Nashville is opening up and the music is center stage again
It feels like the good times are coming back in Music City and here’s the music news update for mid-June, 2021. As always, all these items and more appear in the June edition of my column, Inside Track on Music Row, the longest-running country music column in the USA. You can catch it every month in the Nashville Music Guide. Here are some more items from my current column:
- The Americana Music Association has announced the nominees for the Awards Show set for September at the Ryman
- Netflix movie The Ice Road features hot songs woven into its soundtrack
- CMT Awards: here are the big winners!
- Brett Young sets date for Caliville Weekend and announces headliners
- Songwriters heading to the Smoky Mountains for Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival
- Explore the electric guitar in an online program from the Country Music Hall of fame and Museum
- Shenandoah will livestream from historic FAME studios in Muscle Shoals
- Dallas Remington’s “Princess” inspired by a Royal wedding
Scroll down to read these news items…
The Americana Music Association has announced the nominees for its 20th annual Americana Honors & Awards during a socially-distanced ceremony at Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM). This year’s nominations were revealed by GRAMMY® Award-winner Keb’ Mo’ and Ketch Secor, frontman and fiddler of the Americana Award and GRAMMY®-winning band, Old Crow Medicine Show. The intimate event was streamed live to the Americana Music Association’s Facebook page.
The winners of each category will be announced during the Americana Honors & Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. The celebrated program is the hallmark event of AMERICANAFEST, which returns for its 21st year on Sept. 22-25, 2021. Find ticketing information and a full list of nominees or purchase passes to AMERICANAFEST here.
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When it comes to the road, nobody understands hard driving like Big Machine Label Group founder and chairman Scott Borchetta. The longtime racer, NASCAR team owner, IndyCar sponsor and race historian loves the feel of the asphalt in a way that transcends transportation. When Jonathan Hensleigh, the writer and director of Netflix’s The Ice Road wanted a label to deliver a multi-genre film soundtrack, he knew that Big Machine was the only choice. The Ice Road, an action thriller starring Liam Neeson, debuts on Netflix on June 25.
With a bottom-heavy train-beat, Grammy®-winning Americana icon Jason Isbell kicks off the dozen song collection with Johnny Cash’s truckers’ truth “All I Do Is Drive.” The collection brings together Country superstar Tim McGraw (covering the Cars “Drive”), The Cadillac Three (on Dave Dudley’s 1963 No. 1 “Six Days On The Road”) and Mark Collie with Oscar® nominee Allison Moorer (the cinematic “All Coming Down”), Miranda Lambert on Hank Snow’s “I’m Movin’ On,” Carly Pearce with “Eighteen Wheels and A Dozen Roses,” L.A. Rats – with Nikki Sixx and Rob Zombie – on “I’ve Been Everywhere,” and more. Watch the trailer here.
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The CMT Awards aired on CMT (of course!) and on several other related outlets on June 9. Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini – The Two KBs – teamed up to co-host and were also nominees. The Video of the Year Award went to Carrie Underwood & John Legend’s “Hallelujah” while Kane Brown took home the award for Male Video of the Year and Gabby Barrett won the Female Video of the Year Award for “The Good Ones.”
Other winners: Duo/Group Video of the Year: Little Big Town for “Wine, Beer, Whiskey;” Breakthrough Video of the Year: Dylan Scott for “Nobody;” CMT Performance of the Year: Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey for “The Other Girl” (from the 2020 CMT Music Awards); Collaborative Video of the Year: Chris Young and Kane Brown for “Famous Friends” and the Best Family Feature Award went to Taylor Swift for “The Best Day (Taylor’s Version).” Watch all the winning and nominated videos here.
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Brett Young’s first-ever “Caliville Weekend” in Palm Springs, CA, has moved to September 3-6, 2021 in an effort to host the safest and most special experience possible for fans. The inaugural event presented by Pollen and curated by 7x consecutive chart-topper Young, announced that Chase Rice, Maddie & Tae, Devin Dawson, Seaforth, Filmore, Keaton Simons, Noah Needleman, Matt Ferranti, DJ Hish & DJ Coral will join the musical lineup across the long weekend.
