Women in Music will mark its 40th anniversary next month with a three-day virtual summit keynoted by Nashville power manager Martha Earls, who reps Kane Brown, Restless Road and Dylan Schneider under her Neon Coast management shingle.
The summit, which is slated for 1/15-17, will consist of workshops, panels and breakout sessions and will concentrate on a different goal each day. Day one is dubbed “educate,” day two, “empower" and day three, “advance.” Earls will deliver her keynote on the last day, which will spotlight recruiting, networking and job search.
WIM members can attend for free, while non-members can purchase tickets for $100, with a special rate of $10 for students.
Nicole Barsalona, President of Women in Music, said “We are delighted to kick off our 40th year in service to the music industry with our fourth annual WIM Summit. Our goal is to create a transformative experience where attendees make meaningful connections, build their network and safety net, feel empowered in their leadership, and equipped to navigate and shape the future of our industry.”
Little Big Town’s 25th anniversary celebration hit its highest gear yet with a celebration at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where they accepted a plaque marking that silver milestone as well as sales of 29m RIAA certified units.
The Sandbox Entertainment-repped quartet, which released its first holiday album, The Christmas Record, via Capitol/UMG Nashville on 10/4, will bring the seasonal spirit to NBC tonight (12/16) with Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry, airing at 8pm ET/PT and streaming on Peacock tomorrow (12/17). Guests on the special include Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Sheryl Crow, Kirk Franklin, Josh Groban, Kate Hudson and Orville Peck.
It's beginning to look a lot like HITS wasn’t invited to another cool holiday soiree.
Pictured (l-r): Lori Christian (UMG Nashville), Jackie Jones (RIAA), Jimi Westbrook, Michele Ballantyne (RIAA), Karen Fairchild, Rob Femia (UMG Nashville), Kimberly Schlapman, Cindy Mabe (UMG Nashville), Phillip Sweet, Jake Basden (Sandbox Entertainment)
Brad and Kimberly Williams-Paisley spread Christmas cheer in Nashville from 12/14-15 at their annual holiday charity pop-up, The Store.
More than 800 children were given 4,000 toys donated by the First Responders Children’s Foundation and the local community. Additional sponsors helped with countless rolls of wrapping paper, tape, bows, décor, food and other supplies. The UMG Nashville star and his wife issued thanks to Edward Jones, American Paint, Belmont University, Esa, Family Wellbeing Project, Flashing Stars Photobooth, Gibson Gives, NCL, Playdate Restaurant & Funbar, Project Redesign and TriStar Centennial Medical Center for their help in making the season bright.
The store’s efforts will continue with outreach in distributing food to families in need this holiday season. The Store is currently scouting out a second location for that project.
Nashville’s Women’s Music Business Association marked it 25th Anniversary of uniting and celebrating Music City’s women on 12/2 at its 2024 Wonder Woman Awards ceremony.
The gala, held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, bestowed honors on a wide array of Nashville’s finest, including Rachel Rodriguez, performer/songwriter and CEO at RR Productions, who earned the 2024 Wonder Woman Award.
The evening’s other honorees included Katie Sundra, Lisa Smoot, Nikki Deaton, Rachel Mangan, Kelsey Roche and Aimee Graham.
"This year's WMBA Wonder Woman Awards was an extraordinary event acknowledging not only our members and their accomplishments, but also celebrating our 25th year of doing so," said Amery Fridenstine, chairwoman of the board. "Recognizing the influence of these incredible women in the industry alongside our current members and alumni in such an iconic space as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum made our 25th that much more special!”
Pictured: Rachel Rodriguez
During an advance listen of forthcoming new music from Brothers Osborne, UMG Nashville and Q Prime staff surprised the Grammy-winning duo with two plaques, commemorating their 2016 debut album Pawn Shop earning RIAA platinum certification and chart-topping single “Stay a Little Longer” becoming 3X platinum.
The pair is currently up for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 67th Grammys with “Break Mine,” from their 2024 EP of the same name. Previously winning in this category, they took home their first Grammy in 2022 with “Younger Me” and have scored 13 total noms.
Seven-time CMA Award winners, they have also tallied seven ACM Awards and notched multiple RIAA gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications, all while surpassing 3b career streams.
Pictured actively ignoring our calls are (l-r) TJ Osborne, UMG Nashville’s Lori Christian, Q Prime’s John Peets, UMG Nashville’s Rob Femia, John Osborne and Q Prime’s Randi Tolbert.
Photo Credit: Chris Hollo
Lainey Wilson put an exclamation point on a great 2024 by renewing her longtime deal with Sony Music Publishing Nashville.
The CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year winner, who took home her first-ever Best Country Album Grammy in 2024 for Bell Bottom Country and got a 2025 nomination in that category for the Broken Bow release Whirlwind, has been with the pubbery since 2017.
Wilson said, “I couldn’t be happier to continue my partnership with Sony Music Publishing. I’ll always be a songwriter first and I appreciate having such a supportive team that agrees it all starts with the songs."
SMP Nashville VP creative Anna Weisband added, “Lainey Wilson is one of the most inspiring songwriters the world has ever known. She is continuing to redefine the country music genre with every song she writes.”
Brenda Lee’s halls have been decked with a slew of certifications and plaques from the RIAA and Spotify – all in honor of her enduring holiday classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
The RIAA presented Lee with a 7x platinum cert for the song – the second highest cerfified Christmas title—song or album—in the organization’s history. Spotify, meanwhile, celebrated Lee for reaching 1b streams of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” the only holiday song by a female country artist to enter the streamer’s Billions Club. The song also stands at #1 on Spotify’s Top 50 US chart.
The UMG Nashville singer, who’ll celebrate her 80th birthday on 12/11, was also honored last week by Tennessee governor Bill Lee and Nashville-area state representative Jason Powell, who issued a proclamation naming the 1958 classic the state’s official holiday song.
Pictured (l-r): Spotify’s Gemma McInturff, Tim Foisset, Rachel Whitney. Brenda Lee.UMGN’s Cindy Mabe, Tatiana Angulo, Vipin Reddy, Derek Anderson
Mercury Nashville’s The War and Treaty have revealed their fourth full-length album, Plus One, will arrive 2/14. “Carried Away” serves as the project’s latest offering, which is featured alongside previously released songs "Can I Get an Amen," "Call You by Your Name," "Stealing a Kiss" and "Leads Me Home."
On top of the 18-track set, which follows their 2023 Grammy-nominated Lover’s Game, the husband-and-wife duo also announced The Plus One Tour. Hitting 30+ U.S. cities, the trek kicks off 3/26 and will hit venues like NYC’s Irving Plaza, DC’s The Howard Theatre, L.A.’s The Troubadour, plus more before wrapping on 6/19 in Bristol, TN. General ticket on-sale begins 12/13 at 10AM local time.
Mainly produced by Michael, Plus One features a singular sound with elements of gospel, bluegrass, contemporary country, classic soul, symphonic pop, folk-rock and more. Enlisting their longtime live band, the project was also partly made in collaboration with producers like Jonathan Singleton (Luke Combs, Chase Rice), John Shanks (Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow) and Jesse Frasure (Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini).
“We see this record as an open invitation to be a part of what we’re doing—it came from wanting to be the hope we believe people need right now, as well as the hope that we need for ourselves,” said Tanya Trotter.
“One of our main intentions with this album is to inspire people to share themselves with others, and open themselves up to the possibility of being loved,” adds Michael Trotter Jr.
Pre-save Plus One here and find more info on the tour here.
