We are just a week away from when the world converges on London for the start of the 2012 Olympics. The Olympics go back to about 778 BC. The Olympics have a few years on Country Music but there is a question about Little Jimmy Dickens. Apparently there is a photo of him in the first Triathlon.
I thought that it would be interesting to predict which Country Music artists would win specific events. Okay, interesting is a strong word, but you try to come up with 52 ideas for this column.
The original Olympics were held in honor of Zeus. We’re going to hold our version of the 2012 Olympics in honor of Scott Borchetta. Zeus too was the father of the sky and thunder. (As an aside…look up Zeus and tell me if he and Scott don’t go to the same barber.)
You know that NBC is providing Olympic coverage on every possible transmission form. Along with their TV networks, you will be able to view the events online and on your smartphone.
I reached out to CMT and GAC but they had no interest in our country version, so your humble reporter will be your only source for these games.
For the London Olympics countries staged time trials and preliminary events to choose the best athletes to represent their respective nations. In this version I chose the contestants and the winners. This way I could cut the two week competition to about 700 words on this page.
Okay, let’s get right to it. First a word from our sponsor: The 2012 Country Music Version of the London Olympics is brought to you by Country Radio everywhere. Tune one in today.
The US Basketball team has been in the news lately with the Dream Team verbally squaring off against this year’s team. No such controversy with our Gold Medal winning team of:
Blake Shelton
Hunter Hayes (every team needs a point guard)
Trace Adkins
Charles Kelley
Taylor Swift
Craig Morgan takes aim.
Shooting
Gold: Craig Morgan
Silver: Miranda Lambert
Bronze: Rodney Atkins
I was tempted to make a smart aleck remark here, but we have already established that these three people are armed and are good shots.
Gymnastics
Gold: Kellie Pickler
Silver: Carrie Underwood
Bronze: Sara Evans
This is going to be the most beautiful balance beam ever.
Weightlifting
Gold: Zac Brown
Silver: Toby Keith
Bronze: Lee Brice
This was very close. The order was decided on who I thought I might run into first. Plus these guys are all helping hold up their respective labels.
Judo
Gold: Kenny Chesney
Silver: Kimberly Perry
Bronze: Darn, I wish I hadn’t used Hunter Hayes earlier.
Fencing
Gold: Brad Paisley
Silver: Rodney Atkins
Bronze: John Rich
Okay here I cannot depend on your getting the connection of fencing and rapier wit so I am just going to point it out. Otherwise this makes no sense. And cut me a break on using Rodney twice after saying I wouldn’t with Hunter. This is a lot harder than it looks.
Diving
Gold: Taylor Swift
Silver: Dierks Bently
Bronze: Eddie London
This is kind of an inside joke for the Bronze. You would have to have been around Country Music for a long time. And chill out, Taylor and Dierks were not hurt badly.
Wrestling
Gold: Tim McGraw
Silver: Mike Curb
Bronze: The rest of us.
Swimming
Gold: Keith Urban
Silver: Jason Aldean
Bronze: Gary Allan
This one is strictly for the female fans. I am not sure if any of them can even swim.
And the most important of all of the events: the Decathlon. This takes strength, perseverance and the willingness to focus all of your energy on just these ten events. The most important ones for our contestants are DISCus throw, pole vault (the ability to jump others on the chart), the high jump (I will also accept the highest entry) and the marathon. This was a tough one but based on MY criteria:
Gold: George Strait
Silver: Tim McGraw
Bronze: Randy Owen
I hope that you enjoy the 2012 London Olympics. I hope that we hear the “Star Spangled Banner” after every event. Good luck to the USA team.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)
Weekly Chart Report (07/20/2012)
/by Sherod RobertsonCurb Records’ Rachel Holder stopped by WKSF/99.9 Kiss Country to bring Music Director Brian Hatfield some Little Debbie snacks from her hometown Chattanooga, TN and share her Top 15 single “In Your Arms.”
SPIN ZONE
Kenny Chesney‘s “Come Over” sprints to the top of the charts in Olympic fashion this week, just ten weeks after release. Keith Urban‘s “For You” edges up one spot to No. 2, followed by Blake Shelton‘s “Over” at No. 3. Gloriana‘s “Kissed You Good Night” comes in at No. 4 while Little Big Town‘s “Pontoon” continues paddling upstream entering the Top 5 with 236 additional spins.
