Luke Bryan, Gloriana, Joey + Rory Win ACM Awards, Move To Next Round

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The Academy of Country Music and Great American Country (GAC) announced this morning (3/16) that Luke Bryan, Gloriana and Joey + Rory have been named Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Vocal Group and Top New Vocal Duo, respectively. The three winners will move on to compete for the Top New Artist award, which will be given out at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on Sun., April 18. The show will be broadcast live on CBS at 7 PM/CT from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Luke Bryan

All three are first time ACM Award winners. The awards were chosen via online fan voting, and all of these winners went to extra lengths to drive their followers to the polls. Bryan recruited celebrity friends for a campaign video and placed it online. Joey + Rory wrote a song for the occasion and posted it on the web. Gloriana—who has been touring with social media queen Taylor Swift—has long used web initiatives to engage fans.

Each winner will perform and receive their trophy on the Trace Adkins-hosted GAC special “ACM Top New Artists,” premiering Thursday, April 1 at 9:00 PM/CT and airing multiple times before the Academy of Country Music Awards. For the first time ever, the special will be taped during the regularly-scheduled Tuesday Night Opry at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Voting for overall Top New Artist will take place at www.VoteACM.com powered by CBS.com beginning Thursday, April 1 and will end at 7 PM/CT on Sunday, April 18.

More on the winners:

Gloriana

Luke Bryan released his sophomore album, Doin’ My Thing, on Capitol Records Nashville in October 2009, debuting at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The CD includes his #1 gold single “Do I” and new smash hit “Rain Is A Good Thing.” Bryan is currently headlining his own dates as well as opening for Jason Aldean on the “Wide Open Tour” and will be a featured act on Miranda Lambert’s upcoming spring tour.

Joey + Rory

Gloriana’s self-titled album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Country Album Chart and #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 and was the best selling debut by a country group in 2009. It includes hit singles “Wild At Heart,” “How Far Do You Wanna Go?” and their current single “The World Is Ours Tonight.” The group, who won the fan-voted Breakthrough Artist Award at the American Music Awards, is currently on tour with Taylor Swift. Gloriana is a four-member vocal group featuring brothers Tom and Mike Gossin along with Rachel Reinert and Cheyenne Kimball.

Winner of Top New Vocal Duo, Joey + Rory, have a huge year ahead of them. They have already started on a U.S. arena tour and will release their sophomore album simply titled Album #2 in the summer. Husband and wife duo Joey + Rory started performing as a duo for the audition of the CMT series, “Can You Duet,” in early 2008.

Photos: Underwood Starts Tour; Lambert Scores Gold Single

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Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour opened March 11 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA with special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. The Play On Tour, hydrated by vitaminwater® and sponsored by PEDIGREE® Brand, is currently slated to run through June 20 in Saskatoon, SK at the Credit Union Centre.

(L-R): Donna DiBenedetto, AEG; Carrie Underwood; and Zane Collings, SMG Regional General Manager.

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Miranda Lambert’s first No. 1 hit single “White Liar” scored big recently with the announcement of its RIAA Digital Single Gold Certification. Her follow-up single, “The House That Built Me,” impacted country radio last week with support from over 100 stations. Both songs are from her Gold certified studio album, Revolution.

Pictured (l-r): Sony Music Nashville Marketing VP Tom Baldrica, Sony Music Nashville Chairman Joe Galante, Sony Music Nashville EVP A&R Renee Bell, Lambert, Sony Music Nashville SVP Sales & Operations Paul Barnabee, Sony Music Nashville Digital Business VP Heather McBee.

Cauley Music Partners With Cool Vibe

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Trailer Choir's Big Vinny

Cauley Music Group, the company founded by Lane Caudell and Bob Crumley, has entered a joint publishing partnership with Cool Vibe Publishing. The deal covering current and future songwriters has Cauley purchasing a stake in Cool Vibe, and providing administrative services.

