Zac Brown Band performs at Nashville’s 2013 Southern Ground Festival.
Zac Brown’s
Southern Ground Music and Food Festival took over Nashville’s Lawn at Riverfront Park last weekend (Sept. 27-28) for a two-day extravaganza featuring performances from
Kenny Rogers, Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson & Family, Kacey Musgraves, Eli Young Band, Grace Potter, John Fogerty, Lennon & Maisy and their parents
The Stellas, Jason Mraz,
Amos Lee and many more.
Zac Brown Band’s (ZBB) familiar hits including “Keep Me In Mind,” “Colder Weather,” “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” “No Hurry,” and “Free” indulged guests. A real treat for patrons were last-minute performance announcements from 2013 CMHoF inductee
Kenny Rogers (“Just Dropped In – To See What Condition My Condition Was In,” “The Gambler”) on Friday, and 1993 CMHoF inductee
Willie Nelson the following day.
Kenny Rogers performed Friday (Sept. 27) with Zac Brown Band at Nashville’s Southern Ground Fest.
Nelson’s Saturday set extended 20-minutes beyond the schedule, while the legend played through his broken shoulder. Tunes included self-penned cuts (“Crazy,” “Good Hearted Woman”), covers (“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,” “Always On My Mind,” “Georgia On My Mind”), signature hits (“On The Road Again,” “Whiskey River” “Angel Flying Too Close To the Ground”), recent duets (“Beer For My Horses,” “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die”) and gospel tunes (“Circle Be Unbroken/I’ll Fly Away,” “I Saw The Light”).
Musgraves gave a bold performance on the Landshark satellite stage just 48 hours prior to boarding an airplane to begin her European tour. The six-time CMA Award nominee’s show featured just one cover, which she wrote (“Mama’s Broken Heart”) in addition to her own album cuts including “Stupid,” “Silver Lining” and debut single “Merry Go ‘Round.” Musgraves additionally performed her self-proclaimed latest single, “Follow Your Arrow,” which was again featured on the main stage with ZBB later that evening.
Chesney and Fogerty performed a handful of titles with the ZBB on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Chesney offered vocals on “Knee Deep” and “Running Down A Dream.” Fogerty’s performance wrapped Saturday guests with songs “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Centerfield” and “Bad Moon Rising,” which was featured as a duet on Fogerty’s
Wrote A Song For Everyone album with the ZBB.
Southern Ground’s food and drink offerings also took center stage. Organizers partitioned the park’s space even more efficiently than last year’s inaugural Nashville event, to include an expanded food court complete with a ferris wheel for viewing perspective. Vendors included Margot/Marche, Watermark, Peg Leg Porker, among others, while over eight food trucks including Jeni’s ice cream and the Grilled Cheeserie lined the walkway to the Landshark satellite stage. The Listening Room Cafe was also incorporated into this year’s events.
Southern Ground Nashville Map.
VIP tents offered particular patrons an unlimited beverage and food throughout both evenings, including oyster po’ boy, rib eye with corn and okra, shrimp and grits, ribs, wings, jambalaya, cornbread, beans and rice. Dessert included banana pudding, brownies and individualized pie selections. Exclusive stage boxes, which maintained a wait list due to the immediate sell-out, treated patrons to even more exclusive delicacies from ZBB’s personal chef,
Rusty Hamlin.
Charleston, S.C. will
host the festival Oct. 19-20.
Southern Ground Expands Nashville Festivities
/by Eric T. ParkerZac Brown Band performs at Nashville’s 2013 Southern Ground Festival.
Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Music and Food Festival took over Nashville’s Lawn at Riverfront Park last weekend (Sept. 27-28) for a two-day extravaganza featuring performances from Kenny Rogers, Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson & Family, Kacey Musgraves, Eli Young Band, Grace Potter, John Fogerty, Lennon & Maisy and their parents The Stellas, Jason Mraz, Amos Lee and many more.
