Underwood’s CMT Special Airs Tonight

CMT will premiere Carrie Underwood: Invitation Only tonight at 8 pm CT. Taped before a small audience in Nashville’s Studio A, the special will feature Underwood performing her hits and music from her new album Play On, as well as candidly answering questions from fans. In other Underwood news, our web calendar had previously listed […]

Toby Keith Concludes Sold-Out European Tour

Toby Keith recently wrapped his first European tour, which included a two week sold-out run of nine shows in six countries. Keith opened the tour in Glasgow, Scotland Nov. 9 before playing London’s Hammersmith Apollo (Nov. 10), Dublin’s Olympia Theater (Nov. 12), Belfast’s Odyssey Arena (Nov. 13) and jumping across the North Sea for shows […]

GE Sale Of NBC To Comcast Likely

A deal between General Electric and Comcast to sell TV network NBC Universal to Comcast moved a step closer to reality yesterday amid reports of a key agreement between G.E. and Vivendi, essential to complete the sale. G.E. has offered to buy Vivendi’s 20% stake in NBC Universal for a reported $5.8 billion. Vivendi had […]

FBMM’s John McCarthy To Retire

After 41 years in business, CPA John McCarthy has announced plans to retire from Flood, Bumstead, McCready and McCarthy, Inc. (FBMM) effective December 31, 2009. He will continue to work as a CPA on a limited independent basis. McCarthy has spent 41 years in the financial management business specializing in tax, audit and financial management […]

Photos: Currington On Parade; Stars Visit Children’s Hospital

Tidbits: Valory Signing, Green Leaving ASCAP

Valory’s newest artists and CMT Can You Duet finalists JB Rocket recently spent time getting to know the Valory promotion staff. New music from the band, made up of Jonathan Cox and Brandon Green, is due next year. Pictured (l-r): Chris Loss, Brooke Yancey, Miranda Williams, Jon Loba, George Briner, JoJamie Hahr, JB Rocket’s Jonathan […]

Songs Score Big With Soundtracks: “The Climb,” “Southern Voice”

Songwriters Jessi Alexander and Jon Mabe had stellar success with their song “The Climb,” which spent an amazing 15 weeks at #1 on Billboard‘s AC Chart. As the lead single from Hannah Montana: The Movie, “The Climb” was also voted Best Song from a Movie at the 2009 MTV Music Awards. It was published by […]

Country On Oprah’s Christmas Show Today

Sugarland and Tim McGraw are among the superstars set for Oprah’s Holiday Music Extravaganza, airing today Monday, November 30. The episode focuses on duets, pairing Sugarland with Oscar winning actress, Jennifer Hudson for a Christmas standard. Sugarland is promoting their new holiday album Gold And Green. McGraw will sing the John Lennon classic “Happy Christmas” […]

Susan Boyle Sales Boiling

Thanksgiving record sales are primed to set some records this year. British Idol sensation Susan Boyle, based upon early results for the week is expected to sell from 625-675k units for the week ended 11/29 according to Hits Daily Double advance estimates. This would place I Dreamed A Dream as the largest first week debut […]

Urban Down Under: Awards Show, Tour

Keith Urban opened Australia’s Aria Awards over the weekend with a performance of his hit “Kiss A Girl.” Next up he launches his “Escape Together World Tour” in Melbourne, Australia on Dec. 11. The entire production set-up used on the U.S. leg of the tour—two stages, lighting, video screens, etc.—will make its way across the […]

Leadership Music Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Leadership Music will host a 20th Anniversary celebration open exclusively to Leadership Music alumni. The event is set for Tues., Dec. 1, at the Hutton Hotel in downtown Nashville (1808 West End Avenue) and begins at 5 p.m. in the Vista Ballroom. According to Jim Ed Norman, Nashville executive and a founding member of the […]

Nashville Acts Join For Benefit Concert

On Wednesday, December 2 at 7:30 PM, many of Nashville’s country and pop artists will perform at the Mercy Lounge to raise funds and awareness for the Global Food Crisis Fund. Scheduled to appear include Leigh Nash, Carter’s Chord, Julie Roberts, Bryan White, Blaine Larsen, Rob Blackledge, Mica Roberts, Trailer Choir, Natalie Hemby, and more. […]