As part of the agreement covering current and future songwriters, Cauley adds tunesmiths Vencent Hickerson aka Trailer Choir’s “Big Vinny,” Isaac Rich, and Phoenix Mendoza to its staff. Rich has been writing since childhood and is a co-writer on Tyler Dickerson’s inaugural release, “Tell Your Sister I’m Single,” on Lyric Street Records. Phoenix Mendoza began his professional career with Warner Chappel in 2006 and has experience as a songwriter and performer.

The Crauley roster is made up of Blake Mevis, Danny Wells, Jennifer Hicks, Jamie Tate, Caudell and Crumley. Mevis, writer of“Fool Hearted Memory” and “Brokenheartsville,” oversees day to day operations for Cauley.

John Rich At Marathon Post-Show; Local Cumulus Radiothon

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On Saturday, April 24, 2010, the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon will celebrate its 11th annual running in Music City. John Rich will headline the post-race concert at the Bridgestone Arena that night at 7:00 p.m., joined by special guest Cowboy Troy, and opening acts Heidi Newfield and Jerrod Niemann.

The concert is open to the public and tickets are now on sale for $35 at the Bridgestone Arena box office, and Ticketmaster.

The Country Music Marathon is a weekend celebration complete with a two-day Health & Fitness Expo, YMCA Country Music Kids’ Marathon and post-race concert. Adam Zocks is the event’s General Manager.

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Tomorrow, Tues. March 16, is the Cumulus Nashville Radiothon to benefit the Nashville Rescue Mission. All five of the radio cluster’s stations (SuperTalk 99.7-WTN; 92Q Nashville’s Big Station-WQQK; 95.5 The Wolf-WSM; 97.1 RQQ Nashville’s Rock Station-WRQQ; and i106-All the Hits-WNFN) will go commercial-free from 5 a.m. – 7 p.m. to raise money for the mission.

The stations want listeners to know that $2.26 is the cost of a meal for a homeless man, woman or child. Throughout the day, jocks will make their own “listener requests,” relying upon the generosity of their audiences to make donations by calling 877-294-GIVE or 877-294-4483 or in person at Camper’s Corner RV Superstore (730 Gallatin Pike North in Madison).

Mayne Named Exec. Dir. of CRB

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Bill Mayne

The Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) Board of Directors has named Bill Mayne CRB Executive Director, effective April 1, 2010. Mayne, a radio veteran and owner of Nashville-based Mayne Street Consulting, had been serving as the organization’s interim director in recent months.

Mayne says he is “honored by this opportunity…and the confidence shown in me by the CRB Board of Directors. This organization has a clear vision, a great staff and a dedicated Board to help craft the future course for the Country Radio Seminar and all its associated endeavors. CRS 2010 was a successful first step in the process of serving the best interest of Country radio and the Country music industry in the years to come.”

The CRB’s flagship event, Country Radio Seminar, closed on Feb. 26 with a 3.5 percent year-to-year increase in attendance, totaling 2,181 registrants.

“It became evident, during the difficult transitional period leading up to CRS 2010, that Bill had the leadership, passion and vision to steer the organization in the direction it needs to go,” reports CRB President Mike Culotta. “We are confident that CRB is in good hands going forward.”

Mayne is a Country radio and music industry veteran with senior level experience in radio broadcasting, including programming and operations management at KZLA/KLAC (Los Angeles), KSCS/WBAP (Dallas) and KASE (Austin). His resume also includes work in artist development, management and at record labels, where he was Sr. VP GM and VP Promotion at Warner Bros. Nashville, and VP of Promotion and Artist Development at 903 Music. His Mayne Street Consulting provides guidance in radio, marketing, management and artist development to clients such as CRB, Inc., GAC, IEBA, Nexshow, Dualtone Records, Muscle Shoals Music Group, Fame Records and RGK Entertainment. Mayne also serves as current President of the Academy of Country Music.

CRS 2011 will be held March 2-4, 2011, at the Nashville Convention Center. Visit www.CRB.org for more information.

