Free Weekly Concert Series Returns To Nashville

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nashville dancin'11“Nashville Dancin’ presented by Dollar General,” marks the return of the city’s free Thursday summer concert series at Nashville’s Riverfront Park.
“The return of the Nashville Dancin’ concert series is great news for Nashville and music fans,” said Nashville Mayor Karl Dean. “The free concerts will be family-friendly and include many top names from a variety of musical genres. Concert-goers will get a chance to enjoy our beautiful riverfront during the shows, which will add energy to our already vibrant downtown. I always say you can never have too much live music in Nashville, and I want to thank Dollar General, Tom Morales, Kaleidoscope Media and all of the great sponsors supporting this event for giving Nashvillians another great reason to come downtown for music.”
“Nashville Dancin’ presented by Dollar General” will feature free Thursday evening shows kicking off June 13 and going through Aug. 1 beginning at 5 p.m. on Nashville’s Riverfront Park.  The talent lineup will be announced in May.
Television and radio personality Storme Warren will host several of the shows and the event’s festive atmosphere will be augmented by local Nashville food trucks.
For over a decade, Dancin’ in the District was a Nashville institution, bringing some of the best live music to downtown Nashville and helping to revitalize lower Broadway.

2013 Dates for “Nashville Dancin’”:
  • June 13
  • June 20
  • June 27
  • July 11
  • July 18
  • July 25
  • August 1

 

MusicRowPics: The Henningsens Artist Visit

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the henningsens11Earlier this month (April 1), Arista Nashville’s The Henningsens visited MusicRow headquarters. The family trio, made up of father Brian, son Aaron and daughter Clara, has already written the hits “You Lie” and “All Your Life” for the The Band Perry, but the group now recorded their own original tunes.
The trio shared their current single, “American Beautiful,” and explained how the first time they came together as group to sing was actually at the BlueBird Cafe, where they realized they might be onto something.
Their acoustic set also included “Down,” “I Miss You” and “To Believe,” which is based on a true event in Aaron’s life.
To learn more about The Henningsens visit www.thehenningsens.com.
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Southern Ground Music & Food Festival Coming to Nashville In September

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Zac Brown Band. Photo: Cole Cassell/Southern Reel

Zac Brown Band. Photo: Cole Cassell/Southern Reel


Zac Brown Band’s Southern Ground Music & Food Festival will return to Nashville on Sept. 27-28. The event will take place at The Lawn at Riverfront Park, and will feature a nightly “Super Set” with sit-ins from Kenny Chesney, John Fogerty, Jason Mraz and others.
Willie Nelson, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Eli Young Band, Kacey Musgraves, The Head and the Heart, and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are slated for this year’s festival.
Ticket pre-sale for fanclub members will begin Wednesday (April 24) at 12 p.m. CT, while pre-sale for those who attended last year’s festival begins on Thursday (April 25) at 10 a.m. CT. General sale opens on Saturday (April 27) at 10 a.m. CT.

Essential Broadcast Media, LLC Adds Scott Stem

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Scott Stem

Scott Stem


Essential Broadcast Media, LLC (EBM) has added industry veteran Scott Stem as a full-time publicist. His new role will begin Wednesday (April 24).
“Scott is an accomplished publicist with an excellent reputation and skillset. Those attributes, along with his experience and approach to PR, make him a perfect addition to our current staff. I’m especially excited to see how his instincts, combined with our focus on profile-raising media opportunities, will further propel our clients’ careers,” says firm founder Ebie McFarland. “Having worked not only in publicity, but other areas of the music and entertainment industry—including his tenure at the CMA—our team feels confident he will bring valuable, well-rounded insight to help us manage our ever-evolving public relations services.”
With 25 years of experience working in the entertainment industry, Stem has promoted artists, events, television specials, corporate partners, and charitable projects resulting in multi-Platinum album sales, sold-out tours and events, Top 10 television ratings, and media coverage at the local, regional, national and international level. His prior stops include Kaleidoscope Media, Country Music Association, Capitol Records Nashville, GB Management and Doyle/Lewis Management, among others.

Stem can be reached at scott@ebmediapr.com or by calling (615) 327-3259.
EBM’s client roster includes Darius Rucker, Eric Church, George Strait, Jerrod Niemann, Kellie Pickler, Randy Houser, Rodney Atkins, Ronnie Dunn, Sister Hazel, Tate Stevens and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® Exclusive Music Program.

