Chris Young performs with the guitar once belonging to Keith Whitley.
How did Chris Young come to own a prized guitar of one of his heroes, the late Keith Whitley? The short answer is he bought it from Music City Pickers, the Nashville outfit formed by artist Brady Seals and former Gibson Guitars web editor Gabe Hernandez.
But here’s the rest of the story:
During the mid-to-late 1980s at the height of his popularity, Keith Whitley performed mainly with three guitars: a Martin acoustic, a Fender Telecaster, and a Sigma by Martin acoustic/electric.
The Martin acoustic and Fender Telecaster are owned by private collectors and have been displayed on occasion at museums throughout the southeast since Whitley’s death. The Sigma by Martin acoustic/electric, however, remained in the hands of a family friend and fellow musician, Earl Watkins, until now.
Watkins, who previously owned the Circle H Saloon near Lexington, Ky., met Whitley during the mid 1970s. They became close friends, and often played music together at the Circle H. During a visit to the venue in 1987, Whitley traded his Sigma by Martin SE-36 for the Fender Telecaster belonging to one of Watkins’ band mates, Jerry Fannin. Not long after that, Watkins purchased Whitley’s guitar from Fannin for $500. Watkins eventually passed it on his daughter Jeanne, who sold it to Music City Pickers during a recent event in Lexington.
In turn, Music City Pickers sold it to Young. He explains, “Keith Whitley has always been one of my musical heroes, so to get the chance to hold a piece of history in my hands and play his guitar on the Opry stage was beyond awesome.”
Young played it during a recent performance on the Grand Ole Opry, where he sang his own hit “Tomorrow,” and Whitley’s classic “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” The show is set to air Sat., Oct. 29 on GAC.
Nix Named Promo VP
/by FreemanIn his new role, Nix will be responsible for developing and implementing promotional plans for artists on the Columbia and BNA imprints, which include Bradley Gaskin, Jordyn Shellhart, Joanna Smith, Wade Bowen, Kenny Chesney, Tyler Farr, Casey James, The Lunabelles, and Kellie Pickler.
“Norbert Brings a tsunami of new vitality to this team,” says Bishop. “With his vast experience and his recent contributions, Norb is a perfect fit to lead this excellent promotion machine. Along with Keith Gale, he has been instrumental in taking RCA Nashville to the highest level of success they have seen in years. Norbert has the kind of contagious energy from which Columbia/BNA will quickly benefit.”
Nix’s 20 year career in music includes time working in artist management and booking in addition to label promotion with Mercury Nashville. In 2001, he joined Refugee Management and later led his own management and publishing company N2 Entertainment.
New Book About Townes Van Zandt
/by Eric T. ParkerAtkinson’s work on the troubled troubador’s rise and fall includes reflections from more than 40 peers about lyrical significance and impact including Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams.
Artists of today such as Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Scott Avett (The Avett Brothers), Grace Potter, Josh Ritter and Kasey Chambers speak of the influence Van Zandt made on their music since his death on New Year’s Day 1997.
“I don’t envision a very long life for myself,” Van Zandt once said. “I think my life will run out before my work does. I’ve designed it that way.”
“Townes is a Christ-like figure in Texas,” says country singer Jack Ingram at the book’s close. “He is the one. He was writing on another plane.”
Cropper Visits Grammy Museum, Talks New Album
/by FreemanDedicated is Cropper’s tribute to guitarist Lowman “Pete” Pauling and early R&B group The Five Royales, who helped shape his own distinctive playing style. Special guests performing with Cropper on the album include Lucinda Williams, Brian May, Sharon Jones, Steve Winwood, John Popper, BB King, Bettye LaVette, Delbert McClinton, Buddy Miller, and more. The album was produced by Cropper with Jon Tiven (Wilson Pickett), featuring an all-star lineup of session players including David Hood (bass), Spooner Oldham (keys), Steve Ferrone (drums), Steve Jordan (drums, percussion), Neal Sugarman (from the Dap Kings), and Tiven on saxophones. Full track list below.
“Part of getting older and still being able to play and all of that — at a certain point it becomes about educating the next generation,” says Cropper. “I’ve already had four of five careers and I’m lucky to be alive. If I can educate these young ears as to where the music started, because they’re always asking, and if I can get them interested in the Five Royales I’ve done something.”
