The Musicrow Weekly Friday, November 20, 2020

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November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly Friday, November 20, 2020

EXCLUSIVE: Sony/ATV Nashville Acquires River House Artists Catalogue, Signs Joint Venture SIGN UP HERE (FREE!)

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THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

EXCLUSIVE: Sony/ATV Nashville Acquires River House Artists Catalogue, Signs Joint Venture

CRB Reveals New Faces Of Country Music Show Pictured (L-R): Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Jon Platt, River House Artists Nominees Founder Lynn Oliver-Cline, Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston. Home Team, Warner Sony/ATV Nashville has acquired the River House Artists’ catalogue of top- Chappell Music Sign charting country songs, which includes Luke Combs’ No. 1 hits “Forever Parker Welling After All,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “When It Rains It Pours,” and “Lovin’ On You.” The company also signed a joint venture with River House Artists to provide creative services to its talent. JoJamie Hahr Appointed Sr. VP, BBR Music Group Indie record label and publishing company River House Artists launched in 2016 under the leadership of veteran industry executive Lynn Oliver-Cline, ACM Lifting Lives Board Of and is home to some of today’s top country hitmakers, including Combs’ long-time friend and collaborator Ray Fulcher, well known for co-writing Directors Announced For beloved songs such as “Does To Me,” “Even Though I’m Leaving” and 2020-2021 Term “When It Rains It Pours” by Combs. CMA Awards Leaders River House Artists also represents Drew Parker, rising artist-songwriter Sarah Trahern, Robert and Sirius XM’s latest Highway Find who has co-written hits including Deaton Discuss Navigating Combs’ “1,2 Many” and “Nothing Like You,” as well as No. 1 single “Homemade” by Jake Owen. An Awards Show During COVID-19 Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston said, “Lynn’s intuition for identifying singer-songwriters who speak right to the heart of country music is second to Amy Cranford Elevated To none, and she knows how to turn their dreams into reality. We’re proud to Sr. VP, Administration At partner with Lynn and the River House team as we build a long and successful future together.” Sony/ATV Music Publishing

River House Artists Founder Lynn Oliver-Cline said, “When I moved to DISClaimer Singles Nashville in 2013, I wanted to be Rusty Gaston! So being able to ink a deal Reviews with him and Sony/ATV, who are already my family, is a dream come true. I can’t think of our writers and artists being in better hands. Rusty’s passion And much more…

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November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly

for songs, songwriters and his team is inspiring on every Home Team, Warner Chappell Music level. I can’t thank Jon [Platt], Rusty and Cam [Caldwell] Sign Parker Welling enough for making this happen!”

River House Artists’ roster also includes powerhouse songwriters such as Driver Williams, who has crafted popular hits such as “Smoke A Little Smoke” by Eric Church and “Call Me Country” by Jon Pardi; Nicolette Hayford, best known for co-writing certiﬁed gold singles “Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega” and “One Night Standards” by Ashley McBryde; and Jordan Rowe, known for his latest single “Good For Nothin.” MR

CRB Reveals New Faces Of Country Music Parker Welling. Photo: Spencer Combs Show Nominees Warner Chappell Music Nashville and Thomas Rhett’s Home Team Publishing have signed a global publishing deal with songwriter Parker Welling. The Nashville native worked with Russell Dickerson on his 2017 album Yours, co-writing nine songs, including the title track, “Blue Tacoma,” and “Every Little Thing,” with all three reaching No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart and “Yours” earning an ACM nod for Song of the Year in 2019.

