FOCUS on the 615
Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® were announced tonight by The Recording Academy® and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by The Academy’s voting members. The57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on “GRAMMY Sunday,”Feb. 8, 2015, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m.(ET/PT).
I know I’m excited about the GRAMMY Awards tonight, how about you? Who are YOUR picks to win in each category? Just to make it easy on you, here is the complete list of the GRAMMY nominees this year: Continue Reading →
RCA Records singer-songwriter Chris Young recently performed an impressive rendition of Eric Clapton’s classic hit “Change The World” for an installment of ReImagined – a new online series launched by the GRAMMY Awards® and The Recording Academy®, which spotlights contemporary artists talking about and performing their own take on GRAMMY®-honored songs. Young’s stirring performance, shot in Los Angeles late last month, and an interview about the song can be seen exclusively at GRAMMY.com beginning today. Continue Reading →
EMI Records’ Eric Church will release a 17-track live album, Caught In The Act: Live, on Tuesday, April 9. The album will feature songs from Sinners Like Me, Carolina and Chief. The album was recorded at Chattanooga’s Tivoli Theatre in October 2012 and is Church’s first live recording. A double gatefold vinyl version of the record will also be made available on National Record Store Day, April 20. The package will include four additional tracks and a special whiskey-infused 7-inch.
Caught In The Act: Live features raw performances of songs like “Pledge Allegiance To The Hag,” “Smoke A Little Smoke,” “How ‘Bout You,” “Creepin’” and more.
Pollstar Names Eric Church A Top Touring Act Of 2012
Church is nominated for two Grammy® awards this year, both for his hit, “Springsteen,” in the categories Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song.
Belton, Missouri native Tate Stevens captivated viewers worldwide on FOX’s The X Factor Season 2 with his emotive and powerful country vocal performances—never placing less than second throughout the entire competition. Now, from appearances on one star-studded stage to the next, Stevens will unveil a first look of his debut music video for the song “Holler If You’re With Me,” as part of a Pepsi commercial during The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 10 on CBS at 8 p.m. EST/PST. The new music is merely part of the grand prize awarded to Stevens in addition to his $5 million recording contract with Syco Music/RCA Nashville. Additionally, the song, “Holler If You’re With Me,” will be available for download on iTunes beginning Tuesday, February 5.
Starting out the competition as a 37-year-old blue collar construction worker with humble roots and a seemingly far-fetched dream of becoming a country music superstar, Stevens’ recent win on The X Factor proved to the world that in fact, dreams do come true. “Things are moving very fast since the finale of X Factor, and we’re already laying down tracks for my new album that will be out this spring. I truly feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity,” Stevens says.
“Get Me to the GRAMMYs,” – a unique social media game for music fans nationwide – will launch Dec. 17 and run through Jan. 29, 2013. Fans of the GRAMMY’s on Facebook will have the chance to win seven weekly prizes from each of the GRAMMYs’ six participating partners — Delta Air Lines, Harman, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hitlab, MasterCard, and Proctor & Gamble. Prizes range from music gift cards to the Ultimate GRAMMYs Superfan prize featuring two tickets to the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards®. The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, please visit www.grammy.com, and The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.
The Recording Academy® and Curalate have teamed for “Pin Your Way To The GRAMMYs,” — a first-of-its-kind social media promotion offering Pinterest members the opportunity to share exclusive GRAMMY images. For the first time, The Academy is partnering with Curalate, the premier marketing platform for visual sites such as Pinterest, for this unique experience, which will launch Dec. 13 and run through Jan. 16, 2013. Fans of the GRAMMYs on Facebook can click the “Pin Your Way to the GRAMMYs” tab to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win two tickets to the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, please visit www.grammy.com, and The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys.
With more than 13 million social media comments made during last year’s telecast, the GRAMMYs achieved the honor of having the biggest social media event in the history of television at the time. Now, the GRAMMYs will make history again by being the first awards event to leverage Pinterest to connect with fans.
