Frank Liddell
•••
Frank Liddell has staked his claimed as one of Nashville’s most respected artist advocates and trusted creative partners. The 2014
MusicRow Producer of the Year has a growing trophy collection which includes winning CMA Album of the Year twice, and ACM Album of the Year three times, as well as wins for ACM Producer and Single of the Year—all largely due to his work with
Miranda Lambert. But Frank’s less interested in talking about trophies and more interested in talking about music, artists, songwriters, and musicians—proof of the dogged focus that paved his path to success.
Along with serial collaborators
Chuck Ainlay and
Glenn Worf, Frank also co-produced
David Nail’s well-received third album
I’m a Fire, released in March, and his wife
Lee Ann Womack’s anticipated masterpiece
The Way I’m Livin’, released in September.
In the early ’90s, Frank moved from Houston to Nashville, where his first two career stops were Bluewater Music and Decca. He pitched songs, scouted talent, and helped creatively direct careers. At Decca, he also began producing.
Then came his own Carnival Music, an embodiment of his fully formed music-first philosophy. Frank launched the company’s publishing arm in 1997 with partner
Travis Hill. Today Carnival has 14 staff writers:
Adam Wright, Aubrie Sellers, Brent Cobb, Dani Flowers, David Nail, Derik Hultquist, Hailey Whitters, Logan Brill, Mando Saenz, Scooter Carusoe, Stephanie Lambring, Stoney LaRue, Troy Jones, and
Gretchen Peters. Since its inception, Carnival has published the first No. 1 singles of eight songwriters’ careers, and diligently shepherded songs as they circulated for a decade or more waiting for the perfect performer and perfect time. Carnival Recording Co., the record label division, is currently developing Cobb, Brill, Hultquist and Saenz. The dedicated staff—
Brittany Hamlin, Courtney Gregg, Matthew Miller, Emily Schiraldi, and consultant
Dale Dodson—are like members of Frank’s extended family.
Frank is an ACM board member, CMA member, and serves on the board of The Recording Academy, where he is part of the Advocacy Committee and the Producers & Engineers (P&E) Wing.
The Producer’s Chair: How did you and Miranda meet?
Frank Liddell: She heard a record I’d produced on
Jack Ingram called
Electric. She bought it, listened to it, and hated it. Then she listened to it again, and it inevitably grew on her. She looked at who produced it and said, “That guy’s making my record.” She never wavered—even when I tried to talk her out of it. Before she had anything going, she had decided that she wanted me to produce her record. She was in Texas at the time. She talked a little bit about her career goals, but for the most part all we ever talked about was music. And that was all she ever wanted—that was the most important thing. Like, “Let’s just come make a badass record.”
Miranda has won the CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year five times—more than any other artist. Now that she has conquered Country music, does she have movies or TV in mind?
I stay out of that. The most important thing to her is to be an artist. Not an entertainer or a celebrity. Everything stems from her artistry, not from the entertainment factor. And she’s Country. We’ve never remixed or done a radio mix for her to crossover into pop music. She’s comfortable with the success she’s having as a Country artist. She touches a lot of lives and a lot of people. She has a lot of respect across a lot of genres.
Has Miranda changed over the years and if so, have those changes affected your job as her producer?
She’s exactly same. When making her records, we’ve always tried to take a picture of who she is at that time, with each record. She’s not an 18-year-old girl anymore. She’s a 30-year-old woman. So, that’s the difference in the picture. It’s not that we changed the lens. She’s always had great instincts—spot on—and that’s hard to find. She doesn’t weigh opportunities. She just tries to take the best song, and when you’re working on arrangements it’s either right or wrong. For this record, my gut was, “Let’s not change a thing from the last record.” These musicians have been with her ten or twelve years. It’s the same band on every record, which I dig, because instead of changing a sound, the change was from within—adopting her own. I feel in a weird way like everybody, including Miranda and the musicians, felt the pressure this time. It was a blast, but it was really intense. [Every record has been critically acclaimed and hard to follow.] And every time, we would just talk. I’d say—and I got this from
Richard Bennett—“You just get the right songs and you treat every song with the respect that it individually deserves, and everything will turn out OK.” So, we’ve taken that approach from the beginning.
Do you still work with artists and writers in Texas?
I still do that a little bit, and I always will because I’m a big fan.
Stoney LaRue is a perfect example. His music really inspires me. It’s not flavor of the month. And it’s going to be hard, but if he can stick with it, sooner or later something good will come his way. When you’ve finished a record, it’s hard to say whether you got it right or wrong, or you would have changed this or that. And with Stoney, we got it right. Moving forward, it’s going to take some holing up and some belief in what we do, because there’s not any compromise in that record. Stoney LaRue just needs to build his fan base.
