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The results are in: for the first quarter of 2024, Warner Chappell earned the top spot on the Country Airplay publisher rankings for the second quarter in a row.
With a 33.08% market share, WCM, helmed in Nashville by president/CEO Ben Vaughn, is the top publisher. This is thanks to the shares the publisher had in eight of the top 10 songs of the quarter. Overall, it also had stakes in 68 of the quarter’s top 100 Country Airplay songs, including Country Airplay No. 1 Nate Smith’s “World On Fire,” HARDY’s No. 2 “Truck Bed,” and Warren Zeider’s No. 3 track “Pretty Little Poison.”
Apart from Sony Music Publishing’s five-consecutive-quarter reign at No. 1 from Q3 of 2022 to Q3 of 2023, Warner Chappell has consistently held the quarterly top country music publisher title in Nashville, dating back to about 2017.
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This quarter Sony Music Publishing held in second place with a 20.04% market share on the Country Airplay chart. SMP has shares in 51 of the chart’s songs including the top two tunes this quarter, which are both thanks to its tie to one of Nashville’s biggest hitmakers Ashley Gorley, who sold his catalog and signed a go-forward deal with SMP (in partnership with Domain Capital Group) in May 2022. For the first quarter, Gorley ranked as the top country songwriter, with a co-writer stake in 16 of the period’s Top 100 Country Airplay songs.
The rest of the market share for other companies on the Country Airplay chart lags far behind Nashville’s top two publishers. BMG comes in third, for example, with 8.18% market share, which is slightly more than two percentage points up from where they were last year in Q1 with 6.09% Country Airplay marketshare. It is the first time BMG has ranked above major publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, since Q1 of 2018. Top songs for the publisher this quarter include Cody Johnson’s “The Painter,” the No. 4 song on the Country Airplay chart, and Chayce Beckham’s “23,” the No. 8 tune.
Universal Music Publishing Group holds the fourth spot this quarter with 6.85% market share on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Just three quarters ago, UMPG had an especially good quarter with a 12.71% ranking — about double what it reached this time. Top songs for UMPG include Thomas Rhett’s “Mawmaw’s House,” the No. 5 song and Scotty McCreery’s “Cab in a Solo,” the No. 15 tune.
Looking at the rankings from No. 5 to No. 8, Kobalt ranks fifth in market share for the Country Airplay chart at 5.78%; Big Machine Music slightly surpasses Concord at 4.11% to 4.10% market shares, respectively; Spirit Music ranks eighth with 2.02%.
The ninth largest publisher on the Country Airplay chart belongs to Purple Rabbit Music, the publishing company that represents songwriter Tracy Chapman. The spot represents the continued impact her song “Fast Car,” which was covered by Luke Combs last year and performed by the two artists together at the Grammy awards earlier this year. Its placement in the rankings represents its debut for the Top 10 Country Airplay publishers.
Lastly, Anthem brings up the end of the Top 10 Country Airplay publishers with a 1.87% marketshare, a tick below Purple Rabbit’s 1.88% share for the quarter.
Last CPQ: Tracy Chapman and Oliver Anthony Make History
The Nashville Metro Council may have far exceeded its reach when it voted to not allow Morgan Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen to have external signage with his name on it, according to a prominent Nashville attorney.
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On Tuesday (May 21), the council voted to reject plans for Wallen’s 20-foot external sign to appear on the six-story venue, which is slated to open Memorial Day weekend. Only three members voted in favor of the sign, with 30 members voting against. Four council members abstained. Some members of the council cited Wallen’s past controversial incidents as reasons for rejecting the sign.
Signage requests for the outside of buildings that hang over public property — including sidewalks — are required to obtain council approval. “I don’t want to see a billboard up with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off of balconies and who is saying racial slurs,” at-large council member Delishia Porterfield said, according to The Tennessean.
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“Mr. Wallen is a fellow East Tennessean. He gives all of us a bad name,” District 14 ouncil member Jordan Huffman added. “His comments are hateful; his actions are harmful.”
However, such a decision is a case of government overreach, says the attorney: “You can’t as the government take negative action against something someone said. The Council was way out on a limb. It violates the First Amendment to say, ‘You used the N-word therefore you can’t put your name on a building.’”
