Cerrito
All hail the fine folks at CDX. Not only do these bi-monthly compilation discs keep us up to date on what the major labels are putting out (or aren’t, which seems to be the case lately), each one is also a smorgasbord of what the indies are offering. For me, that means the anticipation of hearing new voices. This week’s column is a sampling from that smorgasbord. Here to remind us that not everything needs to be serious is the durable
Cerrito. His novelty tune is just silly enough to win the
Disc of the Day prize. I have no idea who
North 40 is/are. But among the many unknowns I listened to today, they were my favorites. Give ‘em a
DisCovery Award.
DOUG NEWMAN & SOS RENEWAL/Gonna Give You Praise
Writers: Doug Newman; Producer: Robert Metzger; Publisher: Buddy & Billy/Sony-ATV Songs, BMI; Platinum Plus
-The track is slightly sloppy, old-time rock ‘n’ roll. The singer is righteously into it. Retro all the way.
JOE/Final Curtain Call
Writers: Gene Cash; Producer: Allen Cash; Publisher: Divison, BMI; Music Row (CDX)
-The cow is moaning in the barn. Somebody put it out to pasture.
BLACKJACK BILLY/The Booze Cruise
Writers: Noll Billings/Jeff Coplan/Chuck Jones; Producers: Jeff Coplan and Blackjack Billy; Publishers: 3rd Nineteen/Vandermont/City Angel/Ole Red Cape/Roots Three/Ole/No E No D/Big Spaces/Amplified Admin/Poppy Loppy, ASCAP/SOCAN/BMI; TTA (CDX)
-Energetic and merry, if rather melodically challenged.
KARI & BILLY/Play Me a Fiddle Song
Writers: Billy Arnold; Producers: Billy Arnold and Kari Arnold; Publisher: none listed; BMI; Applause (CDX)
-Earnest and well meaning, but thin sounding. Kari, by the way, can barely be heard. Despite the billing, this is essentially a Billy performance.
BURLY CLYDE/Living In America
Writers: Charlie Midnight/Dan Hartman; Producers; Mark Needham and Charlie Midnight; Publishers: Bay Parkway/Round Hill Works, BMI; MAN (CDX)
-That’s right: It’s the 1986 James Brown hit refashioned as a wailing country-rocker. Kinda different. Kinda cool.
CERRITO/Hot Pepper Doll
Writers: Cy Coben; Producers: Felipe De LaRosa, Bartley Pursely and Cerrito; Publisher: Delmore, ASCAP; Checo (CDX)
-This Latin bopper comes complete with staccato horn bursts as it praises the spicy culinary skills of his betrothed. They’ll be wed if his stomach can take the heat. Very cute.
NORTH 40/Hey Girl Hey
Writers: Paige Logan/Amber Rose; Producers: Leigh Reynolds and Mills Logan; Publisher: Molly Jack, BMI; Rhymetown (CDX)
-The lead singer has an attractively smokey, dramatic delivery, and she struts her way through this with moxie to spare. This is her night to rock.
JAY JOLLEY/God Save Us All From Religion
Writers: Doug Johnson, Charlie Daniels and Kim Williams; Producer: Chuck Alkazian; Publishers: Sony ATV Cross Keys/Triple Cross/Mike Curb/Sweet Radical/Wooley Swamp, BMI/ASCAP; Double J (CDX)
-“We’ve got Jews and Muslims and ten thousand flavors of Christians,” ponders the man at the bar while he watches a hypocrite preacher on TV. “We kill in God’s name.” Which leads to the title phrase.
JARED BLAKE/Countrified
Writers: Jared Blake, Skidd Mills, Carl Bell; Producer: Skidd Mills; Publishers: Hey Y’all Watch This/Skiddoo/Lucky Diamond, BMI; Skiddco (CDX)
-She’s a city sophisticate, but he’s going to change her by exposing her to honky-tonkin,’ drinking and brawling. Guess what? It works. The screaming guitar and his drawling, baritone, Southern-rock delivery must have done the trick.
LOGAN TUDEEN/Circles
Writers: Logan Tudeen/Kent Wells; Producer: Kent Wells; Publishers: Logan Tudeen/Creek Valley; BMI/ASCAP; Go Time (CDX)
-The track has a moody, bluesy tone. She has a penetrating voice, yet it sounds like she is trying a little too hard. Forceful, but not something I’d listen to again.
iV Launches Strategic Music Licensing Division
/by Michael_SmithSteve Keller
Audio agency iV has launched a strategic music licensing division named Creatively Driven to nurture relationships between brands and artists.
