Staffers at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum have been busy preparing for big events this month featuring Ray Stevens and songwriters Kent Blazy and Cory Batten—all in the midst of an exciting revamp of its permanent exhibit. The Hall will salute Ray Stevens on Saturday, April 24, as part of its Nashville […]
Taylor Swift and Reba excited fans with big surprises at their respective tour stops last week. Swift welcomed the 1 millionth fan to her Fearless Tour Thursday (4/1) at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. College student Rachel was attending her third Swift show when she was surprised at her seat and notified she […]
A few highlights from Tin Pan South’s Thursday (4/1), Friday (4/2) and Saturday night shows. Thursday: BMI offered a stout lineup of storytelling guitar-slingers as part of the annual Tin Pan South songwriters’ festival. A deep crowd filled the Rutledge as Big Al Anderson, Shawn Camp and Pat McLaughlin delivered an acoustic set of originals […]
Amy Grant released her first new album in six years last week (3/30). Somewhere Down the Road, out on EMI/Sparrow, reached No. 1 on the iTunes Christian & Gospel iTunes chart; SoundScan numbers will be out this week. Her first radio single since 2003, “Better Than A Hallelujah,” is already climbing the charts and being […]
Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum and Sugarland scored four first-round nominations each to lead the pack for the 2010 CMT Music Awards. Garnering three each were Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band. Beginning today, Monday, April 5 at 11:00 a.m., ET, fans can vote on CMT.com for […]
Troy Tomlinson, President/CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville, has announced the promotion of Abbey Burkhalter to Creative Director. Formerly Creative Manager, Burkhalter joined Sony/ATV in February 2006. In the past four years, she has been responsible for a significant number of major recordings and singles, and has played an integral role as liaison between Sony/ATV’s Nashville roster and the publishing company’s Los Angeles and New […]
BMI President & CEO Del Bryant today (4/5) announced a new alignment in the company’s senior management team, with elevated responsibilities for Nashville based Bruce Esworthy, and New York based Richard Conlon and Michael O’Neill. BMI Chief Financial Officer Esworthy adds new duties as Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration, overseeing Human Resources and Facilities […]
Currington’s Sophomore CD Goes Gold Billy Currington’s Little Bit Of Everything CD, produced by Currington and Carson Chamberlain, was awarded RIAA Gold Certification yesterday, marking sales exceeding 500k units. Amongst his peers gathered at ASCAP and BMI, Currington also received honors for single “That’s How Country Boys Roll”, which climbed to No. 1 earlier this […]
Social commerce network Moontoast.com has announced the launch of an auction that will partner the website with Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill to benefit the charity Challenge America, a national initiative to provide support to our country’s returning wounded military. Moontoast, a site which connects Guides (“those who know”) and Explorers (“those […]
A memorial service will be held tomorrow, Saturday, April 3, for Pirates of the Mississippi’s Dean Townson. Townson died at age 50 on March 25. Kenneth Dean Townson was the bass player and harmony singer for the Pirates from 1990 to 1995. He sang on all of the group’s hits, including 1991’s “Feed Jake.” He […]