Meghan Linsey Advances on The Voice
Meghan Linsey. Photo: The Voice
Nashville singer Meghan Linsey is among the contestants to advance to the Top 5 on NBC’s The Voice, bolstered by her performances this week of James Taylor’s “Steamroller Blues” and the gospel classic “Amazing Grace.”
Linsey, who is Team Blake (Shelton)’s sole contestant at this point in the competition, earned a spot in the Top 5 alongside Sawyer Fredericks, Koryn Hawthorne, Joshua Davis, and India Carney.
Greg Bates Marries
“Did It For The Girl” singer-songwriter Greg Bates married fellow singer-songwriter Shelley Skidmore on May 2, 2015, among close family and friends. After a Valentine’s Day 2014 engagement, the couple chose to wed in the bride’s hometown of Stanton, Ky.
Photo: Robert Vicks Photography
RaeLynn’s 21st Birthday Bash
RaeLynn knows how to throw a party. The singer-songwriter celebrated her 21st birthday on Monday evening (May 4) with a party at John Rich’s home in Nashville. Guests included Miranda Lambert, The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston, Big Kenny, Chris Lane, and A Thousand Horses’ Michael Hobby. Frequent songwriting collaborators Laura Veltz, Nicolle Gaylon and Jimmy Robbins as well as producer Joey Moi were on hand to toast the occasion.
RaeLynn will hit the road with Rascal Flatts’ Riot Tour 2015 later this month before joining Lambert once again for the Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour this fall.
Photo Credit: Susannah Barber
Photo Credit: Susannah Barber
Skaggs, White, Cooder To Launch National Tour
Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White, and guitarist Ry Cooder have teamed for a national tour, which will launch in Salt Lake City this June. The Cooder-White-Skaggs Tour will include visits to Denver, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City, and more.
“Getting to work with Ry Cooder has been a dream of mine for a long time. He is a world-class musician,” notes Skaggs. “We met at a GRAMMY Awards show many years ago and thought it would be a blast to do something together sometime, and now we’re getting to create new sounds around old music. But the best part is getting to share the stage every night with my wife and sweetheart Sharon White. My heart is full!”
For more, visit rickyskaggs.com.
Photo: Erick Anderson / eafoto
Weekly Register: Strong Debuts From ZBB, Tyler Farr
/by Sarah SkatesCountry had a great showing this week. Zac Brown Band’s latest, Jekyll + Hyde, debuts at No. 1 overall, with 228K total activity, 214K album only. The superstar act scored one of the biggest country debuts in recent memory, along with October 2014 releases by Florida Georgia Line (197K) and Jason Aldean (278K).
Meanwhile Tyler Farr’s sophomore effort had a strong debut, entering at No. 2 country with Suffer In Peace moving 42K (36K album only). With today’s chart position, Farr is the only solo male country artist in the last 10 years to have his first two studio albums debut in the top 5 on the Billboard 200 Chart.
Both Farr and ZBB had hit singles going into release week, with “Homegrown” and “A Guy Walks Into A Bar,” respectively.
Rounding out the top 5 on the country album chart are No. 3 Reba (15K), No. 4 Sam Hunt (15K) and No. 5 Little Big Town (8.2K).
The foursome also holds the top country track position, with “Girl Crush” selling 81K TW. By comparison, the top overall track, Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” sold 285K.
The Voice’s Corey Kent White had the top country track debut with “When I See You Smile” selling 15K and coming in at No. 16. Fellow contestant Sawyer Fredericks had the top overall debut with “Simple Man” selling 59K.
Top 5 Country Tracks this week
LBT “Girl Crush” 81K
Blake Shelton “Sangria” 58K
Sam Hunt “Take Your Time” 45K
FGL “Sippin’ on Fire” 30K
Eric Church “Like A Wrecking Ball” 29.5K
YTD Tracks
Overall -10.6%
Country -16.6%
YTD Albums
Overall -2.6%
Country -7.5%
According to Nielsen Soundscan.
Artist News: Meghan Linsey, Greg Bates, RaeLynn, Ricky Skaggs
/by Jessica NicholsonMeghan Linsey Advances on The Voice
Meghan Linsey. Photo: The Voice
Nashville singer Meghan Linsey is among the contestants to advance to the Top 5 on NBC’s The Voice, bolstered by her performances this week of James Taylor’s “Steamroller Blues” and the gospel classic “Amazing Grace.”
