Vince Gill Kicks off Hall of Fame Residency

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Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill opened his run as the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s 2009 Artist-in-Residence last night (2/3). Treating the intimate Ford Theater audience to an acoustic set, Gill accepted requests and ran through numerous hits such as “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” “Liza Jane,” and “When I Call Your Name,” as well as newer songs like his Leslie Satcher co-write “Bread And Water,” and “Buttermilk John,” penned for the late session musician John Hughey.

Gill was joined onstage by bandmates Mike Bub, Billy Thomas and Pete Wasner, as well as guests Danny Flowers performing “Tulsa Time,” and The Statler Brothers’ Jimmy Fortune singing “Elizabeth.” The sold out residency continues on February 17 and 24.

Pictured, from left to right, are Bub, Thomas, Wasner, VP of Museum Programs Jay Orr, Gill and Museum Director Kyle Young. Photo: Donn Jones

Pictured L-R: Bub, Thomas, Wasner, VP of Museum Programs Jay Orr, Gill and Museum Director Kyle Young. Photo: Donn Jones

DISClaimer

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All of a sudden, there is a banquet of Nashville-oriented jazz releases on hand.

This is a growing, strong and highly gifted segment of our music community, so this week we’re throwing the spotlight on it.

There is something to recommend in every disc here. But the clear winner of the Disc of the Day award is the always amazing Take 6. Good luck at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, guys. I’m rooting for ya.

Our DisCovery Award goes to a young lady named Heather Rigdon.

ROD MAGAHA/A Gentle Man
Writer: Jeff Steinberg; Producer: Rod Magaha; Publisher: none listed; RM (track) (www.rodmagaha.net)
—The title tune to trumpeter Magaha’s new CD is a dreamy, piano-flecked ballad. The purity of his tone is outstanding, and the phrasing couldn’t be more precise. Elsewhere on the set, he works his magic on standards like “The Look of Love,” “When I Fall in Love” and “How Long Has This Been Going On.” Rod also has a new, six-tune EP called Stand Up for Love. Both discs are enthusiastically recommended.

HEATHER RIGDON/Young & Naive
Writer: none listed; Producer: Cliff Goldmacher; Publisher: none listed; HR (track) (615-320-7233)
—The debut album by chanteuse Rigdon is called Young & Naive. From the opening notes of this title track she stakes her claim as a distinctive, off-the-beat phraser, a languid stylist and a charming, minor-key melody manipulator. Promising in the extreme.

TAKE 6/Sweet Georgia Brown
Writer: Maceo Pinkard/Kenneth Casey Sr./Ben Bernie; Producer: Mark Kibble; Publisher: Warner Bros./WB, ASCAP; Heads Up (track)
—The Nashville press corps has been practically mum about the fact that the current Take 6 CD The Standard is up for three Grammys. Just so you know, four of the six are Middle Tennesseans, the disc was recorded here and best-arranger nominee Cedric Dent teaches at MTSU. The excitement over the CD is understandable, since it is what the jazz community has been begging for from these guys for years, an album of standards. This opening track is Take 6 at its best, jiving a cappella harmonized vocals and whistling by Mark Kibble. Elsewhere, guests include guitarist George Benson (”Straighten Up and Fly Right”), Aaron Neville (”Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans”) and member Claude McKnight’s star brother Brian (”What’s Going On”). I LOVE this record.

KAREN JOHNS & COMPANY/Southland Summer
Writer: Karen L. Johns/Kevin Sanders; Producer: James Johns & Karen Johns; Publisher: Vital Force, ASCAP; PtarmiganMusic/Jazz (track) (www.karenjohns.com)
—Star and Season, the new CD by Nashville club fave Johns and her band, is a mixture of standards (”Stars Fell on Alabama,” “Desafinado,” “If,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Night and Day”) and splendid original tunes like this one. I love the way she alternates spitting short notes with drawled passages, growling effects and high soprano leaps. This is a vocalist of uncommon ability, and the band cooks with gas.

VICTOR WOOTEN/2 Timers
Writer: Victor L. Wooten; Producer: none listed; Publisher: VixLix/Bug, ASCAP; Heads Up (track) (www,victorwooten.com)
—This bass-playing virtuoso is nominated for two Grammy Awards as a member of The Flecktones. His current, almost entirely self composed Palmystery solo disc is a brain buzzing, sonically dazzling pastiche of shifting time signatures, burbling bass passages, evolving melodies and alternating emotional moods that completely captures your attention from this opening track onward. The various collaborators are a who’s-who of the Music City jazz scene. Heads Up International, the label of both this and the Take 6 CD, is a Cleveland, Ohio label that obviously has great taste.

