Kellie Pickler, Casey James Help Musicians On Call

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Casey James. Photo: Paul Levy

Kellie Pickler, Casey James, and a sold-out crowd celebrated four years of Musicians On Call’s (MOC) dedication to the Nashville community on Nov. 12 at the Hard Rock Café. The event raised over $10,000 for the cause, which will, in-turn, be used to launch a new weekly Bedside Performance Program this January. This new addition marks their eleventh live music program since the MOC Nashville inception in 2007.

“Kellie Pickler and Casey James put on a fantastic show and because of their generosity, we will be able to bring the healing power of music to even more patients,” said Katy Epley, Program Director of Musicians On Call’s Nashville branch. “We are so grateful for the Hard Rock Cafe and WSIX for all their support in making our 4th Anniversary concert a sold-out success!”

(L-R): Dana Brim (Musicians On Call), Bryan Frasher (Sony Music), Kellie Pickler, Katy Epley (Musicians On Call), RJ Meacham (Sony Music) Photo: Paul Levy

Google Music Open For Business

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After much speculation, Google Music is live and open for business at https://music.google.com. The offering launched yesterday, enticing users with a catalog of 13 million songs comprising tracks from all the major labels except Warner Music Group. There is also free music file storage of up to 20,000 tracks, which can then be streamed on multiple devices.

The Android Market offers songs for about 99 cents – $1.29 each, and albums for about $10, prices comparable to iTunes. There are also hundreds of tracks available for free download.

Google Music debuts with a few advantages over other music services. Users of the company’s social networking component Google+ can share the songs they purchase with friends who can listen to them in full, as opposed to the 30-second snippets offered by iTunes.

The Google Music Artist Hub lets artists build landing pages, upload, stream, and sell music directly fans. There is a one-time set up fee of $25. The act sets their own price and receives 70% of each sale.

One of the biggest advantages in Google’s favor is the prevalence of its Android phones. Google Music integrates with Android, which has about 53% of the smartphone market, according to Gartner. Apple’s iPhone has just 15%. T-Mobile customers with Android phones can buy music and will be charged on their monthly cellphone bills.

17th Annual Key West Songwriters Festival Dates Revealed

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Here’s something to make you eager for Spring, now that the cold is arriving in Nashville.

The Better Angels Music Key West Songwriters Festival Presented by BMI will return to the southernmost point in the Continental US for its 17th iteration May 2-6, 2012. Benefiting Operation Homefront, the festival will feature more than 100 performing songwriters in various venues around the island including the San Carlos Theatre and the Tropic Cinema. Additional sponsors include SunTrust, Comcast, Beam Global Wine and Spirits, The Recording Academy, and Hearts Bluff Music.

Full band concerts will open and close the festival. The kickoff party will feature the World Famous Headliners (Al Anderson, Pat McLaughlin, and Shawn Camp) at Ocean Key Pier on Wednesday, May 2. To wrap up the weekend on Saturday, May 5, the Jeffrey Steele Band will play a free show on Duval St., a festival first.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

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• Lauren Alaina will be spreading holiday cheer. Tomorrow she’ll be in Memphis to flip the switch at Graceland’s holiday lighting celebration, and on Thanksgiving Day she will perform the national anthem prior to the first game of the NFL’s tripleheader at 12:30 PM ET on FOX.

• Vince Gill be the Grand Marshal of the 59th Annual Piedmont Natural Gas Nashville Christmas Parade. This year’s “Christmas Around the World” themed event is set for Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Kenny Rogers and Billy Dean

• Billy Dean will join Kenny Rogers to “jingle all the way” from Columbus, Ohio to Westbury, New York on Rogers’ Christmas and Hits Tour, kicking off the day after Thanksgiving.

• Rodney Atkins will perform at the 2011 National Christmas Tree Lighting festivities on Thurs., Dec. 1 on the Ellipse at President’s Park in Washington, D.C. Carson Daly is hosting the event with additional musical performances by OneRepublic and singer-songwriter Marsha Ambrosius.

• Atkins and Scotty McCreery will perform on the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®, making its way down the streets of New York City on Thurs., Nov. 24 at 9 a.m. It will air on NBC.

• The 10th annual Charlie Daniels & Friends Christmas 4 Kids Concert will take place at the Ryman Auditorium Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. Joining him will be Colt Ford, Joe Nichols, Sawyer Brown and Phil Vassar.

• Laura Bell Bundy will host the PBS special Christmas at Belmont which was taped at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville. It features nearly 700 Belmont University student musicians, Belmont School of Music faculty, and the Nashville Children’s Choir. Locally it will air on Nashville Public Television (NPT-Ch.8) on Thurs., Dec. 22 at 8 p.m. (CST) and on Christmas Day at 7 p.m. (CST).