Zac Brown Band’s (ZBB) familiar hits including “Keep Me In Mind,” “Colder Weather,” “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” “No Hurry,” and “Free” indulged guests. A real treat for patrons were last-minute performance announcements from 2013 CMHoF inductee Kenny Rogers (“Just Dropped In – To See What Condition My Condition Was In,” “The Gambler”) on Friday, and 1993 CMHoF inductee Willie Nelson the following day.
Kenny Rogers performed Friday (Sept. 27) with Zac Brown Band at Nashville’s Southern Ground Fest.
Nelson’s Saturday set extended 20-minutes beyond the schedule, while the legend played through his broken shoulder. Tunes included self-penned cuts (“Crazy,” “Good Hearted Woman”), covers (“Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,” “Always On My Mind,” “Georgia On My Mind”), signature hits (“On The Road Again,” “Whiskey River” “Angel Flying Too Close To the Ground”), recent duets (“Beer For My Horses,” “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die”) and gospel tunes (“Circle Be Unbroken/I’ll Fly Away,” “I Saw The Light”).
Musgraves gave a bold performance on the Landshark satellite stage just 48 hours prior to boarding an airplane to begin her European tour. The six-time CMA Award nominee’s show featured just one cover, which she wrote (“Mama’s Broken Heart”) in addition to her own album cuts including “Stupid,” “Silver Lining” and debut single “Merry Go ‘Round.” Musgraves additionally performed her self-proclaimed latest single, “Follow Your Arrow,” which was again featured on the main stage with ZBB later that evening.
Chesney and Fogerty performed a handful of titles with the ZBB on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Chesney offered vocals on “Knee Deep” and “Running Down A Dream.” Fogerty’s performance wrapped Saturday guests with songs “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Centerfield” and “Bad Moon Rising,” which was featured as a duet on Fogerty’s Wrote A Song For Everyone album with the ZBB.
Southern Ground’s food and drink offerings also took center stage. Organizers partitioned the park’s space even more efficiently than last year’s inaugural Nashville event, to include an expanded food court complete with a ferris wheel for viewing perspective. Vendors included Margot/Marche, Watermark, Peg Leg Porker, among others, while over eight food trucks including Jeni’s ice cream and the Grilled Cheeserie lined the walkway to the Landshark satellite stage. The Listening Room Cafe was also incorporated into this year’s events.
Southern Ground Nashville Map.
VIP tents offered particular patrons an unlimited beverage and food throughout both evenings, including oyster po’ boy, rib eye with corn and okra, shrimp and grits, ribs, wings, jambalaya, cornbread, beans and rice. Dessert included banana pudding, brownies and individualized pie selections. Exclusive stage boxes, which maintained a wait list due to the immediate sell-out, treated patrons to even more exclusive delicacies from ZBB’s personal chef, Rusty Hamlin.
Charleston, S.C. will host the festival Oct. 19-20.
Nielsen Acquires Arbitron
/by Michael_Smith“This is a great day for Nielsen and a natural step in our evolution,” said Nielsen CEO David Calhoun. “Arbitron will allow us to analyze and understand an additional two hours of the U.S. consumer’s day while bringing us another opportunity to provide advertisers with metrics on the effectiveness of the mediums that they advertise on.”
Arbitron has been rebranded Nielsen Audio and will be integrated into Nielsen’s U.S. Watch business segment, which primarily provides information to the media and advertising industries across different mediums. Nielsen’s newest acquisition will allow it to measure eight hours a day per person of media consumption.
“Our combined capabilities offer opportunities to measure unmeasured areas that are important to the industries and clients we serve, like streaming audio, out-of-home measurements for television consumption and deeper measurement of multicultural audiences in the U.S.,” said Calhoun. “Globally, this is an opportunity to expand our measurement of consumer behavior and introduce audio measurement capabilities in new markets.”
On Dec. 17, 2012 Nielsen agreed to purchase all of Arbitron’s outstanding common stock for a total of $1.3 billion. Nielsen expects $0.26 of accretion to adjusted net income per share during its first full year of operation and $0.32 during its second year.
Nielsen will provide further information on its upcoming year during the Q3 2013 earnings conference call, which will be held on Oct. 23.
