SESAC Announces Nashville Awards Date

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SESAC will kick off CMA Awards Week 2012 by honoring the top songwriters and publishers in Country and Americana at the 2012 SESAC Nashville Music Awards, which will be held Sunday, October 28 at Pinnacle at Symphony Place.

The invitation-only gala will honor the year’s most popular songs and present special awards for Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, and Publisher of the Year. Attendees will also be treated special performances by some of SESAC’s acclaimed songwriters.

“We are thrilled to be kicking off CMA Week with the SESAC Nashville Music Awards,” said Tim Fink, SESAC’s Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations and the host of the awards. “We treasure our affiliated songwriters and publishers and look forward to honoring their successes. The 2012 SESAC Nashville Music Awards will be a fantastic event with a couple of surprise moments that will be among the week’s most talked about highlights.”

The SESAC Nashville Awards will kick off a whirlwind week of industry events, followed by ASCAP’s 50th Annual Country Music Awards on Monday, October 29, and BMI’s 60th Annual Country Awards on Tuesday, October 30. The 46th Annual Country Music Association Awards take place Thursday, Nov. 1.

Donna Hilley Passes

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MusicRow extends its condolences to family and friends of former Sony/ATV Nashville President and CEO Donna Hilley, who died today (6/20) in Nashville after an extended illness. One of Music Row’s most prominent female executives, she spent 31 years working with Sony/ATV.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Hilley began her career at WKDA, where Tree International founder Jack Stapp was program director. She departed the station after eight years to become the assistant to the president of a Nashville advertising/PR firm. She was there another eight years before rejoining Stapp at Tree International.

Hilley was named EVP and COO of Tree International in 1978, and the company was purchased by Sony in 1989. Hilley negotiated the purchase and assumed the role of President and CEO in 1994. Under her leadership the company made major acquisitions such as Acuff-Rose, Little Big Town, Maypop, and the catalogs of Conway Twitty, Buck Owens, and Merle Haggard.

An active leader in the business community, Hilley served on the board of directors for both ASCAP and the NMPA, as well as the Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, the Country Music Association, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Gospel Music Association, and the Recording Academy.

Donna Hilley (R) poses with former ASCAP Sr. VP Connie Bradley (L) and Ronnie Milsap at a charity dance themed around Milsap’s song “Lost In the Fifties Tonight.” Photo: Alan Mayor

Entertainment Weekly ranked her No. 4 in its “Ten Most Powerful People in Country Music” in 1992. Belmont University honored her with its first ever Robert E. Mulloy Award of Excellence shortly after her retirement in 2005. She became a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

“Donna Hilley’s influence on Music Row’s artists and songwriters and on the broader Nashville community could never fully be expressed with words,” said Troy Tomlinson, President and CEO of Sony/ATV Nashville. “She was an icon in every sense – an inspiring trailblazer for women executives in the music business, a staunch advocate for artists and songwriters and a genuine competitor who was respected, but never underestimated, by her peers. Sony/ATV is forever better because of Donna’s leadership and immeasurable contributions. Our artists, writers and staff grieve today along with her family on the passing of a compassionate leader and great friend.”

Visitation is scheduled for Friday evening (6/22) at Woodlawn Funeral Home. Funeral service is set for Saturday morning (6/23), 11 am at Forest Hills Baptist Church.

Wynonna Weds and More Lifenotes

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Pictured (L-R): guest host Mario Cantone, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Joe Nichols, Heather and Dylan River Nichols, Elisabeth Hasselback and Sherri Shepherd. Photo: Lou Rocco/ABC

Joe Nichols and wife Heather visited The View recently with new baby girl Dylan River Nichols. The couple endured fertility treatments and five miscarriages before having Dylan, and they are sharing their story to help others who may be going through similar challenges. Heather blogs about the experience at www.morethananicholsworth.com

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Wynonna Judd married drummer Cactus Moser on June 10 during a ceremony at her Leiper’s Fork farm. She went barefoot and wore a dress by Houri Barahimi. Joining the couple were Judd’s children Grace, 16, and Elijah, 17, but sister Ashley Judd and mom Naomi couldn’t attend. The couple has dated since 2009. See more at US Weekly.

Hanna Woods Madson

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President of Average Joes Management Ken Madson and wife Yani welcomed their first child, Hanna Woods Madson, on Sat., June 16, 2012. She weighed in at 8 lbs 12 oz. Everyone is doing well.

