New Performers Added to CMA Awards

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The lineup for The 46th Annual CMA Awards received additional star-power with today’s (10/1) announcement that co-host Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Zac Brown Band will all be performing.

The performers join previously announced Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Kelly Clarkson, and Little Big Town. Hosted for the fifth year by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, the show airs live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Thurs., Nov. 1 (7 – 10 PM/CT) on ABC.

Paisley is nominated for Entertainer of the Year. He has been nominated for an award every year since 2000 and has now amassed a total of 58 nominations.

Bryan is making his first appearance in the Male Vocalist category. Bryan also picked up a second nomination for Album of the Year for tailgates & tanlines, produced by Jeff Stevens and Mark Bright.

Lambert, received four nominations including a shared nomination with Blake Shelton for CMA Song of the Year for “Over You.” Lambert is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year; Album of the Year for Four The Record, produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, and Glenn Worf; and Music Video of the Year for “Over You,” directed by Trey Fanjoy.

The Zac Brown Band will perform having received a Vocal Group of the Year nomination, their fourth consecutive nomination in the category.

The third and final ballot will be emailed to CMA members Thurs., Oct. 4. Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot ends Mon., Oct. 22 (5:00 PM/CT).

‘1861 Project’ Returns With Second Volume

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Artist collective Cohesion Arts has released the second installment of The 1861 Project, an ongoing series of releases that mix music with history from the American Civil War.

The 1861 Project – Volume 2: From the Famine to the Front centers on the experiences of Irish immigrants in the Civil War, drawing on Irish and American traditions alike. The collection features Celtic-inspired songs with performers including Maura O’Connell (with dobro master Jerry Douglas), Sierra Hull, David Olney, Connie Smith, Liam Merriman and a cast of veteran Nashville musicians and performers.

Volume 1 in the series focused on the working class members of society from the time period. Like its acclaimed predecessor, Volume 2 was conceived by producer/songwriter Thomm Jutz, who has played with Nanci Griffith and Mary Gauthier among others.

“Irish immigrants played such an integral role in the US Civil War,” says Jutz. “Some fought for the North, some fought for the South; the American conflict of brother against brother was also Irish against Irish.”

Volume 2 is available for purchase now. More info here.

At the 1861 Project Vol. 2 CD Release party on Sept. 25, performers offered a sneak peak of the album's songs. (L-R): Recording artist Chris Jones; project producer/songwriter/guitarist Thomm Jutz; and Jon Weisberger, bassist for Chris Jones and the Night Drivers (and just-named IBMA songwriter of the year).

 

MusicRowPics: Tyler Farr

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Columbia Nashville’s Tyler Farr visited the MusicRow offices last week to give the staff a preview of his debut album. Lead single “Hello Goodbye” is already climbing the radio charts. He penned the autobiographical song with Kris Bergsnes and Skip Black about the end of a relationship. Farr also performed “Mine Tonight,” “Wish I Had a Boat,” and “Hope I Don’t Live to See That Day.” His album will be released in early 2013.

A native of Garden City, MO, Farr’s love of country music is rooted in time on the road with his stepfather, who played guitar for George Jones. Farr later attended Missouri State on a vocal performance scholarship, and was a regular act at famed honky-tonk Tootsie’s.

 

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Kenny Rogers Sets Media Schedule for Memoir

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Kenny Rogers will reveal personal highs and lows about his rise to fame with his first memoir, Luck or Something Like It, set for release tomorrow (10/2) via HarperCollins imprint William Morrow.

Throughout the week, Rogers will appear at various media outlets, including Good Morning America (10/2), The View (10/3), The Colbert Report (10/3), CBS This Morning (10/4), Piers Morgan Tonight (10/4), Anderson Live, Fox News, Canada AM (10/5), NPR’s Morning Edition (10/4), The Diane Rehm Show (10/1), The Leonard Lopate Show (10/2), SiriusXM and numerous syndicated radio spots.

Rogers will also begin a seven-city book tour tomorrow (10/2), full dates listed below.

