CMA Entertainer of the Year Nominee Jason Aldean continued his whirlwind album release week yesterday (10/18) with surprise announcements of his first stadium dates planned for his 2013 Night Train Tour.
Aldean kicked off the day at Boston’s Fenway Park with Red Sox EVP/COO Sam Kennedy on hand to announce his July 13, 2013 concert, making history as the first country artist to ever play the famed stadium. He then traveled to Chicago’s Wrigley Field in the afternoon and was joined by Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts to reveal that his long history of record-breaking Chicago area shows helped catapult him to stadium level headliner for the July 20 tour stop.
“It takes a lot to make me nervous, but walking out of the dugout at Fenway this morning to announce our show definitely did it,” said Aldean. “It’s the kind of moment you dream about your whole career, so I tried to take a minute to soak it up, but it’s pretty overwhelming.”
Jason Aldean's surprise performance for a packed pep rally at UGA, Oct. 18, 2012
The Macon, GA native and lifelong Georgia Bulldogs fan ended the day in Athens, GA by surprising a crowd of UGA students who thought they were attending a pep rally. When the curtain dropped behind the cheerleaders, Aldean and his band were revealed to a thunderous, enthusiastic crowd. Aldean announced that he will hold the first ever concert at Sanford Stadium on April 13, 2013. He was welcomed by football head coach Mark Richt and followed the surprise announcement with a special performance for fans.
“It was an incredible day as we went on to Wrigley for that announcement and then finished it up tonight with a surprise performance for the fans at University of Georgia, “said Aldean. “It’s a day that I’m never going to forget.”
Despite efforts to keep the surprise appearance in Athens top secret, there were unconfirmed rumors that fans had identified Aldean’s plane earlier that day and were tracking its route. Even media members were given UGA laminates to avoid giving away any hints to inquisitive students. But by the time Aldean appeared behind the curtain, the hyped-up energetic crowd seemed to have been in on the secret the whole time. But of course, that’s the way all Aldean fans act, so who really knows.
After the performance, we had a chance to visit with Aldean and ask about the day’s events. Speaking of his desire to add stadium dates to his next tour, Aldean said, “Brian O’Connell from Live Nation and I talked a lot about it. One thing I didn’t want to do was to pick a handful of stadiums just to say we were playing stadiums. I wanted to play places that were special to me and places I really admired such as iconic ballparks like Fenway and Wrigley.”
Jason Aldean's surprised performance for a packed pep rally at UGA, Oct. 18, 2012
“Being from Georgia and being a big Georgia fan, Sanford Stadium was number one on my list to play but they’ve never had a show here. This is probably the most excited I’ve been about any of my shows.” He then praised O’Connell and his management team Chris Parr and Clarence Spalding for getting the ball rolling and getting the University of Georgia on board.
Giving us a glimpse into his day, Aldean shared, “I got up at 9 o’clock, drove over to Fenway, announced that show at 10am, drove to the airport, got on a plane, flew to Chicago, drove an hour to Wrigley Field, announced that show, drove an hour back to the airport, got on the plane, flew here, and 20 minutes after arriving, I was on this stage. It was an exhausting day but one of the coolest things I’ve done in my career.”
Aldean’s fifth studio album for Broken Bow Records, Night Train, was released on Tuesday (Oct. 16) and has already produced a multi-week No. 1 single “Take A Little Ride.” Aldean recently earned three CMA Awards nominations for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year for “Dirt Road Anthem.”
Stadium Details:
Boston, MA – July, 13, 2013
Fenway Park
Support: Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Oct. 26, 2012 at 10am ET
Chicago, IL – July 20, 2013
Wrigley Field
Support: Kelly Clarkson, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Nov. 3, 2012 at 10am CT
Athens, GA – April 13, 2013
Sanford Stadium
Support: Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Nov. 2, 2012 at 10am ET
Tickets will be available at livenation.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. For a full list of appearances visit www.jasonaldean.com.
University of Georgia students gather for the pep rally before Aldean's surprise announcement and special performance.
