Brandon Rhyder
Nashville is experiencing an influx from the Lone Star state as Texans build teams made up of Music City mainstays. All of the acts listed here have several albums under their belt buckles and have pushed hits up the Texas charts. Now they are seeking bigger success stories and bigger audiences.
Brandon Rhyder is gearing up for the release of his sixth full length album, Head Above Water, and has made some new additions to his team, signing with Ambiance Artists for management and Sweet Talk Publicity for public relations. Rhyder is currently represented by Thirty Tigers for marketing/distribution, APEX Music for radio promotion and Red 11 Music for booking. The album’s lead single “Rock Angel” landed in the No. 2 spot on the Texas Music Chart this week.
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The band No Justice is signed to new Dallas-based indie Carved Records, and has inked with Scott Welch for management and Jon Folk of Red 11 Music for booking. Founded by CEO Tim Porter in 2009, Carved Records is anchored by VP of Operations Phil Thomas (formerly of UMG Distribution/Fontana, RED Distribution) and Label Director Jenn Littleton (CO5 Music, former Sr. Marketing Director/A&R Geffen Records). No Justice is currently in Nashville completing its debut album with producer Dexter Green.
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Aaron Watson with Pam and Billy Minick, proprietors of Billy Bob’s, where he performed for over 3,000 people, his largest attendance yet at the venue.
Aaron Watson is working on his tenth album, and already has a Texas hit with lead single “The Road.” For the project he has joined forces with David Haley’s Edgehill Music and Media, Larry Pareigis and Tom Moran of Nine North Records, Nancy Tunick’s Grassroots Promotion, and Jules Wortman’s Wortman Works Media & Marketing. This is in addition to working for over a year with Paradigm Agency and being distributed by Sony RED. Watson took home two “Gruene With Envy Awards” on January 13, then wrapped the week performing at “Honky Tonkin’ For The Hungry” at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, TX, where he helped raise over $10,000.
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Texas singer/songwriter Zane Williams appeared on WSMV's "Better Nashville" recently to promote his new project, "The Right Place," which was produced fellow Texas native Radney Foster. Williams is the writer of "Hurry Home," the hit for Jason Michael Carroll. Williams has signed with Vanessa Davis's Splash PR. Pictured (L-R) "Better Nashville" host Kacy Hagerty and Zane Williams.
Others Texans on the rise that have recently been reported on by MusicRow include Josh Abbott Band and Reckless Kelly. Josh Abbott Band is celebrating its highest single debut to date with “She’s Like Texas,” the title track from the album coming February 16 via Pretty Damn Tough Records and Thirty Tigers.
Off the helm of an Americana Music Award nomination for Best Duo or Group, Austin based Reckless Kelly releases its seventh studio album Somewhere In Time today (2/9). The group is crossing genres with recent features on AOL’s The Boot Feb. 8-12th Listening Party, and Country Weekly.
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Mark McKinney has had six consecutive top five hits on the Texas chart as well as two videos on GAC and CMT. McKinney is signed to Rob Dennis’s Super Loud Music for recording and management and is booked by Red 11. During 2009 he was on the cover of Best in Texas, had music featured by NASCAR and scored a sponsorship deal with Budweiser.
Cherry Heart Starts Marketing Division
/by Sarah Skates“Sponsorship opportunities are becoming increasingly valuable in the music business as more and more artists are turning to alternative revenue streams,” says Jennifer Rose Parker, Cherry Heart Senior VP Entertainment Marketing. “We recognized that there was a market that existed for these type of arrangements, and Cherry Heart had the vision to make a specialized department to fill that niche. The interest and response we’ve gotten in only our first year has been incredible.”
Nashville-based Cherry Heart Music was originally founded in 1996 by 22-year industry veteran Gratton Stephens, but has since grown to include publishing and administration, artist management, a record label, and now marketing. Senior VP/COO Shelby Kennedy and Creative Director Cassandra Tormes anchor the company’s publishing and administration division. General Manager Rondal Richardson heads the Cherry Heart artist management division, working with artists Ashton Shepherd and newcomer Ty Williams.
