Lofton Creek Records' Gwen Sebastian performed at the recent CRB Board meeting breakfast. Pictured (L-R): Lofton Creek Pres. Mike Borchetta, WQYK’s Mike Culotta, KMPS’s Becky Brenner, Gwen Sebastian, Mike McVey of McVey Media, Max Media of Hampton Roads, John Shomby and WSIX’s Keith Kauffman.

Country Radio Seminar organizers have been finalizing plans for the upcoming event, to be held Feb. 24-26, 2010, at the Nashville Convention Center. Attendees at CRS 41 can expect changes in scheduling, panels and radio liner tapings.

To reduce scheduling conflicts, the new lineup ensures that no more than three panels will be held simultaneously during the seminar. Additionally, the designation of radio market-specific panels has been eliminated and panels should appeal to all attendees regardless of market size or location. The single-day sales panels have been redistributed throughout the three days of the seminar, and the Artist/Attendee Welcome Reception and Consumer Focus Group events are returning to CRS for the first time in years.

Country Radio Broadcasters is also planning a new digital liners system that replaces the on-site Artist Radio Taping Session which was previously part of CRS. The new digital process enables radio stations to submit their custom liner requests directly to CRB, which will have them recorded by the artists and ready for pick-up at CRS. The first 150 stations to sign up for the new digital liners system will be given priority access to participating artists such as Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Craig Morgan, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson and Darryl Worley.

Stations must register for the new system by Dec. 18, 2009 (the CRS 41 Advance Rate deadline) to submit custom requests. Stations that have already registered for CRS are automatically included.

Registration and a detailed schedule can be viewed at www.CRB.org.

With nine albums under his belt, Texas musician Aaron Watson has joined forces with several notables around Nashville. Watson and Unrest Music Group have teamed with David Haley at 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. It was over a year ago that Watson signed with Paradigm for booking, and Sony RED handles his distribution.

The Abilene native just released the CD/DVD set Deep In The Heart Of Texas: Aaron Watson LIVE, which led to his third consecutive appearance on the Billboard Country Charts. He is writing, recording and self-producing his next project, due out this spring. Lead single, “The Road,” is already at radio.