Music News (10/29/14)

Pictured (L-R): CMA’s Sarah Trahern, Suzi Cochran, Mac Wiseman, Country Music Hall of Fame’s Kyle Young, and Ronnie Milsap.

“It’s important that we show up,” said Brenda Lee. That’s because the event in question was the Medallion Ceremony that officially installed the 2014 inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame — Mac Wiseman, Ronnie Milsap and the late Hank Cochran.

Staged Sunday evening (Oct. 26) at various venues within the Hall of Fame, the Medallion Ceremony maintained its reputation as one of the finest musical evenings on the entertainment industry’s annual calendar. Champagne cocktails and mucho mingling occurred in the Conservatory. Then the actual ceremony took place in the CMA Theater. The cocktail supper afterward was in the new event space, plus its lobby and terrace, on the sixth floor of the museum’s recent addition.

The CMA’s Sarah Trahern praised each 2014 inductee. “Hank Cochran’s songs have been recorded by everyone from Burl Ives to Etta James, George Strait to Ella Fitzgerald,” she said. “Mac Wiseman is a revered figure in the world of bluegrass and a founding Board member of the Country Music Association. Ronnie Milsap is an incredibly gifted pianist and performer who is also one of the most successful and versatile [pop] crossover artists in our genre.”

Read more at MusicRow.com.

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Round Hill Music as acquired Root 49 Music, which contains catalogs of writers Bridgette Tatum, Danny Myrick, and Odie Blackmon, and includes 635 songs, including compositions recorded by artists including Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Chris Cagle and Gary Allan.

Root 49 Music was founded in 2008 by Nashville publisher Carolyn Miller, and songwriters Bridgette Tatum and Danny Myrick. In 2011, the company signed songwriter Odie Blackmon. He penned Gary Allan’s “Pieces,” and has written for George Strait and Lee Ann Womack.

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John Ozier

As General Manager of ole’s Nashville office, John Ozier is uniquely positioned as both an executive and successful songwriter. His many credits include two No. 1 songs, Lee Brice‘s “Hard to Love,” and Tyler Farr‘s “Whiskey in My Water.” MusicRow recently talked to Ozier to dig deeper into his path as he navigates the waters of Nashville’s music industry.

How did you first get into songwriting?

I received an internship with Curb Records and started hearing the songs that Doug Johnson and Walt Wilkins were turning in. I thought, “Uh oh, I need to learn the business quickly because it is a craft and those guys have mastered it.” It was extremely intimidating so I started walking down the path of publishing. I was writing songs on the side.

Where did you write “Hard to Love” and how did that opportunity come about?

We were on a writing retreat in Rosemary Beach, Florida. Bill Glover, Billy Montana and I were writing a song and I was a little bit angry that we weren’t writing with Lee [Brice]. We stumbled on “Hard to Love” and Lee entered the room in the middle of us writing that song and he said, “What are you working on?” We played it for him and he said, “I hate you guys! I’m cutting it!” Once that happened, it changed everything.

What did having a second No. 1 song mean for you?

I’m really proud of “Whiskey in My Water.” I was head of A&R at Curb and so I was really close to Lee Brice. “Hard to love” is one of my favorite songs to be a part of and after getting my first No. 1 with it, I thought, “Well, maybe that was a fluke.” But to have the second one within 18 months with “Whisky in My Water” was a defining moment for me. I thought, “Wow! Maybe I really can do this.”

And now that Ozier is back to songwriting, he exercises a lesson he learned long ago: “The best song wins.” Read more of MusicRow’s interview with John Ozier in the current Publisher Issue.

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Kos Weaver

“Technology has allowed songwriters to turn the demo around faster and not get as bogged down in the recording process,” says BMG Chrysalis Nashville Exec. VP Kos Weaver, who has seen recording technology evolve substantially during his nearly 30-year career in music publishing.

Songwriters have long been interested in recording, he says, because it is another form of creative expression.

The downside is that recording a demo the traditional way—going in a studio, tracking, mixing, hiring musicians and vocalists—can be time consuming. “In the past if they had to redo the mix or something else, it put those writers behind because they were working on the demo, while other writers were writing more songs. And that would translate into more activity for a writer that stuck to writing songs.

“I had seen it be somewhat of a distraction for some writers. They would have some hits and then they’d build a studio. One writer told me that they didn’t think that was a particularly good idea because the studio guys were more worried about what the snare drum sounded like, while he kept showing up with a pencil behind his ear ready to write another song.”

Read more of MusicRow’s interview with Kos Weaver in the current Publisher Issue.

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The 6th Annual 30A Songwriters Festival has been set for Jan. 16-18 in South Walton County, Fla., featuring an initial line-up including Graham Nash, Jason Isbell, Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Jeffrey Steele, Chely Wright, Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Billy Montana, Bobby Bare Jr., Angaleena Presley, Hayes Carll, Leon Russell and Deana Carter.

More than 200 shows will incorporate unique listening room environments throughout the weekend in the 25 venues that partner with the festival, ranging in capacity from 75 to 3,500. Net proceeds benefit the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, supporting the arts.

Festival weekend passes are now available for $200 alongside VIP packages at 30asongwritersfestival.com or at the Cultural Arts Alliance office and at Central Square Records in Seaside, Fla.

