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This week, we highlight a batch of country new tunes that range from poppy and sleek to bluegrass and Western-inflected. “Tennessee Orange” hitmaker Megan Moroney is surging on the streaming charts with her new release “No Caller ID,” while Kelsey Hart has earned a viral hit with his tender love song “Life With You.”
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Meanwhile, Madeline Merlo gets confessional on her new single, while Sierra Ferrell and Colby T. Helms bring their unique brands of hard-edged country to the forefront on new releases.
Megan Moroney, “No Caller ID”
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Moroney’s latest release is this superbly-crafted, fan-favorite track, which she wrote with other powerhouse writers, Jessie Jo Dillon, Connie Harrington and Jessi Alexander. The opening lyrics lay the scene as a woman whose ex always seems to re-enter her life just as she’s settled in to a better romantic situation, thanks to therapy and a newfound healthy relationship. The early verses and choruses seem to find her waffling between exhuming the past and moving on. In the bridge, she reaches the realization that answering her ex’s call equates to emotional self-harm, and refuses to replicate past mistakes, as she sings, “I’m tired of hurtin’ me/ So I let it ring.” Moroney’s debut album Lucky showcased her immense promise as both vocalist and songwriter; here, she proves her talents keep growing in depth and nuance.
Kelsey Hart, “Life With You”
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Hart has earned a viral hit with this tender love song — a tuneful, tasteful track that makes for a powerful performance. Tender piano, guitar and percussion highlight Hart’s at once strong and soft-hearted voice.
Madeline Merlo, “Makeup”
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Searing, courageous truths spill everywhere on Merlo’s latest, as she ponders how much of her innate mannerisms she can actually change. Gorgeously detailed lyrics of both doubt and self-acceptance abound, with Merlo asking, “Could I make love last forever if my parents never could/ Will I ever know the difference between good enough and good?” A scorcher of a performance.
Sierra Ferrell, “Dollar Bill Bar”
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Ferrell sings of the longheld saloon tradition of writing names on dollar bills and stapling them to the walls of the bar. Her enchanting, lilting voice sounds effortless as she describes that she’s legendary on these bar scenes, and warns a potential suitor to not think he’s special — that her name is emblazoned on more than one dollar bill in that bar. Another sterling release from one of Americana, bluegrass and country’s most talented artists.
Colby T. Helms, “Mountain Brandy”
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On his Jan. 19 album release Tales of Misfortune, Helms melds bluegrass with blues and country. Here, fiddle and mandolin wrap around an ode to homemade, mountain-spun brandy for both its medicinal properties and its connection to old-time mountain community, even as newcomers make their way into the area.
Sports and music company The Familie has expanded to Nashville, and is set to make Music City the company’s national headquarters.
“Nashville is a city that is inspired by culture, diversity, arts and entertainment, and – from a business perspective – encourages entrepreneurship and growth with no state-income tax and a low barrier to entry for real estate, including commercial real estate,” The Familie founder/CEO Steve Astephen tells Billboard via email.
The Familie’s roster includes Machine Gun Kelly, Avril Lavigne, Jaden Hossler, Games We Play and sombr.
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Former Universal Music Group Nashville executive vp of promotion Royce Risser will lead the company’s new country music division and oversee the Nashville office’s operations. Chase Berlin has been hired as the company’s first artist manager in Nashville.
Risser has more than three decades of music industry experience, starting at MCA Records as an intern in 1991 before being hired as a promotion assistant. Risser rose through the ranks at UMGN, leading promotion efforts and rising to executive vp of promotion. Along the way, Risser worked with artists including George Strait, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Sam Hunt, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi and Brothers Osborne.
Berlin will work under Risser to sign and develop country artists and build out the genre’s division for The Familie. A University of Florida graduate, Berlin previously worked at management company The AMG and at WME.
“It’s been immediately clear to me that The Familie does things differently,” said Risser in a statement. “I appreciate the team’s non-transactional approach to management, thoughtfully building artist brands and legacies through collaboration and a vast network of cross-industry alliances. Steve Astephen could easily be the smartest, most connected person I’ve ever met and can’t wait to work alongside him in this role. I know this team will be a refreshing addition to the Nashville scene while also integrating with and honoring the history and pedigree of Music Row. I’m absolutely fired up and honored to be at the helm of The Familie’s arrival in Nashville.”
