Music News 9/16/2010

Byron Hill with Gord Bamford Photo Credit: Sharon Armer

Congratulations to RowFax subscriber and Nashville songwriter/producer Byron Hill who has been named the 2010 Producer of the Year by the Canadian Country Music association. Hill shares the honor with multiple CCMA award winner, recording artist Gord Bamford, in recognition of Bamford’s 2010 album, Day Job, released by Royalty Records.

“To be honored in Canada as a producer means a lot to me,” says Hill.”I just hope that in some way I can reciprocate by helping share the music of some great Canadian talents like Gord Bamford, Hey Romeo and others to the American country market.”

Previously, Hill won the CCMA 2008 Producer Of The Year award for his work on Bamford’s Honkytonks and Heartaches album, and Hill has been recognized in Canada in the past for his work as a songwriter and producer with artists Gil Grand (Monument Records) and Marie Bottrell (2010 CCMA Hall of Honor inductee).

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The 2010 ASCAP awards took place this week. To read about the event, visit MusicRow.com or click here.

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The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has honored ole as Music Publisher of the Year for the 4th consecutive time. This marks the fourth win in the category in the six years since the company’s founding on September 28, 2004.

ole, one of the world’s largest independent music publishers, was also named CCMA Music Publisher of the Year in 2009 and 2008. Their win in 2007 was the first time in 15 years that an independent music publisher had won the category.

“We’re very thankful to receive this vote of confidence from the CCMA and our peers,” said ole CEO Robert Ott. “Our staff works tirelessly to produce success for our songwriters and partners and this acknowledges their effort. It’s our privilege to work with the best songwriters in the world on both sides of the border and their creativity has propelled us to unprecedented heights this year. It’s always gratifying to watch the growth of the CCMA and how it creates community around our great Canadian talent. We’re thankful to the CCMA and others in this community for their continued support.”

Over the past few months, ole has placed no less than 19 cuts including “Liar’s Lie,” performed by Lee Ann Womack and featured in Country Strong, the new Gwyneth Paltrow/Tim McGraw film; “Stay Up Late,” on the upcoming sophomore solo album by Heidi Newfield, and “Just Like Sunshine” and “Are Ya With Me?,” also on Otto’s upcoming album.

Over the past few years, ole has become the country home of world-class songwriters including the recently-signed Monty Powell, Dean Brody, Charlie Worsham and Ryan Tyndell as well as Marty Dodson, Chris Wallin, Tebey, Gilles Godard, Roger Springer, Rick Giles, Bruce Wallace, Matt Nolen, Steven Lee Olsen and Doc Walker.

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Beverly Keel

[Press release] Universal Music Group Nashville, a division of Universal Music Group, has appointed Beverly Keel to Senior Vice President of Media & Artist Relations. The announcement was made this week by Luke Lewis, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville, to whom Ms. Keel reports.

Based in Nashville, Ms. Keel will be responsible for developing and implementing extensive media campaigns for the company’s chart-topping roster of artists, who include Sugarland, Jamey Johnson, Billy Currington, Lee Ann Womack, Julianne Hough, George Strait, Gary Allan, Randy Rogers Band, Easton Corbin and Laura Bell Bundy, among many others.

Ms. Keel is an award-winning music journalist and pop culture commentator who has covered the music industry for two decades. She is a professor in the Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University, where she serves as director of the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Ms. Keel will continue her affiliation with the university. She is also the president of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US. Ms. Keel spent a decade as the Nashville correspondent for People Magazine and served as the celebrity columnist at the Tennessean newspaper for two years, during which time she won the Charlie Lamb Award for Excellence in Country Music Journalism. She was also an entertainment editor of American Profile magazine and served as editor of CMT Life.

Her work has appeared in InStyle, New York, Oxford American, Weekly Standard, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Country Music, New Country, Country Music Today and MusicRow magazines. A former music industry columnist for the Nashville Scene and Nashville Banner newspapers, her journalism has received awards from the Associated Press and the Association of American Newsweeklies. Keel is also a commentator on country music personalities and events and has been featured on ABC’s “Six Degrees of Martina McBride,” CBS’ “48 Hours Mystery,” as well as numerous shows on VH-1, Bravo, CMT, GAC and other networks. A Nashville native, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University and her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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Better Angels Music Group has added artist/songwriter Gary Ray as Director, Artist Relations. In his new role, Ray will be responsible for artist development, liason and overseeing the day-to-day running of the company’s Nashville office. He will report to Better Angels CEO, Rob Rappaport.

“Gary brings a great fresh energy to the Better Angels team, tempered with a strong dose of the reality of the road,” says Rappaport. “Ray has been a touring musician and studio owner.”

Better Angels Music is hitting the ground running with the David Adam Byrnes single “Sweet Distraction,” which debuted at No. 73 on the CountryBreakout charts. After six weeks, the single sits at No. 33. Clear Channel’s iheartradio held the single at No. 1 for a week as of September 7. Byrnes’ album is set for release on November 2.

Better Angels is also set to release The Longing, the latest album from Jason White. Singer/songwriter White is best known for writing “Red Ragtop” (Tim McGraw). Within the last year he has written songs recorded by Russell Hitchcock, Swan Dive & Eric Wilson.

The long-awaited album from Air Supply lead singer, Russell Hitchcock, will be released on the Better Angels label in late fall 2010. The album, titled RHTN (for Russell Hitchcock, Tennessee), will be an eclectic mix of modern country, pop and rock. the project was produced by Rappaport.

Better Angels writers Jay Brunswick and Matt Rogers’ song “Beautiful” (The Roys) is a nominee for ICM Positive Country Song of the Year. Brunswick has also garnered cuts with Josh Thompson, Tommy Joe Wilson, and Better Angels Records artist David Adam Byrnes.

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