Pictured (L-R): Karen Fairchild and Philip Sweet of Little Big Town; Tamara “Taj” George (SWV); Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town. Photo: The Recording Academy/Frederick Breedon/WireImage
Chapter 415
I know we’ve been staging these things annually for more than 20 years, but this really, really was the best Nashville Grammy nominees party ever. Hosted by Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on a frigid Tuesday evening (Jan. 22), it was truly a blast of a bash.
Let’s start with the nominees, themselves. “The talent that comes out of this town is amazing,” said Recording Academy Nashville prez Jon Randall Stewart. “We have so much diversity in this town.” Added Nashville NARAS director Susan Stewart, “We’re represented in 23 categories with more nominees than ever.” National NARAS board prez George Flanigen stated, “We have seven acts in three of the four overall categories [Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Artist]. Nashville is well represented.” He also reminded us that the Grammy nominations concert special was broadcast from Music City, the first time this has ever been held outside of L.A.
Carrie Underwood talks with media on the red carpet. Photo: Eric Parker
Okay, the party lacked such top Nashville noms as Jack White, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift and The Black Keys, all of whom are on the road, Susan averred. But look at who did show up – country stars
Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood, Ronnie Dunn, Little Big Town and
Hunter Hayes, plus honorees representing many other genres.
Janis Ian (spoken word),
TobyMac (contemporary Christian), members of
Old Crow Medicine Show (music video),
Dailey & Vincent (bluegrass),
Shawn Camp & Tamara Saviano (folk),
Tamara “Taj” George (traditional r&b as a member of
SWV),
Matthew West (contemporary Christian),
Larry Carlton (jazz), members of
The Grascals (bluegrass),
Will Hoge & Eric Paslay (country song),
Rhett Walker (contemporary Christian),
Josh Kear (country song) and such members of
The Time Jumpers as
Kenny & Dawn Sears, Doug Green, Andy Reiss and
Vince Gill (country group) all sashayed down the red carpet.
Best party ever? How about the food? Loews Vanderbilt has been our gracious host for lo these many years, but this year its chefs outdid themselves. The buffet tables held pimento cheese beef sliders, mini brie & fig grilled cheese items, smoked beef tenderloin, duck tater tots, white bean hummus, mini pickled fried chicken biscuits, smoked bacon deviled eggs, southern cured meats & cheddar biscuits and pickles and raw veggies with a variety of delish dips. I ate all of them.
Dierks Bentley on the red carpet. Photo: Eric Parker
Best party ever? How about the music? While guests mingled, they were serenaded by the jazz stylings of
The Birdsong Trio, led by bass player deluxe
John Birdsong.
Best party ever? What about that guest list? The crème de la crème of Music Row attended. The list of babbling fabulons included
Randy Scruggs, Steve Scruggs, Steve Gibson, Chris Farren, Chris Keaton, Erin Morris, Ed Morris, Pat Higdon, Pat McMakin, Pete Fisher, power couples
Ron & Regina Stuve, David & Carolyn Corlew and
Steve & Ree Guyer Buchanan and also the triple named
Erika Wollam Nichols and
Mary Ann McCready, not to mention Jon Randall Stewart.
They were joined by
Jim Myers, Jimmy Carter, Jessie Schmidt, John Ingrassia, Jason Owen, Jody Williams, Jeff Walker, Carla Wallace, Hunter Kelly, Holly Bell, Fletcher Foster, Frank Liddell, Dan Hill, Doug Howard, Dennis Lord, Debbie Carroll, Drew Alexander, Diane Pearson, Denise Stiff, Mike Sisted, Nancy Shapiro, Earle Simmons, Terry Hemmings, Tree Paine, Tim Fink, Tracy Gershon, Gary Overton, Ansel Davis, Autumn House, Allen Brown, Rod Essig, Ronna Rubin, Sherod Robertson, Susan Niles, Garth Fundis, Mark Bright, Lori Badgett and
Scott McDaniel.
Politicos working the room included Mayor
Karl Dean, Metro Council’s
Megan Barry and Court Clerk
Howard Gentry. Celebs sprinkled around included
Deana Carter. She was a nominee last year and is back in her hometown mixing a new record and co-writing songs. She was staying in the hotel, so she came downstairs to join us.
Eddie DeGarmo was there as a CCM exec nowadays, but I’ll never forget his music as a Christian rocker. I kept staring at this one guy I thought I recognized. Then I realized it was “Avery” from the
Nashville TV show, a.k.a, singing actor
Jonathan Jackson. Stylish
Susanne Mumpower, a.k.a.