Nashville's Omni Hotel To Open Monday
/by Jessica NicholsonA sketch of The Omni Hotel Nashville.
The Omni Hotel is set to open in downtown Nashville on Monday (Sept. 30). To commemorate the opening of Nashville’s newest hotel, a ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m., though the hotel will not be open to the public until 7 p.m.
The Omni Hotel boasts 800 guest rooms and suites, more than 80,000 square feet of meeting and event space, five culinary and entertainment venues, a rooftop pool and other amenities. The hotel is located at the corner of Demonbreun Street and 5th Ave. S., adjacent to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The Omni will fully integrate with an expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on three levels; the expansion is expected to be complete in 2014.
Eating establishments at the hotel include restaurant Barlines, Bob’s Steak & Chop House, and a Bongo Java coffee establishment.
In April 2013, the hotel booked its 250,000th room, a full four months ahead of schedule.
Luke Bryan, Brett Eldredge Join Miles & Music For Kids Ride
/by Lorie HollabaughRegistration for the ride begins at 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, while gates will open at 1:30 p.m.
Combo tickets for the ride and concert are available for $50 and individual concert tickets are $30 through Ticketmaster. VIP packages are also available, and more ticket information can be found at dierks.com.
Industry Bands Battle It Out For CRS
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Chris Palmer (VP, Promotion), Terry Watson (Sr. Manager, Studio Services), Stephanie Haymes (Assistant, A&R), Scott Allender (VP, Global Human Resources), John Esposito (President & CEO, WMN), Cris Lacy (VP, A&R), Scott Hendricks (SVP, A&R), Kristen Williams (Dir., National Promotion), Geoff Turner (Music Ministry Representative), Rick Young (Regional Promotion Mgr.), Tony Bakker (Owner, Six String Country)
Representatives from labels and other music-affiliated companies rocked the second annual “CRS Battle of the Bands” event on Thursday night (Sept. 26), at Nashville music venue 3rd & Lindsley. The line-up of performers included employees from Hard Rock Cafe, Renaissance Hotel, Sony Music Nashville, SunTrust Sports & Entertainment and Warner Music Nashville.
Based on an audience applause-meter and monetary donations from the crowd, Warner Music Group took home the title of the 2013 CRS Battle of the Bands winner. The proceeds from the industry event went to the CRS Scholarship Fund and The Country Radio Hall of Fame.
MusicRowPics: Jo Dee Messina
/by Jessica NicholsonJo Dee Messina Artist Visit
Jo Dee Messina visited MusicRow‘s offices on Thursday afternoon (Sept. 26).
Messina, no longer signed with Curb Records, has taken an innovative approach to the making and recording of her forthcoming album. She put fans in the driver’s seat on the new project, allowing them to choose the first single (fans selected “Peace Sign,” a sly kiss-off to a bad relationship) and the title of the album, Me. Messina says the project should be completed by the end of October.
The singer-songwriter kicked off her visit with “Peace Sign,” backed by four musicians.
“Last year, I got off my label and I wanted to do something for the people,” explained Messina. “I started posting songs on YouTube, Twitter and other sites. I asked fans whether certain songs should be on the album.” She also began using Kickstarter, which provides tools to raise funds for creative projects via crowdfunding. Messina received $121,000 worth of investments toward the project in 30 days. Fans contributed at different levels, allowing them to receive various levels of rewards, including CDs, t-shirts, the chance to have Jo Dee perform a private concert for them, and more. Some fans who invested in the project came to Nashville to sing on one of the album’s songs. The entertainer has delved into every part of the album and Kickstarter process, from responding to fans’ investments to sending out 8x10s, t-shirts and other items.
The past few years have been non-stop work for Messina, who has learned to balance her roles as singer, songwriter and businesswoman with roles as daughter (caring for her mother who has been in the hospital), wife and mother to an 18-month-old son. “I felt pulled so thin. I’m somebody’s mother, daughter, teacher. When I look into the mirror I had to see Wonder Woman, but instead I see me,” said Messina. That realization led to the writing of the album’s introspective and emotional title track, “Me.”
