Lady A Ties For Lead In American Music Awards Nominations

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Lady Antebellum scored five nominations for the American Music Awards when they were revealed this morning (10/12). The group shares the most nominations with Eminem going into the Nov. 21 show at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

Showing the true cross-genre diversity of the Capitol Nashville trio, Lady Antebellum is up for Favorite Band, Duo or Group in the Pop/Rock, and Country categories; Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist; Favorite Country Album; and T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist.

Other multiple country nominees include Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood with two apiece. Following the lead is Justin Bieber with four nominations, and B.o.B., Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Usher with three each.

For the fourth year, winners will be determined by online voting at www.amavote.com and ama.abc.com. Fans will be able to vote for the T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award via T-Mobile text messaging or at ama.abc.com.

dick clark productions will air a live red carpet digital pre-show hosted by Danny Gokey, Jennette McCurdy, Lance Bass and Whitney Port from the 2010 AMA Coke Red Carpet available on ABC.com and USTREAM.tv.

American Music Awards® nominees were selected from BigChampagne’s Ultimate Chart which accounts for sales, media, internet streaming, social network activity and more.

COUNTRY MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist: Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley
Favorite Female Artist: Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood
Favorite Band, Duo or Group: Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts
Favorite Album: Jason Aldean Wide Open; Lady Antebellum Need You Now; Carrie Underwood Play On

CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Favorite Artist: Casting Crowns, MercyMe, TobyMac

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Justin Bieber
Eminem
Ke$ha
Lady Gaga
Katy Perry

POP or ROCK MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist: Justin Bieber, Eminem, Usher
Favorite Female Artist: Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry
Favorite Band, Duo or Group: The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Train
Favorite Album: Justin Bieber My World 2.0; Eminem Recovery; Katy Perry Teenage Dream

RAP/HIP-HOP MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist: B.o.B., Drake, Eminem
Favorite Album: B.o.B. B.o.B. Presents; Drake Thank Me Later; Eminem Recovery

SOUL/RHYTHM & BLUES MUSIC
Favorite Male Artist: Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Usher
Favorite Female Artist: Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Sade
Favorite Album: Alicia Keys The Element of Freedom; Sade Soldier of Love; Usher Raymond v. Raymond

SOUNDTRACKS
Favorite Album: AC/DC Iron Man 2; Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers; The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

ALTERNATIVE ROCK MUSIC
Favorite Artist: Muse, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend

ADULT CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Favorite Artist: Michael Buble, Lady Antebellum, Train

LATIN MUSIC
Favorite Artist: Daddy Yankee, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira

T-Mobile BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST NOMINATIONS
B.o.B
Justin Bieber
Taio Cruz
Jason Derulo
Ke$ha
Lady Antebellum
Travie McCoy
Mike Posner

Loretta Lynn Saluted

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A young Loretta Lynn. Click to read more about her from the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The 50th anniversary of Loretta Lynn’s musical career continues this evening with an all-star concert at the Ryman Auditorium.

Billed as a “Grammy Salute to Country Music Honoring Loretta Lynn,” the gala is being staged by The Recording Academy. The organization will present her with its President’s Merit Award during the event.

Scheduled to appear are Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson, Jack White, Lee Ann Womack and others. Reba McEntire will also perform, as well as host the show.

Loretta Lynn’s first single was issued in 1960. The 50th anniversary celebration of that event began on January 31st when the Recording Academy presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In June, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” was chosen for preservation within the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

Loretta Lynn

On July 3, she reopened her Hurricane Mills tourist attraction in Dickson County, TN. It had been damaged by May’s flood. On September 24, an invitation-only audience traveled there for a “home town” 50th anniversary celebration. At it, both the Academy of Country Music and Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. presented her with their Lifetime Achievement awards. BMI gave the icon an award commemorating her 50 years in the country-music industry.

The year-long celebration will be capped with a Columbia Records tribute CD, to be issued on November 9. Titled Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn, the CD features McBride, Womack, White, McEntire, Wilson and Kid Rock, as well as recordings of her songs by Faith Hill, Lucinda Williams, Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Steve Earle & Allison Moorer and Paramore. Loretta Lynn recorded the title tune as a trio with Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow. It is the collection’s first single.