 

Dale Bobo Named Sr. VP Nashville at Big Deal Music

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big deal musicBig Deal Music has added Dale Bobo as Sr. VP Nashville, working alongside Pete Robinson in building Big Deal’s Nashville presence.
Prior to joining Big Deal Music, Bobo was the owner of Dale Bobo Music Direction providing management, consultation and propulsion to writers, producers and publishers. Bobo also served as Executive Vice President, Chrysalis Music Nashville overseeing all aspects of the Nashville office. Prior to that, Bobo was SVP/GM of Warner/Chappell Nashville.
He has served on the Board Of Directors of The Academy Of Country Music and the Country Music Association, is a former chairman of the Copyright Society Of The South, a Leadership Music Alumnus and a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
“It’s a true pleasure to be working with Dale again,” Big Deal Music’s Kenny MacPherson says.  “Dale’s track record of working with writers and artists, producing hit songs certainly speaks for itself.”
To date, the Big Deal Music roster includes My Morning Jacket, Jim James, The Black Angels, Ethan Johns, Missy Higgins, FIDLAR, The Walkmen, Korey Dane and songwriters Brad Tursi and Lee Anna McCollum.

Artists, Vanderbilt Patients Team For 'Everybody Has A Story'

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everbody has a story111Kix Brooks, Melinda Doolittle, Fisk Jubilee Singers, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Faith Hill, Alison Krauss, Maura O’Connell, Johnny Reid, SHEL and Phil Vassar perform songs written by patients at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt on the new project Everybody Has A Story.
The artists performed songs written by Austin Bagby, Ethan Carpenter, Courtney Gaoette, Erica Kilburn, Amy Overton, Gigi Pasley and Christopher Weber, along with music therapist Jenny Plume. The patients who participated were treated for a variety of chronic illnesses such as cancer and cystic fibrosis, two were heart transplant recipients, and one was hospitalized for pneumonia. Plume helped patients shape their thoughts and feelings into lyrics and a melody. Some lyrics were crafted out of a story idea, and some were created by long discussions about the patients’ feelings and situations. The song topics range from serious to fun and silly.
“Sometimes we wrote about a real life experience, other times I would ask questions and the answers would make the lyrics, sometimes we used their poems,” Plume said. “So, it was very collaborative, with me trying to draw those ideas and words out of them. I hope they will go on to know that they can do anything, they can create things, and hopefully music will always be in their lives. For those patients who have passed on, this will be a legacy to celebrate their lives.”
Proceeds from the sales of this CD will benefit the Julian T. Fouce Music Therapy Fund. Everybody Has A Story is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com and will be available May 14 worldwide at all digital retailers. The CD will be available at music retailers throughout the United States and Canada.

Grooveshark Unveils Broadcast

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grooveshark-logoGrooveshark has unveiled Broadcast, which allows users to create and share their own live-streaming online radio show, including the ability to hand-pick songs to play and to record their own voice for listeners across the web.
Broadcast also features real-time chat, statistics, music suggestions and voting for preferred requests.
“We’re excited to launch the first ever truly democratized radio platform, and look forward to seeing web DJ’s grow into celebrities the way YouTube has created homegrown video celebrities,” said Sam Tarantino, Grooveshark’s CEO and co-founder. “This is a major leap forward for the web, as the world now has an audio voice to complement YouTube’s video voice and Twitter’s microblogging voice. If the 20th century was characterized by terrestrial radio DJs, the 21st century will be characterized by viral radio DJs and homegrown web personalities.”
Similar to other Grooveshark features, Broadcasts are free to create and share.
Broadcast goes live on Wednesday (April 24). Users can preview Broadcast at preview.grooveshark.com.

