harris16464@bellsouth.net, Author at Nashville Music Line

Opry NextStage announces first artist in the Class of 2021

Hailey Whitters’ “12-year journey in a 10-year town”

By Preshias Harris

As the Grand Ole Opry gets back to entertaining full-capacity audiences, some rising ‘next generation’ stars will be taking the stage.

During a Zoom meeting on June 1, Jordan Pettit, the Director of Artist Relations for Opry Entertainment Group, announced the first artist to be part of the class of 2021 in the Opry NextStage program.

Pettit introduced Hailey Whitters, a singer-songwriter from Ville, Iowa. She recalled visiting the Grand Ole Opry at the age of 15. Backstage, she boldly went up to Little Jimmy Dickens and told him, “I’m going to be in country music someday.” Dickens told her to keep on saying it. Two years later, she moved to Nashville and played her first gig at Ri’chards Café in Little Creek, Tennessee. A few years later, she was back at Ri’chard’s, but this time she was waiting tables and keeping her dream alive.

As Pettit pointed out, Whitters is “now twelve years into a ten-year town” and the release of her album, The Dream, showed the depth of her creativity as an artist and a songwriter. In his introduction, Pettit described Whitters as “so vulnerable, bold, honest and raw.” Whitters said that being part of country music and performing on the Opry stage “was all I ever wanted to do.” She made her Opry debut on August 7, 2019 and will take the stage for the Opry’s Saturday show on June 5.

Music news update: Mid-May 2021

Summer is on the way and the Nashville music scene is heating up!

Acts are already planning tours that had been put on hold and new albums are getting set for release. Here is a quick roundup of some of the stories that will be part of the June 2021 edition of my column, Inside Track on Music Row, the longest-running monthly country music column in the USA. Scroll down to catch up on these news items:

Steve Wariner celebrates his 25th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry
Justin Moore receives the Pandora Billionaire plaque in recognition of 3 billion streams on the platform
Carrie and Luke are heading to Vegas for residencies at Resorts World
Chris LeDoux Estate set to release Wyoming Cowboy – A Collection in July
Rhonda Towns releases “Walking In Your Wonderful Light,” title track from upcoming EP
Allie Colleen says “Don’t Give Your Heart To A Cowboy” on second single from Stones album
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s new album, A Few Stars Apart, will be released June 11
Natalie Madigan signs with ASCAP for PRO representation
I’ll Fly Away Foundation uses the power of music to engage children and improve their lives through songwriting
Sturgill Simpson has recorded his own version of “Paradise,” one of John Prine’s best-loved songs
David Frizzell’s fan-favorite album, Frizzell & Friends: Roundup Live in Concert, reissued by Time-Life

Scroll down to read all these news items…

Few have attained the achievements of multi-GRAMMY®, CMA and ACM Award-winning performer Steve Wariner. The singer-songwriter-instrumentalist recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member with appearance on the Opry stage May 8 and May 11. Wariner’s lifelong dream came true when he was inducted May 11, 1996 and performed “A Woman Loves,” as well as a duet with Bill Anderson of “Tips Of My Fingers” and then joined Chet Atkins on “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”

Copyright info for songwriters & musicians

Laws and protections you have to know about your songs

Reprinted from Copyright.gov | U.S. Copyright Office. Find the original article here.

If you’re a songwriter or musician, there are a few key things to know about copyright law and the protections available to you.

First, you should know that copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is “fixed” in a tangible medium. For example, fixation occurs when a song is recorded in an audio file or when a musical work is notated in sheet music or a digital file. You don’t need to do anything else at all for your work to be protected by copyright. As the owner of your work, copyright gives you the right to make and sell copies, distribute those copies, make new works, and publicly perform the work.

The Two Types of Work

When you record a song, you may be creating two works that are protected by copyright: a musical work and a sound recording. A sound recording and the music, lyrics, words, or other content included in the recording are separate copyright-protected works. These works are subject to different rules and are commonly owned and licensed separately.

Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, LANCO and more in the news

‘Inside Track on Music Row’ May 2021 now posted!

The May 2021 edition of ‘Inside Track on Music Row’ is now posted at Nashville Music Guide! It’s the longest continuously-running monthly country music column in the USA, and as always Amanda and her team at NMG have added all the ‘bells and whistles’ with links, videos, photos and music you won’t find anywhere else. Read the entire column here at NMG.

