Noah Gordon
Column 38 by James Rea
Noah Gordon appeared on The Producer’s Chair on Thursday, June 25, 2015 at Douglas Corner at 6 p.m.
In 1993 Noah Gordon signed his first artist deal at Capitol/EMI/Patriot via exec Jimmy Bowen, and also signed publishing and management deals. Back then I doubt even Noah could have predicted that following a second record deal with Warner Bros. and 100-plus songwriting cuts, he would switch from artist to executive. Today he is head of A&R and VP of Publishing for Average Joes Entertainment, one of the hottest labels in town.
Noah’s songwriting discography includes cuts by Charlie Daniels, Blackhawk, Doug Stone, Craig Morgan, Emerson Drive, John Michael Montgomery, Clay Walker, John Berry, Lee Greenwood, Randy Travis, Buddy Jewel, Joe Nichols, Ricochet, Carolina Rain, Colt Ford, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Kix Brooks, Lee Brice, Bubba Sparxxx, Rodney Atkins and The Lacs.
Gordon’s production discography has also been growing exponentially. He started by co-producing his own album with Chuck Howard, and went on to produce 3 No. 1 albums for Colt Ford, as well as songs or projects by Montgomery Gentry, Bubba Sparxxx, LoCash Cowboys, Daniel Lee, Lenny Cooper, Lucy Angel, Demun Jones, Daniel Boone, Mud Digger compilations, JR Vautour, The Lacs, and his family’s band The Gordons.
The Producer’s Chair: When did you start playing music?
Noah Gordon: When I was growing up the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had released the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, and they were really, really hot. In a way it brought back bluegrass and folk music to all the college kids.
My folks were hippies and were totally into rock ‘n’ roll, but by the time I came along they had flip-flopped over to bluegrass. So, I got my start playing bluegrass music and mandolin, and singing with the family band. I picked up the drums when I was 8 or 9 years old, when my folks’ band shifted into more country music. I played with them until I moved to Nashville in ’92.
TPC: How did you get signed to a record deal, a publishing deal and a management deal?
NG: I met Anthony Smith, who introduced me to Margie Hunt who, at the time, was at CBS. She introduced me to Roy Wunsch who sent me to see Steve Buckingham. I went and played for him and they wanted to do a deal, but I needed an attorney. A friend of a friend connected me with Scott Siman. He recommended against me signing that particular deal because he knew that Roy Wunsch was probably going to be vacating the president’s chair and the ensuing changes that happened. So Scott ended up getting me signed to a publishing deal at Kicking Bird Music, and Charlie Daniels’ manager Dave Corlew became my manager. Then, Jimmy Bowen signed me at Capitol/EMI. I was 22 when I signed with EMI and 24 when my record came out.
TPC: Who was your producer?
NG: I actually cut two records. I cut a record with Chuck Howard but Jimmy Bowen didn’t want to release it, and asked me to cut another record. So, my record I Need a Break, was produced by Steve Gibson. I worked with Renee Bell on it. She was the head A&R in those days. It was an exciting time. When you come to town and Jimmy Bowen signs you—it kicks the doors off the hinges. I was instantly accepted by the songwriters and the publishers and the musicians—but I don’t even think I realized at the time what an awesome opportunity that was.
I didn’t know that most artists have a publisher or producer or some combination of people who champion their cause and groom them for getting a deal and making a record. Artists are rarely ready for that, no matter how many shows they do on the road and no matter how good of an entertainer they are—there’s a whole other set of skills you need to make records.
TPC: How did you feel when you lost your deal?
NG: That’s a good question. I have Crohn’s Disease. It wasn’t severe until I was out on the radio tour, only getting three to four hours of sleep a night, eating crummy food and traveling. So part of me was relieved in some ways, because it was a grueling year. And so full of disappointments no matter how hard I worked. There were so many things that were out of my control.
If you have some significant success as an artist, you tend to be gone from town. You’re busy on the road playing dates, supporting your record, interacting with fans—the loop that makes the music world go round.
I was fortunate, I feel like I got to do just about everything you could do short of becoming famous. I had a couple of videos that were in high rotation and I had the fun of getting to do that. Yet I didn’t have the kind of career where it warranted me staying gone for the next ten years on the road. If I had more success as an artist perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten to become a working songwriter and learn the craft of producing.
TPC: After you left Capitol, your band Phoenix signed to Warner Bros. How did that transpire?
NG: Brad Allen was trying to build a band around a singer named Darin Anthony Pavone. So Bryan Austin and I joined on. It started as co-writing. The three of us blended well vocally. So, the harmonies turned out really cool. We had recorded some things and when Paige Levy and Bill Mayne over at Warner Bros. heard it, they loved it and signed us to a deal for a brief moment. Didn’t work out in the end.
TPC: Did I read somewhere that you owned a studio, after Phoenix?