BMI Promotes Jessica Frost

BMI has promoted Jessica Frost to Director, Business Development/Licensing. Based in the organization’s Nashville office, Frost began working for BMI in 1999 as a Customer Relations Executive. She was promoted to Account Representative in 2000, and then was named Account Executive in 2001. She became Assistant Manager, Industry Development in 2003, and was promoted again […]

Messina Adds 2nd Show For Holiday Concert

Jo Dee Messina has announced the addition of a second Nashville show for a special holiday concert on Sat. Dec. 5 at the Brentwood United Methodist Church. All proceeds from the performances will go to Harvest Hands Community Development Corp. Tickets are being distributed for free in advance with fans being asked to make a […]

Hot Duos: Joey and Rory, Burns and Poe

Husband and wife duo Joey+Rory have been touring in Scotland and Ireland in recent weeks. The duo’s new single, “It’s Christmas Time,” is available digitally. They are also promoting Merry Kidmas, a children’s album co-produced by Rory Feek and created by The Song Trust. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to charity. ———— […]

Artists Thank Troops: Lee Ann Womack and More

Lee Ann Womack was in Hawaii last week to visit with Wounded Warriors and perform for troops and their families at Schofield Barracks. Visiting the island of Oahu as part of “A Tropic Homecoming,” sponsored by the USO, Womack welcomed home more than 3,500 troops returning from a year-long deployment in Iraq. Keni Thomas, Mark […]

Lawrence’s Turkey Fry

Tracy Lawrence will again host his annual Mission Possible Turkey Fry, today, Nov. 24, to raise money, generate awareness and provide food for the Nashville Rescue Mission. Now in its fourth year, the pre-Thanksgiving event is open to the public. Lawrence will be joined by other artists such as Brad Arnold, Ash Bowers, Burns & […]

FlySongs Forms To Connect Songs With Film/TV

FlySongs will specialize in the music of Texas, Tennessee and Louisiana and represent it to the film and television industry. The new company will actively seek to place compositions in movies, television specials, soundtracks, primetime and cable series, video releases, and commercials. “We have spent our energies developing deep production and film industry contacts,” says company […]

Ray Bruce To Sharp Objects

Nashville-based Sharp Objects, a song plugging and artist development company has added Ray Bruce to its marketing and promotions department. Bruce’s new title will be Creative Director/Special Projects Coordinator and he will report to company CEO Steven Sharp. Chief among Bruce’s new responsibilities will be to represent the Sharp Objects song catalog and secure cuts. […]

Combustion Promotes Chris Van Belkom

Combustion Music has promoted Chris Van Belkom to Sr. Creative Director. He previously served as Creative Director and has spent five years with the publisher, helping oversee the careers of songwriters including Blair Daly, Ashley Gorley and Gordie Sampson, as well as local major label rockers Kings Of Leon and American Bang, and duo Sam […]

Lifenotes: Dene Hallam

Lifelong radio man Dene Hallam is being mourned by friends in the industry following his death on Friday night (11/20) following a brief illness. The veteran programmer was currently working as PD for the Moby In The Morning show in Atlanta. Hallam had been in radio since the 1970s, and through the decades earned the […]

Gloriana Scores AMA Breakthrough

Gloriana dazzled odds makers Sunday night (11/22) when the group won the fan-voted T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2009 American Music Awards. The honor was decided by fans who were encouraged to text vote right until the end of the show. Other nominees in the category were Lady GaGa, Keri Hilson and Kid Cudi. […]

Sound And Speed Returns To Music City

Sound & Speed returns to Nashville Jan. 8-9, and tickets are now available at ticketmaster.com and opry.com and www.soundandspeed.org. This year’s fifth annual event, hosted by Sprint and presented by SunTrust will include two nights of music. On Fri. Jan. 8, some of country’s hottest acts will fire up the Ryman Auditorium stage with two […]

XL Video: New Nashville Shop For Tour Planning

From the Nashville Post: One of his hands is already in The Claw. With the other, Ken Gay is out to grab a hold of Nashville’s concert scene. Gay is the general manager of the XL Video Nashville, the local outpost of a global player in the lighting of bright and glitzy events that range […]

