Lady Antebellum together with Nicholas Sparks. Photo: Bev Moser.
“This is the best soundtrack of all of my films.” -Nicholas Sparks.
Director Michael Hoffman (Mid Summer Night’s Dream, One Fine Day) took the stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater on Thursday, October 9 to welcome an invitation-only crowd to the Nashville premiere of his latest film, The Best of Me. The Relativity Media release, in theaters October 17, is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ (The Notebook, A Walk To Remember) novel by the same title.
“When we talked about a soundtrack, we talked about Country music because Nick Sparks movies are about honesty,” said Hoffman in his introduction from the stage. “From the beginning, the lynchpin was Lady Antebellum. I can’t thank them enough. They watched the movie and wrote the ballad of The Best of Me. They prove we were right that Country Music touches people in this country.”
Pictured (L-R): Director Michael Hoffman, author Nicholas Sparks. Photo: Bev Moser.
Sparks added, “This is the best soundtrack of all of my films. When I look out on you, I think ‘This is where the talent lies.’ It’s my honor to be here with you [artists].”
Jason Markey (
Act of Valor), EVP Music at Relativity Media partnered with Universal Music Group Nashville (EMI Nashville) to create the film’s soundtrack. Artists contributing to the project include
Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Colbie Caillat, Thomas Rhett, Thompson Square, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Paslay, David Nail, and
Eli Young Band.
Immediately following the Nashville premiere, artists took to the stage to perform acoustic sets of their work. Before “The Way Things Go,” Rhett noted he had read the book before he knew he had a song in the movie. Caillat sang her soundtrack cut, “In Love Again,” a title she wrote about a relationship that left her not wanting to fall in love with anyone else.
Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum accompanied her on piano after she sampled her title “Never Gonna Let You Down” and her latest single “Try.” Together with
Gareth Dunlop, the four sisters of
SHEL performed “Hold On.”
Lady Antebellum wrapped the performances with “I Did With You,” a title co-written with
Monty Powell. “This is the first experience we had writing for a motion picture,” said
Hillary Scott. “In the past few days, we have been between here and Los Angeles. Thank you to everyone for making this a great experience.” The trio concluded with “Bartender” and invited Caillat back for a cover of “Islands In The Stream.”
Members of SHEL with Gareth Dunlop. Photo: Bev Moser.
A $7.50 “Movie Cash Ticket” will be made available for admission to the film with the purchase of all physically released versions of the soundtrack, thanks to Relativity Studios. For superfans, Walmart will offer a special ZinePak including the soundtrack, 48-pages of photos and quotes from actors and film makers, an unabridged audio book and seeds from the flower that is featured in the story.
The film stars
James Marsden and
Luke Bracey respectively as older and younger “Dawson” and
Michelle Monaghan and
Liana Liberato respectively as older and younger “Amanda,” high school sweethearts reuniting after 21 years of growing up in Louisiana.
Industry Pics: 'Nashville Songwriter,' Island Hopper Songwriters Fest, SOLID
/by Jessica NicholsonSome of Music Row’s biggest hit-writers of the past 30 years came out to 3rd & Lindsley Bar & Grill to celebrate the release of Nashville Songwriter: The Inside Stories Behind Country Music’s Greatest Hits, featuring those writers’ life stories and how they inspired the tens-of-dozens of hits between them that followed. The release is the 36th book from Jake Brown, available nationwide from BenBella Books.
Pictured (L-R): Jeff Silbar, Craig Wiseman, author Jake Brown with arm around Freddy Powers and Catherine Powers. Standing (L-R): Neil Thrasher, Sonny Curtis, Bob DiPiero and Kelley Lovelace. Photo: Kindell Moore
• • •
BMI, iHeartMedia, and the Lee County, Fla. Visitors and Convention Bureau presented the first Island Hopper Songwriters Fest during Sept. 26-28, and Oct. 3-5 on Captiva Island, and Fort Myers Beach, which featured more than 50 songwriters, including Kristian Bush of Sugarland, Loving Mary, and Stoney Creek Records duo Thompson Square. The events featured more than 85 shows and 20 BMI-licensed venues.
Pictured (L-R): Cat Country 107.1 Program Director Mike Tyler, Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau Director of Marketing Laura Chmielewski, Thompson Square’s Shawna Thompson and Keifer Thompson, BMI’s Dan Spears, and Market President of iHeartMedia Southwest Florida Sherri Griswold. Photo credit: Courtesy of BMI.
• • •
SOLID held their fourth General Assembly meeting of the year Tuesday night (Oct. 7) at City Winery in Nashville. John Marks, Sirius XM Senior Director of Country Programming, was the guest speaker. Marks spoke to the SOLID membership on a number of subjects including the role radio plays in music discovery and the listener’s power as a consumer.