NG: Yes. That was Big Studios with engineer T.W. Cargile who had been a buddy of mine forever, along with Gary Kraen and Lester Turner of Lightning 100. Two Jamey Johnson records were mostly recorded at Big Studios. I think maybe all of it was mixed there. It wasn’t his first record, but it was his first really successful record with Song of the Year “In Color.” That’s how I met the people at Average Joes, because Jamey told them if they were working on a country record that they needed to come to our studio. It was a very organic way of meeting.
TPC: When you started with Average Joes, were you named head of A&R and VP of publishing right away?
NG: It was a gradual process. I had the studio. I owned a small publishing and production company and was diving head first into producing. Average Joes had me producing one new artist, and I had a pretty good run producing Canadian artists. I put together a proposal for Shannon Houchins (Average Joes CEO) and Colt Ford (one of the main artists and business parters). I said, “you’re growing fast, and I believe you can be really successful. I feel like I can help.”
At that time I’d been in Nashville about 18 years. I didn’t know everybody, but I knew a lot of people. And if I didn’t know them, I knew somebody that did. I had learned a lot about publishing, studios, production and licensing. I felt like I could bring something valuable to them—not only as a writer or producer, but also by helping them put pieces in places that they needed in Nashville.
When I handed them my proposal, I put my taxes as the last chapter. That’s as transparent as I can be. This is how much money I earned last year. This is what I paid Uncle Sam, and if we do business together, this is how much money I’ll be able to bring in.
TPC: Who was the first artist that you produced on Average Joes?
NG: The very first project I produced was Lauren Bryant who had been on the label for about a year or a year and a half. She was part of the early-on roster. We made a good record, but it was just bad timing, the label wasn’t really tooled up yet.
We were finishing up that project as I began work on the Colt Declaration of Independence record. So that was the second record I worked on here. I was up to my elbows in it from the writing to the recording—everything from top to bottom. The neatest thing about that is it was also the company’s first No. 1 Billboard album.
Colt had already made several albums, that was his fourth. Colt and everyone at Average Joes had really worked hard to build his career. Tom Baldrica came to work for us about the same time I joined the party. So, it certainly wasn’t that I showed up and helped make a Colt Ford record, and that’s the reason it was a No. 1 album. It was the culmination of so much hard work, great shows, blood, sweat, and tears. I was really fortunate to be a part of it!
TPC: What is your job description, as head of A&R for three labels and 18 artists?
NG: The reality of it is that I’m not in charge of all of it. One person can’t do all of those things. I look for songs. I listen to songs. I set up co-writes. I produce, or write, or master, or some combination of those things, for almost all of the album projects we release.
One of the things I’m trying to push forward is for the artist managers to take on A&R responsibilities. There are only so many hours in the day. I want there to be more opportunity for songwriters and publishers to get material heard by these individual artists. Also, I’m one person with one set of likes and dislikes, I’m going to like certain things and not like certain things. That doesn’t need to be the only gate.
When I moved to town, there were 25 record labels with A&R staffs. They were an entity in themselves. So, there was an enormous amount of opportunity to have music heard, curated, and delivered to artists.
If all I did was listen to songs from eight in the morning until ten at night I still probably couldn’t get through all of the music that’s delivered. Plus, you’ve got to take into account, what did the artist write? Who did they collaborate with?
Now, the flipside of it is this: For the longest time there wasn’t a lot of material out there for our unique hybrid music. Now you can’t find a country record that doesn’t have rap or some sort of hybrid song on it.
TPC: What does your job as VP of Publishing entail?
NG: We have “Dirt Road Anthem,” “Country Must Be Countrywide,” “I Love You This Big” along with probably 60 to 70 percent of all the Colt records, The Lacs records, and most of the compilation records that we do. Two days ago I was licensing “Dirt Road Anthem” for the next season of America Idol. We get a lot of requests to license the songs in our catalog, but I’m able to handle about 90 percent of it. These days it’s almost all email.
Tomorrow I leave for Bakersfield, California. While I’m in the air I’ll probably do two or three licenses. I used to do all of the internal licensing—like all of the Colt records—but sometimes that’s 200 or 300 agreements for one album. If you think about a mechanical, a digital, a streaming, video license, for each song times multiple writers, times sometimes multiple publishers. Then we enlisted Dave Evans, who is a wonderful admin fella out of New York, who actually worked early-on for Average Joes. Now I send him all of the licensing for albums that we record and distribute.
I still handle most of the licensing on outside uses or TV uses. I think another one of the reasons I work here is because I’ve negotiated publishing deals, artist deals, licensing deals and been on both sides of the table. The numbers can change in deals, but the overall contracts are pretty similar. That’s helpful from day-to-day.
The only staff songwriters that we have are myself, Shannon Houchins, Colt Ford, Lenny Cooper and the Lacs (Brian King and Clay Sharpe). But it’s hard to consider us staff writers because we don’t show up with a guitar at 10 a.m. to write songs.
TPC: Do you still have time to write?