Jimmy Wayne Webchat; Dolly Opens Nashville Store

It’s release day for Jimmy Wayne who is back with his Valory Music Co. album Sara Smile. To mark the occasion he’s hosting a live Ustream video chat with fans tonight beginning at 7 PM/CT which will include an acoustic set and will be accessible via his MySpace, Facebook and Twitter pages as well as […]

Sony Adds Uhlir To Marketing Department

Ray Uhlir joins Sony Music Nashville as Senior Director, Marketing and Artist Development, reporting directly to Marketing VP Tom Baldrica. Uhlir most recently served as VP of Brand Licensing for Gibson Guitar. Baldrica, who made the announcement commented, “Ray is a marketing leader with proven experience and demonstrated marketing success. His tremendous skills and his unique […]

Hall of Fame To Salute Bill Anderson

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will honor Hall inductee Bill Anderson on December 12 as part of its quarterly programming series Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters. The 1:30 p.m. program, which will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater, is included with admission and free to members. The event will include […]

Lance Smith And CMT Part Ways

After more than eight years on CMT, host Lance Smith is leaving the network to focus on his acting career. Smith joined CMT in 2001 as the network’s first VJ and went on to host over 400 episodes of the CMT Top 20 Countdown. He has logged countless hours on camera and hosted dozens of […]

Griggs Suffer Devastating House Fire

Country singer Andy Griggs and his family lost their home in a devastating fire this past Saturday. Thankfully, they all escaped without harm, but sadly, the house is being called a total loss. An official statement released by publicist Vanessa Davis says, “Andy and his family are strong in their spiritual faith and they are […]

AMA Photos, Swift Big Winner

Taylor Swift was the top winner at last night’s American Music Awards, receiving five trophies at the all-genre fan-voted show. Country as a whole was well-represented at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, snagging several awards as well as performances by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Gloriana lovers voted via text to give them the […]

Miss Doris Kidnapping Monopolizing News

[sent 11/23; 2:22 pm] We are YeHawd – an army fighting for the common good of our people. Yes, the ransom was $5,000,000. But Monopoly money is unacceptable!  We want cash!  We want portraits of  your presidents!!  We want greenbacks!! Bucks!! Let’s try this again!  Thanksgiving Day. Brown paper bag. Loading dock of old Sony […]

Adam Fisher

“He sings splendidly. The throaty warmth in his delivery really sells this nostalgic look back at a rural youth. Heartily and unconditionally recommended. Spin this a-plenty.” —Robert K. Oermann, MusicRow Reared in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Adam Fisher was first exposed to music via his gospel singing parents. Now a Nashville resident, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter’s sound […]

City Paper: Judge Dismisses All Charges Against John Rich

General Sessions Judge Aaron Holt has dismissed the harassment and assault charges filed against country singer John Rich. “I’m relived the story is now out there accurately. It’s a good feeling,” Rich said after Friday’s hearing. CLICK HERE to read more…

Upcoming Releases from Gokey and Tomlinson

Trent Tomlinson is set to release a three song digital exclusive EP, A Guy Like Me, on Nov. 23 at all online music stores. The project features previously unreleased tracks “That’s How It Still Ought To Be” and “Henry Cartwright’s Produce Stand,” plus Tomlinson’s single, “Angels Like Her.” ••••• American Idol Season Eight finalist and […]

Country at Sunday’s American Music Awards

Fans will see a lot of country faces on Sunday’s (11/22) 2009 American Music Awards, taking place at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The show starts at 7 PM/CT on ABC with Taylor Swift leading the nominations with six nods. Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban scored performance slots on the show. Swift is up […]

Sony’s Waugh Announces Retirement

[Press Release] NASHVILLE, TN – To earn the right to be called a “music man” or a “record man” has always been a proud distinction in the business of music, and in a 37-year career, Sony Music Nashville Executive Vice President Butch Waugh has earned that privilege and much more. Now, after devoting the past […]

Briefs: ZBB/Buffett “Crossroads”; Ride Records Hiring

Known for his high-energy sold-out shows, beach inspired tropical tunes and devoted and enthusiastic fans, singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett will share the stage with this year’s breakout artist known for its Southern Rock and dynamic stage show, the Zac Brown Band. They team up for the latest episode of the critically-acclaimed CMT Crossroads series. The show […]