Headliners Announced For AXS TV's Stagecoach Broadcast

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stagecoach logo
Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Dwight Yoakam, The Little Willies, Jeff Bridges & The Abiders and others are set to headline AXS TV’s Stagecoach broadcast. Over a dozen artists will take part in the network’s three-day live broadcast of the country music festival. The AXS TV broadcast will air live from the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., from Friday (April 26) through Sunday (April 28).
The weekend will launch with a Rodney Atkins concert live from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Thursday (April 25), beginning at 11 p.m. CT. Atkins will perform live again on Saturday from the festival.
AXS TV’s Stagecoach broadcast lineup:
Friday, April 26:
Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET, with sign off at 1 a.m. ET.
Artists scheduled to appear Day One include:
Commander Cody, Maggie Rose, Joe Nichols, Jeff Bridges & The Abiders,
The Little Willies
 
Saturday, April 27:
Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET, with sign off at 2 a.m. ET
Artists scheduled to appear Day Two include:
Justin Townes Earl, Nick 13, Phil Vassar, Rodney Atkins, Dwight Yoakam, Dierks Bentley
 
Sunday, April 28:
Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET, with sign off at 2 a.m. ET.
Artists scheduled to appear on Day Three include:
Blue Sky Riders, Florida Georgia Line, Don Williams, Lonestar, Thompson Square, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker
 
 
 

Billboard Music Awards Finalists Announced

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Taylor Swift joins fun. and Maroon 5 as a lead finalist for the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, which will air live on May 19 beginning at 7 p.m. CT on ABC from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Swift is nominated in the categories of Top Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top Female Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Country Album, Top Streaming Song (Video) and Top Country Song.
Top Country Artist Category nominees include Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Hunter Hayes and Carrie Underwood.
Jason Aldean is the only country artist nominated in the Top Male Artist category.
The Top Country Album nominees are Carrie Underwood (Blown Away), Jason Aldean (Night Train), Luke Bryan (Tailgates & Tanlines), Swift (Red) and Lionel Richie (Tuskegee).
Top Country Song nominees include Luke Bryan‘s “Drunk On You,” Eric Church‘s “Springsteen,” Florida Georgia Line‘s “Cruise,” Hunter Hayes‘ “Wanted” and Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Matt Redman, tobyMac and Chris Tomlin are nominated in the Top Christian Artist category.
In the Top Christian Album category, Casting Crowns‘ Come To The Well, Lecrae‘s Gravity, MercyMe‘s The Hurt & The Healer, tobyMac‘s Eye On It and Various Artists’ Wow Hits 2013: 30 of Today’s Top Christian Artists & Hits are nominated.
Top Christian Song nominees include Big Daddy Weave‘s “Redeemed,” Building 429‘s “Where I Belong” Newsboys‘ “God’s Not Dead (Like A Lion),” Matt Redman‘s “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” and tobyMac‘s “Me Without You.”

Billboard Music Awards finalists were based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital singles sales, radio airplay, touring, streaming and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, VEVO, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music. These measurements were tracked year-round by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Entertainment and Next Big Sound.

XYQ Artist Management Opens in Nashville

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Top, (L-R): Managers Jason Fowler and David Williams. Bottom, (L-R): Manager Lee Willard and XYQ, Inc. President, Rick Varnell. Credit: Josh Daubin Photography

Top, (L-R): Managers Jason Fowler and David Williams. Bottom, (L-R): Manager Lee Willard and XYQ, Inc. President, Rick Varnell. Credit: Josh Daubin Photography


Jason Fowler, Lee Willard and David Williams have launched XYQ Artist Management. The company has opened its doors near West End Avenue, and offers digital creation/distribution services, career guidance and business support.
XYQ Artist Management represents Tiffany, Wang Chung, “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson, Friends of Lola, Pierce Avenue, A Fragile Tomorrow, Ashes Remain, Love & Death, Manafest, Nine Lashes, Pillar, Spoken, The Wedding, Coffee Jones, Stars Go Dim and songwriters Andy Cherry, Finnegan Bell, Gary Hannan (Joe Nichols’ “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”) and Jasen Rauch.
XYQ Inc. president, Rick Varnell says, “Nashville is home to this team. We believe there is no better location to establish and grow our brand and help our artists connect to their fans. Also, we are excited about evolving our approach of artist services with technology and corporate relationships.”
XYQ Artist Management president Fowler, adds, “Partnering with a technology company was a natural progression for us, as technology is a natural driver for marketing and sales of music. XYQ, Inc. has been a great partner when it comes to helping us build corporate sponsorships and relationships.”
Willard, long-time manager for Anderson, says, “I am very excited to be part of the XYQ team and expand on my 12 years of music industry experience with this talented group of industry professionals.”
Contact Rick Varnell at rvarnell@xyqinc.com,  Jason Fowler at jason@xyqmanagement.com,  Lee Willard at lee@xyqmanagement.com  and David Williams at david@xyqmanagement.com.