Dierks Bentley, Trace Adkins Plan Nashville Fundraisers

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Dierks Bentley

The talent keeps piling up for Dierks Bentley’s “Miles & Music for Kids” celebrity motorcycle ride and benefit concert, taking place Sunday, Oct. 17 in Nashville. Joining already announced Miranda Lambert and Jerrod Niemann, are Luke Bryan, Heidi Newfield, Del McCoury and Laura Bell Bundy.

The hour-long motorcycle ride will kick off at the Harley-Davidson of Columbia, TN, and end at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville for the star-studded concert.

Tickets for the family-friendly event are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Tickets for the ride, concert and commemorative T-shirt are $50, or $20 for the concert only. Special VIP packages are also available. Sponsored by Nationwide Insurance, proceeds from the Nashville event will benefit the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

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Trace Adkins

Trace Adkins will perform an intimate concert at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe to benefit Musicians On Call (MOC), a nonprofit organization that brings live music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. The show on Mon., Oct. 25 is part of MOC’s Month of Music initiative, a series of events in New York, Nashville, and Miami during the month of October. Tickets are on sale at www.TicketAlternative.com. Tickets start at $25 and VIP packages are available.

Adkins also has plans to travel to the Middle East to visit and perform for troops on his third USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour.

Industry Items: Signing, Hiring, Lifenotes

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Pictured l to r: Due West’s Brad Hull, Catapult’s Scott Whitehead, DW's Tim Gates, DW's Matt Lopez, and Nancy Tunick of Catapult Management and GrassRoots Promotion.

Emerging group Due West has signed with Catapult Management, in a co-venture with GrassRoots Promotion, for artist management. The Black River Music Group band is currently working its debut single for the label, “The Bible and the Belt.”

Also at Black River, Emily Hungate has joined the team in the newly created position of Director of Business Operations. She will oversee financial operations, accounting, royalty and licensing administration, and mechanical licensing for film and television. She will report
directly to the Chief Operating Officer, Gordon Kerr. Hungate previously worked as the Manager for Finance and Business Affairs at Dualtone Music Group. She also coordinated special events for Festival Miami and holds a Masters of Music in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami.

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Condolences to Sony Music Nashville Promotion Vice President Skip Bishop and his family on yesterday’s (10/11) unexpected passing of his mother Grace Bishop. She was a resident of Alabama. No further information is available at this time. Services are pending, and we will share additional information as it becomes available.

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Paisley To Offer “Hits Alive”

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Brad Paisley, known for pulling pranks on his opening acts, throws biscuits at Easton Corbin onstage.

Brad Paisley is busy selling out shows on his H2O World Tour, and soon fans will be able to take home a piece of the action. Paisley is the latest artist planning a fourth quarter release of a greatest hits packages, which will include tracks from the studio, as well as live songs from his tour. The two-disc set, Hits Alive, is due from Arista Nashville on Nov. 2.

Paisley’s successful H2O World Tour presented by Chevy just wrapped a Canadian run of four sold-out shows and topped it off in Grand Forks, ND over the weekend with another sold-out night. The popular “Water World Stage” with Easton Corbin, Steel Magnolia and Josh Thompson finished its run on the tour a couple of weeks ago, but not before each act was pranked by Paisley and crew. Take a look at the video below.

Darius Rucker and Justin Moore will continue with the tour as special guests. Dates are scheduled through Nov. 20, including this weekend’s Concert For The Coast in Gulf Shores, Ala. to bring economic relief to the region. Chevy is title sponsor for the tour with Skinny Water continuing as support sponsor.

Gator Michaels Named GM For Davis Music Group

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Gator Michaels

Longtime label executive Gator Michaels is setting up shop as General Manager of the newly established Davis Music Group. Started by Texas based entrepreneur Jim L. Davis, the company will offer artist development, management, publishing and production services.

The first artists signed to Davis Music Group are singer-songwriter Jacob Lyda and Texas artist Kelly Kenning. Joining Michaels in the Nashville offices are Management/Marketing Directors Ashley Jennings and Mallory Opheim, handling day-to-day for Kenning and Lyda, respectively.

