Friday Photos: On The Road, At The Beach

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Troy Olsen Visits CMT
EMI Records Nashville flagship artist Troy Olsen recently stopped by the downtown Nashville offices of CMT to meet the staff and perform a few songs including his current single “Summer Thing.”

(l to r) Jay Frank, SVP, Music Strategy/CMT; Troy Olsen; Stephen Linn, Sr. Director, Music Programming and Promotion/CMT; Chet Flippo, CMT Editorial Director.

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Mark Chesnutt’s Country Vibe
Saguaro Road Records artist Mark Chesnutt recently stopped by The Stage on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville for a chat with Chuck and Becca for this week’s The Country Vibe. Chesnutt talked about recording his fourteenth studio album, which includes covers of outlaw classics such as Hank Williams, Jr.’s “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.” The Texas native also performed his current single, “Lovin’ Her Was Easier.”

Mark Chesnutt (right) with The Country Vibe co-host Chuck Long

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Bucky Goes For The Gold
Bucky Covington was recently in Ottawa, Ontario Canada where he played the 2010 Capital Hoedown and met Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Weatherston backstage at the show.

(l-r): Bucky Covington and Katie Weatherston (Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist, Hockey)

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Easton Corbin In West Palm
Mercury Records artist Easton Corbin recently enjoyed some hang time in West Palm Beach with WIRK’s Sammy Cruise and mid day host Keith Van Allen.

(l-r) Sammy Cruise, Easton Corbin and Keith Van Allen

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BMI Takes Sandestin
The inaugural Sandestin Music Festival took place August 13 and 14 in the Florida  beach community. Sponsored by BMI, the multi-genre event lineup featured legends Steve Cropper and Delbert McClinton; guitarist, singer and songwriter Lee Roy Parnell; country songwriters Jeffrey Steele, Danny Myrick, Marty Dodson and James Slater; multi-media star Lari White; and up-and-comer Kree Harrison at the 2,400-acre Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

(l-r): BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations Jody Williams; Delbert McClinton; Danny Myrick; Marty Dodson; Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Events Director Shawna Meisner; Steve Cropper; James Slater; and Lee Roy Parnell. Photo by Steve Lowry

Miranda Lambert Readies Live DVD

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Reigning ACM Top Female Vocalist Miranda Lambert will release her first performance DVD, Revolution: Live By Candlelight on October 12. The six-song DVD features rare, acoustic performances of five songs from her 2010 ACM Album of the Year, Revolution, including her back-to-back No. 1 singles, “White Liar,” and “The House That Built Me.” As an added bonus, the DVD also features one of her favorite songs, “Love Is Looking For You,” from her Kerosene album.

Revolution: Live By Candlelight also includes exclusive, never-before-seen footage of the stories behind the songs. The DVD was filmed in an intimate setting – a dimly lit stage surrounded with candles – which actually set off the fire alarm while recording. 

Lambert is set to announce this year’s CMA Award final nominees in five categories with Dierks Bentley on Wednesday, Sept. 1 live from ABC’s Good Morning America studios in New York. The announcement will air in the 7:30 AM/CT half-hour segment of the morning news program. That same morning, Lambert will also be appearing as a guest on NBC’s Today Show in the 9:00 AM/CT hour.

She is also among the performers featured in that evening’s three-hour special CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, on ABC (airs Wednesday, Sept. 1 7:00-10:00 PM/CT).  She performs her current single, “Only Prettier.”

Fans can pre-order  Revolution: Live By Candlelight here.

Royalty Rights Revenue Stream Maze

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Earlier this week Digital Music News highlighted these two royalty payment flow charts. The first, titled Working In Music is drawn from a British perspective and created by Wiggin LLP. The second is from a U.S. perspective offered by royalty admin specialist MusicReports. To see the large size versions click here and click here.

Gary Allan Joins Houser, Niemann On “Pain” Tour

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MCA Records artist Gary Allan has announced the second leg of his fall tour. The first leg of the Get Off On The Pain Tour sold out shows from Club Nokia Live in Los Angeles to the Superpages.com Center in Dallas to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. With a hugely successful run under his belt, Allan is taking a leap to larger venues this fall, playing several theaters, arenas and sheds. Jerrod Niemann and Randy Houser will be joining Allan on the tour, which kicks off in Salt Lake City on September 16th and runs through the end of the year.

