DISClaimer Single Reviews (4/25/12)

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This is the time to shine for Lee Brice.

As a singer, songwriter and record maker, he is firing on all eight cylinders. As a singer, he had Billboard’s most-played country single of 2010 with “Love Like Crazy.” As a songwriter, he had Billboard’s most-played country single of 2011 with The Eli Young Band’s rendition of his “Crazy Girl.” That same song earned him the 2012 ACM award for Song of the Year. You will recall that in 2007, he was the cowriter of “More Than a Memory” by Garth Brooks, the only song to debut at No. 1 on the charts. Yesterday, his Hard 2 Love CD hit the stores with a bang. Its leadoff single, “A Woman Like You” rules the hit parade at No. 1. In addition, this week, Lee Brice lands his first Disc of the Day award from “DisClaimer” with the album’s title tune.

And he’s not the only one with a happening track today. The Lionel Richie & Billy Currington duet, Sawyer Brown, Bucky Covington and Due West all gave Lee a run for his money.

Our DisCovery Award goes to Herrick. The four-piece band enlisted Michael Bonagura of Baillie & The Boys to produce 10 tracks of its album, plus four “bonus” tunes produced by Buddy Cannon. Not too shabby, eh? The group’s debut full-length CD is titled New Dance. It will pin your ears back.

LOCASH COWBOYS/C.O.U.N.T.R.Y.
Writer: Chris Lucas/Preston Brust/Jeffrey Steele; Producer: Jeffrey Steele; Publisher: Sony-ATV Cross Keys/Sony-ATV Tree/Jeffrey Steele/BPJ, ASCAP/BMI; R&J
—This is not the same song that Joe Diffie had with this title in 1996. No indeedy. This one is an amped-up, super-electrified rocker that has next to nothing to do with actual country music. I’ll take Diffie’s tune any day.

CRAIG MORRISON/Fences
Writer: none listed; Producer: Mark Moffatt; Publisher: none listed; CMM (track) (www.craigmorrisonmusic.com)
—This Aussie cracks the U.S. country marketplace with a gently rolling social statement about the nature of barricades in our lives. Well written and expertly produced, it’s a mighty promising debut.

BUCKY COVINGTON/I Wanna Be That Feeling
Writer: Jimmy Yeary/Ben Hayslip; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Black to Black/Get a Load of This/Warner Chappell, BMI/ASCAP; Entertainment One (www.buckycovington.com)
—Hearty and engaging, this comeback single has plenty of melodic oomph and production excitement. With pile-driving punch a-plenty, it’s exceedingly radio friendly. A real contender.

DUE WEST/Things You Can’t Do in a Car
Writer: Brad Hull; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Hull to Pay/Offer You Can’t Refuse, BMI; Black River
—In praise of pickup trucks, this jaunty little number bubbles and bounces in all the right places.

SAWYER BROWN/Ain’t Goin’ Out That Way
Writer: Robert Ellis Orall/Stephen Barker Liles/Brad Douglas Warren/Brett Daniel Warren; Producer: Mark Miller; Publisher: Orall Fixation/It’s a Birthday Party/Rockapop/Stylsonic/EMI Blackwood, ASCAP/BMI; Beach Street (CDX)
—The country-rock arrangement is sunny and bright, yet the gritty, poor-boy lyric is a downbeat contrast. I dig the dogged, determined message as well as the insanely catchy track.

PAT GREEN/All Just to Get to You
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Sugar Hill (ERG)
—The song is terrific, as is his vocal delivery. He should have been surrounded with a more lustrous or muscular production instead of this somewhat spare one. But the performance and composition are so strong that they carry the day nevertheless.

MARK WAYNE GLASMIRE/I Like You
Writer: Mark Wayne Glasmire; Producer: John Albani & John Wayne Glasmire; Publisher: Traceway, ASCAP; Traceway (track) (www.markwayneglasmire.com)
—I have consistently enjoyed this artist’s releases. But this faux-beach, pseudo-Buffett style of country music is among my least favorites. Pass.

LEE BRICE/Hard to Love
Writer: Billy Montana/John Ozier/Ben Glover; Producer: Kyle Jacobs & Matt McClure; Publisher: Mike Curb/Dandon Ranch/Over the Bar/91 One/Arose/EMICMG, BMI/ASCAP; Curb (track)
—Lee is coming off a chart topper (”A Woman Like You”) and remains a strong up-and-comer, so this release is crucial to his forward momentum. I think it will do the trick just fine. The insistent tune, steady rhythm, earnest vocal and true-to-life lyric are all ear tickling. Up, up, up it goes.