Lonely Boy
The Black Keys
The Black Keys & Danger Mouse, producers; Tom Elmhirst & Kennie Takahashi, engineers/mixers; Brian Lucey, mastering engineer
Track from: El Camino
[Nonesuch]
Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
Kelly Clarkson
Greg Kurstin, producer; Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Greg Kurstin & Jesse Shatkin, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
[RCA Records/19 Recordings Limited]
We Are Young
Fun. Featuring Janelle Monáe
Jeff Bhasker, producer; Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dawson & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
Track from: Some Nights
[Fueled By Ramen]
Somebody That I Used To Know
Gotye Featuring Cambria
Wally De Backer, producer; Wally De Backer & Francois Tetaz, engineers/mixers; William Bowden, mastering engineer
Track from: Making Mirrors
[Universal Republic]
Thinkin Bout You
Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean, producer; Jeff Ellis, Pat Thrall & Marcos Tovar, engineers/mixers; Vlado Meller, mastering engineer
Track from: Channel Orange
[Def Jam]
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Taylor Swift
Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, producers; Serban Ghenea, engineer/mixer; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer
[Big Machine Records]
El Camino
The Black Keys
The Black Keys & Danger Mouse, producers; Tchad Blake, Tom Elmhirst & Kennie Takahashi, engineers/mixers; Brian Lucey, mastering engineer
[Nonesuch]
Some Nights
Fun.
Janelle Monáe, featured artist; Jeff Bhasker, Emile Haynie, Jake One & TommyD, producers; Jeff Bhasker, Pete Bischoff, Jeff Chestek, Andrew Dawson, Emile Haynie, Manny Marroquin, Sonny Pinnar & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer
[Fueled By Ramen]
Babel
Mumford & Sons
Markus Dravs, producer; Robin Baynton & Ruadhri Cushnan, engineers/mixers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
[Glassnote]
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
André 3000, John Mayer & Earl Sweatshirt, featured artists; Om’Mas Keith, Malay, Frank Ocean & Pharrell, producers; Calvin Bailif, Andrew Coleman, Jeff Ellis, Doug Fenske, Om’Mas Keith, Malay, Frank Ocean, Philip Scott, Mark “Spike” Stent, Pat Thrall, Marcos Tovar & Vic Wainstein, engineers/mixers; Vlado Meller, mastering engineer
[Def Jam]
Blunderbuss
Jack White
Jack White, producer; Vance Powell & Jack White, engineers/mixers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
[Third Man/Columbia Records]
The A Team
Ed Sheeran, songwriter (Ed Sheeran)
Track from: +
[Elektra; Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing]
Adorn
Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
[RCA/Bystorm Entertainment; Publisher: Art Dealer Chic]
Call Me Maybe
Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
[604 Records/Schoolboy Records/Interscope; Publishers: Jepsen Music Publishing, Regular Monkey Productions, Crowe Music Publishing]
Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
Jörgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
[RCA/19 Recordings; Publishers: Universal Music Publishing MGB Scandinavia, Perfect Storm Music Group/Sony ATV Music Publishing Scandinavia, BMG Gold Songs, Kurstin Music/EMI April Music]
We Are Young
Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun. Featuring Janelle Monáe)
Track from: Some Nights
[Fueled By Ramen; Publishers: WB Music, FBR Music, Bearvon Music/Rough Art/Shira Lee Lawrence Rick Music/Way Above Music/Sony ATV Songs]
Alabama Shakes
Fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean
If you watched last night’s GRAMMY Awards, two things are clear: (in case you didn’t hear) Whitney Houston is no longer with us, and Adele cleaned house. And also, there were some (and by some, I mean 382) performances in there. Oh and this image to the left? Nothing but freaking hilarious.