Kai Griffin and Eily Elizabeth

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Tour Manager Kai Griffin and wife Amy welcomed their third child Eily Elizabeth Griffin on June 14. Weighing 6 lbs 11 oz, Eily joins big sister Annabelle and big brother Gabriel. Griffin is currently on the road with Maggie Rose.

Performers, New Location Named For Music City July 4

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The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau has announced The Mavericks will headline the city’s annual Music City July 4th: Let Freedom Sing! celebration.

The multi-day July 3-4 event will expand to the grassy field along First Avenue south of Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge, dubbed “The Lawn at Riverfront Park.” With a goal to increase capacity for visitors and vendors, the new campus will replace previous location Riverfront Park, which will feature a jumbotron of the concert.

“Each year, our goal for this event is to bring more visitors to town and to maximize economic impact. These changes help us do that,” said Butch Spyridon, President of the Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Using this 11-acre site will allow us to accommodate roughly 20,000 additional people.”

Additional performers at the event include Craig Morgan, Sarah Darling, The Music City Hit-Makers featuring songwriters Brett James and Hillary Lindsey and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra led by Associate Conductor Kelly Corcoran. Storme Warren will again emcee.

Festivities will begin Tuesday, July 3 with a free concert at The Lawn at Riverfront Park beginning at 6 pm. The July 4th celebration begins at noon with live music on the pre-show stage. The official concert will kick off at 6:45 pm. The show will air on Sirius XM.

The events culminate with the “South’s largest fireworks show” choreographed to live music.

Stella Parton to be Featured in Documentary

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Entertainer and author Stella Parton’s recently released inspirational memoir, Tell It Sister, Tell It, which chronicles pieces of her life and musical journey, will be followed by a documentary slated for later this year.

Filmed by Carter Media, Inc., the documentary will look at Parton’s life and musical journey through concert footage, behind the scenes shots, and in-depth interviews with Stella and those that know her best. While Stella has shared much of herself with family, friends and fans over the years, she has always kept a portion of her life very private, and only recently with the release of Tell It Sister, Tell It has she shared many of her extremely personal struggles and triumphs.

Stella says, “It was time to share my stories, not only for my own healing, but to possibly help someone that may be struggling now.”

Throughout her career, Stella has worked to help abused women and children, particularly in Appalachia where she grew up.

Stella’s book signings continue throughout the Southeast this summer and portions of the proceeds benefit local domestic violence shelters.

Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman Begins June 21

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Starting tomorrow (6/21), the Ryman will host a six-week series, Spinger Mountain Farms Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman. Each Thursday night show will start at 7:30 p.m.

Series line-up includes:

June 21 – Vince Gill with Sarah Jarosz
June 28 – Chris Thile & Michael Daves and The Boxcars
July 5 – The Gibson Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers and The Roys
July 12 – Rhonda Vincent with Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
July 19 – Dailey & Vincent
July 26 – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

Tickets are on sale now for $26.50. Fans that arrive early can also enjoy Pickin’ On The Plaza festivities which are free of charge and begin at 6 p.m. For more information, go to www.ryman.com.

World Famous Headliners Plan Debut Album

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Legendary songwriter and guitarist Big Al Anderson has formed The World Famous Headliners, his first band since the beloved NRBQ. Anderson is joined by songwriter/guitarists Shawn Camp and Pat McLaughlin for the decidedly rocking group, and rounding out the lineup are bassist Michael Rhodes and drummer Greg Morrow.

The World Famous Headliners’ debut album with producer Justin Niebank will be released by Big Yellow Dog Music on August 21.

Anderson’s contributions as a songwriter include The Mavericks’ “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” LeAnn Rimes’ “Big Deal,” Diamond Rio’s “Unbelievable,” and many more. He has also been recognized as one of the century’s Top 100 guitarists by Musician magazine and honored with BMI’s Writer of the Year award in 2000. Camp has penned hits for George Strait (“River of Love”), Josh Turner (“Would You Go With Me”), and Garth Brooks (“Two Pina Coladas”). McLaughlin has written songs such as Steve Wariner’s “Lynda,” Tanya Tucker and Delbert McClinton’s “Tell Me About It,” and Gary Allan’s “Songs About Rain.”

For more info, visit worldfamousheadliners.com.

Gaylord Says Opryland Explosion Mechanical In Nature

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Gaylord Entertainment Co. has given an update on the explosion that happened at Gaylord Opryland Hotel last night (6/19) after 8 pm CT. Investigating authorities have confirmed the explosion was mechanical in nature, and all guests and employees were  safely evacuated. No life-threatening injuries have been reported, and the hotel resumed operations at 7 am CT today (6/20).

