17 Music Entertainment’s Matt Gary continues building his team and has signed with veteran agent Tony Conway’s Conway Entertainment Group for exclusive touring representation. Under the Conway Entertainment Group umbrella (which encompasses management, a full-service talent agency, touring and live event production company), Gary joins Lorrie Morgan, LoCash Cowboys, Flynnville Train, Mandy Barnett, The Cleverlys, […]

Some of country music’s biggest stars and more than 8,800 fans packed the Grand Ole Opry House Saturday night (10/9) to celebrate the Opry’s 85th Birthday. Among the many artists marking the occasion were Trace Adkins, Roy Clark, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift. A giant cake was brought onstage for the event, which occurred days […]

Artists are always looking for ways to do more with less and often rely on technology to help accomplish that goal. However, when thinking Bee Productions was challenged by artist Lauren Rainey to shoot a video for her song “Crazy In Love,” using only an HTC 4G EVO cell and natural lighting, it seemed like […]

The first group of performers for the ReTune Nashville Benefit Concert and Art Auction Event have been announced. Warner Bros. Jeremy Lister, Anthony Smith, Eddy Raven and Kentucky Thunder, Jonell Mosser, Etta Britt, Sheila Lawrence and Vickie Carrico will perform at the Oct. 23 event at Nashville’s Soundcheck. The event will help raise money for Nashville’s uninsured musicians affected […]

Toby Keith headlines CMT’s Invitation Only Oct. 8. In this one-hour special, Keith performs songs from his new album which hit stores this past Tuesday, including the title track “Bullets In the Gun,” plus opens up during a question and answer session. The 2nd Annual Martha’s Vineyard Songwriters Festival, hosted by BMI, was held Sept. […]

Katie Armiger is set to perform on The Early Show on CBS Saturday, October 9 to support the release of her new album Confessions of a Nice Girl. Armiger will perform a song from the album, as well as one of John Lennon’s songs as a special tribute to the artist on what would have […]

CMT has announced its first ever Artists of the Year, with a 90-minute special set to premiere December 3. The program will honor stars Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and the Zac Brown Band. Honorees were selected based on sales, radio airplay, concert grosses, and activity on CMT.com. The special is scheduled […]

The Tennessean and Nashville Post are reporting that Taylor Swift has won a court case filed against 16 individuals accused of violating Swift’s trademark by selling counterfeit merchandise. A federal judge in Nashville has granted a default judgment barring those individuals from making or selling Taylor Swift merchandise. The civil lawsuit claimed that Swift’s merchandise […]

Sales stats for Kenny Chesney’s latest album show the superstar continuing his hot streak. Hemingway’s Whiskey moved 183,000 units its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This is more than double the debut week sales of his last project, Greatest Hits II, and also outpaces the first week sales of his 2008 Lucky Old Sun […]

Dierks Bentley stopped by the CMT studios recently to catch up with Top 20 Countdown host, Evan Farmer. The two chatted about the success of Bentley’s bluegrass album, Up on the Ridge, as well as his involvement with the “Miles & Music for Kids” celebrity motorcycle ride, which he will host in Nashville October 17. […]

Keith Urban led a stellar We’re All For The Hall benefit last night (10/5) in Nashville. Joined for most of the show by Vince Gill in his signature Predators jersey, the pair and their A-list band backed a slew of performers ranging from Alison Krauss to John Mayer. The concert was Urban’s second annual fundraiser […]

•••The Big 98 Guitar-B-Que happens tomorrow night (10/6) in front of Losers Bar at the end of Music Row. The free end-of-summer bash will shut down Division St. for performances by Randy Rogers Band, Thompson Square, David Nail, Chris Young, Jake Owen and Uncle Kracker. •••Also tomorrow, SOLID presents Writers in the Round at the […]

Nancy Russell has re-launched her management and entertainment company as the co-op. Initial clients for the co-op include Alan Jackson and Loretta Lynn. Joining the team are longtime publicist Judy McDonough (judy@co-opmailbox.com), Renee Aly (renee@co-opmailbox.com) and Jaimie Ellis (jaimie@co-opmailbox.com). The company’s offices are at 1510 16th Ave South, Nashville, TN 37212; the phone number for […]

Toronto based Sysomos, which describes itself as the leading provider of social media monitoring and analytics, powered by patent-pending technology, has released some interesting Twitter research about retweets and replies. Sysomos examined a sample of 1.2 billion tweets to find out how many of them actually entice a reaction. According to the report, 29% of […]

James Otto performed at the California’s AIDS Walk fundraiser on Sunday, September 26 at Los Angeles’ famed Greek Theatre. He played in a songwriter round with fellow Nashvillians Deana Carter and Billy Dean. •••••••••••• Craig Campbell made his first music video recently. The video for his single, “Family Man,” was shot in Nashville by Shaun […]

Steve Azar’s latest video “Sunshine” is breaking through hitting No. 8 recently on GAC and CMT countdown shows. The video was shot using hand hand-held cameras at night to give it an intimate and edgy feel. While it was filmed primarily at various locations in downtown Nashville, they were careful not to shoot any of the city’s […]

Reprise is planning the Nov. 9 release of a Blake Shelton greatest hits package. It will be the artist’s third offering this year, following two Six Pak collections built around recent hits “Hillbilly Bone” and “All About Tonight.” LOADED: The Best of Blake Shelton is his first greatest hits release and includes all seven of […]

Two-time IBMA Entertainers of the Year The Grascals have parted ways with Rounder Records, the label that has been instrumental in the group’s success since 2004. The parting is amicable, according to The Grascals’ manager, Kirt Webster. “It was simply time for a change, and both parties realized that. We have nothing but respect for […]