Written by: Michela Gacioch & Eric Parker
Pictured (L-R) Front: Chris DeStefano (Co-writer/producer), Camille Alston, Brett Eldredge, Chris Stacey (SVP Promotion, WMN), Ashley Gorley (co-writer), Lou Ramirez (Regional Promo Mgr – SW, WMN). Back: Josh Van Valkenburg (Dir. A&R, EMI Music Publishing), Rob Baker (RLB Artist Management), Peter Strickland (EVP & GM, WMN), Scott Hendricks (Sr. VP A&R, WMN), Kevin Herring (VP National Promotion, WMN) and Chad Schultz (National Dir. Radio Interactive Mktg., WMN)
Despite the rain in Nashville on Tuesday (July 30),
Brett Eldredge celebrated the forthcoming Aug. 6 release of his debut album,
Bring You Back, at Nashville’s Marathon Village. The evening featured Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, beverages and brownie desserts courtesy of Eldredge’s mother. The soulful singer delivered the Atlantic Records album in its entirety for an audience including friends, family and industry executives.
Throughout the evening, Eldredge’s powerhouse performances included “Bring You Back,” which he delivered with songwriters
Ross Copperman and
Heather Morgan, and the current single, “Don’t Ya,” alongside co-writers
Chris DeStefano and
Ashley Gorley. To commemorate the Top 5 single’s success, Warner executives presented the newcomer his first RIAA Gold single plaque, in addition to recognitions for the co-writers.
Additional performances included “Tell Me Where To Park” with one of the song’s co-writers
Jon Nite.
Barry Dean and
Luke Laird helped perform their co-write “Gotta Get There,” while
Tom Douglas performed on the emotional ballad, “One Mississippi,” which he co-wrote. Culminating the evening was a tribute to the late
Lindsay Walleman of Warner Music Nashville with a rendition of the
Ross Copperman and
Natalie Hemby co-written song, “Go On Without Me.”
“I wish I could personally deliver the album to each and every one of my fans,” said Eldredge. “To celebrate my debut album and my first Gold single with everyone that has stood by me on this ride, was an amazing night and one that I will never forget.”
The entertainer’s party will continue next week as he headlines New York City’s Highline Ballroom on Aug. 6, the same day
Bring You Back hits shelves. He will make his late night TV debut the next evening on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, followed by appearances on
Live with Kelly & Michael and
Today on Aug. 9.
Eldredge has opened 19 shows on
Taylor Swift’s RED Tour. This summer he can be seen throughout the country at fairs and festivals, in addition to select tour dates with
Dierks Bentley and
Miranda Lambert.
Bring You Back Track Listing
1) Tell Me Where To Park (Eldredge/Nite/Becker)
2) Don’t Ya (Eldredge/DeStefano/Gorley)
3) Bring You Back (Copperman/Morgan)
4) On And On (Eldredge/Laird/McAnally)
5) Gotta Get There (Eldredge/Laird/Dean)
6) One Mississippi (Eldredge/Douglas)
7) Beat Of The Music (Eldredge/Copperman/Morgan)
8) Waited Too Long (Eldredge/Crisler)
9) Mean To Me (Eldredge/Carusoe)
10) Signs (Eldredge/Crisler/Anderson)
11) Raymond (Eldredge/Crisler)
12) Go On Without Me (Eldredge/Copperman/Hemby)
[Update] Urban Confirmed To Return To 'Idol'
/by contributorKeith Urban
Lorie Hollabaugh
Keith Urban will return to the judge’s chair for a second season of American Idol. Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly confirmed that Keith Urban is returning for Season 13 of the singing competition at a Television Critics Association session in Beverly Hills today.
The season 12 judge will have some new company at the table this fall since Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, and Nicki Minaj all departed the show after last season. Idol producers are reportedly in talks with Jennifer Lopez, Idol alum Jennifer Hudson, and Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am to helm the table for the latest round of the long-running competition. Tryouts for the show are currently being held around the country.