Gill Wins Big at ICM Faith, Family & Country Awards
/by Caitlin RantalaVince Gill was a big winner of the night, taking home two awards—Mainstream Inspirational Country Song and Mainstream Country Artist. Other winners included Chuck Day for Entertainer of the Year, Joyful Noise for Faith, Family and Country Movie and The Roys for Inspirational Bluegrass Artist.
Mac Powell performed music from his new country album, alongside performances from Andy Griggs, John Berry, Doyle Lawson, Quicksilver and Crawford Crossing.
Dr. Johnny Lee Cook received this year’s Living Legend Award. Ronald McDonald was on-hand representing Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville—a portion of the proceeds from the week-long event were donated to the charity.
In addition to being aired on Total Living Network, Golden Eagle Broadcasting, TCT Television Network and NRB Network, Nashville’s WKRN-TV will be airing the awards this year for the first time on Dec. 23, 1-3 pm.
Full list of The 18th Annual ICM Faith, Family & Country Awards Winners:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR:
Chuck Day
MALE VOCALIST:
Chuck Hancock
FEMALE VOCALIST:
Laura Dodd
VOCAL DUO / VOCAL DUO PERFORMANCE:
Branded
VOCAL GROUP OR BAND:
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
MAINSTREAM INSPIRATIONAL COUNTRY SONG:
“Threaten Me With Heaven” Vince Gill
MAINSTREAM COUNTRY ARTIST:
Vince Gill
CHRISTIAN COUNTRY SONG:
“Jesus Is Enough” Russ Murphy
SONGWRITER:
Chuck Hancock
NEW ARTIST:
Larissa
VIDEO:
“Loves Gotta Go Somewhere” Steve Richard
MUSICIAN:
Greg McDougal
COMEDIAN:
Johnny Lee Cook
RADIO PERSONALITY:
Rich Miller
RADIO STATION/NETWORK:
WSM AM 650
INSPIRATIONAL BLUEGRASS ARTIST:
The Roys
YOUTH IN MUSIC AWARD:
Isaac Cole
MUSIC EVANGELIST OF THE YEAR:
Tommy Brandt
FAITH, FAMILY, & COUNTRY MOVIE:
Joyful Noise
TELEVISION NETWORK:
Gospel Music Channel
Jason Aldean Makes History With Stadium Announcements
/by Sherod RobertsonCMA Entertainer of the Year Nominee Jason Aldean continued his whirlwind album release week yesterday (10/18) with surprise announcements of his first stadium dates planned for his 2013 Night Train Tour.
“It takes a lot to make me nervous, but walking out of the dugout at Fenway this morning to announce our show definitely did it,” said Aldean. “It’s the kind of moment you dream about your whole career, so I tried to take a minute to soak it up, but it’s pretty overwhelming.”
Jason Aldean's surprise performance for a packed pep rally at UGA, Oct. 18, 2012
The Macon, GA native and lifelong Georgia Bulldogs fan ended the day in Athens, GA by surprising a crowd of UGA students who thought they were attending a pep rally. When the curtain dropped behind the cheerleaders, Aldean and his band were revealed to a thunderous, enthusiastic crowd. Aldean announced that he will hold the first ever concert at Sanford Stadium on April 13, 2013. He was welcomed by football head coach Mark Richt and followed the surprise announcement with a special performance for fans.
“It was an incredible day as we went on to Wrigley for that announcement and then finished it up tonight with a surprise performance for the fans at University of Georgia, “said Aldean. “It’s a day that I’m never going to forget.”
Despite efforts to keep the surprise appearance in Athens top secret, there were unconfirmed rumors that fans had identified Aldean’s plane earlier that day and were tracking its route. Even media members were given UGA laminates to avoid giving away any hints to inquisitive students. But by the time Aldean appeared behind the curtain, the hyped-up energetic crowd seemed to have been in on the secret the whole time. But of course, that’s the way all Aldean fans act, so who really knows.
After the performance, we had a chance to visit with Aldean and ask about the day’s events. Speaking of his desire to add stadium dates to his next tour, Aldean said, “Brian O’Connell from Live Nation and I talked a lot about it. One thing I didn’t want to do was to pick a handful of stadiums just to say we were playing stadiums. I wanted to play places that were special to me and places I really admired such as iconic ballparks like Fenway and Wrigley.”