In our last interview, four years ago, you said, “I feel like there’s a bigger gulf than ever between the creative and the business side.” Do you still feel that way?
Here we are today, and it’s probably bigger. I’m just hard-wired differently. I love this town. I love what people do. My goal for our future is for me to do what we’re about, not to follow or chase [trends]. It’s not always easy. Miranda’s a perfect example. Her career was born out of her music. I still think that there’s a lot of music in this town that, to me, the marketing plan exists and the music is just sort of dropped in it.
The great thing is it’s still the songwriter capitol of the world. There are great songwriters here, old and young, and it’s the musician capitol of the world. And as long as it’s an artistic center where artists have the opportunity to make new art and for that art to grow—I hope that opportunities increase for some people. It used to be that you could have a great artist that had a brilliant career and they wouldn’t even go Gold but could make a lot of money touring, earn a lot of respect and have a great career. Now, everything’s gone. So, people aren’t really giving anyone a shot unless they think it can go Platinum. I would hope in the coming years as perhaps the copyright is monetized better, that we would be able to open up some doors to some more younger artists, more thoughts, more opinions, more creative ideas. I’ve been here a long time. I’ve seen the artists that labels got in bidding wars over—they were going to be the hot new thing. I’ve seen them disappear. So, basically I was standing here four years ago, and I thought the same thing I think now.
Four years ago you joined the Grammy P&E Wing. What are some of their biggest concerns?
There are a lot of things we talk about on the P&E Wing. We discuss a lot of the future of monetizing music: defending and sticking up for the producer and engineer, protecting and making our contracts better, and strengthening the business side of things for us. There’s also the sound quality and the protection of the copyright—protection of your sound and original ideas. I sometimes walk into the studio and say, “We’re going to make a record.” And it’s pretty simple. But you go into the meetings and you realize how intense the situation is. From the future of recording records, to what they’re stored on, to how they are archived, to what they’re going to sound like in years—and to making sure that as a producer I’m protected and somebody can’t just come out and remix something. There are a ton of concerns.
In another interview you said, “There are a lot of great writers out there whose work is being overlooked because they don’t know how to play the game.” What game?
I’ve always thought that. It’s now a business game. Years ago, the art of this business was getting two great writers together, or for one great writer to write a great song. Now, everything is like, “Let’s stick this writer with this writer and the artist.” So, a lot of publishing these days is managing calendars and trying to get your writer with artists. It’s less about, “Hey, I want to go get a great song for people to fight over,” like “The Dance” or “I Hope You Dance.” It’s become more political. I know very few people out there who aren’t writing most of their songs with other people. There’s a business objective behind it and not necessarily the objective of making the best music.
Can independent writers play the game or do they really need a publisher to play the game?
I think for the most part independent writers struggle, and they always have. I know a few who are doing OK now. They have help. I’ve always felt like publishers earn every dime they make for the most part. You know the old saying about the attorney who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.
How should they play the game?
I don’t know. I look at where Carnival is right now and where we need to go, and, to me, I just want to get better at what we do. I don’t necessarily want to play the game. I don’t hate the game. I have friends in the game, and I respect the hell out of them, but I came here because I love music. The longer I’m here the more I just want to make sure that every bit of music I’m surrounded with is music that I love and I would have loved in my gut when I got here. So, to me, it’s how do we design our own game to succeed with that philosophy? It’s not easy.
Someone was telling me we have a song on a new record and it’s the only song on there that had only two writers. I found that interesting. We also have a song on the Garth Brooks record. It’s 100 percent. Adam Wright wrote it by himself. That takes the place of three cuts. You write a great song by yourself and somebody acknowledges it. Good things happen.
What are your thoughts on signing writers?
At Carnival the first two writers we signed were
Bruce Robison and
Luke Reed. Bruce had a few people sniffing around but he had never lived here and no one would give him a shot. And Luke was already an established writer and had some cuts. Never on a huge level, but he was a good guy for sure.
Today I’m still hoping that age and gender have absolutely nothing to do with it. If I were a writer and I went and listened to Gretchen Peters speak at her Songwriter Hall of Fame induction, I’d think, “Buddy, I better step it up.” She’s a genius. If somebody walks in my door who’s 22 years old and has the promise of being able to do what Gretchen does, I’m going to be excited. I’m not going to be excited about working with an established writer who has made it and who is dabbling in it now. Gretchen is touring a lot and making records. We represent her and help her collect her money. But when she plays a song it will kill you. She’s damn Gretchen Peters, and she sets a mark in this building.
