CMA Music Festival TV Special
CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock will air Tuesday, Aug. 4 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network. It was filmed during the event in June and features Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser, Sam Hunt, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, Kip Moore, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Chris Young, and Zac Brown Band.
Reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town returns to host CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock. Photo: Hunter Berry / CMA
Chris Young Smokes Up Stage In Chicago
Chris Young cranked up Chicago over the weekend as he headlined Saturday’s (July 11) Windy City Smokeout. More than 12,500 people crowded downtown, the festival’s largest audience to date. Chicago was the third date on the singer’s four-day run.
Chris Young headlines for a capacity crowd at the Windy City Smokeout in Chicago. Photo: Brent Gibbs
Steak Out With Kix Brooks Tonight
Kix Brooks is premiering his new television series Steak Out with Kix Brooks today (July 14) at 8 p.m. CT on the Cooking Channel.
The half-hour episodes go to Denver, New York City, and beyond, visiting the best traditional and modern steakhouses in the country.
The multi-faceted entertainer is also busy with Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Dolly’s ‘Coat of Many Colors’ on NBC
Alyvia Lind and Dolly Parton on the set of Today.
Dolly Parton gave the young girl who will portray her in the upcoming made-for-TV movie Coat of Many Colors a thrill on the Today show yesterday (July 13) when she gave her the news that she had won the coveted part. Alyvia Lind will play Dolly as a young girl in the movie based on Parton’s upbringing and rooted around her autobiographical song “Coat of Many Colors.”
The new movie will be executive produced by Parton and is part of a deal the singer struck with NBC for a series of standalone movies based on her life and songs that she is developing with production partner Sam Haskell of Magnolia Hill Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
A clip of Alyvia’s grand surprise from Dolly can be viewed here.
CRB Elects New Board
/by Lorie HollabaughAppointed to the Board are: John Crenshaw (Cumulus Media), Keith Kaufman (Center Stage Promotions), Mike Culotta and Scott Huskey (RWPC) as well as Kurt Johnson (Townsquare Media) and George Couri (Triple 8 Management), who are new to the Board.
Re-elected to the Board are: Chuck Aly (Country Aircheck), R.J. Curtis (All Access), John Esposito (Warner Music Nashville), Dan Halyburton(Falls Media Group), Jeff Kapugi (WUSN-FM), Jon Loba (BBR Music Group) and John Shomby (Max Media).
Board members with continuing terms are: Carole Bowen (WKIS-FM), Beverlee Brannigan (Scripps Co.), Becky Brenner (Albright & O’Malley & Brenner Consulting), Johnny Chiang (KKBQ-FM), Andy Denemark (United Stations), Mike Dungan (UMG), Clay Hunnicutt (Big Loud Records), Nick Martin (Big River Broadcasting), Mike McVay (Cumulus Media), Charlie Morgan (Emmis Communications), Gary Overton, Joel Raab (Country Radio Consultants), Tim Roberts (WYCD), Royce Risser (UMG), Annie Sandor (Curb), Jeff Walker (The AristoMedia Group) and John Zarling (Big Machine Label Group).
Charlie Monk continues as a Lifetime Director Emeritus.
In other CRB news, the Country Radio Seminar is offering a special, limited-time $349 super-saver registration rate for CRS 2016, which will be held Feb. 8-10. The special rate will only be available July 15 through Aug. 15 or to the first 349 registrants, whichever happens first. The first 349 registrants will also be guaranteed a coveted ticket to the New Faces Show, which has been sold out in advance for the past four years, and will receive access to artist digital liners. Following the expiration of the Summer Super Saver rate, an early bird rate of $429 will then be offered. Registrations will be available for purchase at www.CountryRadioSeminar.com.
Artist News: CMA Music Fest on ABC, Kix Brooks’ Steak Out, Chris Young, Dolly Parton
/by Lorie HollabaughCMA Music Festival TV Special
CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock will air Tuesday, Aug. 4 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network. It was filmed during the event in June and features Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser, Sam Hunt, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Maddie & Tae, Kip Moore, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Chris Young, and Zac Brown Band.
Reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town returns to host CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock. Photo: Hunter Berry / CMA
Chris Young Smokes Up Stage In Chicago
Chris Young cranked up Chicago over the weekend as he headlined Saturday’s (July 11) Windy City Smokeout. More than 12,500 people crowded downtown, the festival’s largest audience to date. Chicago was the third date on the singer’s four-day run.
Chris Young headlines for a capacity crowd at the Windy City Smokeout in Chicago. Photo: Brent Gibbs
Kix Brooks is premiering his new television series Steak Out with Kix Brooks today (July 14) at 8 p.m. CT on the Cooking Channel.
The half-hour episodes go to Denver, New York City, and beyond, visiting the best traditional and modern steakhouses in the country.
The multi-faceted entertainer is also busy with Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Dolly’s ‘Coat of Many Colors’ on NBC
Alyvia Lind and Dolly Parton on the set of Today.