Jason Aldean's surprised performance for a packed pep rally at UGA, Oct. 18, 2012
“Being from Georgia and being a big Georgia fan, Sanford Stadium was number one on my list to play but they’ve never had a show here. This is probably the most excited I’ve been about any of my shows.” He then praised O’Connell and his management team Chris Parr and Clarence Spalding for getting the ball rolling and getting the University of Georgia on board.
Giving us a glimpse into his day, Aldean shared, “I got up at 9 o’clock, drove over to Fenway, announced that show at 10am, drove to the airport, got on a plane, flew to Chicago, drove an hour to Wrigley Field, announced that show, drove an hour back to the airport, got on the plane, flew here, and 20 minutes after arriving, I was on this stage. It was an exhausting day but one of the coolest things I’ve done in my career.”
Aldean’s fifth studio album for Broken Bow Records, Night Train, was released on Tuesday (Oct. 16) and has already produced a multi-week No. 1 single “Take A Little Ride.” Aldean recently earned three CMA Awards nominations for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year for “Dirt Road Anthem.”
Stadium Details:
Boston, MA – July, 13, 2013
Fenway Park
Support: Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Oct. 26, 2012 at 10am ET
Chicago, IL – July 20, 2013
Wrigley Field
Support: Kelly Clarkson, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Nov. 3, 2012 at 10am CT
Athens, GA – April 13, 2013
Sanford Stadium
Support: Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett
On Sale: Nov. 2, 2012 at 10am ET
Tickets will be available at livenation.com, all Ticketmaster outlets or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. For a full list of appearances visit www.jasonaldean.com.
University of Georgia students gather for the pep rally before Aldean's surprise announcement and special performance.
BMLG Names New Canadian Promotion Director
/by Eric T. ParkerRon Harwood
Promotion veteran Ron Harwood has been appointed to Big Machine Label Group’s National Promotion Director for Canada, it was recently announced by label President and CEO Scott Borchetta.
“Ron is the best of the best and he completely aligns with our vision to continue to build the Big Machine Label Group into a force in Canada,” said Borchetta.
In his new role, Harwood will oversee all of Big Machine’s national Canadian radio promotions, based in the Universal Music Canada offices in Toronto effective November 1. He replaces previous Canadian Director Angela Borchetta.
Harwood spent 17 years with Universal Music Canada. In 2007, he joined EMI Music where he held the position of Manager, National Promotions.
Kobalt Signs David Hodges
/by Sarah SkatesDavid Hodges
Multiple Grammy and BMI award-winning songwriter and producer, David Hodges, has signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with Kobalt Music Group to administer all new and forthcoming works via his publishing company, 3 Weddings Music. Formerly a member of the band Evanescence, Hodges co-wrote its worldwide hits “Bring Me to Life” and “My Immortal.” He has won several BMI Pop Awards, which include awards for his No. 1 singles “Because Of You” by Kelly Clarkson, “Crush” by David Archuleta, and “What About Now” by Daughtry, among others. His songs have also been recorded by major artists such as Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, Carrie Underwood, Christina Perri, Train and David Cook.
Hodges is currently collaborating with Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedingfield, Sara Evans, and Christina Perri for their new albums. As an active film and TV composer, Hodges most recently penned end title, “Thousand Years,” for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, as well as the title song, “There’s a Place for Us,” for The Chronicles Of Narnia, which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Song.
In more Kobalt news, the company plans to invest up to 100 million USD in the next 12 months in music royalties. Willard Ahdritz, CEO and Founder of Kobalt Music Group, explained, “In order to respond to existing and new clients’ needs for bigger advances, or part or whole acquisitions, Kobalt formed an investment advisory company in 2011 which now has substantial capital resources backed by blue chip family office and other institutional investors.” Kobalt has already made a number of investments with more to follow. The company manages more than 300,000 copyrights worldwide on behalf of over 1000 content holders.
Weekly Chart Report (10/19/12)
/by FreemanAfter MidNite host and Dale Franklin Awards emcee Blair Garner (L) recently sat down with Darius Rucker to talk about his forthcoming CD and his recent Grand Ole Opry induction.