Most recently, Welling co-wrote Dickerson’s latest single, “Love You Like I Used To,” which is in its second week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart and landed on the Billboard Hot 100 Country Radio Broadcasters has revealed the slate of nominees and Billboard Canada Country charts. for the 2021 New Faces of Country Music Show, as part of CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience. “As a songwriter, being in the room with Parker is an incredible experience,” said Home Team This year’s nominees include: Tenille Arts (19th & Grand), Travis Publishing co-founder Thomas Rhett. “She knows Denning (Mercury), HARDY (Big Loud), Ryan Hurd (RCA), how to channel the creative energy and write lyric Ashley McBryde (Warner/WMN), Parker McCollum (MCA), Niko and melody that really connect with the listener. Moon (RCA), Jameson Rodgers (River House/Colombia), and We love that Parker is part of the Home Team Matt Stell (RECORDS/Arista). family and know we will have many hits together both as a co-writer and a publisher.” The New Faces of Country Music voter criteria has been expanded this year, to include a wider representation of the Ben Vaughn, President & CEO, Warner Chappell country music industry. Eligible voters must now be full-time Music Nashville said, “Anyone who knows Parker employees primarily involved in the programming, promotion and knows she’s a creative light that brightens every distribution of country music, from companies including broadcast room she enters. It’s been special to see her get radio, satellite radio, television outlets, and digital service the recognition she deserves and cement her providers, while expressly excluding those with vested interests in place as one of Nashville’s leading up-and-coming individual artists or musical works such as labels, managers, songwriters. We’re thrilled to have her on team agents and publishers. Warner Chappell and are looking forward to the future together.” Voting for the Class of 2021 will open Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. CST and will run through the end of the day (11:59 p.m. CST), Friday, Dec. Welling was nominated for the Canadian Country 4 at countryradioseminar.com. The ﬁve acts with the most votes Music Association’s 2020 Songwriter of the Year will make up the lineup for the show. To view the New Faces of and has landed a nod for MusicRow’s Female Country Music qualiﬁcation criteria, visit countryradioseminar.com. Songwriter of the Year for the past two years, as well as a nomination for MusicRow‘s Breakthrough CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience will be held Tuesday, Feb. 16, Songwriter of the Year in 2018. MR through Friday, Feb. 19. The New Faces of Country Music Show closes out the event on Friday, Feb. 19. MR

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November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly

JoJamie Hahr Appointed Sr. VP, BBR extraordinary artists and staff continue to raise the bar, and I’m Music Group inspired by them on a daily basis. Thanks to Jon for not only believing in me, but for continuously cheering me on and lifting me up. He is an exemplary leader and I’m proud to be by his side.”

Hahr began her career in radio with WWKA in Orlando, FL. She then made a move to Nashville to work in promotion at WSIX. This led to her job as Promotion Coordinator at MCA Records where she was later promoted to Director of Secondary Promotion for the Universal Music Group imprints. Hahr began working for Loba when he hired her as Southeast Director of Radio Promotion for the BBR Music Group, helping break acts such as future superstar Jason Aldean. When Loba moved to Big Machine to help Scott Borchetta start The Valory Music Company (TVMC), Hahr soon followed and helped launch the careers of Justin Moore, Brantley Gilbert, Florida Georgia Line, and Thomas Rhett. During her time there, she elevated to Valory’s National Director of Field Promotion. A few years after Loba’s return to BBR Music Group, Hahr returned as well to serve as BBR Management’s VP of Radio Promotion before transitioning to VP of Marketing for BBR Music Group.