Oliver Hudson
In other TV news, Nashville’s second season should get even steamier with the addition of another love interest for Connie Britton’s character Rayna, TVLine.com reports. Rules of Engagement’s Oliver Hudson will join the cast as the roguish, outgoing label exec who has eyes for Rayna when her album sales soar following her near-fatal auto accident with longtime love Deacon. Hudson is the son of actress Goldie Hawn and brother of actress Kate Hudson. The Music City drama returns to ABC Sept. 25.
CMT Building Sells For $11.2 Million
/by Jessica NicholsonThe building went on the market in January 2013; CMT renewed its lease on 86,000 square feet of space for an additional seven years. The network invested more than $20 million in the space over the past 10 years. The seller of the building is the Atlanta-based Wells Real Estate Funds, which paid nearly $13.8 million for the location in 2007.
The property listing included four stories of office space and two levels of parking; it does not include an additional seven levels of parking and the ground-level retail space.
Also housed in the building is the Tennessee Information Consortium, which leases more than 11,000 square feet.
Industry Pics (8-1-13)
/by Jessica NicholsonRegions Bank in Nashville was the site of a shoot for a new episode of Cowboy Dan’s Frontier, a kids’ show which airs Saturdays on RURAL-TV/FamilyNet. Mountain Man (Tim Guraedy) shared his tips for living and the story of how he became a part of the Duck Dynasty television show.
Pictured (L-R): Lisa Harless of Regions Bank, Tim Guraedy of Duck Dynasty, and Cowboy Dan Harrell.
• • •
Fifty Leadership Music alumni and their families partnered recently with the Second Harvest Food Bank to pack approximately 1500 backpacks for the organization’s Backpacks For Children program through Leadership Music’s Gift of Service committee.
Pictured (L-R): Stacy Widelitz, Jaynee Day (LM board member and Pres. of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN), Liz Kiley and Debbie Carroll.
• • •
Director Roman White and artist Jason Crabb on the set of Crabb’s new video “Love Is Stronger.”
Pictured (L-R): Jason Crabb and Roman White
NARM Adds to Board of Directors
/by Jessica NicholsonAnthony Montenegro
NARM has welcomed Nokia’s Anthony Montenegro to the Board Of Directors. Montenegro replaces Nokia’s Jonathan Dworkin, who is no longer with the company.
Montenegro joined Nokia as Head of Americas for the Ovi Music Services organization in December of 2008. Since joining Nokia, he has held a number of roles supporting Nokia’s mobile entertainment platforms, most notably Nokia’s Comes With Music, Ovi Music Store, and Nokia Music/Nokia Music+ services. He has overseen international teams with market launches in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.
NARM’s Board of Directors also includes Rachelle Friedman (J&R Music World), Chairman; Brent Muhle (iTunes), Vice Chairman; John Trickett (Immergent), Treasurer; Len Cosimano, Director-at-Large; Christina Calio (Microsoft), Mike Davis (Alliance Entertainment Corp), Mike Fratt (Homer’s), Steve Harkins (Baker & Taylor), Dilyn Radakovitz (Dimple Records), Ryan Redington (Amazon), Steve Savoca (Spotify), and Jeff Toig (Muve Music).