Dierks To Debut Music On Tour

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Dierks Bentley will debut music from his upcoming bluegrass/roots album at dates across the country this spring. His Up On The Ridge Tour opens in Portland, OR on April 21 and will make more than 24 stops before the end of May. He is set for a hometown show on May 22 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

Bentley’s roadshow includes Texan Hayes Carll in the opening slot, and Bentley’s backing band the Travelin’ McCourys—featuring Ron McCoury (mandolin), Rob McCoury (banjo), Jason Carter (fiddle) and Alan Bartram (bass) as the latest incarnation of bluegrass stars The Del McCoury Band. The outing will visit rock clubs and major bluegrass festivals, such as the just announced April 30 date at MerleFest 2010 in Wilkesboro, NC.

Fans can expect new music and surprising new arrangements of his hits during the run. Contributors to Bentley’s summer release include Del McCoury Band, Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Tim O’Brien and Sam Bush. For the project, Bentley teamed with award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Jon Randall Stewart and recording engineer Gary Paczosa.

Tickets for the Ryman show go on sale April 2, other dates on sale Fri., March 19. Visit www.dierks.com for pre-sale info and for details on the upcoming album.

“Scene” Digs Into McGraw Movie

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Nashville Scene writer D. Patrick Rodgers on the local songwriters and musicians featured in the upcoming Gwyenth Paltrow, Tim McGraw flick, Love Don’t Let Me Down.

A Hollywood feature employs locals to tell a Music City story the right way — for once

It’s a Thursday night at Skyline recording studio, just off Eighth Avenue, a recording and rehearsal space much like any other in Music City. A few 12-packs of Coors Lite sit nearby, casually offered to visitors. A crop of young studio players has gathered to practice some songs. They’re cruising through a pop-country number called “Words I Couldn’t Say,” no sweat. It sounds like it could be a Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood tune — the sort of sugar-sweet, radio-ready gem these guys could track in a pass or two on any given day.

But they aren’t playing it live. They’re playing along to a track. All the pristinely pre-recorded parts are issuing forth from the P.A. speakers: drums, steel, bass, guitars, keys, a crystalline female lead vocal. The boys are just miming along.

Skylar Wilson barks out chord changes in the Nashville number system. This is his family’s studio, and, though he’s playing drums on these numbers, he seems to know every chord. He’s typically more of a keyboard guy, but like most everyone else in the room, he can get by pretty well on just about anything he picks up.

So why are they playing along to tracks? They’ve been cast as the backing band for two of Love Don’t Let Me Down’s lead characters, and they’re making sure they have all the changes just right for when they film a performance scene in the morning. This song, penned by Greg Becker, Tammi Kidd and Steve Robson, is to be performed by Chiles Stanton, a somewhat Taylor Swiftian up-and-coming singer played by Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester.

Keep reading.

Strait Adds Nashville Date; Victoria Shaw And Friends At Limelight

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On April 28 George Strait will bring his full tour to Nashville for the first time since 2004. With guests Reba and Lee Ann Womack, the Strait tour hits the newly renamed Bridgestone Arena, where he set an attendance record during his last visit.

Tickets for the Nashville show go on sale March 20 at 10:00 AM at www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-5300 and at the Bridgestone Arena Box Office.

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Victoria Shaw has lined up some big name songwriter and artist friends for a benefit at Limelight on Sat., March 27. The 8 PM show features star songwriters Desmond Child, Gary Burr, Alex Call, and Chuck Jones, along with Bryan White, Ty Herndon and of course, Shaw.

The show will feature national syndicated radio personality Blair Garner (After MidNite) and CNN Headline News anchor Robin Meade, who will perform.

This is the second year Shaw has organized a fundraiser for the Arts Program at Abintra Montessori School.

Tickets are $15 per person at www.limelightnashville.com or www.abintra.org.

Gloriana’s Milk-Based Promotion

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ACM’s Top New Vocal Group nominee and AMA Award winners Gloriana will be featured on over 50 million milk containers in schools across the U.S. as part of the Milk Rocks! campaign. The Gloriana Milk Rocks! campaign is going on now, and students can enter at www.milkrocks.com for a chance to win a $10,000 prize to use for future educational purposes from writing instrument company Paper Mate, along with three concert tickets and meet and greet passes to an upcoming Gloriana performance.