NG: I used to write 50 to 60 songs a year, depending on the year. Now I only write about 10 to 15 songs a year—maybe. But it’s super rare that I write and complete a song that’s not on an album. The hybrid type of music that we do here involves a lot is target writing.
TPC: How many publishing deals have you had?
NG: I originally wrote for Kicking Bird music, then I went over to a new company called C&P Nashville (that was Brad Allen’s company). And then I wrote for a company called Encore Entertainment, for six years. Keith Follese’ ran that company along with Brad Allen. Then, started my own company called New Millennium Music.
TPC: Does Average Joes offer artist management as well?
NG: Shannon manages Colt and The Lacs, personally. We previously had a large management roster that had outside artists on other labels and things like that, but managing is a 24/7 job.
I’m co-managing the group Lucy Angel. As any new group does, they need a lot of help. That’s why I’m going to Bakersfield, CA tomorrow for their show at the Crystal Palace. But it makes it difficult for me because I’ve got little kids and I’ve got to get back.
TPC: Is your radio promotion team in-house or outsourced?
NG: We’ve had a large full tilled P1 radio staff. But we have pulled back from doing that all the time. Now, we have Tony Morreale. He’s been at Sony, New Revolution. He’s a great guy and the head of promotions here. We have Wix Wichmann who was also at Sony. We’ve been really fortunate to have things like Sirius XM Radio. John Marks is a big supporter. He’s played a lot of our records and continues to support and champion many of our artists.
We have a digital team in-house. About a year and a half ago we really made a conscious effort to swing our resources in a new direction. With the amount of money and effort that it takes to get one song up the traditional flag pole, the amount we can accomplish in other areas is phenomenal.
Helping the artists with their touring and branding and trying to co-op it with club owners. And doing things where the boots hit the ground. What’s great about that is you can see what’s working instantly. You can do internet campaigns and watch the metric change. With traditional radio, you get added to a station and the first spins are at 2 in the morning. It’s expensive and it takes a long time.
But we are walking the traditional radio path with a group I produced and Average Joes distributes for G-Force Entertainment and New Revolution… the Lucy Angel girls. And we’re fortunate to be making headway.
Radio is still a wonderful way to reach millions of people… if you can crack it, you get in front of a lot of people.
TPC: Has Colt’s success opened doors for the other artists on the label?
NG: Absolutely, when you have success with one artist, that gives you a chance to talk about your other artists. When you’ve got that influential person sitting in front of you and you’re talking about Colt—they inevitably say, “What else do you have coming down the pipe?” That gives you a great opportunity, and it’s not to take away from Colt. The great thing for Colt is that he’s a partner within the label —a lot of people don’t know that. So, if the label as a whole grows and acts sell records and grow their business—it’s still good for him. That’s a great place to be.
RaeLynn Cameos On Disney Channel This Sunday
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): Sarah Gilman, RaeLynn, Piper Curda and Olivia Holt
Photo: Disney Channel/Eric McCandless
RaeLynn makes a cameo appearance on the Disney Channel series I Didn’t Do It this Sunday (June 21). She will perform latest single, “For A Boy,” on the show.
The guest spot in the “Cheer Up Girls” episode is part of Disney’s Sounds Of Summer promotion event that also features appearances by Becky G, The Vamps, Sheppard, and Pentatonix along with the network’s stars.
In celebration of her Disney debut, RaeLynn is offering fans a chance to win a pair of customized Doc Martens. The blinged-out boots were designed by Cynthia Rodriguez for Crystal4U and are like the ones she wore on the show.
A sneak peek of the episode can be seen here.
Producer’s Chair: Noah Gordon
/by contributorNoah Gordon
Column 38 by James Rea
Noah Gordon appeared on The Producer’s Chair on Thursday, June 25, 2015 at Douglas Corner at 6 p.m.
In 1993 Noah Gordon signed his first artist deal at Capitol/EMI/Patriot via exec Jimmy Bowen, and also signed publishing and management deals. Back then I doubt even Noah could have predicted that following a second record deal with Warner Bros. and 100-plus songwriting cuts, he would switch from artist to executive. Today he is head of A&R and VP of Publishing for Average Joes Entertainment, one of the hottest labels in town.
Noah’s songwriting discography includes cuts by Charlie Daniels, Blackhawk, Doug Stone, Craig Morgan, Emerson Drive, John Michael Montgomery, Clay Walker, John Berry, Lee Greenwood, Randy Travis, Buddy Jewel, Joe Nichols, Ricochet, Carolina Rain, Colt Ford, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Kix Brooks, Lee Brice, Bubba Sparxxx, Rodney Atkins and The Lacs.
Gordon’s production discography has also been growing exponentially. He started by co-producing his own album with Chuck Howard, and went on to produce 3 No. 1 albums for Colt Ford, as well as songs or projects by Montgomery Gentry, Bubba Sparxxx, LoCash Cowboys, Daniel Lee, Lenny Cooper, Lucy Angel, Demun Jones, Daniel Boone, Mud Digger compilations, JR Vautour, The Lacs, and his family’s band The Gordons.