Mark Your Calendar – August 2013
/by Eric T. ParkerAugust 1
Nashville Dancin’
August 9
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Hot Nights with Craig Campbell
August 11
Teen Choice Awards two-hour event on FOX
August 12
CMA Music Fest airs on ABC
August 14
IBMA Nominations
August 19
27th Annual Music Row Ladies Golf Tournament at the Old Natchez Country Club
August 21
Dove Nominations
August 25
MTV Video Music Awards
August 30
Second round CMA ballot closes at 5:00 p.m. CT
August 1
Lonestar/Party All Day/4 Star Records
August 5
Austin Webb/Slip On By/Streamsound
Jennifer Nettles/That Girl/UMG
Jason Mitchell/Stomp/WeBlast/Tenacity
Luke Bryan/That’s My Kind Of Night/Capitol
August 6
Brett Eldredge/Bring You Back/Atlantic
August 8
Angie Johnson/Swagger/Sony Music
August 12
Josh Thompson/Cold Beer With Your Name On It/Show Dog-Universal
Kristy Lee Cook feat. Randy Houser/Wherever Love Goes/Broken Bow Records
Will Hoge/Strong/Prospector/Crescendo
August 19
Due West/Slide On Over/Sovereign 3 Records
Jolie Holiday/Waffle House/Shamrock Records
Cole Swindell/Chilin’ It/Warner Music Nashville
Laura Bell Bundy/Two Step/Big Machine
August 6
Brett Eldredge/Bring You Back/Atlantic Records
The Civil Wars/The Civil Wars/Sensibility Music-Columbia Records
Clint Black/When I Said I Do/Cracker Barrel
August 13
Luke Bryan/Crash My Party/Capitol Nashville
Carrie Underwood/The Blown Away Tour:LIVE [DVD]/Sony Nashville-Arista
Erin Enderlin/I Let Her Talk
August 16
Ashton Shepherd/This Is America/Pickin’ Shed Records
August 20
Charlie Worsham/Rubberband/Warner Bros.
Various/The Big E: A Salute to Steel Guitarist Buddy Emmons/MPE-WMN
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby/Cluck Ol’ Hen/Skaggs Family Records
Ben Rector/The Walking In Between/Aptly Named Recordings
The Lumineers/The Lumineers [Deluxe Edition]/Dualtone Records
The Lacs/Keep It Redneck/Average Joes
August 27
Various/ALABAMA & Friends/Show Dog-Universal Music
Sundy Best/Door Without A Screen: Deluxe Edition/eOne Music
Financials Report: Sony To Reject IPO Proposal, Spotify Revenues Increase
/by Jessica NicholsonThird Point possesses 6.9 percent of Sony Corp.’s shares. The company proposed to sell a maximum of 20 percent of Sony’s music, film and television divisions to the public in an initial public offering.
The music division reported a 13.3 percent revenue increase of $1.13 billion in the second quarter, according to Billboard. There was also a 48.1 percent operating income of $109 million. Due to a weak yen, however, the division’s sales were “essentially flat,” compared to 2012’s second quarter.
• • •
The company offers millions of songs for free and through monthly $10 subscriptions, thus eliminating ads and offering features not available to users who do not pay for a subscription. Spotify is now in 28 markets worldwide; in March the company reported it had 24 million active users (including a quarter of them being paying customers).
Brett Eldredge Goes Gold Before Debut Album Release
/by contributorWritten by: Michela Gacioch & Eric Parker
Pictured (L-R) Front: Chris DeStefano (Co-writer/producer), Camille Alston, Brett Eldredge, Chris Stacey (SVP Promotion, WMN), Ashley Gorley (co-writer), Lou Ramirez (Regional Promo Mgr – SW, WMN). Back: Josh Van Valkenburg (Dir. A&R, EMI Music Publishing), Rob Baker (RLB Artist Management), Peter Strickland (EVP & GM, WMN), Scott Hendricks (Sr. VP A&R, WMN), Kevin Herring (VP National Promotion, WMN) and Chad Schultz (National Dir. Radio Interactive Mktg., WMN)
Despite the rain in Nashville on Tuesday (July 30), Brett Eldredge celebrated the forthcoming Aug. 6 release of his debut album, Bring You Back, at Nashville’s Marathon Village. The evening featured Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, beverages and brownie desserts courtesy of Eldredge’s mother. The soulful singer delivered the Atlantic Records album in its entirety for an audience including friends, family and industry executives.
Throughout the evening, Eldredge’s powerhouse performances included “Bring You Back,” which he delivered with songwriters Ross Copperman and Heather Morgan, and the current single, “Don’t Ya,” alongside co-writers Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley. To commemorate the Top 5 single’s success, Warner executives presented the newcomer his first RIAA Gold single plaque, in addition to recognitions for the co-writers.
