Nashville Rising Concert Sold Out

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Tomorrow night’s (6/22) Nashville Rising benefit for flood relief is sold out, but a few VIP ticket packages are still available. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill spearheaded the concert event at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, recruiting a superstar line-up including Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Michael W Smith, Amy Grant, Montgomery Gentry, Luke Bryan, LeAnn Rimes, Martina McBride, ZZ Top, Julie Roberts, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus, Brooks & Dunn, and Toby Keith. Special guests will include Governor Phil Bredesen, Mayor Karl Dean, and entertainment journalist Nancy O’Dell.

The Diamond VIP Package ($1000) includes a premium reserved seat in the first 13 rows of the floor, entrance to post show artist reception at The Palm, signed memorabilia, a Hatch Show print, and a VIP commemorative laminate.

Nashville Rising will benefit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The event is being presented by AEG Live/The Messina Group, Live Nation and Outback Concerts.

VIP packages and details at www.nashvillerising.org.

WDHR’s Randy Jones Passes Away

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Pictured (L-R): Randy Jones, promoter Regina Raleigh, promoter Christina Bear, and KMGO's Russ Ocker

MusicRow is saddened to report that Randy Jones, PD of East Kentucky Broadcasting’s WDHR/Pikeville, KY passed away at his home yesterday (6/20). He was 59 years old. A beloved local radio fixture, Jones was the longtime announcer for Pikeville High School basketball and football games and the voice of WDHR radio. He was born in Pike County, Kentucky, and graduated from Pikeville High School and the Emory Riddle Pilot School. Along with his parents, Jones was preceded in death by one son, Randall Corey Jones, and one brother, John Paul Jones. He is survived by his wife Paulette, son Austin and brother David.

Visitation will be held at 6 pm at the J.W. Call Funeral Home Chapel in Pikeville on Tuesday (6/22), with Masonic services at 7 pm. Funeral services will take place at 1 pm on Wednesday (6/23) at the J.W. Call Funeral Home Chapel and burial will follow at the Annie E. Young Cemetery in Shelbiana, Kentucky. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made in Randy’s memory to Hillbilly Christmas in July, PO Box 4333, Pikeville, Ky. 41502 or the Randy and Corey Jones Scholarship Fund, c/o Pikeville High School, 148 2nd St., Pikeville, KY 41501.

Jaron Debut Out Tomorrow

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Jaron joined Chuck Wicks for a performance for Wounded Warriors at CMT recently. Pictured above following the event (l-r): Rick Autry, Director of Special Projects, CAMMO (The Center for American Military Music Opportunities) who organized the event; Lucia Folk, Sr. Director/Public Affairs-CMT; Jay Frank, SVP/Music Strategy-CMT; John Zarling, Sr. Director/New Media & National Promotion Strategy-Big Machine; Chuck Wicks; Jaron; Stephen Linn, Sr. Director/Music Programming & Promotion-CMT; and Laura McKinley, Associate Director/Marketing & Artist Development-RCA.

The debut album from Jaron And The Long Road To Love will be released tomorrow (6/22) on Jaronwood/Universal Republic Records in association with Big Machine Records. The first single from Getting Dressed in the Dark is “Pray For You,” currently at No. 7 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout chart. The “Pray for You” video features Jaime Pressly of My Name Is Earl fame and is getting strong airplay of CMT and GAC.

Among the promotions surrounding the album is an iTunes pre-sale, going on now. Single digital sales have passed 400k and are growing.

Jaron first found fame with his twin brother as the pop duo Evan and Jaron and their hit “Crazy For This Girl.”

Paradigm agent Brian Hill put his son Jack to "work" shredding photos of client Jaron....Hill and Jaron share a running series of practical jokes.

Music City Roots Salutes IBMA

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Music City Roots, the weekly show at the Loveless Barn, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the IBMA with a special installment Wednesday night (6/23). This jam-packed night features nine bands spanning the history of bluegrass, from the mountain-influenced early days to the young standouts of tomorrow. On the line-up are Jesse McReynolds, The Whites, Rodney Dillard & The Dillard Band, Dale Ann Bradley, The G2 Bluegrass Band, The Farewell Drifters, Sierra Hull, The Rockin’ Acoustic Circus, and Alison Brown & Fair Weather Friends. The show starts at 7 PM and is hosted by Jim Lauderdale.

A special $25 ticket includes a reception, food and an early evening hang with IBMA members and artists. Regular tickets are $10 or $5 with college ID. Ticket info and live streaming at www.musiccityroots.com.

In more MCR news, the show has started using NewTek TriCaster for live streaming. Last Wednesday was the first time fans could watch the weekly concert online. The radio show is broadcast on legendary WSM/650 AM.

Jason Blume Songwriters’ Workshop

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BMI Nashville will once again host the Jason Blume Songwriters’ Workshop Series. The 2010/2011 season kicks off July 20 with hit songwriter and best-selling author Blume offering creative tips and business counsel.

Each session will conclude with either a one-song pitch to an established music publisher or a thorough critique from Blume. Individuals who wish to participate in the pitch or critique option are encouraged to bring a recording or lyric sheet, or to be prepared to perform the song live. The series is open to all songwriters. Register online at BMI.com/events.

