Keith Urban and his superstar friends will perform at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 5 in the second annual installment of his “We’re All for the Hall” benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. On the line-up for the evening are Urban, Country Music Hall of Fame members Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and Charley Pride, as well as John Mayer, Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Alison Krauss and Billy Currington.

“This year we’ve created a musical theme called ‘Heroes,'” said Urban. 
“I’ve asked each artist to play one of their favorite songs from one of their country heroes, besides of course, one of their own hits. There’s no doubt that this audience is going to experience a really special night – some of their favorite artists doing songs that, in some cases, they may have never even played live before…and quite possibly won’t ever again.”

“Last year’s We’re All for the Hall concert was a landmark for this institution,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “It was the most successful fundraiser in the Museum’s history, netting nearly $500,000.”

Reserved seat tickets, which are priced at a family friendly $25 and $35 (does not include Ticketmaster surcharge), will go on sale Friday, September 17, at 10:00 a.m. at ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations and the Bridgestone Arena Box Office. Tickets may also be charged by phone at (800) 745-3000.

VIP Packages
VIP packages will go on sale Friday, September 17, at www.countrymusichalloffame.org. They include:

“Once in a Lifetime” Package/$3,000 per ticket
This package includes:
·         Invitation for one to an intimate dinner in the Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda the evening of Monday, October 4, hosted by some of Keith Urban’s close friends and collaborators
·         Meet & greet for one with Keith Urban before the concert on October 5 (timing TBD), which includes an individual photo
·         One Keith Urban autographed guitar
·         One Premium Floor Concert Seat
·         One invitation to a Post-Concert Party at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
·         One complete Keith Urban catalog per package on CD including: Keith Urban; Golden Road; Be Here; Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing; Greatest Hits: 19 Kids and Defying Gravity
·         One commemorative Hatch Show Print® event poster autographed by Keith Urban
·         One complimentary parking space for both the October 4 dinner and the October 5 concert within a one-block vicinity of the dinner, concert and post-party venues
·         One “Friends” membership to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which includes unlimited free admission for the entire household to the Museum and most public programs for one year (valued at $250)

“Making Memories” Package/$2,500 per ticket
This package includes:
·         Invitation for one to an intimate dinner in the Country Music Hall of Fame Rotunda the evening of Monday, October 4, hosted by some of Keith Urban’s close friends and collaborators
·         Meet & greet for one with Keith Urban before the concert on October 5 (timing TBD), which includes a group photo
·         One Premium Floor Concert Seat
·         One invitation to a Post-Concert Party at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
·         One complete Keith Urban catalog per package on CD including: Keith Urban; Golden Road; Be Here; Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing; Greatest Hits: 19 Kids and Defying Gravity
·         One commemorative Hatch Show Print event poster autographed by Keith Urban
·         One complimentary parking space for both the October 4 dinner and the October 5 concert within a one-block vicinity of the dinner, concert and post-party venues
·         One “Friends” membership to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which includes unlimited free admission for the entire household to the Museum and most public programs for one year (valued at $250)

“I’m In” Package/$1,500 per ticket
This package includes:
·         One Premium Floor Concert Seat
·         One invitation to a Post-Concert Party at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
·         One complete Keith Urban catalog per package on CD including: Keith Urban; Golden Road; Be Here; Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing; Greatest Hits: 19 Kids and Defying Gravity
·         One commemorative Hatch Show Print event poster autographed by Keith Urban
·         One complimentary parking spot for the October 5 concert and post-party within one-block vicinity of the venues
·         One “Friends” membership to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which includes unlimited free admission for the entire household to the Museum and most public programs for one year (valued at $250)

A portion of each VIP package is tax deductible to support the preservation of country music.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation Chairman Roger Murrah (l) and CMA board member Bob DiPiero (r) present Paul McCartney with the honor.

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has given an Honorary Induction to Sir Paul McCartney, noting his indelible influence on Music City’s creative community.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame chairman Roger Murrah and CMA board member/hit songwriter Bob DiPiero presented McCartney with a plaque prior to his performance at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on July 26. “Paul was warm, gracious and visibly moved by the honor,” said Murrah.

Painted and etched into glass, the plaque reads, “In celebration of the art of songwriting and the creative spirit shared by you and our members to which you have so richly contributed, we the board of directors do hereby present to you Sir Paul McCartney an Honorary Induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, July 26th, 2010.”

“Creative exchanges constantly occur between music genres from around the world,” explained Murrah. “In this way, Nashville songwriters have influenced Paul and, with his amazing body of work, Paul has certainly influenced Nashville songwriters.” Click here to see just a few of the Nashville artists who have recorded McCartney’s songs.

“Paul’s songs have always been an inspiration to me,” said Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Kye Fleming. “I still have my original Meet The Beatles LP. It is in my office right now. I bought it when I was 13…coincidence that I started writing songs when I was 14? I don’t think so!”

Fellow inductee Gary Burr noted, “What I learned from Paul McCartney: every time I write a song and get to the bridge I try to make the bridge strong enough and different enough that it could have been another song’s chorus. That’s what Paul always seemed to be able to do. Whether it’s going to a minor chord unexpectedly or changing the rhythm, he always pushed that extra mile in his writing. When you are writing a song in G and go to the E minor for the bridge…you are not trying very hard…and you are NOT channeling Paul McCartney.”

For a more details about McCartney’s induction, read tomorrow’s @MusicRow for paid subscribers.

According to the CMA and Nielsen Media Research, ratings for its three-hour CMA Festival: Country’s Night To Rock grew by 6% this year among Women 18-34 and helped ABC reach Wednesday summer highs in total viewers 18-49.

Unfortunately, the ABC Sept. 1 airing was positioned against high profile shows such as Big Brother 12 (7.7 million viewers) and America’s Got Talent (10.3 million viewers) which adversely affected the CMA audience size overall.

Zap2it.com live numbers showed that NBC led the night with 7.5 million viewers, CBS grabbed 6.6 million and ABC (helped by the CMA) lunged into third place with about 6 million viewers.

The hourly Festival breakdown showed a steady drop in viewers throughout the three hour event starting at 6.3 during the 8 p.m. time slot, sliding to 6.1 for 9 pm and falling off to 5.6 million during the third a final hour.

By comparison, last year’s CMA show fared quite better, winning the night with 7.8 million viewers and scoring its largest audience in four years. However, the 2009 presentation ran against repeats across the board on other channels.

All this data is based upon preliminary data and subject to some change. Source: The Nielsen Company