The resort takeover will also feature a wide range of activities including pool parties, BBQs, golfing with Young and much more. Click a link here, while anyone who has already purchased a package will be reserved for the new dates and protected by Pollen’s COVID-19 money-back guarantee.
Young has captured the hearts of fans everywhere through his honest lyrics and West Coast-meets-Southern sound, aptly dubbed “Caliville” style. While touring is paused, he has been tapped for several high-profile, all-genre livestreams in an effort to bring music and relief to fans across the world.
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Songwriters are heading to the Smoky Mountains this summer to be part of the first annual Gatlinburg Songwriters Festival, set for August 19 – 22. The Festival with include a 3-day conference with various events as well as live performances at different venues in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Among the hit songwriters already booked: Tony Arata, Lee Roy Parnell, Will Nance, Steve Dean, and many more. Live performance will take place at The Listening Room—Pigeon Forge, Ole Red, SkyLift Park, Park Vista Hotel and The Historic Gatlinburg Inn with other locations being added.
Songwriters who attend the conference will have the opportunity to participate in mentoring sessions with hit writers and collaboration in songwriting sessions. There will be a kick-off event to celebrate the legacy of the hit songwriting team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant who wrote many of their hits at the Historic Gatlinburg Inn. Many performances will be free and open to the public. Special events can be attended with a $30.00 membership fee. Ticket details and more information here.
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In honor of the newly launched online exhibition, Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is hosting a free online Family Program exploring the electric guitar with a Johnny Cash bent.
On Saturday, June 26, from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM CST, Museum educator Adam Ollendorff will teach “Fulsom Prison Blues, including Luther Perkins’s solo and “boom-chicka-boom” rhythm guitar style.
The program is recommended for ages five and up, but all families with children are welcome. Learn about the electric guitar through the music of Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash’s musical career began in Memphis when he was signed to Sun Records. His first recordings showcased his songwriting and the rockabilly sound of his band, The Tennessee Two, made up of Luther Perkins on guitar and Marshall Grant on bass. Ollendorff has toured and recorded with Kacey Musgraves and John Oates. More info here.
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GRAMMY®, ACM and CMA winning country group Shenandoah, in partnership with Sessions Live, will be performing their first-ever live stream from the historic Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The event will take place Monday, June 21 at 7 p.m. CT in celebration of live performances gearing back up and the band’s greatest hits over the last three decades.
“I’m thrilled to invite our fans to our special livestream performance at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. It will be great to bring a little piece of history to everyone’s living room,” shared frontman Marty Raybon. The livestream will be followed by a VIP encore set and a Q&A session. General admission tickets are $12.00. VIP tickets are also still available, which include a limited-edition t-shirt and signed 8×10 picture. Find tickets and info here. @shenandoahband.
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Dallas Remington has released her sassy fan favorite single, “Princess.” The upbeat, fun tune was released digitally and is at Country radio now. The song is featured on 650 AM WSM on the Artist Spotlight. Penned by Bridgette Tatum, Nancy Deckant and Dallas Remington with production, engineering and mixing by Eric Torres at The Couch Room Studio in Nashville, “Princess” is available on all digital streaming and download here.
The inspiration behind “Princess” came from the Royal wedding in 2018 when Bridgette Tatum commented “You ain’t a princess until you marry a prince,” and from there “Princess” was born. Everyone knows a girl who thinks she is a princess, even though she is not. This song is about a girl just like that, a girl who wants to be something she is not instead of embracing the life she already has. “If there is anything I’d want my fans to take away from it is to love who you are, where you come from, and know that no matter what, someone loves you for YOU,” stated Dallas. More about Dallas and her music here.
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All these news items and more will be featured in my column, Inside Track on Music Row, in the June edition of Nashville Music Guide. And catch up with the May 2021 edition here.
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Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com