After performing the ballad for MusicRow staff, Messina performed another highly-voted new fan favorite, “A Woman’s Rant,” an uptempo country romp laced with banjo. Later, she performed a series of her earlier radio hits, including “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” “A Lesson In Leavin'” and “Bring On The Rain.”
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THiS Music Adds Two
/by Jessica NicholsonJeff Carlton
THiS Music has hired additional staff. Kendall Lettow has been named the new Creative Director. She is an MTSU graduate and previously worked with Still Working Music. Publishing veteran Jeff Carlton comes aboard as Creative Consultant.
Carlton will represent THiS Music while continuing his affiliation with Parallel Entertainment’s Publishing arm. He was previously with Bigger Picture Publishing and spent numerous years as the head of independent publishing company Hamstein.
Kendell Lettow
“We’re having a blast at THiS Music and I couldn’t be happier to add Kendall’s passion and Jeff’s experience to our family,” said THiS Music’s GM/Partner, Rusty Gaston.
Lettow can be contacted at klettow@thismusic.com, while Carlton can be contacted at jcarltontn@comcast.net.
THiS Music is home to songwriters including Tim Nichols, Connie Harrington, Jimmy Yeary, Ben Hayslip, Leah Turner, Marv Green, Molly Reed and others.
'MusicRow' No. 1 Song
/by contributorLuke Bryan. Photo: Joseph Llanes
The pinnacle of song and album charts seems to attract Luke Bryan like a moth to a flame. Even controversy couldn’t keep “That’s My Kind Of Night” away from the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 position this week. The song was co-written by Dallas Davidson, Ashley Gorley and Chris DeStefano.
Not only did his Crash My Party album debut with sales of nearly 530,000 units in its first week in August, but his Spring Break…Here To Party cashed in at nearly 150,000 units for its release week, just five months prior.
Catch a peek at Bryan in the music video for “That’s My Kind Of Night” below.
Artist Updates (9-27-13)
/by Lorie Hollabaugh• A trailer of Trace Adkins‘ new movie, The Virginian, has been released. The film has been remade several times over the decades, and Adkins plays the lead role in the western, which also stars Ron Perlman, George Canyon, and Victoria Pratt. Adkins portrays “South” in the film, a ranch foreman and henchman for cattle baron Judge Henry who gets pulled into a cattle rustling investigation with some sticky results. A release date for the film has not yet been announced.
• Jason Aldean will star alongside Mad Men‘s January Jones and actor Ed Harris in a Western himself, Sweetwater, and he gets to indulge his inner mad man in the film. Aldean plays a villainous henchman in the movie, a story about a former lady of the evening who moves out West with her husband and ends up in the middle of blood shed over a fanatical landowner’s religious beliefs. Aldean tweeted a poster for the movie earlier this week, and reports he blows away a few men with his six-shooter in the film, due out Oct. 9.
Lee and Sara Brice
• Lee Brice and wife Sara are breaking out the crib again, as Sara is expecting baby number two. The singer broke the news about his second son on social media, including several family pics of Sara and older son, four-year-old Takoda. The busy daddy will continue to tour heavily through the end of the year, however, kicking off his 15-city Other Side Tour with Tyler Farr and Chris Lane this Fall and touring with Brad Paisley as well.
BMG Chrysalis Signs Varble
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Kevin Lane, Creative Director; Kos Weaver, Executive Vice President – BMG Chrysalis Nashville, Wynn Varble, Sara Johnson, Sr. Creative Director; Daniel Lee, Sr. Creative Director.
BMG Chrysalis has signed singer-songwriter Wynn Varble to its roster of writers.
Varble, a Georgia native, is the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s 2009 Songwriter of the Year and is a writer behind Easton Corbin‘s breakthrough hit “A Little More Country Than That” (along with Rory Lee Feek and Don Poythress). Varble has also co-written songs recorded by Brad Paisley (“Waitin’ On A Woman”), Darryl Worley (“Have You Forgotten”), Kellie Pickler (“Things That Never Cross A Man’s Mind”), Garth Brooks, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan and others.