Video/Audio/Lighting Company LMG Expands Nashville Presence

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Steve Austin

LMG, a national provider of video, audio, and lighting support, has opened a new office in Nashville. The location houses over 24,000 square feet of office and warehouse space, and will become a new base of operations at 1674 Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.

LMG has hired Steve Austin as accounts manager to handle overall management, sales and project strategy, and account coordination for the new facility. Austin brings over 25 years of audiovisual experience to LMG, most recently including a decade as manager/producer at a leading staging firm in Nashville.

The local LMG Design Studio, which debuted in December at 408 Broadway, will remain open.

“Expanding our presence in Nashville helps to better serve our corporate clients and our growing list of tours, as well as the convention market with the new Music City Center in development,” says Les Goldberg, CEO/President of LMG. “And Steve’s depth of industry experience and knowledge of the Nashville market is the perfect addition to grow the LMG footprint in the region.”

LMG’s Nashville office can be reached at 615-627-9312, or toll free at 855-300-8990.

All-Star Lineup Set For ‘Love For Levon’

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Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Gregg Allman, and John Prine will be among the musical guests celebrating the life and music of Levon Helm at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. for Love for Levon, tomorrow, October 3.

The all-star band will be led by Don Was and Larry Campbell, produced by Keith Wortman, and promoted by Ron Delsener and Jim Glancy. The Helm Family and Levon Helm Productions will support the production of the event.

The gathering also includes Roger Waters, John Mayer, My Morning Jacket, Ray LaMontagne, Joe Walsh, Grace Potter, Garth Hudson of The Band, Marc Cohn, Jakob Dylan, Mike Gordon, Warren Haynes, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby, Jorma Kaukonen, The Levon Helm Band, Robert Randolph, Mavis Staples and Lucinda Williams.

All proceeds from the concert benefit the Helm estate including home, barn and studio, which continues to host a series of live performances called The Midnight Ramble Sessions. Elvis Costello, Kris Kristofferson, The Black Crowes and My Morning Jacket have already been featured on the sessions.

Tickets are available to the general public at Ticketmaster or by phone at 800-745-3000 at the Izod Center box office.

For more information, visit www.loveforlevon.com.

Chris Young Plots Tour, Sells Out Ryman

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Chris Young will launch the first leg of his headlining Liquid Neon Tour in November, and the first date will be a sold-out show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The concert date will mark Young’s first-ever headlining show in Music City.

Joining Young for the trek will be Thomas Rhett, whose “Beer With Jesus” is quickly scaling the charts, and RCA Nashville’s Joanna Smith (“We Can’t Be Friends”), who will open the shows. Young’s tour experience includes time with talents like Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert and more. His latest single, “I Can Take It From Here,” just shipped to radio.

Liquid Neon Tour Dates:
11/15 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
11/16 – Bristol, TN – Viking Hall Civic Center
11/17 – Pikeville, KY – Eastern Kentucky Expo Center
11/30 – Corbin, KY – The Arena

Additional Tour Dates Yet To Be Announced:
Youngstown, OH *with Eric Paslay and Joanna Smith
Bowling Green, OH
Evansville, IN
Huntsville, AL
Savannah, GA
Chattanooga, TN

IEBA Adds to Talent Lineup

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The 42nd annual International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) conference, set for October 7-9, has added another round of performances and events, with more coming soon.

All major agency parties will be hosted at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium, including APA and Paradigm which kick off Sunday (10/7) with Joe Robinson, Yacht Rock Revue, Steel Magnolia, Edwin McCain, Kingston, Barenaked Ladies, Eli Young Band and Spin Doctors.

CAA will host Joe Nichols, Aaron Lewis, and Sarah Darling during a Monday (10/8) showcase before BLA represented Steve Holy, Rachel Farley, Parmalee, and Florida Georgia Line perform later in the evening. The Agency Group will wrap the conference on Tuesday (10/9) with Hinder, Leon Russell, and 3 Doors Down. 

Additionally, Utopia Artists acts Hangin’ with Stogie and The Young Adventurers will have a featured spot, in addition to the Bobby Roberts Company showcasing Morgan Frazier, and Parallel 49 highlighting G-Rule.

Two YouTube favorites, Chris Thompson and Landon Austin, will perform and share insight into during an interview hosted by Jay Frank. Further, Paula Abdul will join a panel discussion on Monday (10/8) on how reality TV has affected the music industry.

IEBA provides networking, showcasing and educational opportunities to strengthen relationships, foster growth and increase revenue for the live entertainment industry. It is an intimate organization representing over $1 billion in buying power.

