Author: Bethany Bowman

President Trump Signs the Music Modernization Act into Law

Bethany Bowman

Surrounded by musicians from nearly every genre, President Trump signed into law the Music Modernization Act – a measure that will overhaul how music is licensed and songwriters are compensated in the United States. As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the bill, sponsored by retiring Utah Sentor Orrin Hatch, was designed to update the outdated copyright laws governing songwriting to reflect the realities of the 21st century. Kid Rock, Mercy Me, the Beach Boys, Sam Moore, Craig Morgan and John Rich – along with music industry bigwigs such as Neil Portnow and the infamous Busbee were among those joining the president at the White House. The president explained: The Music Modernization Act closes loopholes in our digital royalty laws to ensure that songwriters, artists, producers, and providers receive fair payment for the licensing of music.  I’ve been reading about this for many years. [I] never thought I’d be involved in it, but I got involved in it.  They were treated very unfairly.  They’re not going to be treated unfairly anymore.  Streaming has made music more accessible than ever, yet our laws have not kept up with the pace of technology.  As such, artists of all varieties and all career…

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Michael W. Smith, TBN to Host Free Concert At Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, Aug 30th

Bethany Bowman
Michael W Smith

TBN announced it will partner with three-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist Michael W. Smith to present a free concert and worship event at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Thursday, August 30th at 7 p.m. “Surrounded: A Night to Pray, Worship and Be Awakened” is free to the public and will begin with a time of prayer for the city of Nashville, surrounding communities, and the nation, led by area pastors. Following a time of prayer, Smith and his band will lead a Worship service from the floor of the Bridgestone Arena – surrounded by those that attend. It is Smith’s hope that this event crosses all denominational, ethnic, racial and generational lines for a real night of unity in middle Tennessee. “The growth and energy happening in our city is not just material, but profoundly spiritual,” said Smith. “It’s time for a night of prayer and worship for Middle Tennessee. My hope is that individuals, families and even whole congregations will attend ‘Surrounded’ for a night we’ll never forget.” The event will be taped, with plans from TBN to air “Surrounded” as a network special later in the fall. Watch the video: All seating will be general admission; doors open at 6…

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Grammy Winner Chris Tomlin Releases Advance Music Today Ahead of New Album

Bethany Bowman
Chris Tomlin

Grammy winner and world-renowned worship leader Chris Tomlin surprised fans with the release of early music today: the launch of a new radio single and EP, Nobody Loves Me Like You. USA Today reported Friday the previously unannounced four-song digital-only EP is part of a bigger release plan as Chris’ highly anticipated full studio album set for October 26, Holy Roar, and the companion book Holy Roar: 7 Words That Will Change the Way You Worship available October 23. “I am so energized by this new music, I couldn’t wait to share a few songs ahead of the Holy Roar album,” Tomlin said in a statement. “Holy Roar is the freedom, the experience, the wonder of worship. It is seeing the church come together, hands lifted to God, pouring out our praise with an eternal song in our hearts. It’s every voice together, changing the way we worship.” The Nobody Loves Me Like You EP includes four songs from the soon-to-be-released Holy Roar album and is available now at all digital retailers here. The official radio impact date for “Nobody Loves Me Like You” single is September 14. HOLY ROAR includes tracks produced by Ed Cash and Bryan Fowler and…

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Music Spotlight: Adam Doleac

Bethany Bowman
Adam Doleac

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – -When I heard Whiskey’s Fine, on Sirius XM the Highway, I always stopped talking and turned it up. There was something about the lyrics to this bluesy, country song that got me. It was that good. Several months later at an event I attended during CMAFest, Sirius’s Storme Warren said to me out of the blue, you need to interview Adam Doleac.  Since I loved his song, I decided to pursue it. The thing I like most about interviewing up and coming artists is hearing their “where I came from” stories.  And Adam Doleac’s is definitely different than anyone else’s. Adam Doleac grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where is he was strong, athletic boy.  By high school, he was really into basketball and golf and was even offered a golf scholarship from  Delta State University his Junior year. But in his Senior year, friends stated they needed one more player for their high school baseball team.  Having not played since Little League, he went to the batting cages and played in a game that night. By the end of his senior year, he was offered a baseball scholarship from Southern Mississippi University where the hometown boy led the…

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Kenny Chesney Comes Home to Nashville and Shatters Nissan Stadium’s Attendance Record.

