Showdog-Universal artist Phil Vassar has teamed up with Country Cares for St. Jude Kids radio station partners for a year-long promotion to benefit kids battling cancer and other deadly diseases at St. Jude. The Country Cares radio station that secures the most “Partner In Hope” monthly pledges throughout the designated contest time will receive a free acoustic concert from Vassar.  The contest begins on February 3, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011.

The St. Jude Partner In Hope family is made up of a special group of loyal supporters who give monthly to St. Jude so the hospital has the necessary financial resources to ensure that no child is turned away because of a family’s inability to pay.

“St. Jude is such a fantastic and necessary organization,” says Vassar, who recently visited with St. Jude patients. “I want to do whatever I can to help these kids and we’re going to have some fun in the process.”

“St. Jude steps up to the plate every day,” says Bill Black, Program Director of Mobile, Alabama’s WKSJ. “And now Phil Vassar steps up and supports St. Jude and country radio with a great incentive to grow your radiothon!”

A distinguished group of songwriters will come together for the second John Jarrard Foundation Concert at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe on Saturday, Feb. 20. Hit songwriters Bob Dipiero, Walt Aldridge, Rory Bourke and Kendall Marvel will perform to benefit the John Jarrard Foundation. Dipiero’s 15 No. 1 hits include “Southern Voice” by Tim McGraw. Aldridge, writer of Reba’s “Fear Of Being Alone,” has twice been voted Billboard Magazine Top 10 Country Songwriter of the Year, and Bourke, writer of Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl,” is a member of the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and a three-time ASCAP Writer of the Year. Marvel is the writer of “Right Where I Need To Be” by Gary Allan.

“We are excited to have such a great group of songwriters performing at the Bluebird,” says John Jarrard Foundation Executive Director Jody Jackson.

John Jarrard was a well-known Nashville songwriter who penned hits for a number of top country music stars. Jarrard fought a long battle with diabetes before passing away in 2001.

Tickets for the Bluebird show are $15 and can be purchased here. Proceeds will go to a permanent endowment fund in Jarrard’s name funding local charities. For more information, contact Jody Jackson at jjackson@johnjarrardconcert.com or (770) 710-9191.

SOLID (Society of Leaders in Development) held its first general assembly meeting of the year featuring Sony Music Nashville CEO/President, Joe Galante. Galante supplied insightful advice on current issues, including the marketing of digital music, technology and how it affects the profit for the industry as well as what he believes will be future issues for the music industry.

“This was a great opportunity for SOLID members to get advice from one of the best leaders in the music industry,” said SOLID President Katie Pope. “Joe Galante is really a role model that members of SOLID should look up to.”

SOLID plans an array of activities throughout the coming year, including additional high profile speakers.

“Last year our committee raised the bar in educational opportunities available for SOLID members,” says Education Chair Heath Baumhor. “We look forward to continuing to secure top-notch speakers for our general assembly meetings as well as the (After)Work Shops.”

Started in 1997 by a small group of industry professionals, SOLID combines educational opportunities, hands-on training from diverse industry experts, music industry social networking and community service.

Taylor Swift’s appearance on Monday night’s Grammy telecast, and the flood of media coverage that followed, illustrate that mega-fame and media saturation  can be a double-edged sword. While the multi-platinum singer scooped up a record-setting four Grammys, including the coveted Album of the Year award, far more ink has been dedicated to her not-so-spot-on vocal duet with Stevie Nicks on the Fleetwood Mac classic, “Rhiannon.” Historically, the road from teenage phenomenon to long term success can be very bumpy, with most teen artists winding up in the where-are-they-now column. As she’s already clearly demonstrated, Swift is not most artists, but the stratospheric level of her success makes the leap to longevity all the more daunting.

In the weeks prior to the Grammy’s, Swift kept a relatively low profile, spending time in the studio, reportedly recording an album’s worth of material. It will be a few months before any of that new music sees the light of day, and the singer will be busy and perhaps slightly less ubiquitous, with a just-launched Australian tour. Meanwhile, bloggers and journalists continue to weigh in on Swift, her fame, her vocal abilities, and her future.

One especially insightful article was written by Jon Caramanica in the New York Times. He recognizes Swift’s strengths, and human frailties and casts them in the context of a rite of passage from teen to adult. Part of the article is below, read the complete article here.

Over the last three and a half years, Ms. Swift has established herself as pop’s leading naïf. Not in her songwriting, which has been precocious, but in her persona. By now, she’s even patented a look she whips out at award shows, concerts and more, when her innocence is threatened by acclaim: eyes wide, mouth agape, hand held over it as if to keep in the breath she’d just gasped as if it were her last.

Most stars — and make no mistake, Ms. Swift is the most important new pop star of the past few years — have their images undone by failure. In Ms. Swift’s case, the opposite is true: success has necessitated a re-evaluation.

Her Sunday night at the Grammys will be remembered as the turning point. She won four awards, including album of the year for “Fearless” (Big Machine), her outstanding second record — the youngest artist ever to do so, and the first solo female country singer to earn that as well. It was the ultimate stamp of insider approval for someone who insists that she’s thrilled just to be invited to the party.

But the night also revealed her weaknesses.      […read on]