Nashville Fire Department, Nashville Police Department, and structural engineers spent the night assessing damages and ensuring the integrity of the building before allowing anyone to re-enter. The hotel was sold out, including a large group sheriffs attending the 2012 National Sheriffs Association Annual Conference.

Early estimates of the damage are less than $750,000, and should have little to no damage on upcoming meetings and events. Affected areas in the Delta Atrium are closed off in the meantime.

“First and foremost, what is important is that no one was hurt as a result of this incident,” said Colin V. Reed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gaylord Entertainment. “I want to commend the efforts of the Nashville Fire Department, Nashville Police Department, and our STARS for their swift response that ensured that the issue was assessed as quickly as possible and that all guests were safely evacuated. At this stage we can now focus on returning to business as usual and repairing the impacted areas of the property with minimal disruption to our guests.”

Weekly Register: TEAs Troubling For Physical/Digital Transactions

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It’s the middle of every month and time to revisit the MusicRow TEA Index. The Index sums physical, digital and TEA (track equivalent albums; 10 tracks=1 album) then calculates the percentage of total album sales that come from TEA. The idea is to measure the TEA effect against total album sales. (Our sales data is gathered by industry sources from Nielsen SoundScan. Annual TEA for 2011 was 25% country and 27.7% for all-genre.)

As our colorful graph (and the purple bars) show, country’s TEA has been sliding slowly all year—until now. All genre TEA (golden bars) started edging up slowly last month, and continues to expand this month as well. So what does that tell us? To sum it up it says, the sales relationship between albums and digital singles is remaining constant, but let’s look a bit deeper.

Country album sales and track downloads are both up strongly this year, 5.6% and 15.3% respectively. That’s good news, but nevertheless, the sales balance between albums and tracks has remained quite steady since March. The early year gets skewed because of iTunes gift cards and new holiday hardware that leads consumers to splurge on the tracks. But as the country bars show, the balance has settled down and since March stayed between 29.77-30.62%.

In the all genre world, track sales are up and albums are down, leading one to expect a TEA Index upswing. But the 10 tracks=1 album unit formula gives the album enormous weight when compared to tracks. We’ve seen a bit more volatility on the all-genre index overall, but the March-June pendulum has only traveled from a low of 31.65 to a high of 31.92.

Personally, I find these results troubling for the transactional sales market (physical product and digital file downloads). Overall album sales are down, and the rate of all-genre TEA growth is minimal, illustrating an uninspired marketplace. Does this mean that consumers are shifting toward access/subscription models like Spotify, Pandora and more? Perhaps.

Weekly Breakdown
A quick look at this and last week’s grids tell the story in a snapshot. Album sales are slipping in both categories. Country albums saw a No. 1 debut from Josh Turner titled Punching Bag which scanned about 45k units, a far cry from the 85k he scored in 2010, but then that was before his label group signed another young baritone which may have splintered his fans. Edens Edge stepped up to the launch pad getting a No. 9 position and sales of about 9k. Other debuts included Now Country 5 (No. 5; 25k) and the Rounder return of the fabulous Mary Chapin Carpenter (No 16; 7k).

Traveling to downtown Tracksville, country style, shows young males (mostly with ballcaps) #DOMN8 (where have I seen that hashtag?) Luke Bryan (No. 1; 100k), Eric Church (No. 2; 77k), Kenny Chesney (No. 4; 69k), Hunter Hayes (No. 5; 52k), Kip Moore (No. 6; 49k), Dierks Bentley (No. 8; 45k) and Eli Young Band (No. 9; 43k). Wow! All the more reason to congratulate winners Little Big Town (No. 3; 70k), Carrie Underwood (No. 7; 46k) and Gloriana (No. 10; 37k) for bucking the trend line.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (6/20/12)

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Why isn’t country music making more female stars?

I mean, the handwriting is clearly on the wall. Fans of this genre are buying records with voices like Taylor Swift, Jennifer Nettles, Miranda Lambert, Hillary Scott and Carrie Underwood by the millions. Wouldn’t it make sense to produce and promote more women? Instead, I direct you to the current country album chart, dominated by 28 non-million-selling CDs by male artists.

That’s all by way of introducing the fact that Carrie Underwood completely rules this week’s column with an undeniable Disc of the Day performance.