Rounding out the Top 10 are singles from veterans and newcomers including Love and Theft‘s “Angel Eyes” with a 173 gain spin increase, Lady Antebellum‘s “Wanted You More,” Thomas Rhett‘s “Something To Do With My Hands,” Jana Kramer‘s “Why Ya Wanna” and Zac Brown Band‘s “The Wind” gaining 301 additional spins in its seventh week on the chart. ZBB has had a big week which included its latest album offering Uncaged topping country and all genre sales charts with debut scans of 234k units.
Tim McGraw‘s “Truck Yeah” jumps from No. 32 to No. 24 and has received the chart’s largest increase in spins in all three weeks since release, adding 546 spins this week. Eric Church‘s “Creepin'” climbs from No. 57 to No. 38 gaining 354 spins. Jason Aldean‘s “Take A Little Ride” lands the highest chart debut at No. 57 with 413 spins. Other debuts include Craig Morgan‘s “Corn Star” at No. 71, Miss Willie Brown‘s “You’re All That Matters To Me” at No. 73, Brandon Holland‘s “Man In The Moon” at No. 76, Aaron Watson‘s “Raise Your Bottle” at No. 78, Tommy Steele‘s “My Side Of The Street” at No. 79 and Chris Cagle‘s “Let There Be Cowgirls” at No. 80.
Frozen Reports: KDOL, WCJW, WTRS, WUCZ, WAKG, WXMM, WPPL, WCMS, WJMQ, WQNZ, WTCM
Upcoming Singles
July 23
Tyler Barham feat. Casey Walker/Meet Me In Montana/YN Records
Cloverdayle/Like We Were Kids Again/New Voice
Sarah Jarosz/Annabelle Lee/Sugar Hill
Brian Milson/Too Damn Young/Permian-Quarterback
Jaida Dreyer/Confessions/Streamsound
Sara Evans/Anywhere/RCA
Rich O’Toole/Red Wine On Your Lipstick/Triple Crown
Doug Briney/It’s All Country/DB Songs
July 30
Jason Cassidy/Ride of Your Life/A-Blake
Jordan Anderson/Key to My Heart/Go Time
Joey+Rory/When I’m Gone/Sugar Hill
Randy Rogers Band/One More Sad Song/MCA
Brantley Gilbert/Kick It In The Sticks/Valory
Jason Aldean/Take A Little Ride/Broken Bow
D. Vincent Williams/Down By The River/BPG
• • • •
New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Jason Aldean/Take A Little Ride/Broken Bow – 57
Craig Morgan/Corn Star/Black River – 71
Miss Willie Brown/You’re All That Matters To Me/Octone-A&M-Rodeowave – 73
Brandon Holland/Man In The Moon – 76
Aaron Watson/Raise Your Bottle/HTK Records – 78
Tommy Steele/My Side Of The Street – 79
Chris Cagle/Let There Be Cowgirls/Bigger Picture Group – 80
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Tim McGraw/Truck Yeah/Big Machine – 546
Jason Aldean/Take A Little Ride/Broken Bow – 413
Eric Church/Creepin’/EMI Nashville – 354
Zac Brown Band/The Wind/Southern Ground-Atlantic – 301
Carrie Underwood/Blown Away/19-Arista Nashville – 294
Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Jason Aldean/Take A Little Ride/Broken Bow – 30
Eric Church/Creepin’/EMI Nashville – 29
Tim McGraw/Truck Yeah/Big Machine – 21
Kip Moore/Beer Money/MCA – 19
Carrie Underwood/Blown Away/19-Arista Nashville – 10
On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Britt & Blaire/Young Summer/Mt. Juliet Records – 168
Kelly Parkes/All Cried Out – 166
Dave Russell/Where The Money Goes/Cupit – 164
Bobby Dean/Me and George Strait/Lamon – 163
Stephanie Grace/Hey There – 162
Heidi Newfield stopped in Meridian, MS to visit with WOKK’s Scott Stevens.
Toby Keith continues to sell out venues on his Live in Overdrive tour, including a recent show in Washington, DC. Pictured with (L-R): SDU’s Macy Morgenthaler, WMZQ's morning show personality Boxer, and WMZQ’s Promotions & Marketing Director Kim Sauer.
Hudson Moore with KSTV's Brad Heitman (R) and Vision Entertainment's Seth Necessary to promote his single "Fireworks," which debuted at No. 48 on the Texas Music Chart last week.
Charlie Cook On Air: Country Olympics Edition
/by contributorI thought that it would be interesting to predict which Country Music artists would win specific events. Okay, interesting is a strong word, but you try to come up with 52 ideas for this column.
