Quick Pics

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Connie Smith Takes Up Residency at Hall of Fame
Connie Smith with featured steel guitarist guests Gary Carter, Robby Turner, and Weldon Myrick before her first Artist-in-Residency show Monday night (8/22) at the Country Music Hall of Fame ® and Museum. The theme for the evening was “Connie and the Steel Guitar.” Smith’s remaining residency programs will be Aug. 29 and Sept. 12.

Pictured (L-R): Gary Carter, Robby Turner, Connie Smith, Weldon Myrick, Marty Stuart and Vice President of Museum Programs Jay Orr. Photo: Donn Jones

Miller Harris Foundation Benefit
SESAC supported the annual Miller Harris Foundation Benefit show at the Bluebird Café, which featured a line-up of top songwriters including its own affiliates Rob Hatch and Lance Miller, who took the stage along with fellow hitmakers Dallas Davidson, Lee Brice, Jason Sellers, Doug Johnson and Jerrod Niemann. The event raised funds for asthma education and awareness programs. The 12th Annual Miller Harris Golf Tournament will be held Mon., Sept. 12 at Temple Hills Country Club in Franklin, Tenn. Registration at www.millerharrisfoundation.org.

Pictured (L-R): SESAC’s Shannan Hatch, Dallas Davidson, Karen Sturgeon, Lee Brice, Rob Hatch, Jerrod Niemann, Judy Harris, Jason Sellers, Doug Johnson and Lance Miller. Photo: Alan Mayor

East Side Sounds
BMI partnered with Rumours East Wine Bar to present another installment of East Side Sounds on Wed., Aug. 10. The free monthly showcase series hinges on acoustic, in-the-round sets by indie up-and-comers. Singer/songwriters Stephanie Lambring, Jimmy Robbins, Robert Kelly, and Julia Sinclair took full advantage of the intimate, outdoor setting, swapping stories and finely crafted songs.

Pictured (L-R): BMI’s Beth Laird, Lambring, Kelly, Robbins, Sinclair, and BMI’s Julie Stuckey and Mark Mason. Photo: Drew Maynard

Apple’s Steve Jobs Steps Down

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Steve Jobs

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced his resignation from that post today (8/24), and was elected chairman of the board of the technology giant. The company’s COO Tim Cook, who has been leading Apple during Jobs’ recurring medical leaves, will succeed Jobs as CEO according to the company’s official press release.

 

Jobs has been plagued with health issues in recent years following a 2004 fight with pancreatic cancer. However, there was no mention of his health in his resignation letter to the board (below). The tech visionary has been on medical leave since January, though he did appear briefly in public in March to launch the iPad2.

August 24, 2011

Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

 

More here from the Wall Street Journal.

 

Gibson Guitar Raided

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Gibson’s plants in Nashville and Memphis were raided today by federal agents. Law enforcement is not giving any details in the case, but The Tennessean reports that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were executing search warrants at the offices.

Today’s searches could be related to past investigations about using endangered wood in Gibson’s instrument manufacturing. In November 2009, Gibson was charged with illegal importation of Madagascar wood.

 

Frank DiLeo Passes

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DiLeo's signature look always included a cigar.

Legendary music businessman Frank DiLeo died today (8/24) following a lengthy illness. He was 63 and is best known as Michael Jackson’s manager during the pinnacle of the star’s career in the 1980s. DiLeo resumed the role in the months leading up to Jackson’s death, and continued working for his estate following the star’s passing.

DiLeo grew to industry prominence after being tapped by another legend, Walter Yetnikoff, to lead Epic’s promotion division, where the younger exec was an outspoken advocate for independent radio promotion, and helped build the careers of Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Meat Loaf, Ozzy Osbourne, Gloria Estefan and REO Speedwagon.

DiLeo’s work at Epic led to his management role with Jackson, during which he guided the singer through his post-Thriller skyrocketing career, including the monumental Bad World Tour, movie Moonwalker, and classic Pepsi commercials/endorsement deal.

In January 2007, he formed the Nashville based Dileo Entertainment Group and worked with singer-songwriter Galen Griffin and other new talents. He was a 2008 graduate of Leadership Music.

