Clarence Clemons Passes

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Clarence Clemons, longtime saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, passed away Saturday (6/18) at a Palm Beach, FL hospital, following complications from a stroke he suffered June 12, according to the New York Times. He was 69 years old.
Clemons was a member of Springsteen’s band for over 30 years and appears in the iconic album cover photo for the classic Born To Run (pictured at right). He performed with other artists including Ringo Starr’s All-Star Band, and recorded with Aretha Franklin, Jackson Browne and Roy Orbison among others. The 6’4” former college football player was also a towering presence on TV and film, where he appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show, HBO’s The Wire, and Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York. Recently he contributed his sax skills to two tracks on Lady Gaga’s album Born This Way.

The Band Perry Voted "MusicRow" Breakthrough Artist

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MusicRow Pres. Sherod Robertson and Chart Director Jon Freeman present Breakthrough Artist honors to The Band Perry. (L-R): Sherod Robertson, Neil Perry, Kimberly Perry, Reid Perry, Republic Nashville Pres. Jimmy Harnen, and Jon Freeman. Photo: Christie King

“Country music is the people’s music, and we desire to be the people’s band.” —Kimberly Perry

The 23rd annual MusicRow Awards will be presented tomorrow night (6/21) at the ASCAP offices, but one award has already been handed out. Readers of MusicRow magazine voted, bestowing honors for Breakthrough Artist on The Band Perry. MusicRow execs caught up with the group at a recent gig at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe to present their plaques.

Following years of hard work, “If I Die Young” was the major hit that propelled the trio made up of siblings Neil, Reid and Kimberly Perry to the forefront of country music’s rising class. The track resonated with fans to the tune of two million downloads. Since its release, the group has earned two ACM Awards, a CMT Award, and Grammy and CMA nominations. Their self-titled debut album, created under the direction of producers Nathan Chapman and Paul Worley, has sold almost 600,000 copies to date.
“We always say, the three of us can only walk through open doors,” said Kimberly, who particularly acknowledged MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart. “All the MusicRow stations have been so gracious, so thank you guys.”
“Like in most success stories, there are no short cuts,” explains Republic Nashville Pres. Jimmy Harnen. “The Band Perry has seen a million faces and rocked them all! Everyone on the team worked passionately and tirelessly, and had a ton of fun doing it. When you add into the mix that Kimberly, Neil and Reid are three of the nicest and most talented people you will ever meet, it’s unstoppable.”

Justin Moore Anchors Album Launch

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Justin Moore’s new album Outlaws Like Me is set for release next week (Tuesday, June 21) and to promote it he will be giving numerous media appearances like most artists trying to promote a new project. Except Moore will give new meaning to the term ‘media saturation’ by conducting six hours of live interviews from a bass boat in the middle of the lake in New York City’s Central Park.
“I’ve traveled all around the country, and there is nowhere I feel more at peace than sitting on a boat in the lake,” says Moore, whose current single ‘If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away’ just hit No. 1 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart. “The new album celebrates the lifestyle that I grew up with. When the label wanted to launch Outlaws Like Me in New York City, it seemed like an obvious choice to kick things off in a setting where I feel so much at home. My fans know that the music I make represents who I am and since the outdoors have been such a big part of my life, I want people to watch this and know that what you see is what you get. This is me, and that’s reflected on this album.”
Fans can tune in for the fun via a live stream at www.nracountry.com/justinmoore on Monday, June 20 from 6 am – 12 pm ET. While he’s visiting New York, Moore will also appear on Better TV, Fox News, ABC News, Entertainment Tonight and Good Day New York. On release day (6/21), Moore will host a live chat and exclusive performance at 3 pm CT at www.livestream.com/justinmoore.
He will also perform at B.B. King’s Time Square that same day, followed by stops in Indianapolis (6/22), Milwaukee (6/23) and Chicago (6/25). He’ll wrap the week with two opening dates on Rascal Flatts’ Flatts Fest tour in Chicago and St. Louis.

Vince Gill Album And Single Coming Soon

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Gill and Grant were recently featured on the cover of AARP Magazine May/June 2011.



