Jake Owen.
Jake Owen will host the 9th Annual ACM Honors celebration, an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera winners from the 50th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, on September 1 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
Performers will include Jason Aldean, Roy Clark, Randy Houser, Miranda Lambert, Owen and Restless Heart. Presenters for the evening include Kelsea Ballerini, RAC Clark and The Swon Brothers.
Honorees include Special Awards recipients Barry Adelman, Luke Bryan, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (awarded posthumously), Eric Church, Tim DuBois, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill and Alabama.
Luke Laird will be honored as Songwriter of the Year.
Studio Recording Awards (formerly MBI Awards) recipients include Chuck Ainlay, Tom Bukovac, Dan Dugmore, Jay Joyce, Greg Morrow, Michael Rojas, Ilya Toshinsky and Glenn Worf.
Industry Award winners include Ed Warm of Joe’s Live, Sally Williams of Ryman Auditorium, Country Thunder USA: East in Twin Lakes, WI, Hard Rock Live in Biloxi, MS, Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, CA, Joe’s Bar in Chicago, IL, MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
This marks Owen’s second time hosting the event and the sixth time the ceremony will be held at the Ryman. Tickets are $42.00 and will go on sale to the general public at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office, Friday (July 31).
Eric Church Offers Glimpse “Inside The Outsider” in Country Music Hall of Fame Exhibit
/by Lorie HollabaughEric Church
Eric Church will have his own cameo exhibition, “Eric Church: Inside The Outsider,” at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opening Sept. 18. The new exhibit will spotlight Church’s path to stardom and include guitars, stage wear, pics, song manuscripts, and more from his personal collection, and will run through February 2016.
Prior to Church’s two-night acoustic run at Nashville’s new outdoor Ascend Amphitheater July 30-31, the singer will also offer unique Church memorabilia at the Outsider’s Joint, his pop-up store benefiting the Chief Cares Fund, a non-profit founded by Church and his wife that serves over two million people globally. Fans can purchase These Boots by Lucchese, Church’s custom boot line normally reserved for his VIP ticketholders, along with a limited number of special edition posters commemorating the inaugural Ascend Amphitheater show, and other Church merchandise. The first Outsider’s Joint pop-up during CMA Music Fest raised more than $20,000 for the Chief Cares Fund.
The Outsiders Joint pop-up around the Ascend show will be located at 218 S. 11th St. in the 5 Points area of East Nashville across from the Bill Martin Grocery Store.
Lifenotes: Joanna Montgomery, Wife of Mark Montgomery
/by Sarah SkatesJoanna Stanfield Montgomery
Joanna Montgomery, wife of tech entrepreneur Mark Montgomery, passed away on Tuesday, July 28 following a long battle with cancer. She was 47.
She bravely documented her journey on her blog, sharing her story of balancing motherhood and cancer. She was the focus of a documentary series, appeared on Katie Couric’s talk show, and in two front-page stories in The Tennessean.
Joanna was born Aug. 23, 1967 in St. Joe, Missouri and her family moved to the Nashville area when she was in fifth grade. As an adult, she worked as a paralegal, and was passionate about family law.
She and Mark married in 2011 and their daughter, Magnolia Grace, was born the same year. The doctors discovered Joanna’s cancer during her c-section.
The family requests charitable donations in lieu of flowers. Donations can also be made to the Magnolia Foundation, a nonprofit organization for research about gynecologic cancers. Magnolia Foundation C/O Rashford Kruse P.O. Box 121228 Nashville, TN 37212.
The Tennessean has a beautifully written tribute to Joanna here.
The Band Perry To Headline Vanderbilt’s Commodore Quake
/by Sarah SkatesThe Band Perry is touring through the summer and fall, playing fairs, festivals and casinos. This week they are performing on a Carnival cruise ships.
Tickets for the Vanderbilt concert will go on sale Monday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. Weekend passes for the general public are $40 in advance and $50 the week of the show. Students and staff can purchase discounted tickets.
Tickets will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets also can be purchased with no service fees at the Sarratt Student Center Box Office on the Vanderbilt campus.
Lambert Creates Belmont Scholarship for Women, Hits Stage With Three Alumna
/by Eric T. ParkerThe Miranda Lambert Women Creators Fund will provide over $40,000 in scholarship funds to a female student majoring in music business, songwriting or entertainment industry studies enrolled for the 2016/2017 academic year.
As previously reported, tonight (July 28), Lambert will perform a sold out, one-off acoustic club show–aside from her Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour–in support of the fund at Nashville’s 3rd & Lindsley. Writer pals Natalie Hemby (Belmont grad) and Jessi Alexander will join Lambert when she hits the stage with current tourmates RaeLynn and additional Belmont grads Clare Dunn and Courtney Cole.
“I am so excited to establish this scholarship fund,” said Lambert. “To encourage and empower women to achieve their goals is why I am supporting outstanding women who want to pursue their dreams in the music industry.”
“Throughout her career Miranda Lambert has been a faithful and loyal supporter of women songwriters and artists, and her music has served to inspire and to empower,” said Doug Howard, dean of Belmont’s Curb College. “And now, with the creation of her scholarship fund, Miranda will directly impact the education and opportunities of young women creators as they prepare for a career in the music industry. We are truly grateful for this generous gift and for the vision of its wonderful purpose.”
Parallel Inks Alex Hall for Publishing, Mangement
/by Troy_StephensonPictured (back row L-R): Mike Snider, WME; Denise Stevens, Partner, Loeb & Loeb, LLP; (seated L-R): Tim Hunze, Parallel Music Publishing; Alex Hall; Hannah Showmaker, Parallel Entertainment
Parallel Entertainment has announced the signing of country artist Alex Hall to their roster for both personal management and publishing representation.