Dolly Parton gave the young girl who will portray her in the upcoming made-for-TV movie Coat of Many Colors a thrill on the Today show yesterday (July 13) when she gave her the news that she had won the coveted part. Alyvia Lind will play Dolly as a young girl in the movie based on Parton’s upbringing and rooted around her autobiographical song “Coat of Many Colors.”
The new movie will be executive produced by Parton and is part of a deal the singer struck with NBC for a series of standalone movies based on her life and songs that she is developing with production partner Sam Haskell of Magnolia Hill Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
A clip of Alyvia’s grand surprise from Dolly can be viewed here.
Artist Pics: Kelsea Ballerini, Cam, Rachel Platten, Jason Crabb
/by Kelsey_GradyKelsea Ballerini Performs For CMA EDU
Black River recording artist Kelsea Ballerini participated in a Q&A session and performed for CMA EDU chapter executives Sunday night at CMA headquarters in Nashville.
The students, who represent leadership from the 24 CMA EDU chapters around the country, also enjoyed a presentation by Broken Bow Records’ Chase Bryant, and a performance by Tyler Farr.
Kelsea Ballerini. Photo: Kayla Schoen/CMA
Sony Artists Perform For Shazam’s Summertime Barbeque
Columbia’s Rachel Platten and Arista Nashville’s Cam performed for Shazam’s summertime barbeque on Thursday (July 9). Rachel took a break from her promotional tour of the breakout hit “Fight Song,” while Cam flew up on her day off from promoting her iHeart Radio On The Verge single “Burning House.”
Pictured (L-R): Nick Fishbaugh (Senior Director, Global Music Partnerships, Shazam), Peter Szabo (SVP, Head of Music & US Ad Sales, Shazam), Cam, Rachel Platten, Rich Riley (CEO, Shazam)
Jason Crabb Tapes Live Concert
GRAMMY winner and 21-time Dove Award winning artist Jason Crabb taped a live concert on July 1 outside Nashville for his upcoming studio project Whatever the Road, which releases on Reunion Records Sept. 18.
Jason Crabb. Photo: Aaron Crisler/Nelon PR
Music Biz Convention Expands For 2016 Nashville Return
/by Lorie Hollabaugh“Our first year in Nashville exceeded all of our expectations, which prompted our move to a bigger property that will allow us to grow the event with more hotel rooms, more meeting space, and more sponsorship opportunities,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “In that vein, we are happy to announce that major label group WEA has already agreed to sponsor the Music Biz 2016 Welcome Reception on Monday evening. Music City, its Mayor Karl Dean, and the Music City Music Council have all been incredibly kind to us, and we’re elated to have an encore in Nashville for Music Biz 2016.”
During Music Biz 2015, awards were presented to The Who, Jack White, Meghan Trainor, Martina McBride, Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta, The Doobie Brothers, and John Kunz of Waterloo Records & Video. There was also a live-to-acetate performance by Ashley Monroe at Third Man Records’ Blue Room, a night of YouTube-sponsored live performances at The Wildhorse Saloon, the third annual Metadata Summit, Music Startup Academy sessions, the Entertainment and Technology Law Conference, and other sessions aimed at artists, managers, publishers, labels, startups, and more.
JT Hodges Celebrates ‘Opry 9.0’ Release
/by Lorie HollabaughJT Hodges performs on the Opry July 10 in support of the new project.
As a nod to its 90th Anniversary celebration, the Grand Ole Opry is releasing a series of CDs spotlighting up-and-comers for the Opry’s next generation.
JT Hodges, Drake White, and Chase Bryant are the artists featured on OPRY 9.0, Vol 1: Discoveries From the Circle, which hit stores June 30. The CD includes memorable live performances by each of the artists.
Hodges recently performed on the Opry July 10 in support of the new project.
The 9.0 project will be supplemented with other artist discovery content on opry.com throughout the Opry’s social media platforms, at live Opry performances, and with the Opry’s radio partners.
Andy Grammer, Eli Young Band Join Forces For New Version of ‘Honey I’m Good’
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): EYB’s Chris Thompson, Mike Eli, Andy Grammer, EYB’s Jon Jones and James Young
Andy Grammer has reworked his current chart-topping, pop smash “Honey I’m Good” for country radio, with a little help from the guys in the Eli Young Band. The two acts have teamed up on the infectious hit and the new duet is now on iTunes and will be released to country radio July 27.
“I always felt this song was country at its core,” said Grammer about the new version of the snappy song. “Being in the studio with the Eli Young Band, I finally got to hear it come home.”
Grammer’s original version of the song topped the iTunes chart, and is a Top 10 single and rising on the Top 40 chart. It also has over 45 million YouTube views, 40 million streams on Spotify, and has been certified platinum.
