Urban Barbecue Escape

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Keith Urban’s 2009 tour, labeled Keith Urban Escape Together Tour has added KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce and Kingsford Charcoal as a headline sponsor. The shows will begin in May and play mostly larger size venues. Drew McGowan, Sr. Grp. Manager PR/Sponsorships for Clorox Company, which owns both brands, told Billboard, “There’s a perfect link between people who barbecue out in the backyard and people listening to country music. We definitely wanted to continue our commitment to country music because it fits so well with our brands. We looked at who was touring this summer and who made a lot of sense with our brands individually, and Keith just seemed like a perfect fit.” Last year the sponsor signed on to support Tim McGraw.

KC Masterpiece and Kingsford, as part of the agreement, will host the Keith Urban Backstage Experience, VIP pre-show and more. Making sure that everyone’s taste buds meet savory results will be “official pitmaster” and barbecue champion Chris Lilly. Urban manager Gary Borman noted that the client/sponsor fit made for a “natural association. We’re thrilled.”

Propper (ly) Official

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CO5 Nashville has officially announced the addition of Heather Propper to its team. She will serve as Director/Promotion and Marketing Southeast. “CO5 remains committed to finding the absolute best talent our industry has to offer,” says David Newmark, VP/Country Promotion CO5 Nashville. “We are dedicated to being the leader in radio promotion.”

Propper’s music industry career began at KMLE/Phoenix. She later moved to the promotion side of the business joining Equity Music Group and specializing in secondary promotion. She can be reached at 602-317-0551 or [email protected].

Jeffrey Steele & Friends Fundraiser

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Jeffrey Steele, Keith Anderson, Sebastian Bach, Billy Dean, LoCash Cowboys, and other special guests will perform in Nashville at Rocketown March 12 to raise money for The Alex LeVasseur Memorial Scholarship Program. The Jeffrey Steele & Friends event will include table seating, with a limited VIP section. VIP tables are $1,500; remaining tables are $1000; limited single seats are available for $100 each. Wine and hors‘d oeuvres will be served. Tickets will be available Monday, Feb. 2 exclusively through www.nowplayingnashville.com. The Scholarship program is in memory of Steele’s 13-yr-old son Alex LeVasseur, who passed away Jan. 28, 2007 in a tragic accident. Jeffrey Steele & Friends is the first of two annual events the LeVasseur family puts on in memory of Alex. The second is an outdoor skate and music festival, slated for June 28, 2009. http://www.rememberalex.com.

DISClaimer (1/30)

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Newcomers, baby acts and veterans are all in the mix this week.

Both Aaron Tippin and Collin Raye arrived with excellent sounding comeback discs. Chris Young, Bomshel, Jamey Johnson continue to shine with blindingly bright promise.

Newcomer Mike Adkins totally nails the DisCovery Award.

And I continue to be in awe of the talent of Eric Church (as well as his producer, Jay Joyce). Give that man yet another Disc of the Day prize.

BOB HARVEY/Completely Harmless
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Echo
—I’m not sure what this is all about. It has a copyright notice on it that clearly says “1969.” So what’s it doing in this week’s reviewing stack? Beats me. In any case, it is an audio waste of time.

JAMEY JOHNSON/High Cost Of Living
Writer: Jamey Johnson/James Slater; Producer: The Kent Hardly Playboys; Publisher: EMI Blackwood/Big Gassed Hitties/Hope-N-Cal/Pick Them Maters/Diversion/Cal IV, BMI; Mercury Nashville (track)
—Jamey’s extraordinary Grammy-nominated That Lonesome Song CD kicks off with this harrowing—and completely gripping—tale of substance abuse. It ends in prison. When was the last time country music was this gritty and real? I applaud the courage and authenticity of this.

JOSH DAVIS BAND/House In The Hills
Writer: Josh Davis; Producer: Mike Musgove & Josh Davis; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Joshua655 (817-944-8785)
—Muddy and cluttered sounding.

CHRIS YOUNG/Gettin’ You Home
Writer: Chris Young/Cory Batten/Kent Blazy; Producer: James Stroud; Publisher: Runnin’ Behind/EMI April/I Want to Hold Your Songs/Words & Music, ASCAP/BMI; RCA
—I still think this guy is a star waiting to happen. This sexy little seduction number is just the thing to raise him up. It has a cool, rolling groove, and his burnished baritone vocal dips and slides on all the right notes.