Cropper’s Stax Records-era guitar work with Otis Redding also got repurposed recently when Jay-Z and Kanye West used a sample of “Try A Little Tenderness” to power their collaboration “Otis.” Check out the video here.
Dedicated Track List:
1. 30 Second Lover (w/ Steve Winwood)
2. Don’t Be Ashamed (w/ Bettye LaVette & Willie Jones)
3. Baby Don’t Do It (w/ BB King & Shemekia Copeland)
4. Dedicated To The One I Love (w/ Lucinda Williams & Dan Penn)
5. My Sugar Sugar (w/ John Popper)
6. Right Around The Corner (w/ Delbert McClinton)
7. Help Me Somebody (Instrumental)
8. I Do (w/ Brian May)
9. Messin’ Up (w/Sharon Jones)
10. Say It (w/ Bettye LaVette)
11. The Slummer The Slum (w/ Buddy Miller)
12. Someone Made You For Me (w/Dan Penn)
13. Think (instrumental)
14. Come On And Save Me (Dylan Leblanc and Sharon Jones)
15. When I Get Like This (w/ Lucinda Williams)
House Introduces “The Stop Online Piracy Act”
/by Sarah SkatesThe initiative is praised by National Music Publishers Association President and CEO David Israelite. He explains, “Current laws tie the hands of both law enforcement and judicial personnel in many instances, to the detriment of American business and consumers. Legislation introduced today in the U.S. House would help fix that, enabling our justice system to go after criminal operatives. The music publishing and songwriting communities support these efforts and urge the entire House to move this important bill forward soon.”
Mastering For iTunes Optimization
/by Sarah SkatesI'm With You, the new album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is widely touted as the first offering optimized for iTunes.
New albums are being mastered specifically for iTunes, starting with the latest from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which was released last month.
Producer Rick Rubin enlisted Masterdisk’s Vlado Meller and Mark Santangelo to master three versions of I’m With You—one for AAC (iTunes), one for vinyl, and one for CD.
Digital Music News spoke to Santangelo about the project. He explains, “optimized AAC files for iTunes were designed to retain the frequency response and level of the CD. With an iTunes optimized master, the listener will be able to enjoy more clarity and an overall better sound quality than is otherwise currently available.”
He believes this will eventually become a standard practice in the music industry.
Vinyl mastering he notes, “The vinyl purist appreciates the warmth and depth of the vinyl. To get the vinyl to sound its best, test cuts are made and compared to the original high resolution master. Adjustments in tone and level are made so that the vinyl plays back without distortion and without skipping. Levels and high frequencies and extremely low frequencies have to be handled carefully.”
Full story here.
How Chris Young Ended Up With Keith Whitley’s Guitar
/by Sarah SkatesChris Young performs with the guitar once belonging to Keith Whitley.
How did Chris Young come to own a prized guitar of one of his heroes, the late Keith Whitley? The short answer is he bought it from Music City Pickers, the Nashville outfit formed by artist Brady Seals and former Gibson Guitars web editor Gabe Hernandez.
But here’s the rest of the story:
During the mid-to-late 1980s at the height of his popularity, Keith Whitley performed mainly with three guitars: a Martin acoustic, a Fender Telecaster, and a Sigma by Martin acoustic/electric.
The Martin acoustic and Fender Telecaster are owned by private collectors and have been displayed on occasion at museums throughout the southeast since Whitley’s death. The Sigma by Martin acoustic/electric, however, remained in the hands of a family friend and fellow musician, Earl Watkins, until now.
Watkins, who previously owned the Circle H Saloon near Lexington, Ky., met Whitley during the mid 1970s. They became close friends, and often played music together at the Circle H. During a visit to the venue in 1987, Whitley traded his Sigma by Martin SE-36 for the Fender Telecaster belonging to one of Watkins’ band mates, Jerry Fannin. Not long after that, Watkins purchased Whitley’s guitar from Fannin for $500. Watkins eventually passed it on his daughter Jeanne, who sold it to Music City Pickers during a recent event in Lexington.
In turn, Music City Pickers sold it to Young. He explains, “Keith Whitley has always been one of my musical heroes, so to get the chance to hold a piece of history in my hands and play his guitar on the Opry stage was beyond awesome.”