Among the content you will find there…

Chris Stapleton takes home Album of the Year Award at the ACM Awards for Starting Over, produced by Dave Cobb…
Share a “First Beer” with LANCO as their current single reminisces about “our first drink and the people we were with”…
Alan Jackson asks Where Have You Gone with his first studio album of new music in six years, set for release May 14…
Kolt Barber is on the road, combining his traditional brand of country with rodeo on The American Cowboy Showdown…
Larry Gatlin reveals that he was the ‘unnamed country singer’ with a cocaine addiction in Matthew McConaughey’s new memoir Greenlights…
Exile – my favorite Kentucky group – announced a VIP live online concert set for May 20, 2021…

…plus a whole lot more, ready for you to read right now. Hop on over to Nashville Music Guide’s website here and catch up with the news on my ‘Inside Track on Music Row.’

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

MLC collects $40m from digital service providers

Royalties being distributed to copyright owners

Copyright owners – publishers and songwriters — can celebrate this month. The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) made its first regular payment distribution to publishers in April, according to a statement by Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).

The statement said: “NSAI is proud of our involvement in crafting and passing the Music Modernization Act, which created the MLC and streamlined the way digital mechanical licenses are issued and royalties distributed. This distribution marks a historic moment in music history and we look forward to the continued success of the MLC in matching copyright owners to digital usage while providing transparency and stability in the digital mechanical landscape.”

The distribution included royalties from the use of musical works by U.S. digital service providers (DSPs) during January 2021. It did not include any historical unmatched royalties, according to a statement at the MLC website.

Becoming a Member of The MLC is easy and free! To learn more about being a self-administered songwriter Member, click here.

‘Inside Track’ for April 2021

The April 2021 edition of my column, Inside Track on Music on Music Row is now posted at Nashville Music Guide.

It’s the longest continuously-running country music column in the USA. Check out the entire April column, with the accompanying photos and videos, here at NMG. Among some of the stories:

Justin Moore’s new project is an eight-song collection titled Straight Outta the Country that he announced on his Justin Moore Podcast.
Shenandoah’s Marty Raybon returns to his bluegrass roots, signing with Nashville’s Billy Blue Records that released the debut single “Walking the Floor.”
Ronnie Milsap believes it’s the music that makes you young. With A Better Word for Love dropping April 30, the 4-time Country Music Association Album of the Year winner is ready to tease his fans with a little “Wild Honey.”
Thomas Rhett’s journey continues with the release of part one of his fifth studio double album: Country Again Side A on April 30 and fans can pre-order it now.
Check out Cadillac Three’s new video for “Long After Last Call,” a startling reminder of the empty independent venues across the globe to benefit #SaveOurStages.
American country rock band and Kentucky Music Hall of Fame members, Exile, will reissue four of their legendary albums via a new signed deal with Time Life to coincide with the original Exile Reunion concert.

Plus much more. read the entire column here at NMG.

Josiah Siska is out to “Get a Girl” with new single

The country baritone voice that touches listeners’ hearts

By Preshias Harris

“For me, the greatest reward from performing is the satisfaction of realizing people in the crowd understand you,” says Josiah Siska, the Black River Entertainment recording artist and songwriter. He explains, “When I write songs, when I play my music or when I cut a song, it’s always something that I can relate to; a story from my life, something that I’ve lived or an experience, a mood or a love that I’ve felt.”

That’s also what draws Josiah to songs written by other songwriters such as “To Get A Girl.” It’s his current single written by Danny Myrick, Josh Ronen, and Landon Wall and released by Black River in early March 2021. Watch the official lyric video here.

“I’m not too great at communicating with strangers all the time,” Josiah admits, “But when I play my music on stage, the people in the crowd get to hear me. When they tell me that it’s good, I feel real good. That’s the most rewarding thing about being an artist for me.”

The Gwinnett, Georgia, native is a multi-instrumentalist. He plays electric, acoustic and classical guitar, as well as the banjo and piano. He was working at a Dacula, Georgia, golf club when he auditioned for Season 15 of American Idol, impressing the judges with his rendition of “Ghost Riders in the Sky.” It was the first big step on his musical journey.

Idol: A leap of faith

“It was kind of a blind leap, just blind faith,” he says of his decision to try out for Idol. “I went out to Hollywood by myself. I auditioned when I was seventeen, I turned eighteen when I got accepted on the show and I did it all on my own.”

Shannon McCombs nominated for Tenn. Radio Hall of Fame

From Rock to Country, Shannon has done it all!