“Working with artists to create branded music assets can be an important part of an audio branding initiative,” says iV CEO/Strategist Steve Keller. “We wanted to create a way to facilitate unique, creative relationships between brands and artists. All of the artists we represent are interested not only in licensing existing material, but in creating original musical content that can be owned by the brand.”
iV Creative Facilitator Wendy Duffy will help coordinate the new division. Duffy’s background includes working with networks, studios and creative directors in several sectors of media. “Nashville is uniquely suited as a hub for this kind of creative collaboration,” says Duffy. “iV works less as a music vendor and more as an audio agency, concerned with the development of congruent, distinct, and recognizable audio identities for our clients.”
iV is an audio agency that specializes in the strategy, creation, evaluation, and management necessary to create successful audio branding initiatives. Since launching the company in 2005, the company’s clients include Vodafone, Opel, Nestea, Trojan, Olay, Burger King, Ritter Sport, Ehrmann, Jacobs, Audi, Union Investment, Commerzbank, Coca-Cola and more.
Weekly Register: Country Sales Slip To Negative Territory
/by Sarah SkatesYear-to-date Country album sales slipped into negative territory this week. With a lack of new superstar product, the industry is down -1.8 percent compared to the same week last year. Total country album sales are at 20.740 million YTD. Overall album sales are down -6.3 percent with sales of 151.652 million YTD.
It’s doubtful the Nashville slump will turn around until next month when the release schedule picks up with new music from Luke Bryan (Aug. 13). The list continues in September with albums by Keith Urban (Sept. 10), followed a week later by Billy Currington, Chris Young and Justin Moore, all on Sept. 17.
Sheryl Crow’s first country label effort, Feels Like Home, will be released by Warner Bros. Sept. 10. Lead single “Easy” is already a hit, but it remains to be seen if country fans will be receptive of the crossover star when it comes time to open wallets at the register.
Florida Georgia Line hangs at No. 1 on the country albums chart, moving 31k this week, while the duo’s monster hit “Cruise” zooms past the 5 million downloads mark.
Country tracks are up 10 percent YTD with sales of 99 million. Overall tracks are down -2.6 percent.
With temps in the 90s, it’s hard to believe the first round of CMA Awards voting is already open for the November trophy fest. The deadline to submit nomination ballots is Mon., July 22 at 5:00 PM/CT. The second ballot will be emailed to CMA members Tues., Aug. 20.
MusicRowRecess: Music Row Companies Get Flocked!
/by Jessica NicholsonMusic Row Ladies Golf Tournament is raising money and awareness for charity by adding some colorful flamingos all over Music Row.The tournament, sponsored by ASCAP, City National Bank, Tim McGraw and McGhee Entertainment, benefits United Cerebral Palsy of Middle Tennessee.
Each company that gets “flocked” pays a small fee for “flamingo removal,” and passes the pink lawn ornaments onto another music industry company.
See what companies around the row have been “flocked” so far!
MusicRow Magazine
Kobalt Music
Sea Gayle Music Publishing
BMG Chrysalis
Warner Music Nashville
Black River Entertainment
Carnival Music
BMI Nashville office
ASCAP Nashville office
SESAC Nashville office
Sony Music Publishing
Sony Music Nashville
Warner/Chappell Music
Taylor Swift Grabs MTV VMA Nominations
/by Jessica NicholsonTaylor Swift
Taylor Swift is among the artists up for trophies at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards, to be held Aug. 25 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Swift’s clip for “I Knew You Were Trouble” garnered the 23-year-old singer nominations in the Video of the Year and the Best Female Video categories. In 2009, Swift won in the Best Female Video category for “You Belong With Me.”
Justin Timberlake, along with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, tie for most nominations this year with six nods apiece.
'Celebrity Motor Homes' Premieres July 17 on GAC
/by Jessica NicholsonThe premiere episode on July 17 features Jake Owen, Dallas Cowboys and Brad Pitt. The first stop is in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. for a tour of Owen’s 52-foot mobile home, with barn floors, a leather couch, beer tap, vintage red refrigerator, master bath and a custom bunk for his daughter Pearl. The episode will also visit Arlington, Texas to tour the Dallas Cowboys bus that features nine televisions, an executive meeting room and memorabilia. Finally, they travel to Burbank, Calif. to look inside a movie trailer used by Pitt.