Contact info: jrparker@cherryheart.com, skennedy@cherryheart.com, ctormes@cherryheart.com, rrichardson@cherryheart.com
Cherry Heart, LLC is located at 1510 16th Ave. S., Nashville, TN, 37212. For more information, visit www.CherryHeart.com, call 615-468-3335 or email management@cherryheart.com.
Wilson Opens Club Tour; Underwood Adds Dates
/by MichelleGretchen Wilson
Gretchen Wilson is kicking off her I Got Your Country Right Here club tour this week. The small venue tour will feature music from her fourth studio album of the same name, due in stores March 30. Additionally, the shows will include hits like “Redneck Woman,” “Here for the Party,” “All Jacked Up” and “Work Hard, Play Harder.”
Booked by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, the tour will kick off Wednesday, February 10 in Jacksonville, Florida and run through March 20 in Norfolk, Virginia.
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Carrie Underwood
Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood has added a slate of new dates to her upcoming Play On Tour. The outing, hydrated by vitaminwater®, will kick off March 11 in Reading, PA with special guests Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia. As of now, it is slated to run through June 20 in Saskatoon, SK. Underwood’s previous tour, 2008’s highly successful Carnival Ride Tour, wrapped after 137 shows with over 1.2 million fans in attendance.
Texans Build Nashville Teams
/by Sarah SkatesBrandon Rhyder
Nashville is experiencing an influx from the Lone Star state as Texans build teams made up of Music City mainstays. All of the acts listed here have several albums under their belt buckles and have pushed hits up the Texas charts. Now they are seeking bigger success stories and bigger audiences.
Brandon Rhyder is gearing up for the release of his sixth full length album, Head Above Water, and has made some new additions to his team, signing with Ambiance Artists for management and Sweet Talk Publicity for public relations. Rhyder is currently represented by Thirty Tigers for marketing/distribution, APEX Music for radio promotion and Red 11 Music for booking. The album’s lead single “Rock Angel” landed in the No. 2 spot on the Texas Music Chart this week.
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The band No Justice is signed to new Dallas-based indie Carved Records, and has inked with Scott Welch for management and Jon Folk of Red 11 Music for booking. Founded by CEO Tim Porter in 2009, Carved Records is anchored by VP of Operations Phil Thomas (formerly of UMG Distribution/Fontana, RED Distribution) and Label Director Jenn Littleton (CO5 Music, former Sr. Marketing Director/A&R Geffen Records). No Justice is currently in Nashville completing its debut album with producer Dexter Green.
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Aaron Watson with Pam and Billy Minick, proprietors of Billy Bob’s, where he performed for over 3,000 people, his largest attendance yet at the venue.
Aaron Watson is working on his tenth album, and already has a Texas hit with lead single “The Road.” For the project he has joined forces with David Haley’s Edgehill Music and Media, Larry Pareigis and Tom Moran of Nine North Records, Nancy Tunick’s Grassroots Promotion, and Jules Wortman’s Wortman Works Media & Marketing. This is in addition to working for over a year with Paradigm Agency and being distributed by Sony RED. Watson took home two “Gruene With Envy Awards” on January 13, then wrapped the week performing at “Honky Tonkin’ For The Hungry” at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, TX, where he helped raise over $10,000.
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Texas singer/songwriter Zane Williams appeared on WSMV's "Better Nashville" recently to promote his new project, "The Right Place," which was produced fellow Texas native Radney Foster. Williams is the writer of "Hurry Home," the hit for Jason Michael Carroll. Williams has signed with Vanessa Davis's Splash PR. Pictured (L-R) "Better Nashville" host Kacy Hagerty and Zane Williams.
Others Texans on the rise that have recently been reported on by MusicRow include Josh Abbott Band and Reckless Kelly. Josh Abbott Band is celebrating its highest single debut to date with “She’s Like Texas,” the title track from the album coming February 16 via Pretty Damn Tough Records and Thirty Tigers.