Astephen tells Billboard, “Diversity of thought and experience is what helped us transform sports representation in the 2000s and it’s what will help us do the same in music — which is essentially to not just think outside the box, but to create the box…I entered sports representation from a brand and retail perspective, then music management from a sports agency perspective. Royce has been in radio, which, of course, drives country music. He’s been in marketing and promotions. These are the types of things that add additional opportunities for an artist who signs with us. If you sign with The Familie as a musical artist, we’re looking at: How do we bring you into the sports world? How do we bring you into radio marketing? We’re not just managing an artist’s career, we’re expanding it.”
The first artist signed to the company’s country division is singer-songwriter Evanthia Theodorou.
“She’s the perfect example of the type of artist we look for, which is someone with a 360 degree brand, who is highly marketable, personable, has good values, and appeals to a wide audience through various channels of promotion,” Astephen says, estimating that the country music division could represent up to seven artists.
Astephen launched The Familie in 1998; the company also works with sports figures including football player Daniel Carlson, surfer Eli Hanneman, rally driver Oliver Solberg and tennis player Cooper Williams.
Looking ahead, Astephen says The Familie is making its move into Nashville at the perfect time. “I see the industry shifting to show how marketable the country music genre is globally,” he says. “Obviously, we have to respect what Nashville is to country music, but country artists are global superstars and only growing. So with us coming in–along with other companies–I think you’ll see more brand partnerships, more national television commercials. I’m really excited for us to be part of this and to help challenge the industry to do more than just traditional music management.”
Country music was hotter in 2023 than it has been in decades, and that current popularity came alongside a revival of the genre’s past.
Nothing illustrated country’s heat more this last year than its unprecedented chart performance during the summer. Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” gave country the top three titles on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 dated Aug. 5 for the first time in history. Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” joined Wallen and Combs to repeat the feat on the Aug. 26 chart.
Two of those four recordings are deeply rooted in the past. Combs’ single is a cover of Tracy Chapman’s 35-year-old folk-pop hit, while Anthony’s bare-bones performance embraced a sound and a lyrical identity grounded in the rural simplicity and outlook of country’s birth years.
That churning of the past was a resolute part of country’s stance in 2023. Cole Swindell’s “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” an interpolation of a 1996 Jo Dee Messina hit, won single and song of the year from the Academy of Country Music while knitting a piece of country history to the current age. That occurred in other realms, too. Post Malone’s interpretation of Joe Diffie’s “Pickup Man” was unveiled during the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards as a core track in a forthcoming Diffie tribute album. Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” became the name of a bar that officially opened in November in Nashville’s Honky Tonk district, and Brooks even paired up on disc with fellow ’90s icon Ronnie Dunn for “Rodeo Man.” A Judds tribute album likewise saw Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson and K. Michelle bringing new interpretations to classic hits.
But the genre’s archaeology was not confined to its own history. Chris Young rekindled David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” through his own current interpolation, “Young Love & Saturday Nights”; Kane Brown reimagined a 42-year-old Phil Collins song as “I Can Feel It”; and Dustin Lynch closed the year with a Jelly Roll collaboration, “Chevrolet,” built on the melody of Dobie Gray’ 50-year-old “Drift Away.”
BBR/BMG assembled Stoned Cold Country: A 60th Anniversary Tribute to The Rolling Stones featuring familiar titles from rock’s past reinterpreted by modern country acts, including Ashley McBryde, Eric Church, Little Big Town and Zac Brown Band.
Country’s connection with rock history was further enhanced by newly minted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Parton, inducted a year ago, rolled out an ambitious Rockstar project that teamed her with Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Peter Frampton and two living Beatles, among others. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, marking her highest ascent on that list. Nelson rolled out several non-music products while celebrating his 90th birthday in a two-day, all-star concert event in Los Angeles. A two-CD package — Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 Live at the Hollywood Bowl, released Dec. 15 — incorporates Beck, Keith Richards, Jack Johnson and Booker T. Jones along with country guests Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and George Strait. It also led to a Dec. 17 CBS special, Willie Nelson’s 90th Birthday Celebration.
To cinch the whole thing, Brenda Lee, a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, finally saw her perennial blockbuster, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” top the Billboard Hot 100.