Additional performances included “Tell Me Where To Park” with one of the song’s co-writers Jon Nite. Barry Dean and Luke Laird helped perform their co-write “Gotta Get There,” while Tom Douglas performed on the emotional ballad, “One Mississippi,” which he co-wrote. Culminating the evening was a tribute to the late Lindsay Walleman of Warner Music Nashville with a rendition of the Ross Copperman and Natalie Hemby co-written song, “Go On Without Me.”
“I wish I could personally deliver the album to each and every one of my fans,” said Eldredge. “To celebrate my debut album and my first Gold single with everyone that has stood by me on this ride, was an amazing night and one that I will never forget.”
The entertainer’s party will continue next week as he headlines New York City’s Highline Ballroom on Aug. 6, the same day Bring You Back hits shelves. He will make his late night TV debut the next evening on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, followed by appearances on Live with Kelly & Michael and Today on Aug. 9.
Eldredge has opened 19 shows on Taylor Swift’s RED Tour. This summer he can be seen throughout the country at fairs and festivals, in addition to select tour dates with Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert.
Bring You Back Track Listing
1) Tell Me Where To Park (Eldredge/Nite/Becker)
2) Don’t Ya (Eldredge/DeStefano/Gorley)
3) Bring You Back (Copperman/Morgan)
4) On And On (Eldredge/Laird/McAnally)
5) Gotta Get There (Eldredge/Laird/Dean)
6) One Mississippi (Eldredge/Douglas)
7) Beat Of The Music (Eldredge/Copperman/Morgan)
8) Waited Too Long (Eldredge/Crisler)
9) Mean To Me (Eldredge/Carusoe)
10) Signs (Eldredge/Crisler/Anderson)
11) Raymond (Eldredge/Crisler)
12) Go On Without Me (Eldredge/Copperman/Hemby)
Sidewalk Records Hires National Director of Promotion
/by Jessica NicholsonLori Hartigan
Sidewalk Records has added Lori Hartigan as the National Director of Promotion.
Most recently, Hartigan was part of the executive management team at Phil Vassar’s Rodeowave Entertainment. She also spent 19 years at Arista Nashville, where she worked with Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Diamond Rio and more.
Having recently obtained her masters in Organizational Development, Hartigan says, “I look forward to applying many of the concepts of my studies into action at a label that is as dedicated towards its future as I’ve ever worked for within the music business. I have an incredible love for developing new and young talent, and Sidewalk Records offers such a unique opportunity to bring the next generation of country artists to the market.”
Sidewalk Records artists include Tyler Dean, Dylan Scott, Martin Ramey, Morgan Frazier and Tim Dugger.
Randy Travis Discharged From Baylor Heart Hospital
/by Jessica NicholsonRandy Travis
Randy Travis has been discharged from Baylor Heart in Plano, Texas, according to his publicist. The Country entertainer has been relocated to a physical therapy facility.
“Thanks to all the fans and friends for your continued prayers and support as Randy continues on the road to recovery,” says Travis’ fiancée Mary Davis.
The singer was admitted to the hospital earlier this month and treated for idiopathic cardiomyopathy.
Official updates on Travis’ condition will be made available at randytravis.com as his condition changes.
Music City Roots Coming To Nashville Public Television
/by Jessica NicholsonAccording to musiccityroots.tumblr.com,WNET (New York), WGBH (Boston) and KLRU (Austin, Texas), along with stations in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., have also signed on to present the series.
Buddy Miller, Shawn Camp, Elizabeth Cook, 18 South, Bobby Bare, Humming House, Derek Hoke, Rod Picott, Kevin Gordon, Leon Russell, Honeyhoney, Langhorne Slim, Della Mae, The Delta Saints, Jon Byrd and Dugas are all slated to appear during the first season of the television series Music City Roots: Live From The Loveless Cafe, along with Jim Lauderdale as musical host.