Porterfield is referencing Wallen’s January 2021 use of a racial slur that was caught on video, as well as his most recent arrest on April 7, when he was taken into custody on April 7 for allegedly throwing a chair off of the rooftop of Eric Church’s six-story Chief’s bar in downtown Nashville. Wallen was booked on three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Wallen is slated to appear before a Nashville court in August.
Wallen’s bar and restaurant, located at 107 4th Ave. N., adjacent to the Ryman Auditorium just off Nashville’s Lower Broadway, is a partnership between Wallen and TC Restaurant Group, which licensed his name for the project. TC Restaurant Group is also behind other celebrity bars in downtown Nashville including Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink and Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar.
The next step, says the attorney, is for TC Restaurant Group to take action in federal or chancery court against the Council. “[TC Restaurant Group] has bought the right to use [Wallen’s] name,” the attorney says. “Basically the city has taken that piece of property away from them. They can’t do that without due process of law.”
A representative for Wallen declined to comment on the council’s decision, as did Wallen’s manager. Representatives for TC Restaurant Group declined to comment, adding only that the company is “focused on This Bar’s opening.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.
Lainey Wilson, the reigning entertainer of the year at both the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards, has set an opening date for her new Nashville bar.
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Wilson’s Bell Bottoms Up Bar, located at 120 South 3rd Ave., will open May 31 — the same day Wilson launches her Country’s Cool Again Tour with two headlining shows at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater.
The Bell Bottoms Up bar will feature two stages, four bars and a mezzanine floor, while the rooftop level will feature 1970s western-inspired details, a dance floor, disco-inspired decor and frozen drinks. The three-story, 27,000-square-foot venue will open in partnership with TC Restaurant Group, the business that has also helped launch Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink and Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar.
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In revealing the upcoming bar and giving fans a sneak peek via social media, the singer-songwriter said, “Yank up them britches and make plans to check it out on Broadway before my Country’s Cool Again tour kicks off that weekend in Nashville!”
Wilson also previously said in a statement, “I’ve always wanted to create a destination for all my fans to visit and create new memories at, in the heart of country music city. So, to have a permanent destination in Nashville, is such a dream come true. I can’t wait for all my Wild Horses to get to experience my home away from home.”
Wilson, the cover star for Billboard’s recent Country Power Players issue, is set to release her latest album Broken Bow, Whirlwind, on Aug. 23. She previously told Billboard the album is “the Western sister of Bell Bottom Country.” She added, “I feel like it’s got a little bit more character [and] cinematic storytelling.” She is working on the album with Jay Joyce, the same producer behind her 2022 album Bell Bottom Country and its predecessor, 2021’s Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’.
Morgan Wallen‘s Nashville bar will soon be open for business, according to the “Last Night” hitmaker. During his headlining set at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Saturday (May 4), the country music star revealed that his Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen will open on Memorial Day weekend. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and […]
Live event production and rehearsal studio Rock Lititz and development firm Al. Neyer have teamed to open a 55-acre Nashville entertainment rehearsal and production campus, Rock Nashville, in 2025.
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The deal will include 44 acres of development over a 55-acre site in Nashville’s Whites Creek neighborhood. The Rock Nashville campus will include three buildings with more than 515,000 square feet of sound stages as well as creative offices and production facilities in various sizes with the capacity to support various production specifications for live shows, from local bands to A-list artists. The campus will include resources for performers and 13 band and production studio rehearsal spaces ranging from club/theater sizes to amphitheater, arena and stadium-scale (including one space up to 95 feet tall to replicate venues of that size), as well as set storage, backline rental, artist relation offices and a community cafe.
The campus is expected to become home to nearly 35 companies, including rehearsal studio complex SoundCheck, which had a hand in designing Rock Nashville and helped spearhead the strategic partnership between the team at Rock Lititz and Al. Neyer. SoundCheck will move from its current home on Cowan Street in Nashville, where it has been located for over three decades. Additionally, Clair Global, which provides live production spaces, systems integration and audio solutions, will be located at the new campus.
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Groundbreaking for the new facility occurred in mid-April, and construction is expected to be completed in Fall of 2025. Rock Nashville is expected to be home to 400 employees, and 85 employees at support businesses.
