FOCUS on the 615
Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
Carrie Underwood’s latest music video, “Two Black Cadillacs,” will make its broadcast and online debut on Entertainment Tonight and VEVO TONIGHT!
Immediately following ET’s “Two Black Cadillacs” premiere feature, the music video may be viewed on VEVO.com, VEVO mobile apps as well as ET Online. Entertainment Tonight will reveal exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the set of Underwood’s video shoot (check local listings for airtime).
Mercury Records singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves will release her debut album, Same Trailer Different Park, on March 19th. The album is co-produced by Musgraves, Shane McAnally and Luke Laird and features her current single and top 15 hit “Merry Go ‘Round.” Musgraves wrote or co-wrote all tracks on the album.
“The making of this record was such a fun and meaningful time for me,” said Musgraves. “As a writer, singer and producer I learned so much throughout the whole process. I am proud and excited to present a project alongside Shane McAnally and Luke Laird that came from a very real and inspired place in my brain and heart.”
The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has announced April 2-6, 2013 as the dates for the 21st Annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival. The ever-popular event presents hit songwriters from all genres of music performing at a variety of Nashville night spots. Regions Bank returns for the seventh year as the presenting sponsor of the event.
For the sixth consecutive year, students from Watkins College of Art, Design & Film competed to design the artwork for all Tin Pan South marketing pieces, passes, posters and banners, and this year’s winning artwork was designed by Kelsey Goessman. Raised in the quiet backwoods of Southern Illinois, Kelsey discovered a creative outlet through art. She found a niche for graphic design, and left the countryside to attend Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film in Nashville. In her spare time, she enjoys getting lost in nature, drawing, painting and live music. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design.
Produced by NSAI, Tin Pan South reigns as the world’s largest all-songwriter festival. Last year close to 350 talented songwriters performed 92 shows at ten of Nashville top music venues. Over 9,000 music fans attend the event annually to hear songwriters tell stories behind hit songs they have written and perform the songs as they’re were originally composed.
GRAMMY winning trio Lady Antebellum is hitting the street with “Downtown” today, the lead single off their upcoming fourth studio album. The album’s first track is available now via Play MPE.
“There’s some sass to this track that makes it really fun to sing…it’s definitely a roll down the windows and bob your head kind of thing,” said Lady A’s Hillary Scott. “We thought it was a fun way to launch the next record and a fitting preview of what’s to come!”
Lady A will debut the track next week on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Jan. 28) and fans can catch a second performance the following week on CBS’s The Talk (Feb. 6). The group also announced this week that they will collaborate with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks for an all new CMT CROSSROADS episode set to tape next week in Los Angeles and air later this year.
For a preview of “Downtown,” click here: http://www.thegreenroompr.com/ladyantebellum.html
Country Radio Seminar is proud to announce songwriters The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett) and Thomas Rhett as co-headliners of CRS 2013’s WCRS Live! songwriter showcase, which will take place Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013.
The event, WCRS Live!: “Brad, Brett & Thomas Rhett,” is sponsored by BMI and Country Aircheck, and will take place from 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. CT on the second floor of the Nashville Convention Center during Country Radio Seminar.
“Enter this showcase at your own risk…. these three BMI songwriters could possibly tear the house down,” commented Jody Williams, Vice President of Writer/Publisher at BMI. “Thomas Rhett’s rocket ship has already taken off. He’s going to be a big part of country radio’s future. And Brad and Brett Warren continue to write groundbreaking music for the format. BMI is very excited to represent these talented and entertaining hit songwriters. This year’s line-up at WCRS live should be a blast.”
2012 was full of excitement in country music, especially for new and emerging artists. We watched artists such as Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Eric Church emerge as the next wave of superstars. We also saw new artists such as Hunter Hayes, Brantley Gilbert, and Jana Kramer become household names.
So who will it be in 2013? We’ve got some ideas, some very obvious, and some that you really need to pay attention to.
Here we go… the artists to watch in 2013:
The one-of-a-kind, award-winning CMA Music Festival takes over downtown Nashville for four days this summer, Thursday through Sunday, June 6-9, with a star-packed lineup that includes Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Carrie Underwood, and more artists to be announced soon.