UMGN Inks Josh Kelley

Musician Josh Kelley is working on a country project through his new deal with Universal Music Group Nashville. Kelley signed with the label in September and is currently in the studio recording an album slated for release in 2010. Formerly a pop/rock artist, Kelley is a one-time Music City resident who has returned to Nashville. […]

Updated: Kidnappers’ Demands

[UPDATED 11/19] Subject: Miss Doris: Our demands We are YeHawd – an army fighting for the common good of our people. She talks so much we have been force to gag her. We don’t care how much she misses talking to people when they wait for the elevator. We don’t care how long she has […]

ACM Brings Stars To Rodeo, Gets Visit From Gokey

For the fourth consecutive year, the Academy of Country Music will host a stage at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. A mix of rising talent and stars will perform at the event, which opens Dec. 3 with Heidi Newfield and closes Dec. 12 with Joe Nichols. The Academy of Country Music Stage […]

Kix Plays Tootsie’s; Band Perry Opry Debut

Famed honky-tonk Tootsie’s scored an impromptu performance by Kix Brooks on Tuesday night (11/17). While a few nights earlier, next door at the Ryman Auditorium, up-and-comers The Band Perry made their Opry debut.

Stephen Allen Davis, Mark Brown Start Publishing Co.

Longtime Music Row publisher Mark Brown and songwriter Stephen Allen Davis recently stopped by BMI to affiliate their new publishing venture, Molet Music. While the two were in the organization’s Music Row offices, BMI’s Jody Williams surprised the Grammy-nominated Davis with a Million-Air certificate recognizing more than 3 million performances of his composition “Stand Beside […]

Video Sites: Vevo Launching, Hulu Expanding

Music video site Vevo has set a Dec. 8 launch date, while the already popular Hulu, which offers mostly films and TV shows, is gearing up to become a music destination. Vevo has Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group on board, with YouTube powering the back-end video technology. A launch party will be held […]

Superstar Strait Tour With Lee Ann Womack And Reba

The upcoming George Strait tour will be a huge outing, with Lee Ann Womack just added to the dates, alongside previously announced superstar Reba McEntire. The arena tour kicks off in early 2010 and continues through late Spring. On the schedule are more than 20 nationwide dates, starting in late January, and going through April. […]

File Sharing Harms Paid Music Purchases

Some observers believe that music file sharing can fuel paid purchases because it exposes listeners to new music they might not have heard otherwise. To test this theory, Jupiter Research surveyed 5000 European consumers to see how illegal trading affects music spending and found that the overall impact of file sharing is negative. The results […]

Clay Walker Helms Soundtrack For Flick Ft. Lee Ann Womack

New movie Noble Things features an appearance by Lee Ann Womack and a Clay Walker-produced soundtrack with offerings from numerous Country artists. The film opened in select theaters Oct. 30 and the soundtrack is available via iTunes and other digital outlets. Walker’s EL Music released the soundtrack which contains 14 never before heard songs from […]

Jeff Walker, Gail Davies–Int’l Country Ambassadors

AristoMedia Group President and CMA board member Jeff Walker, and singer, songwriter and producer Gail Davies were honored with the 2009 International Country Music Ambassador Awards last week during events surrounding the CMA Awards. Davies received her award from Brazilian Country artist Rodrigo Haddad, and Walker received his award from international Country music promoter Judy […]

Hall of Fame Salutes Mary Martin

Last night (11/17) the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum presented an in-depth interview with visionary music industry executive Mary Martin. The program was the 2009 installment of the Museum’s Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum, made possible by the Gibson Foundation. Martin spoke with host Jay Orr for nearly two hours, sharing highlights of her […]

Chesney 3D Movie Trailer Out Today

The trailer for Kenny Chesney’s upcoming 3D concert movie hits the Web today (11/18). Fans can get a preview of Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3-D at Noon PT at Moviefone, AOL Music, The Boot and KennyChesney.com. The 3-D movie is slated for national theater release in April 2010 via Sony Pictures Entertainment’s The Hot Ticket. […]

ACM Announces Additions to Board of Directors

The Academy of Country Music has announced its new board of directors for 2010 in six categories elected by the Academy members. Director-at-large positions have also been named by Chairman John Grady, President Bill Mayne and Vice President Sarah Trahern. Each director serves staggered two-year terms, with half the board membership changing each year. Additionally, […]