Since taking the helm of the then newly created marketing department at BBR Music Group, Hahr has led the department in driving key relationships on behalf of the entire artist roster with partners including Radio Disney, Music Choice, Shazam, VEVO, iHeart Digital, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Madison Square Garden, Triller, and notably Tik Tok whose relationship JoJamie Hahr. Photo: Cody Heckber helped spark Blanco Brown’s worldwide success and Elvie Shane’s latest single, “My Boy” to claim the No. 1 country spot JoJamie Hahr has been promoted to Senior Vice on the platform. Hahr lead marketing efforts for Blanco Brown’s President of BBR Music Group. Formerly, VP of debut hit “The Git Up,” the global hit claimed the No. 1 spot on Marketing for BBR Music Group, Hahr will help Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart for 12 weeks and was the guide all non-finance and legal operations for the top-selling digital country song in the U.S. for 13 weeks label. She will continue reporting to President of resulting in Blanco being named Billboard’s 2019 Top New BMG Nashville, Jon Loba. In her new role Hahr Country Artist. will supervise and coordinate day-to-day operations of the label group and its roster of over Under her tenure, Jason Aldean has achieved ACM Entertainer 20 artists and imprints Broken Bow Records, of the Year three times, has been named the ACM Artist of the Stoney Creek Records, and Wheelhouse Decade, and has been named the No. 1 consumption artist by Records. Billboard. Aldean also achieved Billboard’s No. 1 “Best-Selling Independent Album of 2018” with Rearview Town. “This appointment essentially formalizes the evolution of her role since BMG’s acquisition of She has been key in helping to build the career of Dustin Lynch the BBR Music Group,” said Loba. Adding, “As my who notched his sixth and seventh Country Airplay No. 1 with responsibilities have increased, JoJamie has “Good Girl” (his first No. 1 as songwriter) followed by “Ridin’ stepped in and stepped up at every turn, to help Roads” in January. Runaway June became the first female grow our Nashville division. She is truly a right- group to achieve a Top 5 single since The Chicks in 2003 and hand who thinks and moves like me, while at the LOCASH returned to the top of the chart with their No. 1 hit same time challenging us all. We have enjoyed so “One Big Country Song,” earning them an additional CMT many successes together and I would not want to Award nomination. Lindsay Ell topped the country radio charts do this job without her. I will never forget my first for the first time, received 2020 ACM and CCMA nominations conversation with her while she was working at and delivered a powerful concept album, heart theory, that K92 in Orlando. She was one of the most earned universal praise and media attention and championed a passionate, creative and focused individuals I had voice for females as well as survivors of sexual violence. Hahr ever met, and those qualities have only grown oversaw the campaign of Chase Rice’s launch as a Broken since.” Bow artist resulting in his first career No. 1, massive streaming successes and expanded international presence. MR “It’s truly an honor to move into this role at BBR Music Group/BMG,” added Hahr. “Our

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CHART ACTION NO. 1 SONG New On The Chart —Debuting This Week song/artist/label—Chart Position Worship You/Kane Brown/RCA Nashville — 70 Anybody Else/Mira Goto/ArtistMax/Copperline — 76 Meghan/Brecken Miles/Rhyme Partners — 79 God Save The World/Jeff Carson/MC1 Nashville — 80

Greatest Spin Increase song/artist/label—Spin Increase What's Your Country Song/Thomas Rhett/Valory — 498 Hell Of A View/Eric Church/EMI — 243 Better Together/Luke Combs/Columbia — 173 Down To One/Luke Bryan/Capitol — 143 Gone/Dierks Bentley/Capitol — 133 Memory I Don't Mess With/Lee Brice/Curb — 117 Heaven On Dirt/Teddy Robb/Monument — 109 Long Live/Florida Georgia Line/BMLG Records — 99 Florida Georgia Line notches their second No. 1 this year on the Most Added CountryBreakout Radio Chart with "Long Live,” following “Blessings” song/artist/label—No. of Adds which went No. 1 in February. The single was written by Tyler What's Your Country Song/Thomas Rhett/Valory — 31 Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Corey Crowder, David Garcia, and Josh Miller. Hell Of A View/Eric Church/EMI — 12 Heaven On Dirt/Teddy Robb/Monument — 7 In February, FGL earned a Billionaire plaque for surpassing ﬁve billion Gone/Dierks Bentley/Capitol — 6 lifetime spins on Pandora and was named among the Top 10 most- Just About Over You/Priscilla Block/Mercury Nashville — 5 spun country acts in Pandora’s 20-year history. They were also Extra/Kylie Trout/Kylie Trout Music — 5 honored with the Randy Owen “Angels Among Us” award in October Memory I Don't Mess With/Lee Brice/Curb — 5 from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for supporting St. Jude families for many years. On Deck—Soon To Be Charting song/artist/label—No. of Spins Just this week, FGL has inked an exclusive, multi-year touring deal Heartland/Hailey Whitters/Big Loud Records/S&D — 161 with Live Nation in North America. Won't Forget/Rusty Gear/Chickahominy Marsh Records — 151 Whiskey And Rain/Michael Ray/Warner Music Nashville — 150 Each songwriter and artist earning No. 1 Radio Back/Danny Kensy/Rad Records — 149 credit on the MusicRow Chart receives a Ain't Gonna Be Today/Ward Davis/Ward Davis Music/Thirty MusicRow Challenge Coin. Click here to Tigers — 148 view a full list of recipients.

MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart Reporting Stations WHMA Anniston, AL WAAG Galesburg, IL WTCM Traverse City, MI KWHW Altus, OK KFTX Corpus Christi, TX WXFL Florence, AL WMCI Mattoon, IL KYSM Mankato, MN KITX Hugo, OK KYKX Longview, TX KHBZ Harrison, AR WYOT Rochelle, IL KZPK St. Cloud, MN KWEY Weatherford, OK KMRK Odessa, TX KQUS Hot Springs, AR WRTB Rockford, IL KWWR Mexico, MO KWOX Woodward, OK KYYK Palestine, TX KDXY Jonesboro, AR WCCI Savanna, IL KFAV Warrenton, MO KRKT Albany, OR KXOX Sweetwater, TX KWCK Searcy, AR WIFE Connersville, IN WQNZ Natchez, MS WNBT Mansﬁeld, PA WAKG Danville, VA KRAZ Santa Barbara, CA KAIR Atchison, KS KZZY Devils Lake, ND WCFT Selinsgrove, PA WAXX Altoona, WI WPAP Panama City, FL WKDZ Cadiz, KY KRVN Lexington, NE WFGE State College, PA WJVL Janesville, WI WUBB Savannah, GA WBKR Owensboro, KY Jersey Shore Country WMIR Myrtle Beach, SC WGLR Platteville, WI KXIA Marshalltown, IA WDHR Pikeville, KY KQBA Santa Fe, NM KIQK Rapid City, SD WQPC Prairie du Chien, WI KIAI Mason City, IA KRRV Alexandria, LA WDNB Monticello, NY WUCZ Carthage, TN WCOW Sparta, WI KBOE Oskaloosa, IA WUUU Covington, LA WOLF Syracuse, NY WDKN Dickson, TN WTNJ Beckley, WV KTHK Idaho Falls, ID WKPE Hyannis, MA WCJW Warsaw, NY WLLX Lawrenceburg, TN WDGG Huntington ,WV WOOZ Carterville, IL WVMD Cumberland, MD WFRY Watertown, NY KAYD Beaumont, TX WTCR Huntington, WV Friday, November 20, 2020

Weeks Last This Spins / % Spin Song / Artist / Label Spins +/- On Chart Week Week Reports Power