“As a full-service developer, we’re thrilled to be involved in the design, construction, and development of the future of Music City and live entertainment. As we continue to invest in the growing market of Nashville, this is our first foray into the entertainment world. We couldn’t imagine a more perfect operating partner to bring a new offering to the Nashville market alongside,” said Patrick Poole, Nashville Market Leader for Al. Neyer, in a statement.
“As we approach ten years since Rock Lititz opened its doors, we’ve been eager to find the next space and partner for expanding our support for the live entertainment industry. This unique and hard-working community thrives with access to specialized training, mentoring, and resources to help create custom live experiences for audiences worldwide. It is with great excitement that we’ve identified Nashville and Al. Neyer as the right city and partner. We are passionate about growing this network, and Nashville is the perfect location to join with other industry leaders to create something special,” added Andrea Shirk, Rock Lititz President and CEO, in a statement.
“SoundCheck has been part of the Nashville entertainment community for over 30 years, and we couldn’t be more excited to make Rock Nashville our new home,” said Soundcheck GM Kindal Jumper. “As Music City continues to grow as a premier destination for all genres of music, the campus’s state-of-the-art facilities will allow Soundcheck to meet the growing needs of today’s acts, ensuring the highest caliber production experience for artists and crews from Broadway to Bridgestone.
Rock Lititz was founded in 2000 by Troy Clair, owner of Clair Global, and Adam Davis, CEO of the TAIT Group. The Rock Lititz campus in Pennsylvania opened in 2014 and is home to more than 40 companies that support the live entertainment space.
In addition to earning his own top 20 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit “Flower Shops” in 2022, Big Loud Records singer-songwriter Ernest’s songwriting acumen has become a not-so-secret hitmaking weapon in Nashville’s songwriting circles, stealthily helping to fashion the sound of modern-day country music. He’s a writer on seven No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including Morgan Wallen’s 10-week No. 1 “You Proof” and three-week No. 1 “Wasted on You,” as well as chart-toppers by Kane Brown (“One Mississippi”) and Jelly Roll (“Son of a Sinner”).
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With that in mind, the industry has recognized his ability to spin words and melody into chart hits, lauding him with a nomination as artist-songwriter of the year at the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards in May.
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On Ernest’s new album, Nashville, Tennessee, which released April 12, this rapper-turned-modern country traditionalist declares his intentions right from the start in not only honoring his hometown of Nashville, but the creative spirit and community that has long made Nashville “Music City.”
“It listens more like a playlist than a true album,” Ernest tells Billboard. “The true denominator is country music and all the influences I’ve taken, definitely going back to the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, all the way to present-day. It has a little bit of all of it.”
Nashville, Tennessee features collaborations Ernest’s with fellow Nashville native and country hitmaker Jelly Roll, as well as Lainey Wilson, Lukas Nelson, as well as the other members of his Big Loud Records labelmate singer-songwriter trifecta, Morgan Wallen and HARDY.
The sprawling, 26-song album’s essence is highlighting the artistry of country music’s top songwriters, including Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famers, alongside newcomer hit writers. Two sets of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame country writers and their next-gen country songcrafters are present on the album: Dean Dillon (known for numerous hit songs including “Tennessee Whiskey,” Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy,” Kenny Chesney’s “A Lot of Things Different” and George Strait’s (“The Chair”)) and his daughter, the Grammy songwriter of the year-nominated Jessie Jo Dillon, as well as Rivers Rutherford (the Dolly Parton/Brad Paisley collab “When I Get Where I’m Going”) and his son Rhys Rutherford (Bailey Zimmerman’s “Is This Really Over?). ACM and CMA song of the year winner Nicolle Galyon, Ryan Vojtesak and Grady Block are featured, in addition to writers signed to Ernest’s own Cadillac Music publishing company: Chandler Walters, Cody Lohden and Rafe Tenpenny.
Along the way, he nods to a plethora of country music’s towering figures, including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, George Jones and Lefty Frizzell—while also signaling his expanse of influences outside the genre in covers of songs from John Mayer and even Radiohead. In simultaneously mining country music’s history, yet eschewing any borders, he sets forth a music-first mantra. Within Nashville and beyond, fans responded immediately, with 6,000 people showing up at Ernest’s pop-up show in Nashville on the album’s release day.