MIKE ADKINS/Easy The Hard Way
Writer: Jamie Richards/Biff Watson; Producer: Greg White & Jamie Richards; Publisher: Mike Curb, BMI; MAB (www.mikeadkinsband.com)
—It has a nice “outlaw” sound, some dandy guitar work, a punchy rhythm track, a solid ccountry-boy vocal and a nicely penned, dues-paying lyric. I’m in.

AARON TIPPIN/Drivin’ Fool
Writer: Aaron Tippin/Terry Brown; Producer: Aaron Tippin & Tim Grogan; Publisher: Sony ATV Acuff-Rose/TCT Rose/Terry Brown, BMI; Nippit (track) (www.aarontippin.com)
—Aaron is going all retro with a collection of classic trucker songs like “Six Days on the Road,” “East Bound and Down,” “Truck Drivin’ Man,” “Prisoner of the Highway” and “Drivin’ My Life Away.” He provides one new original to the genre, and it’s a dandy, a rhythm-happy prayer for truckers everywhere. The CD is called In Overdrive, and it’s a keeper.

KATIE ARMIGER/Trail Of Lies
Writer: Katie Armiger/Lisa McCallum/Quinn Loggins; Producer: Paul Compton; Publisher: Lily Road/Castle Street/Large Opportunity/Jaden Lane, BMI/ASCAP; Cold River (www.katiearmiger.com)
—This boasts a lickety-split tempo and a very well-written cheatin’ lyric. As usual, her delivery is spunky and confident.

ERIC  CHURCH/Love Your Love The Most
Writer: Eric Church/Michael P. Heeney; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: Sony ATV Tree/Sony ATV Acuff-Rose, BMI; Capitol Nashville
—I can’t wait for the rest of you to hear Eric’s Carolina CD when it appears in March. It is simply the coolest sounding country record of the year to date. This glowing, warm, brilliantly-produced and refreshing single is a fine introduction to this man’s distinctive style. Spin it a zillion times.

COLIN RAYE/Mid-Life Chrysler
Writer: Neal Thrasher/Wendell Mobley/Tony Martin; Producer: Collin Raye; Publisher: Major Bob/Crosstown/Warner/Sony, ASCAP; Saguaro (CDX) (www.collinraye.com)
—His tenor vocal cuts like a hot knife through butter. The startling, original and different lyric is supported by a bopping, pop-inflected production awash in electric guitar work and stacked, soft, wafting harmony vocals.

BOMSHEL/Fight Like A Girl
Writer: Kelley Shepard/Kristy Osmunson/Bob Regan; Producer: Chuck Howard; Publisher: Getting Grown/KupKake/Osmunson/Green Hills/Big Loud Bucks/Travelers Ridge/Regan, BMI/ASCAP; Curb
—It’s a stately-sounding, empowering-female ballad with plenty of audio oomph and a terrific lead vocal performance. Recommended without reservation.

Clarkson Single Rockets To No. 1

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Starstruck Entertainment President, and Kelly Clarkson manager Narvel Blackstock (Reba, Blake Shelton), must be feeling good about his client’s new single, “My Life Would Suck Without You.” Clarkson’s track rocketed from No. 97 last week on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart all the way to the top—No. 1. This massive gain sets a record for the largest leap to No. 1 in the chart’s 50-year history. (The previous record was set by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” which moved from No. 96 to No. 1.)

Clarkson’s single also topped the Digital Tracks chart selling 279,605 downloads it its first week. The American Idol alum’s CD, All I Ever Wanted (19 Recordings/RCA) is set to debut March 10.

Country Beach Party Benefits Cancer Research

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T.J. Martell Foundation is throwing a gigantic beach party and Montgomery Gentry will host “Country On The Beach.” “We wanted to do something fun to help raise vital dollars for the T.J. Martell Foundation’s mission of funding ground-breaking cancer research,” said Troy Gentry. “A warm weather event will be great, especially at the end of the year when it’s cold in Nashville.”

The all-inclusive trip will take place Dec. 3-6, 2009 at the Beach Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico. “We will have some special guests joining us for the private performances, celebrity golf classic and the celebrity bartending activities,” said Eddie Montgomery. “This will be the ultimate country music experience all for a great cause.”