If this stuff never matters again—well then, it’s over for me. And if that’s the case then I’ll go home. But if it still matters then I don’t see how Gretchen is not relevant. Take the song “All Kinds of Kinds,” which is ours that Miranda cut, written by Phillip Coleman and Don Henry. It was at least 15 years old. My goal is to be able to work with music that is as good as or better than music that inspired me growing up. That’s a tall but simple task. And to help our writers make a great living makes it even better.
How has 2014 been for Carnival, compared to 2013?
Carnival has always existed on one hit a year. We’ve gotten lucky and had two before. We’ve gone six or eight months without anything on the charts, which is not unusual for Carnival. The problem is [sinking album sales]. Fifteen years ago we had a No. 1 song with The Dixie Chicks and the album sold 10 million records. Today, the $900,000 you’d make roughly off of that copyright would probably exceed the performance money. So there was never a problem that a handful of good cuts weren’t going to take care of. We’ve got a bunch of album cuts right now but they don’t sell anymore. If those things can be fixed we’ll be fine—if we can get compensated for the things we’re doing. But I don’t think [consumers] are ever going to buy disposable music. I know what we’re good at and we have to get better at it. If you have a boutique store on the same block as Walmart, you better have something they don’t have or you’re going to get killed.
Tell me about your musical family: Aubrie Sellers and Anna Lise Liddell.
Aubrie is in her early 20s and we’ve been working with her in the studio finishing things up. She has both a mother and a father from whom she can draw a wealth of experience in the artist world, and a stepfather who has been a publisher and A&R guy and a producer. She’s covered! She’s in Texas right now playing some shows and my wife is leaving tomorrow night to go on the road in the Northeast. Anna, who is 15, is going to go and play guitar with her.
LifeNotes: Bob Montgomery
/by Robert K OermannBob Montgomery in 1988. Photo: Alan Mayor
MUSIC-INDUSTRY GREAT BOB MONTGOMERY PASSES
By Robert K. Oermann
Bob Montgomery, one of the key figures in Nashville’s evolution into Music City USA, has died at age 77.
During his six-decade career, he made major contributions as a songwriter, record producer, music publisher and label executive. Bob Montgomery’s song catalog includes such standards as “Misty Blue” and “Love’s Made a Fool of You.” He produced records that boosted the careers of Vern Gosdin, Janie Fricke, Bobby Goldsboro and Joe Diffie. He published such iconic songs as “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Wind Beneath My Wings.” He created hit-making rosters for the record labels United Artists, Epic and Columbia.
Born in West Texas in 1937, he first made his mark as the 1949-1955 duet partner of future Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame member Buddy Holly. “Buddy & Bob” became local radio stars in Lubbock, TX and opened the concert there by Elvis Presley. Montgomery subsequently wrote or co-wrote such 1950s Holly evergreens as “Heartbeat,” “Love’s Made a Fool of You” and “Wishing.”
He became a recording engineer in the Clovis, NM studio of producer Norman Petty, working with such artists as Holly, The Crickets, Waylon Jennings, Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs, Buddy Knox and Roy Orbison. Montgomery also played rhythm guitar on recordings at the facility.
He moved to Nashville in late 1959 and became a staff songwriter for Acuff-Rose Publishing. His early successes there included Sue Thompson’s 1962 pop hit “Two of a Kind,” as well as songs for The Everly Brothers, Jim Reeves and Bob Luman.
Montgomery formed Talmont Music as his own publishing company in 1963. Among the company’s key copyrights was Montgomery’s “Back in Baby’s Arms.” It was originally sung by Patsy Cline and later revived by Connie Smith, Sissy Spacek, Emmylou Harris and many others. He also struck gold with “Misty Blue.” This Montgomery song has been a hit for Wilma Burgess (1966), Eddy Arnold (1967), Joe Simon (1972), Dorothy Moore (1976) and Billie Jo Spears (1976) and has been recorded by hundreds more.
Montgomery sold Talmont in 1967 and next became the head of the United Artists Records country division. He hit his stride as a record producer by guiding hits for the label’s Del Reeves (1969’s “Good Time Charlie’s”), Johnny Darrell (1968’s “With Pen in Hand”) and Buddy Knox (1968’s “Gypsy Man”), among others. His most notable UA client was Bobby Goldsboro, for whom Montgomery produced the massive 1968 pop and country smash “Honey,” as well as “Watching Scotty Grow,” “The Straight Life,” “Summer (The First Time)” and Goldsboro’s other hits of that era.