Visit ieba.org for additional information.

RPME Adds New Management Client

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(L-R): RPME President Scott Siman, Emily Roberts, Ben Roberts, RPME Manager Amanda Fletcher.

RPME artist manager Amanda Fletcher has announced the signing of Americana duo Carolina Story to the company’s management division.

“I’m thrilled to have signed Carolina Story to the RPM family,” says Fletcher. “I’ve followed the duo for some time. Between their amazing songwriting ability and fantastic live show, I’m proud to have them on board!”

Comprised of husband and wife Ben and Emily Roberts, Carolina Story has released three studio albums and performed over 400 shows. They join fellow RPME management clients Humming House and Yarn.

ASCAP OnStage Program Covers Venues of All Sizes

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ASCAP has launched a program that gives its members the opportunity to receive royalties when their music is performed live at venues of all sizes. ASCAP OnStage allows writer members to notify ASCAP of live performances of their work via Member Access at ASCAP.com. Members provide the basic details of the live performance and a list of the songs performed. A royalty, based upon venue license fees, is then distributed to the writers and publishers of the songs as part of the quarterly ASCAP distributions. Beginning in January, writers will be able to submit this info via ASCAP Mobile.

“ASCAP OnStage augments our already robust survey and distribution system,” commented ASCAP Executive Vice President of Membership Randy Grimmett. “It offers our many active members an opportunity to be fairly compensated for their live performances, regardless of the size of the venue. The simplicity of the ASCAP OnStage user interface lets our members easily submit their setlists and concentrate on what they do best: writing the best music in the world.”

The platform provides members with a list of all ASCAP OnStage performances, even those submitted by other ASCAP members. For more information and a detailed FAQ, visit www.ascap.com/onstage.

Snapshots (10/02/12)

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The Civil Wars hosted a free and open to the public Gold Album party at Grimey’s New and Preloved Music last week to commemorate the duo’s debut album Barton Hollow selling over 500k units. The 2011 release remains the best-selling album of all time at the beloved Nashville record store. The event offered a meet and greet with the land, limited edition posters and a free giveaway of exclusive merchandise.

(L-R): Travis Yetton (Sensibility Music), Nate Yetton (Sensibility Music), Joy Williams (The Civil Wars), John Paul White (The Civil Wars) and Mike Couse (Sensibility Music). Photo credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

• • • • •

Broken Bow Records’ Dustin Lynch returned to his hometown of Tullahoma, TN over the weekend to headline the annual 41-A Music Festival, which brought in a record number of attendees. Just before his performance, Lynch was presented with the key to the city of Tullahoma. “This is so awesome and unexpected,” Lynch said of the honor. “I haven’t gotten a chance to come back and play in Tullahoma since this whole thing started, even though I still come home every chance I get to see my family and friends. Just getting to play for my hometown was so special to me – this topped off the night. I’m proud of my hometown and this is something I’ll always treasure.”

Tullahoma Mayor Lane Curlee (L) presents Lynch with the key to the city. Photo: Chris Auditore

 • • • • •

While in New York City promoting his new album, Atlanta Braves fan Josh Turner received an unexpected surprise when he ran into one of his baseball heroes. Famed Braves pitcher and Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, along with former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, were also both in New York promoting their new film Knuckleball! As for Turner, his album Josh Turner-Live Across America is available exclusively at Cracker Barrel stores and his new single is “Find Me a Baby.”

Josh Turner (center) poses for a photo with baseball legends Phil Niekro (left) and Tim Wakefield (right) at MLB's Fan Cave in New York City. Photo: Josh Haunschild / MLB Photos

Mark Your Calendar (October 2012)

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Bonnie Bishop

Album Releases

October 1
Lucky Ned Pepper/Get Lucky/Nine North Records

October 2
Iris DeMent/Sing The Delta/Flariella
Jerrod Niemann/Free The Music/Sea Gayle-Arista
Blake Shelton/Cheers It’s Christmas/Warner Bros.-WMN
Charlie Peacock/No Man’s Land
Various/Live at Musicians Corner, Vol. 1
Angel Snow/Angel Snow

October 9
Bonnie Bishop/Free/Be Squared Records
Lori McKenna/Heart Shaped Bullet Hole [6-track digital only EP]
Wanda Jackson/Unfinished Business/Sugar Hill Records
Kyle Sherman/Hear Me/RayLynn Records