DiLeo also acted in famed mobster flick Goodfellas.

The Nashville Scene was the first media outlet to report DiLeo’s passing, and also featured him in a 2007 cover story.

DiLeo and Michael Jackson.

Eli Young Scores Solid Debut

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Eli Young Band’s Life At Best debuted with sales of 35K units, including a notably high 46 percent digital downloads. Fueled by hit lead single “Crazy Girl,” the project came in at No. 3 on the Country Album Chart (Nielsen Soundscan).

Spending a second week at No. 1 on that chart is Luke Bryan, moving 52K copies this week for RTD totals nearing 200K. Jason Aldean lands at No. 2, moving about 37K per week after 42 weeks on the chart. And Eric Church sells 31K to slide into No. 4 after just as many weeks.

On the digital tracks front, Lady A has two songs in the top 5 country downloads, both from upcoming release Own The Night, and moving about 60K each.

The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young” is at No. 1 with 83K. Also faring well are downloads of the Brad/Carrie duet (68K), and Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” (70K).

Jay Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne is ruling the land, with 177K units for a two-week RTD total of 619K.

Hunter Hayes Plans Album Release

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Multi-instrumentalist Hunter Hayes will release his debut self-titled album on Atlantic Records October 11.

The young artist from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, co-produced it with Dann Huff, and played every instrument. Included among the 12 tracks of Hunter Hayes are his current single “Storm Warning,” which is climbing the charts. Full track list below.

In addition to his own music, Hayes has also co-written songs for artists such as Rascal Flatts and Montgomery Gentry and shared the stage with Trace Adkins, Lady Antebellum, LeAnn Rimes, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban and more. He just wrapped up his stint on Taylor Swift’s Speak Now World Tour 2011 and made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. He’s now planning his fall Most Wanted tour.

Hunter Hayes Track Listing:
1. Storm Warning
2. Wanted
3. If You Told Me To
4. Love Makes Me
5. Faith
6. Somebody’s Heartbreak
7. Rainy Season
8. Cry
9. Somebody But Me
10. What You Gonna Do
11. More Than I Should
12. All You Ever

Indiana State Fair Tragedy Claims Seventh Life

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The Indiana State Fair stage collapse.

A seventh fatality from the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair was confirmed this week. It is unknown how many fans remain hospitalized. Sugarland, who was scheduled to perform at Indiana, resumed its tour over the weekend, opening the first show back on the road with a moment of silence.

Meanwhile, a class-action lawsuit claiming negligence has been filed by against the state of Indiana, promoter Live Nation, and stage rigging company Mid-America Sound Corp. An Indiana judge has ordered the state to preserve the wreckage from the staging in case it is needed for further investigation.

Elsewhere, four people died when a stage collapsed at Belgium’s Pukkelpop music festival last week. Officials claim a fifth was dead before the severe storm hit the site.

Taking extra precautions to prevent another disaster, TMG/AEG Live moved Kenny Chesney’s Sun., Aug. 28 concert at Gillette Stadium near Boston to Fri., Aug. 26, citing “the US National Hurricane Center’s forecast that hurricane-level storms may occur in New England.”

On a tiny positive note, the kidneys of the seventh Indiana victim, a 24-year-old, were donated to others.

Weblinks: Sony, Aerosmith, Amy Winehouse

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Tyler wants you to Walk This Way over to iTunes.


• • • Restructuring continues at Sony Music Entertainment following Doug Morris joining the company as CEO. A new regime was announced this week for RCA’s pop/rock division, resulting in the exit of about 20 staffers, including numerous VPs, according to Billboard.
• • • Hits from Aerosmith’s back catalog will be coming to iTunes, thanks to an agreement between Apple and Columbia Records reported this morning by The New York Post. The deal covers songs from 1973-1987, such as “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” They will be released digitally for the first time on Sept. 6. Flamboyant frontman Steven Tyler has given the band’s career a recent resurgence due to his gig on American Idol.
Music from The Beatles debuted on iTunes in November 2010 after a long hold-out. Others still fighting the release of individual tracks through the digital giant include Garth Brooks and Kid Rock.
• • • Toxicology reports on the late singer Amy Winehouse show no illegal drugs were in her system when she died, but did find alcohol. It is unclear if legally obtained drugs were also found. The report was inconclusive about cause of death. More information is expected in October.
 