SPIN ZONE
The girl may have gotten away, but Jake Owen finishes first in the latest MusicRow chart. “The One That Got Away” is the latest in a string of hit singles for the RCA Nashville star, and its journey up the chart took a steady 24 weeks. He’s followed by Eric Church’s “Creepin’,” Lee Brice’s “Hard to Love,” Rascal Flatts’ “Come Wake Me Up,” and Greg Bates’ “Did It For the Girl.” Also on the rise: Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” at No. 6, Toby Keith’s “I Like Girls That Drink Beer” at No. 7, Dierks Bentley’s “Tip It On Back” at No. 9, and Kip Moore’s “Beer Money” at No. 10. That’s a lot of drinking in the top 10.
Josh Turner (L) dropped by the KKGO/Los Angeles studios and chatted with Shawn Parr. Turner’s rising single “Find Me A Baby” lands “On Deck” this week.
Elsewhere we’ve got a few strong female singles on the way, led by Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again” at No. 21. Newcomer Kacey Musgraves has also got quite a buzz going with “Merry Go Round,” which moves to No. 26. One slot behind her at No. 27 is Kelleigh Bannen’s “Sorry on the Rocks,” which was recently played to enthusiastic response at the annual Capitol Street Party.
After a couple weeks of molasses-slow movement on the chart, there are a whole boatload of new singles. Chris Young is first among them with “I Can Take It From There” at No. 59. Joanna Mosca’s “Dream On Savannah” pops in at No. 71, followed by LiveWire’s “Lies” at No. 73, and Hunter Hayes’ “Somebody’s Heartbreak” at No. 75 poised to make a big impact next week. Additionally, there are first appearances by Michelle Cupit’s “I Know You’re Lying (Your Lips Are Moving),” One Night Rodeo’s “Real Good,” Lucky Ned Pepper’s “I Remember the Music,” and Tracy Lawrence’s “Stop Drop & Roll.”
Frozen Playlists: KGMN, KVVP, KZTL, WAKG, WBYZ, WXMM
Upcoming Singles
October 22
Hunter Hayes/Somebody’s Heartbreak/Atlantic-WMN
Josh Abbott Band/I’ll Sing About Mine/PDT-Atlantic-WMN
Sarah Darling/Home To Me/Black River
Sweetwater Rain/Starshine/Curb
Bill Gentry/Hell and Half of Georgia/Tenacity Records
October 25
Lathan Moore/Forever Man/Render
October 29
Thompson Square/If I Didn’t Have You/Stoney Creek
Jerrod Niemann/Only God Could Love You More/Sea Gayle-Arista
Hayden Panettiere/Telescope/Big Machine
• • • • •
New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Chris Young/I Can Take It From There/RCA Nashville – 59
Joanna Mosca/Dream On Savannah/Dolce Diva Music – 71
LiveWire/Lies/Way Out West — 73
Hunter Hayes/Somebody’s Heartbreak/Atlantic-WMN – 75
Michelle Cupit/I Know You’re Lying (Your Lips Are Moving)/Cupit – 77
One Night Rodeo/Real Good/Fox Hill Records – 78
Lucky Ned Pepper/I Remember The Music/Nine North – 79
Tracy Lawrence/Stop, Drop, & Roll/Lawrence Music Group – 80
Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Hunter Hayes/Somebody’s Heartbreak/Atlantic-WMN – 17
Tracy Lawrence/Stop, Drop, & Roll/Lawrence Music Group – 16
Brantley Gilbert/More Than Miles/The Valory Music Co. – 15
Chris Young/I Can Take It From There/RCA Nashville – 15
Gary Allan/Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)/MCA – 15
Montgomery Gentry/I’ll Keep The Kids/Average Joes – 14
Michael Dean Church/Still Not Over You/MDC – 12
Tyler Farr/Hello Goodbye/Columbia Nashville – 12
Uncle Kracker/Nobody’s Sad On A Saturday Night/EMI Nashville/Sugar Hill – 11
Eric Lee Beddingfield/That Ol’ Outlaw Song/Rebel Dawg – 11
Kacey Musgraves/Merry Go Round/Mercury – 11
Taylor Swift/Begin Again/Big Machine – 11
Faith Hill/American Heart/Warner Bros. – 10
Little Big Town/Tornado/Capitol – 10
Love & Theft/Running Out Of Air/RCA Nashville – 10
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Taylor Swift/Begin Again/Big Machine – 463
Brad Paisley/Southern Comfort Zone/Arista Nashville – 404
