went into preterm labor and was in the hospital for six weeks before they were born. They were in the hospital for nine weeks. I had health insurance and maternity rider at the time, and I left the hospital with a half-million dollar bill. That started my quest to learn more. I learned very quickly that this was not just my plight. There are so many people in our industry with the same story.
Last year, the second annual MHA fundraiser The First and The Worst, held at City Winery, raised $230,000 and featured Garth Brooks, Bobby Braddock, Lee Brice, and Jessi Alexander. How did the idea come about?
Biddy: I love doing events, so putting my arms around that event was something I loved and keeping people on task, that was like running Decca Records. I was talking with Katie Gillon who told me about the idea from [songwriter] Sandy Knox, and I saw a vision for it. It had been presented to others but they said, “Nobody wants to hear one more bad song.” But the event isn’t about the bad songs that we’ve all got boxes of. It’s about the creative process, going back and looking at something they wrote when they were younger…and then at those masterpieces are that will live forever. That worked for me.
Allsep: It sold out so fast. We didn’t even save a table for staff. It was a great night and it raised $230,000, which is more than half our annual budget, in one night. That’s huge for a new nonprofit. First and Worst is our cornerstone annual event. Our first event raised $30,000. We are starting to plan for next year.
Obviously, the Affordable Care Act has gotten much attention from the press in the past few years, both positive and negative. From your perspective, how has it affected music industry members in need of healthcare?
Allsep: It has made affordable what was once not affordable. There is a big misnomer in our industry that fame equals fortune. That’s just not always true. If your income falls below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, there are usually cost-sharing reductions and subsidies. That hadn’t existed before. That is an incredible opportunity, especially if you’ve got children, because most people fall into this category.
It used to be if you had a policy, it was only good in the state of Tennessee. That sucked if you were recording an album in California or Colorado or another state. If you have a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, and you don’t have health insurance, there is a special enrollment period that can be created for you. Many people don’t know that.
What do you most want the music industry to know about Music Health Alliance?
Biddy: In our industry, whether you are an executive or a superstar, there is sensitivity about not wanting people to know that you are hurting. Here, it’s a safe place. We all talk the same language. I’ve been on the bus in the middle of the night in different cities. That makes it easier because they can let their guard down.
Allsep: From birth to end of life, if you have a health care need of any kind, whether you are at the top of the totem pole or at the bottom, we don’t care. We are here to help. We are here to protect, with finding health insurance or ways to pay for your healthcare. We direct with confidential guidance. We will listen and help you navigate. And we connect—with financial resources, housing resources, whatever it is to help you gain access to health care and help you live well.
For more information, visit musichealthalliance.com.
Exclusive: Music Health Alliance Brings Hope, Healing
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Kimberly Dunn, Colleen Hoagland, Tatum Allsep, Shelia Shipley Biddy. Photo: Ashley Hylbert
For more of MusicRow‘s feature on Music Health Alliance, pick up the 2016 MusicRow Awards print issue, available now.
As a child growing up in Mississippi, Tatum Allsep assumed she would follow her family into a health care career. Her mother was a nurse, while her brother and grandfather were both surgeons.
Allsep moved to Nashville in 1993 to attend Vanderbilt University and pursue medicine, before the Nashville music industry came calling by way of an internship at MCA Nashville. She worked at MCA for the better part of a decade, and there met two women who became her biggest allies, Shelia Shipley Biddy and Kimberly Dunn.
Today, as founder and executive director for nonprofit Music Health Alliance (MHA), Allsep aims to be a healthcare resource for music industry members. Biddy serves as Music Health Alliance’s director of operations and certified senior advisor, while Dunn is director of advocacy and insurance.
The MHA reports that 76 percent of music professionals have no access to group health insurance, as they are self-employed or part of a small business. For many, a major unexpected health crisis can mean financial disaster. The majority of Music Health Alliance’s clients—79 percent—reside in the Middle Tennessee area, though many come from other music pockets across the nation, including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Georgia.