Young played it during a recent performance on the Grand Ole Opry, where he sang his own hit “Tomorrow,” and Whitley’s classic “Don’t Close Your Eyes.” The show is set to air Sat., Oct. 29 on GAC.
Google Music Nears Launch
/by Sarah SkatesThe MP3 store is expected to have ties to the company’s growing social network, Google+, allowing users to share the music they buy with friends/followers. There is also supposed to be a cloud-based storage component.
Reportedly, EMI Music is close to agreeing to license its catalog, but NYT reports that the other majors are not yet on board with Google Music.
More from cnet.
CRS 2012 Expands Panel Offerings
/by Sherod RobertsonPreviously announced appearances are keynote speaker Clear Channel Chairman Bob Pittman, futurist and entrepreneur David Houle, CMT’s Stephen Linn, and Twitter For Dummies co-author Laura Fitton.
Additional panels and panelists will include:
Jacobs Media Going Mobile Presentation: Get Smart!
The Jacobs Media presentation is a comprehensive presentation of how consumers use mobile media and its impact today and in the future. This audio/visual presentation employs examples of real consumers using and interacting with their mobile devices. Hosted by Fred Jacobs, Classic Rock format pioneer and founder of audience research and radio consultancy, Jacobs Media.
Branding: What It Really Is and How to Build One:
Forbes contributor and Chief Strategist at branding/consumer engagement agency Access Brand Strategies, Paul Jankowski helps define what a brand is and effective ways attendees can build theirs. His book, “How to Speak American: Building Brands in the New Heartland,” calls out ad agencies on the coasts for their dismissive attitude towards the “New Heartland,” the biggest cultural segment in the U.S. This panel explores the role that core values play in buying behavior and in listener engagement with Country radio.
Turbo Charging Your High Octane Air Talent:
Veteran talent coach and former morning radio pro Steve Reynolds of The Reynolds Group conducts a training session for managers and programmers who coach talent in PPM markets. Using tools like The Wheel of Content© and The Scorecard©, Reynolds educates managers on how to talk to their air talent to improve what they’re doing and help them perform better with the new measurement.
Brainstorming To Win:
Led by Executive VP/The Center for Sales Strategy’s Matt Sunshine, this panel outlines step by step brainstorming techniques using real world case studies. Attendees will learn how brainstorming can help them achieve marketing goals and execute successful promotions. Programs Sunshine has authored for the 28-year sales performance consulting company include the Interactive Insight webinar, the Digital Sales Accelerator and the Facilitator’s Certification Workshop.
Marketing That Gets Advertisers Results:
Another panel hosted by The Center for Sales Strategy’s Matt Sunshine, this panel focuses on the Marketing Strategy Model. Sunshine explains this five-step model and then examines case studies to give seminar attendees actionable knowledge they can utilize with specific clients.
$399 Early Bird registration is currently available for CRS 2012 through Nov. 15 at www.CountryRadioSeminar.com or by calling (615) 327-4487.
Lonestar Reunites
/by MichelleLonestar has reunited with original lead singer Richie McDonald. In 2012, Lonestar will record a new album (label TBA) to mark the band’s 20th anniversary.
The group will also kick off an overseas tour with its four original members– keyboardist Dean Sams, drummer Keech Rainwater, lead guitarist Michael Britt and McDonald. The outing will start Feb. 26, with tour dates in England, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany through March 4.
(L-R): Michael Britt, Keech Rainwater, Dean Sams, Richie McDonald
“Twilight” Soundtrack Sells Big, Boosts Baby Acts
/by Sarah SkatesTo date, the three previous Twilight film soundtracks have sold a combined five million copies in the U.S. Thanks to the rabid built-in fan base, this is significantly higher than the average soundtrack sales tally.
Rolling Stone spoke to revered music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, who has overseen all of the Twilight films, and loves to use them to give new artists a boost. The albums are noted for breaking new musical acts or giving more established artists upward momentum. A previous soundtrack helped propel Nashville rockers Paramore, for example.
Another Nashville-area band The Features are on the latest installment, with tune “From Now On.” Among others on the Breaking Dawn soundtrack are the Belle Brigade, Bruno Mars, Theophilus London, and Iron and Wine.
Some acts are reluctant to have their music attached to a film. Particularly Bon Iver, who almost bowed out of the previous Twilight offering. However, he eventually conceded, in an effort to expand his fanbase.