Big Machine Label Group has elevated Sara Benz to Project Manager for the Big Machine Records imprint, effective immediately.

Benz most recently served as Senior A&R Coordinator at Universal Music Group in Los Angeles following her time working with Andy Grammer at Small Giant Records + Management. The University of North Carolina Wilmington alum first began her career selling merch on tour with Misterwives and Smallpools.

In her new role, Benz will oversee strategy, development and execution of release campaigns to drive consumption and audience growth for the Big Machine Records’ artist roster including Tim McGraw, Carly Pearce, Brian Kelley, Jackson Dean and Midland, among others.

“Sara comes to the Big Machine team with a ton of energy and a wealth of experience. She has hit the ground running and is making a huge difference with our team and our artists. This is truly only the beginning for her,” says Big Machine Records’ GM, Clay Hunnicutt.

“A huge thank you to the amazing team at Big Machine Records for welcoming me with open arms,” shares Benz. “I can’t wait for this next chapter in Music City!”

Benz is based in Nashville can be reached at sara.benz@bmlg.net.

Warren Zeiders has announced the 2024 dates for his headlining “Pretty Little Poison Tour.”

The 24 new dates include stops across the U.S. and Canada in Fayetteville, Oxford, Tulsa, Austin, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Toronto and more, with Clayton Mullen and Austin Williams as support. General public on-sale begins on Friday (Oct. 27) at warrenzeiders.com/prettylittlepoison.

The 2024 dates follow Zeiders’ 2023 edition of the “Pretty Little Poison Tour,” which was his biggest headlining run to date with 27 sold-out shows, while the fall tour visited major festivals like Stagecoach, Faster Horses and Watershed, in addition to 18 sold-out shows including Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

In August, Zeiders released his debut album Pretty Little Poison. Produced by Ross Copperman, Bart Butler and Ryan Gore, the 14-song album’s title track landed Zeiders his debut on Billboard’s Hot 100. “Pretty Little Poison” is currently at No. 24 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, No. 24 on Mediabase’s Country Airplay Top 40 Chart and was named by Rolling Stone as one of The Best Country Songs of 2023 So Far.

At just 24 years old, Zeiders recently surpassed one billion cumulative career streams and has earned a staggering one billion+ TikTok views and four million+ monthly Spotify listeners.

Warren Zeiders Upcoming Tour Dates:
+denotes show with Clayton Mullen as support
*denotes show with Austin Williams as support
Feb. 2 – Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center – Mankato, MN+
Feb. 8 – Greensboro Coliseum Complex Piedmont Hall – Greensboro, SC+
Feb. 9 – Charleston Municipal Auditorium – Charleston, WV+
Feb. 15 – The Lyric Oxford – Oxford, MS+
Feb. 16 – JJ’s Live – Fayetteville, AR+
Feb. 17 – Cains Ballroom – Tulsa, OK+
Feb. 22 – Emo’s – Austin, TX+
Feb. 24 – House of Blues Dallas – Dallas, TX+
March 8 – House of Blues San Diego – San Diego, CA*
March 9 – House of Blues Anaheim – Anaheim, CA*
March 10 – The Warfield – San Francisco, CA*
March 13 – The Union – Salt Lake City, UT*
March 15 – Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA*
March 16 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA*
March 17 – McMenamins Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR*
March 19 – Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC*
March 21 – River Cree Resort & Casino – Enoch, AB*
March 22 – Grey Eagle Resort & Casino Event Center – Tsuut’ina, AB*
March 23 – Coors Event Centre – Saskatoon, SK*
March 25 – Burton Cummings Theatre – Winnipeg, MB*
March 28 – London Music Hall – London, ON*
March 29 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON*
March 30 – MTELUS – Montreal, QC*
June 22 – South Dakota Cattleman’s Prime Time Gala – Sioux Falls, SD
June 28 – Country Fest – Cadott, WI
July 13 – Country Concert – Fr. Loramie, OH
Aug. 1 – WE Fest – Detroit Lake, MN

CMT has announced a new multi-genre musical event, CMT Smashing Glass, which recognizes women who have smashed stereotypes, broken records and defiantly blazed trails for future generations of female artists. The inaugural celebration will honor the careers of legends Patti LaBelle and Tanya Tucker, and air exclusively on CMT Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. CT.

Blending once-in-a-lifetime performances with documentary storytelling, each icon will be honored with a pair of tributes by artists they’ve inspired before taking the stage for their own performances. Additional show details, performers and special guests will be announced soon.

“We’re beyond excited to bring this electrifying and empowering new franchise to life by honoring iconic women who’ve fearlessly ‘smashed glass ceilings’ and kicked in doors, holding them wide open for past, present and future generations,” shares Margaret Comeaux, CMT’s Senior Vice President of Production, Music & Events and Executive Producer. “Both Patti and Tanya deserve to be celebrated for continuing to set the industry gold standard with boundary-breaking crossover success, bold, uncompromising lives and careers, and creating timeless music and impact that remains as powerful and relevant as ever.”

