Goldenvoice has tapped Amazon Music as the exclusive streaming destination for the Stagecoach Festival taking place at the T-Mobile Mane Stage in Indio, California on 4/28-30. Sponsored by T-Mobile, Magnum Ice Cream and SoFi, the livestream will be available on the Amazon Music channel via Twitch and Prime Video beginning at 3pm PT.
Ahead of the festival, fans can expect to hear new Amazon Original songs on Amazon Music from a roster of country artists, including BRELAND and Luke Grimes who will perform new Amazon Original songs during the event. Other exclusive content includes live interviews with Country Heat Weekly hosts Kelly Sutton and Amber Anderson.
An Amazon Music Live lounge, located in the vendor area, will provide a little respite from the desert heat with air-conditioning and charging stations. Fans can customize their own immersive photo-capture moment with friends and sign-up for exclusive merchandise drops throughout the weekend. Other opportunities for a break from the festival madness includes a makeshift Dutton Ranch from Paramount Network’s Yellowstone where fans can kick back in the shade. We, on the other hand, will likely just be kicked by any number of people who can't stand us.
This year's Stagecoach Festival boasts headlining performances by Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton. Find the full lineup here.
It was a packed house for Warner Nashville artist BRELAND’s second annual “BRELAND & Friends” benefit concert at Nashville’s’ legendary Ryman Auditorium. The star-studded event raised $140k+ for Nashville-based Oasis Center, which provides support services to young people in crisis.
The “friends” portion of the evening’s entertainment included performances from Alana Springsteen (pictured at top with BRELAND), Ashley Cooke, Danielle Bradbery, Ingrid Andress, K. Michelle, Lecrae, Nate Smith, Temecula Road, Tenille Townes, Tyler Hubbard, X Ambassadors, Sam Hunt and Keith Urban (pictured below).
"For What It's Worth," BRELAND's current single at Country radio, was recently remixed with Alana Springsteen, and the two teamed up to perform the track on the Ryman stage. Sam Hunt closed out the show with his and BRELAND's viral platinum smash "My Truck."
BRELAND has some high-profile appearances on the horizon, including Stagecoach, Gulf Coast Jam, Country Fest, Boots and Hearts Music Festival and a supporting slot on Shania Twain’s QUEEN OF ME TOUR.
The Why&How-repped singer hits the road on 4/13 with Walker Hayes on his DUCK BUCK TOUR and we can report that muttering “Duck-Buck-Duck-Buck-Duck Buck” under your breath all morning is wildly entertaining. Eventually, though, your co-worker will pelt you with a half-eaten Hot Pocket to get you to stop.
See BRELAND's full list of tour dates here.
Photos: Catherine Powell/Getty Images
ONErpm Nashville has signed burgeoning country artist and modern-day traditionalist William Michael Morgan, who’ll be releasing a Keith Stegall–produced EP later this year. Morgan earned a #1 single in 2016 with “I Met a Girl,” which was ultimately certified gold. The song helped Morgan secure a Top 5 placement on the Country Albums chart for his debut album Vinyl. Since then, the Mississippi native has been touring the country and releasing music that remains true to his Vicksburg roots.
“It is an honor to be teaming up with ONErpm,” Morgan said. “Tim Wipperman, Ryan Cunningham and the team there really believe in the kind of music we are making.”
He added his new music “is something I’ve been working toward my whole career. All the ups and downs, the growth and learning—you can hear it all in this new music, the majority of which I have written as a result of my own life lessons.”
Cunningham, ONErpm's A&R director of country music, noted, “William Michael Morgan has had an amazing career so far. We believe in him as an artist, and we’re excited to see how high he can climb with this new music.”
Morgan, who’s already amassed more than 100m on-demand streams, is managed by Joe Carter and Mike Taliaferro of Carter and Company, while booking is handled by The Kinkead Entertainment Agency.
Seen in the top row elated HITS was nowhere to be found are (l-r) Karl M. Braun (Hall Booth Smith), Carter, Stegall (Dreamlined Entertainment Group) and Taliaferro. In the bottom row are (l-r) Cunningham, Morgan and Wipperman.
