Music News (6/2/21)

George Birge Signs With RECORDS Nashville

Top row (L-R): Ash Bowers (Wide Open Music), Brendan Rich (Wide Open Music)
Bottom row (L-R): George Birge, Barry Weiss (RECORDS)

George Birge has signed with RECORDS Nashville, the Music City division of Barry Weiss‘ RECORDS label, and will release his debut single, “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” on June 18.

An established songwriter, Birge has a publishing and management deal with Wide Open Music. He is a co-writer on Clay Walker’s current single “Need A Bar Sometimes,” and “Catching Up With An Ol’ Memory,” on his upcoming album. Birge has also written songs with Matt Stell, Chris Lane, Gary LeVox and Jay Demarcus, among others.

The impetus for “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” came after Walker suggested Birge create a TikTok account to drive fans to his music. Soon after joining TikTok, he saw a viral video of a made-up song from influencer and music educator Erynn Chambers, who joked that men in country music only sing about “Beer beer, truck truck, girls in tight jeans.” In response, Birge put a twist on her chorus in his own song, acknowledging the country music stereotypes but also insisting that is not all country is about. His demo of “Beer Beer, Truck Truck” blew up on TikTok with 2.7 million views and earned him 130k followers in just two weeks. He gave Chambers co-writing credits.

“The last few months have been life changing for me,” said Birge. “My favorite part about songwriting is taking something obvious and putting an unexpected twist on it. Collaborating with Erynn and seeing people connect with the story of this song has been absolutely amazing. I couldn’t be more thankful to Records’ Barry Weiss and Wide Open Music’s Ash Bowers and Brendan Rich for believing in me and my music. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store!”
 

Lefty Frizzell, Nanci Griffith, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mark James To Join Texas Songwriters Hall Of Fame

Lefty Frizzell, Nanci Griffith, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and Mark James are the newest inductees into the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association Hall of Fame.

The 2022 Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame Weekend will return to Austin, February 11-12 to celebrate these inductees. A VIP sponsor-only DKR Pickin’ Party at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum will kick off the weekend on Friday, February 11, and Saturday’s public Hall of Fame Awards Show at the Paramount Theatre will honor and celebrate the newest class of songwriters. The weekend celebration will be packed with performances and appearances from past inductees, Grammy winners, renowned songwriters, and artists.

Frizzell is considered one of the most influential performers in country history. Between 1950 and 1954, Frizzell scored five No. 1 country hits and ten Top 10 chart singles, including “If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Got The Time,” “I Love You A Thousand Ways,” and “I Want To Be With You Always and Always Late (With Your Kisses).” In 1972, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and his song “If You’ve Got the Money (I’ve Got the Time)” earned him the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. In 1982, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

A Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Griffith won Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms. With over twenty albums released, some of her greatest hits include Kathy Mattea’s cover of “Love at the Five and Dime” and Suzy Bogguss’ “Outbound Plane.” Griffith was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the World Folk Music Association in 1995, and in 2008 the Americana Music Association awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award.

An American country blues singer-songwriter from Centerville, Texas, Hopkins performed for over six decades, recording more albums than any other blues musician over 30 years. He scored a series of national R&B hits with “Shotgun Blues,” “Short Haired Woman,” “Abilene,” and “Big Mama Jump.” The Texas troubadour appeared in the acclaimed 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, a tribute to his musicianship and study of the blues. In 1980, Hopkins was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.

James has penned hits for B.J. Thomas, Brenda Lee, and Elvis Presley, including Thomas’ “Hooked On A Feeling,” and Presley’s last U.S. No. 1 hit single, “Suspicious Minds.” A native of Houston, James’ greatest success came with “Always on My Mind,” a collaboration that won a Grammy for both Song of the Year and Best Country Song. In 2015, James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

A limited number of seats for the 2022 Hall of Fame Awards Show will be made available to the public, with a ticket sales date set to be announced in December.
 

Jason Cox Re-Signs To Daywind Music Publishing For Ninth Year

Jason Cox

Daywind Music Publishing has re-signed Jason Cox who celebrates his ninth year with Daywind Music Group.

“Jason Cox is an exceptional songwriter who consistently and carefully invests his talent and craftsmanship into each song he has a hand in creating,” says Rick Shelton, vice president of music publishing at Daywind Music Group. “We are grateful that Jason is part of our family and I am so very proud of him.”

Cox has been an exclusive staff songwriter with Daywind Music Publishing since 2012, winning the Singing News Fan Awards’ Song of the Year in 2019 for “Even Me,” recorded by Triumphant Quartet, as well as the GMA Dove Awards Country Recorded Song of the Year in 2016 for “Small Town Someone,” recorded by Jeff and Sheri Easter.

He has achieved success recently at radio for the No. 1 songs “Can I Get A Witness” by The Sound, “Come To The Well” by Kingdom Heirs, “What Kind of Man” from Legacy Five, “Victory Shout” by Kingsmen, “Shame On Me” by Joseph Habedank, and “Come Sunday Morning” from Old Paths.
 

MusicRow Announces 33rd Annual MusicRow Awards Dates For 2021

Now in its 33rd year, the 2021 MusicRow Awards, presented by City National Bank, will take place virtually on all MusicRow platforms on Tuesday, Aug. 10.

The virtual event will feature award presentations for category winners. Winners of these categories will be determined by the votes of subscribed members of MusicRow.

Nominees for the MusicRow Awards will be revealed Tuesday, July 6 and supported by MusicRow‘s annual “Nominator” publication.

Voting will begin Wednesday, July 7 and run through Friday, July 16 for all MusicRow subscribed members. To become a subscribed member and become eligible to vote, sign up here.

There are 11 member-voted categories.

1. Producer of the Year
2. Label of the Year
3. Talent Agency of the Year
4. Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year
5. Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year
6. Male Songwriter of the Year
7. Female Songwriter of the Year
8. Song of the Year
9. Robert K. Oermann Discovery Artist of the Year
10. Breakthrough Artist of the Year
11. Artist of the Year

Top 10 Album All-Star Musicians Awards for Bass, Drums, Engineer, Fiddle, Guitar, Keyboards, Steel, and Vocals will also be announced on Tuesday, Aug. 10, recognizing the studio players who performed on the most albums reaching the Top 10 of Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart during the eligibility period.