Vince Gill’s career is shifting into high gear with the release later this summer of “Threaten Me With Heaven,” his first single in four years. The song also serves as the debut track from his upcoming album, Guitar Slinger due in the fall.
The new single was co-written with Gill, his wife Amy Grant, Dillon O’Brian and Will Owsley. “Since the song was recorded, my friend Will Owsley took his own life, so the song has a profound impact on me now,” Gill laments. “In my lifetime, ‘Go Rest High On That Mountain’ has been the song that helped a lot of people through their grief. I think this one will in turn hopefully do the same thing. It’s a powerful, powerful song. I feel like it’s the crown jewel of the new record.”
Guitar Slinger is the follow-up to Gill’s critically acclaimed four-CD, 43-song box set, These Days, which was certified platinum, won the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Album and received an overall Grammy Album of the Year nomination. According to the artist he didn’t have any specific thoughts or themes in mind when he began creating the songs for Guitar Slinger. “I had no expectations of what it would sound like in my home studio,” he says. “I’ve never recorded in my house before. I discovered an awful lot about how the rooms sound, and it’s a real warm record. I don’t know what it is, but it’s so different than most studios in that there are windows all the way around the room. You look out and see trees. There’s such a great spirit running around in the house. All the musicians have raved about the vibe.”
Joining Gill on the recording are Amy Grant and daughters Jenny, Sarah and Corrina. Vince Gill has sold more than 26 million albums, won 20 Grammys and 18 CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year twice. He has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

TV Update: Currington, Bentley, and Cyrus (6/17/11)

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Billy Currington is currently in New York City for performances today (6/17) on Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Both performances will feature Currington singing his hit single “Love Done Gone.” Currington is currently out on the road with Kenny Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal Tour.
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Avowed hockey fanatic Dierks Bentley has been selected to perform at the 2011 National Hockey League Awards Wed., June 22 at the Pearl Concert Theater in the Las Vegas Palms Hotel. The event airs live at 6 pm CT on Versus and CBC. Comedian Jay Mohr will serve as the evening’s host to salute the world’s best hockey players and celebrate the 2010-11 season. Bentley and the NHL also collaborated during the Stanley Cup Finals on an alternate video for “Am I The Only One” featuring hockey highlights that was aired during the NHL Conference Finals.
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Photo: Veronica Barrere


GAC will premiere the Billy Ray Cyrus special I’m American on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:30 pm CT. For the special Cyrus invited 60 military families from the 101st Airborne in Ft. Campbell, KY to his farm where they enjoyed games, barbecue and an acoustic concert. Attendees were got to hear “I’m American,” the title track to Cyrus’ June 28 album release, as well as hits like “Some Gave All.” Joining Cyrus were guests Bill Anderson, Bucky Covington, Buddy Cannon, Melonie Cannon and Julie Roberts.

Jason Delkou Signs With SESAC

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(L-R) Bigger Picture’s Alan Kates, SESAC’s John Mullins, Jason Delkou, SESAC’s Tim Fink and Bigger Picture’s Jeff Carlton. Photo: Ed Rode


Singer/songwriter Jason Delkou, who is signed to Bigger Picture Group, affiliated with SESAC during a recent visit to its Nashville headquarters.

Review: Sherrie' Austin Performs On StageIt

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This week, Sherrie’ Austin performed on StageIt.com promoting her independent CD, Circus Girl, coming out in the fall. The June 15 performance was one in a series, as part of her “Jumpstart” campaign to help fund her new independent venture.
Accompanied by Will Rambeaux who was out of view, Austin performed with her guitar from the living room couch and offered an interactive connection with her fans. Viewers simultaneously chatted online. In between songs, Austin read and responded to many of the comments.
She told us this was the first time she has co-produced a record and is very excited about the songs on the upcoming CD.
After a couple of songs, she brought out on stage (i.e., her couch), Shane Stevens, who co-wrote the No. 1 hit by Lady Antebellum, “American Honey.” Both Stevens and Austin performed the song and thanked the audience for their “tips.” (Viewers purchase credits online and award performers by tipping them during the show.)
After I chatted “How did you write that song?” Shane saw the comment and shared the story of how he, Hillary Lindsey, and Cary Barlowe got the idea from a bottle of whiskey bearing the same name.
Although performances usually broadcast “one to many,” this was the definitive “one to one.”
Throughout the show, Austin teased us with a “big announcement” coming soon. Viewers tried to get it out of her, but her lips were sealed. One thing viewers did get from her was another show. After fans chatted they wanted to do this again, she spent a few minutes with Shane checking their schedules, and set her next date on StageIt for June 28, 8pm. She even asked the fans if that date worked for them and solicited song suggestions she should sing next time.
She ended the show with a haunting acoustic version of “Streets of Heaven” and gave viewers a true interactive experience.

Is Spotify About To Enter The U.S.?