DIANE MARINO & FELIX CAVALIERE/Groovin’
Writer: Felix Cavaliere/Edward Brigati Jr.; Producer: Frank Marino, Gary Dales & Diane Marino; Publisher: EMI April/Jemaxal, ASCAP; M&M (track)
—Alto vocalist Marino’s CD is titled Just Groovin.’ On its title tune, she duets with one of Nashville’s nicest Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famers. Her liquid voice fits nicely with Felix Cavaliere’s brighter, spunkier tone. The lady is evidently well connected. Also contributing to her CD are Kirk Whalum, Mark Douthit, Rod Magaha and other high-profile instrumentalists. I don’t think the strings were needed, however.

WILLIE NELSON & WYNTON MARSALIS/Night Life
Writer: Nelson/Breeland/Buskirk; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Glad/Pappy Daily/Sony ATV Tree, BMI; Blue Note (track)
—Two Men with the Blues was recorded live at Lincoln Center last year. Wynton sings in spots as well as playing his distinctive trumpet. Willie is just Willie. I have always thought that his “Night Life” was essentially a jazz song, and now it is. I guess jazz agrees with The Red-Headed Stranger. His next project is with western swingers Asleep at the Wheel.

Randy Houser

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“Boots On”

Universal Records South

Randy Houser’s “Boots On” is the followup single to his hit debut single “Anything Goes.” Taken from his first Universal Records South album Anything Goes, the song was penned by Houser with Brandon Kinney and inspired by Houser’s dad.

“Melodically, the song was based on that slide-blues-guitar riff you hear,” says Houser. “As we were sitting down to write, I started playing that lick. And I remembered something that my Daddy always told me: ‘If you’re going to go out, make sure you go out with your boots on.’ Toward the end of his life, we had this talk and I had to make some difficult decisions at the time. I was just 21 years old when he passed, and it was tough. But I will say this: he did go out with his boots on. He didn’t die; he lived. He really did.”

Houser is currently on the Jagermeister Country Tour with Pat Green. His songs have been recorded by Trace Adkins (”Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”), John Michael Montgomery (”If You Ever Went Away”) and many others.

http://www.randyhouser.com/

Hall of Fame Names 2009 Class

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L-R: Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell, Charlie McCoy; Photo: John Russell

The Country Music Association announced today that Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell, and Charlie McCoy will become the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame. They will be officially inducted at the Medallion Ceremony, which takes place during an annual springtime reunion of the Hall of Fame membership.

Clark, being inducted in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975” category, was host of Hee Haw from its 1969 debut until its final broadcast in 1992, and never missed an episode. During the early ’70s, he achieved a string of Top 10 Country singles. He was recognized by his peers with seven CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1973, and earned a 1982 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for “Alabama Jubilee.”

Mandrell will be the fifth artist inducted in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between 1975 and the Present” category, which was created in 2005. Her professional music career began at age 11 and by 24 she had her first No.1 single with “The Midnight Oil.” Throughout the ‘70s and ’80s, she continued to achieve success with hit singles including the song that would become her signature hit, “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.” Mandrell received four CMA Awards. She took home the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award in 1979 and 1981, and became the third female artist to be named CMA Entertainer of the Year in 1980. One year later, she made history as the first artist to win the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award two years in a row.

McCoy will be inducted in the “Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980” category, which is awarded every third year in a rotation with the “Non-Performer” and “Career Achieved National Prominence Prior to World War II” categories. He was a regular performer on Elvis Presley‘s Nashville and Los Angeles sessions in the mid ’60s, while also working with Bob Dylan on such legendary albums as Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. At his peak, McCoy was performing on more than 400 sessions a year. He was the first musician to use the “Nashville Number System” in the recording studio. Among the most famous tracks featuring McCoy: George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, and Mandrell’s “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.”

The inductees were revealed this morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum during a press conference hosted by CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese. Clark was introduced by his friend, Country Music Hall of Fame member Carl Smith; Mandrell was introduced by her sister Louise Mandrell; and McCoy was introduced by his friend, Country Music Hall of Fame member Mel Tillis.

Tates Move To Cherry Lane

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Cherry Lane Music has signed songwriters Sam and Annie Tate to a long-term, worldwide co-publishing agreement. Michelle Berlin, Director of Creative & Marketing and head of the Cherry Lane Nashville office, made the announcement today (2/3) about the writers of No. 1 singles from Reba McEntire (“Somebody”), Emerson Drive (“Moments”), and Rodney Atkins (“If You’re Going Through Hell”). Among the other artists who have added to the Tates’ tally of more than a dozen gold, platinum and multi-platinum records are Randy Travis, Gary Allan, Joe Nichols, and Montgomery Gentry.

Sam and Annie Tate have received two prestigious NSAI Creativity Awards, as well as two ACM nominations for Song of the Year. They were named SESAC’s Songwriters of the Year in 2006.

The Tates’ music has been heard in television (ER, The Incredible Hulk), advertisements (The Gap, Coors, Pepsi-Cola, Gino’s Pizza, General Motors) and films (Miss Congeniality II, Space Truckers).