Iodine, was on the arm of her hubby,
Grascal Jamie Johnson. Irish singer and recording artist
Michael Londra is in town making a record. He was totally starstruck gazing at the nominees, as were we all.
The internationally telecast 55
th annual Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on February 10.
Pictured (L-R): George Flannigen (Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Recording Academy), Gary Overton (Sony Nashville), Carrie Underwood and Jon Randall Stewart (Nashville Chapter President). Photo: The Recording Academy/Ed Rode
Pictured (L-R): Jon Randall Stewart, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes, George Flannigen. Photo: The Recording Academy/Ed Rode
Performers Announced for Taste of Country Music Festival
/by Caitlin RantalaTicket packages begin at just $120 and afford fans three days of live music in a picturesque locale less than two hours from New York City. Early bird discounted tickets will be available for purchase beginning Friday, Feb. 1 at 10 AM/ET. VIP ticket options, mountainside camping, resort accommodations and more are available online.
“TasteofCountry.com and our partners at Chet-5 Festivals are delighted to bring the Northeast’s first large-scale multi-day country music festival to Hunter Mountain,” shared Dhruv Prasad, Executive VP, Live Events of Townsquare Media Group. “We are focused on the audience experience – delivering our folks the artists and music they love in a beautiful setting that delivers world-class resort and camping accommodations, outdoor recreation and top-notch food and beverage service.”
“We are very excited about our new partnership with the Townsquare Media Group,” said Gary Chetkof, founder of the Mountain Jam Music Festival. “Combining our experience producing the Mountain Jam Music Festival along with Townsquare Media Group’s assets makes for a powerful partnership that will produce a world-class country music event for many years to come.”
More information can be found online by visiting www.tasteofcountryfestival.com.
Kobalt Debuts Label Services Division
/by Sarah Skates
Publishing giant Kobalt has officially launched a label services division. One of the first noteworthy releases will be Push the Sky Away, the fifteenth studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Releases from the company’s Nashville office could follow.
Kobalt Label Services (KLS) is designed to be a full-service solution for releasing and marketing records while letting artists maintain ownership of the masters. The division is providing a full spectrum of services including global distribution via digital retail, D2C, physical retail and subscription services, as well as marketing and promotion, advanced data analytics and royalty tracking, and synch licensing.
KLS worked closely with Cave and his management on all aspects of the release, which will be available Feb. 18 via KLS and Cave’s Bad Seed Ltd. Push the Sky Away will be released on CD, Limited CD-DVD, vinyl and digital formats.
“We look forward to unveiling a wide range of promotional activity in support of the release this year,” said Paul Hitchman, MD of Kobalt Label Services.
Two tracks from the album, “We No Who U R” and “Jubilee Street,” are available via all digital retailers, and album pre-orders are being accepted at nickcave.com.
As previously reported, BMG Rights Management is among the other major publishing companies offering label services.
Industry Pics (1/23/13)
/by Jessica NicholsonChris Janson visited the CMA offices on Jan. 22 to visit with staff and perform his new single, “Better I Don’t.”
Pictured (L-R): CMA Senior Coordinator of Member Relations & Services, Betsy Walker; Bigger Picture Group Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bob Cahill; Bigger Picture Group President, Michael Powers; Janson’s wife, Kelly Lynn; Janson; CMA Senior Manager of Membership & Balloting, Brandi Simms; CMA Chief Executive Officer, Steve Moore; and CMA Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Sheri Warnke.
• • •
Hunter Hayes celebrated the double-platinum success of his single, “Wanted,” after a performance onstage at Ryman at the Opry.
Pictured (L-R): Dan Huff-Producer, John Esposito-President & CEO WMN, Betsy McHugh-Martingale Ent, Ansel Davis-Martingale Ent, Hunter Hayes, Scott Hendricks-Sr. VP A&R WMN, Peter Strickland-Sr. VP Sales & Marketing WMN, Justin Luffman-VP Brand Management, Chris Stacey-Sr. VP Promotion WMN
• • •
Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Robert Filhart, Lisa Carver, John Martin, Jeffrey James, Evyn Mustoe, Matthew Perryman Jones, Austin Jenckes (front), and Dinner and a Suit’s Jonathan Capeci, Joey Beretta and Anthony Genca
• • •
Leadership Music alumni teamed with Hands on Nashville (and some help from friends in SOLID) for their MLK Day of Service on Monday, January 21st. Working in two teams, alums painted Nashville firehouses #13 and #23.