Bethany Bowman

Kenny Chesney came into Nashville’s Nissan Stadium with two No. 1s in the space of three weeks – sharing David Lee Murphy’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” then hitting the top of the Country Singles chart for two weeks with his own “Get Along” – and the No. 1 selling debut Songs for the Saints. Anticipation was such that the Tennessee State Highway Commission opened the currently closed for repaving and repair traffic loop for the I-40/24 and I-40/65 splits to ease the burden of traffic for country music lovers attending Nashville’s Trip Around the Sun Tour stop. It was a smart move. Not only did the only country artist on Pollstar’s Top 10 Tours at Mid-Year deliver two high energy hours that included “American Kids,” “Noise,” “Young,” “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” and “Get Along” – he broke One Direction’s 2014 record of 54,249 with 55,182 fans in the home of the Tennessee Titans. “There’s a special energy that happens when you’re home,” Chesney said of the show. “This one’s for the people who know you, your team, where these songs come from. When they sing the chorus of ‘American Kids,’ you can feel they know that song in…

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Grand Ole Opry and Luke Combs Make Songwriters’ Dreams Come True

Bethany Bowman
Luke Combs and friends

Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Luke Combs teamed with the Grand Ole Opry to create a rare & matchless moment on the Opry stage last night. Combs, who debuted on the Opry stage in 2016, chose to honor the collaborating songwriters from his Platinum-selling debut album This One’s For You and deluxe album This One’s For You Too to step into the circle and perform with him – turning the legendary stage into an unrivaled songwriting round reminiscent of where it all began for these songwriting friends. Several of the writers — Wyatt B. Durrette, Rob Synder, and Channing Wilson—appeared on the Opry for the first time with Combs, while Randy Montana, Jonathan Singleton, and Rob Williford were welcomed back to the stage to perform with Combs on hits they’d co-written. “We all grew up listening to and loving the Opry,” said Luke. “When I called each writer and told them what was going to happen, it was what the Opry was all about.  We have always been the underdogs, and tonight the Opry fans, the diehard fans of country music, got to see a show that you couldn’t see anywhere else in the world. To see my buddies sing their songs has made tonight one of…

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David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney Celebrate Hit Song, ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’

Bethany Bowman
Kevin Chesney, David Lee Murphy

When CMT’s Katie Cook talked of friendship, dreams and hard work, the entire third floor of ACME Feed & Seed burst into cheers. As waiters passed trays of hot chicken’n’waffles and fried green tomatoes, David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney were being feted for the feel-good summer anthem “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” written by Murphy, Chris Stevens and Jimmy Yeary. “First, I wanna thank Chris and Jimmy. We knew the day we wrote it, this was a hit even if nobody played it,” said Murphy, the man known for “Party Crowd” and “Dust on the Bottle,” to several hundred in attendance. He continued, singling out Reviver Records’ tenacity. “They were tough as can be, and we had a long haul. They’ve worked really hard on this record. We knew it was going to be a fight, but every regional got in there and gave it their all. We said you can run, but you can’t outrun us.” Later Chesney beamed as he took the mic. “This all started three, four years ago, because David Lee would send me all these songs–demos that sounded like records–and he was singing so great. I remember thinking, ‘I’d love to hear that on the…

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Nashville Symphony Welcomes Seven Local Students to Accelerando Music Education Initiative

