Mickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton is confirmed for a special performance at MusicRow’s fifth annual Rising Women on the Row event. Presented by City National Bank, the ceremony will salute five music businesswomen on Friday, April 8 at 8:30 a.m. at Omni Nashville Hotel.
As previously announced, Ali Harnell, Senior Vice President at AEG Live, will be the featured speaker. In addition, the 2016 Rising Women honorees are: Abbey Adams, Senior Creative Director, A&R – Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Amanda Cates, Head of Marketing and Digital Strategy – Maverick Nashville; Cris Lacy, VP, A&R – Warner Music Nashville; Leslie Roberts, Executive Director, Writer/Publisher Relations – BMI; and Risha Rodgers, Partner – WME.
Tickets for the 2016 event are sold out. With any Rising Women on the Row inquiries, please contact Eric at eparker@musicrow.com.
Born in Arlington, Texas, Mickey Guyton moved around the Lone Star state as her father’s engineering job took them to Waco, Tyler, Dallas and Fort Worth. Music was a constant in her nomadic life. She began singing gospel in church when she was only five and grew up listening to a variety of artists, including Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston and gospel innovators BeBe and CeCe Winans.
Guyton moved to Los Angeles after high school to attend Santa Monica College. She worked long hours at two jobs, struggling to make ends meet, but held on to her dream of becoming a country singer. A chance encounter turned everything around. A friend introduced her to producer Julian Raymond (Glen Campbell, the Wallflowers) who was immediately impressed with her.
He connected her to Gary Borman and his partner Steve Moir, the company that built the careers of Faith Hill, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum. Guyton moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue her dream and has embedded herself in the town’s songwriter community.
Also in 2011, Guyton signed to Capitol Records Nashville and sang at the White House during an all-star concert that included James Taylor, Dierks Bentley, Kris Kristofferson, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker and Lyle Lovett. The show was captured by PBS and broadcast as part of their In Performance at the White House series. Her rendition of Patsy Cline’s classic “Crazy” was one of the highlights of the night.
Guyton released her self-titled debut EP on May 26 and collaborated with award-winning producers Nathan Chapman, Dann Huff, and Luke Laird. “Better Than You Left Me” was Guyton’s powerful debut single, which she co-wrote with Jennifer Hanson, Jenn Schott and Nathan Chapman. Last year, Guyton sang on ABC’s Good Morning America, toured with Brad Paisley on his Crushin’ It World Tour and released the holiday single “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s Frozen.
She is nominated this year for her first ACM Award for Best New Female Artist.
SMACK Adds Josh Jenkins To Songwriter Roster
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R, seated): Shane McAnally, President, SMACK; Josh Jenkins, writer, SMACK/Kobalt. (Standing): Robin Palmer, VP of Creative, SMACK; Robert Carlton, Creative Director, SMACK; Jesse Willoughby, Kobalt; Stephanie Cox, Kobalt; Laura Wright Alexander, Kobalt.
Green River Ordinance’s Josh Jenkins has joined SMACK as its newest songwriter. He joins a roster that includes Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and more.
Jenkins wrote or co-wrote every song on his band’s recent Billboard No. 1 Folk and No. 8 Rock album Fifteen and has a cut titled “Whiskeysippi River” on the forthcoming Randy Houser record, Fired Up.
The SMACK team is currently up for 10 ACM nominations, including Female Vocalist, Video of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Vocal Group, New Vocal Group and others.
Sammy Arriaga Signs With Latium Records
/by Jessica NicholsonSammy Arriaga. Photo: Kris Steer
Latium Entertainment has signed Nashville artist Sammy Arriaga to their Los Angeles-based Latium Records, which is a venture with RCA Records and Sony Music International.
The 23-year-old, Miami-born Cuban singer/songwriter blends bold rhythmic elements of his Latin heritage with infectious melodies in his music. He is managed by Latium Entertainment and represented by publicity agency Sweet Talk Publicity. He is signed to Sony/ATV as a songwriter.
