Jake Owen is gearing up for a golden summer on Jake Owen’s Days of Gold Tour 2014. The trek launches March 20 in Brookings, S.D., and wraps Oct. 25 in Owen’s hometown of Vero Beach, Fla. The 55+ city tour will feature The Cadillac Three on all dates, along with Eli Young Band, Parmalee, and Thomas Rhett (each on select dates).
DAYS OF GOLD Tour 2014
March 20 – Brookings, S.D.
March 21 – Fargo, N.D.
March 22 – Bemidji, Minn.
April 10 – Casper, Wy.
April 11 – Rapid City, S.D.
April 12 – Bismarck, N.D.
April 24 – Bowling Green, Ky.
April 25 – Dayton, Ohio
May 1 – Ft. Wayne, Ind.
May 2 – Indiana, Pa.
May 3 – Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
May 15- Huntington, W.V.
May 16 – Greensboro, N.C.
May 29 – Gilford, N.H.
May 30 – New York, N.Y.
May 31 – Virginia Beach, Va. (Patriotic Festival)
June 12 – North Lawrence, Ohio (Country Fest)
June 13 – Buffalo, N.Y. (Taste of Country)
June 19 – Grand Junction, Colo. (Country Jam USA)
June 20 – Rio Rancho, N.M.
June 21 – Pueblo, Colo. (Bands in the Backyard)
June 27 – Greeley, Colo. (Greeley Stampede)
June 28 – Norfolk, Neb.
June 29 – Wichita, Kan.
July 10 – Reading, Pa.
July 11 – Uncasville, Conn.
July 17 – Eau Claire, Wis. (Country Jam Fest)
July 18 – Valparaiso, Ind. (Porter County Fair)
July 24 – Green Bay, Wis.
July 25 – Moline, Ill.
Aug. 1 – Duncan, B.C. (Sunfest Country)
Aug. 2 – Sweet Home, Ore. (Oregon Jamboree)
Aug. 9 – Las Vegas
Aug. 21 – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Aug. 22 – Orange Beach, Ala.
Aug. 23 – New Orleans
Sept. 5 – North Charleston, S.C.
Sept. 6 – Augusta, Ga.
Sept. 11 – Fayetteville, Ark.
Sept. 13 – Terre Haute, Ind.
Sept. 18 – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Sept. 20 – Sioux City, Iowa
Sept. 25 – Tupelo, Miss.
Sept. 26 – Huntsville, Ala.
Oct. 3 – Roanoke, Va.
Oct. 4 – Pikeville, Ky.
Oct. 9 – Battle Creek, Mich.
Oct. 10 – Saginaw, Mich.
Oct. 11 – Toledo, Ohio
Oct. 16 – La Crosse, Wis.
Oct. 17 – Mankato, Minn.
Oct. 18 – Lincoln, Neb.
Oct. 23 – Atlanta
Oct. 24 – Tallahassee, Fla.
Oct. 25 – Vero Beach, Fla.
Nashvillians Up For Best Original Song Oscar
/by Sarah SkatesThe Hummons
A song written by Marcus Hummon, son Levi Hummon and Andrew Dorff is in the running for an Academy Award. “Make It Love” from the film Two: The Story of Roman & Nyro is on the list of 75 potential final nominees for Best Original Song. The final ballot will be revealed Jan. 16.
The film is about megahit songwriter Desmond Child, his partner Curtis Shaw, and the birth of their twins via surrogate. “Make It Love,” performed by The Hummons, will soon be available via HitShop Records and Child’s Deston Entertainment.
Several songs with Nashville ties are on the long list, but unfortunately songwriters names aren’t given. Among the contenders:
• “Sweeter Than Fiction” from One Chance, performed and written by Taylor Swift with fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff
• “Last Mile Home” from August: Osage County, written and performed by Kings of Leon
• “Forgiveness” from Brave Miss World, performed by Natalie Maines and Ben Harper, written by Linor Abargil
This list includes artist names but not songwriters.
News From Pandora, SiriusXM, Westwood One
/by Sarah Skates• Paul Caine has exited his post as CEO of Westwood One following the completion of the company’s acquisition by Cumulus Media. The $260 million deal was finalized just before year’s end. Lew Dickey continues as chairman and CEO of Cumulus Media.
Eli Young Band To Release '10,000 Towns' In March
/by Jessica Nicholson“To still be making music and going through the craziness of life together is something we’d only dreamed of when we met back in college. This album shows another chapter in our lives as a band, as husbands, as fathers and as individuals that we’re really excited to share with our amazing fans,” said lead singer Mike Eli.
In addition to penning over half of the tracks, EYB co-produced the 11-song project with Justin Niebank and Frank Liddell. In conjunction with the standard release, an exclusive version of the album will be released through Walmart; the exclusive version will include three additional tracks: “Traces” (penned by Mike Eli, Chris Thompson, Jon Jones, James Young, Lee Brice, Kyle Jacobs), “June, July, August” (penned by Jason Saenz and Jen Schott) and “The Moon’s On Fire” (penned by Lee Thomas Miller, Chris Stapleton and Al Anderson).