The original Olympics were held in honor of Zeus. We’re going to hold our version of the 2012 Olympics in honor of Scott Borchetta. Zeus too was the father of the sky and thunder. (As an aside…look up Zeus and tell me if he and Scott don’t go to the same barber.)
You know that NBC is providing Olympic coverage on every possible transmission form. Along with their TV networks, you will be able to view the events online and on your smartphone.
I reached out to CMT and GAC but they had no interest in our country version, so your humble reporter will be your only source for these games.
For the London Olympics countries staged time trials and preliminary events to choose the best athletes to represent their respective nations. In this version I chose the contestants and the winners. This way I could cut the two week competition to about 700 words on this page.
Okay, let’s get right to it. First a word from our sponsor: The 2012 Country Music Version of the London Olympics is brought to you by Country Radio everywhere. Tune one in today.
The US Basketball team has been in the news lately with the Dream Team verbally squaring off against this year’s team. No such controversy with our Gold Medal winning team of:
Blake Shelton
Hunter Hayes (every team needs a point guard)
Trace Adkins
Charles Kelley
Taylor Swift
Craig Morgan takes aim.
Shooting
Gold: Craig Morgan
Silver: Miranda Lambert
Bronze: Rodney Atkins
I was tempted to make a smart aleck remark here, but we have already established that these three people are armed and are good shots.
Gymnastics
Gold: Kellie Pickler
Silver: Carrie Underwood
Bronze: Sara Evans
This is going to be the most beautiful balance beam ever.
Weightlifting
Gold: Zac Brown
Silver: Toby Keith
Bronze: Lee Brice
This was very close. The order was decided on who I thought I might run into first. Plus these guys are all helping hold up their respective labels.
Judo
Gold: Kenny Chesney
Silver: Kimberly Perry
Bronze: Darn, I wish I hadn’t used Hunter Hayes earlier.
Fencing
Gold: Brad Paisley
Silver: Rodney Atkins
Bronze: John Rich
Okay here I cannot depend on your getting the connection of fencing and rapier wit so I am just going to point it out. Otherwise this makes no sense. And cut me a break on using Rodney twice after saying I wouldn’t with Hunter. This is a lot harder than it looks.
Diving
Gold: Taylor Swift
Silver: Dierks Bently
Bronze: Eddie London
This is kind of an inside joke for the Bronze. You would have to have been around Country Music for a long time. And chill out, Taylor and Dierks were not hurt badly.
Wrestling
Gold: Tim McGraw
Silver: Mike Curb
Bronze: The rest of us.
Swimming
Gold: Keith Urban
Silver: Jason Aldean
Bronze: Gary Allan
This one is strictly for the female fans. I am not sure if any of them can even swim.
And the most important of all of the events: the Decathlon. This takes strength, perseverance and the willingness to focus all of your energy on just these ten events. The most important ones for our contestants are DISCus throw, pole vault (the ability to jump others on the chart), the high jump (I will also accept the highest entry) and the marathon. This was a tough one but based on MY criteria:
Gold: George Strait
Silver: Tim McGraw
Bronze: Randy Owen
I hope that you enjoy the 2012 London Olympics. I hope that we hear the “Star Spangled Banner” after every event. Good luck to the USA team.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)
Country Spotlighted in “Stars & Legends” PBS Concert Special
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): Martina McBride, Carole King, Jennifer Hudson. Photo: Ethan Miller
Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Martina McBride, Carole King, Jennifer Hudson, John Fogerty, Mavis Staples, and Pat Monahan are on the line up for a PBS Special titled From Dust To Dreams: Opening Night at The Smith Center For The Performing Arts. The Las Vegas event hosted by Neil Patrick Harris will air on PBS Fri., Sept. 21 at 9 pm ET/PT.
Never-before-seen duet and collaborations include Monahan and McBride singing “A Song for You,” and Staples and King performing “You’ve Got a Friend.” Powerhouse trio Hudson, McBride and King also sing “Natural Woman,” and Nelson and Haggard perform a rendition of “Pancho & Lefty.” Harris is slated to showcase Haggard’s “Ramblin’ Fever.”
“We set out to celebrate the best of the American creative spirit whether it was classical, Broadway, rock, dance or soul on the occasion of the opening of a world class performing arts center,” comments Emmy winning director and producer Michael Stevens. “It’s not every day that you get the chance to see such a range of artists all at the peak of their respective talents.”