Pictured with Mayor Karl Dean (center), Leadership Music Class of 2010, are (L-R): Tinti Moffat (kneeling), Denise Stiff Sheehan, Leadership Music Executive Director Debbie Linn, Dean, Heather McBee, Cameo Carlson, Justin Levenson, Fire station #23 Captain Caruthers, Tamara Johnson-George and Nashville Assistant Fire Chief Steve Holt. Back Row (L-R): Darin Lashinsky, Brian Jones, Erika Wollam-Nichols and Jamie Cheek. Photo Credit: Andrea Hallgren
Weekly Register: Chilly Sales Set To Warm Up
/by bossrossIt’s not so much the “weather,” as “whether or not” there’s much new product to draw buyers online or into stores. Katie Armiger provided a bright spot this week however, with her debut effort entering the Current Country list at No. 7 touting an impressive 12k in units (14% digital). But still, the entire Top 75 Country albums chart was shy of 238k, probably a new all-time low on that gauge. In fact, Taylor Swift’s Red (No. 1; 41k) was the only title able to go north of 20k units! FGL (No. 2; 18k), Music of Nashville sndtrk (No. 3; 15k), Little Big Town (No. 4; 15k) and Jason Aldean (No. 5; 14k) filled out the Top 5.
Fortunately there are a few exciting releases on our radar over the coming weeks. For example, next week bins will be stuffed with new music from Randy Houser, Gary Allan and Tim McGraw (Curb)…a few weeks later Faith’s husband will have a second title enter the charts from his new label, Big Machine (2/5). I’m also on pins and needles waiting to hear the new effort from trio Blue Sky Riders (Kenny Loggins, Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman). Complete upcoming releases here.
Hit Tracks
Speaking of digital tracks, there’s a comprehensive new report out this week from Columbia University called Copy Culture that reveals file sharing attitudes and behavior in the US and Germany. Read about it here, or see a quick infographic here.
Stay tuned for more Weekly Register, next week…
Songwriters Embark on Inaugural Seaside Retreat
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Bob DiPiero, Alex Heddle (Creative Dir. Love Monkey Music/Tom-Leis Music), Denny Carr (Dir.of A&R Roots Three Music), Matt Turner (Creative Mgr. ole), Emily Peacock (Office Mgr. Love Monkey Music/Tom-Leis), Micol Davis, Arthur Buenahora (General Mgr of ole), Ricky Davis, Leslie T. DiPiero (Partner of Tom-Leis), Matt Nolen, Brandon Kinney, Jeff Coplan. Center: Modica Market’s Famous Banana Pudding. (Not pictured Ryan Tyndell)
Writers and staff from Music Row publishing companies Sony/ATV, Love Monkey Music, Tom-Leis Music, ole and Roots Three Music gathered in Seaside, Fla. for the inaugural Seaside Songwriter Retreat, held January 16-20.
The annual retreat plans on inviting additional publishers each year to write songs, and enjoy seafood and the sun.
Artist News (1-23-13)
/by Jessica Nicholson• • •
• • •
Country music took the stage for this weekend’s NFL championship games with two of the leading groups performing the National Anthem. Zac Brown Band performed at the Georgia Dome for the NFC Championship game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers, while Gloriana performed at Gillette Stadium at the AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens.
Gloriana at Gillette Stadium
Bobby Karl Works The Grammy Nominees Party
/by Bobby KarlPictured (L-R): Karen Fairchild and Philip Sweet of Little Big Town; Tamara “Taj” George (SWV); Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook of Little Big Town. Photo: The Recording Academy/Frederick Breedon/WireImage
Chapter 415
I know we’ve been staging these things annually for more than 20 years, but this really, really was the best Nashville Grammy nominees party ever. Hosted by Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on a frigid Tuesday evening (Jan. 22), it was truly a blast of a bash.
Let’s start with the nominees, themselves. “The talent that comes out of this town is amazing,” said Recording Academy Nashville prez Jon Randall Stewart. “We have so much diversity in this town.” Added Nashville NARAS director Susan Stewart, “We’re represented in 23 categories with more nominees than ever.” National NARAS board prez George Flanigen stated, “We have seven acts in three of the four overall categories [Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Artist]. Nashville is well represented.” He also reminded us that the Grammy nominations concert special was broadcast from Music City, the first time this has ever been held outside of L.A.
Carrie Underwood talks with media on the red carpet. Photo: Eric Parker
Okay, the party lacked such top Nashville noms as Jack White, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift and The Black Keys, all of whom are on the road, Susan averred. But look at who did show up – country stars Dierks Bentley, Carrie Underwood, Ronnie Dunn, Little Big Town and Hunter Hayes, plus honorees representing many other genres. Janis Ian (spoken word), TobyMac (contemporary Christian), members of Old Crow Medicine Show (music video), Dailey & Vincent (bluegrass), Shawn Camp & Tamara Saviano (folk), Tamara “Taj” George (traditional r&b as a member of SWV), Matthew West (contemporary Christian), Larry Carlton (jazz), members of The Grascals (bluegrass), Will Hoge & Eric Paslay (country song), Rhett Walker (contemporary Christian), Josh Kear (country song) and such members of The Time Jumpers as Kenny & Dawn Sears, Doug Green, Andy Reiss and Vince Gill (country group) all sashayed down the red carpet.