Arriaga co-wrote his latest single “Cold in Miami” with Aaron Scherz and James Slater. Produced by Wondrboy, the track was featured in iHeartCountry’s Digital Integration Program. CMT has also selected Arriaga for its 2016 Artist Discovery campaign.
“We pride ourselves on crossing both worlds of pop and Latin, and have been on the search for the country singer that can live and perform in both worlds,” said Latium Entertainment’s CEO Charles Chavez, whose company was longtime manager for global superstar Pitbull and is also home to MAGIC!, Kat Dahlia and Shy Carter. “One day Sammy Arriaga walked in my office to pitch writing Spanish songs and told me he was a country singer living in Nashville. He played the guitar and sang, and I got on the next plane to Nashville to take him to Sony. Get ready world!”
Five More Performers Added To ACM Awards
/by Jessica NicholsonThey join previously announced performers Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Cam and others. Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan will co-host the event.
McGraw will make the television debut performance of his current single, “Humble and Kind.”
Meanwhile, Stapleton is the awards show’s leading nominee with seven nominations. Rhett has three nominations, while Aldean and Bryan have two nominations each.
The ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Front Row Insurance Opens Nashville Office Led By Tom Corley
/by Jessica NicholsonTom Corley
Front Row Insurance, which specializes in entertainment insurance brokers, has opened a Nashville office headed by Tom Corley.
Corley’s 25-year career includes work with Ronnie Milsap, Waylon Jennings, Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Dolly Parton, Kenny Chesney, Restless Heart, and many others. As a Producer for AEG Live and TBA Entertainment, Corley handled tours including the CMT Tour featuring Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts, Reba/Kelly Clarkson Tour, and Kenny Chesney’s stadium and New Year’s Eve concerts.
In 2001, Corley assisted and relocated the CMA Music Festival performance stages from the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to the stadium downtown and worked there for the first two years.
“We are delighted to welcome Tom into Front Row,” said David Hamilton, President of Front Row Insurance Brokers. “Tom’s long history as one of the top tour managers in the world gives Front Row a deeper practical understanding of the risks our clients face associated with touring and live events. Tom is a rare expert that can identify the risks of the music industry that should be transferred to the insurance companies: new and existing clients will benefit from Tom’s expertise. Front Row is a specialized entertainment insurance broker: our volume with the insurance companies will allow Tom to offer his clients the best protection at the best possible premiums available in the marketplace. Everyone working in the music industry that seeks Tom out will be better protected and a lot happier after hearing some of his entertaining stories!”
Front Row Insurance also has offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles. Corley can be reached at 615-326-4226 or at tom@frontrowinsurance.com.
Pandora Launches Artist-To-Fan Audio Messaging Feature AMPcast
/by Jessica NicholsonPandora has launched AMPcast, a new feature that allows musicians to record and upload audio messages that will directly reach fans between streams of the artist’s music on Pandora.
AMPcast is an extension of Artist Audio Messages, which allowed for studio-created messages. With AMPcast, artists speak the message into a smartphone and assign its placement. The messages are played when a Pandora station streams the artist’s music, though artists can control whether the voice message precedes or follows their track, or it can be used as a pre-roll to the launch of a station based on their music.
The audio messages, which will soon be geo-targeted and demo-targeted, can be accompanied by linkable calls-to-action on the screen such as a local ticket sale, a new single, an album release, or any other information.
However, artists do not control how often the recorded message is inserted. Additionally, Pandora users can opt out of the artist messages.
Industry Ink: CRS, Writers Den Music, Music Biz 2016
/by Jessica NicholsonCRS 2016 Content Streaming Online
Panel handouts and sessions from Country Radio Seminar 2016 are now available for this year’s attendees to view and stream. All content can only be accessed through countryradioseminar.com. This past year’s CRS convention took place Feb. 8-10 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Nashville.
To stream panels from CRS 2016, visit countryradioseminar.com and login using the username and password created when registering for the 2016 seminar. Once logged in, audio and video materials can be found under the ‘Media’ tab. Panel handouts, photos and videos do not require a login and are available for public viewing here.