Pictured (L-R): Vern Gosdin and Bob Montgomery in 1989. Photo: Alan Mayor
In late 1969, Montgomery and Goldsboro formed the publishing company House of Gold. Within five years, it was one of the top song firms on Music Row. Staff writers included future Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame members Kenny O’Dell and Larry Henley, plus Steve Pippin, Danny Morrison, Sam Lorber, Bobby Springfield and Van Stephenson.
In addition to “Behind Closed Doors” (Charlie Rich) and “The Wind Beneath My Wings” (Gary Morris, Bette Midler), the company’s hits included John Conlee’s “Rose Colored Glasses,” Tammy Wynette’s “Til I Get it Right,” Alabama’s “Love in the First Degree,” The Oak Ridge Boys’ “Bobbie Sue” and Tanya Tucker’s “Lizzie and the Rainman.” Others who scored big hits with House of Gold songs included Brenda Lee, Dave & Sugar, Eddy Arnold, Cristy Lane, Crystal Gayle, Jack Greene and Bobby Bare.
House of Gold singer-songwriter Razzy Bailey had a long string of hit singles that Montgomery produced. The company also competed in the pop field with songs recorded by Dr. Hook, Sister Sledge, Player, Millie Jackson, Exile, Lobo, Gladys Knight, The Pointer Sisters, Sheena Easton and others.
During the 1970s, House of Gold was ranked second to Tree International as the most successful independent publisher in Nashville. Warner Bros. Music bought the company in 1982 for a reported $3.5 million. Montgomery moved to Tree as its Director of Creative Services.
Razzy Bailey 1978 RCA w Bob Montgomery & Jerry Bradley. Photo: Alan Mayor
When Sony bought Tree in 1988, Montgomery became a vice president at CBS Records. He signed Joe Diffie, Doug Stone and Collin Raye to the company’s imprints, Columbia and Epic.
He also continued to produce records. Montgomery’s name is on 1980s discs by B.J. Thomas, Waylon Jennings, Shelby Lynne and Merle Haggard, among others. “Rocky” by Austin Roberts (1975), “It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Easy” by Janie Fricke (1982), “Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox” by Joe Diffie (1993) and “Some Memories Just Won’t Die” by Marty Robbins (1982) are among the many hits with Montgomery’s production touch. So are such iconic Vern Gosdin performances as 1988-89’s “Chiseled in Stone,” “Set ‘Em Up Joe” and “Who You Gonna Blame it on This Time.”
With Bob Montgomery’s support, his wife Cathy Montgomery established another publishing company, Noosa Heads Music, in 1992. Its successful songs to date include the Tim McGraw hits “Down on the Farm” (1994) and “Maybe We Should Just Sleep on It” (1996).
The couple moved to Australia in 2005 and lived there for seven years. The Montgomerys returned to Nashville 18 months ago. Bob Montgomery had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He died quietly at home around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 4.
He is the father of pop singer-songwriter Kevin Montgomery, who has recorded for A&M Records and achieved particular success in the U.K.
Bob Montgomery is also survived by his wife and business partner Cathy Montgomery and by daughters Echo Annette Garrett and Dee Dee Dawn Cooley.
Arrangements are being handled by Woodlawn Funeral Home on Thompson Lane. Visitation is scheduled there for Monday evening, 5-8 p.m., and the funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
T. Graham Brown Set To Release 'Forever Changed' in January
/by Jessica NicholsonIn addition to releasing 13 studio albums and charting more than 20 singles on the Billboard charts (including three No. 1 singles), Brown is also known as the voice behind advertising campaigns for McDonald’s, Disneyland, Almond Joy, Coca-Cola, Dodge Truck, Ford, Hardee’s, and more. Brown still tours throughout the year, and has made recent appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, and television appearances on Larry’s Country Diner and Country’s Family Reunion.
Music Biz 2015 Solicits Program Ideas
/by Sarah SkatesOn the schedule are sessions about metadata, entertainment and technology law, songwriters and publishers, managers, town hall meetings and showcases.
Music Biz invites all music industry professionals to submit program ideas for Music Biz 2015. The call for presentations closes Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 at 8 p.m. PST.
Dawn Sears Event Raises $100k+ for Ingram Cancer Center
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Dr. Leora Horn, Dawn Sears, Dr. Pierre Massion, Reba McEntire. Photo: Bev Moser
The tallies are in for the Dawn Sears & Friends Benefit for Lung Cancer Research held on Nov. 30 at the Depot Square in Gallatin, Tenn.
Over $100,000 was raised for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, where Sears is receiving treatment for the disease. Sears’ physician Dr. Leora Horn and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research Dr. Pierre Massion both took turns at the podium to talk about research while commenting on Sears’ own perseverance.