The Producer’s Chair: When did you start playing music?
Noah Gordon: When I was growing up the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had released the Will The Circle Be Unbroken album, and they were really, really hot. In a way it brought back bluegrass and folk music to all the college kids.
My folks were hippies and were totally into rock ‘n’ roll, but by the time I came along they had flip-flopped over to bluegrass. So, I got my start playing bluegrass music and mandolin, and singing with the family band. I picked up the drums when I was 8 or 9 years old, when my folks’ band shifted into more country music. I played with them until I moved to Nashville in ’92.
TPC: How did you get signed to a record deal, a publishing deal and a management deal?
NG: I met Anthony Smith, who introduced me to Margie Hunt who, at the time, was at CBS. She introduced me to Roy Wunsch who sent me to see Steve Buckingham. I went and played for him and they wanted to do a deal, but I needed an attorney. A friend of a friend connected me with Scott Siman. He recommended against me signing that particular deal because he knew that Roy Wunsch was probably going to be vacating the president’s chair and the ensuing changes that happened. So Scott ended up getting me signed to a publishing deal at Kicking Bird Music, and Charlie Daniels’ manager Dave Corlew became my manager. Then, Jimmy Bowen signed me at Capitol/EMI. I was 22 when I signed with EMI and 24 when my record came out.
TPC: Who was your producer?
NG: I actually cut two records. I cut a record with Chuck Howard but Jimmy Bowen didn’t want to release it, and asked me to cut another record. So, my record I Need a Break, was produced by Steve Gibson. I worked with Renee Bell on it. She was the head A&R in those days. It was an exciting time. When you come to town and Jimmy Bowen signs you—it kicks the doors off the hinges. I was instantly accepted by the songwriters and the publishers and the musicians—but I don’t even think I realized at the time what an awesome opportunity that was.
I didn’t know that most artists have a publisher or producer or some combination of people who champion their cause and groom them for getting a deal and making a record. Artists are rarely ready for that, no matter how many shows they do on the road and no matter how good of an entertainer they are—there’s a whole other set of skills you need to make records.
TPC: How did you feel when you lost your deal?
NG: That’s a good question. I have Crohn’s Disease. It wasn’t severe until I was out on the radio tour, only getting three to four hours of sleep a night, eating crummy food and traveling. So part of me was relieved in some ways, because it was a grueling year. And so full of disappointments no matter how hard I worked. There were so many things that were out of my control.
If you have some significant success as an artist, you tend to be gone from town. You’re busy on the road playing dates, supporting your record, interacting with fans—the loop that makes the music world go round.
I was fortunate, I feel like I got to do just about everything you could do short of becoming famous. I had a couple of videos that were in high rotation and I had the fun of getting to do that. Yet I didn’t have the kind of career where it warranted me staying gone for the next ten years on the road. If I had more success as an artist perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten to become a working songwriter and learn the craft of producing.
TPC: After you left Capitol, your band Phoenix signed to Warner Bros. How did that transpire?
NG: Brad Allen was trying to build a band around a singer named Darin Anthony Pavone. So Bryan Austin and I joined on. It started as co-writing. The three of us blended well vocally. So, the harmonies turned out really cool. We had recorded some things and when Paige Levy and Bill Mayne over at Warner Bros. heard it, they loved it and signed us to a deal for a brief moment. Didn’t work out in the end.
TPC: Did I read somewhere that you owned a studio, after Phoenix?
NG: Yes. That was Big Studios with engineer T.W. Cargile who had been a buddy of mine forever, along with Gary Kraen and Lester Turner of Lightning 100. Two Jamey Johnson records were mostly recorded at Big Studios. I think maybe all of it was mixed there. It wasn’t his first record, but it was his first really successful record with Song of the Year “In Color.” That’s how I met the people at Average Joes, because Jamey told them if they were working on a country record that they needed to come to our studio. It was a very organic way of meeting.
TPC: When you started with Average Joes, were you named head of A&R and VP of publishing right away?
NG: It was a gradual process. I had the studio. I owned a small publishing and production company and was diving head first into producing. Average Joes had me producing one new artist, and I had a pretty good run producing Canadian artists. I put together a proposal for Shannon Houchins (Average Joes CEO) and Colt Ford (one of the main artists and business parters). I said, “you’re growing fast, and I believe you can be really successful. I feel like I can help.”
At that time I’d been in Nashville about 18 years. I didn’t know everybody, but I knew a lot of people. And if I didn’t know them, I knew somebody that did. I had learned a lot about publishing, studios, production and licensing. I felt like I could bring something valuable to them—not only as a writer or producer, but also by helping them put pieces in places that they needed in Nashville.