HERRICK/Cry Memphis
Writer: Donna Herrick/Kerry Herrick/David Walker; Producer: Buddy Cannon; Publisher: none listed; BreakAway (track) (www.herricklive.com)
—I like it, I like it. The song has a cool, moody, minor-key tune and a dramatic, girl-gone-wrong lyric. Donna’s lead vocal is supported by the band’s ultra-haunting harmonies. Captivating.

LIONEL RICHIE & BILLY CURRINGTON/Just for You
Writer: Lionel Richie/Paul Barry/Mark Taylor; Producer: Tony Brown & Lionel Richie; Publisher: none listed; Mercury Nashville (track) ()
—The songs on Richie’s new Tuskegee CD of country duets are his familiar classics. Except for this one. Evidently, it was a hit in Europe, but it only got to No. 92 on the U.S. pop charts (in 1994). Leave it to song-magnet Currington to wind up with this deliciously melodic, hypnotically rhythmic jewel as his selection on the disc. No one, but no one, writes songs this perfectly pristine as Lionel Richie does. Music to make your heart sing.

Musicians Corner Begins Season With Cinco de Mayo Celebration

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Musicians Corner will kick off its third season on Sat., May 5 with a beer & wine garden and Cinco de Mayo celebration with main stage performances from 3 – 6 pm.

May 5 will kick off with a Cinco de Mayo celebration highlighting Latin Salsa band Afinke, in addition to musical performances by Sugar & The Hi Lows, The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Escondido, Anderson East, Rayvon Owen and Punchinello. Additionally, a mobile food court lunch will be offered from 11 am – 3 pm with The Dog of the Day Award presentation, Kidsville activities including decorating maracas, and giveaways.

The Musicians Corner Seasonal Beer Garden opens at 2 pm, one hour before the main stage performances each Saturday through June 30. The garden will be located next to the main performance stage for legal drinking-aged attendees. Wine is expected to become available at future date from Arrington Vineyards. Developed in partnership with R.S. Lipman, the beer garden will highlight the local brews including Yazoo and Hap and Harry’s.

The 2012 Spring Season will also include main stage performances by Capitol Records artist Lighter Ray (June 9), The Hogslop String Band (June 17), Kopecky Family Band (June 23) and The Farewell Drifters (June 30).

For more information, click here.

Apartment Complex Coming To Music Row/Belmont Area

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Construction will begin this summer on an apartment complex at the southwest corner of Magnolia Boulevard and Wedgewood Avenue, according to the Nashville Post. This will be the second new residential development in and around Music Row, as construction is underway on Note 16 apartments at the corner of 16th Ave. and Horton.

The just-announced three-story, 15-unit building will have an estimated cost of $2.5 million, reports The Post.

Nashville-based Core Development Services and local real estate investor Donald Seitz are behind the as-yet-unnamed apartment building. They expect to tear down an existing building in July, begin construction in August, and finish the project in summer 2013.

Developers report the exterior will have a similar look and feel as other existing buildings in the neighborhood.

Marty Stuart’s New Album Hits Stores Today

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Grammy winner Marty Stuart has released Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down, his third album for Sugar Hill Records, to stores today (4/24). The 10 song collection was written almost entirely by Marty and features his touring band the Fabulous Superlatives plus guest vocals from Buck Trent, Kenny Lovelace, Robbie Turner, Hank Williams III, and Lorrie Carter Bennett. Full tracklist is below.

The collection aims to be a journey back to the traditional country music Stuart loved when he first arrived in Nashville in 1972.

“When I reconnected with traditional country music I found myself, my calling,” says Stuart. “The kind that is timeless, beautiful, beyond trend, the empowering force, the reflection of a people and a culture.  The kind of country music that the working man and scholars alike call home.  The job seemed to be to champion it, love it, protect it, care for its people, attempt to write a new chapter for it and to make sure that everybody understands that it’s alive and well in the 21st century.”

Stuart also hosts the Marty Stuart Show on RFD TV, providing a platform for some of Nashville’s classic artists on national television. Check out his upcoming tour dates here.

Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down tracklisting:

1. Tear The Woodpile Down (Feat. Buck Trent)
2. Sundown In Nashville
3. A Matter Of Time (Feat. Kenny Lovelace)
4. Hollywood Boogie
5. Holding On To Nothing (Feat. Buck Trent)
6. Truck Driver’s Blues
7. Going, Going, Gone
8. The Lonely Kind
9. A Song Of Sadness (Feat. Lorrie Carter Bennett)
10. Picture From Life’s Other Side (Feat. Hank3)

CMT to Present Big New Music Weekend

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Beginning Friday, April 27 at 6 am ET/PT., CMT’s Big New Music Weekend will unveil 12 brand new country music videos, paired alongside some of the biggest recent hits.

