Maurice Miner To Leave Sony

Maurice Miner, Director, Syndicated & Satellite Radio, has announced that he will be leaving Sony Music Nashville to pursue other endeavors. Miner, who joined the company in 2005 and reports to VP, Media & Corporate Communications Allen Brown, will continue with Sony until a to-be-determined date.

Once the position is posted, inquiries, résumé submissions and follow-up conversations will be facilitated through the Sony Music online process. Job postings can be viewed by clicking on “careers” on the home page of www.sonymusic.com.

Staind’s Aaron Lewis Teams With Stroudavarious For Country Debut

Staind frontman Aaron Lewis is releasing a country project via Stroudavarious Records, with the first music from set to debut tomorrow. Lead single “Country Boy” features guests George Jones, Charlie Daniels and Chris Young.

They also appear in the video, set to premiere tomorrow (12/1) at CMT.com, and Monday (12/6) on CMT-TV. The “Country Boy” single will be available Tues., Dec. 7 at digital retailers.

Lewis’ five-song project, Town Line, was recorded earlier this year in Nashville by producer/Stroudavarious head James Stroud. It is scheduled for a February release.

Lewis says the songs are “simple, understated, and founded on quality songwriting.” Among the tracks are a love letter to his home state “Massachusetts,” the relationship saga “Vicious Circles,” and a new version of “Tangled Up in You,” the stand-out ballad from Staind’s sixth album, The Illusion of Progress.

With Staind, Lewis crafted the most-played rock song of the last decade, “It’s Been Awhile,” and sold 13 million albums worldwide. The band’s other hits include “Outside” and “So Far Away.”

He will hit the road January 15 for a run of solo acoustic dates scheduled through spring.

Buddy Lee Acquires Metro Talent Group

(L-R): BLA President Kevin Neal, MTG Founder Cass Scripps

Buddy Lee Attractions has acquired the independent agency Metro Talent Group (MTG), and MTG founder/owner Cass Scripps will join the company for artist representation.

“Our company is very excited about Cass and his roster coming on board at BLA,” says BLA President Kevin Neal. “Cass is one of the most respected agents in the world, and for 17 years built a tremendously successful independent agency in Atlanta. His knowledge of the business as well as the relationships that he has developed throughout the years will continue to keep BLA on the growth pattern that we set a year ago. I have been a long time fan of Cass and the way he has been instrumental in the development of the careers of his artists. When given the opportunity to be able to make Cass a part of our team we didn’t hesitate.”

The MTG roster joining BLA includes artists such as Corey Smith, David Ryan Harris, Drivin N’ Cryin, Edwin McCain, and Kevn Kinney. Contact Scripps at cscripps@blanash.com or by calling 615-244-4336

UMGN Promotes Brunett, Fabiani

Mercury SW Regional Jill Brunett. Photo Credit: Donald Yeager

Universal Music Group Nashville has announced the promotion of Jill Brunett to Manager, Southwest Regional Promotion for Mercury Records. A Nashville native, Brunett graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Advertising. She joined UMGN in 2007 as Promotion Manager and prior to that served as Promotion Coordinator for Capitol Records Nashville.

“We have watched Jill grow in her current position for a number of years and it’s become obvious that she’s more than ready for the challenges of regional promotion,” says Damon Moberly, Vice President Mercury Nashville Promotion. “Jill’s attention to detail and absolute passion for our artists and their music makes this an easy decision for us. Royce and I are very much looking forward to watching her produce in the great Southwest.”

UMGN has also promoted Chris Fabiani to UMGN Promotion Coordinator, and he will report directly to Sr. VP Promotion Royce Risser. Fabiani joined the label group in 2006 and became the Mercury Records Promotion Coordinator in 2009.

These promotions follow the departure of Mercury SW Regional Allen Mitchell earlier in November.

Country Christmas Special Is Fun, Festive

Reba McEntire performs "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Last night’s CMA Country Christmas special on ABC offered viewers a spirited show to ring in the holiday season. The 90-minute special drew a second place finish for ABC, according to overnight ratings from Zap2it.com. Beginning in the 9:30 PM/ET half-hour, the show attracted 7.2 million viewers, and increased to 7.4 million for the 10 PM time slot.