The Ultimate Country Music Fan Experience began in 1972 as Fan Fair®, bringing 5,000 fans to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. More than 40 years later, the legendary festival has become the city’s signature music event, which annually attracts tens of thousands of fans from all 50 states and around the globe and has raised millions of dollars for music education. The event will once again be filmed for an ABC Television special airing later in the summer, shining a national spotlight on both Country Music and Music City.
Republic Nashville proudly announces today the addition of Cassadee Pope to its roster. The young singer-songwriter emerged while competing on NBC’s “The Voice” and winning the Season 3 title last December.
Chosen for Team Blake (Shelton), Pope excelled throughout the competition, displaying diverse musical tastes and talents, covering songs like Keith Urban’s “Stupid Boy,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.” After a performance of “Over You” – honoring her mentor and his wife, Miranda Lambert – the tune catapulted to the #1 spot on the iTunes All Genre Chart.
“I am so excited to be joining the very talented Republic Nashville family. I am so passionate about my music and I couldn’t be more excited to have this amazing team to back me as I embark on this next chapter in my career,” said Pope. “Cassadee was a standout from day one and once she delivered her incredible version of Miranda Lambert’s “Over You,” I started working over my NY label partner Monte Lipman (CEO of Republic Records) to try to convince him that Cassadee belonged in Nashville,” said Big Machine Label Group President Scott Borchetta. “Each week Cassadee continued to knock down big Country songs by Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban and Faith Hill, and after she won we were THRILLED to find out that Cassadee was on the same page with us and wanted to come to Nashville. The BMLG Team is over the top excited about Cassadee Pope!”
Kenny Chesney will add a new album to his impressive discography with the release of his yet untitled, new album on Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Records label on April 30. “It’s gonna be an amazing summer and I’m really excited to bring some new music to No Shoes Nation,” said Chesney.
With preparation well under way for the kick off of his ‘No Shoes Nation’ Tour on March 16 in Tampa, Fl, Chesney and NSN will celebrate a summer of music, friends and good times. “The fans are the foundation of ‘No Shoes Nation,'” Chesney said. “They built it from the ground up, and they built it with heart, passion and the love of life and music, and I can’t wait to feel that connection again throughout the summer of 2013.”
FOCUS has been invited to participate in the first ever Country Music Blog Rodeo! Thanks to Country Music News Blog, several independent country music blogs will come together to chat about country music! We’d like to thank them for this opportunity and for such a great idea! Read more from CMNB below:
Next week, a group of some of the top independent country music blogs across the U.S., and even a couple across the pond, will be getting together to launch the first ever Country Music Blog Rodeo! Through individual posts, links and social sharing, we’re coming together to chat about what we all love the most…country music! For this inaugural Blog Rodeo, we’ll be discussing what’s to come in 2013 for the country music scene. With brand new tours, lots of new music, newcomers and seasoned artists on the rise, and so much more already happening, this year promises to be a BIG one for country music artists, fans, bloggers, industry folks and everyone in between, and all THAT is exactly what we’re going to be talking about!
So, be looking for posts featuring a unique perspective from each of the sites on the list below onTuesday, January 22nd! After you’ve checked out our thoughts for what will be happening in 2013, you can join in with our live Twitter Chat and share what you’re looking forward to in 2013, and we’ll even be giving away some fun country music prizes to fans! Get ready to rodeo!
Blog Rodeo Twitter Chat:
- Date: Thursday, January 24th
- Time: TBD
- Find us: #BlogRodeo #CountryMusic
Country Music Blog Rodeo Participants:
- CountryMusicNewsBlog.com (Twitter: @CountryMusicNB)
- CountryMusicTattleTale.com (Twitter: @CMTT)
- CountryMusicIsLove.com (Twitter: @cmilove)
- CMchatLive.com (Twitter: @CMchatLIVE)
- UrbanCountryNews.com (Twitter: @UrbanCountryNws)
- TwangNation.com (Twitter: @TwangNation)
- CountryMusicPride.com (Twitter: @CountryMusicPri)
- ukCOUNTRYmusic.net (Twitter: @officialUKCM)
- ForTheCountryRecord.com (Twitter: @planmymistake)
- FocusOnThe615.com (Twitter: @Focusonthe615)