Performers included Reba McEntire, Riders In The Sky and The Time Jumpers, the band Sears is a part of alongside her husband Kenny Sears and country stalwart Vince Gill. Olympic gold-medalist Scott Hamilton emceed the event. Sears attended the show and also spoke on behalf of lung cancer research.
SoundExchange's Most Streamed Artists and Songs
/by Sarah SkatesSoundExchange has revealed the most streamed artists and top tracks played between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014. These charts are based on data reported to SoundExchange from digital radio services including satellite radio, Internet radio, and cable radio. Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw are the only country artists on the lists.
Artist Updates: Lady Antebellum, Jana Kramer, Canaan Smith, RaeLynn
/by Jessica NicholsonTickets begin at $250 and are available at nowplayingnashville.com.
• • •
Jana Kramer
Warner Bros. Records/Elektra artist Jana Kramer is engaged to boyfriend Michael Caussin. Caussin is currently a free agent. He played tight end at James Madison University and four years in the NFL.
“It was a beautiful surprise,” said Kramer. “He was the perfect gentleman. Nervous, on one knee, and surrounded by some of the people that love us the most.”
No other details are available at this time.
• • •
Canaan Smith
Mercury Nashville’s Canaan Smith will join duo Dan+Shay on the Where It All Began Tour, which launches Feb. 28, 2015 in Knoxville, Tenn. The tour will run through April 2015, making stops in more than 30 markets.
Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 5. Smith is currently promoting his radio single “Love You Like That.”
• • •
The Valory Music Co. artist RaeLynn returned to The Voice on Dec. 2 to perform her current single, “God Made Girls.” RaeLynn enjoyed a lengthy run as part of Team Blake (Shelton) on The Voice, and has been in the studio recording material for her upcoming album.
Pictured (clockwise): Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell and RaeLynn
Industry Pics: CMA Songwriters Series, ASCAP, Warner/Chappell Music
/by Jessica NicholsonTwo CMA Songwriters Series concerts were filmed at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works on Tuesday (Dec. 2). The concerts were filmed for upcoming episodes of public television’s concert series “Front and Center.” Little Big Town welcomed songwriters Natalie Hemby and The Love Junkies (Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose) to perform songs from Little Big Town’s latest album Pain Killer. Brandy Clark, Bob DiPiero, Shane McAnally, and Charlie Worsham performed a traditional writers round. The episodes will air in spring 2015.
Pictured (L-R): Don Maggi, Executive Producer, “Front and Center”; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook; Hillary Lindsey; Liz Rose; Lori McKenna; Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman; Natalie Hemby; Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet; Denis Gallagher, Executive Producer, “Front and Center.” Photo: Donn Jones/CMA
• • •
ASCAP hosted the final 2014 installment of its quarterly mixed genre showcase at 3rd & Lindsley on Tues., December 2nd. Sponsored by the Nashville Scene, the showcase featured full band performances from Kalisa Ewing (UMPG Nashville/KingSpirit Music), David Ray (Big Deal Music) and Chris Cavanaugh.
Pictured (L-R): (front row) Chris Cavanaugh, Kalisa Ewing, David Ray; (back row) ASCAP’s Robert Filhart and ASCAP’s Mike Sistad. Photo: ASCAP’s Alison Toczylowski
• • •
Warner/Chappell Nashville celebrated the season with “A Christmas Story”-themed holiday party on Tuesday night (Dec. 2).
Warner/Chappell staff celebrates the holiday season.
Industry Ink: Fundraising and Signing
/by Eric T. ParkerPhoto Credit: Alan Poizner
Participants in No Shave November, benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, celebrated accomplishments on Monday (Dec. 1) during the fourth annual Beard Bash at Nashville’s The Row Kitchen & Pub. This year, more than $145,000 was raised. In the past four years, No Shave November has raised over $500,000 to support the children’s research hospital.
Notable Awards for 2014:
• • •
Pictured (L-R): (back row) Taylor Lange, Madison Lee, Todd Farrell, Nicholas Boehmke, Emily Van Allsburg, Jeffrey Tobias, Farrah Usmani, Patrick Collins, Tee Stumb; (front row) Katie Germano, Jason Huie, Nick Myers, Elisa Vazzana Boehmke and Bill Collins.
Music industry organization SOLID will donate 5,000 pounds of food to Second Harvest Food Bank and $3,200 to St. Jude as a result of its 29th annual Turkey Bowl fundraiser, held Nov. 22. Funds were raised from team entry fees as well as food donations.