October 16
Jason Aldean/Night Train/Broken Bow Records
Jamey Johnson/Livin’ For A Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran/Mercury Nashville
Scotty McCreery/Christmas With Scotty McCreery/UMG
Steven Curtis Chapman/Joy/Provident
Gordon Mote/The Star Still Shines/Haven Records & RSI Music Group

October 22
Taylor Swift/Red/Big Machine
Lady Antebellum/On This Winter’s Night/Capitol

October 23
Billy Ray Cyrus/Change My Mind
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson/Wreck and Ruin/Sugar Hill

October 30
Toby Keith/Hope On The Rocks/Show Dog-Universal
Elvis Presley/Prince From Another Planet (Live at Madison Square Garden, June 1972) [2-CD+DVD box set]/RCA-Legacy
Rosehill/Crooked Thoughts
LiveWire/Livin‘/Way Out West

Brett Eldredge

Single Releases

October 1
Faith Hill/American Heart/WMG
Little Big Town/Tornado/Capitol
Heartland/The Sound a Dream Makes/R&J Records
Taylor Swift/Begin Again/Big Machine
Zac Brown Band/Goodbye In Her Eyes/Atlantic-Southern Ground
Kyle Park/The Night Is Young

October 8
Brett Eldredge/Don’t Ya/WMG
Danielle Peck/Impossible Dreams/Namaste-9 North
Uncle Kracker/Nobody’s Sad On A Saturday Night/Sugar Hill-Vanguard-EMI Nashville

October 15
Kristy Lee Cook/Airborne Ranger Infantry/BBR
Josh Turner/Find Me A Baby/MCA
Chris Young/I Can Take It From There/RCA
Montgomery Gentry/I’ll Keep The Kids/Average Joes

October 18
Tracy Lawrence/Stop Drop and Roll/LMG

October 22
Josh Abbott Band/I’ll Sing About Mine/PDT-Atlantic-WMN
Sarah Darling/Home To Me/Black River
Sweetwater Rain/Starshine/Curb

Industry Events

October 7
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel

October 10
Nashville Premieres on ABC

October 12-14
Southern Festival of Books. On the steps of the Tennessee State Capitol

October 17
Capitol Street Party. 7 pm
Dale Franklin Awards

October 28
SESAC Nashville Music Awards. Pinnacle at Symphony Place. Invitation Only.

October 29
ASCAP Country Awards. Gaylord Opryland Resort. Invitation only.

October 30
BMI Country Awards. BMI Nashville headquarters. Invitation only.

October 31
Full Moon Festival outdoor concert series

November 1
46th Annual CMA Awards. Broadcast live at 7 pm/CT on ABC

Adkins to Serve as American Red Cross Spokesperson

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Trace Adkins will serve as the spokesperson for the 2012 American Red Cross Holiday Giving Campaign, encouraging people to consider making charitable donations, sending cards for military heroes or donating blood.

“When my home was claimed by fire last year, the Red Cross was among the first on-site,” said Adkins. “They looked after my family when I couldn’t be there and offered to help in any way they could. From personal experience, I am supporting the Red Cross and their work to unite families and aid in times of need.”

The campaign features an online catalog enabling tax-deductible donations. Adkins has also recently recorded radio PSAs that feature his new song “Tough People Do,” from his forthcoming Show Dog-Universal album.

Adkins has also joined the Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet, lending his name to the roster of more than 40 other celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis, LL Cool J and Josh Duhamel.

Debbie Zavitson Forms Debbie Z Entertainment

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Debbie Zavitson

Music industry vet Debbie Zavitson has opened Debbie Z Entertainment, a full service publishing, management, artist development and independent song plugging company.

Her first signings are award-winning songwriter Vip Vipperman (Reba, Trace Adkins), Phillip Lammonds (Josh Turner, Blake Shelton, Hootie & the Blowfish), Curb Music Publishing, Jay Lazaroff (written music for over 100 film and TV shows including Survivor and The Apprentice), award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter Jess Moskaluke and emerging group Rocket Club.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this new company,” says Zavitson. “Pitching songs today is more of a challenge than ever, but the writers I’m working with bring such a passion and professionalism to it that it couldn’t be more rewarding.”

She began her career in the entertainment business as a singer performing throughout the country. She moved to Music City and landed a job with then independent producer Doug Johnson running his publishing company. Zavitson has discovered No. 1 hits including ACM Song of the Year “I Love the Way You Love Me,” and Blake Shelton’s “Austin.” She has worked in A&R at Sony and Giant Records, and in artist management with Shelton as her first artist.

She can be reached at debbiezavitson@me.com or (615) 578-2643.