If you happened to catch me on Twitter (@mattwilliams27) throughout the telecast, you’d know that much of the night was worthy of a good ribbing. Most notably was Chris Brown’s useless, God-awful performance, Taylor Swift ironically coming up flat on a note during the line in her performance of Mean: “…grumbling on about how I can’t sing,” a couple collaborations that sort of fell short, and a MIA Kanye West, despite his leading in the nominations.
On the other hand, certain elements will not soon be forgotten. I don’t typically comment on fashion, but if anyone saw Rihanna on the red carpet, they were probably picking their jaw up off the ground. And although I was sick of Whitney Houston references by the time LL Cool J took the stage, the simple, understated, and beautifully powerful tribute to her by Jennifer Hudson brought the house down.
Watch Jennifer Hudson’s Whitney Houston Tribute | “I Will Always Love You”
As did the highly anticipated return of Adele, who gave her first performance after undergoing vocal chord surgery. She absolutely nailed it, and received a well-deserved standing ovation. Oh yeah, and she went six-for-six on awards, including the big three: Song and Record of the Year for Rolling in the Deep, and album of the year for “21.” Bon Iver took home Best New Artist, which surprised many people, mainly because… no one knew who they (or he?) were.
The night also featured a fun, but touching tribute to Glen Campbell, featuring the Rhinestone Cowboy himself as well as The Band Perry and Blake Shelton. Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson performed their hit Don’t You Wanna Stay, and although Aldean’s mic cut out at the very end, they sounded fantastic.
The big story in the country realm last night was The Civil Wars, who took home Best Country Duo/Group Performance for Barton Hollow and Best Folk Album. They also performed a segment of Barton Hollow while introducing Taylor Swift. Taylor, by the way, took home two honors, including Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for Mean. Lady Antebellum came up with a (in my opinion) highly-contested win for Best Country Album for “Own The Night” over Swift’s “Speak Now,” Aldean’s “My Kinda Party,” “Chief” by Eric Church (who I wanted to see take it), “Red River Blue” by Blake Shelton, and “Here For A Good Time” by George Strait.
So all-in-all… meh. Whitney will be missed, but the timing of her death overshadowed the entire show. Adele was well deserving of her awards and her standing ovations. And I think we proved that the most talented individuals don’t need dancers, pyrotechnics, auto tune, theatrics or lip-syncing (although Katy Perry’s performance was enjoyable, and an obvious “in your face” to Russell Brand). Real talent needs a microphone and a stage, and sometimes a guitar. And for that, Nashville, we thank you.
Music’s biggest night is upon us, and Focus on the 615 wants to keep you in the loop with your favorite GRAMMY hopefuls! Kanye West, Adele and Bruno Mars may be among the most nominated, but our hometown country stars make up a notable portion of the prestigious list as well.
First-time nominees Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton each landed three nods, as did past GRAMMY-winner Taylor Swift, each competing for Best Country Album. Newcomers Thompson Square have two nominations for their hit Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not, and The Civil Wars also have two for best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Folk Album. Receiving a huge honor, The Band Perry continues their incredible year with a nomination for Best New Artist.
Other notable nominations include Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter’s collaboration on You And Tequila, garnishing two nods, and the Zac Brown Band finding their way into the Visual Media category with Where The River Goes from the Footloose soundtrack. Click here to see a complete list of the GRAMMY nominations.
Nashville is well-represented in performances as well, with Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Glen Campbell, The Band Perry, Shelton, The Civil Wars and Swift all gracing the GRAMMY stage. Jason will perform his smash Don’t You Wanna Stay with Kelly Clarkson, Carrie will team up with legendary crooner Tony Bennett, and Campbell, TBP, and Blake will all be taking the stage together. Click here to see a complete list of the GRAMMY performances.
Who are your favorites to win? What performances are you most looking forward to? Let us know!
Focus will be tweeting live throughout the performance, so be sure to follow us at @FOCUSonthe615! You can also follow contributor Matt Williams at @mattwilliams27!