Zac Brown Band/Goodbye In Her Eyes/Southern Ground-Atlantic – 380
Gary Allan/Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)/MCA – 358
Little Big Town/Tornado/Capitol – 339
On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Randy Rogers Band/One More Sad Song/MCA Nashville – 171
Logan Mize/Good Life/Big Yellow Dog – 170
Brantley Gilbert/More Than Miles/Valory – 165
Brinn Black/That Should Have Been Us/SMG – 154
Craig Campbell/Outta My Head/Bigger Picture – 151
Josh Turner/Find Me A Baby/MCA – 144
Casey James recently stopped by Philadelphia’s WXTU before his show at XFinity Live. His “Crying On A Suitcase” takes the MusicRow Chart's No. 16 spot this week. Pictured (L-R): Casey; WXTU APD/MD Mark Razz and Columbia’s David Friedman and the wonderfully pink "Skully."
Maggie Rose, Jana Kramer and Lauren Alaina recently appeared at WQMX/Akron’s “Chicks with Picks” event to benefit Muffins for Mammograms. (L-R): Jody Wheatley (WQMX MD), Maggie Rose, Sue Wilson (WQMX AM show/PD), Jana Kramer, Lauren Alaina
Fairfield Four Gospel Great Passes
/by Robert K OermannA member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a Grammy Award winner, Freeman had been in declining health for several years. He passed away on Tuesday, October 16.
He was born in Alabama and raised in Ohio. In the 1940s, he began his singing career in the gospel groups The Golden Tones and The Kings of Harmony.
Freeman first joined the long-established Fairfield Four in 1948. One of gospel music’s oldest and most influential harmony quartets, the group was founded in 1925 at Nashville’s Fairfield Baptist Church. When Freeman joined, the group was already recording for Bullet Records and broadcasting its own show on WLAC radio. The program had national distribution via the CBS radio network.
In 1950, Freeman left Nashville to sing in the Alabama-based Skylarks. He moved back to Music City in 1962. After a period of dormancy, The Fairfield Four was reconstituted in 1980. During the next few years, the group resumed recording and sang with such stars as Amy Grant, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, John Fogerty and Lyle Lovett.
The group’s 1999 album I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray won a Grammy Award. The following year, Freeman and his musical partners were featured in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou as well as on its multi-million selling soundtrack album.
Over the years, The Fairfield Four also recorded for Bullet, Dot, Delta, Champion, Old Town, Nashboro, Dead Reckoning, Blue Plate and Warner Bros. Records.
Freeman issued his first solo album in 2002. Titled Beautiful Stars, it was produced by Kieran Kane and featured Mike Henderson’s band The Blue Bloods as well as The McCrary Sisters. The McCrarys’ father, Sam McCrary, was The Fairfield Four’s anchor tenor vocalist and most enduring member. After he died in 1989, Freeman became the group’s cornerstone and musical director.
Funeral arrangements for Isaac Freeman have not been announced.
Charlie Cook On Air: “Nashville” Cool
/by contributorGo back to the old days when Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and Hee Haw brought the personalities into our lives. I was a kid during this programming and country music was not on my radar during those days but my family watched these shows because they were bigger than the music itself.
Austin City Limits has been on TV since the mid 70s and it continues to introduce “slightly different” musical acts to PBS viewers. Some would say the viewers of PBS are “slightly different” too so that is a perfect fit.
Movies have had impact on country music and country music radio in the past too. The obvious one is Urban Cowboy. That drove a huge surge to country music radio because the programmers were smart enough to take advantage of all of the hype.
