Warner Music Nashville has added four people to its promotion staff. The four will join Warner West Coast regional rep Rhonda Christensen, who was hired in March. The new team members are part of a new two-team promotion department that will report directly to Warner’s Senior Vice President Promotion Chris Stacey. The new promotion staffers are Nathan Cruise (South East Regional); Carolyn Drosey (Promotion Coordinator); Ray Vaughn (South West Regional); and Lindsay Walleman (Mid West Regional).

Cruise comes to Warner Music from Stroudavarious, where he served as Midwest Regional, Drosey was formerly Promotion Manager for Capitol Records Nashville, and Walleman joins Warner Music from CO5 Music, where she was Mid West Regional. Vaughn was formerly Southwest Regional Promotion Director at Universal Republic Records.

The new structure breaks down along the following lines: Warner Music Group’s Nashville division is called Warner Music Nashville and is headed by President/CEO John Esposito. Warner Music Nashville breaks down into three imprints – Atlantic, Reprise and Warner Bros. Nashville (WBN). Warner Music Nashville and its three imprints will share two promotion teams, which are headed by Senior Vice President Promotion Chris Stacey.

NASHVILLE, TN – April 14, 2010 – Disney Music Group (DMG) announced today that they will close operations at Lyric Street Records, DMG’s label presence in Nashville.

“The Lyric Street team has had an amazing run, building a slate of well-known artists including the superstar act, Rascal Flatts,” said Bob Cavallo, Chairman of Disney Music Group.  “But given the changing nature of the music business and the more streamlined priorities of the Studios, we need to find alternative ways to create and market new artists and their music to consumers. I’m tremendously proud of what the team has accomplished.”

The closure of Lyric Street will be phased, keeping a core promotions team in place to continue to market and promote the label’s current records. Rascal Flatts will be transitioned to another DMG label in order to focus attention on the successful launch of their upcoming fall album.

Since opening in 1997, Lyric Street Records has been the home to multi-platinum artists Rascal Flatts and SHeDAISY. Other artists include Aaron Tippen, Love & Theft, Sarah Buxton and newcomers Tyler Dickerson and Kevin Fowler as well as American Idol alums Josh Gracin and Bucky Covington.

The Disney Music Group encompasses all of the Walt Disney Studios’ recorded music and music publishing operations, including Hollywood Records, Walt Disney Records and Walt Disney Music Publishing.

Friday (4/16) will be the last day for the following Lyric Street staffers:

Kirk Boyer can be reached at 615-417-1285 or boyer.kirk@gmail.com
Randy Goodman
Cindy Heath can be reached at 615-429-2203 or cindyheath07@comcast.net
Ashley Heron can be reached at 615-828-7180 or ashleyheron@mac.com
Doug Howard
Katie McCartney can be reached at 615-995-4614 or kamccartney@yahoo.com
Chris Palmer can be reached at 615-417-7486  or chris.palmer1@comcast.net
Jackie Schwarz can be reached at 615-636-9989 or singjaxb@yahoo.com

Country Music Hall of Fame member Roy Clark will be honored with a musical tribute at the 31st Sunday Mornin’ Country Celebration at TPAC’s James K. Polk Theatre, Sunday, June 13, at 2:30 pm. Tickets for this country/gospel music celebration are $20, and available here.  The concert will reunite many of the original Hee Haw cast members.

For more than three decades, Sunday Mornin’ Country has brought together country artists and their gospel friends to share gospel songs. This year’s line up will include Hall of Famers Clark and Charlie McCoy, along with Gary Morris, Jason Crabb, Lynn Anderson, George Hamilton IV, Buddy Jewell, Guy Penrod, The Fox Brothers, Melanie Walker, Cowboy Joe & The Babcocks, Casey Rivers, The Nashville Edition, Beyond the Ashes, The “Country Chorale” and many more.

Artists who have performed on Sunday Mornin’ Country over the past three decades include Tammy Wynette, Grandpa Jones, Roy Acuff, Chris Young, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael English.

The Concord Music Group today (4/14) announced the acquisition of Massachusetts-based independent music label Rounder Records. Rounder, celebrating its 40th year as the world’s leading American roots music label, is a major force in a broad range of musical genres including bluegrass, Americana, singer-songwriter, Cajun & Zydeco and children’s music. Rounder‘s catalog and current artist roster includes Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Béla Fleck, Steve Martin, Madeleine Peyroux, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson and children’s artist Raffi, to name a few. The acquisition of Rounder and its collection of over 3,000 masters combined with Concord Music Group’s rich catalog of more than 10,000 master recordings strengthens Concord’s status as one of the world’s most significant independent record companies, with a leadership position in multiple genres.

Rounder’s creative and marketing functions will continue to be based in Boston and its owners and founders Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton Levy will remain active with the company in a creative and advisory capacity. The company’s senior management will also remain in place: John Virant will continue as the President of Rounder; Sheri Sands will stay on as General Manager. Operating synergies will be achieved by combining the sales, administrative and support functions of the two companies.

Founded in 1970 by Cambridge folkies Irwin, Nowlin, and Leighton Levy, Rounder has been at the center of nearly all of the American roots revivals that have reshaped the music world in the last 40 years. The self-titled 1975 record by J.D. Crowe and the New South (featuring future stars Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas) revitalized bluegrass and inspired such modern stars as Krauss, who is the most decorated female artist in the history of the Grammy Awards and has sold over eight million albums and DVDs. Her collaboration with former Led Zeppelin front-man Plant on the album Raising Sand was one of 2007’s major critical and sales success stories. The album was RIAA certified platinum in early 2008 and won five Grammy Awards. Rounder has also brought the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers and Mississippi John Hurt back to life. In addition, their work on anthologies from the Library of Congress and the Alan Lomax Collection has been universally respected.

“The combination of Concord and Rounder makes so much sense on a creative, strategic and cultural level,” says Glen Barros, President and CEO of the Concord Music Group. “With the addition of Rounder, Concord is gaining a magnificent catalog of recordings, the opportunity to work with more of the world’s most amazing artists and a company filled with some great people. Plus, Rounder’s uncompromising commitment to authenticity and intense independent spirit is perfectly in line with everything that Concord is about.”

Norman Lear, Concord Music Group Chairman and co-owner added, “We couldn’t be more honored to join together with Rounder in our collective mission to deliver great, timeless music.”

“For us, it’s always been about the music,” says Rounder’s Leighton Levy. “We have long been aware of Concord’s commitment to great catalogue labels within a vibrant and contemporary independent context, and feel the Concord Records Group provides not only a great home for our music and artists, but also a stronger and more secure position going forward.”