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MusicRow checked in with critical favorite John Hiatt recently to discuss his enviable songwriting career. His twenty-second studio album, Terms Of My Surrender (New West Records), was released earlier this year. Recorded in East Nashville, it was Hiatt’s first time using his guitarist Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, Jack Ingram) as producer. Despite the change in the control room, Hiatt says the process didn’t change drastically. “We worked really well together, very natural and seamless,” he says. “The way we record is not really like we are making a record, it’s more like we are just playing and making music. That’s been our m.o. for a long time.” Hiatt uses the same musicians on the road and in the studio. His band, The Combo, is made up of Lancio, Nathan Gehri, Brandon Young, and 25-year cohort Kenneth Blevins. “We have a language already set up,” Hiatt says of his band. “It’s about getting the right group of players and having some sort of musical language.”

The complete interview can be found here.

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Pictured (L-R): MusicRow Chart Director Troy Stephenson, Chris DeStefano, Sony/ATV’s Josh Van Valkenburg, and MusicRow Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson

In a very brief period of time, songwriter and producer Chris DeStefano has solidified his role as one of Nashville’s most in-demand creative forces.

He recently visited MusicRow‘s office, where he was feted for two chart-topping singles on MusicRow’s Country Breakout chart, including the Miranda Lambert/Carrie Underwood duet “Somethin’ Bad,” (penned with Brett James and Priscilla Renea), and Chase Rice’s “Ready Set Roll” (penned with Rice and Rhett Akins). These mark DeStefano’s second and third MusicRow Challenge Coins, respectively. His first was for “Rewind,” recorded by Rascal Flatts.

“It was the first song we wrote together,” recalls DeStefano of writing “Ready Set Roll.” “Josh [Van Valkenburg] called and told me about Chase, and how he co-wrote ‘Cruise,’ and was working on songs for an album. We wrote the song pretty quick, and it had a different title at first. Chase suggested, ‘Ready Set Roll,’ so I made up the melody and Chase loved it. It was pretty fun. At the end of the day, we felt good about it. That kind of kicked him off into ‘You should produce my album.’” The album, released on Columbia Nashville/Dack Janiels, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart.

Pictured (L-R): Sir Brett James and  Sir Chris DeStefano

During DeStefano’s visit with MusicRow, he also shared that the feisty female duet “Somethin’ Bad” was penned approximately two years ago, and not in a 9-to-5 Nashville writer’s room, but rather in a chateau near France’s Bordeaux region.

He and fellow songwriter Brett James “penned two songs that day, but ‘Somethin’ Bad’ was the standout,” said DeStefano. “We were in this huge, roomy studio with a large fireplace. There was a lot of reverb in the room, so we started doing these stomps and claps and rocking out. We went out of the box a bit with it.

“It was exciting when Miranda put it on hold, because it was so out of the box. But I never hold my breath about those things, then Carrie [Underwood] texted me one day,” he continued. “She said ‘Look what we are cutting today for Miranda’s record.’ And she sent me a picture of the lyric. We were ecstatic. The two of them on that? I couldn’t wait to hear it.”

DeStefano and James recently completed a return trip to the French chateau, where they each garnered new titles.

DeStefano and James were officially knighted, Ordre des Cevaliers Troubadours de Marouatte. “They have a tradition in the castle which has only happened a handful of times. If you write a song that goes to No. 1 on multiple charts, then you get knighted in the castle,” explained DeStefano. “It’s a real, formal knighting ceremony with traditional language. It is a true honor, and it was incredible to share it with my good friend Brett James. Having been at the castle for the past four years, it already feels like a home away from home to me. I’m very grateful to my ASCAP family for inviting me to participate in this inspiring event.”

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ole completed a deal to bring past and future compositions by country singer/songwriter Rory Feek under its banner. In addition, ole signed Joey Martin, Rory’s wife and partner in the duo Joey+Rory, to a worldwide catalog and writer admin deal and obtained the digital rights to the pair’s television variety show, The Joey+Rory Show, on RFD-TV.

Feek’s catalog currently includes more than 200 works, including the #1 Billboard Hot Country Songs hits “Some Beach,” which was recorded by Blake Shelton, and “A Little More Country Than That” by Easton Corbin. He has also written songs for Kenny Chesney, Randy Travis, Mark Wills, Terri Clark, Clay Walker, Trisha Yearwood and many others.

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Pictured (L-R, bottom): Ben Cooper, Gavin Slate, Melissa Fuller, Hannah Blaylock; (top): Jillian Jacqueline, Kat Higgins, Kellys Collins and Andy Albert.

Big Deal Music, Downtown Music Publishing, Patrick Joseph Music, Parallel Entertainment, Starstruck Writers Group, and The Writer’s Den recently held a songwriter retreat at Bell Bottom Farms in Cedar Hill, Tenn.

Writers in attendance included Jenn Schott, Ben Cooper, Gavin Slate, Melissa Fuller, Hannah Blaylock, top row left to right, Jillian Jacqueline, Kat Higgins, Kellys Collins and Andy Albert.

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The Hit Makers & Rum Chasers songwriting series will return to the Reichhold Center for the Arts in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Event promoter Carolyn Miller of Nashville-based 343 Agency has assembled a lineup of hit-makers which includes Kendell Marvel, Dave Berg, Marc Beeson, and Marcus Hummon.

Tickets are available from $20-$40 at the venue box office, by calling 340-693-1559. For additional information, visit HitMakersandRumChasers.com.