At the same time you have to remember the great music that was on that soundtrack. Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee were the biggest winners from the movie. The album also included Bob Seger, Joe Walsh, Kenny Rogers, The Charlie Daniels Band, the Eagles and more. The millions of people who saw this movie came out of the theater convinced that this country music was pretty good. The movie did about $47M.
No one was cooler than John Travolta in 1980. Debra Winger was pretty hot too. Gilley’s, in Pasadena Texas, looked like a great place to hang out and everyone wanted to ride that mechanical bull. Or at least watch others ride it.
It was a cultural shift. To be cool you had to emulate the cultural icons for the day. Travolta was a leading one and he was into country music (at least in the movie). Ergo, I will get involved in country music and I too will be cool.
Urban Cowboy was the 13th highest grossing film of 1980 but not even the highest country music-themed movie of the year. Nine to Five grossed over $100M, Coal Miner’s daughter did $67M and Smokey and the Bandit 2 did $66M. But Urban Cowboy had the most impact on country music appeal that year.
A few weeks ago ABC aired the CMA Music Fest television special, “Country’s Night to Rock.” The show did respectable numbers against the first national exposure for Peyton Manning in orange and blue, the new NBC-TV hot show Revolution and baseball fans that were caught up in four pennant races. In a couple of weeks the CMA Awards show will put all of our stars on TV again for three hours.
TV has been very good to country music for many years now. American Idol is good for country music. Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Josh Gracin, Bucky Covington and Scotty McCreery to name just a few.
Blake Shelton has made country music cool on The Voice.
And now one of the TV break-out hits this year is Nashville. I watch a lot of TV. I like comedies and police shows. I am not a big fan of soaps but I was interested in watching Nashville for the obvious reasons. Add to this that it was so positively reviewed.
The cast is attractive. The show is like Dallas and Falcon Crest in the key of C.
If you live, work or visit Nashville regularly the draw is seeing landmarks where you’ve had a beer or two. If you have never been to Nashville you a drawn to the story lines that are bigger than the music.
If you work in the radio and country music business you know that putting the music and personalities in front of America in movies and on TV is good for business.
Whether you’re a fan of soaps or not, your air staff needs to be talking about Nashville and including listeners in the story lines. I am not sure that the program will bring back mechanical bulls but it could bring back a degree of “coolness” for the format and that is also good business.
Primetime “Nashville”: Episode 102
/by Sarah SkatesRayna and Deacon duet on "No One Will Ever Love You."
Episode 102: “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You)”
Ratings of new show Nashville slipped in its second week. Last night (10/17) it attracted about 6.75 million viewers, down from 9 million the week before, according to Zap2It.com. For all the industry troops who were at the Leadership Music Awards or Capitol Street Party and couldn’t tune in, here’s what you missed:
The romance between Juliette and Deacon heated up with the young starlet wooing him to a “songwriting” session that led to skinny dipping. He reminded her, “this is not how songs get written,” but she slyly assured, “no it’s what songs get written about.” They ended up finishing a song, appropriately titled “Undermine,” and actually written by Trent Dabbs and Kacey Musgraves (see video below). Juliette continued to entice Deacon to join her band, telling him that his relationship with Rayna is almost like being married, with all of the hassle and none of the benefits. Juliette then took the fight for Deacon to a whole new level by sending him a gift—a rare 1938 Martin 00-42—to Soundcheck where he was rehearsing with Rayna.
Adding to Rayna’s dismay was the taping of Juliette’s music video for “Telescope” on the Music Row roundabout, complete with dancers in front of the Musica statue. “Telescope” is also the first real-life radio single from the series. BMLG is going for adds with Hayden Panettiere’s track on Oct. 29. Cary Barlowe and Hillary Lindsey wrote the song which was produced by Dann Huff for radio and T. Bone Burnett for television.
On the show, producer Watty White suggested Rayna and Deacon return to their early days with a scaled-down tour of smaller venues. Deacon’s band was playing at the Bluebird, where the set included “Matchbox Blues” (Lemon Jefferson), so Rayna joined him onstage for a song. Their touching duet of “No One Will Ever Love You,” (Steve McEwan, John Paul White) with the lyric “no one will ever love you like I do,” sent a crying Juliette running for the door. Members of the industry probably noticed Bluebird Cafe COO/GM Erika Wollam Nichols in the scene.