Nashville’s Ted Rhodes Park hosted 11 teams from the local music committee, including APA, McGhee Entertainment, Black River Entertainment, CAA, CMT, FBMM, Paradigm, Publishers United, SESAC, Sony Music Nashville, UMG Nashville and WME.
“We are honored to bring together some of Music Row’s most athletic teams for a dose of healthy competition,” said SOLID President Brian O’Neil. “We’re thrilled to supplement this longstanding tradition. Thank you to all the teams that participated and helped gather such a significant donation.”
SOLID has already surpassed its previous annual charitable giving records by raising and donating more than $40,000 to various organizations throughout 2014.
• • •
David Kent.
Debbie Z Entertainment will begin representing the catalog of songwriter David Kent. Kent moved to Nashville in 1990, played keys for Hall & Oats, wrote Blake Shelton’s “Austin,” and had top 10 hits with Martina McBride, Rodney Atkins, Neal McCoy, Tracy Lawrence and others.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with the writer that got this Blake Shelton party started,” Zavitson said. “David is a true story teller and country music has been missing that element for quite a while.”
“I’ve always known that Debbie had an ear for great songs, an eye for talent, and her finger on the pulse of this industry that, along with her resilient spine and how well she handles the serious leg work…well, you can’t ignore that kind of anatomy,” Kent said. “So now, 14 years after Austin, I’m thrilled to have her representing my catalog.”
Project Music Seeks Start-Ups; Teams With Google
/by Sarah SkatesLatest sponsor Google brings technical, industry and investment expertise to the program, as well as opportunities to reach an even greater audience. Also new to the program is Digital Entertainment Ventures of NYC, which joins current partners Decosimo/Vaden, Avenue Bank, Flo {thinkery} and Anderson Benson Insurance.
Previously announced seed investment group founders for the accelerator are: Creative Artists Agency, Vector Management, Ryman Hospitality Properties, Universal Music Group, Spalding Entertainment, DevDigital, Red Light Management and Galante Entertainment.
Heather McBee has also joined the Project Music team. Her 20 years of experience includes time as VP of Digital and Marketing at Sony Music Nashville, and Operations Director at Cumulus Media’s America’s Morning Show. Program mentors include McBee, Joe Galante, Michael Burcham, Mark Montgomery, Ed Hardy, Matt Urmy, Damon Whiteside, Jeremy Holley and Sarah Trahern.
Google’s support comes on the heels of the recent commitment by its YouTube subsidiary to a year-long series of workshops in Nashville geared toward the music industry.
The EC is a non-profit which connects entrepreneurs with investors, mentors and resources. It is funded through sponsorships, partnerships, donations and grants.
The Producer's Chair: Frank Liddell
/by contributorFrank Liddell
By James Rea
Don’t miss Frank Liddell’s fourth appearance on The Producer’s Chair on Thursday, Dec. 11 at Douglas Corner at 6 p.m. It’s the last show of this year. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
•••
Frank Liddell has staked his claimed as one of Nashville’s most respected artist advocates and trusted creative partners. The 2014 MusicRow Producer of the Year has a growing trophy collection which includes winning CMA Album of the Year twice, and ACM Album of the Year three times, as well as wins for ACM Producer and Single of the Year—all largely due to his work with Miranda Lambert. But Frank’s less interested in talking about trophies and more interested in talking about music, artists, songwriters, and musicians—proof of the dogged focus that paved his path to success.
Along with serial collaborators Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf, Frank also co-produced David Nail’s well-received third album I’m a Fire, released in March, and his wife Lee Ann Womack’s anticipated masterpiece The Way I’m Livin’, released in September.
In the early ’90s, Frank moved from Houston to Nashville, where his first two career stops were Bluewater Music and Decca. He pitched songs, scouted talent, and helped creatively direct careers. At Decca, he also began producing.
Then came his own Carnival Music, an embodiment of his fully formed music-first philosophy. Frank launched the company’s publishing arm in 1997 with partner Travis Hill. Today Carnival has 14 staff writers: Adam Wright, Aubrie Sellers, Brent Cobb, Dani Flowers, David Nail, Derik Hultquist, Hailey Whitters, Logan Brill, Mando Saenz, Scooter Carusoe, Stephanie Lambring, Stoney LaRue, Troy Jones, and Gretchen Peters. Since its inception, Carnival has published the first No. 1 singles of eight songwriters’ careers, and diligently shepherded songs as they circulated for a decade or more waiting for the perfect performer and perfect time. Carnival Recording Co., the record label division, is currently developing Cobb, Brill, Hultquist and Saenz. The dedicated staff—Brittany Hamlin, Courtney Gregg, Matthew Miller, Emily Schiraldi, and consultant Dale Dodson—are like members of Frank’s extended family.