“Davis Music Group is a full-service artist development and publishing company,” explains Michaels. “Our goal is to develop our roster of acts to their highest potential, assisting in all areas of their career. We will find them the right producer, the right songs, the right images and ultimately, find the right home for their music.”

“I am extremely excited to open our doors in Nashville, Tennessee,” says Davis. “We have a talented and passionate team of industry professionals and we are eager to get started in the development of such amazing talent.”

Additional staff and roster announcements will be made at a later date.

Contact information:
Davis Music Group
1222 16th Ave. S., Suite 24
Nashville, TN 37212

Office Phone: 615-873-1224
Fax line: 615-873-1230

Gator Michaels, gmichaels@davismusicgroup.com
Ashley Jennings, ajennings@davismusicgroup.com
Mallory Opheim, mopheim@davismusicgroup.com

Lee Brice Single Goes Gold

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Curb Records artist Lee Brice has scored his first gold single with the certification of “Love Like Crazy,” which has sold in excess of 500,000 digital downloads.

The announcement comes on the heels of another milestone for the song, which recently spent a record-setting 55 weeks on the Billboard Country Songs chart. The previous record holder was Eddy Arnold’s “Bouquet of Roses,” which debuted the week of May 15, 1948, and spent 54 weeks on the chart.

Brice’s follow-up single is the just released “Beautiful Every Time,” a song he wrote with Rob Hatch and Lance Miller. The single goes for adds October 25.

Incredible Machine To Start Up Oct. 19

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Sugarland’s upcoming album, The Incredible Machine is set for release on Oct. 19. Also being released on the same day will be a Deluxe Edition which, in addition to the project’s 11 songs, includes Blood Love Hope Lust and Steam, a “making of”  album documentary. Also inside will be the music video for “Stuck Like Glue,” and a live performance video for the title track.

The project is already getting notice from critics because it takes the duo into musically uncharted waters. “We are in a place of discovery,” Jennifer says. “It is the essence of who we are as people in this band.” Adds Kristian, “It’s just the two of us. In the story of who we are, this album is more us than we’ve ever been.”

The CD’s 11 songs were all co-written and co-produced by Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush who worked in the studio with producer Byron Gallimore. Lead single from the new package, the Top 5 hit “Stuck Like Glue” has already been certified Gold for digital downloads.

itunes is making a new track from The Incredible Machine available every tuesday. To date fans can download/purchase the title track plus “Wide Open.” “Little Miss” will be posted for download on Oct. 12.

Here’s some background about the inspiration of this album from Kristian’s blog on www.sugarlandmusic.com…

Of the movies I saw as a teenager, none had more impact on me than the films of John Hughes. I think it was some combination of age, angst, young love and an overpowering need to be understood. As his films unfolded — films like The Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink — I was sucked into the worlds of these characters and their lives, and I connected to them in some basic, almost archetypal way. The emotional turns in these movies were always layered with the character saying something perfect — and then, always, the perfect song. I wanted the soundtracks immediately.

In East Tennessee where I’m from,” we were slow to get news or music from of many of the bands on Hughes’ soundtracks, so there was also a discovering combined with those compilations. Some of the bands had the strangest names: Echo and the Bunnymen. New Order. The Smiths. Where do these kinds of bands come from? I would ask myself. Who are they, and how is it that they are writing the soundtrack to these movies — and, in a way, to my life? I’m not sure I would have discovered Simple Minds if Hughes hadn’t played “Don’t You Forget About Me” under the last scene of Breakfast Club, or learned to play Psychedelic Furs songs had “Pretty in Pink” not been the title track to the movie of the same name.

During the process of writing and recording our new album, I remember thinking, “If those movies were made today, what songs would be on the soundtracks?” I’m sure that with more than a few of the songs on this new album, I was trying to make that cut. After we finished the basic recordings and moved in to the process of mixing the album, I revisited this idea while sitting in the window, eyes closed, headphones on, trying to imagine the scenes that matched up with each song. I wonder what lives these songs will supply the soundtrack for? What kiss will have “Tonight” playing in the background? What kid’s party will rock to “Find the Beat Again” while their parents are out of town?  What road trip will forever be linked to The Incredible Machine? I wonder if there is a sixteen year old out there who will discover something new in the sounds coming out of their speaker like I did at that age.