TRACKLIST
1. “Drunk Last Night” (Laura Veltz, Josh Osborne)
2. “10,000 Towns” (Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins, Craig Wiseman)
3. “Dust” (Jon Jones, James Young, Kyle Jacobs, Josh Osborne)
4. “Angel Like You” (Heather Morgan, Liz Rose, Mike Eli)
5. “Let’s Do Something Tonight” (Jimmy Robbins, David Lee Murphy, Jon Nite)
6. “Your Last Broken Heart” (Mike Eli, Jon Jones, James Young, Sean McConnell)
7. “What Does” (Mike Eli, Jon Jones, James Young, Sean McConnell)
8. “A Lot Like Love” (Dylan Altman, Will Hoge)
9. “Just Add Moonlight” (Will Hoge, Jon Randall)
10. “Revelations” (Mike Eli, Chris Thompson, Jon Jones, James Young, Sean McConnell)
11. “Prayer For The Road” (Mike Eli, Jon Jones, James Young, Chris Thompson, Kyle Jacobs, Billy Montana)
Hunt Named President of McVay/Cook & Associates
/by Jessica NicholsonPhil Hunt
McVay/Cook & Associates has hired veteran programmer Phil Hunt as the organization’s new president, according to Inside Radio.
Hunt spent 14 years working as a consultant at Rusty Walker Programming. He has more than three decades of programming experience, with much of that time spent at Country radio, including work at stations WUSN (Chicago), WKKT (Charlotte), WSSL (Greenville), WKHK (Richmond) and KSSN (Little Rock). He joined Clear Channel as Sr. VP of Programming in 2002, and left in 2011 to create Hunt Media, LLC.
Hunt’s new role comes after former McVay/Cook & Associates president Charlie Cook joined Cumulus Media’s Nashville cluster as operation manager. Both namesakes for McVay/Cook & Associates are now working at Cumulus. Mike McVay works as Sr. VP at Cumulus.
“Our combined resources will give our present clients unmatched experience and perspective with the programming challenges of 2014,” Hunt said in a statement regarding his new role.
2014 Grammy Nominees Album To Be Released Jan. 21
/by Michael_Smith“For more than 20 years we have been creating some incredible editions of the GRAMMY Nominees album, which again represents some of the great songs and talented artists that make up this year’s remarkable nominees,” said The Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow.
The album will include performers nominated in the Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Country Album categories. The album’s Country artists include Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw.
“We are honored to be joining with The Recording Academy to release this fantastic collection of GRAMMY-nominated performances and songs,” said Atlantic Chairman and COO Julie Greenwald. “And we’re especially proud to be associated with an album that helps support the essential missions of The Academy’s charitable endeavors.”
A portion of the album’s sales will benefit The Recording Academy’s charitable organizations GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares Foundation. The 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards will air live from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 26 on CBS from 8-11:30 E.T.
For more information, visit grammy.com.
Jake Owen Reveals 'Days Of Gold Tour 2014' Dates
/by Jessica NicholsonDAYS OF GOLD Tour 2014
March 20 – Brookings, S.D.
March 21 – Fargo, N.D.
March 22 – Bemidji, Minn.
April 10 – Casper, Wy.
April 11 – Rapid City, S.D.
April 12 – Bismarck, N.D.
April 24 – Bowling Green, Ky.
April 25 – Dayton, Ohio
May 1 – Ft. Wayne, Ind.
May 2 – Indiana, Pa.
May 3 – Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
May 15- Huntington, W.V.
May 16 – Greensboro, N.C.
May 29 – Gilford, N.H.
May 30 – New York, N.Y.
May 31 – Virginia Beach, Va. (Patriotic Festival)
June 12 – North Lawrence, Ohio (Country Fest)
June 13 – Buffalo, N.Y. (Taste of Country)
June 19 – Grand Junction, Colo. (Country Jam USA)
June 20 – Rio Rancho, N.M.
June 21 – Pueblo, Colo. (Bands in the Backyard)
June 27 – Greeley, Colo. (Greeley Stampede)
June 28 – Norfolk, Neb.
June 29 – Wichita, Kan.
July 10 – Reading, Pa.
July 11 – Uncasville, Conn.
July 17 – Eau Claire, Wis. (Country Jam Fest)
July 18 – Valparaiso, Ind. (Porter County Fair)
July 24 – Green Bay, Wis.
July 25 – Moline, Ill.
Aug. 1 – Duncan, B.C. (Sunfest Country)
Aug. 2 – Sweet Home, Ore. (Oregon Jamboree)
Aug. 9 – Las Vegas
Aug. 21 – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Aug. 22 – Orange Beach, Ala.
Aug. 23 – New Orleans
Sept. 5 – North Charleston, S.C.
Sept. 6 – Augusta, Ga.