Writers Den Music Hosts First Writers Retreat For 2016
Pictured (L-R, top row): Jordan Reynolds, Patrick Droney, Davis Naish, Adam James, Drew Kennedy. (bottom row): Kat Higgins, Jillian Jacqueline, Melissa Fuller
Writer’s Den Music Group recently hosted their first retreat of 2016 at Bell Bottom Farm located in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. The retreat was attended by Melissa Fuller, Drew Kennedy (Writer’s Den Music Group), Jillian Jacqueline (Downtown Music Publishing), Jordan Reynolds (Warner Chappell), Patrick Droney (Rondor Music/Universal Music), Kat Higgins (Patrick Joseph Music), Davis Naish and Adam James (3 Ring Circus).
Music Business Association To Bring Entertainment & Technology Law Conference To Nashville
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) will bring its popular Entertainment & Technology Law Conference series back to Nashville on Wednesday, May 18, from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. during the Music Biz 2016 convention at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. The law conference in Nashville will tackle issues facing today’s entertainment attorneys, including copyrights and fair use in 2016 and the legal implications and agreement clauses behind touring and music festivals. CLE credit will be available.
The panel “Infringement or Homage? Copyright Fair Use In 2016” will explore the elements of fair use, substantial similarity, and de minimis copyrighting, as well as best practices for content creators, songwriters, video producers and social media users. Those on the panel include Suzanne Kessler (Bone McAllester Norton PLLC/Vanderbilt Law School), Loren Mulraine (Bone McAllester Norton PLLC/Belmont University College of Law), Jessie Smith (songwriter) and Stephen Zralek (Bone McAllester Norton PLLC).
The discussion “From Sugarland To SFX and Beyond: The Legal Side of Festivals and Touring” includes the legal deal points for festivals and touring and how they are changing each year due to expansion and consolidation; force majeure clauses post-Sugarland; the annual “additional insured” debate each festival seems destined to have with artists; the impact of the recent bankruptcy of SFX; and more topics. Participants include Adam Ritholz (Ritholz Levy Sanders Chidekel & Field), Chip Petree (Ritholz Levy Sanders Chidekel & Fields), Matt Cottingham (Ritholz Levy Sanders Chidekel & Field), and Jaime Heller (JR Heller Law PLLC).
Admission is included with full Music Biz 2016 badge. Members can attend this event only for $129 and non-members can attend for just $229 with sign-up via Eventbrite. For updated information on Law Conference speakers and sessions, click here.
Jana Kramer, Tia Sillers Will Sing To Original Choreography At Ballet Ball
/by Craig_ShelburneJana Kramer
Jana Kramer and songwriter Tia Sillers will perform at Nashville Ballet’s largest annual fundraiser, Ballet Ball, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Saturday (March 12).
Kramer will perform “I Got The Boy” from her latest album, Thirty One. Nashville Ballet company dancer Christopher Stuart will choreograph an original piece to be presented alongside Kramer’s live performance featuring Nashville Ballet dancers.
“This is the first time I’ve ever participated in an event like this,” Kramer said. “I grew up in the ballet world, and this makes me feel as though it’s all come full circle. I can’t wait to celebrate this wonderful evening in our city that I love.”
Also slated for the night’s entertainment, Nashville Ballet will bring a piece of The Bluebird Cafe to Ballet Ball following its acclaimed collaboration during February’s Attitude series. Soulful singer/songwriter Karla Davis (American Idol, The Voice) will perform “Dare to Dance Alone,” and Victoria Banks will perform “The Wheel.”
In honor of the organization’s 30th anniversary season, Sillers will be the inaugural recipient of the Nashville Ballet Synergy Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding creative contributions to inspire dance. Sillers will accept the award for her Grammy Award-winning song “I Hope You Dance.” She will perform the song live to original choreography by Stuart.
“Our 30th anniversary season is the perfect opportunity to honor the relationship between music and dance,” Paul Vasterling, Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO, said. “Our wonderful co-chairs Mary Morgan Ketchel and Sharon Sandahl came up with this metaphor that sums up the award: A songwriter is to music as a choreographer is to dance; neither can achieve full potential without the other. Music is an incredible inspiration for dance, and this award recognizes the way in which one art form inspires another.”