“We are so excited to have Alex Hall join our team,” says Parallel’s Tim Hunze. “We knew he was a star the minute he picked up the guitar and sang. We are looking forward to helping him fulfill his dreams.”
“I met with a lot of different people, and it’s good when you have somebody in your corner who is working as hard–if not harder–than you are, every day of the week,” says Hall. “It’s an incredible feeling to have such a great team who is behind working hard, and believing in you as well,”
The Georgia-native has opened shows for acts including Scotty McCreery, Jana Kramer, and Thomas Rhett.
Ninth Annual ACM Honors Prep Jake Owen As Host
/by Lorie HollabaughJake Owen.
Jake Owen will host the 9th Annual ACM Honors celebration, an evening dedicated to recognizing the special honorees and off-camera winners from the 50th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, on September 1 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
Performers will include Jason Aldean, Roy Clark, Randy Houser, Miranda Lambert, Owen and Restless Heart. Presenters for the evening include Kelsea Ballerini, RAC Clark and The Swon Brothers.
Honorees include Special Awards recipients Barry Adelman, Luke Bryan, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (awarded posthumously), Eric Church, Tim DuBois, Loretta Lynn, Bob McDill and Alabama.
Luke Laird will be honored as Songwriter of the Year.
Studio Recording Awards (formerly MBI Awards) recipients include Chuck Ainlay, Tom Bukovac, Dan Dugmore, Jay Joyce, Greg Morrow, Michael Rojas, Ilya Toshinsky and Glenn Worf.
Industry Award winners include Ed Warm of Joe’s Live, Sally Williams of Ryman Auditorium, Country Thunder USA: East in Twin Lakes, WI, Hard Rock Live in Biloxi, MS, Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, CA, Joe’s Bar in Chicago, IL, MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.
This marks Owen’s second time hosting the event and the sixth time the ceremony will be held at the Ryman. Tickets are $42.00 and will go on sale to the general public at Ticketmaster.com and the Ryman box office, Friday (July 31).
Jewel Duets With Dolly on New Sugar Hill Project
/by Lorie Hollabaugh“This is just me. These are my thoughts. These are my feelings,” Jewel said. “This is my poetry. It really felt like returning to a part of me that I didn’t mean to lose, but with time and relationships and life and surviving and dealing, you take on new things and not all of them are great. I was trying to keep my mind quiet and honestly get back to something I feel like I’d lost touch with in my life. It was really an exercise in shutting out fear.”
Among the tracks on the new project are “My Father’s Daughter,” an autobiographical duet with Dolly Parton about Jewel’s father and grandmother. Relationship remnants are explored on tunes like “Love Used To Be,” and “Mercy,” and previously unrecorded live favorites “Carnivore” and “Boy Needs A Bike” also appear on the new collection.
Jewel is also releasing her memoir, Never Broken, on September 15.
Dierks Bentley Lists Nashville Home For $1.7m
/by Eric T. ParkerPhotos: Village Real Estate
Dierks Bentley has listed his Nashville-area home for $1.7 million. The four bedroom, four bath home sits on .6 acres near Lipscomb University, on Granny White Pike.
Built in 1930, the remodeled home features a two-car garage, landscaped pool area, covered walkway to main house, play area and clay tiled roof.
Village Real Estate has the full listing.
SXSW Registration Opens Monday, August 3
/by Eric T. ParkerThis year, the organization will host its Eco SXSW event from October 5-7, 2015 at the Austin Convention Center. Including speakers and sessions for marketers, the 2015 events are intended to create a space for business leaders, investors, innovators and designers to drive economic, environmental and social change. Register by Friday (July 31) to save $200.
New Artist Discovery: Artist Growth, BMG Alliance, Nash Next
/by Lorie HollabaughArtist Growth Partners with Caroline For Artist Discovery
Artist Growth will further help unsigned artists gain exposure from a network of industry members with the launch of its AG Accel Network. Caroline, the full-service partner to independent labels and artists, is the first to join the newly announced network.
As part of AG Accel, Caroline’s associated labels can now evaluate and potentially sign artists based on their own self-reported data from the road, using Artist Growth to track sales of CDs, merchandise and tickets. Premium accounts ($14.99/mo.) will now be able to opt-in to the network to make their data available to labels, managers, booking agents, promoters and brands around the world.
BMG has formed a new alliance designed to accelerate the careers of emerging music artists with BroadbandTV (BBTV), which operates two of the largest music networks on YouTube. Named Windfall, the joint venture is a model allowing artists to benefit from the publishing company’s rights management and distribution services along with BBTV’s online video services, including production, premium channel and fan uploaded content management, technology, distribution, and monetization.
“The launch of Windfall supports our goal to more than double the size of our music network over the next 12 months,” said Shahrzad Rafati, Founder/CEO, BroadbandTV. “Not only does this partnership with BMG break new ground in expanding the relationship between artists and labels, it’s a big step forward in the music industry as a whole where online video has become such a massive strategic component to engage with fans. With Windfall, we’re not just creating music stars, but media stars.”
The NASH Next search for the Next Country Superstar will close its doors on August 7. Social Challenge Rounds will begin for 100 selected artists August 14, including five rounds using apps including Twitter, Periscope, and Instagram. Ten finalists will then be chosen for the final video round from October 28-November 22 with judges Kix Brooks, James Stroud and John Dickey.
More information and to participate, visit nashnextcountry.com.