Future episodes are listed below:
July 24 – Simon Cowell, Gretchen Wilson, Eli Young Band
July 31 – Heidi Klum, pro golfer Steve Elkington, Craig Morgan
Aug. 7 – Montgomery Gentry, comedian Jeff Dunham, Rodney Atkins
Aug. 14 – Florida Georgia Line, Brian Deegan, Jana Kramer
Aug. 21 – NASCAR’s Johanna Long, Kix Brooks, Justin Moore
DisClaimer: What The Indies Are Offering
/by Robert K OermannCerrito
All hail the fine folks at CDX. Not only do these bi-monthly compilation discs keep us up to date on what the major labels are putting out (or aren’t, which seems to be the case lately), each one is also a smorgasbord of what the indies are offering. For me, that means the anticipation of hearing new voices. This week’s column is a sampling from that smorgasbord. Here to remind us that not everything needs to be serious is the durable Cerrito. His novelty tune is just silly enough to win the Disc of the Day prize. I have no idea who North 40 is/are. But among the many unknowns I listened to today, they were my favorites. Give ‘em a DisCovery Award.
DOUG NEWMAN & SOS RENEWAL/Gonna Give You Praise
Writers: Doug Newman; Producer: Robert Metzger; Publisher: Buddy & Billy/Sony-ATV Songs, BMI; Platinum Plus
-The track is slightly sloppy, old-time rock ‘n’ roll. The singer is righteously into it. Retro all the way.
JOE/Final Curtain Call
Writers: Gene Cash; Producer: Allen Cash; Publisher: Divison, BMI; Music Row (CDX)
-The cow is moaning in the barn. Somebody put it out to pasture.
BLACKJACK BILLY/The Booze Cruise
Writers: Noll Billings/Jeff Coplan/Chuck Jones; Producers: Jeff Coplan and Blackjack Billy; Publishers: 3rd Nineteen/Vandermont/City Angel/Ole Red Cape/Roots Three/Ole/No E No D/Big Spaces/Amplified Admin/Poppy Loppy, ASCAP/SOCAN/BMI; TTA (CDX)
-Energetic and merry, if rather melodically challenged.
KARI & BILLY/Play Me a Fiddle Song
Writers: Billy Arnold; Producers: Billy Arnold and Kari Arnold; Publisher: none listed; BMI; Applause (CDX)
-Earnest and well meaning, but thin sounding. Kari, by the way, can barely be heard. Despite the billing, this is essentially a Billy performance.
BURLY CLYDE/Living In America
Writers: Charlie Midnight/Dan Hartman; Producers; Mark Needham and Charlie Midnight; Publishers: Bay Parkway/Round Hill Works, BMI; MAN (CDX)
-That’s right: It’s the 1986 James Brown hit refashioned as a wailing country-rocker. Kinda different. Kinda cool.
CERRITO/Hot Pepper Doll
Writers: Cy Coben; Producers: Felipe De LaRosa, Bartley Pursely and Cerrito; Publisher: Delmore, ASCAP; Checo (CDX)
-This Latin bopper comes complete with staccato horn bursts as it praises the spicy culinary skills of his betrothed. They’ll be wed if his stomach can take the heat. Very cute.
Writers: Paige Logan/Amber Rose; Producers: Leigh Reynolds and Mills Logan; Publisher: Molly Jack, BMI; Rhymetown (CDX)
-The lead singer has an attractively smokey, dramatic delivery, and she struts her way through this with moxie to spare. This is her night to rock.
JAY JOLLEY/God Save Us All From Religion
Writers: Doug Johnson, Charlie Daniels and Kim Williams; Producer: Chuck Alkazian; Publishers: Sony ATV Cross Keys/Triple Cross/Mike Curb/Sweet Radical/Wooley Swamp, BMI/ASCAP; Double J (CDX)
-“We’ve got Jews and Muslims and ten thousand flavors of Christians,” ponders the man at the bar while he watches a hypocrite preacher on TV. “We kill in God’s name.” Which leads to the title phrase.
JARED BLAKE/Countrified
Writers: Jared Blake, Skidd Mills, Carl Bell; Producer: Skidd Mills; Publishers: Hey Y’all Watch This/Skiddoo/Lucky Diamond, BMI; Skiddco (CDX)
-She’s a city sophisticate, but he’s going to change her by exposing her to honky-tonkin,’ drinking and brawling. Guess what? It works. The screaming guitar and his drawling, baritone, Southern-rock delivery must have done the trick.
LOGAN TUDEEN/Circles
Writers: Logan Tudeen/Kent Wells; Producer: Kent Wells; Publishers: Logan Tudeen/Creek Valley; BMI/ASCAP; Go Time (CDX)
-The track has a moody, bluesy tone. She has a penetrating voice, yet it sounds like she is trying a little too hard. Forceful, but not something I’d listen to again.
Keith Urban Launches Greeting Card Collection
/by Jessica NicholsonA birthday card from the Keith Urban collection that features Urban’s single “Long, Hot Summer.”
Keith Urban fans now have a new way to give music as a gift this summer–not through an album, download or concert tickets, but through greeting cards.