CMT Smashing Glass will also pay respect to the late women of music with memorial tribute medleys to Aretha Franklin, Sinead O’Connor and Tina Turner.

“Inspired by so many other women who have smashed glass ceilings before us, we’ll also pay homage to three other female juggernauts with in-show ‘Moments of Respect,’ nodding to Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul’ who forever altered the path for women with her legacy of demanding ‘R.E.S.P.E.C.T,’ the ‘Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,’ Tina Turner, who empowered the world with her resilience, and Sinead O’Connor, who broke the traditional ‘pop star’ mold and used her life and music to illuminate the world’s burning issues,” states Patrizia DiMaria, Executive Producer.

Leslie Fram, CMT’s SVP of Music & Talent and Executive in Charge of Talent, adds, “CMT Smashing Glass is a grand finale to a landmark 2023 which we dedicated as our ‘Year of the Woman.’ Kicking off in January with a milestone 10th anniversary of the Next Women of Country (NWOC) franchise, we celebrated female voices across all programming and events – from our women-led headliners at the CMT Music Awards and Equal Play honoree Shania Twain, to bi-monthly NWOC artist showcases and the greenlight of our CMT Defining series, we remain dedicated to Equal Play and advocating for the trailblazers of the past, superstars of the present and the future voices in our format.”

CMT Smashing Glass is helmed by an all-female production team. Working alongside Comeaux, DiMaria and Fram is Michelle Mahoney and Lauren Quinn, who serve as Executive Producers. Quinn also works as Director, Jackie Barba and Heather D. Graffagnino are the Executives in Charge of Production and Suzanne Bender serves as Talent Producer.

Alandis Brassel has opened Brassel Law, a new entertainment law firm dedicated to the needs of musicians and music industry entrepreneurs in Nashville.

Brassel, a Vanderbilt University Law School grad, began his legal career as counsel to Congressman Jim Cooper, where he focused on policy and the office’s community relationships, including Nashville’s music industry. He also served as the program director at the Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, where he was responsible for the nonprofit’s legal and education programs.

Most recently, Brassel practiced entertainment and trademark law at Counsel at Scale LLP, and served as assistant professor at the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, where he headed the music business program and ran the school’s record label, High Water Records. Prior to his legal career, Brassel was a professional audio engineer with clients such as Bloomberg Television, Warner Chappell Music, Mosley Music Group and Def Jam.

Brassel serves on the board of Nashville Music Equality, a nonprofit dedicated to creating an anti-racist environment in the Nashville music industry.

Aiming to make comprehensive legal representation accessible to clients at all levels, Brassel Law will introduce two services over the next month. The first, Office Hours, will provide a free opportunity for clients to triage legal issues they might not otherwise have the resources to address. Clients can register for these one-on-one legal advising sessions on a first-come, first-served basis. The first session will be held on Oct. 30.

Members will also have the option to access Cadence.io, a platform built by Brassel Law that will give clients the ability to generate custom, routinely used documents without the cost and traditional wait time associated with traditional legal drafting.

“A music publisher using Cadence.io will be able to generate a license in minutes with the confidence that the agreement is accurate, well-drafted and up to date,” says Brassel. “These aren’t fill-in-the-blank templates that you pull from a website. We’ll work with members to build base documents based on their needs, including terms that are specific to their business and contract clauses that might vary depending on the deal, like payment terms and contract duration. We’ll also periodically review and revise the base agreements to reflect any changes in the law.”

Program members will design their memberships using a menu of add-on services and resources, resulting in a membership package that provides the services they need at a predictable price point.

“The goal is to make sure clients get the first-class legal services they need without worrying about an unpredictable legal bill or turnaround time,” says Brassel.

For more information on Brassel Law, visit www.brassel.law or contact 615-258-8900.

Porchlight Music has added Jenny Hall to the team as Senior Director, Creative.

Hall is an Indiana native and a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)’s music business program. Prior to joining Porchlight, she spent time as Creative Director at Sheltered Music and Given Entertainment.

In her new role, Hall will oversee the direction and development of the current roster which includes Clint Daniels, Tim James, Chris Sligh, Dan Hutson and Terry Lee Palmer as well as new talent acquisitions. She will also oversee the day-to-day creative operations of signing and developing new talent while managing and developing the current roster.

“Jenny is hard-working, goal-oriented and is going to leave her stamp on the music industry. She is in to win it and has already made a substantial impact at Porchlight Music,” shares Tim Medlin, Partner/Co-Founder, Porchlight Music.

“I’m thrilled to be starting this next chapter of my career with Porchlight Music. After my first conversation with Tim, it was evident how truly passionate he is about the songwriters and forward-thinking goals for the company as well as the trust and runway he lends to creatives on both sides of the aisle,” says Hall. “I’m honored to represent the immensely talented roster here and look forward to being a part of the company’s continued growth and success.”

Hall can be reached at jenny@porchlightmusic.com.