All of those developments occur as the country audience becomes more firmly grounded in modern technology. The genre’s customers, who skew a little older and more conservative on average than pop music fans, were slower to embrace digital developments since 2000, though they have played catch-up with a vengeance. Country was the fastest-growing U.S. format for on-demand audio streaming in 2023, according to Luminate, piling up 23.8% more streams than in 2022 during the first 49 weeks of this year.
The genre has a healthy cluster of new stars, too, tugging the sound in multiple directions. Lainey Wilson collected five trophies during the CMA Awards, including entertainer of the year, behind a sonic identity that borrows from rock and western music. Zach Bryan, Bailey Zimmerman and Warren Zeiders applied an extra dose of rasp and edginess to the format. HARDY cemented his place as a leading figure in the application of metal to the country brand. And Jelly Roll became a motivational force, with confessional songs and a transparent persona, addressing his weight issues, therapy and past criminal record with a frankness that provides encouragement for fans who are similarly trying to overcome their own imperfect histories.
Music Row likewise heightened its efforts to better connect with non-white ethnicities, as several organizations have created programs to fast-track artists and executives of color. The War and Treaty, BRELAND and Mickey Guyton amassed significant media attention, piled atop the radio embrace of Brown and Darius Rucker, while two hits — the HARDY/Wilson duet “wait in the truck” and the Jelly Roll/Wilson collab “Save Me” — used Black choirs to make their deeply emotional statements.
Country was exceedingly hot during 2023. Wallen, Combs, Strait and Kenny Chesney were all out filling stadiums, as was Time magazine’s person of the year, Taylor Swift, whose journey to cultural influence started in country music. If the genre could fully turn the corner in its outreach to listeners of ethnic backgrounds, on top of its existing base, there’s no telling how much further it could soar. But it’ll be tough to outdo its 2023 performance.
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Dolly Parton has long poured her time and talents into Nashville, and now she’s doing it again. The Dollywood Company, a joint venture between Parton and Herschend Enterprises, has acquired a downtown office and retail building located at 211 Commerce Street in Nashville, the company has confirmed to Billboard. “Since the pandemic, commercial real estate […]
Universal Music Group (UMG) is proposing a $250 million music and educational complex in Nashville‘s Berry Hill area at a site covering 4.15 acres, including several buildings on Columbine Place and E. Iris Place. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news A rendering of the mixed-use development shows […]
Going once.
Going twice.
Julien’s Auctions is SOLD on Nashville.
Nothing has been finalized, but the California-based auction house is planning to open a Music City office in 2024, after generating closing bids estimated at nearly $9.5 million for music memorabilia during a week at the Hard Rock Café in November.
The week included Music Health Alliance’s (MHA) fourth annual Lyrics for a Cause benefit auction, with Julien’s playing middleman on Nov. 14 for the sale of 57 autographed guitars and documents featuring song lyrics. To cite three examples: A guitar featuring Keith Urban’s signature alongside the words from “Blue Ain’t Your Color” netted $7,800; a “Girl Crush” guitar autographed by The Love Junkies — songwriters Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna — brought another $1,950; and a “wait in the truck” guitar inked by HARDY and Lainey Wilson earned $4,445.
Julien’s followed Nov. 15-17 with its Played, Worn, & Torn Rock ‘N’ Roll: Iconic Guitars and Memorabilia Auction. Among more than 1,000 sales, an Eric Clapton guitar went for $1.3 million, a pair of Kurt Cobain’s jeans scored $476,000, and a signed Elvis Presley karate certificate pulled in $5,850. That auction also included a smattering of country items: a stage-worn Dolly Parton cape, $10,160; a Hee Haw contract signed by Johnny Cash and June Carter, $2,222.50; and Jerry Lee Lewis’ cowboy boots, $1,625.
Julien’s founder/president Darren Julien and founder/executive director Martin Nolan anticipated Nashville would have a significant regional draw for in-person bidding, on top of its online activity, and it played out even better than expected.
“People came from Missouri, Georgia, Alabama and Illinois just to see [the auction],” Nolan observes. “There’s definitely a huge interest here.”
Julien’s is already planning another Nashville-based auction in May, but it’s also scouting locations for an office, believing the market is underserved for celebrity sales. The company plans initially to staff with just one or two people who would utilize strong local connections to bring sale items to the public. The employees wouldn’t be expected to know how to price prospective memorabilia at the start; Julien’s has 30-plus employees in Gardena, Calif., and some of them can offer that expertise as the new Nashville team gets its bearings and Julien’s, if its plan works, ingratiates itself in the market.