NASH2O Launch Party Tomorrow

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Dozens of instruments belonging to Peter Frampton, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Vince Gill and other stars are headed for the online auction block through nonprofit organization NASH2O (nash-2-oh), starting tomorrow (10/12) to support local flood relief.

NASH2O’s official launch kicks-off tomorrow (10/12) at 4 PM with a VIP reception and press conference at the Hard Rock Café in downtown Nashville, featuring appearances by artists, a silent auction, and the display of some instruments from the auction. Industry guests RSVP to Jayne Rogovin at jrogovin@mac.com.

Following the May floods, instrument gurus and musicians George Gruhn, Joe Glaser, and Bruce Bouton organized NASH2O to benefit flood victims. The NASH2O auction is unique because the instruments offered for sale are musical artifacts from the record flooding that tore through Nashville. As Gruhn explains, the instruments themselves are unlike what is usually available to fans. “It’s fairly common to see instruments, signed by artists, for sale in charity efforts or given as contest prizes,” he says. “But those are almost always pieces donated by a manufacturer for that purpose. They’re handed to the artist, he signs them, and that’s really the only connection he has with them. The NASH2O pieces are the artists’ personal instruments. [We are auctioning] Peter Frampton’s Les Paul, and Brad Paisley’s Tele-style guitar. You hear that guitar on the records. You saw it in his hands in concert. These are very personal, cherished tools of the trade, and buyers can own a piece of that history, that pedigree.”

Instruments were donated by Peter Frampton, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Duane Eddy, Amy Grant, Keb Mo, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, John Hiatt, Brent Mason, Raul Malo, Kathy Mattea, John Jorgenson, Chris Leuzinger, Bill Cooley, Steve Farris, Jerry McPherson, Kevin Grantt, Martin Guitars, Paul Reed Smith, Collings Guitars, Fender and more. The public online auction opens tomorrow (10/12) and runs through Dec. 10 at http://nash2o.org.

Proceeds will go to MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief Fund for music industry professionals, Nashville Musicians Association Flood Relief Fund for those musicians that were uninsured, and Middle Tennessee fire and rescue departments.

Conway Signs Matt Gary; TCN Adds Jones

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Tony Conway (L) has signed newcomer Matt Gary (R).

17 Music Entertainment’s Matt Gary continues building his team and has signed with veteran agent Tony Conway’s Conway Entertainment Group for exclusive touring representation.

Under the Conway Entertainment Group umbrella (which encompasses management, a full-service talent agency, touring and live event production company), Gary joins Lorrie Morgan, LoCash Cowboys, Flynnville Train, Mandy Barnett, The Cleverlys, Sweethearts of the Rodeo and more.

Gary’s new single, “I’m Just Sayin’,” goes for radio adds on Oct. 25. Penned by Frank Myers, Gary B. Baker and Billy Montana, it is the title track of his six-pack album coming in November.

He is seeking the most creative “I’m Just Sayin'” video at JustSayin.me and the winner will get to appear in the music video.

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Bill Jones

Former Cumulus Media National Country Format Director, Bill Jones, has joined The Country Network (TCN) as Programming Director. Jones, a 33-year broadcasting veteran, will oversee the network’s overall presentation, including selection of music videos and the development of new shows.

“It’s incredible what TCN has done in such a short amount of time,” said Jones. “The Sinclair Broadcasting Group agreement alone will push the network past 17.7 million U.S. households and I am thrilled to be joining the team.”

The Country Network’s Founder and CEO Warren Hansen stated, “With Mr. Jones directing the programming effort, we have an insider that completely understands the genre and the industry, as well as the needs of the artists. His addition to the core team ensures that we will continue to provide the compelling and relevant content our viewers demand.”

The new music video channel The Country Network (TCN) has been picked up by Sinclair Broadcast Group and will be available in some markets by October. Tammy Genovese is Pres. TCN Nashville.

Contact Bill Jones at bjones@tcncountry.com or 877-655-2351 ext 704.