Debbie Cochran, Reggie Shaw

I have two DisCovery Awards to present. The first goes to Reggie Shaw, who has wisely enlisted some stellar Music Row songwriting names to pen his well-performed single. Judging by her lyric, I’m thinking that his fellow winner, Debbie Cochran, isn’t a kid of 20. I’m no age-ist. I still think she’s cool.

DEBBIE COCHRAN/It’s Never Too Late
Writer: Debbie Cochran; Producer: Kent Wells; Publisher: DMC Anniston, BMI; GTR (CDX) (870-307-7685)
—The steel-dominated band kicks up some dust, and the song is a hillbilly-feminist manifesto. Her deep alto singing voice has plain-spoken charm and Southern-accented, forthright honesty. I wish her well.

REGGIE SHAW/Someone I Can’t Live Without
Writer: Eric Durrance/Marc Beeson/Don Pfrimmer; Producer: Bobby Hyatt & Reggie Shaw; Publisher: Drive It Home/Words & Music/Songs of Southside Independent/Wounded Sky/Three Village/EGBG/Wixen. BMI/ASCAP; Wynnsong (CDX) (www.reggieshaw.com)
—This pulsing country rocker boasts a tight arrangement, a clear production and straightforward drive. His vocal about facing a complicated romance rings with conviction. A winner.

TIM McGRAW/Right Back Atcha Babe
Writer: Joe West/David Pohanish; Producer: Byron Gallimore & Tim McGraw; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree/Songs of My Good Girl/Totally Wrighteous/Big Loud Bucks, BMI; Curb (track)
—Tim’s earnest, romantic vocal lines alternate with cool, “answering” lead-guitar licks by Jerry McPherson for a very involving listening experience. Distinctive and deserving.

SUSAN CATTANEO/Little Big Sky
Writer: Susan Cattaneo/Scarlet Keys; Producer: Jan Stolpe; Publisher: Rockin’ Fairy/Little Jaybird, ASCAP; Jersey Girl (www.susanmusic.com)
—She teaches songwriting at the Berklee College of Music. Doubtless heeding her own advice, she fills this lyric with plenty of true-to-life details. But the production is rather “busy,” and her singing voice isn’t particularly memorable.

KATIE GRACE/Best Bad Girl
Writer: Grace; Producer: Jim Diamond; Publisher: none listed; Inside Outlaws (track)
—The song wanders around aimlessly in search of a hook. Her vocal sounds half asleep. The production is less than demo level.

ANDY GIBSON/Summer Back
Writer: Brian Davis/Andy Gibson/Vicky McGehee; Producer: James Stroud; Publisher: Mike Curb/Godfather Rich/Rich Entertainment/Kobalt/Peermusic II, BMI/ASCAP; Curb
—This former DisCovery Award winner returns with a single that rightly graduates him from indie status to the big leagues. As before, his confident, direct tenor delivery rides atop a super-melodic, uptempo bopper. He has everything it takes to be a star. I remain a fan.

DAVID ST. ROMAIN/Some Things
Writer: none listed; Producer: Shawn Pennington & Steve Pefer; Publisher: Root 49/Cackalacki Twang/Soulride/BPJ/Kristi Mannasongs/Songs of MPR, BMI/ASCAP; DSR (www.davidstromain.com)
—It’s a routine blues vamp. Which is to say, “boring.”

MEGAN REDMOND/Dreamland
Writer: M. Redmond/R. Perry; Producer: Mike Binder; Publisher: Aspen Top, no performance rights listed; MAK Media (track) (www.meganredmond.com)
—The title tune of this Colorado gal’s six-song EP displays definite promise. She knows how to turn a poetic phrase, her folk-inflected voice is sturdy and sincere, and the band is tastefully supportive. Well done.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD/Blown Away
Writer: Josh Kear/Chris Tompkins; Producer: Mark Bright; Publisher: Global Dog/Lunalight/Words & Music/Big Loud Songs/Angel River/Big Loud Bucks, ASCAP; Arista/19 (track) ()
—This rocker roars through a tale of a tornado that destroys a cruel father and a world of bad memories of “home.” Carrie wails it like an Oklahoma banshee on the loose. The gal can sing, the song is tremendous and the production sizzles. Get on board.

LEWIS COPELAND/She’s Got It Going On
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Nine North/Turnpike Music (www.lewiscopelandmusic.com)
—I’d have mixed his vocal up hotter in the mix, because he sings with passion and commitment. Drums pound and guitars scream, almost burying him. Let the man be heard.