“This is a great country song,” said Mike Eli about the new collaboration. “We fell in love with it before Andy ever asked us to be part of this release. Andy is an incredible singer and one heck of a songwriter so we couldn’t be happier to help expand upon what he’s already accomplished. We can’t wait for everyone to hear the new version.”
Date Set For 2015 SESAC Nashville Music Awards
/by Kelsey_GradyThe invitation-only event will honor the most popular songs of 2015 with special awards being presented to the Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year. The awards show will also showcase performances by many hit songwriters and performers.
“It’s always our privilege to honor some of the most successful songwriters and publishers in the Country and Americana genres,” said Tim Fink, SESAC’s Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations and the host of the awards. “Kicking off CMA Week with the SESAC Nashville Music Awards is an industry tradition and we are ready to get the week started with a great awards show.”
Weekly Register: Musgraves Tops Country Album Chart
/by Sarah SkatesKacey Musgraves is sitting pretty at No. 1 on the country album chart.
Welcome to the Monday edition of Weekly Register. Due to the official music release day moving from Tuesday to Friday, sales data will be available on Mondays going forward.
As part of the change, this week’s chart is based on an 11-day transition week. Then on July 20, the new 7-day Friday to Thursday chart week will be published.
Easton Corbin moved 27K copies of About to Get Real (album only), landing at No. 2 on the country chart. But he couldn’t best UMG Nashville labelmate Kacey Musgraves, who held on to the No. 1 spot, selling 28K TW/83K RTD.
On the tracks chart, Little Big Town is No. 1 Country, with “Girl Crush” continuing to reign with sales of 93K TW/1.4 million RTD.
Looking ahead, several major label artists have albums releases scheduled this summer. See the full schedule.
July 17 Alan Jackson/Angels and Alcohol/EMI Records Nashville
August 7 Luke Bryan/Kill The Lights/Capitol Nashville
August 21 Kip Moore/Wild Ones/MCA Nashville
August 28 Maddie & Tae/Start Here/Dot
September 11 Brett Eldredge/Illinois/Warner Bros.
September 25 Thomas Rhett/Tangled Up/Valory Music Co.
*sales info according to Nielsen Soundscan
After 25 Years, 60 Million Albums, Alan Jackson Is Still Shy
/by Lorie HollabaughAlan Jackson, Lee Cowan
Alan Jackson revealed some interesting facts about being a performer on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood yesterday (July 12). The veteran entertainer tells the show’s Lee Cowan that he believes he would be just as happy behind the scenes as a writer as he is taking center stage, and chats about his discomfort with the attention even all these years into his hitmaking career.
“You know, I’m still self-conscious about going on stage, and things,” Jacksons says. “I love singing and I love sharing my songs with people, especially if it’s something that I wrote, but I still, I feel a little uncomfortable in front of people, you know?”
See the interview here.
Jackson is promoting the release of his latest UMG Nashville CD, Angels and Alcohol, with a bevy of media appearances this month.
MusicRowPics: Chris Janson
/by Eric T. ParkerThe Warner Bros. recording artist recently took a moment to visit MusicRow during a busy schedule, where he may be launching his CD before riding on the lake.
“I had the opportunity to be writing music that I didn’t know would be on an album this year,” said Janson. “It will be out on the best label in town by Thanksgiving…finally!”
The lead single was initially released independently, and led to his Warner Bros. Nashville deal.
After writing “Buy Me A Boat” with Chris DuBois at the Sea Gayle offices a few months ago, Janson cut the song at the tail end of a demo session. After upgrading the recording to a master, Janson uploaded the song online in his kitchen one night after a songwriter friend showed him how. Bobby Bones‘ iHeartRadio show then played the tune and kick-started the craze, leading to Janson becoming the first independent artist featured on iHeart’s On The Verge program, and ultimately his current record deal.
“These fans have been waiting for music forever,” said wife and manager, Kelly Lynn Janson. “The fans don’t understand you have to have a record label to put music out. So [with the release of ‘Buy Me A Boat’] he could at least talk about the new music when he played the Opry or was out on tour.”
Janson has waited 10 years to release an album after being previously signed to Sony Nashville, and the now defunct Bigger Picture Group.
Janson will co-produce the upcoming Warner Bros. Nashville full-length project with DuBois and Brent Anderson, and the remainder will be done with his publisher, Byron Gallimore.
During the visit, Janson also shared a new track “That’s What Love Will Do.” He expects to record the self-written title when he’s not on the road with Toby Keith this summer. He also treated MusicRow to the “oldest song” expected to be on the forthcoming record, titled “Back In My Drinkin’ Days.”
As a songwriter, Janson said his “most prized cuts” are on Hank Williams Jr.’s upcoming Nash Icon album. “He’s my No. 1 artist,” said Janson. “Just that he would ask for songs that I wrote is a big deal for me.” Janson also recorded harmonica on a re-make of William’s “Born To Boogie,” which is expected to be on the icon’s forthcoming record.