Aldean’s Concert For The Cure

/by

Jason Aldean will donate all proceeds from his Oct. 15 show in Evansville, Ind. as part of his 5th Annual Concert For The Cure to benefit Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Ticket and donation information is available at www.jasonaldean.com.

“Most of my long-time fans know that I had a really good friend die of breast cancer when she was only 29.  The day she passed away, my family decided that we would always do something to carry on her memory and to help in the fight,” explains Aldean.  “Everybody I know has been touched by it…they say a woman dies every 69 seconds from it.  October is breast cancer awareness month, and it just felt like the right time to do our event this year.  We’re taking it out of Nashville this year too, so that fans from other parts of the country can be involved.  It’s going to be a great night.”

Aldean is set to release his fourth studio album, My Kinda Party, on Nov. 2.

ZBB This Week’s Top Dog, Next Week Chesney?

/by

Country’s big sales stories are the No. 1, 2 and 3 CDs on this week’s Top 75 Current Country Albums list—Zac Brown Band (153k+), Billy Currington (45k) and Jamey Johnson (30k). ZBB’s last studio album is close to 2.3 million and so this debut’s opening number may seem a bit shy of expectations, but it bin jumped with enough heat to also own the No. 1 spot on the Top Current Albums chart. Based upon Zac’s last CD, which opened with sales of only 44k on 11/18/08, the real measure of success will be the build between this week’s starting gate and the close of the holiday season. By the way, 53k of ZBB’s 153k total sales were digital, about 34%. Also of note is Johnson’s 2-disc set which saw sales slide a  less than normal (for a 2nd week) 52%. Johnson’s tour de force is generating buckets of critical acclaim.

A bit further down the list we see Randy Houser’s No. 8 debut, They Call Me Cadillac with almost 9k units sold.

Checking a few more of country’s vital signs, 818.5k country tracks were sold on the Digital Genre Country 100 chart down slightly form 821k last week. YTD album sales (physical & digital) for both the overall business and for country are starting to align. The overall business is down 13.1% Y/Y, and country, including this week’s debuts is down 13.3%. There was lots of talk this week about the sputtering market for physical CDs, but note that this year, 80% of all country album sales are physical (72% of all-genre sales are physical.) However, despite the heavily tipped physical format scale, the overall numbers are dropping, so the pie is indeed shrinking. (Source: Nielsen SoundScan)

Looking to next week’s numbers there is an increasingly good chance that country music might again occupy the pinnacle on the all-genre album list. After first day sales, insiders are predicting that Kenny Chesney’s new title Hemingway’s Whiskey may scan from 180-200k units which should place him in the exalted “top dog” position.

Farm Aid Concert To Be Broadcast On Sirius XM

/by

The 25th Annual Farm Aid concert Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope For America, will take place Saturday, October 2 at Milwaukee’s Miller Park. Scheduled performers include Farm Aid President Willie Nelson, board members Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), as well as Norah Jones, Jamey Johnson, Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco), Jason Mraz, Randy Rogers Band, the BoDeans, Band of Horses, Amos Lee, and more.

Sirius XM listeners will be able to catch the concert live on Sirius XM channel Willie’s Place (Sirius ch. 64 / XM ch. 13) starting at 1 pm CT. Sirius XM’s Dallas Wayne will be on hand to offer backstage interviews and behind-the-scenes coverage.

Armiger Celebrates CD Release At SESAC

/by

Cover girl Katie Armiger. Photo: Izzynashville.com

Katie Armiger celebrated the upcoming Oct. 5 release of her third Cold River Records album, Confessions Of A Nice Girl to a packed house at SESAC (9/29). Armiger performed selected tracks from the new CD with musical help from special guests such as Rebecca Lynn Howard, guitarist Jesse Tucker, Bruce Wallace, Joe West and others. In the crowd was Bonnie Baker, who produced and co-wrote “Can You Handle It.” The album’s name was chosen by fans who voted for the title. Armiger co-wrote 9 of the 13 tracks.

GAC streamed the event live, powered by AristoWorks. Radio personality Scott Lindy, interviewed Armiger during several strategic breaks, asking her questions that had been submitted online by fans. Over 1300 fans from all over the world logged in to view the stream. Music from Confessions Of A Nice Girl can be previewed at www.katiearmiger.com

Writer’s Den Adds Alex Heddle

/by

Alex Heddle has recently been added to the team at Writer’s Den Music Group as Catalog Manager/Song Plugger. Heddle formerly oversaw all creative aspects at Propel Music, where he spent the past two years.

“We are thrilled to have someone with Alex’s experience and enthusiasm as a part of our group,” says Head of Publishing, Bobby Rymer. “We look forward to working together as we continue to grow the company.”