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Spotify, the European “freemium” streaming service which allows users to listen to a set amount of music each month and also offers a paid premium version with unlimited music, has been trying to establish its service in the U.S. for several years. After a series of false starts, however, it appears this time Spotify may succeed. After recently making headlines for securing deals with three of the four major labels (minus Warner), Spotify has also just completed a new round of financing.
According to AllThingsD, the streaming service has just raised $100 million from DST, Kleiner Perkins And Accel. Of note are rumors that Spotify is close to finalizing a deal with Facebook that would integrate the service inside Facebook’s 700 million active user universe.
According to various sites, including the Silicon Valley Watcher, Jonathan Forster, General Manager of Europe & Global Vice President of Ad Sales at Spotify, speaking at an Omnicom conference in London said, “We’re signing the remaining deals as I speak. We won’t launch before July 5th.”
Spotify headquarters are already based in New york City. Stay tuned…
 

Pandora Drop Sends Mixed Signals

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Pandora Media went public this week on June 15, with an offering priced at $16 per share. The stock opened at $20 a share, hitting a high of $26 and closing at $17.42. On Tuesday, before shares went onto the open market the company was valued at $2.6 billion. At one point on Wednesday the value had climbed to $4 billion. But by the end of the day on Thursday, the stock had dropped 24% and once again was worth about $2.1 billion. As of this writing mid-day June 17, the stock is down about 3% at $12.85 per share for a market cap of about $1.96 billion. So what happened to the wings on which Pandora was soaring?
A large part of the problem can be traced to BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield who came out shortly after the IPO with a sell rating and a price target of $5.50. [ouch]
Greenfield pointed to a new scenario with more competition for the web radio service from companies such as Spotify and Turntable.fm.

“While Pandora is creating a large active user base, its reach/frequency continues to pale in comparison to terrestrial radio, as does its profitability,” says Greenfiled. “Pandora’s fundamental problem is that active users and listening hours are growing rapidly, but those listener hours have fixed (and annually escalating) royalty costs per streaming hour (fees to music labels).”

Another way to explain the above comment is to say that the business doesn’t scale.
In an interview posted on AllThingsD, writer Peter Kafka asks Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy about the effect of Internet and Pandora coming to auto dashboards. Kennedy says, “We’ve had announcements from six of the world’s major automakers — Ford, Toyota, GM, Mercedes, BMW and Hyundai — and they’ve all said, ‘we’re going to integrate Pandora into our vehicles going forward.’ Now, the nature of automotive is, it isn’t a flip-the-switch phenomena. It rolls out over several models, over time. And then you have a replacement cycle that’s about 7 years per car. So I think of automotive as a snowball, that starts out relatively small, but builds and builds and builds and builds. You get out to years five to ten, and it’s tremendously big.”
 

Fun Photo Friday

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In between dates opening for Taylor Swift, Frankie Ballard made his second CMA Music Festival appearance. Ballard’s schedule included autograph signings, a performance at the Chevrolet™ Riverfront Stage and a surprise appearance at Blake Shelton’s fan club party. Ballard also had the chance to hang with a bunch of media girls at the famed Wildhorse Saloon. Ballard’s Top 30 hit “A Buncha Girls” is quickly climbing the country radio singles charts.

(L-R) Back Row: Alanna Conaway (Taste of Country), Brittany Perlin (The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson), Jensen Arrowsmith (Warner Music Nashville), Ashley Dvorkin (FOX News), Sarah Lai (Warner Music Nashville) and Carden Griscom (Warner Music Nashville) Front Row: Allison Barrie (FOX News), Frankie Ballard, Lindsay Mayer (ABC), Linda Kim (E! News) and Tree Paine (Warner Music Nashville) Photo: Courtesy of Warner Music Nashville

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Power-trio Lady Antebellum recently stopped by CMT Top 20 Countdown to chat with host Evan Farmer about their third studio album, Own the Night, along with their newest single, “Just a Kiss.” This all new episode of the show premiered this morning, June 17 at 10am CT.

(L-R): Evan Farmer; Hillary Scott; Charles Kelley; Dave Haywood Photo: Amber McSwain

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Jimmy Wayne opened for his idols Daryl Hall and John Oates recently (6/15) at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, NY.  Wayne has often spoken of his admiration for the pop duo legends, and even covered their hit “Sara Smile” on his last CD. Wayne, who made his debut at LP Field during Music Fest last week, is currently at work on a new CD.

(L-R): Hall, Wayne and Oates. Photo: Kevin Ferguson

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During the 2011 CMT Music Awards, Keifer Thompson, half of the duo Thompson Square, who grew up right outside Joplin, MO, wanted to show his support for the victims of recent tornados. He did so by wearing a black tee-shirt with white lettering simply saying, “Joplin, MO.” The tee-shirt worn by Keifer Thompson is now available for purchase with all proceeds being donated to the Joplin Red Cross to assist in relief efforts. For more details visit www.thompsonsquare.com.

While backstage at the awards show, Kiefer ran into the Gilbert family from Joplin, MO. They shared their personal story of loss during the storms with Keifer, and thanked him for spreading awareness. (L- R) back row: Tiffany Gilbert, Eric Gilbert, Amy Gilbert, Keifer Thompson of Thompson Square. Front row: Lexi Gilbert