Grammys Add Country Performers, Online Coverage

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Multiple nominees Sugarland have been added to the performance schedule for this Sunday’s (2/8) 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have also joined the line-up for a special performance together. At the Awards airing live from the LA Staples Center, Sugarland is up for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (“Stay”) and Best Country Collaboration With Vocals (“Life In A Northern Town” with Jake Owen and Little Big Town). Previously announced performers include Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, U2, and Jay-Z.

As in years past, the Awards will be broadcast on television and radio, airing in HD on CBS from 7–10:30 PM/CT and Westwood One, respectively. For 2009, the Recording Academy has broadened online coverage to include social networking sites such as Twitter (“theGRAMMYs”), Facebook (“The Recording Academy”), YouTube (“51stGRAMMYs”) and Last.fm (“the51stgrammys”), in addition to coverage on Grammy.com and CBS.com.

The Pre-Telecast Ceremony, where a majority of Grammy categories are awarded, will also be available online at www.grammy.com on the afternoon of the show. Taking place from 1–3:45 PM/PT at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the non-televised event has grown into its own celebrated affair with guest presenters and live performances.

Other Nashville artists heading to Los Angeles for performances surrounding the Grammys include Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Brenda Lee. McGraw and Hill will sing at the Feb. 6 tribute to 2009 MusiCares® Person of the Year Neil Diamond. The event celebrating his artistic achievements and philanthropic work, will also feature Kid Rock and Raul Malo. Lee will receive The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Sat., Feb. 7 at the Los Angeles Wilshire Ebell Theater. Also being honored are Gene Autry, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Four Tops, Hank Jones, Dean Martin, and Tom Paxton.

ACM Noms Coming Next Week

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Nominees for the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be announced at a press conference on the morning of Wed., Feb. 11. Julianne Hough, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes, and Jessica Simpson will reveal the nominations at 7:30 AM/CT at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sun., April 5, starting at 7 PM/CT on CBS.

GAC, Armiger Partner In Unique Promotion

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Katie Armiger and Great American Country (GAC) are teaming up to fly a contest winner to Nashville for a writing and recording session with the budding artist. “Kapturing A Love Song with Katie Armiger” kicks off today and runs through Friday, Feb. 27 at www.GACTV.com. When complete, the song will be made available on iTunes.

GAC, where Armiger is the February Artist of the Month, says this is one of the most unique sweepstakes it has ever offered. “Katie has a lot of fans at GACTV.com because of her successful Kapturing Katie web series,” adds GAC’s director of music marketing John Alexander.

CRS Offers One-Day Rates

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Single day registration will be available for those attending Country Radio Seminar on March 5 “Music Industry Town Meeting Day” or March 6 “Radio Sales Day.”

Admission to the Music Industry Town Meeting is $265 and includes the Sony Music Nashville Luncheon with Miranda Lambert and Jake Owen, informational panels about technology and small markets, and WCRS Live! with Bobby Pinson, Paul Overstreet, Josh Turner and Jamey Johnson.

Those signing up for Radio Sales Day will enjoy that evening’s New Faces of Country Music Show, sure to be a highlight of the week with performances by Lady Antebellum, James Otto, Kellie Pickler, Chuck Wicks and The Zac Brown Band. For the $370 one-day registration fee, attendees can learn from panels focused on consumer habits, promotional and research ideas. Also included is the Managers’ Breakfast, and Capitol Nashville’s luncheon with Darius Rucker and Little Big Town.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, who has officially proclaimed the week of March 2, 2009 “Country Radio Week” in the city, will greet CRS-40 attendees on March 4. Registration for the full event, to be held March 4-6, 2009 at the
Nashville Convention Center, will be $699 until Feb. 6. On-site
registration will be $749.

Sundresses By Swift Shipping Now

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Taylor Swift’s line of sundresses began shipping exclusively to Wal-Mart yesterday (2/1). The dresses are being made through a partnership with clothing manufacturer L.E.I., who also made Swift’s namesake jeans.  All retailing for $14, there will be three sundress styles available at launch and two additional styles are planned for a March 1 delivery.

“It was very important for me to create cute, affordable dresses,” says Swift, who is on the current cover of Teen Vogue. “If I couldn’t see myself wearing them, I wasn’t interested in making them.” She plans to wear the dresses throughout her spring and summer tour.

As previously reported, this will be her first headlining outing, and includes dates in Canada and Australian. She is in such demand Down Under that another show has been added in Melbourne. Chugg Entertainment and Rob Potts Entertainment Edge tacked on a March 9 date specifically for the under 18 set, to precede the next night’s 18-and-up show. Her first Australian Tour also includes sold-out stops in Brisbane and Sydney, and a festival performance in Thredbo, NSW.