Wasserman Music Celebrates AmericanaFest

Wasserman Music hosted staff, friends and clients at their second annual AmericanaFest party last week.

Wasserman Music artists showed out during the week-long festival, which included the Americana Honors & Awards on Wednesday evening (Sept. 27). The event featured performances by Allison Russell, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Margo Price, The Milk Carton Kids, Nickel Creek and Noah Kahan, and Wasserman Music walked away with four award wins: Russell for Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award, Billy Strings for Artist of the Year, Nickel Creek for Trailblazer Award and Tyler Childers for Album of the Year (Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?).

CMHOF Honors Merle Travis With Special Conversation & Performance

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum honored Merle Travis with a special conversation and performance this past weekend.

Presented in partnership with the Americana Music Association and hosted by the museum’s Writer-Editor Dave Paulson, the event explored the musician’s life, work and legacy with Deke Dickerson, co-author of the 2022 book Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story, master guitarists Tommy Emmanuel and Eddie Pennington as well as Travis’s daughters Cindy Travis and Merlene Travis-Maggini.

Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story paints a vivid portrait of the guitar innovator and hit songwriter. Using a trove of unearthed autobiographical writings left by Travis, Dickerson traces his journey from Kentucky coal country to his high standing among country music’s most influential guitarists.

In addition to being an author, Dickerson is a guitarist and historian who has released over twenty albums, both on his own and with projects such as Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics.

Emmanuel is one of the world’s premier acoustic guitarists and one of only five people to be named a “Certified Guitar Player (CGP)” by his musical hero Chet Atkins, and often plays Travis’ work in concert. Pennington is a lifelong disciple of “Travis Picking” and other thumbpicking styles and has called Travis his greatest hero.

Cindy, Travis’ youngest daughter, was a production assistant for a PBS series and is now an interior decorator living on the east coast. Merlene, Travis’ middle daughter, recently retired from Sony Pictures Entertainment after a 39-year career in music publishing and currently resides in California. Both daughters maintain their dedication to keeping their father’s legacy alive.

Equal Access Program Takes The Stage At City Winery Nashville

The Equal Access Development Program, the artist and management training initiative helmed by CMT and management services company Mtheory, held a showcase featuring program participants and special guests on Tuesday night (Sept. 26) at City Winery Nashville.

Equal Access offers funding and training, and provides the rising artists and management professionals with access to industry leaders, helping to ensure a multi-faceted pipeline of diverse, creative talent in country music.

Hosted by Chely Wright, the evening featured performances by Angie K, Camille Parker, Dalton Dover, Denitia, Fancy Hagood, Nick Tabron, Sam Williams, Adam Mac and Valerie Ponzio.

Riley Clemmons Scores First RIAA Certification

Capitol Christian Music Group recently presented artist Riley Clemmons with her first RIAA plaque, recognizing the Gold certification of her single, “Fighting For Me” alongside co-writers Jordan Sapp, who also produced the tune, and Ethan Hulse at an intimate release party for her new album, Church Pew.

“Fighting For Me” was released as the lead single for her sophomore album, Godsend, and quickly became her top performing song with over 160 million worldwide streams.

“Truly, I’m just so excited and completely overwhelmed with gratitude,” shares Clemmons. “‘Fighting For Me’ was written from such a deeply personal place, so watching it resonate with so many people has been surreal. My entire team surprised me with the Gold Record plaque, and I cried like a baby. It was such a special moment. I’m so grateful for every single person on the team that worked to make this milestone possible.”

Alexandra Kay Previews Her Debut Album With TuneCore

Alexandra Kay provided a sneak peak of her debut album, All I’ve Ever Known, on Monday night (Sept. 25) with TuneCore.

Kay co-wrote all of the songs on the 11-track collection, set for release on Oct. 26.

The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced the recipients of the 2023 Industry Awards, awarded today (Sept. 28) as part of this week’s IBMA World of Bluegrass.

Sponsored by the California Bluegrass Association, the 2023 IBMA Industry Awards recognize outstanding work in select categories. This year, Ned Luberecki takes home Broadcaster of the Year, Chris Jones wins Writer of the Year, Tim Stafford is Songwriter of the Year, Steve Chandler wins Sound Engineer of the Year and Grace van’t Hof is Graphic Designer of the Year. The Blue Highway Fest in Big Stone Gap, Virginia has been named Event of the Year and Radio John: The Songs of John Hartford has the Liner Notes of the Year, written by Sam Bush and Jon Weisberger.