A “Girl Crush” guitar autographed by The Love Junkies — songwriters Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna — recently brought in $1,950.
“It’s a contemporary recording community across all different genres of music,” says Nolan. “Obviously, it has a very rich musical heritage, and that sort of fits squarely into our growth plans.”
Julien’s is celebrating its 20th anniversary, having entered the auction market shortly after the largest celebrity memorabilia houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, paid over $550 million apiece to settle a price-fixing case. Julien’s aggressively pursued the potential of online bidding, allowing buyers from around the globe to compete with in-person customers. The technology was comparatively primitive at the time — a seven-second delay in digital bids affected the proceedings, and Nolan remembers his Blackberry ran out of juice in the inaugural sale during that pre-smartphone era.
The company also put a premium, Nolan maintains, on more personalized service with high-profile clients who come with their own set of expectations.
“Cher wants her design one way, Barbra Streisand wants it another way, and Don McLean has another idea and Janet Jackson has another idea, and Ringo Starr,” says Nolan. “The big auction houses don’t have the resources to sit down with a celebrity and hold hands and walk them through the process and make it seamless for them.”
The stars deserve that kind of treatment, Nolan suggests.
“They’ve been hugely successful marketing geniuses in their own right,” he says. “There’s a fan base worldwide that wants to own something representing their life and career.”
Julien’s has made believers of MHA through its work on the agency’s Heal the Music fundraising auctions.
“In the last four years, Julien’s Auctions has not only elevated Music Health Alliance’s Lyrics for a Cause benefit auction to unprecedented heights through their global audience, they also seamlessly fused historical accuracy, integrity, and respect into the fabric of our mission to #HealTheMusic,” says MHA auction producer Colleen Hoagland. “Julien’s commitment to the minute details coupled with a passion for our cause has turned fundraising into an art form.”
Establishing a stronger foothold in Nashville’s music community — particularly in country — would expand on Julien’s existing cultural connections. The company regularly holds auctions focused on pop music, TV and movies, sports and art.
Upcoming auctions include 1,000-plus lots of memorabilia from the collection of ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill Dec. 7-9 in Dallas; a Robots, Wizards, Heroes & Aliens event Dec. 14-15 in Hollywood featuring items associated with such franchises as Breaking Bad, Harry Potter and Batman; and a Dec. 16-17 sale of materials from The Big Lebowski.
Julien’s does get its fair share of pushback. When the company approached Parton about selling off some of her personal artifacts, she initially rebuffed the offer, reportedly telling them, “I’m not dead yet.” But there are other reasons for celebs to part with their history, Nolan insists, such as raising money for charity, downsizing and connecting with members of the fan base.
Beyond the headline-making million-dollar guitars, auctions often include smaller-priced items that are obtainable for fans of more modest means. As an example, photos, signed letters and several awards all went for less than $500 at a 2022 Kenny Rogers auction.
In its way, Nashville’s best-known export — country music — is a perfect fit for Julien’s.
“We’re all nostalgic,” says Nolan. “We’re all buying into something [from] our youth or a life stage when we got married, or first kid, or we were graduating college — whatever it is, it harks back to that time. We want to own the toys from that era. And that’s what we’re selling.”
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CTM Outlander, a partnership between Texas-based Outlander Capital and Dutch-based music entertainment company CTM, has signed singer-songwriter Sam Hunt in a go-forward publishing deal for his future works, in addition to acquiring Hunt’s publishing catalog.
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Georgia native Hunt has earned nine No. 1 Country Airplay hits, including “Breaking Up Was Easy in the ’90s” and “Take Your Time.” Hunt’s single “Body Like A Back Road” recently obtained RIAA Diamond-certification (10x platinum), and currently sits at 11x Platinum-certification.
As a songwriter, he’s also contributed to hit songs recorded by Kenny Chesney (“Come Over”), Keith Urban (“Cop Car”), Billy Currington (“We Are Tonight”) and William Michael Morgan (“I Met a Girl”). Derek Crownover, Willie Jones, Megan Pekar and John Rolfe of Loeb and Loeb handled the transaction on behalf of Sam Hunt.
“Discussing the sale of some of my catalog took a while and I am glad that it did, as I got to know André and his CTM Outlander team better and better. They continued to meet with me and my team over the last several months to discuss what working together might look like. I appreciate their diligence and belief in what I am doing as an artist, and more importantly, as a songwriter. I believe we will have a productive partnership both internationally and here at home,” Hunt said in a statement.