Frank is an ACM board member, CMA member, and serves on the board of The Recording Academy, where he is part of the Advocacy Committee and the Producers & Engineers (P&E) Wing.
The Producer’s Chair: How did you and Miranda meet?
Frank Liddell: She heard a record I’d produced on Jack Ingram called Electric. She bought it, listened to it, and hated it. Then she listened to it again, and it inevitably grew on her. She looked at who produced it and said, “That guy’s making my record.” She never wavered—even when I tried to talk her out of it. Before she had anything going, she had decided that she wanted me to produce her record. She was in Texas at the time. She talked a little bit about her career goals, but for the most part all we ever talked about was music. And that was all she ever wanted—that was the most important thing. Like, “Let’s just come make a badass record.”
Miranda has won the CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year five times—more than any other artist. Now that she has conquered Country music, does she have movies or TV in mind?
I stay out of that. The most important thing to her is to be an artist. Not an entertainer or a celebrity. Everything stems from her artistry, not from the entertainment factor. And she’s Country. We’ve never remixed or done a radio mix for her to crossover into pop music. She’s comfortable with the success she’s having as a Country artist. She touches a lot of lives and a lot of people. She has a lot of respect across a lot of genres.
Has Miranda changed over the years and if so, have those changes affected your job as her producer?
She’s exactly same. When making her records, we’ve always tried to take a picture of who she is at that time, with each record. She’s not an 18-year-old girl anymore. She’s a 30-year-old woman. So, that’s the difference in the picture. It’s not that we changed the lens. She’s always had great instincts—spot on—and that’s hard to find. She doesn’t weigh opportunities. She just tries to take the best song, and when you’re working on arrangements it’s either right or wrong. For this record, my gut was, “Let’s not change a thing from the last record.” These musicians have been with her ten or twelve years. It’s the same band on every record, which I dig, because instead of changing a sound, the change was from within—adopting her own. I feel in a weird way like everybody, including Miranda and the musicians, felt the pressure this time. It was a blast, but it was really intense. [Every record has been critically acclaimed and hard to follow.] And every time, we would just talk. I’d say—and I got this from Richard Bennett—“You just get the right songs and you treat every song with the respect that it individually deserves, and everything will turn out OK.” So, we’ve taken that approach from the beginning.
Do you still work with artists and writers in Texas?
I still do that a little bit, and I always will because I’m a big fan. Stoney LaRue is a perfect example. His music really inspires me. It’s not flavor of the month. And it’s going to be hard, but if he can stick with it, sooner or later something good will come his way. When you’ve finished a record, it’s hard to say whether you got it right or wrong, or you would have changed this or that. And with Stoney, we got it right. Moving forward, it’s going to take some holing up and some belief in what we do, because there’s not any compromise in that record. Stoney LaRue just needs to build his fan base.
In our last interview, four years ago, you said, “I feel like there’s a bigger gulf than ever between the creative and the business side.” Do you still feel that way?
Here we are today, and it’s probably bigger. I’m just hard-wired differently. I love this town. I love what people do. My goal for our future is for me to do what we’re about, not to follow or chase [trends]. It’s not always easy. Miranda’s a perfect example. Her career was born out of her music. I still think that there’s a lot of music in this town that, to me, the marketing plan exists and the music is just sort of dropped in it.
The great thing is it’s still the songwriter capitol of the world. There are great songwriters here, old and young, and it’s the musician capitol of the world. And as long as it’s an artistic center where artists have the opportunity to make new art and for that art to grow—I hope that opportunities increase for some people. It used to be that you could have a great artist that had a brilliant career and they wouldn’t even go Gold but could make a lot of money touring, earn a lot of respect and have a great career. Now, everything’s gone. So, people aren’t really giving anyone a shot unless they think it can go Platinum. I would hope in the coming years as perhaps the copyright is monetized better, that we would be able to open up some doors to some more younger artists, more thoughts, more opinions, more creative ideas. I’ve been here a long time. I’ve seen the artists that labels got in bidding wars over—they were going to be the hot new thing. I’ve seen them disappear. So, basically I was standing here four years ago, and I thought the same thing I think now.
Four years ago you joined the Grammy P&E Wing. What are some of their biggest concerns?
