Music News (3/23/22)
Combustion Music Adds Keithan Melton As General Manager
Keithan Melton
Combustion Music has announced the hiring of Keithan Melton as General Manager.
Throughout Melton’s 20-year career in the Nashville creative community, he has worked alongside top songwriters and celebrated multiple No. 1 hits. He began his career at Sea Gayle Music, and joins Combustion from his most recent post as GM of Mojo Music & Media, where he led the creative team for over six years.
Of the hiring, Combustion President Chris Farren shares, “As our musical landscape continues to change daily, we feel it is essential to continue to recreate and adapt our roles. Bringing in a talent like Keithan allows us to bolster everything we do while each playing to our strengths. I couldn’t be more excited to see what comes next with Keithan’s help!”
Melton adds, “Farren and Falcon [Chris Van Belkom] have long established Combustion as one of the most successful independent publishers over the last 20 years. I could not be more humbled by the opportunity to join this team and look forward to many more years of success together.”
Melton can be reached at keithan@combustionent.com.
Warner Chappell, Mailbox Money Music Sign Nashville-Based Band On The Outside
Pictured (L-R, standing): Mike Shimshack, Aimee Nadeau (Three Hearts Management), Jimmy Robbins (Mailbox Money Music), BJ Hill (WCM), Ben Vaughn (WCM), Sophie Moll (Mailbox Money Music), Sarah Robbins (Mailbox Money Music); (L-R, seated): On The Outside’s Devin Hayes, Sam Jenkins, Andrew Bloom, Jon Klaasen, Dawson Huckabee
Warner Chappell Music (WCM) and Mailbox Money Music have signed a global publishing deal with Nashville-based band On The Outside.
With over 25 million collective followers across their social media and more than three billion views, the band is comprised of members Andrew Bloom, Dawson Huckabee, Devin Hayes, Jon Klaasen, and Sam Jenkins. The band’s recent single, “Sleepless,” showcases their unique sound, blending the band’s vocal with the craft of a pop song and a country lyric.
BJ Hill, VP, A&R, WCM Nashville says: “There’s an unbelievable amount of talent in this group and we couldn’t be more excited to work with them and the beautiful folks at Mailbox Money.”
“I was blown away by On The Outside from the moment Jimmy and I met them and heard them sing,” adds Mailbox Money Music’s Sarah Robbins. “We are so excited to partner with Warner Chappell and get to work!”
The band is working on new music with producers Jimmy Robbins and Mike Shimshack. They are managed by Aimee Nadeau at Three Hearts Management.
Carter Faith Inks With Universal Music Publishing Nashville
Pictured (L-R, top row): Zach Lund (UMPG) and Troy Tomlinson (UMPG); (L-r, bottom row): Roxy King (UMPG), Carter Faith, Margaret Valentine (Pound It Out Loud). Photo: Courtesy of UMPG
Carter Faith has signed an exclusive, global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Nashville.
Originally from Davidson, North Carolina, Faith taught herself to play guitar and piano, and soon after began crafting lyrics as a way to make sense of the world around her. She signed with Pound It Out Loud Entertainment in 2019, and released her debut EP Let Love Be Love in 2021.
Faith was included in Spotify’s Hot Country Artists to Watch list, and has received over 25 million streams with her recent singles “Leaving Tennessee,” “Sinners in a Small Town,” “Easy Pill,” and most recent track, “Cowboys & Dreamers.”
Roxy King, A&R Director, UMPG Nashville, comments: “The caliber of Carter’s artistry, coupled with her exceptional writing abilities, truly set her apart. UMPG believes in Carter wholeheartedly and plans to utilize its footprint to get her music heard by the masses. We are thrilled to welcome Carter to the UMPG family and to be a part of her long career trajectory.”
“I am absolutely so grateful and excited to work with the UMPG team. From the moment I met them, all of them, I have felt nothing but passion, love, and support, and as a creative person that is so, so important to me,” Faith shares. “I feel like we are going to do great things together and I could not have picked a better team for my very first publishing deal. I am so lucky.”
Ben Rector Talks Chicken Sandwiches, Overcoming His Fear Of Failure & His Newfound Joy [Interview]
Ben Rector & Joy. Photo: Ethan Gulley
Independent singer-songwriter Ben Rector is no stranger to the spotlight. Since releasing his first full-length record, Twenty Tomorrow in 2007, the Nashville-based artist has amassed over one billion streams, reached the peak of Billboard‘s Americana/Folk Albums chart, earned top 10 distinctions on the Billboard 200, and built a fierce following of dedicated fans.
Within the indie-pop landscape, Rector has released an impressive collection of material, including eight studio albums, two live albums and a handful of hit songs, such as the Gold-certified “Brand New” and “When A Heart Breaks,” as well as “30,000 Feet,” “Love Like This,” “Old Friends,” and more across his extensive discography.
Rector recently released his eighth studio album, The Joy Of Music. The 13-track project, which was born amidst the chaos of COVID-19, displays a new, vibrant shade of Rector’s creative process and finds the multi-instrumentalist as a producer and writer on every track. However, The Joy Of Music‘s creative journey was not a linear one.
“Right before the pandemic, I went to LA and recorded most of a record. My idea was to get my dream band in my dream studio and do something that college me would have been really excited about. That was probably in January of 2020,” Rector tells MusicRow. “The pandemic started and everything shut down. After a couple months, I started essentially rewriting the whole record. I didn’t set out to do that, I just started writing because that’s what I wanted to do. I realized that I was kind of feeling like a kid again and falling back in love with the craft of songwriting and recording.
Category: Music News
