Big Machine Label Group wrapped up Country Radio Seminar (CRS) week with a luncheon at the Omni hotel in downtown Nashville on Wednesday (3/15). Several country radio and industry executives were treated to performances by Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore, Chris Janson, Riley Green, Danielle Bradbery, Conner Smith, Shane Profitt and Mackenzie Carpenter.
BMLG Chairman/CEO Scott Borchetta invited BMLG Records President/CEO Jimmy Harnen, The Valory Music Co. President George Briner and Big Machine Records GM Clay Hunnicutt to join the festivities. During the event, Borchetta and Briner surprised Smith with a RIAA gold plaque for “Take It Slow,” which has achieved more than 500k sales and streaming units to date.
Pictured above snickering at our continued misfortune is (l-r) Back Row: Carpenter, Profitt, Smith; Middle Row: Briner, Janson, Moore, Green, Hunnicutt, CRB’s Kurt Johnson; Front Row: Harnen, Gilbert, Borchetta, Bradbery and CRB’s RJ Curtis. Below is (l-r) Borchetta, Smith and Briner.
Backstage at Madison Square Garden, where Capitol Nashville’s Carrie Underwood recently performed as part of her Denim & Rhinestones Tour, the country star was joined by Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s CEO/Chairman Frank Siller for this illustrious photo op.
Throughout her 43-date trek, which continues through 3/17, Underwood has contributed $1 dollar from each ticket sold to Tunnel to Towers, an organization dedicated to supporting U.S. military veterans. In addition to Siller, 300 of the org’s staff, fallen first responder and Gold Star program participants and active-duty military, FDNY and NYPD also attended the concert.
Seen above just before bedazzling their own denim with rhinestones are (l-r) Underwood and Siller.
During the Country Radio Seminar on 3/13, Gabby Barrett surprised the audience at Omni Nashville Hotelfor the Warner Music Nashville Luncheon to perform “Build a Boat,” her multi-week #1 Christian AC collaboration with Colton Dixon, live for the first time.
Additionally, the WMN team presented Barrett with two career plaques at the Luncheon as her latest single, “Pick Me Up”—which has 250m+ streams and is up for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year at the 2023 CMT Music Awards—has been RIAA-certified platinum and mega breakout hit “I Hope” is now 7X platinum.
“Thank you, I mean that from the biggest part of me because this would definitely not be possible without everybody in this room. We're coming hard with new music very soon, so thank y'all very much. God bless you,” said Barrett, who is currently working on her forthcoming sophomore album.
Seen above just before joining a conga line to the nearest buffet are (l-r): WMN’s SVP of Radio Kristen Williams, VP of Radio Accounts Tom Martens, National Director of Radio Michael Chase, Barrett and VP of Radio Anna Cage.
Photo credit: Kayla Schoen
Willie Nelson, Mark Rothbaum, Keith Wortman, Blackbird Presents and Live Nation have rolled out the first 16 dates on the 2023 Outlaw Music Festival Tour in honor of Nelson's 90th birthday. The initial run kicks off on 6/23 at the Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisc. and ends on 8/13 at the Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati.
Special guests include Willie Nelson & Family, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Avett Brothers, John Fogerty, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Kurt Vile And The Violators.
“I can’t wait to be on the road with the amazing group of artists joining us on this year’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour,” Nelson said. “It is always a great day of music and fun with family, friends and the incredible fans, and even more special this year in celebration of my 90th birthday.”
Nelson is having a stellar year. He's won two Grammys, sold out two dates at the Hollywood Bowl, premiered a documentary about his life at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, released a new album called I Don’t Know a Thing About Love (Legacy Recordings), got nominated for a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, wrote a book and continues to perform at major festivals—likely while smoking a joint (or several). Needless to say, he puts us to shame. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (3/17) at 10am PT on the Outlaw Music Festival website.
Mercury Nashville duo Maddie & Tae’s #1 song “Die From A Broken Heart” has been certified triple platinum. Just moments before they hit the Grand Ole Opry stage on Friday (3/3), Maddie & Tae were surprised with a plaque commemorating the achievement. Written by Maddie & Tae with Jonathan Singleton and Deric Ruttan, the track is officially the duo’s biggest—at least for now.
Maddie & Tae will undoubtedly rack up those streams during their ongoing All Song No Static Tour. The run resumes on 3/16 in Madison, Wisc. and continues in 12 additional markets. Each set will include material from Through The Madness Vol. 1 and Through The Madness Vol. 2. Find the full list of dates here while we do our best to navigate the madness that is our life.
Seen in the photo above utterly relieved nobody from HITS was around to ruin the joyous occasion are (l-r) JT Pratt (Otter Creek Entertainment), Mike Harris (EVP & COO, UMG Nashville), Maddie & Tae, Royce Risser (EVP of Promotion, UMG Nashville) and Haley McLemore (Otter Creek Entertainment).
Last night (3/2), Warner Music Nashville’s Ian Munsick hit East Nashville’s Riverside Revival to preview his upcoming album, White Buffalo.
During the show, Munsick performed a selection of songs from the 18-track project, due 4/7, including his viral hit, “Long Live Cowgirls.” Since release, the track has garnered 80m+ global streams and reached #1 on SiriusXM The Highway’s Hot 30 Countdown.
Munsick is currently on the road for his headlining Long Live Cowgirls Tour, featuring Ned LeDoux on select dates. For tickets, click here.
Pictured above bringing the spirit of Wyoming to Tennessee are (l-r) WMN’s VP of Artist Development Clark Tedesco, EVP of Artist Development Shane Tarleton, Sr. Director of A&R Stephanie Davenport; Not a Public Figure Management’s Caroline Munsick; Munsick; The Erv Woolsey Company’s Allen Mitchell and Erv Woolsey; WMN’s co-Chair/co-Presidents Cris Lacy and Ben Kline, SVP of Radio Kristen Williams and SVP of Streaming Tim Foisset.
Three truths about One Thing at a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic), Morgan Wallen’s follow-up to his mega-everything, record-shattering double-set Dangerous, courtesy of our own Holly Gleason...
Universal Music Group Nashville has joined forces with Universal Music Canada on Josh Ross, one of Spotify’s Hot Country Artists To Watch. Hailing from Ontario, Ross has clocked consecutive Top 5 singles on Canadian country radio. He’ll join Nickelback and Brantley Gilbert on a North American run later this year. Ross is managed by The Core Entertainment and booked by The Neal Agency.
“Josh is such a gifted songwriter with so much depth,” President, UMG Nashville President Cindy Mabe said. “He’s made Nashville his home so he could hone his songwriting skills and has elevated his art and his fan base in a short period of time. Josh found country music through Steve Earle, and songwriting has followed him throughout his life. We are honored to get to work with Josh Ross, The Core and Universal Music Canada to take Josh's music around the world.”
Universal Music Canada CEO/Chairman Jeffery Remedios added, “For a long time, we've wanted to partner with Cindy and the world class team at UMG Nashville, but it needed to be with the right artist. That artist is Josh Ross, one of the most promising voices in country music today. Josh is at once a phenomenal songwriter and magnetic performer who captures the hearts of fans with every song and every performance."
Seen in the photo above basking in our much appreciated absence are (l-r) The Core’s Chief Zaruk, Mackenzie Woodson and Tracy Martin, Universal Music Canada’s Remedios, UMG Nashville’s Mabe, Ross, The Core’s Simon Tikhman amd Universal Music Canada’s Amanda Kingsland. Meanwhile, we're just trying to get our hands on some poutine.