2010/2011 Schedule:
July 20 – Hit Lyric Analysis
August 24 – The Secrets of Successful Demos
September 21 – How to Publish or Self Publish Your Songs
October 26 – Writing Memorable Melodies
January 11 – Song Rodeo (In-Depth Critiques)
February 8 – How to Publish or Self Publish Your Songs
March 8 – Writing Hit Lyrics
April 5 – The Secrets of Successful Demos
May 10 – Creating Melodies Listeners Can’t Forget
June 21 – Song Rodeo (In-Depth Critiques)

Pat Finch Representing Big Borassa Music

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(L-R): Brett Jones and Pat Finch

Hit songwriter Brett Jones has recruited publishing veteran Pat Finch to represent his catalog and publishing company, Big Borassa. Finch was most recently Senior Vice President/General Manager of S1 Songs in Nashville, where the company’s latest achievements included No. 1’s by Easton Corbin (“Little More Country Than That”), Rascal Flatts (“Unstoppable”), and George Strait (“I Gotta Get To You”).

Big Borassa is home to songwriters Jones, Dallas Davidson, Joanna Smith, and Martin McDaniel. Among Jones’ recent charttoppers are Billy Currington’s “That’s How Country Boys Roll” and Jason Aldean’s “Crazy Town.”

Finch and Jones first worked together on the late ’90s hits “A Little Past Little Rock,” “Better Man, Better Off” and “You Won’t Ever Be Lonely.”

Finch can be reached at patrickfinchmusicpublishing@gmail.com or 615-400-3197.

Brad Paisley Underwater

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A new GAC special premiering tonight (6/21) at 9 PM/CT explores Brad Paisley’s H2O Tour and how his team rallied together to launch the show as scheduled after the Nashville floods ravaged most of his stage and equipment.

Viewers get rare behind-the-scenes access to production meetings and rehearsals that were on track prior to the major flooding that filled his storage facility with four feet of water. Paisley’s stage set drowned and half of his video production rig was under water. Brad Paisley Underwater shows the extent of the damage and how the massive tour was put together again in only three weeks.

The H20 World Tour features six acts on two stages and every component was in place when the outing launched in Virginia Beach on May 21.

Bon Jovi, Vector Management Part Ways

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Bon Jovi and Vector Management have ended their relationship after five years, according to the New York Post. The report says Jack Rovner was handling management duties for the rockers who were signed to the powerhouse roster.

Jon Bon Jovi tells the Post: “The boring truth is we decided to go in different directions and thanked both Jack and his team for a great job. He is and will remain a close friend and someone who I will be very grateful to for his dedication.”

A spokeswoman for Vector Management sent this statement: “Jack and everyone at Vector are very proud of the work they did [with Bon Jovi] together over the last five years, including their first Grammy awards, first No. 1 chart debuts globally, and even a No. 1 on the country charts. Vector continues to represent the nation’s top-selling acts, including Kings of Leon, Kid Rock, Dierks Bentley and many others.”

Veronica Ballestrini

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Veronica Ballestrini is returning to country radio with her latest single “Don’t Say,” which the young artist co-penned with producer Cliff Downs. The net savvy singer recently parlayed her Myspace popularity into an appearance on the Simon Fuller-created internet program If I Can Dream after a video of her performing “Bless The Broken Road” became one a favorite on the show’s social media page. The episode aired June 4 and is available on hulu.com.

A media darling, Ballestrini’s first single “Amazing” climbed up the charts in the fall of 2009. Since her initial introduction, she has made a big impression with music industry executives and peers who have applauded and supported her universally. She was the featured artist in the 2009 Digital Rodeo CMA Fest Contest, has one of the most visited artist pages on CMT.com and has endorsements with InTune Guitar Picks (InTuneGP) and Sennheiser.

With a dream and an Internet connection, the teenager from Waterford, Connecticut has raised eyebrows with her self-made success story. The staggering numbers on her social network sites are proof that Veronica has that special ability to connect with people.

“It’s important that people know that I’m not trying to be anyone else,” adds Veronica. “I’m just trying to be who I am. I’m writing from the heart about issues and things I’m experiencing, and hopefully people can identify with that.”

http://www.veronicaballestrini.net/
http://www.myspace.com/veronicaballestrini
http://twitter.com/veronicabal

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Friday Photos: Young, Niemann, Gokey and More

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RCA Nashville artist Chris Young brought his back-to-back No. 1 hits to the Riverfront Park Stage for a performance on Friday afternoon (6/11) of the CMA Music Festival.

(l-r) William Morris Endeavor Entertainment’s Rick Shipp; Young; and Young’s manager, John Lytle

Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville’s Jerrod Niemann was in Florida recently to play for a packed house of Cat Country 107.1/WCKT listeners at the Hot Spot. While in town, the singer caught up with WCKT MD Super Dave Logan. Niemann is currently climbing the Top 10 with his smash, “Lover, Lover,” from his July 13 album release, Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury.

(l-r) Jerrod Niemann, Super Dave Logan

19/RCA Nashville Records artist Danny Gokey made his debut appearance at the CMA Music Festival this year, including a main stage LP Field performance on Thursday night. Here, Gokey is pictured with managers Rendy Lovelady and Tracy McGlocklin, along with Sony Music Nashville Marketing VP Tom Baldrica and Promo VP Skip Bishop.

(l-r) Tom Baldrica, Rendy Lovelady, Danny Gokey, Skip Bishop and Tracy McGlocklin

Reprise Records artists the JaneDear girls recently visited with Mike Hammond of WIVK in Knoxville.

(l-r) Danelle Leverett (tJDg), Mike Hammond (WIVK), Susie Brown (tJDg), Bob Reeves (VP Promotion Warner Music Nashville)