“We had a blast earlier this year on the road and we’re fired up about headlining larger stages,” said Allan. “I’ve always wanted to take my time to build things slow…and the timing just feels right to make that leap now. We’ve got Live Nation on board and a string of sold out shows behind us…we’re in a pretty good spot.”

A limited number of presale tickets to each show will be available to Gary Allan Fan Club members through GaryAllan.com.

Allan’s new album, Get Off On The Pain, was met with critical acclaim in USA Today, People, Billboard, Associated Press, American Songwriter and Playboy.  His latest single, “Get Off On Pain,” is currently climbing the charts while his concert special Gary Allan: Live From The House Of Blues is airing this summer on GAC. Allan has released four No. 1 hits and more than ten Top 10 hits at country radio. He’s released back-to-back Platinum records and sold over six million albums to date.

The New York Times calls Houser a “crowd pleaser” and the Los Angeles Times wrote that Houser adds “grit to the genre” with his debut Anything Goes, an album that produced two hit singles—the Top 5 smash “Boots On” and Top 20 title track. The Mississippi-born singer/songwriter has performed over 200 shows in the last year and earned multiple CMA, ACM, and CMT nominations. Houser will celebrate the release of his sophomore album, They  Call Me Cadillac, on Show Dog-Universal Music on September 21. The album includes the forthcoming single, “A Man Like Me.”

Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville records artist Niemann recently earned his first RIAA-certified Gold Digital Single for his recent #1 smash, “Lover, Lover.” Hailed as “a gentleman outlaw” by The New York Times, Niemann has garnered great reviews for his co-produced major label debut album, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury, which entered Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart at No. 1 in July and has remained among the chart’s Top 5 bestsellers since its release.

Get Off On The Pain Tour dates:

Date      City                                                         Venue
9/16       Salt Lake City, UT                                 The E Center of the West Valley
9/17       Broomfield, CO                                     1st Bank Center
9/18       Colorado Springs, CO                           Colorado Springs World Arena
9/19       Mescalero, NM                                     Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino (Jerrod Niemann only support act)
9/24       Springfield, IL                                      Prairie Capital Convention Center
9/25       Columbus, OH                                      Columbus Crew Stadium
9/26       Morehead, KY                                      Morehead State University
10/7       Toledo, OH                                           Huntington Center
10/8       Erie, PA                                                Tullio Arena
10/9       Detroit, MI                                            The Fillmore
10/21     Corpus Christi, TX                               Concrete Street Amphitheatre
10/23     Dallas, TX                                            Superpages.com Center
10/24     Houston TX                                          Sam Houston Raceway
10/28     Lincoln, NE                                          Pershing Center
10/29     Popular Bluff, MO                                   Black River Coliseum
11/13     Red Wing, MN                                        Treasure Island Resort & Casino (Gary Allan only no support act)
11/18     Atlanta, GA                                          Fox Theater
11/19     Charlotte, NC                                       The Fillmore
11/20     Myrtle Beach, SC                                 House Of Blues

SAE Scholarship Honors Flood Victim

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SAE Institute Nashville and the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus announced today that Nebraska native Alexander Eiberhardt is the winner of their inaugural scholarship to honor the memory of former SAE Institute student, Dan Brown. The aspiring musician and engineer student was tragically killed this year in the Nashville floods. In his name, the two organizations are offering Eiberhardt a full scholarship to the Audio Technology Diploma Program.

Chosen amongst hundreds of applicants, Eiberhardt was selected based on both need and merit by a panel consisting of Chuck Moore, Campus Director SAE Nashville, Chris Davie, VP Operations SAE, Anthony Frantzis VP Marketing SAE and Marco Bettelli, President SAE and Brian Rothschild, Director of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.

The award ceremony with be held at 2:00 PM on August 31 at the SAE Nashville Institute located at 7 Music Center North. On hand will be Brown’s parents and local industry and business members to watch Alexander receive the honor.

“I’m so honored to be chosen as the recipient of the Dan Brown Memorial Scholarship,” says Eiberhardt. “Growing up in a small town, I always hoped to further channel my musical ability into a potential career and I am thrilled that with this opportunity I will be able to join SAE and do just that.”