The event will include exclusive world premieres by Lady Antebellum (“Perfect Day”); Lee Brice (“Hard to Love”); Kix Brooks featuring Joe Walsh (“New to This Town”); a new version of Thompson Square’s “Glass;” Easton Corbin (“Lovin’ You is Fun”); David Nail (“The Sound of a Million Dreams”); Dustin Lynch (“Cowboys and Angels”); Aaron Lewis (“Endless Summer”); JT Hodges (“Goodbyes Made You Mine”); Casey James (“Cryin’ On A Suitcase-Live”); Thomas Rhett (“Something To Do With My Hands”) and Sonia Leigh (“Bar”). Additionally, the weekend will include the newest videos by superstars Carrie Underwood; Miranda Lambert; Jason Aldean; Rascal Flatts; Luke Bryan; Taylor Swift with The Civil Wars; Eric Church; Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw; Martina McBride and Train; and Kelly Clarkson.

Many of the featured premiere videos will include a personal introduction by the artist.  Additionally, all of the Big New Music Weekend videos will be highlighted across CMT’s digital platforms including CMT.com, Facebook and @FollowCMT on Twitter.

Radio News (4/24/12)

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Susie Martin

Longtime WATZ-WRGZ/Alpena, MI Music Director and CountryBreakout Reporter of the Year winner Susie Martin is retiring from the station after 18 years. Her last day is April 27, and after that she can be reached at susie-martin@charter.net. WATZ newsman Phil Wenzel will take over Martin’s MD role with the company. Congratulate him at pgwenz@gmail.com.

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Lee Brice’s new album Hard 2 Love hit stores today (4/24), and Premiere Radio Networks’ Big D and Bubba are among the recording credits. Brice invited the popular radio hosts to introduce the song “Parking Lot Party” on Hard 2 Love, marking the first time Big D and Bubba have appeared on a music album.

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Mary Mac

WGSQ/Cookeville morning co-host Mary Mac has been included on Country Weekly’s “Country’s Hottest Bachelorette” contest, the first time anyone other than an artist has made a list. Mary Mac’s co-host Styckman hatched the idea to write-in Mary’s name on the ballot, and listeners made the idea a reality. “We always say we have the best listeners in the world, and for me this proves it,” said Mary Mac. “I’m so overwhelmed and humbled at their amazing response to our show.”

Belmont Presents Scholarships Endowed By Paisley, Hall

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Belmont Pres. Dr. Bob Fisher, Allison Gale, Dean Wesley Bulla

Belmont University recently presented scholarships endowed by Brad Paisley and the family of William G. Hall to music business students.

Belmont University junior Allison Gale is the inaugural recipient of the scholarship endowed by Paisley. Gale is an Entertainment Studies major at the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business who was inspired to attend Belmont after seeing Paisley in concert at age 16.

The superstar is a 1995 Belmont graduate who once benefited from a scholarship supported by Vince Gill.

Gale was selected based on GPA, financial need, and university and community involvement. She is an avid entertainment blogger who aspires to work in theater tour production and music production.

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Dr. Bob Fisher, Hannah Boren, Wesley Bulla

The 2012-13 William G. Hall scholarship was presented to junior Music Business major Hannah Boren. Hall was an artist manager who handled the early career of George Jones, and later ran a publishing company with Jack Clement.

The William G. Hall scholarship selection committee includes Mrs. William G. Hall, Chairman; Jan Dyer, songwriter; Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Bob McDill, Dickey Lee, Wayland Holyfield, Jack Clement and Allen Reynolds; Sarah Cates, Sr. Director of Curb College Initiatives, Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business; and Doug Howard, music executive.

Robin Mitchell Joyce Opens Law Firm

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Veteran entertainment attorney Robin Mitchell Joyce has announced the launch of her full-service boutique law firm. She has over 20 years of experience representing entertainment, IP, media and technology clients across the country, handling music industry transactions, film production/financing, creation/distribution of TV projects, sports media, online/mobile space projects, and contests and games.

Joyce was selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of Entertainment Law—Motion Pictures and Television, Entertainment Law—Music, Copyright Law, Trademark Law, and Litigation/IP Law. She has been listed in Best Lawyers for over 10 years.

Her two decades of experience also includes lecturing at colleges, law schools, and industry conferences nationwide.

She is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Association and Founding Chair of the Nashville Bar’s Entertainment Section. Joyce is a graduate and past board member of Leadership Music, and past board member of The Recording Academy.