During the Industry Awards show each year, the IBMA presents five Distinguished Achievement Awards to individuals and organizations to recognize their significant contributions to bluegrass music with its highest honor outside of induction into the Hall of Fame.

This year’s recipients of IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Awards include The Bluegrass Situation, Terry Baucom, Tom Ewing, Carl Goldstein and Red Wine.

Dolly Parton has partnered with ESPN and University of Tennessee ahead of her Rockstar album release on Nov. 17.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football will also feature music from Rockstar during select weeks this season. The collaboration began in week 3 of the schedule (Sept. 25) with “Night Moves,” featuring Chris Stapleton, and then continues in week 6 (Oct. 16) with “Heartbreaker” featuring Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

Following the album’s Nov. 17 release, Rockstar’s “Magic Man,” featuring Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese, and the album’s title track “Rockstar,” with special guest Richie Sambora, will be heard in select Monday Night Football games the remainder of the year.

“I am excited for ESPN to spotlight songs from my new Rockstar album,” says Parton. “When I decided to do a full-blown rock album after they put me in the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame, I thought it would be fun to call the album Rockstar. The athletes who give their all everyday are most definitely rock stars, and I love that these songs will be a small part of celebrating their achievements.”

Parton has also collaborated with The University of Tennessee Athletics Department for an exclusive Vols edition the much-anticipated album. The 2-CD set, available for pre-order now, will include a live version of Parton’s “Rocky Top.”

In a deal facilitated by IMG, leading game day apparel company LivyLu launched a co-branded merchandise collection with Parton and the UT Vols. The collection will be available via regional retail locations and online platforms.

“My East Tennessee roots run deep, and I am so proud to be partnering with the Vols on a line of merchandise,” says Parton. “I’ve performed ‘Rocky Top’ so many times live in my concerts through the years, and I know how much that song means to Vols fans. I am thrilled to have the chance to include my version of the song on a special edition of my new Rockstar album as part of this partnership.”

Parton has a long association with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 2009, she delivered the commencement speech to the graduating class, where she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters. In both 2011 and 2014, Parton brought her world tours to the campus arena.

Kacey Musgraves has a unveiled her new wax figure at Madame Tussauds Nashville.

Mirroring her outfit from the 2019 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Musgraves’ figure is dressed in a white lace jumpsuit and styled with a nose stud, gold rings, hoop earrings and heels. In an interactive experience, guests can perform a duet with Musgraves’ figure as they sing along to her most popular songs from her albums Same Trailer Different Park (2013), Pageant Material (2015), Golden Hour (2018) and Star-Crossed (2021).

The new figure took approximately six months to create by a team of 20 London-based artists. Madame Tussauds studio artists worked closely with Musgraves and her team of makeup artists and hairstylists to capture her exact measurements, hair color, eye color, skin tone and complexion.

“What an honor, I never even knew I wanted this to be a bucket list moment. You all did an amazing job,” expressed Musgraves to the Madame Tussauds team.

“As a country music icon, there is no better artist we’d like to welcome to the Madame Tussauds Nashville family than Kacey Musgraves,” says Monica Jackson, Marketing Manager, Madame Tussauds. “She is one of country music’s most beloved stars and we’re honored for guests to welcome and sing with her at our attraction.”

Madame Tussauds Nashville is celebrating the new figure at a special reveal VIP party tonight (Sept. 28) from 4-7 p.m., and fans can come check it out starting tomorrow (Sept. 29).

Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with writing and artist development partners, David Ray Stevens and Philip Mosley.

As a co-writer on his No. 1 hits “Son of a Sinner” and “Dead Man Walking,” Stevens works closely with Jelly Roll. He is a Nashville native has written multiple chart-topping songs including Jelly Roll’s “Bottle and Mary Jane” and “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson, which is nominated for Collaboration of the Year at tonight’s People’s Country Music Awards.

Working simultaneously from Nashville and Texas, Mosley is a songwriter and producer who has collaborated with a variety of artists including Chris Colston, Kolby Cooper, Blacktop Mojo and Dylan Wheeler.

BJ Hill, VP of A&R at Warner Chappell Music Nashville, shares, “D-Ray and Phil are incredible talents on their own, but together they are an unstoppable team. We’re looking forward to working on a lot of inspiring and successful projects with them.”