Pictured (L-R): Eric Wright, SOLID Secretary; Alex Luebbert, SOLID Education Committee Chair; Marks; Michelle Tigard Kammerer, SOLID Vice President; Stefany Reed, SOLID Education Committee Co-Chair
'The Best of Me' Premieres in Nashville with Exclusive Concert
/by Eric T. ParkerLady Antebellum together with Nicholas Sparks. Photo: Bev Moser.
Director Michael Hoffman (Mid Summer Night’s Dream, One Fine Day) took the stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s CMA Theater on Thursday, October 9 to welcome an invitation-only crowd to the Nashville premiere of his latest film, The Best of Me. The Relativity Media release, in theaters October 17, is an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ (The Notebook, A Walk To Remember) novel by the same title.
“When we talked about a soundtrack, we talked about Country music because Nick Sparks movies are about honesty,” said Hoffman in his introduction from the stage. “From the beginning, the lynchpin was Lady Antebellum. I can’t thank them enough. They watched the movie and wrote the ballad of The Best of Me. They prove we were right that Country Music touches people in this country.”
Pictured (L-R): Director Michael Hoffman, author Nicholas Sparks. Photo: Bev Moser.
Sparks added, “This is the best soundtrack of all of my films. When I look out on you, I think ‘This is where the talent lies.’ It’s my honor to be here with you [artists].”
Jason Markey (Act of Valor), EVP Music at Relativity Media partnered with Universal Music Group Nashville (EMI Nashville) to create the film’s soundtrack. Artists contributing to the project include Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Colbie Caillat, Thomas Rhett, Thompson Square, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Paslay, David Nail, and Eli Young Band.
Immediately following the Nashville premiere, artists took to the stage to perform acoustic sets of their work. Before “The Way Things Go,” Rhett noted he had read the book before he knew he had a song in the movie. Caillat sang her soundtrack cut, “In Love Again,” a title she wrote about a relationship that left her not wanting to fall in love with anyone else. Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum accompanied her on piano after she sampled her title “Never Gonna Let You Down” and her latest single “Try.” Together with Gareth Dunlop, the four sisters of SHEL performed “Hold On.”
Lady Antebellum wrapped the performances with “I Did With You,” a title co-written with Monty Powell. “This is the first experience we had writing for a motion picture,” said Hillary Scott. “In the past few days, we have been between here and Los Angeles. Thank you to everyone for making this a great experience.” The trio concluded with “Bartender” and invited Caillat back for a cover of “Islands In The Stream.”
Members of SHEL with Gareth Dunlop. Photo: Bev Moser.
A $7.50 “Movie Cash Ticket” will be made available for admission to the film with the purchase of all physically released versions of the soundtrack, thanks to Relativity Studios. For superfans, Walmart will offer a special ZinePak including the soundtrack, 48-pages of photos and quotes from actors and film makers, an unabridged audio book and seeds from the flower that is featured in the story.
The film stars James Marsden and Luke Bracey respectively as older and younger “Dawson” and Michelle Monaghan and Liana Liberato respectively as older and younger “Amanda,” high school sweethearts reuniting after 21 years of growing up in Louisiana.
Artist Updates: Lauren Alaina, The Swon Brothers, Scotty McCreery, Jared Blake
/by Jessica NicholsonLauren Alaina. Photo: Bev Moser.
MusicRow has confirmed that singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina underwent vocal surgery at Vanderbilt in August, to repair damage on her vocal cords. The singer reports that she is singing “ten times better.”
Alaina, who records for Mercury Nashville/19/Interscope Records, recently signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner/Chappell Music.
• • •
Arista Nashville duo The Swon Brothers recently visited the acclaimed PS22 Chorus of fifth-grade students from the PS22 elementary school in Staten Island, NY. The chorus has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC Nightly News, Anderson Cooper 360 and other media outlets.
PS22 Chorus Director Gregg Breinber and the children spent two hours outside normal school hours to ask the Swon Brothers questions and rehearse a performance of “Pretty Beautiful,” a song from the duo’s debut album, which releases Oct. 14.
The Swon Brothers with the PS22 Chorus.
• • •
Scotty McCreery celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday while performing at KMPS Presents: The Sunset Chevrolet 12 Man Jam in Seattle. McCreery was surprised onstage by retired NFL Seattle Seahawks players Joe Tafoya and Norm Johnson with a birthday cake. The cake was brought out at 9 p.m. PT, which was midnight on the East Coast to ensure the North Carolina native was officially 21.