Artist Run-Down: Dunn Goes Solo; Urban Seeks Fan Input

/by

Keith Urban’s camp is seeking fan feedback about the cover of his upcoming album, Get Closer, in stores on November 16. Which one do you like better? Vote on his Facebook page.

Ronnie Dunn is self-producing a solo album expected to release in 2011 on the Arista Nashville label.

Steve Azar was a recent guest on Southern Fried Flicks With Hazel Smith. His single “Sunshine (Everybody Needs A Little)” is Top 30 and climbing.

Catch Blake Shelton tonight (9/29) on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He’ll perform “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking.”

Jewel “got in the ring” to film the music video for her new single “Ten.”

Matt Gary has partnered with the Quarterback Records team (founder Chris Allums and Ettinger Talent Associates’ John Ettinger) for promotion of his second single “I’m Just Sayin.’” Written by Frank Myers, Gary B. Baker and Billy Montana, it goes for adds October 11.

Congrats to Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas and girlfriend Kelly Barons who were married over the weekend.

Joe Nichols was in the house—and onstage— when Nickelback kicked off their latest tour at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The band did a short rendition of Nichols’ “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off,” and then their own hit “Rockstar.” The audience got a surprise when the band brought Nichols onstage to sing along (video below).

Pictured (l-r): Nickelback's bassist Mike Kroeger, frontman Chad Kroeger, Nichols, and Nickelback's drummer Daniel Adair and guitarist Ryan Peake.

Crystal Ball Signals Publishing Change

/by

The Crystal Ball began flashing this morning, offering only an incomplete message as is its wanton way. The data source from the Shiny Globe seemed to flow from our industry’s publishing sphere, showing an imminent departure. While we are unable to pull the rabbit from our info chapeau, it seems that this 30-year industry veteran has a resume that includes A&R, artist management, concert promotion and TV production. Her past signings include this year’s top CMA nominee..

CMA Awards Sets First Performers

/by

Top nominee Miranda Lambert is one of the performers scheduled for the CMA Awards.

The star-packed lineup for “The 44th Annual CMA Awards” launches with today’s announcement that Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, and the pairing of Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson are the first group of performers confirmed for “Country Music’s Biggest Night.”

“The 44th Annual CMA Awards,” hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, will air live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00-11:00 PM/ET) on the ABC Television Network.

All of the just-announced performers will vie for awards that night. Lambert, the top nominee for 2010, goes into the show with nine nominations. She will compete for Entertainer of the Year with five-time nominee Lady Antebellum and four-time nominee ZBB. Shelton is up in four categories, Bentley is nominated in three, and Chesney and Jackson will go for one each.

“Country Strong” Soundtrack Features Nashville’s Finest

/by

The Country Strong soundtrack will be out weeks before the movie hits theaters, and the tracklist reads like a who’s who of Nashville songwriters, producers and artists. (See below).

Due out October 26 via Sony, the soundtrack includes many mainstream Nashville country stars, as well as songs from film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester. Paltrow appears on four tracks, including the title track single, which boasts background vocals by Vince Gill and Patty Griffin. McGraw and Paltrow duet on “Me and Tennessee,” written by Paltrow’s husband, Chris Martin, of Coldplay fame.

Sony will release the film in Los Angeles and Nashville on December 22, and nationwide on January 7.

In album sequence, below is the complete tracklist:

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Country Strong”
(Jennifer Hanson/Tony Martin/Mark Nesler) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Chris Young & Patty Loveless – “Love Don’t Let Me Down”
(Marv Green/Troy Olsen) Produced by James Stroud

Sara Evans – “A Little Bit Stronger”
(Luke Laird/Hillary Lindsey/Hillary Scott) Produced by Tony Brown

Garrett Hedlund – “Chances Are”
(Nathan Chapman/Lori McKenna/Liz Rose) Produced by Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten for Carnival Productions

Lee Ann Womack – “Liars Lie”
(Sally Barris/Morgane Hayes/Liz Rose) Produced by Frank Liddell and Chuck Ainlay for Carnival Productions

Ronnie Dunn – “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Double)”
(Wayne Carson Thompson) Produced by Ronnie Dunn

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Shake That Thing”
(Mark Irwin/Josh Kear/Chris Tompkins) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Hank Williams, Jr. – “Thirsty”
(Dallas Davidson/Rhett Akins/Brett Eldredge) Produced by Michael Knox

Faith Hill – “Give in to Me”
(Billy Falcon/Rose Falcon/Elisha Hoffman) Produced by Jay Joyce

Trace Adkins – “Timing Is Everything”
(Natalie Hemby/Troy Jones) Produced by Kenny Beard

Leighton Meester – “Words I Couldn’t Say”
(Gregory Becker/Tammi Kidd/Steve Robson) Produced by Nathan Chapman

Gwyneth Paltrow – “Coming Home”
(Bob DiPiero/Tom Douglas/Hillary Lindsey/Troy Verges) Produced by Byron Gallimore

Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow – “Me and Tennessee”
(Chris Martin) Produced by Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw, and A. Martin

Album produced by Randall Poster and Shana Feste, and executive produced by Tim McGraw.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (9/29/10)

/by

As we head into the fall, the stars are beginning to come out.