Jennifer Nettles, sporting her short pixie ‘do, was a cheery host. The festive set at the Bridgestone Arena was accented with thousands of warm, glowing lights.

Our genre’s stars looked even better than usual. LeAnn Rimes was stunning in a bronze sheath, and was surrounded by dancing sailors while she sang “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.” Martina McBride’s dark hair and dark sequined dress paired in striking contrast to her blue eyes, while she delivered a beautiful version of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Kellie Pickler performed “Santa Baby” as she strutted across the stage in floor-length, figure-hugging satin. Her red strapless number was accented perfectly with elbow-covering gloves.

In pre-taped segments, stars and their families shared holiday traditions and memories. Brad Paisley reminisced about his first guitar, which was a Christmas gift from his grandfather when he was eight years old. The stars also offered home movies, including a clip of Paisley, age 12, performing the first song he wrote—a Christmas tune.

One part of the show saluted soldiers stationed overseas, while Rascal Flatts sang an a cappella version of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

Darius Rucker performs "Candy Cane Christmas."

Darius Rucker was charming on his new, old-fashioned sounding single “Candy Cane Christmas.” Little Big Town harmonized flawlessly on an uptempo “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” Reba was a great pick for “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” Sheryl Crow and Paisley gave a rocking version of “Run, Run Rudolph.” Nettles shone on “Oh Come Emmanuel.”

Many of the performers sang more than one number. And for the grand finale, all the stars and even a few of their kids, piled on stage for “Jingle Bell Rock.”

Hummon Inks With Warner/Chappell

Marcus Hummon has signed with Warner/Chappell.

Warner/Chappell Music has signed a worldwide co-publishing agreement with hit songwriter Marcus Hummon. He is behind hits and cuts for Rascal Flatts, Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, Alabama, Lee Ann Womack and more. His co-write “Bless the Broken Road” (Rascal Flatts) won the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Song.

Hummon recently released an independent album, Rosanna, and has been touring the UK with Beth Nielsen Chapman. He is composing work for an IMAX film, We the People, which is being produced for the Smithsonian Institute. Hummon has also written five musicals, two operas, and a children’s book.

Warner/Chappell was the No. 1 Country Music publisher for the third quarter of 2010 (Nielsen BDS radio airplay from HFA). Among the publishers recent hits were Blake Shelton’s “All About Tonight,” co-written by Warner/Chappell’s Ben Hayslip; Josh Turner’s “All Over Me,” co-written by Hayslip; Lady Antebellum’s “Our Kind of Love,” co-written by Warner/Chappell’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood; and Lee Brice’s “Love Like Crazy,” co-written by Warner/Chappell’s Tim James.

Warner/Chappell has also extended its worldwide co-publishing agreement with Josh Farro of Paramore, and signed Monique Staffile and Caleb Sherman of country band Her & Kings County.

On-set With Charlie Louvin, Daisy Mallory, Jason Sturgeon

Country Music Hall of Fame member Charlie Louvin recently filmed his first music video, and recruited bluegrass legend Del McCoury to appear in it. The song “Weapon Of Prayer” is from Louvin’s True North Records debut album The Battles Rage On. The video was directed by Christian Moriarty.

Charlie Louvin and Del McCoury on the video set.

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Daisy Mallory filming her “Don’t Grow Up Too Fast” video.

FrontWater Records artist Daisy Mallory completed the video for her upcoming single, “Don’t Grow Up Too Fast (If I Had a Little Sister).” The video was filmed in Nashville and directed by Neil McCormack of Revolution Pictures.

The single will arrive at country radio in early 2011, and is the second single from Mallory’s sophomore EP, Girl Time. Her first single, “Do You Think of Me?” charted on the MusicRow Country Breakout Chart. Mallory wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on Girl Time, which was produced by Jeff Dayton (George Strait, Glen Campbell, Buck Owens). The teen singer-songwriter also released her Merry Christmas EP in November, distributed through GMV Nashville and available at iTunes.