The work contains a candid look at the world of Country music with stories from a cast of characters including Elvis, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Dottie West, and Lionel Richie. Rogers speaks candidly of his rough childhood in the South–growing up in poverty and how his father’s alcoholism greatly impacted his career. Rogers also discusses his first professional group, The First Edition, and branching to form a solo career, which garnered hits including “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town,” “Lucille,” “Love or Something Like It,” “Lady,” and “The Gambler.”

Book Tour Schedule: 
October 2 – Ridgefield, NJ: Bookends
October 3- New York, NY: Barnes & Noble (54th & 3rd)
October 6- Lexington, KY: Joseph-Beth Booksellers
October 7- Atlanta, GA: Barnes & Noble (Alpharetta)
October 8- Birmingham, AL: Books-A-Million (Brookhighland)
October 12- Houston, TX: Barnes & Noble (River Oaks)

Artist Updates (10/01/12)

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Taylor Swift’s weekly iTunes song rollout for Red (10/22) continues this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, where the artist is giving viewers a 30 second clip of a new song from the album. The song will be available for download on iTunes at midnight tonight. Additionally, Swift will be interviewed by Cynthia McFadden on ABC’s Nightline, airing tonight (10/1).

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Kip Moore will perform his hit No. 1 single “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck” today (10/1) on NBC’s Today from the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The performance is part of a special show, “Kathie Lee and Hoda Go Back to College,” and UT won a contest to host the episode. “The energy level at a college is always heightened,” Moore says. “You’ve got so much spirit among the student body. That gives us energy when we are playing, so we always look forward to playing on college campuses.”

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The video for Luke Bryan’s “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” is set for an exclusive debut on E! News Tuesday, October 2 at 7 pm and 11:30 pm/ET. The clip will also be airing on www.eonline.com for 24 hours after the premiere. Shaun Silva worked with Bryan on the video for “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” which is the fourth single from Bryan’s tailgates & tanlines.

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Big & Rich will offer four director’s cut music videos of songs from their new album Hillbilly Jedi on CMT’s “Hillbilly Hijack” segment October 5. The duo handpicked directors to apply a creative vision to songs “Party Like Cowboys,” “Born Again,” “Lay It All On Me,” and “Cheat On You,” which will all air in the segment. Directors The Edde Brothers, Ryan Hamblin, Kip Kubin and Jeff Venable are the director talents behind the clips.

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Craig Morgan has been tapped to co-host the upcoming season of Field & Stream Total Outdoorsman Challenge, which debuts Wednesday, October 3 at 9:30 pm/ET on Outdoor Channel. Field & Stream editor-at-large T. Edward Nickens will co-host the reality program, which follows the journey of outdoor enthusiasts to become the Total Outdoorsman champion.

(L-R): Allen Treadwell, T. Edward Nickens, Craig Morgan. Photo Courtesy Outdoor Channel.

Party Pics: CRS Battle of the Bands

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Five label groups formed bands and rocked 3rd & Lindsley Thursday night, Sept. 27, at the inaugural CRS Battle of the Bands. The sold out evening featured entertaining lineups from BBR Music Group, Capitol Nashville, Sony Music Nashville, UMG Nashville and Warner Music Nashville. UMG Nashville was declared the winner, based on an audience applause-meter and monetary donations from the crowd. The industry event raised money for the CRS Scholarship Fund and The Country Radio Hall of Fame.

CRS Battle of the Bands 2012 winners, UMG Nashville’s Tiny Huge City

Sony Music Nashville’s Bushido

Warner Music Nashville’s The Almighty Warner Band

 

BBR Music Group’s One Night Stand Band

Capitol Nashville’s Capitol eMERGing Artists

BMI Promotes Two in Nashville Office

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Mark Mason, Bradley Collins

BMI has announced the promotions of Mark Mason and Bradley Collins, both of whom are key team members in the organization’s Nashville Writer/Publisher Relations department.