• Twenty Ten Music recording group Attwater has released a five-song EP titled Christmas. It was produced by Charlie Peacock (The Civil Wars, Switchfoot) and is available for download on iTunes and from Attwater’s official website. A free download of Attwater’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is available from People Country at www.people.com/free.

Performers Added to CMA Music Festival, Grammy Noms Concert

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Underwood at last year's CMA Music Festival.

CMA isn’t slowing down. Only a week post-awards, the organization is gearing up for CMA Music Festival with the announcement of first performer Carrie Underwood who will take the stage at the Nightly Concerts at LP Field. CMA Music Festival runs Thursday-Sunday, June 7-10, 2012. The event will once again be filmed for an ABC Television special airing later in the summer.

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The Band Perry has been added to the lineup of The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!—Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night, and will perform following the telecast for the audience at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. The trio joins a performance list that also includes Jason Aldean, Sugarland, Rihanna, Usher, Lady Gaga, and Ludacris. The one-hour special takes place live on Wednesday, Nov. 30, and nominations in several categories will be announced. It will be broadcast on CBS from 9–10 p.m. CT.

Big D and Bubba End Local WSIX Run

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In an effort to focus on the continued growth of their syndicated morning show, Big D and Bubba announced yesterday (11/16) that they will be stepping down from their local afternoon airshift on Nashville’s Big 98/WSIX. Their last local show will be broadcast Nov. 22, but they will continue to broadcast their national program from WSIX’s studios in Nashville.

In related news, Premiere Radio’s The Big D and Bubba Show will debut on the American Forces Radio Network next Monday, Nov. 21. The program will air 6-10 am ET on AFN’s Country station, broadcasting overseas in 177 countries and all US ships at sea.

“Being a part of AFN, and knowing that we can bring a little bit of home to our friends and family who are stationed overseas, is possibly the single biggest accomplishment in radio for us. We couldn’t be more excited!” said Big D and Bubba.

NMPA, HFA Offering YouTube Licensing For Indie Pubs

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The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA) are offering independent music publishers, whether or not affiliated with HFA, the opportunity to opt into a direct license agreement with YouTube by going to www.youtubelicenseoffer.com. Publishers can opt in to the agreement from today (11/17) through Jan. 16, 2012.

Earlier this year the NMPA, HFA and YouTube concluded a landmark agreement whereby independent music publishers may grant the rights necessary for the synchronization of their musical works with certain videos posted by YouTube users. HFA will administer these direct license agreements between YouTube and publishers, and royalties will be based on advertising revenue collected worldwide by YouTube from ads placed alongside user-generated videos.

“60 Minutes” Profiles Swift

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Taylor Swift will be profiled this Sunday, Nov. 20 on CBS News’ 60 Minutes. The segment includes concert and backstage footage from her blockbuster tour, a candid interview with correspondent Lesley Stahl and a first-ever glimpse inside Swift’s Nashville condominium. See an advance clip embedded below.

The 60 Minutes profile comes on the eve of the Big Machine Records release of her Speak Now World Tour—Live CD/DVD combo-pak. The North American leg of the tour wraps with sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 21 and 22, and the tour has been extended into 2012 with shows in Australia and New Zealand.

This week Swift sold more than 545,000 digital downloads when she released “If This Was A Movie,” “Ours,” and “Superman,” which were previously only available on the Target Deluxe Edition of Speak Now.

Billy Currington Heading Out On First Headlining Tour

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Billy Currington is set to kick 2012 off with his first headlining tour across the country and has invited UMGN labelmates David Nail and Kip Moore to join him.

Currington appeared throughout 2011 on Kenny Chesney’s Goin Coastal tour and most recently, performed a Veterans Day concert attended by President Barack Obama on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson which aired live on ESPN.

Grammy-nominated artist David Nail just released his sophomore album The Sound Of A Million Dreams, and Kip Moore’s debut release, Drive Me Crazy will be out on MCA in 2012.

Exact dates for the tour have not been announced, but details will be posted as they are confirmed on www.billycurrington.com.

Currington has accumulated seven No. 1s since his debut in 2003, sold over 11 million units, earned multiple RIAA Gold and Platinum certifications, two Grammy nominations and multiple CMA and ACM Awards.

CMA Country Christmas Coming Dec. 1

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Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush

Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles will host the two-hour holiday extravaganza CMA Country Christmas, airing Thurs., Dec. 1 (9:00-11:00 PM/ET) on ABC.

Sugarland will perform “Silent Night” plus there will be performances from American Idol runner up Lauren Alaina, Amy Grant, Faith Hill, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Idol winner Scotty McCreery, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Brian Setzer with special guest Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, and Vince Gill in a special duet with Miss Piggy.

CMA Country Christmas is a production of the Country Music Association. Robert Deaton is the executive producer, Paul Miller is the director, and David Wild is the writer. The special was shot in high definition and will be broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.