Scotty McCreery blows out the candle on his birthday cake. Photo: David Conger
• • •
The show airs on Sirius XM’s Channel 56 on Saturdays at 12 p.m. ET, and rebroadcasts at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., as well as six times on Sundays.
George Strait Set To Release 'The Cowboy Rides Away' Deluxe Package
/by Troy_StephensonJoining Strait for this historic night were very special guests Jason Aldean, Ray Benson, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert and Martina McBride, and introduced George “Bubba” Strait, Jr.
The live CD and DVD feature duets with each of these artists, including “All My Ex’s Live In Texas,” which saw all 10 special guests on stage with Strait.
Fans have an opportunity to pre-order the deluxe edition and purchase exclusive packages including a personalized show poster, commemorative merchandise and a limited edition George Strait autographed guitar. More information is available HERE.
Weekly Chart Report (10/10/14)
/by Troy_StephensonClick here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report
Jason Aldean On Pace For Huge Debut Week
/by Jessica NicholsonIf Aldean does sell close to 300,000 units, he would have the biggest-selling week of any Country artist in 2014, topping Brantley Gilbert‘s Just As I Am, which sold 211,000 units during its debut week in May, and Eric Church‘s The Outsiders, which sold 288,000 units upon its release in February.
Old Boots, New Dirt could post the second biggest sales week of any genre this year, trailing Coldplay‘s Ghost Stories which sold 383,000 for the week ending May 25, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Aldean’s previous album, 2012’s Night Train, sold 409,000 units in its first week.
The singer-songwriter held an album release party, hosted by iHeartRadio, at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles this week. The one-hour event was hosted by Ben and Matt from KNIX in Phoenix. Aldean performed several songs, including hits “My Kinda Party” and his latest, “Burnin’ It Down” from his new album.
Jason Aldean’s iHeartRadio Album Release party in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Jason Aldean’s iHeartRadio Album Release party in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Big Deal Music Adds Dan Wilson To Roster
/by Jessica NicholsonDan Wilson
Songwriter Dan Wilson has joined the Big Deal Music roster. Big Deal Music will publish new compositions under its joint venture with BMG Chrysalis US.
Wilson has penned songs including Adele‘s “Someone Like You” and the Dixie Chicks‘ “Not Ready To Make Nice.” He has also worked with artists including Taylor Swift, Dierks Bentley, John Legend, Josh Groban, Nas, Carole King, and others.
Wilson first rose to fame through his work with the band Semisonic, for which he penned songs including “Closing Time,” “Secret Smile” and “Chemistry.”
“Dan is clearly one of my favorite songwriters, and just happens to be one of my favorite people as well,” says Big Deal’s Kenny MacPherson. “It’s great to be able to resume this relationship that’s now lasted nearly 20 years.”
Round Hill Music Adds The Moxies
/by Sarah Skates“I’m so excited to have The Moxies on our roster here in Nashville,” said Director of A&R Kari Smith. “They have everything you could ask for in a band. They’re fresh, energetic and undeniably unique.”
Band members Marco Ciofani (vocals, guitar), Kevin Werfield (drums) and Tyler Adams (bass), list influences ranging from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, to Cage the Elephant and Jack White.
The Moxies are managed by Kim Stephens’ Forward Entertainment.
Zac Brown Band Unveils 'Greatest Hits So Far…'
/by Kelsey_GradyZac Brown Band
Southern Ground and Atlantic Records have announced the release of Zac Brown Band’s Greatest Hits So Far…, the band’s first career anthology. The 14-track collection is available now for pre-order on the iTunes Store and arrives everywhere on Nov. 10.
The project collects Zac Brown Band’s momentous run of 11 No. 1 Country singles, including 2x RIAA platinum debut, “Chicken Fried” and chart-topping songs including “As She’s Walking Away (Feat. Alan Jackson),” “Knee Deep (feat. Jimmy Buffett),” and “Goodbye In Her Eyes.”
The band is currently traveling on their “Great American Road Trip Tour.”
Greatest Hits So Far… is currently available for pre-order on iTunes.
iHeartRadio Coming To Android Wear Smartwatches
/by Jessica NicholsonThe digital radio service has teamed with Android Wear smartwatches, beginning Oct. 15. Android Wear users can use the watch as a remote control. Users will still need to plug headphones into their smartphones to listen, though the watch will allow them create new stations via voice search, and give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to new songs.
Google’s Android Wear also runs Google Play.
iHeartRadio marks the first musical partnership for Android Wear. Meanwhile, Pandora is available on Pebble Smartwatches, while Samsung uses its own Milk Music on its Gear smartwatches. Apple is slated to release a smartwatch next year.