“We are excited to present this inaugural scholarship to Alexander as he fits the mold of a student who is dedicated to learning and pursing higher education within the music industry,” says SAE’s Moore. “This is an ideal candidate to honor Dan’s name via this scholarship and we look forward to developing this into an annual endeavor.”

The Dan Brown Memorial Scholarship was open to all high school graduates with plans to attend SAE Institute Nashville’s Audio Technology Program.  The scholarship eligibility requirements are both need and merit based. Eiberhardt was chosen to receive an award that covers all tuition costs associated with the program. The scholarship covers coursework applied towards an accredited audio technology diploma.

For more information about the Dan Brown Memorial Scholarship call 615.244.5848.

Jimmy Wayne Fights Hunger With Bryan Foods

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Valory Music Company artist Jimmy Wayne and Bryan Foods have partnered once again to get more than 2500 pounds of food to the hungry, this time coming to the aid of those in the Gulf Coast region affected by the oil spill. The food was recently delivered to the Community Center of St Bernard in Arabi, LA for its Mustard Seed Distribution Program.

“I’ve been really fortunate to be able to team up twice now with Bryan Foods to get food delivered to people in cities hard hit by disasters,” Wayne said.

Earlier this summer, Wayne and Bryan got 2500 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville, Tennessee to help those in need following the devastating floods in May.

Wayne recently completed a 1700-mile walk halfway across America for his Meet Me Halfway project. The walk and organization were designed to bring attention to homeless teens, particularly those in the foster care system that age out at 18, and without any support, often find themselves homeless. For more information on Wayne and his Meet Me Halfway initiative, visit jimmywayne.com and projectmmh.org.

Weekly Chart Report (8/20/10)

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SPIN ZONE
Congratulations to Capitol Records and its promoters on earning a second consecutive week as the CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 song with Lady Antebellum’s “Our Kind Of Love.” Lady A currently has a comfortable margin of victory, but Billy Currington’s “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer,” Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys Of Fall,” and Darius Rucker’s “Come Back Song” are healthy and packing on the spins as well. UMG Nashville has two more entries moving up through the top 10—Josh Turner’s “All Over Me” at No. 5, and Easton Corbin’s “Roll With It” at No. 7.

The story of the chart of late is that of new singles from big artists rapidly making their way to the top. At four weeks or less, the top 30 includes Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue” at No. 18, Rascal Flatts’s “Why Wait” at No. 20, Taylor Swift’s “Mine” at No. 21, Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me” at No. 26, and Luke Bryan’s “Someone Else Calling You Baby” at No. 29.

Soon to be joining them and competing for top-of-the-chart space is Zac Brown Band’s “As She’s Walking Away.” With a little vocal assistance from Alan Jackson, the Georgia group’s latest picks up over 600 new spins and the biggest debut of the week at No. 39. Also making big debuts are Dierks Bentley’s “Draw Me A Map” at No. 49 and Burns & Poe’s “How Long Is Long Enough” at No. 58.

Rascal Flatts' Nothing Like This Tour rolled through Columbus last weekend for a performance at Crew Stadium. Backstage before the show the band presented WCOL/Columbus with plaques recognizing ten years of support. (L-R): WCOL PD John Crenshaw, Gary LeVox, WCOL MD Dan E. Zuko, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus.



Upcoming Singles
August 23
Trailer Choir/Shakin’ That Tailgate/Show Dog – Universal
Dierks Bentley/Draw Me A Map/Capitol
Blaine Larsen/Leavin’/Treehouse/Stroudavarious
Burns & Poe/How Long Is Long Enough/Blue Steel
Jamey Johnson/Playing The Part/Mercury
Jesse Lee/Like My Mother Does/Atlantic/WMN

August 30
Gwyneth Paltrow/Country Strong/RCA
Adam Brand/Ready For Love/Arista
Crossin Dixon/Lovin’ In The Country/Stoney Creek
Joanna Smith/Gettin’ Married/Columbia
Jason Sturgeon/Rollin’ On/Toolpusher/Nine North
Due West/The Bible and The Belt/Black River
Frank Ortega/My Old Man/Villa One/Quarterback