André de Raaff, CEO of CTM Outlander, said in a statement: “Sam has been on our radar for a long time, and we were very eager to work with him. Since we landed in Nashville, we signed some of the most prolific songwriters like Shane McAnally, Natalie Hemby, Ross Copperman and Michael Tyler. By adding Sam to our roster, who is not only one of the most respected songwriters in town but also a global superstar and touring artist, we feel we can service the community even better. We are truly honored that Sam, after being in talks with us for a long time, decided to sign with our company. Sam is an example of an artist and songwriter that we can help move forward in the international market; his body of work doesn’t only dominate the U.S. radio waves and streaming world but also travels throughout the world.”
Mike McKool, director at CTM Outlander, added, “We’re thrilled to add a singer-songwriter with the stature of Sam Hunt to the CTM Outlander family. Not only is he the type of artist that we want to be in business with, but more importantly he’s the type of person that we want to invest in. Sam has clearly experienced an immense amount of success, and our goal at CTM Outlander is to provide Sam with the resources he needs to achieve all his future endeavors.”
Earlier this year, CTM Outlander acquired songwriter Shane McAnally‘s catalog (the deal included a global admin agreement for SMACKSongs and SMACKBlue). The company also acquired Dutch music label and publisher Strengholt Muisc Group, with a catalog containing more than 100 Dutch No. 1 hits including works composed by Boudewijn de Groot, Lennaert Nijgh, Ramses Shaffy, Pierre Kartner, and more.
When Dierks Bentley’s band is looking for something to keep it occupied during long bus rides, the group has, at times, turned to artificial intelligence apps, asking them to create album reviews or cover art for the group’s alter ego, The Hot Country Knights.
“So far,” guitarist Charlie Worsham says, “AI does not completely understand The Hot Country Knights.”
By the same token, Music Row doesn’t completely understand AI, but the developing technology is here, inspiring tech heads and early adaptors to experiment with it, using it to get a feel, for example, for how Bentley’s voice might fit a new song or to kick-start a verse that has the writer stumped. But it has also inspired a palpable amount of fear among artists anticipating their voices will be misused and among musicians who feel they’ll be completely replaced.
“As a songwriter, I see the benefit that you don’t have to shell out a ton of money for a demo singer,” one attendee said during the Q&A section of an ASCAP panel about AI on Nov. 7. “But also, as a demo singer, I’m like, ‘Oh, shit, I’m out of a job.’”
That particular panel, moderated by songwriter-producer Chris DeStefano (“At the End of a Bar,” “That’s My Kind of Night”), was one of three AI presentations that ASCAP hosted at Nashville’s Twelve Thirty Club the morning after the ASCAP Country Music Awards, hoping to educate Music City about the burgeoning technology. The event addressed the creative possibilities ahead, the evolving legal discussion around AI and the ethical questions that it raises. (ASCAP has endorsed six principles for AI frameworks here).
The best-known examples of AI’s entry into music have revolved around the use of public figures’ voices in novel ways. Hip-hop artist Drake, in one prominent instance, had his voice re-created in a cover of “Bubbly,” originated by Colbie Caillat, who released her first country album, Along the Way, on Sept. 22.
“Definitely bizarre,” Caillat said during CMA Week activities. “I don’t think it’s good. I think it makes it all too easy.”
But ASCAP panelists outlined numerous ways AI can be employed for positive uses without misappropriating someone’s voice. DeStefano uses AI program Isotope, which learned his mixing tendencies, to elevate his tracks to “another level.” Independent hip-hop artist Curtiss King has used AI to handle tasks outside of his wheelhouse that he can’t afford to outsource, such as graphic design or developing video ideas for social media. Singer-songwriter Anna Vaus instructed AI to create a 30-day social media campaign for her song “Halloween on Christmas Eve” and has used it to adjust her bio or press releases — “stuff,” she says, “that is not what sets my soul on fire.” It allows her more time, she said, for “sitting in my room and sharing my human experiences.”