Sandbox Entertainment’s Jason Owen and Broadway producer Mike Bosner greeted a litany of country stars at 4/5’s Broadway opening of Shucked, the heartland musical that’s got critics and audiences raving.
Firebird Music and Red Light Ventures are backing Leo33, an independent record label based in Nashville co-headed by industry veterans Katie Dean and Rachel Fontenot.
Fontenot, most recently VP of marketing and artist development at UMG Nashville, will oversee marketing and operations; Dean, the former MCA Nashville promotion chief, is in charge of promotion and artist development. Joining them are A&R execs Daniel Lee and Natalie Osborne.
“As the industry evolves, so does the role of the label,” Dean said. “We’re trying to build a model for the future—an entrepreneurial approach that combines the resources of a major with the agility and focus of an independent.”
Lee co-founded the label/publishing venture Altadena with the late busbee; Osborne was formerly with Downtown Music Publishing.
“The members of this team have experienced so many different facets of this industry – each has a unique perspective and passion,” Fontenot said.
The label will release more details in the coming weeks.
Warner Chappell Music has signed a global publishing deal with Nashville-based songwriter Austin Shawn. Best known for his work on Bailey Zimmerman’s “Rock and a Hard Place,” “Fall In Love” and “Religiously,” Shawn has spent a total of 43 consecutive weeks on the Country Producer Charts, with 11 consecutive weeks in the top spot.
“Rock and a Hard Place” currently sits at #1 on the Country Airplay Chart and #10 on the Hot 100, with more than 550m global streams to date. Shawn is also working on Zimmerman’s upcoming effort, Religiously. The Album, due in May.
“Austin Shawn is innovating what it means to be a producer, co-writer, and developer of talent on Music Row,” WCM Nashville President/CEO Ben Vaughn said. “He wears so many hats well, and he brings a creative throughline to every project that always puts the uniqueness of the artist and song first.”
Shawn, who recently collaborated with Chase Matthew, is managed by Simon Tikhman and Chief Zaruk of The Core Entertainment. We are managed by whoever is dumb enough to pay us. Seen in the photo thanking the gods above it's not them are (l-r) Ryan Beuschel (WCM), Shawn and Vaughn (WCM) in the front row and Tikhman (The Core), Chief Zaruk (The Core) and attorney Matt Cottingham in the back.
Anna Pittman has joined the Warner Music Nashville Artist Development team as Vice President, reporting to EVP Artist Development Shane Tarleton.
A graduate of Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, Pittman started her career at Q Prime Management in New York.
“Along with her extensive experience, Anna brings passion and excellence to our already brilliant Artist Development team," reads a quote from Tarleton, which gives us real insight into a company where people say nice things about each other. We thought it was just a myth.
Pittman declared herself "thrilled" to be joining the WMN team. In a related story, a HITS scribe declared herself "thrilled" that it was 4pm and therefore time for her nap.
Mix us up a big ol’ glass of tequila with a Dramamine floater, baby, because Big Machine’s Midland has announced The Last Resort Cruise, a nautical debauch filled with music, hooch, karaoke, blackjack and other delights.
The four-day booze cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl will set sail, no foolin’, on 4/1/24, and make its inebriated way from Miami to Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. Range-repped Midland will perform two unique sets. Guests will also be treated to live performances from Orville Peck, Flatland Cavalry, Hayes Carll, Mike and the Moonpies, The Texas Gentlemen, Madeline Edwards, Kaitlin Butts, Jaime Wyatt, Stephen Wilson Jr., Jonathan Terrell and Davíd Garza.
Cruisers will also enjoy plenty of onboard amenities, including dining options, spas, pools and fully stocked bars featuring Midland’s own top-shelf tequila, INSÓLITO—because those hot tubs aren’t going to throw up in themselves.
First Round Pre-sale Signups are available through Sunday, April 16 at 11:59 pm (ET) at midlandcruise.com. Matt Graham is already shopping for topsiders.