Tickets for Ballet Ball are by invitation only. The event provides the necessary funding for Nashville Ballet’s Outreach & Education program, which introduced the art of dance to more than 43,000 children and families throughout Nashville and the surrounding area last year.
Mickey Guyton Confirmed For Special Performance At Rising Women On The Row
/by Craig_ShelburneMickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton is confirmed for a special performance at MusicRow’s fifth annual Rising Women on the Row event. Presented by City National Bank, the ceremony will salute five music businesswomen on Friday, April 8 at 8:30 a.m. at Omni Nashville Hotel.
As previously announced, Ali Harnell, Senior Vice President at AEG Live, will be the featured speaker. In addition, the 2016 Rising Women honorees are: Abbey Adams, Senior Creative Director, A&R – Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Amanda Cates, Head of Marketing and Digital Strategy – Maverick Nashville; Cris Lacy, VP, A&R – Warner Music Nashville; Leslie Roberts, Executive Director, Writer/Publisher Relations – BMI; and Risha Rodgers, Partner – WME.
Tickets for the 2016 event are sold out. With any Rising Women on the Row inquiries, please contact Eric at eparker@musicrow.com.
Born in Arlington, Texas, Mickey Guyton moved around the Lone Star state as her father’s engineering job took them to Waco, Tyler, Dallas and Fort Worth. Music was a constant in her nomadic life. She began singing gospel in church when she was only five and grew up listening to a variety of artists, including Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston and gospel innovators BeBe and CeCe Winans.
He connected her to Gary Borman and his partner Steve Moir, the company that built the careers of Faith Hill, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum. Guyton moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue her dream and has embedded herself in the town’s songwriter community.
Also in 2011, Guyton signed to Capitol Records Nashville and sang at the White House during an all-star concert that included James Taylor, Dierks Bentley, Kris Kristofferson, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker and Lyle Lovett. The show was captured by PBS and broadcast as part of their In Performance at the White House series. Her rendition of Patsy Cline’s classic “Crazy” was one of the highlights of the night.
Guyton released her self-titled debut EP on May 26 and collaborated with award-winning producers Nathan Chapman, Dann Huff, and Luke Laird. “Better Than You Left Me” was Guyton’s powerful debut single, which she co-wrote with Jennifer Hanson, Jenn Schott and Nathan Chapman. Last year, Guyton sang on ABC’s Good Morning America, toured with Brad Paisley on his Crushin’ It World Tour and released the holiday single “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s Frozen.
She is nominated this year for her first ACM Award for Best New Female Artist.
Songwriter Dave Berg Signs With Big Deal Music, BMG
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Chip Petree, Ritholz Levy; Chris Oglesby, BMG; Dale Bobo, Big Deal; Dave Berg; Kos Weaver, BMG; Pete Robinson, Big Deal; Greg Gallo, Big Deal
Songwriter Dave Berg has jointly signed to Big Deal Music and BMG.
Berg’s songwriting credits include the chart-toppers “Somebody” (Reba), “Stupid Boy” (Keith Urban), “If You’re Going Through Hell” and “These Are My People” (both recorded by Rodney Atkins) and “Moments” (Emerson Drive). Berg was named Songwriter Of The Year by Billboard and NSAI in 2007. He was given the same honor by ASCAP in 2008.
Berg has also had notable cuts by Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, Jewel, Blake Shelton and Sara Evans among others.
Blake Shelton To Release 12th Studio Album In May
/by Jessica NicholsonBlake Shelton
Blake Shelton will release his 12th studio album, If I’m Honest, on May 20 via Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville.
The project’s leading single is “Came Here To Forget,” penned by Craig Wiseman and Deric Ruttan.
“This is the most excited I’ve been about a new album since the release of my second record,” said Shelton. Reflecting on “Came Here To Forget,” Shelton said, “I’ve had a lot of music over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a song before that’s such a direct look into my life.”
Shelton is prepping to host Nickelodeon’s 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday (March 12). He is currently coaching for his tenth season of NBC’s The Voice. A four-time champion coach, Shelton is reunited this season with Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, and Pharrell Williams.