Linsey, who is Team Blake (Shelton)’s sole contestant at this point in the competition, earned a spot in the Top 5 alongside Sawyer Fredericks, Koryn Hawthorne, Joshua Davis, and India Carney.
Greg Bates Marries
“Did It For The Girl” singer-songwriter Greg Bates married fellow singer-songwriter Shelley Skidmore on May 2, 2015, among close family and friends. After a Valentine’s Day 2014 engagement, the couple chose to wed in the bride’s hometown of Stanton, Ky.
Photo: Robert Vicks Photography
RaeLynn’s 21st Birthday Bash
RaeLynn knows how to throw a party. The singer-songwriter celebrated her 21st birthday on Monday evening (May 4) with a party at John Rich’s home in Nashville. Guests included Miranda Lambert, The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston, Big Kenny, Chris Lane, and A Thousand Horses’ Michael Hobby. Frequent songwriting collaborators Laura Veltz, Nicolle Gaylon and Jimmy Robbins as well as producer Joey Moi were on hand to toast the occasion.
RaeLynn will hit the road with Rascal Flatts’ Riot Tour 2015 later this month before joining Lambert once again for the Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour this fall.
Photo Credit: Susannah Barber
Photo Credit: Susannah Barber
Skaggs, White, Cooder To Launch National Tour
Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White, and guitarist Ry Cooder have teamed for a national tour, which will launch in Salt Lake City this June. The Cooder-White-Skaggs Tour will include visits to Denver, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City, and more.
“Getting to work with Ry Cooder has been a dream of mine for a long time. He is a world-class musician,” notes Skaggs. “We met at a GRAMMY Awards show many years ago and thought it would be a blast to do something together sometime, and now we’re getting to create new sounds around old music. But the best part is getting to share the stage every night with my wife and sweetheart Sharon White. My heart is full!”
For more, visit rickyskaggs.com.
Photo: Erick Anderson / eafoto
Martina McBride Collaborates With Top Writers For Nash Icon Album
/by Jessica NicholsonPhoto: Big Machine Label Group
Martina McBride recently welcomed several of Music City’s top song crafters for an intimate afternoon at Big Machine Label Group’s offices, as the powerhouse vocalist preps her first project on Nash Icon Records. McBride discussed her vision and hopes for the upcoming project, which will be produced by Nathan Chapman.
With what will be her 13th album, McBride aims to add to her arsenal of hit songs, which have included “Independence Day,” “A Broken Wing,” “Blessed,” and numerous others.
Next week, she will be honored with The Music Business Association’s prestigious 2015 Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award before heading back out on her Everlasting Tour, which continues throughout the fall.
Comcast Bringing Gigabit Service to Nashville
/by Jessica NicholsonThe service was also announced for Atlanta; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Florida and California.
“We are clearly in a space where customers are pushing the boundaries of what the Internet can do,” said Doug Guthrie, Comcast regional senior vice president. “Nashville being named No. 5 city for startups in the country, these are the types of cities we want to be in first.”
The service will be offered to residents within a one-third mile of Comcast’s fiber network, or an estimated 500,000 homes. Pricing for the service and installation has not been revealed.
It was announced in January 2015 that Google plans to bring Google Fiber to the Nashville market. The move is said to offer faster internet connection and television service—up to 100 times faster than traditional broadband. The Google Fiber service is free after an up-front $300 installation, or $25/month for 12 months. Google Fiber for Nashville is currently in the design stages.
AT&T revealed its Gigapower plans for Nashville in July 2014. Though the coming GigaPower will only apply to Nashville, AT&T said at the time that it is considering five surrounding areas for service, including Clarksville, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna and Spring Hill.
Jack White To Be Presented An Innovator Award At Music Biz 2015
/by Troy_StephensonJack White
The Music Business Association will present Jack White the inaugural Innovator Award during the Music Biz 2015 Business Session on May 13 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown. He will be recognized for his achievement with his latest album Lazaretto and the vinyl Ultra LP.
Lazaretto debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart and holds the record for the most first-week sales for a vinyl album, with over 40,000 albums sold in the U.S. The Lazaretto vinyl Ultra LP was also the biggest selling vinyl album of 2014 and any year of the SoundScan era with 86,707 copies sold in the U.S.
“We are so pleased to recognize Jack White’s groundbreaking success with Lazaretto,” said Music Biz President James Donio. “From the floating holograms, to the varied intros, to the surprising needle drops, to the locked groove, to the hidden content, to the multiple playing speeds, he has unquestionably brought new musical life to the world of vinyl.”
Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean Tours Collide For Opening Night
/by Jessica NicholsonKenny Chesney and Jason Aldean launched the first night of their stadium-sized string of a dozen summer tour dates on Saturday, May 2 at San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium, as Chesney’s The Big Revival 2015 Tour collided with Aldean’s Burn It Down Tour.
For hour after hour, Chesney and Aldean sailed through their respective sets of country hits. Fans welcomed the return of Aldean for an extended encore that included “Hurt So Good” and “The Only Way I Know.”
“I know it’s gonna be rockin’ any time we come to the Bay area,” said Chesney, who announced the 49ers’ fourth round NFL draft earlier in the day. “Maybe it’s the year away, maybe it was the full moon… But the crowd at Levi’s Stadium was one of the best crowds we’ve played to ever. They brought it hard, pushed us in the best way—and really took me and the band up with their singing, their cheering, their energy.”
Upcoming combined show stops include Dallas (May 16), Green Bay, Wis. (June 20), Seattle (June 27), Minneapolis (July 18), Pasadena, Calif. (July 25), Kansas City, Mo. (Aug. 1), Denver (Aug. 8), E. Rutherford, N.J. (Aug. 15), and Boston (Aug. 28).
During a recent No. 1 party in Nashville, Chesney announced that when he hasn’t been prepping his tour or on the road, he’s been in the studio collaborating on an album for David Lee Murphy. Murphy was one of Chesney’s many musical guests recently during his two-night run at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Kenny Chesney welcomes David Lee Murphy to his show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell To Release Second Duet Album
/by Jessica NicholsonThe Traveling Kind, produced by Joe Henry, consists of 11 duet tracks, including six new songs penned by Harris and Crowell, with co-writers Mary Karr, Cory Chisel, Will Jennings, and Larry Klein. The project also includes new renditions of Crowell’s “No Memories Hanging Around” and Lucinda Williams’ “I Just Wanted To See You So Bad,” and Amy Allison’s “Her Hair Was Red.”
Crowell and Harris will perform a series of shows this month in San Francisco, Nashville, Napa, Chicago, and New York, before making the trek to Australia and Europe this summer.
Stoney Creek Records Adds Director of Regional Promotion/West Coast
/by Jessica NicholsonMatt Vieira
BBR Music Group has added Matt Vieira as its new Director of Regional Promotion/West Coast for Stoney Creek Records.
A 17-year veteran of KNCI-FM in Sacramento, Vieira has held the position of Music Director at the Top 30 ranked market station for the past five years. Vieira also served as Promotion Director for both KNCI, as well as Sports 1140 KHTK.
“I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life and to join the Stoney Creek and BBR Music Group family,” says Vieira. “It will be amazing to get out and meet all my new friends in the West and share my passion for music with everyone!”
“Country Radio will love Matt! He has always been a champion for the music while in radio,” says Stoney Creek VP of Promotion Chris Loss. “We can’t wait for him to unleash his passion with Stoney Creek Records and BBR Music Group.”
Vieira’s first official day with Stoney Creek Records will be Wednesday, May 20. He can be reached at MattVieira22@gmail.com and at 530-701-2210.
Bret Michaels Releases Country Material, Debuts on CMT
/by Eric T. ParkerBret Michaels
Bret Michaels made his country debut with a new album titled True Grit, released today (May 5) at digital retailers.
The album features 21 new and classic Michaels hits, including a remake of his Poison hit, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” featuring country legend Loretta Lynn.
A new video for the album’s single “Girls on Bars” debuted exclusively on CMT and CMT Pure.
Michaels co-wrote the party song with Luke Laird.
Duo Makenna & Brock Ink Deal With Clif Doyal Agency
/by Troy_StephensonPictured (L-R): Orville Almon, Almon & McPike, PLLC; Makenna Sullinger; Brock Wade; Clif Doyal
The Clif Doyal Agency of Nashville has signed Country duo Makenna & Brock to an exclusive artist development deal that will include personal management, publicity, booking and A&R.
The duo is made of Makenna Sullinger and Brock Wade. The pair began working together in 2007 and were featured on the television competition show The X-Factor in 2011.
“Makenna & Brock have that intangible ‘it’ factor that artists either have, or they don’t,” Doyal says. “Their enthusiasm, dedication, and work ethic are very impressive. They are both great singers in their own right, but many have commented that their harmonies are so close that they sound like siblings, which they are not. That is a rare and magical quality. I see a very bright future ahead for them and I am honored to represent them.”
The duo’s debut single is expected to be released this summer.