Ticket Technology War Escalates

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Touring is big business and filling the seats in a club or a giant stadium starts with one transaction—the ticket sale. The service charges that are collected from the sale of tickets is also big business. Ticketmaster, owned by Live Nation Entertainment is the big dog in this market, currently dominating ticket sales at venues worldwide. But AEG, another concert promotion giant is set to unveil its own offering, Axs Ticketing, in an effort to capture some of the lucrative ticket fees for itself.
The ticket market is sure to become a battleground as Ticketmaster and now AEG fight for marketshare. The competition began as a result of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger last year when the Justice Department called for additional ticket outlets to be created as a merger condition.
AEG’s Axs Ticketing
This new service, according to the Wall Street Journal, is set to begin selling seats at two Denver venues, the Ogden Theatre and the Bluebird Theater. Soon, two AEG-owned theaters in San Francisco will be added and by the end of 2012 all 100 of AEG’s venues—such as the Staples Center in L.A. and O2 in London—will utilize Axs. The ticketing software was built by Outbox enterprises and has been about a year and a half in development. Axs will place tickets on its website and on venue websites.
Ticketmaster Gets Facebook Enhancement
Further raising the ticketing bar, Ticketmaster is set to introduce a new interactive Facebook-driven feature that allows ticket buyers to see where their Friends are sitting.

According to Mashable, “With the upgrade, Facebook members can now connect their accounts to view a Facebook-infused event seat map that highlights where friends are sitting with miniature Facebook flags. The feature is live for more than 9,000 events on Ticketmaster and Live Nation sites. The interactive seat maps experience is now designed to help Facebook users see where their friends are sitting, purchase nearby tickets, tag themselves into their seats, nudge their Facebook friends to do the same and share their seats with friends on Facebook.”

“We studied the way people bought tickets,” says Kip Levin Ticketmaster EVP of eCommerce told Mashable. “People said they would buy tickets …because they knew where their friends were sitting.”

DISClaimer Single Reviews (8/24/11)