Best party ever? How about the food? Loews Vanderbilt has been our gracious host for lo these many years, but this year its chefs outdid themselves. The buffet tables held pimento cheese beef sliders, mini brie & fig grilled cheese items, smoked beef tenderloin, duck tater tots, white bean hummus, mini pickled fried chicken biscuits, smoked bacon deviled eggs, southern cured meats & cheddar biscuits and pickles and raw veggies with a variety of delish dips. I ate all of them.
Dierks Bentley on the red carpet. Photo: Eric Parker
Best party ever? How about the music? While guests mingled, they were serenaded by the jazz stylings of The Birdsong Trio, led by bass player deluxe John Birdsong.
Best party ever? What about that guest list? The crème de la crème of Music Row attended. The list of babbling fabulons included Randy Scruggs, Steve Scruggs, Steve Gibson, Chris Farren, Chris Keaton, Erin Morris, Ed Morris, Pat Higdon, Pat McMakin, Pete Fisher, power couples Ron & Regina Stuve, David & Carolyn Corlew and Steve & Ree Guyer Buchanan and also the triple named Erika Wollam Nichols and Mary Ann McCready, not to mention Jon Randall Stewart.
They were joined by Jim Myers, Jimmy Carter, Jessie Schmidt, John Ingrassia, Jason Owen, Jody Williams, Jeff Walker, Carla Wallace, Hunter Kelly, Holly Bell, Fletcher Foster, Frank Liddell, Dan Hill, Doug Howard, Dennis Lord, Debbie Carroll, Drew Alexander, Diane Pearson, Denise Stiff, Mike Sisted, Nancy Shapiro, Earle Simmons, Terry Hemmings, Tree Paine, Tim Fink, Tracy Gershon, Gary Overton, Ansel Davis, Autumn House, Allen Brown, Rod Essig, Ronna Rubin, Sherod Robertson, Susan Niles, Garth Fundis, Mark Bright, Lori Badgett and Scott McDaniel.
Politicos working the room included Mayor Karl Dean, Metro Council’s Megan Barry and Court Clerk Howard Gentry. Celebs sprinkled around included Deana Carter. She was a nominee last year and is back in her hometown mixing a new record and co-writing songs. She was staying in the hotel, so she came downstairs to join us. Eddie DeGarmo was there as a CCM exec nowadays, but I’ll never forget his music as a Christian rocker. I kept staring at this one guy I thought I recognized. Then I realized it was “Avery” from the Nashville TV show, a.k.a, singing actor Jonathan Jackson. Stylish Susanne Mumpower, a.k.a. Iodine, was on the arm of her hubby, Grascal Jamie Johnson. Irish singer and recording artist Michael Londra is in town making a record. He was totally starstruck gazing at the nominees, as were we all.
The internationally telecast 55th annual Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on February 10.
Pictured (L-R): George Flannigen (Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Recording Academy), Gary Overton (Sony Nashville), Carrie Underwood and Jon Randall Stewart (Nashville Chapter President). Photo: The Recording Academy/Ed Rode
Pictured (L-R): Jon Randall Stewart, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes, George Flannigen. Photo: The Recording Academy/Ed Rode
DISClaimer Single Reviews (1/23/13)
/by Robert K OermannPhil Lee
What a bunch of crap. There was precious little pleasant listening during this session, since nearly half the discs were dogs. The bright spots included Joel Crouse, John Damian and Chris Wall. The critically acclaimed and criminally unrewarded Phil Lee has the Disc of the Day. All country lovers should shower him with their love and money. The brightest spot of all was the DisCovery Award winner. Tyler Farr grabbed ahold of my ears and didn’t let go for a second.
JOHN DAMIAN/Gingerbread Man
Writer: Vernon Rust; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Reptile
—The chiming, driving track has plenty of catchy, sitar-ish guitar work and his vocal on this well-written, hooky country rocker is packed with passion. Nicely done.
EASTON CORBIN/All Over the Road
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Mercury Nashville (ERG)
—Bland. In one ear and out the other.