The stories of music industry members aided by Music Health Alliance–representing 4,000 music industry members and $10.8 million in healthcare cost reductions as of 2015—are numerous.
MusicRow spoke with Allsep and Biddy about the impact Music Health Alliance has had on Nashville’s music industry.
MR: Tatum, what made you passionate about the issue of health care in the music industry?
Allsep: I was pregnant with twins, went into preterm labor and was in the hospital for six weeks before they were born. They were in the hospital for nine weeks. I had health insurance and maternity rider at the time, and I left the hospital with a half-million dollar bill. That started my quest to learn more. I learned very quickly that this was not just my plight. There are so many people in our industry with the same story.
Last year, the second annual MHA fundraiser The First and The Worst, held at City Winery, raised $230,000 and featured Garth Brooks, Bobby Braddock, Lee Brice, and Jessi Alexander. How did the idea come about?
Biddy: I love doing events, so putting my arms around that event was something I loved and keeping people on task, that was like running Decca Records. I was talking with Katie Gillon who told me about the idea from [songwriter] Sandy Knox, and I saw a vision for it. It had been presented to others but they said, “Nobody wants to hear one more bad song.” But the event isn’t about the bad songs that we’ve all got boxes of. It’s about the creative process, going back and looking at something they wrote when they were younger…and then at those masterpieces are that will live forever. That worked for me.
Allsep: It sold out so fast. We didn’t even save a table for staff. It was a great night and it raised $230,000, which is more than half our annual budget, in one night. That’s huge for a new nonprofit. First and Worst is our cornerstone annual event. Our first event raised $30,000. We are starting to plan for next year.
Obviously, the Affordable Care Act has gotten much attention from the press in the past few years, both positive and negative. From your perspective, how has it affected music industry members in need of healthcare?
Allsep: It has made affordable what was once not affordable. There is a big misnomer in our industry that fame equals fortune. That’s just not always true. If your income falls below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, there are usually cost-sharing reductions and subsidies. That hadn’t existed before. That is an incredible opportunity, especially if you’ve got children, because most people fall into this category.
It used to be if you had a policy, it was only good in the state of Tennessee. That sucked if you were recording an album in California or Colorado or another state. If you have a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, and you don’t have health insurance, there is a special enrollment period that can be created for you. Many people don’t know that.
What do you most want the music industry to know about Music Health Alliance?
Biddy: In our industry, whether you are an executive or a superstar, there is sensitivity about not wanting people to know that you are hurting. Here, it’s a safe place. We all talk the same language. I’ve been on the bus in the middle of the night in different cities. That makes it easier because they can let their guard down.
Allsep: From birth to end of life, if you have a health care need of any kind, whether you are at the top of the totem pole or at the bottom, we don’t care. We are here to help. We are here to protect, with finding health insurance or ways to pay for your healthcare. We direct with confidential guidance. We will listen and help you navigate. And we connect—with financial resources, housing resources, whatever it is to help you gain access to health care and help you live well.
For more information, visit musichealthalliance.com.
Kenny Chesney Changes Title Of Postponed Album To ‘Cosmic Hallelujah’
/by Craig_ShelburneKenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney has retitled his next album Cosmic Hallelujah. The project will include “Jesus & Elvis,” a song written by Matraca Berg, Hayes Carll, and Allison Moorer, in addition to lead single “Noise” and a duet with P!nk.
Chesney announced the new song and album title just one day after changing the album’s release date from July 8 to Oct. 28. It was formerly titled Some Town Somewhere. Chesney said he delayed the album so it could include the duet with P!nk, titled “Setting the World on Fire.”
Chesney’s prior album, The Big Revival, was released in 2014. He appeared on Good Morning America on Friday (July 8) and performed “Noise” and “American Kids.”
Chesney said, “In the end, these album titles are around for a very long time. I really try to have titles that give people a sense of what the music is, and what the album is all about. There sure is a lot of Some Town Somewhere for sure, but really when I pulled back and listened: these songs are all about taking The Big Revival to the next level; that level is Cosmic Hallelujah.”