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New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson/As She’s Walking Away/Atlantic/Bigger Picture — 39
Dierks Bentley/Draw Me A Map/Capitol — 49
Burns & Poe/How Long Is Long Enough/Blue Steel — 58
Trailer Choir/Shakin’ That Tailgate/Show Dog – Universal — 71
Clay Walker/Where Do I Go From You/Curb — 74
Josh Gracin/Cover Girl/Average Joes — 76
D.J. Miller/A Little Naughty is Nice/Evergreen — 77
Mark Cooke/Can’t Cheat In A Small Town — 78

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson/ As She’s Walking Away/Atlantic/Bigger Picture — 666
Taylor Swift/Mine/Big Machine — 641
Rascal Flatts/Why Wait/Big Machine — 516
Brad Paisley/Anything Like Me/Arista — 514
Dierks Bentley/Draw Me A Map/Capitol — 429

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Randy Rogers Band/Too Late For Goodbye/MCA — 256
James Wesley/Real/Broken Bow — 247
Melanie Denard/All I Ever Did Was Love You/StarPath — 240
Richie Fields/Wichita/Joint Journey — 231
Vickie Raye/Face/PCL — 177

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson/As She’s Walking Away/Atlantic/Bigger Picture — 43
Dierks Bentley/Draw Me A Map/Capitol — 35
Burns & Poe/How Long Is Long Enough/Blue Steel Records — 27
Jason Aldean/My Kinda Party/Broken Bow — 27
Taylor Swift/Mine/Big Machine – 19
Brad Paisley/Anything Like Me/Arista — 15
Luke Bryan/Someone Else Calling You Baby/Capitol — 14

Warner Bros/Reprise artist Blake Shelton took time with KCYE staffers before his recent concert in Las Vegas. (L-R): Tyler Brady, Josh Greene, Shelton, Paul Knight and PD Justin Chase.

Columbia Nashville newcomer Joanna Smith recently visited with her friends at WQYK/Tampa while watching Justin Moore and labelmate Josh Thompson perform on the Brad Paisley H20 World Tour. Joanna's debut single, "Gettin' Married," hit country radio earlier this month, and officially goes for adds on 8/30. (L-R): Thompson, Moore, Smith, WQYK MD Jay Roberts and WQYK PD Mike Culotta.

AOL’s The Boot Premieres Bo Bice Video

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Bo Bice’s video for his current single, “You Take Yourself With You,” premieres worldwide on AOL Music/The Boot this week. The video was directed by Marcel Chagnon (Clay Walker’s “She Won’t Be Lonely Long,” The Grascals’ “Last Train to Clarksville”) and was filmed at several locations earlier this summer.

Shot in rural Nashville, the video includes actual childhood photos of Bice and his family alongside live performance footage, reflecting his poignant lyric of youth, ambitions and the importance of roots no matter where life takes you.

”You Take Yourself With You” is the first single off Bice’s newest CD, 3, which was released earlier this year on Saguaro Road.
Records.

Bice won over a nation of fans during the fourth season of American Idol, where he landed as the runner-up to Carrie Underwood. His first single, “Inside Your Heaven,” reached No. 1 on the pop chart when it was released in 2005 and was certified Gold after it became the second-highest debuting song of the year.  His album, The Real Thing, debuted at No. 4 shortly afterward and was also certified Gold. His 2007 follow-up, See The Light was ranked No. 1 by VH-1, and he later sang lead on Santana’s single “Brown Skinned Girl” (certified Gold). 3 is Bice’s first for album Saguaro Road.

Bice will also appear on ESPN on August 23, performing the National Anthem for the Tennessee Titans vs. Arizona Cardinals football game.

You can check out the video for “You Take Yourself With You” here.

Big Machine Teams With Commerce Site Moontoast

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Big Machine Records and Moontoast have announced that they have reached an agreement for Moontoast to provide their direct-to-fan Embedded Store, a component of Moontoast’s Social Commerce Platform. Fans of Big Machine and The Valory Music Co. artists will utilize the Moontoast Embedded Store to purchase music, videos, and other items directly from the artist-related sites and on social networking sites.

