Joe Nichols has donated winnings of $125,000 from his appearance on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader to Missouri’s Camp Barnabas. The camp provides life-changing opportunities each summer for almost 1300 young people with special needs and chronic diseases. Nichols’ younger sister Kelli has been among the attendees over the past several years. According […]

Jason Aldean will donate all proceeds from his Oct. 15 show in Evansville, Ind. as part of his 5th Annual Concert For The Cure to benefit Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Ticket and donation information is available at www.jasonaldean.com. “Most of my long-time fans know that I had a really good friend die of […]

The Country Strong soundtrack will be out weeks before the movie hits theaters, and the tracklist reads like a who’s who of Nashville songwriters, producers and artists. (See below). Due out October 26 via Sony, the soundtrack includes many mainstream Nashville country stars, as well as songs from film stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett […]

The Grand Ole Opry returned to the Grand Ole Opry House last night (9/28) for the first time since the May floods ravaged the show’s longtime home. Nine-year Opry member Brad Paisley and 61-year Opry veteran Jimmy Dickens opened the show, singing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” while standing on the famed circle of wood […]

Martina McBride will join the Nashville Symphony to perform holiday favorites on Dec. 10. The “Home for the Holidays” concert will be at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena, while the symphony’s permanent home the Schermerhorn continues to undergo repairs from the May floods. On Saturday, November 27, Ben Folds and the Nashville Symphony will perform “Keys […]

Country music icon Loretta Lynn was showered with industry awards and heartfelt praise at a celebration marking her 50 years in country music on Friday (9/24) at her Hurricane Mills ranch outside Nashville. The Academy of Country Music, Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. and BMI each made award presentations during the invitation-only event billed as “A […]

Jamey Johnson recruited actor pal Matthew McConaughey to direct and star in the video for his latest single “Playing The Part.” The shoot took place last week at the famed Los Angeles intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Ave. The song is the lead single from Johnson’s double album, The Guitar Song, which debuted at […]

Influential and beloved music executive Frances Preston will be presented with the Mentor Award during the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony on October 17. “Frances is the consummate mentor,” said Roger Murrah, Chairman of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation. “She has mentored an industry of dreamers and professionals. The […]

Starting Oct. 4, fans can hear one new track per week from Taylor Swift’s upcoming Speak Now release. The star’s label home Big Machine has partnered with iTunes, Comcast, XfinityTV.com and E! News Daily to debut songs for the three weeks leading up to the album’s Oct. 25 street date. On Mondays starting Oct. 4, […]

SESAC hosted a “Give + Love” blood drive and spare change/canned food donation event for the American Red Cross and Second Harvest Food Bank at its Nashville headquarters. A steady stream of artists, songwriters and Music Row personnel stopped by to lend a hand with donations. The event, which was sponsored by Urban Flats, Provence […]

Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson and special guest John Rich will headline a concert at Nashville’s newest outdoor concert venue, The Woods at Fontanel, on Sunday, Oct. 24. “This is the kind of star-studded event we built The Woods for,” said Marc Oswald, who co-owns the venue with fellow superstar manager Dale Morris. “It’s outdoors, it’s […]

James “Jim” A. King has joined BMI as Senior Vice President of Business Technology. From his base in the Nashville office he will be responsible for technology, operations, and product development, including Landmark Digital Services group. King was most recently with United Business Media, PR Newswire, where he was Senior Vice President, Audience Platforms, and […]

Social media has become a staple in the artist development/exposure toolkit, especially for country music. Howard and David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers harnessed the power of YouTube to promote the duo’s somewhat controversial “Jalapenos” video which has now garnered over 1 million user views. “I am truly amazed we have had over a million […]

IEBA (International Entertainment Buyers Association) has added to the eclectic lineup of the IEBA 40th Anniversary Conference scheduled for October 3-5, at the Hilton Suites in downtown Nashville. On Monday Oct. 4, attendees will be treated to a performance by Kevin Costner and his band Modern West at 10:45 am in the main ballroom of […]

The Country Music Hall of Fame presented its second All For The Hall Los Angeles fundraiser on Sept 23. The sold out event at Club Nokia featured a diverse group of artists ranging from young Taylor Swift to legendary singer-songwriters such as Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Lionel Richie and Vince Gill. Performances lasted over two […]

The Academy of Country Music and ACM Lifting Lives has announced new officers for each organizations’ separate Board of Directors for their 2010-2011 term, following elections held last week. Newly elected Officers for the Academy of Country Music include: Chairman of the Board – Bill Mayne, Country Radio Broadcasters President – Sarah Trahern, Great American […]