Gloriana, who are on the road with Taylor Swift and American Idol alum Kellie Pickler on the Fearless 2010 Tour through June, recently released their single “The World Is Ours Tonight,” which charted on the Billboard Digital Singles charts this week.

The milk carton side panels also include access to tips from Paper Mate on how to be green, including information on Paper Mate’s new Biodegradable* pen and mechanical pencil and the brand’s new writing instrument upcycling program. The Milk Rocks! Program promotes healthy lifestyles and nutrition with milk as the focus. They utilize milk carton side panels, lunchroom posters, and online initiatives to communicate their messages. Milk Rocks! features some of today’s most popular recording artists and emerging talent and is a member of the Ad Council’s Coalition for Healthy Children, whose mission is to provide clear, consistent, research-based messages to children and parents about the importance of practicing a healthier lifestyle and give them the means to improve their eating and physical activity habits.

Americana Artists Mix It Up

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Levon Helm’s Ryman Ramble Returns
Grammy winner Levon Helm will bring his heralded Ramble on the Road back to the Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday April 21. Tickets are on sale now and available at all Ticketmaster locations and at the Ryman box office.

Helm’s first Ramble at the Ryman in July of 2007 was picked as Best Show of the Year by the Nashville Scene. In 2008, the Ramble kicked off the Americana Music Festival and Conference and Rolling Stone described his performances as the “Jam of the Year.” Since that night, Helm has produced two albums (Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt), won three Grammy Awards, including the first-ever Best Americana Album Grammy for Electric Dirt, and garnered the 2008 Americana Artist of the Year award.

Special Guests for the upcoming Ryman show include Gillian Welch and the Dave Rawlings Machine, Rodney Crowell and Sam Bush with more guests to be announced. Past Rambles at the Ryman have included artists Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller, Ricky Skaggs, Delbert McClinton, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer and Fred Carter Jr. Click here for more information.

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Jim Lauderdale Unveils Patchwork River
Two-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale will release his new album Patchwork Girl on May 11. Lauderdale co-wrote the album with longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Patchwork River was written at Hunter’s California home and produced by Tim Coates and Doug Lancio, who also played guitar. James Burton, Al Perkins, Ron Tutt, Garry Tallent, Kenny Vaughan, and Patty Griffin round out the album’s all-star cast.

This marks the second collaboration between the singer/songwriter and Hunter, who first met when Lauderdale was preparing to record I Feel Like Singing Today, his first album with bluegrass icon Dr. Ralph Stanley.  Lauderdale knew that Hunter and Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia were fans of Dr. Stanley, so he approached Hunter about contributing lyrics to the album. The two became friends and wrote over 30 songs together during Robert’s three-month visit to Jim’s Nashville home in 2001, 13 of which wound up on the 2004 release Headed For the Hills.

Says Hunter of Lauderdale, “I’m proud to call him a friend and I know what I say is true. This man has what it takes. If you don’t like country with a humble jolt of human soul, leave him alone.”
Click here for more information on Jim Lauderdale.

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A New Release From Elizabeth Cook
Grand Ole Opry favorite Elizabeth Cook will release her new album, Welder on May 11. Produced by Don Was (Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson), Welder features guest appearances by Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell and Buddy Miller.

Welder is the follow up to Cook’s Rodney Crowell-produced and critically acclaimed Balls from 2007. Cook wrote the majority of the new album herself with a few noteworthy exceptions. “I’m Beginning To Forget” was penned by her late mother, Joyce Cook and “Follow You Like Smoke and “Til Then” by her husband, Tim Carroll. Don Was also brought her “Not California” by NYC indie folk band, Hem.

In addition to her full touring schedule, Cook hosts Apron Strings on XM/Sirius’ Outlaw Country station Monday through Friday 6-10 am Eastern. Every morning, the always witty Cook offers household tips, fashion advice and recipes to legions of devoted fans coast to coast. Click here to preview songs from Welder.