Sept. 11 – Fayetteville, Ark.
Sept. 13 – Terre Haute, Ind.
Sept. 18 – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Sept. 20 – Sioux City, Iowa
Sept. 25 – Tupelo, Miss.
Sept. 26 – Huntsville, Ala.
Oct. 3 – Roanoke, Va.
Oct. 4 – Pikeville, Ky.
Oct. 9 – Battle Creek, Mich.
Oct. 10 – Saginaw, Mich.
Oct. 11 – Toledo, Ohio
Oct. 16 – La Crosse, Wis.
Oct. 17 – Mankato, Minn.
Oct. 18 – Lincoln, Neb.
Oct. 23 – Atlanta
Oct. 24 – Tallahassee, Fla.
Oct. 25 – Vero Beach, Fla.
Nine North/Turnpike Music Launches Integrity Nashville Division
/by Jessica Nicholson“After closely observing the marketplace, there was a clear need for an entry-level company for independent Country artists desiring to pursue Music Row radio and other Secondary radio outlets,” says Pareigis. “Integrity Nashville is that company.”
Integrity Nashville will offer radio promotion, social media, publicity, marketing, management, web design and consulting services plus other services on an a la carte basis, much like its brother divisions Nine North & Turnpike Music.
Integrity Nashville has added Adelle Borchetta as Integrity Nashville’s Director of Radio Promotion and Marketing. She can be reached at adelle@integritynashville.com.
Integrity Nashville’s initial signings are Knoxville-based singer/songwriter/entertainer Homer Hart and former EMI artist Dana McVicker, with more announcements to come shortly.
Dierks Bentley To Release 'Riser' in February
/by Jessica Nicholson“I named the album Riser because the lyrics in that song perfectly articulate who I want to be, who I try to be,” Bentley explains. “There’s a lot of really intense material on this record, but there’s also a lighter side that is equally important in telling the story of the last two years of my life. When I first started writing for this album, I was in a place of grief over the loss of my dad, but over the course of the next 18 months, my wife and I had our son Knox, and I ended in a place of real joy and gratefulness. Both sides of that coin are what Country music has always been about, and I hope that my fans can feel how much of myself I put into this project. It’s all out on the table, for sure.”
Watch a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Riser below.
"Cruise" Sets All-Time Digital Download Record
/by Sarah SkatesFlorida Georgia Line
Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” is still on a remarkable ride with today’s news that it is the best selling digital Country single in Soundscan history. The song has been downloaded 6.6 million times according to Big Machine Label Group. This is a combined total of downloads of the original Country version as well as the remix featuring Nelly. “Cruise” was released more than 88 weeks ago.
Lady Antebellum’s megahit “Need You Now” was previously the best selling digital Country track, with about 6.3 million downloads.
FGL’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard wrote their debut single with producer Joey Moi, Chase Rice and Jesse Rice. The duo’s Platinum debut album Here’s To The Good Times on Republic Nashville has spawned four consecutive multi-week No. 1 hits: “Cruise,” “Get Your Shine On,” “Round Here” and “Stay.”
Including “Cruise,” Big Machine Label Group is home to four of the Top 5 best selling digital Country singles, totaling sales of 22 million downloads. Taylor Swift holds the third and fifth spots with “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” respectively. The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young” sits at No. 4.
Artist Updates (1/6/14)
/by Jessica NicholsonBrandy Clark. Photo Credit: Becky Fluke
Brandy Clark kicks off 2014 as the musical guest on The Late Show With David Letterman. Clark appears tonight (Jan. 6) alongside Lena Dunham and Max Greenfield, and will perform “Stripes” from her album, 12 Stories.
The performance will air at 11:35 p.m. ET/10:35 p.m. CT on CBS.
• • •
Dee Jay Silver
The first country DJ to be signed to a major Nashville label, DJ/remixer/producer and RCA Nashville recording artist Dee Jay Silver will hit the road with Brad Paisley when Paisley launches his Beat This Winter Tour presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®.
With a dozen dates from Jan. 10 through March 1, the lineup also includes Chris Young and Danielle Bradbery. Silver will keep the crowd’s energy high with between-show sets featuring songs from his debut EP, Country Club.
• • •
The Swon Brothers
Arista Nashville artists and NBC’s The Voice Season 4 finalists The Swon Brothers (Zach and Colton Swon), have announced “Later On” as the debut single from the duo’s upcoming album. The song, penned by Ryan Hurd, Joey Hyde and Justin Wilson, the song ships to Country radio today, with an official airplay impact date in March.
“We are beyond blessed and excited to be releasing our very first single on Arista Nashville! We believe that with the love and support from our fans this song has big potential,” says Zach Swon.
“We’ve waited and prayed for this moment our whole lives and it’s finally here! We are more than ready to meet all the folks at Country radio and want to say thank you in advance for welcoming your two new brothers to the family!,” says Colton Swon.
• • •
The song is already getting spins on SiriusXM’s The Highway.