Bethany Bowman
Nashville Symphony/Sally Bebawy

Seven local students have been selected for the third class of Accelerando, the Nashville Symphony’s groundbreaking music education initiative designed to facilitate the studies of gifted young musicians from diverse backgrounds and to prepare them for careers in music. The seven students were introduced during an event at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Thursday, August 2, that was attended by current Accelerando students and their families, as well as Nashville Symphony staff members, including President and CEO Alan D. Valentine and Director of Education and Community Engagement Walter Bitner. The addition of the seven students brings the total number of participants in the program to 16. All from Middle Tennessee, the third class of Accelerando students are: Icsis Church, clarinet: Grade 8, Bellevue Middle School, MNPS Treasure Eckles, viola: Grade 10, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School, MNPS Angel Elbano, flute: Grade 4, Una Elementary School, MNPS Rose Majett, cello: Grade 8, home-schooled student Xavion Patterson, bassoon: Grade 10, Stewarts Creek High School, Rutherford County Schools Mario Shaw, percussion: Grade 11, Stewarts Creek High School, Rutherford County Schools Alexander Vinson, cornet: Grade 7, MLK Jr. Magnet Middle, MNPS  Aalia Hanif, a member of Accelerando’s inaugural class, offered remarks during the event. “As…

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Iconic Entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis to Rock Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center on December 10

Bethany Bowman

Rock ‘n’ roll’s original wild-man and country music stylist, Jerry Lee Lewis, will return to Nashville for the first time since 2014 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on December 10th. Tickets are available for presale here and will go on sale to the general public on August 10 at 10 a.m. “We are honored that Jerry Lee Lewis has chosen the Schermerhorn for his triumphant return to Music City,” said Alan D. Valentine, Symphony president & CEO. “His appearance promises to be one of the highlights of our entire season lineup, and we are thrilled to add ‘The Killer’ — one of the true legends of American music — to the long list of musical icons who have graced our stage.” Few artists in music history can boast a résumé as impressive as that of “The Killer,” now in his seventh decade of an unrivaled career that includes numerous Grammy® Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s inaugural class, the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and an unparalleled impact on countless rock and country artists who have followed in his footsteps. About Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the all-time best singer-songwriters, musicians, and pianists.…

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‘It All Begins With A Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter’ Awarded Three Silver Lions at Cannes Lions International Festival

Bethany Bowman
It all begins with a song

It All Begins With A Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter, a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at Nashville’s songwriting community, was awarded three Silver Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently. “This documentary portrays the strength of Nashville’s creative community and of its music brand,” said Ronnie Smith, Head of Corporate Bank, Regions Bank, and chairman of the NCVC board of directors. “No other city could capture its brand in a documentary of this caliber. It is a unique marketing tool that will prove to be effective, cost-efficient and global in its reach. It certainly goes outside the norm to market a city with a documentary, and this recognition is validation of that effort.” The documentary film was created by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp as a marketing tool. It was produced by the NCVC, along with John Godsey and VML, a global marketing agency. It was directed by Chusy Jardine of Plan A Films and is being shopped worldwide to major buyers. The Cannes Lions are the most established and coveted awards for the creative and marketing communications industry, and the Festival of Creativity is held in the same southern French…

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Whiskey Myers Finds Musical Home on the Range With Kevin Costner Series, “Yellowstone”

Bethany Bowman
Whiskey Meyers

Whiskey Myers has tapped an enthusiastic audience on the Kevin Costner Paramount Network drama “Yellowstone.” With an on-camera appearance and three songs featured on the hit series so far, Whiskey Myers’ music is reaching a new, fervent audience that has propelled three of the band’s albums to the Top 10 of the iTunes Country Album Chart. Mud topped the chart while Firewater followed at No. 2 and Early Morning Shakes reached No. 9. All three albums peaked in the Top 50 All-Genre with over 250,000 sales. “Getting asked to be on ‘Yellowstone’ was a cool opportunity and we are very honored to be a part of it since we are all big fans of Kevin (Costner) and Taylor (Sheridan),” said lead vocalist and guitarist Cody Cannon. “It’s really awesome to see people reacting to our music, taking a two-year-old album to the No. 1 spot on iTunes and five of our songs to the Top 200, with “Stone” even hitting the Top 10 for Country Songs. We are very thankful that people are digging it.” “I’m very humbled by how positive the reaction has been with all the fan interaction digging the music,” added guitarist John Jeffers. “We knew that you just have to hang in there and put out…