She can be reached at rmj@lexvi.com, (615) 476-6966, or P.O. Box 58867, Nashville, TN 37205.

Artist Updates (4/24/12)

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(l-r) Sony Music Nashville Senior Director of Artist Development & Marketing, Tanya Welch; Casey James Artist Manager, Bryan Frasher; CMA Chief Executive Officer, Steve Moore; CMA Senior Vice President of Communications & Marketing, Sheri Warnke; Casey James; CMA EDU President (MTSU Chapter), Angela Johnson; CMA EDU President (Belmont Chapter), Lauren Klausing; CMA Manager of Strategic Partnerships, Sarah McGrady. Photo Credit: Christian Bottorff

19 Recordings/BNA Records artist Casey James performed at the CMA EDU End of Year Party last Thursday (4/19) in the CMA Atrium for students from Belmont University, Lipscomb University, and Middle Tennessee State University. CMA EDU, CMA’s education-based college initiative, gives college students a hands-on opportunity to enhance skills in marketing and promotion.

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(L-R): Donald T. Floyd, Jr., President and CEO, National 4-H Council; Nate Seese, 4-H Youth, East Lansing, Mich.; Jennifer Nettles, Lead Vocalist, Sugarland; James C. Borel, Executive Vice President, DuPont; Carla Hall, Host, ABC's The Chew.

Last Tuesday (4/17), National 4-H Council hosted the third annual 4-H Legacy Awards Gala and presented the 2012 4-H Distinguished Alumni Medallion to 4-H alumna and Grammy Award-Winner Jennifer Nettles. Prior to leading Sugarland to fame, Nettles was a member of Coffee County, Georgia 4-H. She also served on the Junior and Senior State Boards and as camp counselor at Rock Eagle 4-H Center and won Georgia State 4-H Congress honors for her Performing Arts project.

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Vince Gill and jazz trumpet player Chris Botti appeared on Good Morning America and The View on April 23. The pair performed the Randy Newman-penned song “Losing You,” which appear’s on Botti’s album Impressions.

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The Valory Music Co.’s Thomas Rhett has been selected as one of the opening acts this summer on Toby Keith’s previously announced Live In Overdrive Tour Presented By Ford F-Series. The 36-city trek kicks off in Salt Lake City, UT, on June 14 and will run through September 22. A full list of tour dates and ticket information are available here.

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Jaida Dreyer, the flagship artist on Streamsound Records, released her first single “Guys Girl” to radio late last month and it has become one of the most-added singles so far this month. The song was co-written by Dreyer, The Warren Brothers, and Lance Miller. Dreyer is currently out on a radio promotion tour across the country which has already made stops at about 70 stations and will continue through May.

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Render Records artist Rick Monroe is releasing his new EP Part 1 on May 1, which features his current single “Crazy Not To.” Monroe has also been added to the 2012 Jagermeister Presents Tour in support of Randy Houser.

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While vacationing on the Gulf Coast, Billy Dean rescued a Great Blue Heron, a protected species, from an abandoned fishing line and lures. Dean joined a group of teenagers standing in deep water and with the bird biting him, carried it out of the water. Dean was proud the students who went out to rescue the bird. “The girls of Port St. Joe High School and a few other vacationers were the true heroes but I was fortunate to have been there to help them untangle the bird and bring it to shore,” he said. The bird is being treated for its wounds before being released back into the wild.

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Author and country/pop music pioneer Maxine Brown will be presented the Ella Dickey Literacy Award on April 26 at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Marshfield, MO. Brown is the author of Looking Back To See, a chronicle of The Browns vocal trio, best-known for “The Three Bells.” Her country hits include “Here Today And Gone Tomorrow” and “Looking Back To See.”

Gregg Allman’s Book Launches in Nashville

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Founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman, will return to Nashville May 10 to promote the release of his memoir, My Cross to Bear (William Morrow/HarperCollins Publishers), which hits shelves May 1.

BMI Nashville will co-host the meet-and-greet and book signing with Nashville’s independent Parnassus Books. The event will be held in the BMI’s front lobby and is open to the public from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.

In My Cross To Bear, Allman discusses in his own words the death of his older brother Duane, his solo career, his string of failed marriages (including Cher), and his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Allman additionally takes readers through the formation of the band that influenced the sound of rock and roll.

As the Allman Brothers Band celebrated the 40th anniversary of live album Eat a Peach this year, it was also honored at the Grammys with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Allman himself was also nominated for Best Blues Album for his solo record, Low Country Blues.

For the latest updates on Allman’s book tour, please visit Facebook.