Music News (10/2/19)

Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney Signs Publishing Deal With Reservoir

Pictured (L-R): Mike Sistad (ASCAP – VP Nashville Membership), Greg Gallo (Reservoir – VP Creative), Joe Don Rooney, Beth Brinker (ASCAP – Associate Creative Director), John Ozier (Reservoir – EVP Creative), Chandler Cunningham (Reservoir – Creative Coordinator)

Reservoir has signed Joe Don Rooney, lead guitarist for hit country music group Rascal Flatts, to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes future works for the accomplished songwriter including upcoming Rascal Flatts co-writes, plus titles written for other artists.

Outside of his catalog with Rascal Flatts, Rooney is an accomplished songwriter, having collaborated with Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Lee Brice, The Vamps, and more. He is currently developing several emerging artists including Dylan Brady, signed to Barry Weiss’ RECORDS, plus Chase Martin and Josh Dorr, among others.

Rascal Flatts have sold over 23 million albums, 35 million digital downloads, and amassed more than 2 billion streams worldwide. They have 17 No. 1 hits under their belt, and two dozen RIAA-certified Gold, Platinum, or Multi-Platinum releases. As the most awarded country music group of the past decade, the trio have over 40 awards to their name, including a Grammy for Best Country Song and a number of top accolades from the ACMs, CMAs, AMAs, CMTs, and more. In 2012, Rascal Flatts received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The group is currently on a six-month U.S. and Canadian tour. To date, the band has sold over 10 million tickets worldwide.

New York City-based Reservoir has offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, and London. Founded in 2007, the company has grown to represent more than 110,000 copyrights and 20,000 master recordings, including hundreds of No.1 releases. Among those are songs written and performed by John Denver, Billy Strayhorn, and Hoagy Carmichael, as well as catalogs of Sheryl Crow and Phantogram, and current hits performed by Lady Gaga, Camila Cabello, Bruno Mars, Cardi B and more. The company’s collection of film music includes rights to scores from composer-producer Hans Zimmer, as heard in The Lion King, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Dark Knight Trilogy and more. Reservoir also represents recorded music through Chrysalis Records and Philly Groove Records, and manages artists via its venture with Big Life Management.

Kalie Shorr Gets Raw On First Full-Length Project ‘Open Book’ [Interview]

On her first full-length album, Open Book, which released Sept. 27, Kalie Shorr sprinkles in song titles such as “Gatsby” and “Alice in Wonderland.”

A self-professed “literary nerd,” Shorr co-wrote each of the album’s 13 tracks (and co-produced the project, alongside Skip Black). Like her literary heroes, Shorr digs deep on her new project, all forward, fiery, and transparently frank, as she accepts her own foibles and complicated relationships, whether they be familial, romantic, or with herself.

I’m an open book with an opening ending, she sings on the album’s introduction, “Too Much To Say.”

“That song is like me saying, ‘Ok, here’s what you are in for, here’s what you are going to get and if you are not emotionally ready to process, you don’t have to listen and this is your warning.

“I definitely thought about the album like an essay of what my last year was like,” she says. “I thought well if I was writing this like an essay of what my last year was like, ‘Too much to say’ is the thesis statement, ‘Escape’ is my background and my childhood and then the breakup happens and you see how that all plays out, and then ‘The World Keeps Spinning” brings me back into the family stuff and ‘Angry Butterfly’ is like the concluding paragraph.”

Click here to read the full interview on musicrow.com.

On The Cover: MusicRow Features Carrie Underwood on October/November Issue

MusicRow has released its 2019 Publisher Issue, with Carrie Underwood gracing the cover.

Underwood emerged from the promise of her 2005 American Idol win to become a true multi-format, multi-media superstar, spanning achievements in music, television, and film. A seven-time Grammy Award winner, she has sold 64 million records worldwide and recorded 26 No. 1 singles, 13 of which she co-wrote. Underwood is currently nominated for three CMA Awards, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year honor, as well as Album of the Year (Cry Pretty) and Female Vocalist of the Year. Underwood will host the upcoming CMA Awards on Nov. 13 in Nashville, along with guest hosts Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton.

The 2019 Publisher print issue includes the 2019 Publisher Directory and features interviews with new UMPG Nashville President/CEO Troy Tomlinson, Spirit Music Nashville CEO Frank Rogers, and SESAC Holding’s President and Chief Operating Officer Kelli Turner.

John Ozier discusses his new role and vision as head of Reservoir Media Management’s Nashville office, while Warner Chappell Music Nashville President/CEO Ben Vaughn, Specialist insurer Beazley’s Focus Group Leader Angela Weaver, and Anderson Benson Partner Brent Daughrity discuss protection against copyright infringement. This issue also details the challenges and opportunities song pluggers face, as told by Janine Appleton-Ebach, Creative Nation’s Shaina Botwin, Sea Gayle’s Kim Wiggins, and Downtown Music Nashville’s Natalie Osborne. Concord Music executive and Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) Board member Evelyn Paglinawan offers an update on the MLC’s work to ensure songwriters are compensated fairly for their creative works.

This issue also highlights the work and careers of some of Nashville’s most impactful tunesmiths, including Relative Music Group’s HARDY, StudioBeast/BMG’s Claude Kelly, BMG’s Hillary Lindsey, Sony/ATV’s Lindsay Rimes, and Big Machine Music’s Laura Veltz.

Single copies of MusicRow’s Publisher Issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $45, and are included with yearly memberships.