Produced by George Stevens Jr., the program is part of the ongoing “PBS Arts” initiative, highlighting the performing and visual arts.
Watch clips of the show below:
The Roys Announce New Project
/by Eric T. ParkerThe new project features the first single “Still Standing,” currently at radio and available at AirplayDirect.com.
To promote the release, Lee and Elaine have created a series of brief videos for Bluegrass Today which will introduce the songs from the album each week.
The siblings contributed songwriting talents to all seven tracks. Fans can reserve an autographed copy at a discounted price here.
Track Listing for New Day Dawning
“New Day Dawning” (Lee Roy, Elaine Roy, Steve Dean)
“Daddy To Me” (Lee Roy, Brandon Rickman)
“Still Standing” (Lee Roy, Elaine Roy)
“Windin’ Roads” (Lee Roy, Mark Houser, Jay Brunswick)
“Grandpa’s Barn” (Lee Roy, Larry Alderman)
“Living Scrapbook” (Elaine Roy, Steve Dean)
“Fast As We Roll” (Lee Roy, Brian White, Jenee Fleenor)
First Amendment Center Surveys Public About Piracy
/by Sarah SkatesKen Paulson
Most Americans believe the government should prosecute people who pirate music and movies online according to a new survey conducted by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. Released July 17, the survey shows 59 percent favor prosecuting pirates, 33 percent are opposed, and nine percent “don’t know.”
The public is more ambivalent about the use of copyrighted material on social media. 44 percent of those surveyed said people should be able to post copyrighted material online without paying rights fees “as long as no money is being made.” 42 percent said posters should not have that right.
“Using content for personal and hobby use is consistent with the legal doctrine of fair use, allowing us to use copyrighted material in limited, generally nonprofit ways that don’t significantly affect the market for the original content,” explained Ken Paulson, president of the First Amendment Center.
“At this country’s birth, the nation’s founders guaranteed free speech and art through the First Amendment and ensured compensation for authors and creators through a copyright clause in the U.S. Constitution and federal law. These were complementary principles, which together helped ensure that a then-young nation would be a capital of creativity, ” added Paulson. “As illegal downloading has flourished, the right to create remains unabated, but the right to be paid for your work has been seriously damaged.”
The 2012 national survey of 1006 adults was conducted in June by telephone by the PERT Group, and directed by Dr. Kenneth Dautrich.
Radio News: Marconi Award Noms, Dan Halyburton
/by Sarah SkatesCountry Station of the Year noms
KCLR-FM, Columbia, MO
KUAD-FM, Fort Collins, CO
WIL-FM, St. Louis, MO
WYCD-FM, Detroit, MI
WZZK-FM, Birmingham, AL
Other award categories include Personality and Station of the Year in Large, Medium and Small Markets. See the complete list here.
Dan Halyburton
• • • •
Country Radio Hall of Fame inductee Dan Halyburton has joined Texas State Networks in a business development role. He will be based at the CBS/Dallas headquarters. Halyburton was most recently Exec. VP of New Media at McVay/Cook Associates. He can be reached at 214-707-7237 or dan.halyburton@cbsradio.com.
Dwight Yoakam to Release New Album
/by Caitlin RantalaYoakam will be honored by the Academy of Country Music with the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award at the 6th Annual ACM Honors on Sept. 24 in Nashville. The prestigious Award salutes individuals who are pioneers in the country music genre. Past recipients include Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Sr. and Hank Williams Jr.
Yoakam also recently narrated the current exhibit at The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, The Bakersfield Sound: Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and California County, showing through the end of next year. The exhibit explores the roots, heyday and impact of the Bakersfield Sound, the loud, stripped-down and radio-ready music most closely identified with the careers of Country Music Hall of Fame members Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.
3 Pears track listing
1. Take Hold Of My Hand
2. Waterfall
3. Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
4. Trying
5. Nothing But Love
6. It’s Never Alright
7. A Heart Like Mine
8. Long Way To Go
9. Missing Heart
10. 3 Pears
11. Rock It All Away
12. Long Way To Go (Reprise)
Offices Shuffle Around Nashville
/by Eric T. ParkerCombustion was formed in 2001 as a partnership with Warner/Chappell Music. It has represented the catalogs of Ashely Gorley, Kings of Leon, Brett James, Blair Daly, Gordie Sampson, Matthew West, and Drew Ramsey.
• • • •
Eighty-five staffers are stretched out over 25,000 square feet between two of the six renovated buildings.