Also watching from the crowd was waitress Scarlett (Deacon’s niece) and her co-writer/ Bluebird sound guy Gunnar. In many ways they are a younger version of Rayna and Deacon, sharing a strong chemistry as songwriters and performers. Watty offered to cut a three-song demo for Scarlett and Gunnar. The competition for Scarlett’s affection increased when her boyfriend Avery found out she had been collaborating with Gunnar. Avery’s band performed “Twist of Barbwire,” written by Elvis Costello, during a sweaty scene at The 5 Spot. Another local venue getting a cameo was the Broken Spoke Saloon, where Gunnar performed “I’ll Be There (If You Want Me).”
Meanwhile, Rayna’s husband Teddy continued his mayoral campaign, which included a thorough vetting of his family and their past. Fox 17’s David Ditmore played one of the consultants handling the vulnerability study. During this process we learned that Rayna paid for Deacon to go to rehab years ago, which ultimately led to their break-up and her marrying Teddy. Also, Teddy’s past includes some shady dealings involving property near the Cumberland River—while Rayna is singing at the Bluebird, he’s at home burning documents. Elsewhere, Rayna’s father Lamar continued his suspicious agenda. He argued with his former employee/current opposing mayoral candidate Coleman, and told the consultants vetting Teddy that “a mayor with secrets is easier to control.”
See the recap of the pilot episode or visit ABC’s Nashville music lounge.
If you have a scoop on Nashville, email sskates@musicrow.com.
“Music City Roots” Filming For Television
/by Freeman“Music City Roots exports the quality and diversity of the musical culture that abounds in such great measure here in Music City and all over the world,” says Todd Mayo, Music City Roots Executive Producer. “Our partnership with WNPT, The Loveless Cafe and the wonderful brands who support the show will allow a national audience, on a weekly basis, to experience on public television the musical magic from the Barn. It’s reality television from Music City and WNPT and public television is the ideal home for us.”
The show’s first televised season will feature programs from MCR’s Fall 2012 and Winter 2013 seasons. Performers scheduled during this period include Elizabeth Cook, Bobby Bare, Buddy Miller, The Memphis Dawls, Two Man Gentlemen Band, and more.
More info here.
Swift Announces “Red” Rollout
/by MichelleOn release day, a select group of Swift’s Twitter followers and Facebook friends will join her in New York, where they will literally “follow” her during release week events, providing live social media updates to millions of fans around the world. Swift currently has more than 19.7 million Twitter followers and 34.9 million Facebook likes.
Swift will be live in Times Square for ABC’s Good Morning America on both October 22 and 23 (7:00 a.m. ET/PT), and later on Oct. 23 she will be the lead guest and performer on The Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 ET/PT on CBS).
On Oct. 24 Taylor will be live on ABC’s The View for a performance and chat, and on the following day (Oct. 25) she will make a special concert appearance on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Swift will also guest on ABC’s Katie with Katie Couric on Oct. 26, and that same evening she will be featured on ABC’s primetime special All Access Nashville with Katie Couric – A Special Edition of 20/20 at 9 ET/PT.
Entertainment Tonight has designated it “Taylor Swift Week,” Swift will be interviewed in upcoming episodes of Access Hollywood, E! News, and Extra.
In addition to her TV appearances that week, Swift will sit down for a live Q&A session with an audience at SiriusXM studios in New York. “SiriusXM’s Town Hall with Taylor Swift” will air live on The Highway on Oct. 22 at 2 pm/ET. Taylor will visit Scholastic’s New York headquarters for a special literacy event as part of the “Read Every Day” literacy campaign.
After the New York media events, Swift will return to Nashville, where she’ll take part in the Taylor Swift Worldwide Radio Remote presented by Papa John’s. With 72 stations broadcasting live from Music City on Friday, Oct. 26, the radio event will cover four formats–Country, CHR, Hot AC, AC–and five continents, with stations coming from as far away as South Africa and New Zealand.
Taylor Swift is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone’s current Hot List issue, as well as on the November covers of Glamour and Marie Claire UK.