“BMI is lucky to have two such engaged and forward-thinking Writer/Publisher executives on our Nashville team,” said Jody Williams, Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations. “Mark Mason consistently creates win-win opportunities for BMI songwriters by providing showcase opportunities, as well as through strategic partnerships he develops. Bradley Collins is an amazing talent scout, organizational point person and problem solver. Mason and Collins have a unique ability to amplify songwriters’ talents and mentor them, without losing sight of what makes a writer special.”

Previously a Senior Director, Mason has been upped to Executive Director, Writer/Publisher Relations. He started his career at RCA and joined BMI in 1995 as Associate Director, assuming increasing levels of responsibility for developing and coordinating showcases in Nashville and the region.

Collins has been promoted to Senior Director, Writer/Publisher Relations from his previous role as Director. He joined the organization in 2002 from Acuff-Rose Music Publishing. His duties include coordinating writer events, creating opportunities for BMI writers and publishers, and identifying new sources of revenue and exposure for artists.

Demonbreun Property Changes Hands

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A 1.5 acre piece of property on Demonbreun near the roundabout sold last week for $6.75 million, according to the Nashville Post. The land at 1515 Demonbreun is currently a parking lot across the street from the row of shops and restaurants.

Demonbreun-FCA, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C. based Faison Enterprises, purchased the lot. No word on the company’s plans for the land, but the Post reports Faison’s history of developing mixed-use properties, including the Avenue Murfreesboro.

The Lionstone Group unloaded the parcel, but retained another 1.5 acres on the roundabout itself.

Apple Streaming Service Delayed

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Apple’s plans to compete in streaming radio markets against stalwart companies Pandora, Spotify and iHeartRadio have been delayed after an agreement with publisher Sony/ATV and record labels failed to transpire, according to the New York Post.

Coupling with this news, Sony/ATV is reportedly planning to withdraw digital rights from ASCAP and BMI at the end of 2012, collecting compulsory licenses directly. This would follow a move made last year by EMI to pull digital license services away from its previous administer, ASCAP.

Apple’s plan to have its own music-streaming service built into the iPhone 5 was dramatically dashed when talks between the tech giant and Sony/ATV hit a last-minute snag.

Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music publisher, and Apple couldn’t agree on a per-song rights fee.

At the same time, Sony/ATV is about to set the music streaming sector on its ear as it will pull out of the two main copyright associations, ASCAP and BMI, in January.

Apple’s talks with the labels involves an element of promotion based on what music labels are pushing in any one month. Apple is talking about more flexible licenses than Pandora’s since it would allow the tech giant to point people directly to its iTunes store to generate sales. Apple’s streaming licenses would also allow it to play a selected artist more times than Pandora’s rights allow it to.

Sony/ATV–owned by the Sony Corp. and the Michael Jackson estate–brings incredible leverage in negotiations especially since it recently acquired the EMI publishing catalog, now controlling rights to about 3 million songs.

In related Apple news, the company released the iPhone 5 in 22 additional countries today (9/28) with plans to be available in over 100 by the end of the year. In a rare statement of apology today (9/28), CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the dysfunction of the Apple Maps update associated with operating system changes surrounding the iPhone 5 release.

Hunter Hayes Offers Free Unreleased Song

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Road Trips and Guitar Picks, created by Country Financial, has partnered with Hunter Hayes to offer fans a free download of the previously unreleased title, “Light Me Up” on the company’s Facebook page. Until now, the track could only be heard live in concert.

“I am really excited to finally release ‘Light Me Up’,” Hunter says. “This is such a great way to say thanks to all the fans for their support!”

Additionally, CF has partnered with Hayes for 15 dates as he tours with Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away Tour. Fans can enter a sweepstakes to win a VIP experience, concert tickets and backstage passes to meet Hayes and receive a special performance. Additional offerings include support for an upcoming Livestream tour where Hayes will give free exclusive concerts, as well as a chance for fans to participate in the upcoming “Light Me Up” video.

Hayes is also slated to perform on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon tonight (9/28), which airs at 11:37 pm/ET.

Over the past three years, Road Trips and Guitar Picks has partnered with artists as Train, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean and Little Big Town.