JORDAN ANDERSON/Toxic
Writer: Anderson/Robbins/Wilson; Producer: Kent Wells; Publisher: none listed; GTR (www.jordanandersoncountry.com)
—It’s a wild, super-energetic rocker laced with fiddle. Her vocal is ever so slightly flat.
Tyler Farr
EMERSON DRIVE/She’s My Kind of Crazy
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; TTA Quarterback (ERG)
—She has a tattoo on her butt, wears a ponytail and drives a junk car. Naturally, he’s completely smitten. I’m not. Pass.
CHRIS WALL/Six Shiny Strings
Writer: Chris Wall; Producer: Chris Wall, Lloyd Maines & Merel Bregante; Publisher: Shallow Pockets, BMI; Cold Spring (track)
—This Texas favorite recorded his new El Western Motel CD in Austin with the gifted Lloyd Maines providing instrumental support. This acoustic, folk-country lead-off track is the tale of a boy who falls under the spell of music making. It’s like listening to a good buddy tell you a story. A sound of warmth and charm.
TYLER FARR/Redneck Crazy
Writer: Josh Kear/Mark Irwin/Chris Tompkins; Producer: Jim Catino & Julian King; Publisher: Global Dog/Big Yellow Dog/Lunalight/Words & Music/Green Vinyl/Big Loud Songs/Angel River/Big Loud Bucks, ASCAP; Columbia
—I listened to him introduce this song on the Opry on Saturday night. It sounded good to me then, and it sounds good to me now. It’s a gripping little record. He sings with fevered, raspy emotion, and the creepy, quasi-stalking lyric is kinda scary in its obsessiveness. Well worth your spins.
DALE WATSON/Daughter’s Wedding Song
Writer: Dale Watson; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Dale Watson/Bug, BMI; Red House (track)
—I just can’t get over the fact that this guy is not a gigantic country superstar. He sings like a lost son of Merle Haggard, writes songs with the best of them and looks cool to boot. This sweet, slow waltz appears on his new El Rancho Azul collection. It is a mite repetitive, but daddies everywhere will melt for its sentiment.
JOEL CROUSE/If You Want Some
Writer: Joel Crouse/Jamie Houston/Luke Laird; Producer: Jamie Houston; Publisher: Joel Crouse/Happy Cake/Songs of Universal/Creative Nation/Twangin’ and Slangin,’ BMI/ASCAP; Show Dog Universal
—Happy and youthful, it’s an invitation to a party that is just about irresistible. Love his drawl and his phrasing. The track chugs right along.
PHIL LEE/She Don’t Let Love Get in the Way
Writer: Phil Lee; Producer: Richard Bennett; Publisher: Grim Reminder, BMI; Palookaville (track) (www.philleeone.com)
—Lee is the greatest honky-tonk singer in the modern history of Lower Broadway in Music City. His new CD is called The Fall & Further Decline of the Mighty King of Love. This track blends blues, country and calypso with just a touch of Mexicali while he intones like a young Dylan. I remain an enormous fan.
COUNTRY YOUTH ASSOCIATION/Trailer Trash
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; WSR
—Completely incompetent, from vocal performance to instrumental noise to studio sonics. Easily the worst record I have heard in decades. Must be heard to be believed.
Nashville Artist Management Companies Merge
/by Jessica NicholsonThe blended staff of each of the companies are working under one roof as Triple 8 Management. With 18 full-time employees, the company will focus on radio promotion, marketing, new media, merchandising and tour marketing.
“Since forming Triple 8 Management back on 08/08/08, we have been building and structuring the way we do business a specific way, and once Bruce and I began talking it became immediately clear that he had been doing it the very same way on his own,” says Couri. “So its very exciting to join two similarly-built teams together and get even more done for our clients.”
“I couldn’t be more excited about joining forces with a group of people as motivated, skilled and talented as George and his team,” says Kalmick. “Together, we will continue to do what we both do best; break new ground for our clients on all levels.”
The combined roster includes Eli Young Band (Republic Nashville), Josh Abbott Band (WMN/Atlantic), Joe Nichols (Red Bow/Broken Bow) and The Cadillac Black.
Tin Pan South Dates Announced
/by Jessica NicholsonProduced by NSAI, Tin Pan South is the world’s largest all-songwriter festival. In 2012, nearly 350 talented songwriters performed 92 shows at ten of Nashville’s top music venues. Over 9,000 music fans attend the event annually to hear songwriters tell stories behind hit songs they have written and perform the songs as they’re were originally composed.
For the sixth consecutive year, students from Watkins College of Art, Design & Film competed to design the artwork for all Tin Pan South marketing pieces, passes, posters and banners. This year’s winning artwork was designed by Kelsey Goessman. The southern Illinois native is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design.