All of this forward motion is happening faster in some other genres than it is in country, and the abuses — the unauthorized use of Drake’s voice or Tom Cruise’s image — have entertainment lawyers and the Copyright Office playing catch-up. Those examples test the application of the fair use doctrine in copyright law, which allows creators to play with existing copyrights. But as Sheppard Mullin partner Dan Schnapp pointed out during the ASCAP legal panel, fair use requires the new piece to be a transformative product that does not damage the market for the original work. When Drake’s voice is being applied without his consent to a song he has never recorded and he is not receiving a royalty, that arguably affects his marketability.
The Copyright Office has declined to offer copyright protection for AI creations, though works that are formed through a combination of human and artificial efforts complicate the rule. U.S. Copyright Office deputy general counsel Emily Chapuis pointed to a comic book composed by a human author who engaged AI for the drawings. Copyright was granted to the text, but not the illustrations.
The legal community is also sorting through rights to privacy and so-called “moral rights,” the originator’s ability to control how a copyright is used.
“You can’t wait for the law to catch up to the tech,” Schnapp said during the legal panel. “It never has and never will. And now, this is the most disruptive technology that’s hit the creative industry, generally, in our lifetime. And it’s growing exponentially.”
Which has some creators uneasy. Carolyn Dawn Johnson asked from the audience if composers should stop using their phones during writing appointments because ads can track typed and spoken activity, thus opening the possibility that AI begins to draw on content that has never been included in copyrighted material. The question was not fully answered.
But elsewhere, Nashville musicians are beginning to use AI in multiple ways. Restless Road has had AI apply harmonies to songwriter demos to see if a song might fit its sound. Elvie Shane, toying with a chatbot, developed an idea that he turned into a song about the meth epidemic, “Appalachian Alchemy.” Chase Matthew’s producer put a version of his voice on a song to convince him to record it. Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, who co-wrote Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue,” has asked AI to suggest second verses on songs he was writing — the verses are usually pedestrian, but he has found “one nugget” that helped finish a piece.
The skeptics have legitimate points, but skeptics also protested electronic instruments, drum machines, CDs, file sharing and programmed tracks. The industry has inevitably adapted to those technologies. And while AI is scary, early adopters seem to think it’s making them more productive and more creative.
“It’s always one step behind,” noted King. “It can make predictions based upon the habits that I’ve had, but there’s so many interactions that I have because I’m a creative and I get creative about where I’m going next … If anything, AI has given me like a kick in the butt to be more creative than I’ve ever been before.”
Songwriter Kevin Kadish (“Whiskey Glasses,” “Soul”) put the negatives of AI into a bigger-picture perspective.
“I’m more worried about it for like people’s safety and all the scams that happen on the phone,” he said on the ASCAP red carpet. “Music is the least of our worries with AI.”
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Entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will relocate its Nashville office in late 2025, occupying nearly 75,000 square feet across two floors in the mixed-used district Nashville Yards, being developed by Southwest Value Partners and AEG.
CAA’s new Nashville office, located at 955 Church Street in Nashville, will feature indoor-outdoor work spaces, listening lounges, private terraces on each floor, three levels of dining, retail and entertainment space, as well as meeting hubs and a large outdoor vegetated deck overlooking Nashville Yards. CAA employees will enjoy access to open plazas, courtyards, and green spaces; ample parking, valet, and executive car services; and proximity to the luxury Grand Hyatt Nashville and newly renovated Union Station Nashville Yards.
“Guided by our colleagues in Music, CAA opened our first office in Nashville in 1991, immediately making an impact on Music City that continues today,” said Howard Nuchow, co-head, CAA Sports, in a statement. “With more than 3,400 employees across 25 countries, CAA’s track record of success and growth in the representation of entertainment and sports talent and brands has solidified our leadership position around the world. The move to Nashville Yards demonstrates our commitment to Nashville and the Southeast, while providing our employees, clients, and guests an inspiring environment that captures the spirit of Nashville, one of the most significant sports and entertainment destinations in the world.”
CAA’s Nashville operations currently include more than 130 employees working in music touring, music brand partnerships, music marketing, digital media, sports, brand consulting, property sales, and CAA ICON. In the past year alone, CAA has booked top tours for Tim McGraw, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Zac Brown Band, The Chicks and Carrie Underwood. The company has also worked to aid in raising up a new crop of headliners including Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Brett Young, Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce, Whiskey Myers and Koe Wetzel, while expanding its roster with new signings including 49 Winchester, Warren Zeiders, Hailey Whitters, Luke Grimes, Wyatt Flores, Priscilla Block, Dylan Marlowe and Larry Fleet.