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Music Spotlight: Kalie Shorr

Bethany Bowman
Kalie Shorr

When I first heard Kalie Shorr, it was on Sirius XM’s The Highway in 2016.  Fight Like a Girl was a gutsy song by a cute girl who was trying to navigate the murky waters of country music in Nashville.  But when I sat down to speak to her, as is so often the case, I found out there was so much more to Kalie Shorr, a lot more. Kalie Shorr literally wrote her first song when she was just seven years old.  By thirteen, she was highly influenced by pop, rock and country and begin posting cover songs on the popular app, YouTube.  Since Kalie lived in Maine at the time, it was the only way she could get her music out there.  “I always wanted to be in Nashville and it gave me an opportunity to reach Nashville without actually being there.”  She received validation from viewers that this was something she should be doing.  The door opened in 2010 when Kalie was 16. Blogger Perez Hilton, noticed her on YouTube.  He paid for her first official recordings and her initial trip to Nashville.  “[Perez Hilton] introduced me to a lot of people that I needed to know and…

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Tickets for Multiple Nashville Symphony Concerts Go on Sale Friday, July 20

Bethany Bowman
Nashville Symphony

Single tickets for the Nashville Symphony’s 2018/19 season — including 100+ classical, pops, jazz and family concerts, as well as a host of special events — will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 20. Featuring four classic works by one of America’s greatest composers, the Bernstein Centennial Opening Night will kick off the season on September 8, 2018. A special, multimedia presentation of Carmina Burana in collaboration with Nashville Ballet and British filmmaker Duncan Copp will close the season on May 31-June 3, 2019. In between, the Symphony’s concert calendar features diverse programming across a variety of genres, all in the intimate setting and superior acoustics of one of the world’s finest concert halls, Schermerhorn Symphony Center.  Highlights of the 2018/19 concert schedule include:       ·         Symphony Under the Stars at Ascend Amphitheater (Sept. 9, 2018) ·         Ax Plays Brahms (Sept. 13-15, 2018) ·         Kristin Chenoweth with the Nashville Symphony (Sept. 27-29, 2018) ·         Beethoven’s Violin Concerto featuring James Ehnes (Oct. 4-7, 2018) ·         Jon Batiste: Solo (Oct. 19, 2018) ·         Russian Masters, featuring Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky & more (Nov. 2-3, 2018) ·         The Mavericks with the Nashville Symphony (Nov. 8-10, 2018) ·         The…

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Leader U Professional Development is June 1

Bethany Bowman

  If you are a Tennessee educator or a supporter of Tennessee education, you need to attend a day of exceptional professional learning, Leader U at Trevecca University’s Boone Center in Nashville on Friday, June 1. The conference’s theme is Champions for Children where speakers will provide insight on providing a more engaging classroom and school to its students. The conference will begin Friday morning with a keynote address from Champion for Children advocate, Dr. Ronald Woodard as he elucidates on “Developing a Champion Mindset for Children.”  Respected teacher-leaders and presenters from across the state will lead professional development classes on important topics that include Student Engagement, Organized Chaos, Project-Based Learning, Team Evaluation, Bullying and much more.  The 2018 Tennessee Teacher of The Year, Cicely Woodard, will do a 90-minute session on The Engaging Classroom while TSIN 2018 Excellence in STEM Teaching Award winner and Edmodo Educator, Sharon Clark, will complete a session on Bridging Gaps/Cultivating Curiosity. In addition to the keynote, there will be other breakout sessions with a choice of 12 presenters from which teachers and administrators can choose the classes which best fit their needs.  The event is TASL accredited for administrators and all educators will receive a certificate for 6 hours professional development…

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