Other offices already in the historic buildings include the Center for Nonprofit Management, Hands on Nashville, Arts & Business Council and the Entrepreneur Center.
The Farm Celebrates Debut Release, Plans Tour
/by Eric T. ParkerPictured (L-R): WMN's Peter Strickland; The Farm's Damien Horne, Krista Marie, and Nick Hoffman; WMN's Chris Stacey, Bob Mitchell (Dale Morris Management), Rob Dalton (New Revolution), Marc Oswald (Dale Morris Management)
Nashville trio The Farm released its self-titled debut this week (7/17) via All In Records and Elektra Nashville. The album release party took place Monday evening (7/16) at Nashville’s Fontanel Mansion in a party hosted by Warner/Elektra.
The 11-track album features the single “Home Sweet Home” written by the band’s Nick Hoffman, Damien Horne, and Krista Marie, with co-producer Danny Myrick. Hoffman also co-produced the project.
The country trio will be on the road through the fall, including a stop at Chicago’s Wrigley Field to sing the national anthem.
The Farm’s upcoming tour dates:
Date City Venue
July 19 – Twin Lakes, WI Country Thunder
July 20 – Davenport, IA Centennial Park *Heartland Jam Festival
July 21 – West Valley City, UT Maverik Center
July 22 – Wichita, KS Richard A. DeVore South YMCA *2012 Strong Kids Concert
July 24 – Ionia, MI Ionia Free Fair
July 26 – Charlevoix, MI East Park *Charlevoix Venetian Festival
July 28 – Lakeside, CA Lakeside Rodeo Grounds *KSON Country Fest 2012
August 2 – Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
August 4 – Englishtown, NJ Raceway Park *Shake The Lake Rockin’ Country Festival
August 6 – 11 Deadwood, SD Deadwood Mountain Grand
August 13 – Napoleon, OH Henry County Fair
August 17 – Springfield, MO KTTS PFI *Party in the Parking Lot
August 17 – Springfield, MO Midnight Rodeo
August 25 – Berea, OH Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds *WGAR Country Jam
August 27 – Chicago, IL Wrigley Field
August 27 – Chicago, IL Joe’s on Weed Street
August 31 – South Park Twp, PA Allegheny County South Park Fairgrounds
September 2 – Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live Orlando * K92.3 All Star Acoustic Jam
September 3 – Newton, NC Hickory American Legion Fair
September 8 – Bowling Green, KY Balloons, Tunes & BBQ
September 13 – Madisonville, KY Glema Mahr Center for the Arts
October 6 – Kansas City, MO Kemper Arena
October 7 – Sparta, IL Southern Illinois Country Fest
October 12 – Dallas, TX Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar
October 14 – Maryville, TN Foothills Fall Festival
Snapshots: Sunny Sweeney & Chris Young
/by MichelleSunny Sweeney recently celebrated her 30th performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage since her 2007 Opry debut. “I love, love, love to play The Grand Ole Opry!! Every time I play there it feels like the first time. I’m in awe of its history and how gracious all the members are to new, young artists like myself. This time, Larry Gatlin introduced us and we had a blast!!” said Sweeney.
Currently, Sweeney is writing for her follow up to the critically-acclaimed album, Concrete, which was released in 2011 on Republic Nashville. Sunny penned seven of the 10 tracks, including “From A Table Away,” which is the highest charting debut single for a female country artist since Taylor Swift more than four years ago. Throughout the summer, Sweeney will open several dates at fairs and festivals for Blake Shelton, Jerrod Niemann and Miranda Lambert. For more information visit SunnySweeney.com.
Pictured (L-R): Fitzgerald-Hartley manager Steve Emley, Grand Ole Opry VP & General Manager Pete Fisher, Sweeney and Grand Ole Opry Group President Steve Buchanan. Photo: Fitzgerald-Hartley
• • • •
Chris Young will be the special guest star on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown this week. The episode featuring Young will premiere on July 20 at 7PM CT. Young is also set to appear on GAC’s On The Streets on July 31. While visiting the GAC studios, Young presented network Pres. Ed Hardy with a plaque celebrating his last No. 1 video on the countdown for single “Tomorrow.”
In addition to burning up the road with Miranda Lambert and her On Fire tour, Young recently landed his fifth consecutive No. 1 single and posted two RIAA certified Gold singles. His newest single, the title track to his recently released album Neon, isclimbing the charts at country radio. For more information visit www.chrisyoungcountry.com.
Chris Young (R) and GAC President Ed Hardy (L) Photo: GAC