There are a lot of things we talk about on the P&E Wing. We discuss a lot of the future of monetizing music: defending and sticking up for the producer and engineer, protecting and making our contracts better, and strengthening the business side of things for us. There’s also the sound quality and the protection of the copyright—protection of your sound and original ideas. I sometimes walk into the studio and say, “We’re going to make a record.” And it’s pretty simple. But you go into the meetings and you realize how intense the situation is. From the future of recording records, to what they’re stored on, to how they are archived, to what they’re going to sound like in years—and to making sure that as a producer I’m protected and somebody can’t just come out and remix something. There are a ton of concerns.
In another interview you said, “There are a lot of great writers out there whose work is being overlooked because they don’t know how to play the game.” What game?
I’ve always thought that. It’s now a business game. Years ago, the art of this business was getting two great writers together, or for one great writer to write a great song. Now, everything is like, “Let’s stick this writer with this writer and the artist.” So, a lot of publishing these days is managing calendars and trying to get your writer with artists. It’s less about, “Hey, I want to go get a great song for people to fight over,” like “The Dance” or “I Hope You Dance.” It’s become more political. I know very few people out there who aren’t writing most of their songs with other people. There’s a business objective behind it and not necessarily the objective of making the best music.
Can independent writers play the game or do they really need a publisher to play the game?
I think for the most part independent writers struggle, and they always have. I know a few who are doing OK now. They have help. I’ve always felt like publishers earn every dime they make for the most part. You know the old saying about the attorney who represents himself in court has a fool for a client.
How should they play the game?
I don’t know. I look at where Carnival is right now and where we need to go, and, to me, I just want to get better at what we do. I don’t necessarily want to play the game. I don’t hate the game. I have friends in the game, and I respect the hell out of them, but I came here because I love music. The longer I’m here the more I just want to make sure that every bit of music I’m surrounded with is music that I love and I would have loved in my gut when I got here. So, to me, it’s how do we design our own game to succeed with that philosophy? It’s not easy.
Someone was telling me we have a song on a new record and it’s the only song on there that had only two writers. I found that interesting. We also have a song on the Garth Brooks record. It’s 100 percent. Adam Wright wrote it by himself. That takes the place of three cuts. You write a great song by yourself and somebody acknowledges it. Good things happen.
What are your thoughts on signing writers?
At Carnival the first two writers we signed were Bruce Robison and Luke Reed. Bruce had a few people sniffing around but he had never lived here and no one would give him a shot. And Luke was already an established writer and had some cuts. Never on a huge level, but he was a good guy for sure.
Today I’m still hoping that age and gender have absolutely nothing to do with it. If I were a writer and I went and listened to Gretchen Peters speak at her Songwriter Hall of Fame induction, I’d think, “Buddy, I better step it up.” She’s a genius. If somebody walks in my door who’s 22 years old and has the promise of being able to do what Gretchen does, I’m going to be excited. I’m not going to be excited about working with an established writer who has made it and who is dabbling in it now. Gretchen is touring a lot and making records. We represent her and help her collect her money. But when she plays a song it will kill you. She’s damn Gretchen Peters, and she sets a mark in this building.
If this stuff never matters again—well then, it’s over for me. And if that’s the case then I’ll go home. But if it still matters then I don’t see how Gretchen is not relevant. Take the song “All Kinds of Kinds,” which is ours that Miranda cut, written by Phillip Coleman and Don Henry. It was at least 15 years old. My goal is to be able to work with music that is as good as or better than music that inspired me growing up. That’s a tall but simple task. And to help our writers make a great living makes it even better.
How has 2014 been for Carnival, compared to 2013?
Carnival has always existed on one hit a year. We’ve gotten lucky and had two before. We’ve gone six or eight months without anything on the charts, which is not unusual for Carnival. The problem is [sinking album sales]. Fifteen years ago we had a No. 1 song with The Dixie Chicks and the album sold 10 million records. Today, the $900,000 you’d make roughly off of that copyright would probably exceed the performance money. So there was never a problem that a handful of good cuts weren’t going to take care of. We’ve got a bunch of album cuts right now but they don’t sell anymore. If those things can be fixed we’ll be fine—if we can get compensated for the things we’re doing. But I don’t think [consumers] are ever going to buy disposable music. I know what we’re good at and we have to get better at it. If you have a boutique store on the same block as Walmart, you better have something they don’t have or you’re going to get killed.
Tell me about your musical family: Aubrie Sellers and Anna Lise Liddell.
Aubrie is in her early 20s and we’ve been working with her in the studio finishing things up. She has both a mother and a father from whom she can draw a wealth of experience in the artist world, and a stepfather who has been a publisher and A&R guy and a producer. She’s covered! She’s in Texas right now playing some shows and my wife is leaving tomorrow night to go on the road in the Northeast. Anna, who is 15, is going to go and play guitar with her.