When I handed them my proposal, I put my taxes as the last chapter. That’s as transparent as I can be. This is how much money I earned last year. This is what I paid Uncle Sam, and if we do business together, this is how much money I’ll be able to bring in.
TPC: Who was the first artist that you produced on Average Joes?
NG: The very first project I produced was Lauren Bryant who had been on the label for about a year or a year and a half. She was part of the early-on roster. We made a good record, but it was just bad timing, the label wasn’t really tooled up yet.
We were finishing up that project as I began work on the Colt Declaration of Independence record. So that was the second record I worked on here. I was up to my elbows in it from the writing to the recording—everything from top to bottom. The neatest thing about that is it was also the company’s first No. 1 Billboard album.
Colt had already made several albums, that was his fourth. Colt and everyone at Average Joes had really worked hard to build his career. Tom Baldrica came to work for us about the same time I joined the party. So, it certainly wasn’t that I showed up and helped make a Colt Ford record, and that’s the reason it was a No. 1 album. It was the culmination of so much hard work, great shows, blood, sweat, and tears. I was really fortunate to be a part of it!
TPC: What is your job description, as head of A&R for three labels and 18 artists?
NG: The reality of it is that I’m not in charge of all of it. One person can’t do all of those things. I look for songs. I listen to songs. I set up co-writes. I produce, or write, or master, or some combination of those things, for almost all of the album projects we release.
One of the things I’m trying to push forward is for the artist managers to take on A&R responsibilities. There are only so many hours in the day. I want there to be more opportunity for songwriters and publishers to get material heard by these individual artists. Also, I’m one person with one set of likes and dislikes, I’m going to like certain things and not like certain things. That doesn’t need to be the only gate.
When I moved to town, there were 25 record labels with A&R staffs. They were an entity in themselves. So, there was an enormous amount of opportunity to have music heard, curated, and delivered to artists.
If all I did was listen to songs from eight in the morning until ten at night I still probably couldn’t get through all of the music that’s delivered. Plus, you’ve got to take into account, what did the artist write? Who did they collaborate with?
Now, the flipside of it is this: For the longest time there wasn’t a lot of material out there for our unique hybrid music. Now you can’t find a country record that doesn’t have rap or some sort of hybrid song on it.
TPC: What does your job as VP of Publishing entail?
NG: We have “Dirt Road Anthem,” “Country Must Be Countrywide,” “I Love You This Big” along with probably 60 to 70 percent of all the Colt records, The Lacs records, and most of the compilation records that we do. Two days ago I was licensing “Dirt Road Anthem” for the next season of America Idol. We get a lot of requests to license the songs in our catalog, but I’m able to handle about 90 percent of it. These days it’s almost all email.
Tomorrow I leave for Bakersfield, California. While I’m in the air I’ll probably do two or three licenses. I used to do all of the internal licensing—like all of the Colt records—but sometimes that’s 200 or 300 agreements for one album. If you think about a mechanical, a digital, a streaming, video license, for each song times multiple writers, times sometimes multiple publishers. Then we enlisted Dave Evans, who is a wonderful admin fella out of New York, who actually worked early-on for Average Joes. Now I send him all of the licensing for albums that we record and distribute.
I still handle most of the licensing on outside uses or TV uses. I think another one of the reasons I work here is because I’ve negotiated publishing deals, artist deals, licensing deals and been on both sides of the table. The numbers can change in deals, but the overall contracts are pretty similar. That’s helpful from day-to-day.
The only staff songwriters that we have are myself, Shannon Houchins, Colt Ford, Lenny Cooper and the Lacs (Brian King and Clay Sharpe). But it’s hard to consider us staff writers because we don’t show up with a guitar at 10 a.m. to write songs.
TPC: Do you still have time to write?
NG: I used to write 50 to 60 songs a year, depending on the year. Now I only write about 10 to 15 songs a year—maybe. But it’s super rare that I write and complete a song that’s not on an album. The hybrid type of music that we do here involves a lot is target writing.
TPC: How many publishing deals have you had?
NG: I originally wrote for Kicking Bird music, then I went over to a new company called C&P Nashville (that was Brad Allen’s company). And then I wrote for a company called Encore Entertainment, for six years. Keith Follese’ ran that company along with Brad Allen. Then, started my own company called New Millennium Music.
TPC: Does Average Joes offer artist management as well?
NG: Shannon manages Colt and The Lacs, personally. We previously had a large management roster that had outside artists on other labels and things like that, but managing is a 24/7 job.
I’m co-managing the group Lucy Angel. As any new group does, they need a lot of help. That’s why I’m going to Bakersfield, CA tomorrow for their show at the Crystal Palace. But it makes it difficult for me because I’ve got little kids and I’ve got to get back.
TPC: Is your radio promotion team in-house or outsourced?