Ernest spoke with Billboard about some key tracks from the new album:
“Would If I Could” with Lainey Wilson was written three decades ago by Dean Dillon and Skip Ewing. How did you come across this song?
Ernest: Jessie Jo Dillon sent me that song and said, ‘This is the only song my dad and Skip ever wrote. I think you would like it.’ I did fall in love with it. I listened to it probably a thousand times, and within a week I recorded my own voice note of it on my phone, and I sent it to Dean just out of the blue. I don’t know that he even knew that I had the song, and I sent it to him and said, I’m going to cut this song. And he was like, well, damn son, if you’re writing him like this, what do you need me for? And then I was like, you wrote this. And it all came back to him.
How did Lainey come to be on the track?
Ironically, I guess within the same few days, Lainey put that song on hold. She found it in the Sony catalog, and cut it for an Apple Music session. I texted Lainey and said I planned on cutting the song. She called me and was like, ‘I’ll just sing on your record. I’ll do that song with you.’ So it worked out so naturally and beautifully, and it wasn’t written as a duet, but it turns out it’s a great duet.
You co-wrote “I Went to College/ I Went to Jail” with Luke Bryan, Chandler Walters and Rivers Rutherford. But it sounds perfectly written for you and Jelly Roll. How did it come about?
That song really is the perfect song for Jelly. We both grew up in Nashville. I’d known him for a while, and that’s what me and Luke Bryan were talking about. We’re playing golf. He was like, ‘You go back a while with Roll, don’t you? I said yes, and started singing, “I went to college and he went to jail,” and said, ‘We have to write that right now.’ We started writing it in the golf cart. The heavens dropped that song in our little golf cat that day. We FaceTimed Jelly Roll and he loved it was like, “Let’s go, baby!” Classic Jelly Roll.
It was a great song to start the album off with, with [both of us] being from Nashville and just kind of setting the tone for the record, that it’s a good time and it’s real storytelling and all that. It’s not too serious.
“Hangin’ On,” featuring Morgan Wallen, sounds a little more modern country than some of the other tracks on here. How do you decide which songs to keep and which to give away?
It was fun getting to be a bit selfish on this album. Usually, I’m just going in and writing a song that I’d like to sing. Then there are special days were Morgan will come in and we’re writing Morgan songs. I knew that I would typically have given that song to Morgan. So instead I just asked if he wanted to feature instead of just straight-up giving it away. [The 2024 Morgan Wallen collab] “Cowgirls” was kind of the same way. When I first did it, I didn’t show it to Morgan immediately, and when I finally did, it was always a no-brainer — it was going to be a Morgan song and he asked me to feature on it with him.
The midway point of the album is a family moment you share with your son Ryman Saint, singing “Twinkle Twinkle.” It’s from your concert at Boston’s Fenway Park. Why did you want to include that?
It’s a little palate cleanser, where you get into the “Life Goes On” segment of the record. But me and Ryman sing that song every night before he goes to bed and fall asleep singing it. And so when we were on our way to Fenway, I asked if you wanted to sing with Daddy, and he wanted to sing that song. So he did his first time ever. It was a proud parent moment.
You also include John Mayer’s “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” and a bluegrass spin on Radiohead’s “Creep.” Why was it important to include those on an album like this?
“Slow Dancing” has been one of my favorite songs for forever. I think that’s true for most people. It’s one of the best John Mayer songs, and it’s fun to play it with the steel guitar in it. And then as for “Creep,” that just was a fun little accident of me picking up a banjo and realizing it was the “Creep” chords. We were like, “If Old Crow Medicine Show did Radiohead, what would that be like?” Then it sat around for a year and I was like, “This would be the perfect song to get Hardy on for the record.” It was kind of the perfect way for me and Hardy to coexist on that album.
Morgan Wallen‘s ex-fiancée KT Smith is speaking out following reports that the country superstar launched a chair off of a Nashville bar after finding out that she married Luke Scornavacco just days after getting engaged. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Although it may seem like it […]
Eric Church‘s Nashville bar has officially responded to Morgan Wallen‘s arrest at the venue. The Chief’s official Instagram account shared a photo on Tuesday (April 9) of a new sign outside the establishment that reads: “Our pigs fly, our chairs don’t.” See the post here. The slogan is seemingly in reference to the chart-topping country singer getting […]
Contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter and two-time Grammy winner Lauren Daigle brought her Kaleidoscope Tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Saturday (April 6), as the Lafayette, Louisiana-born Daigle ushered in a cavalcade of sounds, a tight-knit horn section, superb backing vocalists, a full band, and a brightly-hued, joyous production for the roughly two-hour show.