Off the helm of an Americana Music Award nomination for Best Duo or Group, Austin based Reckless Kelly releases its seventh studio album Somewhere In Time today (2/9). The group is crossing genres with recent features on AOL’s The Boot Feb. 8-12th Listening Party, and Country Weekly.
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Mark McKinney has had six consecutive top five hits on the Texas chart as well as two videos on GAC and CMT. McKinney is signed to Rob Dennis’s Super Loud Music for recording and management and is booked by Red 11. During 2009 he was on the cover of Best in Texas, had music featured by NASCAR and scored a sponsorship deal with Budweiser.
Lyric Street Creates Off Cycle Flatts Holiday Song Bundle
/by adminAshley Heron
“Ultimately, in the business of digital music we live in a very a la carte world,” says Lyric Street Sr. Manager of Marketing, Ashley Heron. “Sometimes customers don’t get the opportunity to discover album tracks that they otherwise may have looked over. It’s not unusual to purchase the CD for a specific song, and later fall in love with an additional album cut. In today’s digital marketplace we aren’t force feeding these other tracks which are potentially new fan favorites. The love songs compilation allows us to not only wrap a bundle around a theme of songs, but also reintroduce some tracks to Flatts fans. It’s also a way to partner with iTunes and our other digital retailers and say, “We don’t have new product right now, but here’s a way for us to give something new to the fans. We’re not trying to confuse them, but want to make sure that if they were creating a play list then we gave them an easy way to bundle them together.”
The fourteen song bundle has special pricing. MusicRow found it on iTunes for $9.99 and Amazon at $9.49. “It’s up to the retailer,” says Heron. “We have a wholesale price which determines our cost, then it is up to the retailer to assign a price. This kind of package is still an experiment. I expect we’ll get both good and bad feedback. In the future you might see packages like this with added new tracks or a pdf file. But this bundle is a good step toward taking advantage of the digital format and the ability to release products off cycle.”
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Here’s some actual reviews lifted from iTunes this morning that illustrate different fan reactions
by the_heights
…of course if you’re a Flatts fan then you probably already have all of these songs. So just go make a play list to match. If you’re new though this would be an excellent album to buy because the songs are some of their best stuff.
by Gabe 19
I’m a big fan of Rascal Flatts, but this seems like an unnecessaaryu release. Anyways all songs on here are great.
Gill, Flatts, Steele, and Walker Headline Big Benefit Shows
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NashvillePost: Gibson goes on defensive against price-fixing claims
/by contributorFrom the NashvillePost.com:
“Pete” Peterson Passes
/by Robert K OermannVanderbilt University professor Richard “Pete” Peterson—one of the first sociologists to seriously study country music—has died at age 77.
During his career, Peterson studied the Nashville music industry, popular culture, the definition of musical genres, the aging of the fine-arts audience and the impact of digital technology on music. In addition, he was a former consultant to National Public Radio.
When he arrived at Vanderbilt in 1965, he realized that the campus was just a few blocks away from the center of Nashville’s music business. So he began a scholarly quest to explore the development of country music.
He befriended artists such as Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Hank Snow and Charley Pride and went on the road with The Oak Ridge Boys when they were still a gospel act.
One of his first studies was of Fan Fair (now known as the CMA Music Festival). After many years of further study and numerous articles and scholarly convention presentations, in 1997 he published Creating Country Music: Fabricating Authenticity (University of Chicago Press). At the time, the late Eddy Arnold said that Peterson, “appreciates the importance of country music and respects how it achieves that importance.”
Peterson passed away on Thursday, February 4. He is survived by his wife, Claire Clark, and three children, Michael, David and Ruth. A campus memorial service is being planned.
Josh Turner Goes Haywire Feb. 9
/by adminJosh Turner’s latest release Haywire hits streets Feb. 9 with a standard and deluxe version. Deluxe includes the 11 tracks that appear on the standard release plus two unreleased songs and live versions of “Your Man,” and “Long Black Train.” Deluxe also includes music video “Why Don’t We Just Dance” plus behind-the-scenes recording studio footage.
Turner will also be featured on the Great American Country network’s Origins series where the baritone singer shares personal stories about career and family.