NG: We’ve had a large full tilled P1 radio staff. But we have pulled back from doing that all the time. Now, we have Tony Morreale. He’s been at Sony, New Revolution. He’s a great guy and the head of promotions here. We have Wix Wichmann who was also at Sony. We’ve been really fortunate to have things like Sirius XM Radio. John Marks is a big supporter. He’s played a lot of our records and continues to support and champion many of our artists.
We have a digital team in-house. About a year and a half ago we really made a conscious effort to swing our resources in a new direction. With the amount of money and effort that it takes to get one song up the traditional flag pole, the amount we can accomplish in other areas is phenomenal.
Helping the artists with their touring and branding and trying to co-op it with club owners. And doing things where the boots hit the ground. What’s great about that is you can see what’s working instantly. You can do internet campaigns and watch the metric change. With traditional radio, you get added to a station and the first spins are at 2 in the morning. It’s expensive and it takes a long time.
But we are walking the traditional radio path with a group I produced and Average Joes distributes for G-Force Entertainment and New Revolution… the Lucy Angel girls. And we’re fortunate to be making headway.
Radio is still a wonderful way to reach millions of people… if you can crack it, you get in front of a lot of people.
TPC: Has Colt’s success opened doors for the other artists on the label?
NG: Absolutely, when you have success with one artist, that gives you a chance to talk about your other artists. When you’ve got that influential person sitting in front of you and you’re talking about Colt—they inevitably say, “What else do you have coming down the pipe?” That gives you a great opportunity, and it’s not to take away from Colt. The great thing for Colt is that he’s a partner within the label —a lot of people don’t know that. So, if the label as a whole grows and acts sell records and grow their business—it’s still good for him. That’s a great place to be.
Weekly Chart Report (6/19/15)
/by Troy_StephensonClick here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report
LifeNotes: Nashville Edition Founder Delores Dinning
/by Robert K OermannDelores Dinning Edgin
Prolific Music City session singer Delores Dinning Edgin passed away on Wednesday, June 17 at age 86.
As a founding member of the backup vocal group The Nashville Edition, she sang on thousands of country recordings of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was also the “house” harmonizers with the staff band on TV’s Hee Haw for 25 years.
She was one of nine children born into a musical farm family who worked in Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma in the 1920s and 1930s. Older sister Marvis became a singer with the Freddy Owen Orchestra. In 1939, the Dinnings moved to Chicago to further the ambitions of her other siblings.
Sisters Lucille (Lou) Dinning and twins Eugenia (Jean) and Virginia (Ginger) formed The Dinning Sisters and became members of the cast of the National Barn Dance on Chicago’s WLS radio station in 1941. They began making hit records for Capitol in 1945. Lou quit the act in 1945, and teenager Delores began filling in as a Dinning Sister in 1949.
She moved to Nashville and became a hugely successful studio singer. She also filled in as one of the LaDell Sisters on the Grand Ole Opry in the 1950s. Little brother Mark Dinning became another family success when he had the giant pop hit “Teen Angel” (written by sister Jean Dinning) in 1960.
Delores Dinning Edgin’s work in The Nashville Edition kept her constantly busy for approximately 30 years in Nashville studios. In 1980, she helped to form the Music City Christian Fellowship. This is the organization that stages the gospel service/show at the close of the annual Fan Fair / CMA Music Festival celebrations. She resided in Springfield, Tenn.
Delores is preceded in death by her parents and all eight of her siblings. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Bill Edgin, as well as by daughter Lea Ann Gallardo, son Tracy Edgin and grandson Michael Edgin.
Visitation will take place at Anderson & Garrett Funeral Home in Joelton on Saturday, June 20, from 10 a.m. until the funeral service at 3 p.m. Interment will follow at Orlinda Cemetery.
Industry Signings: Tanya Tucker, Shane Hines, Kristen Kelly
/by Kelsey_GradyTanya Tucker Signs With CTK Management
Tanya Tucker has signed with Danny Nozell’s CTK Management, which will oversee all business aspects of her career. Webster Public Relations will oversee publicity efforts and Agency for the Performing Arts (APA) will handle all concert booking and speaking engagements.
Tucker said, ”I am a bit nervous, yet have that fire in my gut, to get back out on the road and do shows, while at the same time start thinking of making a new album. I have never been with a management company outside of my dad, Beau Tucker, who managed my career up until he passed away. So when I decided to find a manager I went with one of the most respectable management firms in the industry. So now, I am excited to see what Danny and his team have planned for me going forward.”
Nozell also manages Dolly Parton.
Pictured (L-R): APA’s Steve Lassiter, Webster PR’s Kirt Webster, Tanya Tucker, and CTK’s Danny Nozell
Nettwerk One Music and Beautiful Day Entertainment Sign Shane Hines
Nettwerk One Music and Beautiful Day Entertainment has signed artist and songwriter Shane Hines to its expanding roster, which includes Jessie Jo Dillon, Neil Mason (The Cadillac Three), Mike Fiorentino, Kyle Cook, Austin Jenckes, Tammi Kidd Hutton and others.