This week, we have new music by honcho Toby Keith, as well as from Billy Currington and Lee Brice, both of whom are coming off career highs. It appears that Capitol/EMI rules the roost, label-wise, since it is presenting fine new tunes from both Troy Olsen and newcomer Walker Hayes.

Guess who has a lock on the DisCovery Award? That’s right, polish one for the man with the most personable single of the day, Walker Hayes. You’re going to love the pants offa “Pants.”

There are a five ballads in this stack of platters. One of them was so lovely it earned its singer a Disc of the Day. That would be Billy Currington.

JASON STURGEON/Rollin’ On
Writer: Jason Sturgeon/Dane Clark; Producer: Dane Clark & Jason Sturgeon; Publisher: none listed; Toolpusher (track)
—The mid-tempo song is wistful and easy-going. He sings quite well, ranging from a conversational baritone in the verses to a strong upper register in the choruses.

FRED EAGLESMITH/Careless
Writer: Fred Eaglesmith; Producer: Fred Eaglesmith; Publisher: Sweetwater/Bluewater, SOCAN/SESAC; Lonesome Day (Canada) (track)
—I have long admired this singer-songwriter. His ragged vocal rasp is loaded with personality. On this lead-off track and single from his current Cha Cha Cha CD, the instrumental bed has a faintly Latin groove. As usual, the song craftsmanship is top notch. I could have done without the chirping backup chicks, however.

TOBY KEITH/Bullets in the Gun
Writer: Toby Keith/Rivers Rutherford; Producer: Toby Keith; Publisher: Tokeco Tunes/Universal/Memphianna, BMI/ASCAP; Show Dog Universal
—Toby winds up in the wrong bar, with the wrong woman. With the track roaring around him, he spins a tale of robbery, murder and escape into Mexico with a finale filled with firing federales. Exciting.

STEVE RICHARD/Eighty Acre Church
Writer: none listed; Producer: Phil O’Donnell; Publisher: none listed; Force MP (track) (www.steverichardmusic.com)
—The material is strong, but he doesn’t have the vocal firepower to dominate the production.

BILLY CURRINGTON/Let Me Down Easy
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Mercury Nashville
—Dreamy and languidly romantic. The steel and organ passages are particularly pretty, as is the mid-song guitar solo.

KEVIN WELCH/A Patch of Blue Sky
Writer: Kevin Welch/Claudia Scott; Producer: Keley Warren; Publisher: MonkeyHead/Lovely Monster, SESAC; Music Road (track) (www.kevinwelch.com)
—The title tune to Kevin’s current collection is a stately ballad where he yearns for better times. As usual, he delivers it with plenty of soul. This longtime Nashvillian split for Austin several years ago, but he obviously took all of his record-making talents with him.

LEE BRICE/Beautiful Every Time
Writer: Lee Brice/Rob Hatch/Lance Miller; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Mike Curb/Sweet Hysteria/Magic Mustang/Songs of StyleSonic/Melvin’s Pistol/Melvin’s Bullets, BMI/SESAC; Curb (CDX)
—This beefy power ballad boasts an absolutely killer chorus. Brice’s big, bruising voice wrings every drop of emotion out of it. Nice work.

TROY OLSEN/Good Hands
Writer: Troy  Olsen/Marv Green; Producer: Troy Olsen; Publisher: Hillbilly Poetry/Riio Nuevo/Warner-Tamerlane/Made For This Music/The Good The Bad The Ugly, BMI; EMI (CDX)
—I have liked everything this guy has released so far. This rolling number has crystal-clear sound and a vocal that’s perfectly set in the mix. I totally dig the enthusiastic shouts, too. The lyric is a dandy, mixing in references to Willie’s guitar, Geronimo’s rifle and Billy Graham’s Bible. Essential listening.

WALKER HAYES /Pants
Writer: Walker Hayes; Producer: Marshall Altman; Publisher: Breaking New Ground/On a Walk/Sony-ATV, BMI; Capitol Nashville (CDX)
—Cool, groovy, crunchy and packed with pluck. The gist of this bopper is that, “She can wear the pants as long as I can take ‘em off her.” He’s full of little vocal tricks like woo-hoos, spoken asides and falsetto swoops. Completely charming.

DANIEL SMITH/Until I Close My Eyes for Good
Writer: Daniel Smith; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Daniel Smith, no performance rights listed; DLS  (615-385-4943)
—This lushly orchestrated love ballad wallows shamelessly in cliches, but manages to be engaging in an over-the-top kind of way.