Packages based on double occupancy (excluding air transportation) are $1,100 per person and include all activities, meals and beverages. The Celebrity Golf Classic is an additional charge of $250 per person. Space is limited and participants should sign up early to get room preferences. To make reservations contact Travelin’ Inc. at http://www.travelininc.com or (888) 473-8856. For more information about the T.J. Martell Foundation, log onto http://www.tjmartellfoundation.org

Escalating The Pace Of Change

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Judging by the problems surfacing in the entertainment and media worlds around the globe, the pace of change is accelerating and companies are frantically realizing that new models are becoming essential for survival. Even the government is working to pass an enormous $819 billion stimulus package with tax and spend provisions.

Sony Corp reported (1/29) sobering third quarter results showing net profit for the 4th quarter dropped 95% from the same period last year. Sony also announced it expects to post a fiscal year operating loss of $2.9 billion. Losses in the TV operations lead the bad news.

AOL has announced it will lay off about 10% of its workforce or 700 employees at it tries to steady its balance sheet against strong downward ad revenue winds.

Media giant New York Times, whose corporate bonds are now rated “junk” is facing a 48% fourth-quarter decline in income. The newspaper says that print advertising has declined at a more rapid pace than previously anticipated. The venerable news source notes that declines in equity markets have left its pension plans underfunded by about $625 million and has placed its 18% stake in the Boston Red Socks up for sale to raise cash.

Even Wall Street’s power brokers are feeling the pain. According to the New York State comptroller, cash bonuses paid by Wall Street firms fell 44% in 2008 to a paltry $18.4 billion down from $32.9 billion in 2007. This largest-ever bonus decline will cost New York state over $1 billion in personal tax revenues.

So it is extra ironic, especially considering Country music’s shrinking SoundScan numbers, that a group of top level record executives will speak this evening at a Vanderbilt University-sponsored panel titled “Why Can’t Music Be Free?” The panel seemingly is to educate the audience about the importance of paying copyright owners. But the poster advertises, “Free music for the 1st 50” that attend.

Montgomery To Exit Echo

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It remains unofficial, but Music Row has learned that Echo Music Co-founder/CEO Mark Montgomery will soon exit the company to pursue new opportunities. Montgomery was involved in product development, plus a contributor to strategic direction. When Echo was purchased by Ticketmaster in March 2007, Sean Moriarty, Ticketmaster President/CEO said, “What echo has built is unique. It is the best platform out there by a long shot for allowing rich interactions between fans and their favorite artists, athletes, teams, and more.”

“Our approach has always been to create a bond between the artist and the fan directly with few boundaries in between,” Montgomery told Music Row in an interview reflecting on the Ticketmaster alliance. “We were into this space very early, and persistence has been a key to our survival. We never gave up talking about what we thought was important.”

Read Mark’s blog…

Recording Workshop Set For Musicians Hall

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The Nashville Recording Workshop and Expo, hosted by the local section of the Audio Engineering society, is set for Feb. 20-21 at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. The two-day audio production conference will boast exhibits from top audio equipment manufacturers and a full schedule of presentations, starting with a keynote address from artist and studio owner Ricky Skaggs. The program is designed to aid home studio owners in getting the most of their recordings, and a selection of top audio engineers has been enlisted to guide attendees through the recording process. To register online, visit www.nashvillerecordingworkshop.com.

KCRS Live! During CRS-40

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Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced that this year’s KCRS Live! lineup at CRS-40 will include artists and songwriters Jimmy Wayne, Kelley Lovelace, Ashley Gorley and Jonathan Singleton. The annual ASCAP sponsored event will take place Wed., March 4, at 5 p.m. as part of CRS-40, which runs March 4-6 at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville. Connie Bradley, ASCAP Sr. VP commented, “We look forward to KCRS Live! every year. It gives ASCAP an opportunity to showcase some of our best songwriter/artists to radio in a more intimate setting.” Also during CRS-40 is the BMI and Country Aircheck sponsored WCRS Live!, set for Thurs., March 5 at 4:10 p.m. As previously announced, the program will include acoustic performances by Bobby Pinson, Paul Overstreet, Josh Turner and Jamey Johnson.