“We look forward to a long and successful partnership with Moontoast,” said Big Machine’s  Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Interactive, Kelly Rich. “Their passion and innovative Social Commerce Platform were the main reasons for choosing them.”

The Embedded Store launched Thursday, August 19 on SpeakNow13.com with Big Machine’s pre-sale of Taylor Swift’s third album Speak Now that will be available beginning on October 25. In the coming months, fans of Steel Magnolia, Reba and Rascal Flatts will also be able to use the Embedded Store with slated album releases.

“Moontoast is extremely proud of our partnership with Big Machine Records,” said Moontoast co-founder and CTO, Marcus Whitney. “We have created a Social Commerce Platform that helps brands engage their customers and we look forward to delivering a greatly enhanced experience to the fans. After nearly a year in development, our platform is ready and has proven to be the right direct-to-fan distribution vehicle for the ground-breaking record label, Big Machine Records.”

News Bits: CMA Tix, Trailer Choir, LBT & More

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CMA Awards Ticket Time
The CMA has announced that qualifying CMA members may now purchase CMA Awards tickets through http://My.CMAworld.com. CMA Members must place their orders no later than Friday, Sept. 10. As a reminder, the 2009 CMA Awards sold out in advance.  
The 44th Annual CMA Awards will be broadcast live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00 – 11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on ABC. Please send questions regarding tickets to tickets@CMAworld.com or by calling 615-244-2840.

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Trailer Choir’s Tales of “Tailgate”
The man known as Butter, frontman for Show Dog-Universal’s Trailer Choir, reports that the band’s current single, “Shakin’ That Tailgate,” was actually “born” at a concert. The song came about as a result of the singer’s backstage encounter with artist/writer Brady Seals.

“We had just arrived backstage for our performance at KBWF’s 2009 Beach Ball Free For All,” Butter recalls. “We exchanged contact info and they whisked him off into the limo like Paul McCartney. The very next morning he emailed me 10 songs to check out. I dug every song but didn’t feel like we could pull any of them off. Yet I kept coming back to this song called ‘Bonnie’ because of one of the phrases I kept saying over and over in my head—’shakin’ that tailgate.’ I proposed my idea to make ‘shakin’ that tailgate’ a song. He said ‘I’m in,’ and two days later we gave birth to a 6 pound 3 ounce little baby song called ‘Shakin’ That Tailgate’.”

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Lee Brice Down on the “Farm” For CMT
Saturday night (8/21) will be a special one for Curb recording artist Lee Brice because he is headlining The Music Farm, the Charleston, SC venue he has performed at for several years. This concert marks the first time Brice has been back since his single “Love Like Crazy” took off like crazy. Additionally, the concert will be streamed live on CMT.com beginning at 9:00 pm ET.

“This is really a cool thing for me,” Brice says. “We love the Music Farm and always have a great time there. Now I get to come back with a Top 5 hit on the charts right now, and our fans from across the country get to see us at a place that feels like home, thanks to CMT. It just doesn’t get any better than this.” The concert will be streamed live over CMT.com, as well as Brice’s own website (www.leebrice.com).

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GAC Showcases Little Big Town
Bonds of friendship and a shared love of music have kept Capitol Nashville’s Little Big Town together for more than a dozen years. The group shares the highs and lows of their career on Origins: Little Big Town, premiering this Saturday (8/21) at 9:00 PM CT on Great American Country (GAC). 

LBT members Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet and co-producer and co-writer Wayne Kirkpatrick talk about the making of their soon-to-be-released album, The Reason Why, as well as how life on the road has changed with the addition of three children.

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Miranda Lambert’s Live Invitation
Columbia Records artist Miranda Lambert kicks off all new episodes of Invitation Only when Invitation Only: Miranda Lambert premieres Monday, August 23 at 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM CT.  Lambert continues her banner year by performing her most popular hits and recent number one singles including “White Liar” and the four week No. 1 single, “The House That Built Me,” and more in this one-hour concert special. Taped before a small studio audience in Nashville, the Invitation Only series features artists performing their biggest hits and new favorites, as well as answering questions from fans during an informal question and answer session.

(l-r) Margaret Comeaux, Sr. Director Music & Event Production, CMT; Miranda Lambert; John Hamlin, SVP Music Events & Talent, CMT