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There are plenty of marquee males marching into this listening session.
You’d be a fool to ignore the new sounds being made by Eric Church, Chris Young, Billy Yates, The Kentucky Headhunters or Billy Burnette. All of them are guaranteed to brighten your day.
But the fairer sex comes up with this week’s column’s honors. I have raved before about Joy Williams and her partner John Paul White in The Civil Wars. Listen to this duo and be enchanted.
Among all the stars on tap today, only one is a bona fide country queen. That would be Connie Smith, who has the Disc of the Day.
There is a singer-songwriter up in the Cumberland River town of Ashland City, TN who was utterly unknown to me until today. She sings in a throaty, husky alto that is gripping. As a songwriter, she is equally gritty on ballads (”Should I Run”), boppers (”Love a Good Love Song”) and story songs (”Daddy Went to Prison”). Her name is DeeAnn Dominy, our DisCovery Award winner whom some Music Row star maker needs to sign up pronto.
DEEANN DOMINY/I Still Believe
Writer: DeeAnn Dominy; Producer: DeeAnn Dominy & Jack Harris; Publisher: DeeAnn Dominy, ASCAP; Dizzee (track) (www.DeeAnnDominy.com)
—This Ashland City gal has a six-song sampler called Based on a True Story. This simply produced track showcases her husky vocal style and an extraordinary gift for truthful, down-to-earth lyrics. Talent scouts take note: There’s a whiff of stardom here.
CHRIS YOUNG/You
Writer: Chris Young/Luke Laird; Producer: James Stroud; Publisher: Runnin’ Behind/EMI April/Universal Careers/High Powered Machine, ASCAP/BMI; RCA (track)
—Chris switches gears to a groove tune. As always, he sings with brilliant, burnished luster, even when the lyric is a romantic trifle like this one.
BILLY YATES/Just Be You
Writer: Billy Yates; Producer: Billy Yates; Publisher: Graysongs, BMI; M.O.D. (track) (www.billyyates.com)
—The title tune to Billy’s latest is a lilting, light hearted ode to straightforward honesty and simplicity. The gist of it is, don’t sell yourself out, don’t worry about making it big, have a good time and be whoever you are. Highly personable and wonderfully engaging. I dare you not to tap your foot and smile.
BILLY BURNETTE/Rock N Roll With It
Writer: Billy Burnette; Producer: Billy Burnette; Publisher: Rock N Roll With It/Bi-Lo-Tex, BMI; Rock N Roll With It (track) (www.billyburnette.net)
—Burnette returns with a dynamite set of self-penned tunes, including some with such stellar collaborators as Gary Nicholson and Shawn Camp. The title number is a delightful, neo-rockabilly romp with some terrific guitar picking and a slap-back beat that just doesn’t quit. Jitterbug yourself into a frenzy.
THE CIVIL WARS/Poison & Wine
Writer: none listed; Producer: Charlie Peacock; Publisher: none listed; Sensibility (track)
—This Nashville male-female duo (John Paul White and former CCM disc maker Joy Williams) has a CD titled Barton Hollow that is a fabulously mesmerizing audio experience. This haunting, throbbing track has been featured on the soundtrack of TV’s Grey’s Anatomy and is now the subject of the team’s new video. Call it country, pop, Americana, folk or whatever you like, but this entire album is essential listening. Buy it at once.
ERIC CHURCH/Drink in My Hand
Writer: Eric Church/Michael Heeney/Luke Laird; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree/Sinnertina/Sony-ATV Acuff-Rose/Universal Careers/High Powered Machine, BMI; EMI Nashville (track)
—This rumbles out of the chute like a muscular, stompin’ bull on a rampage. The cleverly penned lyric drawls of howling party times. Play it and make every day a weekend vacation. If you don’t already own every note of music this man has made (most definitely including the brand-new Chief), you are out of your cotton-pickin’ mind.
RICK KRAUSS/If I Could Do It Over
Writer: Rick Krauss; Producer: Rick Krauss; Publisher: Rick Krauss, BMI; Relkay (track)
—Not to be confused with Nashville’s Alison or Viktor, this guy is a Maryland troubadour with an 18-song presentation called The Edge of Heaven. This is labeled as the “single,” but like the rest of the tracks, it screams “demo.”
CONNIE SMITH/Long Line of Heartaches
Writer: Marty Stuart/Connie Smith; Producer: Marty Stuart; Publisher: Marty Stuart/Connie Smith/Bug, BMI; Sugar Hill (track)
—Connie’s first new album in 13 years dropped yesterday. On its title tune, this peerless stylist cries from the heart while Gary Carter’s emotional steel guitar echoes every note. I remain hopelessly in love with this woman and her stunning voice.
THE KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS/Dixie Lullaby
Writer: The Kentucky Headhunters; Producer: The Kentucky Headhunters, Wayd Battle & Richie Owens; Publisher: Them Young Boys/Mr. Eric/B. Headed/Bug, ASCAP/BMI; Red Dirt (track) (www.thekentuckyheadhunters.com)
—The reunited Headhunters kick off their comeback album with this Southern-fried garage rocker, sporting plenty of grinding guitar and vocal attitude. Welcome back, boys. You have been sorely missed.
SHAWN CAMP/Jesus, My Old Dog and Me
Writer: Shawn Camp/Will Nance/Steve Dean; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Ann Wilson/Bridge Building/Dino’s Song Shop/Shawn Camp/Sony-ATV, BMI; Cloud 10 (track) (www.dogcountrysongs.com)
—Dog Country is a CD compiling songs written about man’s best friend. Participating tunesmiths include Jason Wyatt, Mandy York (”Bebe’s Riding Shotgun”), Ron Wallace (whose song features the timeless line, “I wish that I was half the man that my dog thinks I am”), Steve Oliver, Rusty Van Sickle (who contributes two songs), Mark Nesler and Melissa Duval. Shawn has the sweetly sad ballad set closer. A portion of the album’s proceeds benefits Happy Tales Humane in Franklin, TN.