Urban has teamed with Hallmark Gold Crown stores to offer a collection of Hallmark Keith Urban sound cards that includes 12 cards, ranging from celebrating birthdays and friendship, to sending love and encouragement. Priced at $4.99, each card in the line features a 15-second sound clip from some of Urban’s songs such as “Long, Hot Summer” and “Sweet Thing.”
“For me, a card, like music, has the ability to make an emotional connection,” says Urban. “I love knowing that these cards, and my music, will mark such meaningful moments in so many people’s lives!”
The Blackbird Academy to Reveal Facility with Katie Couric
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Robert Novogratz, Cortney Novogratz, Martina McBride, John McBride and Gavin DeGraw. Photo: Brian Totoro
Together with wife Martina McBride, John McBride plans to reveal his recently prepared Blackbird Academy on Katie Couric’s Katie tomorrow (July 17).
Husband and wife design team Robert and Cortney Novogratz, widely known for Bravo-TV’s 9 by Design, HGTV’s Home by Novogratz and numerous publication appearances, helped prepare a 30-person “Learning Laboratory” to be revealed on the syndicated daytime TV show.
In anticipation for the audio school’s first class this fall, custom-built classrooms were constructed around the campus of the world-renowned Blackbird Studio. The Blackbird Academy will offer comprehensive instruction and virtually unlimited hands-on access for students. Co-directors and industry veterans Kevin Becka and Mark Rubel have designed a curriculum in anticipation of becoming the educational gateway to the recording and live sound industries.
“Opening a school has been a dream of mine,” said John McBride. “After talking with hundreds of Blackbird Studio interns and hearing about their experiences, I believe we can provide a better and more affordable educational solution than what is currently available.”
For more information, visit the Blackbird Academy’s official site, email, or call at 1-855-385-3251.
For MusicRow’s exclusive interview with McBride about the academy, click here.
Artist Photos (7-16-13)
/by Jessica NicholsonMCA Nashville singer/songwriter Drake White made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Friday night. The Hokes Bluff, Ala. native performed his single “The Simple Life” with the legendary Opry band and an acoustic version of “Always Want What You Can’t Have;” both songs will appear on Drake’s debut album due out early next year.
Drake White
• • •
Thomas Rhett was joined by Jason Aldean onstage for “Dirt Road Anthem” and “1994,” Aldean’s single that was co-written by Rhett, during Aldeans’ recent record-breaking concert at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Pictured (L-R): Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett
• • •
Amy Grant will make a West coast media run this week, in support of the release of her best-selling and first studio record in a decade, How Mercy Looks From Here. Her trip kicks off with a visit to the highly-rated morning show KTLA on July 16, followed by an appearance on Tavis Talks, which airs July 17 . On July 19, Amy will appear on ABC’s popular lifestyle show The Chew alongside hosts Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz and Michael Symon.
Amy Grant on the set of The Chew. Photo courtesy ABC Publicity.
Pictured (L-R): Katie Armiger, Cassadee Pope
• • •
RCA Nashville’s Bush Hawg performed a showcase over the weekend at Boston’s House of Blues. While in Beantown the guys took a tour of the city on the famed Duck Boat and visited with Charlie Cook, Director of Programming and Brand Management for West Virginia Radio Corporation Corporate Offices and President of McVay/Cook and Associates. Cook is also a MusicRow contributor.
Pictured (L-R): Bush Hawg’s Shaun Ames, Alex Wilshire, & Craig Hand; Charlie Cook (Director of Programming and Brand Management West Virginia Radio Corporation Corporate Offices & President of McVay/Cook and Associates); Bush Hawg’s Ben Helton, Russ Caldwell & Jim Phipps. Photo: Angelynn Edwards Tinsley.
• • •
Kip Moore, Brett James, Miranda Lambert, Sony Music Nashville Chairman and CEO Gary Overton and Bob DiPiero get together backstage during the CMA Songwriters Series event at Royale in Boston on July 11.
Pictured (L-R): WKLB Program Director, Mike Brophey; WKLB Music Director, Ginny Rogers; Moore; songwriter and CMA Board Member Brett James; Lambert; Sony Music Nashville Chairman and CEO and CMA Board Member, Gary Overton; and songwriter, CMA Songwriters Series host, and CMA Board member, Bob DiPiero. Photo: Natasha Moustache/CMA
Bridgestone Arena No. 7 In U.S. For Concert Attendance
/by Jessica NicholsonBuildings in the U.S. Top 10 include:
1. Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
2. Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia)
3. Philips Arena (Atlanta)
4. Staples Center (Los Angeles)
5. SAP Center at San Jose (formerly HP Pavilion) (San Jose, Calif.)
6. American Airlines Center (Dallas)
7. Bridgestone Arena (Nashville)
8. Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.)
9. Madison Square Garden (New York)
10. Toyota Center (Houston)