Nettwerk’s AJ Burton says, “Shane is an extraordinary songwriter and talented musician. We look forward to working together!”
Shane adds, “I’m pumped to be working with AJ and to be a part of the Nettwerk family. Can’t wait to get started!”
Pictured (L-R): Michele Samuel (Beautiful Day Ent.), Shane Hines, AJ Burton (Nettwerk)
Kristen Kelly Signs With C2 Media Relations
Rough Hollow Entertainment artist Kristen Kelly has signed with C2 Media Relations for PR representation. The Texas bred singer/songwriter has just released her sophomore EP Fire and is currently one of CMT’s Next Women of Country.
“We have been following Kristen’s career for the past few years and had the chance to see her play a few months ago at Whiskey Jam.” said C2 Media Relations co-owner, Chelsea Dartez. “She blew us away with her raw talent, passion, and captivating story, and are thrilled to now be a part of her amazing team.”
Kristen Kelly
‘Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical’ Names Cast For September Premiere In Dallas
/by Sarah SkatesThe musical features a score by multi-award winning artists Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.
The world premiere cast will feature Justin Guarini, Rose Hemingway, Ken Clark, Ryah Nixon, Rob Morrison, Kevin Cahoon, and PJ Benjamin, with an ensemble that includes Mackenzie Bell, John Campione, Travis Coombs, Leslie Flesner, Julie Johnson, Kate McMillian, Harris Milgrim, and Adam Perry.
With a book by Robert Horn, direction by Gary Griffin and choreography by Denis Jones, the creative team also includes Tony Award-winner John Lee Beatty (set design), Mara Blumenfeld (costume design), Philip Rosenberg (lighting design), Tony Award-winner John Shivers (sound design), Tara Rubin (casting), with musical supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Stephen Oremus. Nina Lannan serves as Executive Producer.
Tickets go on sale June 22. Ticket prices start at $18 and are available online at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org or by phone at (214) 880-0202.
Hilarious and downright irreverent, Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical distills the spirit of an iconic television series and bottles it into an original musical comedy. Set in present day Kornfield Kounty, this highly anticipated show introduces a new generation of irresistible characters as it tells the story of Misty Mae, the ultimate hometown girl, who heads out to follow her dreams in the big city of… Tampa. When she returns home to introduce her slick city-boy beau to her friends and family, everything goes haywire!
Country Music Hall Of Fame Exhibits Honor Trisha Yearwood, Sam Phillips
/by Lorie HollabaughTrisha Yearwood Exhibit Opens July 3
The girl who used to give tours at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will now have her own exhibit there, when Trisha Yearwood: The Song Remembers When, opens July 3. The new exhibit will chronicle Yearwood’s upbringing and career from her early days as a Belmont student, tour guide at the Hall of Fame, and receptionist at a record label to her hit-making years as an award-winning recording artist and beyond.
Among the items that will be featured in the new exhibit are her Grammys, ACM, and CMA Awards, her high school yearbook, a letter from Johnny Cash praising her talent and encouraging her, a receipt from her first demo in 1983, and the wedding gown she wore to wed Garth Brooks in 2005.
“It’s such a thrill to see my life and career milestones displayed in an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, from the first guitar I ever played to the dress I wore to the Grammys on the night I won Best Female Country Vocal Performance for ‘How Do I Live.’ I’m so happy to be able to share these memories with my country music family,” said Yearwood. “This special exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is truly an honor.”
Special events held in conjunction with the exhibit include a July 11 Songwriter Session with Gary Harrison, who penned several hits for Yearwood including “Everybody Knows,” and a July 12 screening of two short films, A Portrait of Trisha Yearwood, which illustrates the singer’s rise to stardom during the early 1990s, and Full Access: On Tour with Trisha Yearwood, featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Yearwood on tour. Additional programming will include a Songwriter Session with Kim Richey, who wrote several songs for Yearwood, including the No. 1 hit “Believe Me Baby (I Lied)” on Sept. 5. On Oct. 10, veteran producer Garth Fundis, who produced Yearwood’s record-breaking debut album in 1991, will be featured in the Music Masters series, a multimedia interview program in the museum’s Ford Theater.
Sam Phillips Exhibit Opens Aug. 28
The exhibit is co-curated by Elvis Presley biographer Peter Guralnick, author of the upcoming biography Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock and Roll.
“Country Music Hall of Fame member Sam Phillips not only was instrumental in the careers of fellow Hall of Famers Johnny Cash, Cowboy Jack Clement, and Elvis Presley,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “He broke the music worldwide open with records that changed the way America, and later the world, thought about popular music. We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on Phillips’s incredible career and on the continued impact his work has across musical genres.”
The exhibit will be accompanied by a companion catalog that will include dozens of archival photos and color images of many of the artifacts in the exhibit. The book will be available in the museum store and online at countrymusichalloffame.org.