Alabama Entertains CMHoF’s Museum Members At The Big Gig
/by Craig_ShelburnePictured (L-R): Brandon Mauldin, Sr. VP, CEG/Ontourage Management; Tony Conway, President, CEG/Ontourage Management; Alabama’s Randy Owen; Lisa Purcell, VP of Development, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; Alabama’s Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook; Kos Weaver, Executive VP, BMG. Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images for The Country Music Hall Of Fame
Alabama, featuring Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry, and Jeff Cook, performed in the CMA Theater on Wednesday (July 6) for the museum’s exclusive member concert, The Big Gig.
Free for museum members, the show featured a performance of the band’s hits and an exclusive Hatch Show Print poster made especially for the occasion.
The concert supported their upcoming Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, Alabama: Song of the South, which opens August 26. The exhibit will trace the musical beginnings, the challenges, and the successes of the band.
Alabama was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. They released their latest album, Southern Drawl, on BMG in 2015.
CRS 2017 Registration Opens Tuesday With Special Rate
/by Craig_ShelburneCountry Radio Seminar will open registration for CRS 2017 on Tuesday (July 12) at a special $429 rate, which is the best price that will be offered this year.
The rate will only be available to a limited number of first-come, first-served registrants. Following the expiration of the $429 rate promotion, the rate will increase to $529.
The annual New Faces of Country Music Show will also be included for the first limited number of full registrants. Last year, the limited-time, discount registration packages and New Faces tickets were sold out the day they came available.
CRS/CRB Executive Director Bill Mayne commented, “Last year’s debut of the NEW CRS Experience provided registrants with incredible information and education, as well as actionable tools to innovate success in an awesome environment! At CRS 2017, you’ll see more artists and musical performances than any individual can appreciate in one place and time.”
Country Radio Seminar 2017 will be held Wednesday, Feb. 22, through Friday, Feb. 24 at the Omni Nashville, in the heart of downtown Nashville.
Rapper Smo Will Release New Album Via Elektra Nashville
/by Craig_ShelburneSmo will release his new album, We the People, on Elektra Nashville (an imprint of Warner Bros. Records) on July 22.
Produced by Jason Mater and Dan Nelson, the project features 11 songs all co-written by the rapper. Guest performers include Casey Beathard, Haden Carpenter, Corey Crowder, Josie Dunne, William Michael Morgan, Todd Nielsen and Michael Ray.
Using the name Big Smo, the rapper released the album Kuntry Livin’ on the label in 2014. That same year, he appeared in an A&E television series titled Big Smo.
“I didn’t plan, I just sat down with a pen and a pad to tell a story and share my vision. Evolving from who I have been, to who I am now, led me here,” Smo said. “Love it. Live it. Buy it. Share it. Just know that you’re going to say my name and when the smoke clears, we the people shall stand together.”
Track List For Smo’s We The People
RIAA Gold and Platinum Awards: June 2016
/by Jessica NicholsonSeveral Nashville artists earned gold and platinum status during the month of June by the RIAA.
Old Dominion earned two RIAA honors, including a digital platinum single, for “Break Up With Him,” and digital gold status for “Snapback.”
Chris Young‘s duet with Cassadee Pope, “Think of You,” earned digital gold status, as did LOCASH‘s “I Love This Life.”
On the album RIAA honors, Garth Brooks earned 9x platinum status for the compilation project The Ultimate Hits. Meanwhile, Christian group Hillsong United‘s Zion was awarded gold status.
BMG Names Zach Katz As President Of U.S. Operations
/by Craig_ShelburneZach Katz
BMG has elevated Zach Katz to president of its U.S operations. He will oversee offices in Nashville, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as Rise Records in Portland, Oregon. He will head the label and the music publishing divisions of BMG in the U.S.
Laurent Hubert, who served in that capacity since 2009, has stepped down effective immediately. The announcement was made Thursday (July 7).