For a third consecutive year, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit is bringing their tightly-honed, poetic country-rock stylings to Nashville‘s Ryman Auditorium for a multi-night run of shows. This year, the group’s eight nights kicked off Oct. 12 and will end Sunday (Oct. 22).
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Long a luminary and musical beacon in Americana music circles, Isbell has played over 50 shows at the Ryman. Saturday night’s (Oct. 21) performance, the seventh of the eight Ryman shows, served as a testament to not only the strength of the band’s nuanced performances, but a confidence in the room itself, whose sturdy acoustics and intimate capacity over just over 2,300 have become a trusted counterpart.
In 2021, the opening slots for the group’s slate of Ryman shows showcased mighty talents from several Black female artists, including Brittney Spencer, Allison Russell and Mickey Guyton. For 2023, the opening slots highlighted several LGBTQ+ artists, including artists that identify as nonbinary or trans. During his headlining set, Isbell praised Saturday night’s opener Adeem the Artist (known for the 2022 album White Trash Revelry), calling Adeem’s music “true, honest, and great music.”
Isbell and company launched the headlining portion of the evening with “24 Frames,” from the 2015 album, Something More Than Free, followed by the neo-classic “King of Oklahoma,” from his 2023 album, Weathervanes, which brought rowdy cheers from the crowd thanks to what became a lengthy guitar jam with scorching work from bandmember Sadler Vaden. From there, Isbell and company roared through over a dozen songs, a mix of songs from Weathervanes and dipping into the group’s previous albums. Along the way, the set brimmed with anthemic choruses, well-crafted narratives and free-wheeling rock.
“Take the spirit in here with you when you go out there, because they need all the help they can get,” Isbell told the packed Ryman Auditorium audience, which spanned generations of devoted Isbell fans, many of whom were attending multiple nights on this Nashville run of concerts.
Like so many singer-songwriters in Nashville and beyond, four-time Grammy winner Isbell’s musical sketches are largely drawn from his own life — a journey that has seen the Alabama-born songcrafter get his start in the alt-country group Drive-By Truckers, before issuing his debut solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, and forming the 400 Unit, along the way embracing sobriety (captured in his much-heralded album Southeastern), marriage and fatherhood. All the while, maturity and his gift for keen-eyed observations have further steeped his music in layer upon layer of timely-and timeless-sketches of his own experiences and of those around him.
From Weathervanes, they offered “Strawberry Woman,” “Death Wish” and fan-favorite “Cast Iron Skillet.” The crowd cheered their approval at Vaden and Isbell’s roaring-yet-intimate guitar tangling on “This Ain’t It.” The somber “Save the World” drew on the impact of school shootings, touching on parental anxieties with lyrics that ponder keeping a child home from school and details a heightened urge of self-preservation.
The set included the rollicking “Speed Trap Town,” which details the narrator’s need to escape a small town where his father is dying and his family’s story is known by everyone, as well as “Super 8,” a bleary-eyed look at wild nights on the road. They followed with “Streetlights,” “If You Insist,” and the sobering “Elephant.”
He closed with “Cover Me Up,” which has become a mainstay in his set and a lofty fan-favorite, and favored cover song for several other artists. Isbell slowly, painstakingly built the song from its threadbare beginnings — with just Isbell alone at the mic — as members of the band joined in, the song swelling into a righteous, half-sung, half-shouted plea. As it does in most Isbell shows, the torn-from-personal-experience line “But I sobered up and I swore off that stuff/ Forever this time,” brought a wave of cheers and applause.
As Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit left the stage, the audience cheered, clapped and stomped, demanding an encore. To the band’s credit, they made fans work for it a bit, waiting several minutes until the crowd had frothed to a fever pitch before returning to the stage to play “Alabama Pines,” followed by ceding the spotlight to drummer Will Johnson to play one of his own compositions.
The nine-time Americana Music Honors & Awards winners’ final Ryman show on on this run concludes Sunday (Oct. 22), one of several shows leading up to the group’s opening slot on “I Remember Everything” hitmaker Zach Bryan’s stadium tour next year — an appropriate pairing, given Bryan’s frequent nods to Isbell’s music as a key influence and the surge of Americana/rock-soaked, guitar-fueled artists such as Bryan and Noah Kahan into mainstream, genre-blurring music leaders.