Shannon McCombs, host, writer, and producer of the weekly syndicated show, CDX Country News has been nominated for the 2021 class of the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. The 10th Anniversary Induction Ceremony will take place on July 31, 2021.

A personal note from Preshias…

Shannon and I are lifelong friends! I was listening when it was her very first time on the air, broadcasting from WKVE-FM in Cave City, KY. I can remember jumping for joy and screaming at the top of my lungs. The same thing happened when she started her first night at WKDF-103 Rock in Nashville, Tennessee, as the overnight air personality. My mother and I were both whooping and hollering just after midnight on January 1, 1986 when she played the Smokey Robinson song we requested!

Visit Shannon’s YouTube channel here to see her interviews with Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Trisha Yearwood, Hunter Hayes, Ricky Skaggs and many more.

“I’ve been in radio my entire life, even when I was a kid, I pretended to be in radio. Along with my brother and cousin, we would play DJ for hours with our cassette recorder.,” shared Shannon McCombs. “So, the fact that my peers have honored me in this way is extremely humbling.”

“I fully endorse the nomination of Shannon McCombs to the Tennessee Radio Hall Of Fame. Shannon has dedicated her life to radio in the Great State of Tennessee,” expressed CDX President – Joe Kelly. “She epitomizes a radio pro and deserves to be included among the great broadcasters already in the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.”

Star-studded lineup set for 2ndAveStrong benefit

$2 million goal for March 26 broadcast

Set your DVR now or plan to be in front of your TV (or both) on Friday March 26 to see the stars come out to raise funds for those affected by the Christmas Day bombing that devastated Nashville’s Second Avenue and beyond.

The DISTRICT, Inc. and Metro Historical Commission Foundation announced the full lineup of performers for the March 26 virtual benefit concert hosted at the Wildhorse Saloon by Natalie Stovall of Runaway June. Ashley McBryde, BRELAND, Derek St. Holmes, Lee Brice, Lindsay Ell, Old Dominion, Phil Vassar, Phillip Phillips, Scotty McCreery, Shenandoah w/ special guest Gyth Rigdon and Tyler Rich will perform to raise money for 2ndavestrong restoration and preservation fund.

One of the evening’s highlights will bring together for the first time ever GRAMMY Award Winning Shenandoah with special guest Gyth Rigdon performing “I Want To Be Loved Like That”. Gyth performed the song on the 16th season of The Voice as a member of team Blake.

Gyth Rigdon (light shirt) on the Wildhorse stage with Shenandoah at the 2nd Ave Strong concert. Photo credit: Preshias Harris

On a personal note, I am so proud of Gyth Rigdon who not only has an amazing talent that took him to the finals on The Voice, but also has the resolve and focus that will make him a star. It was an honor to have Gyth as part of my “Nashville music family!”

What’s new in country music?

It’s February’s ‘Inside Track on Music Row’ with Preshias

Lots to catch up on in this month’s Inside Track on Music Row, the longest continuously-running country music column in the USA, written and presented by Preshias Harris.

Read the full column, along with links to music, videos, photos and more here at Nashville Music Guide. Among this month’s stories…

Adam Sanders’ new album, Adam Sanders Live, and links to the tracks
On the 20th anniversary of releasing his first single to radio, Tim McGraw duets with Tyler Hubbard on “Undivided”
HARDY says “Give Heaven Some Hell” to a departed friend in new single…
Check out the tracks on Lee Brice’s latest album, Hey World
The 2021 Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute to Charlie Daniels, scheduled for February 22, has been moved to a new date
On “Freedom Was A Highway,” Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley reminisce about the nostalgia and simplicity of more carefree, youthful days
Kip Moore shares the track and video of “How High” from his 17-track Wild World Deluxe project, set to drop Feb 12
Eric Church’s 3-part project Heart & Soul includes a special part just for Church Choir members
Loretta Lynn is Still Woman Enough with new album due in March plus a PBS documentary
Thomas Rhett is the latest country artist to get into the wine & liquor business with Dos Primos tequila
Parker Millsap teases upcoming album Be Here Instead with single, “The Real Thing”
Plus… Chris Janson, Ashlyn Grayce, Gene Watson, Opry News, Brett Young, Tin Pan South 2021 update, Buck Owens, Clay Walker and more in the February 2021 Inside Track on Music Row posted here at Nashville Music Guide now!

@PreshiasHarris #PreshiasHarris