Kos Weaver, Executive Vice President of BMG Nashville, told MusicRow, “I know I speak for Zach when I say, Laurent is one of our greatest friends and mentors, our accomplishments were made possible by his intellect and guidance. In my three years at BMG, it is clear that Zach is world-class executive talent with a heart for championing the efforts of creators. I am fortunate to have had both Laurent and Zach as a boss. Zach and I look forward to our continued growth with a sincere appreciation for the pathway that Laurent created for us.”
In February, Katz was promoted to president of music publishing after serving as chief creative officer. His new title will be president, U.S. repertoire and marketing. Katz will report to BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch and will be part of BMG’s international leadership team.
Caitlyn Smith Previews ‘Starfire’ Album With Five-Song EP
/by Jessica NicholsonCaitlyn Smith
Caitlyn Smith, an in-demand songwriter who has penned tunes for Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Cassadee Pope, Kenny Rogers and Meghan Trainor, is set to release her own music.
Her catalog also includes Jason Aldean’s “It Ain’t Easy,” “You Can’t Make Old Friends” by Parton and Rogers, “Wasting All These Tears” by Pope, and “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” by Trainor and John Legend.
“I’ve been writing and working hard for the last couple years on this project, and am so excited to finally be getting this music out there. It was extremely fulfilling to create this new music without boundaries or any agenda other than making music that I love,” Smith says. “It also feels quite magical to be releasing a handful of these new songs the same month as having my first child. A time of life I will never forget.”
“Before You Called Me Baby” from the EP is part of Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist. CMT will premiere the music video for “Tacoma” on Tuesday, July 12. Smith co-wrote the track with Bob DiPiero.
Caitlyn Smith performs “This Town Is Killing Me” at a listening party for her new EP, Starfire. Industry guests were invited to a sneak peek of the EP at her publishing firm, Cornman Music on Thursday, July 7 in Nashville.
Weekly Chart Report (7/8/16)
/by Troy_StephensonClick here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report.
Big Spark Music Group To Release Olivia Lane EP July 29
/by Eric T. ParkerPhoto: Amanda Van Sandt
Country newcomer Olivia Lane will release a self-titled EP on July 29 via Big Spark Music Group. The seven-track compilation includes her current single, “Make My Own Sunshine,” in addition to six new tracks (listing below).
The positive single has spawned the #SunshineMovement via videos and social media, encouraging others to spread joy, pay it forward and make their own sunshine.
“I’m over the moon excited to put out my new EP!” said Lane.“Over the last year and a half, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredible songwriters on these seven songs and I’m very proud of them. Each song is near and dear to my heart and represents exactly who I am right now in my life.”
Produced by Grammy-nominated musician and 2015 ACM Studio Recording Award recipient Ilya Toshinskiy, Lane collaborated with songwriters Jim Beavers, David Frasier, Danny Myrick and Aaron Scherz, among others.
Selected for iTunes Country New Artist Spotlight, Lane has previously released an acoustic version of “Make My Own Sunshine” on a 13-track mixtape Heart Unlocked (2015), in addition to releasing a 2015 EP, Steal Me Away and a 2014 EP, Love Thing.
On the road, Lane has opened select dates for Cam, Wynonna Judd, Kip Moore and Randy Houser. She can be seen at various venues throughout the U.S. and Canada this summer.
Olivia Lane Track Listing:
1. “Lightning” (Olivia Lane, Danny Myrick, Leland Grant, Ilya Toshinskiy)
2. “Quarter Life Crisis” (Lane, Aaron Scherz, David Frasier)
3. “Make My Own Sunshine” (Lane, Jim Beavers, Toshinskiy)
4. “She Fits” (Lane, Beavers, Toshinskiy)
5. “My Heartache” (Leland Grant, Toshinskiy, Shaye Smith, Tammy Hyler)
6. “There’s A Guy” (Lane, Aaron Scherz, David Frasier)
7. “Keychain” (Lane, Scherz, Bobby Hamrick)