NMPA Annual Meeting: New Board Elected, Bob Corker Honored
/by Sarah Skates(L-R): David Israelite, Billy Joel and LeAnn Rimes
David Israelite (L) honors Bob Corker
The National Music Publishers’ Association held its annual meeting in New York City at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square yesterday (June 17). During the event, several awards were presented and NMPA President and CEO David Israelite gave his State of the Industry Address.
John LoFrumento was awarded the NMPA Industry Legacy Award. Ralph Peer II was honored with the NMPA Lifetime Service Award. Billy Joel received NMPA’s Songwriter Icon Award, and LeAnn Rimes saluted him with a performance of his songs “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)” and “She’s Got a Way.” U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) was honored for his leadership on behalf of music publishers and songwriters.
In addition to awards and performances, the NMPA Board of Directors election results were revealed, with new members including Justin Kalifowitz, CEO of Downtown Music Publishing; Golnar Khosrowshahi, President of Resevoir Media Management and Jody Klein, CEO of ABKCO Music & Records. They join board members already serving, including Nashvillians Bob Doyle and Barry Coburn.
LeAnn Rimes salutes Billy Joel.
NMPA also announced the creation of the NMPA SONGS Foundation (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters), which will kick off this fall with a fundraising golf tournament near Washington, D.C. The Foundation seeks to support aspiring creators with grants to continue their work and support music education. The NMPA SONGS Foundation will be chaired by Israelite, with charter Board members including songwriters Cara DioGuardi, Jewel and Nashvillian Lee Thomas Miller.
Also, the NMPA launched a revamped website at www.nmpa.org.
Indie Labels Aren’t Keen on Apple Music
/by Sarah SkatesBeggars Group yesterday (June 17) released a statement outlining its problems with the upcoming streaming service.
Apple is set to launch with a three-month trial period for users, during which it will not be paying rights holders. This could be particularly detrimental to earning money from new music released during the trial period. The major labels have agreed to this condition, but many indies have not.
In its statement Beggars Group says it sees no reason it “should bear this aspect of Apple’s customer acquisition costs.”
Apple Music will offer $10-a-month subscription streaming.
More from the New York Times.
LifeNotes: King of the Party Pat Patrick Passes
/by Robert K OermannPat Patrick. Photo: Pat Patrick Facebook
Pat Patrick left his mark on the music business as a studio owner, record producer, jingle writer, song publisher, recording artist and, most famously, as the leader of Nashville’s top party band.
Patrick passed away on Tuesday, June 16. The music he made in The Pat Patrick Band formed the soundtrack for thousands of society functions, weddings, collegiate events and private parties. His various groups bearing his name could entertain doing pop oldies, r&b “beach music,” rock ’n’ roll or big-band swing. Many of the finest session musicians of Music Row performed in his ensembles over the years.
Born Richard Corry Patrick III, he was a Nashville native who graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy in 1965. He formed his first band, Saturns Combo, when he was a teenager and was soon playing gigs at Hillwood Country Club, Belle Meade Country Club, high-school dances and fraternity parties. Around 1968, the group changed its name to The Fabulous Beech Nut Show Band. Next, it was known as The Kracker Jacks Show Band.
Meanwhile, Pat Patrick became more and more involved in the business of Music Row. At first, he worked for the independent label Certron Records. He then became the creative director of the recording studio Audio Media. In addition to attracting the top artists in Nashville as clients, the facility became the home of his commercial jingles business.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Patrick produced more than 5,000 jingles for such companies as Holiday Inn, GMC, Chevrolet, Disneyland, Goodyear, Tidy Cat, K-mart and Buick, as well as many local businesses. Several of these earned Addy Awards.
He formed a close relationship with the Disney company. This led to producing and performing on a series of children’s albums, including Mousercize, Rock Around the Mouse and Mickey Mouse Disco. These records have earned him more than 30 million-seller awards.
Audio Media became Cal IV Music. Patrick purchased the Ray Stevens studio on Grand Avenue and renamed it Grand Central Studios in 1983. Here, he began producing such Christian-music stars as First Call, Steve Green, Bruce Carroll and Amy Grant.
He next co-founded the publishing company the Grand Music Group. Among the company’s copyrights were “High Cotton” (Alabama), “1982” (Randy Travis), “What’s Going on in Your World” (George Strait) and “Out of Your Shoes” (Lorrie Morgan).
In recent years, the entrepreneur has been the creative director of Pearl Trax Studios, Patilison Tunes and Pat Patrick Music.
He is survived by Dr. Elizabeth Cato and daughters Mary and Ellie. Visitation will be today, Thursday June 18, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. at Woodlawn Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. His memorial service is Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church with visitation an hour prior at the church.
Honorary pallbearers will include SAE fraternity brothers, The Pat Patrick Band and the MBA Class of 1965. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Kathleen Patrick Hughes Endowed Scholarship of Education at the University of Alabama, Box 870231, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487-0231.