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L-R: Dennis Kurtz (Toolpusher Project Manager), Jason Sturgeon and dog Max, and director Flick Wiltshire

Toolpusher recording artist Jason Sturgeon launched his new music video “Rollin’ On’” with exclusive premieres on the CMT Insider app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The video is also on CMT.com and CMT Pure.

The song was co-written and co-produced by Sturgeon and Dane Clark (John Mellencamp). Flick Wiltshire directed the video.

Sturgeon was the iheartradio Discover & Uncover “Artist To Watch” for the month of November.

Extreme/Watsky Debut Country Music Production Library

Extreme Music has partnered with Watsky Music to form Stampede, a country music production library geared toward film and television licensing. Watsky is headed by Jonathan Watkins and Dennis Matkosky.

Among the songwriters on board with Stampede are Matksoky, Travis Howard, and Ty Lacy.

Lacy and Matkosy are co-writers of hits for Keith Urban (“You’ll Think of Me”) and LeAnn Rimes (“I Need You”).

During Matkosky’s 30-year career, he also penned the Grammy winning, Oscar/ Golden Globe nominated track “Maniac,” off the Flashdance soundtrack. His other hits include Martina McBride’s “I Just Call You Mine,” and David Nail’s “Red Light.”

Lacy’s other writing credits include “That’s How Love Moves” from Faith Hill’s Breathe album, and “That’s What Hurts,” recorded by Hall & Oates.

Travis Howard is a frequent co-writer with Miranda Lambert, and their collaborations have resulted in her songs “Famous in a Small Town,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Bring Me Down,” and “Heart Like Mine.”

SOLID Flag Football; ACM Stage At National Finals Rodeo

SOLID Pres. Katie Pope, VP Ian Wolczyk, and Jen Smith with 4000 canned goods.

SOLID joined forces with the Nashville Sports Leagues and 12 music industry companies to collect more than 4,000 nonperishable food items for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The one-day co-ed flag football tournament known as the Turkey Bowl was won by Show Dog – Universal Music, and CMT took first place in the consolation bracket. Other participating teams included CAA, Capitol Records, EMI Music Publishing, Flood Bumstead McCready McCarthy, Paradigm, SESAC, Sony, Universal Music Group, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and SOLID.

A pre-tournament food drive competition was led by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, with UMG coming in a close second.

SOLID will donate funds raised from each team’s entry fee to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

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For the fifth consecutive year, the Academy of Country Music will host a stage at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR), going on in Las Vegas Dec. 2-11. The ACM Stage will include performances from Bleu Edmondson, Chancey Williams & The Younger Brothers Band, Brett Eldredge, Eli Young Band, Jaron and The Long Road to Love, Reckless Kelly and Thompson Square.

Gecko Music’s David Bradley is also headed to Vegas for events surrounding the NFR. He will perform at “The Mirage Presents Rodeo Vegas,” the official after party of the PRCA, and at MGM Resorts’ “Pro Rodeo Zone.”

Keith Urban, Garth Brooks Visit Oprah

Keith Urban performs on Oprah.

Keith Urban’s debut on the Oprah Winfrey show airs today (11/29). He and wife Nicole Kidman sit down with the daytime diva and he performs latest single, “Put You In A Song,” from his new album Get Closer. See the video of the performance here.

Urban spent Thanksgiving Day playing the half-time show of the Dallas Cowboys v. New Orleans Saints game where nearly 30 million fans tuned in. A documentary about the event, Keith Urban: Halftime in Real Time, will air on GAC Wed., Dec. 1 at 10:30pm ET.

Garth Brooks on Oprah.

Garth Brooks has been making the television rounds, visiting Oprah, Jay Leno and more. See a clip of Brooks surprising a fan on Oprah. Among the things he is promoting is Unanswered Prayers, a television movie based on his 1991 No. 1 song of the same name. It will air tonight (11/29) on Lifetime. Unanswered Prayers is executive produced by Brooks and Lisa Sanderson for their Red Strokes Productions.