Daigle, who has notched six pinnacle reachers on Billboard‘s Hot Christian Songs chart, has long approached her music with a free-flowing, genreless mindset, one that positions melodies and lyrics as leaning into a vast spectrum of sounds, each a capable vessel of hope, healing and flourishing. As she has amassed success both in Contemporary Christian Music and pop music (most notably, her 2018 album Look Up Child, which debuted at No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200, while her song “You Say” reached the top 30 on the all-genre Hot 100), Daigle has made the natural step up to headlining arenas — and with it has constructed a show filled with colors, sights and sounds meant to capture and hold the audience’s attention from the first, uptempo moments of “These Are the Days.”
Helming uptempo anthems such as “Look Up Child,” as well as soaring ballads such as “Valuable” was Daigle’s soaring vocal, which has often drawn comparisons to both Adele and Joss Stone, as well as her joyous, easygoing performance style as she and her crew of musicians danced and shimmied around the mainstage and catwalk stretching into the middle of Bridgestone Arena. The full band resided aloft an elevated platform, placing them visually in the center of the massive video wall that shone an array of colors and images throughout the evening, while Daigle and her crew of vocalists/musicians/dancers took up residence on the mainstage.
“This song is my favorite,” was a refrain of regular occurrence from Daigle throughout the set, as she punctuated the evening with stories behind some of her songs. Her fourth, eponymous studio album — which released last year via Atlantic Records/Centricity Music — saw Daigle further embrace mainstream pop, welcoming artists including Gary Clark Jr., and Jon Batiste, as well as songwriting prowess from songwriters including Shane McAnally and Natalie Hemby.
As a companion to her song “Kaleidoscope Jesus,” she spoke of the soul-connecting power of touring and live concerts, comparing each concert to looking through a kaleidoscope and knowing that each turn of the instrument brings a new collage of shapes and colors unique to that moment.
She noted that the song nods to a memory of playing with kaleidoscopes at her aunt’s house as a child.
“When you look inside of a kaleidoscope, and put it up to the light, there are different shapes and colors, some have rough edges and some have smooth edges,” Daigle told the crowd at one point. “Then you put them up to the light and they make this beautiful image… you bring all of your different stories to this show; some of you are struggling, some are having the time of your lives, but we bring those stories to God and put them up to the light and ask, ‘God what are you going to do through all of this?’ and it becomes a beautiful moment.”
Daigle’s hope-giving work extends beyond song and stage; during the concert, attendees were encouraged to sponsor a child through an organization Daigle works closely with, ChildFund, which aims to provide children around the world with food, clean water, education, healthcare and more. Daigle, who also sponsors a child through the program, noted that more than 700 children were sponsored by attendees at Bridgestone that evening.
Opening the show was Nigerian-born singer-songwriter Blessing Offor, known for his 2023 hit “Brighter Days” and his feature on TobyMac’s song “The Goodness.“ “This show means the world to me because this is my hometown,” Offor told the crowd.
Seated at a keyboard at the front of the main stage, he offered a Sterling display of his soulful, octave-leaping tenor vocal. He sang songs aimed at elevating his fellow musicians, particularly those struggling in the early days of their careers in “Don’t We All.” He sang “Believe,” and Tin Roof,” which Offor wrote with songwriter Natalie Hemby. CCM mainstay Chris Tomlin later recorded the song with Offor and included it on his country-leaning album Chris Tomlin & Friends. He followed with “My Tribe,” the title track to his 2023 album, and concluded with his breakthrough song “Brighter Days,” which drew the audience to appropriately light up three arena with a sea of cell phone lights.
Below, we highlight five top moments from Daigle’s set:
“Rescue”
As CMA entertainer of the year winner, 10-time Grammy nominee and whiskey enthusiast Eric Church has grown his varied business empire to include being a co-owner of the Field & Stream brand, launching his own SiriusXM music channel, “Eric Church Outsiders Radio,” rolling out the drinks line Whiskey JYPSI and his upcoming six-story venue Chief’s in downtown Nashville. Infusing his personal brand into every part of these ventures has been just as critical as it has been in his music.
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For some artists, putting out a whiskey might involve little more than slapping their name on a bottle—but Church has never been most artists. His name doesn’t appear on a bottle of Whiskey JYPSI, yet he’s been intimately involved in crafting its feel and flavor.
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“It’s not a celebrity whiskey,” Church says of Whiskey JYPSI to Billboard via email. “I’m a whiskey and bourbon connoisseur. It’s what I enjoy. I have my whole life and Whiskey JYPSI was built to produce a unique and high-quality product. It’s a true partnership and I happen to be a creative and that’s how I contribute the most.”
In 2020, Church joined forces with Raj Alva to launch Outsiders Spirits, an incubator for whiskey creativity. On April 2, the new Whiskey JYPSI Explorer Series launches, with the first release from the series boasting a blend of two six-year-old bourbons: a Kentucky-distilled low rye, as well as an Indiana high rye. The new offering follows the inaugural Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 001, which released in 2023.
“We created this – Raj, Ari and I – it was important to us that we could be creative; to have creativity not just at the start, but through the whole process,” Church says. “We’re able to look around the world and find unique ingredients – like our initial Explorer release is finished with wood from the Appalachian Forrest in North Carolina, where I am from, and Legacy 001 had Canadian Rye that was very unique to its location. By finding unique ingredients and making smaller batches, you can super serve the product and get highly creative with the flavors. That’s what makes Whiskey JYPSI different as a brand.”
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Church’s imprint is also on every inch of his upcoming venue Chief’s. The 20,000-square-foot establishment at 200 Broadway in downtown Nashville celebrates its grand opening on April 5, and not only features Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ on the rooftop, but a two-story, approximately 350-capacity live music venue called The Neon Steeple.
The Neon Steeple is set to feature upcoming performances from not only the “Chief” himself, but Ray Wylie Hubbard, songwriter Casey Beathard, Jim Lauderdale, Sunny Sweeney, Suzy Bogguss and Radney Foster. Church has been very hands-on in selecting performers for the venue, with some artists in the inaugural batch of performers having ties to Church’s own music. In 2019, Church’s music video for “Desperate Man” featured the song’s co-writer Wylie Hubbard. Beathard has co-written several of Church’s hits including “The Outsiders” and “Homeboy.”
“I have a vision for it – there is a troubadour element, there is a songwriter element, and that will evolve over time like anything else but that has been the fabric of how we want to activate the first year,” Church says. “I’m excited to do my shows and we will have other artists that people will recognize. For a lot of artists, it will be an underplay, and for others it will be a perfect place to play Nashville.”
Also originating April 5, Church will launch the 19-show “To Beat the Devil” residency at Chief’s—one that promises a wellspring of creativity and intimacy with his ardent fanbase.
“Very rarely do I get to walk out with a guitar in a living room setting,” says Church, who notes that it is likely that attendees will see some surprise guests show up at various shows during the residency. “It’s very rare that you get to go out and have a conversation like that. It allows me to turn the show into a full musical piece and not just playing songs. It was conceived that way. I have most of it sketched out and I can’t wait to do it.”
In August 2023, Church performed two nights as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s artist-in-residence program, offering up a two-hour, 19-song set that included both Church’s radio hits as well as rarely-heard live renditions. The set was somewhat of a precursor to the unique nights of music he has planned for the Chief’s residency.
“It will be a lot of unique, new music that pertains to different times in my career; stuff that I wrote and maybe didn’t make an album or a story that nobody’s ever heard,” Church says. “That’s part of the reason we are going restrict cell phone use. That’s the only way people can truly be in the moment and experience the moment. As a parent, I understand the challenges of people being away from their cell phone though, so we are going to use Yondr [a pouch system that allows concertgoers to lock away their phones], which allows you access to your phone by stepping outside if you need to – which is important to me. But there will be no recording. What happens there is for the people that fought so hard to get tickets, and they get to talk about it,” Church says.
“It will be a completely unique show and one of the more challenging and special ones of my career.”