10 2 1 Long Live / Florida Georgia Line / BMLG Records 1922/68 5 99 22 3 2 How They Remember You / Rascal Flatts / Big Machine 1805/63 1 12 12 4 3 Starting Over / Chris Stapleton / Mercury Nashville 1727/58 -1 -9 7 7 4 Better Together / Luke Combs / Columbia 1719/60 11 173 25 6 5 Almost Maybes / Jordan Davis / MCA Nashville 1651/63 6 94 16 5 6 I Should Probably Go To Bed / Dan + Shay / Warner Music Nashville 1646/51 4 65 5 10 7 Down To One / Luke Bryan / Capitol 1532/63 10 143 27 1 8 All Night / Brothers Osborne / EMI 1443/57 -21 -384 29 11 9 Lady / Brett Young / BMLG 1401/59 4 59 12 12 10 7 Summers / Morgan Wallen / Big Loud Records 1395/61 4 59 30 13 11 Made For You / Jake Owen / Big Loud Records 1374/57 4 54 40 14 12 Nobody / Dylan Scott / Curb 1329/54 1 10 20 8 13 Happy Does / Kenny Chesney / Blue Chair Records/Warner Music Nashville 1285/40 -14 -214 11 15 14 Settling Down / Miranda Lambert / Vanner Records/RCA Records 1227/59 6 72 8 16 15 One Too Many / Keith Urban & P!nk / Capitol 1210/56 5 62 4 18 16 Gone / Dierks Bentley / Capitol 1067/59 14 133 24 17 17 Hard Days / Brantley Gilbert / Valory 980/46 4 41 8 19 18 Next Girl / Carly Pearce / Big Machine 936/52 7 60 42 20 19 Momma’s House / Dustin Lynch / Broken Bow 904/39 3 30 46 21 20 Somebody Like That / Tenille Arts / 19th & Grand 886/39 5 40 23 22 21 Wine, Beer, Whiskey / Little Big Town / Capitol 823/40 5 38 13 23 22 Good Time / Niko Moon / RCA Nashville 819/33 7 52 6 26 23 Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s / Sam Hunt / MCA Nashville 752/40 6 43 21 25 24 Grew Up On That / High Valley / Warner Music Nashville 732/40 3 19 13 27 25 Good Time Waitin’ To Happen / James Robert Webb / Bison Creek Records 719/46 7 45 21 29 26 The Good Ones / Gabby Barrett / Warner Music Nashville 702/36 7 46 3 43 27 Hell Of A View / Eric Church / EMI 698/46 53 243 18 28 28 Land Of Y’all / Smith & Wesley / Dream Walkin/Audium Nashville 679/36 1 6 20 30 29 Mix ‘Em With Whiskey / Drake White / Reverend White 655/34 3 18 2 79 30 What’s Your Country Song / Thomas Rhett / Valory 653/44 127 498 18 31 31 Ain’t The Only Hell (My Momma Raised) / Allie Colleen / Evangeline Records 651/36 5 33 12 32 32 Waitin’ On 5 / Chris Janson / Warner Music Nashville 638/34 4 24 5 36 33 We Didn’t Have Much / Justin Moore / Valory 604/40 14 73 32 33 34 To Hell & Back / Maren Morris / Columbia 600/35 1 5 18 34 35 I Still Think About You / Jake Simon / Spaceshot Records 594/39 6 33 13 37 36 Wash My Truck / Bobby Wills / MDM Recordings 574/33 9 45 7 38 37 Tiny Town / Laine Hardy / Buena Vista Records 570/41 13 67 8 35 38 Waste Of A Whiskey Drink / Gary Allan / EMI 568/35 3 19 17 39 39 Made For Mornings / Lockeland / Lockeland Entertainment LLC 516/35 3 14 17 42 40 Ain’t Bad For A Good Ol’ Boy / Mo Pitney / Curb 500/28 8 36 Weeks Last This Spins / % Spin Song / Artist / Label Spins +/- On Chart Week Week Reports Power

6 44 41 If It Wasn’t For Trucks / Riley Green / BMLG 478/32 9 39 17 41 42 Y’allsome / Pryor & Lee / Black River Entertainment 474/31 2 9 7 49 43 Everybody Dies But Not Everybody Lives / Shane Owens / Amerimonte Records 444/32 16 61 3 54 44 Memory I Don’t Mess With / Lee Brice / Curb 443/34 36 117 4 53 45 Heaven On Dirt / Teddy Robb / Monument 443/37 33 109 7 45 46 Bad Guy / Casey Donahew / Almost Country Records 431/25 6 26 10 40 47 Dear Rodeo / Cody Johnson / CoJo Music/Warner Bros. 429/25 -9 -41 9 47 48 Sometimes Late At Night / Eric Burgett / Bow To Stern Records 428/32 9 35 6 52 49 Where I Find God / Larry Fleet / Big Loud Records 418/25 16 59 10 48 50 Never Be Sorry / Old Dominion / RCA Nashville 417/20 7 26 16 46 51 We Were Rich / Runaway June / Wheelhouse Records 412/26 2 10 14 50 52 Simple Things / Dylan Gerard / SSM Nashville 385/27 5 19 15 51 53 Wishin’ I Was Fishin’ / Lucas Hoge / Forge Entertainment 369/23 2 7 8 58 54 The Mountain / Calamity Jane / Mountain Records 336/28 9 29 4 63 55 Just About Over You / Priscilla Block / Mercury Nashville 332/28 32 80 8 57 56 Sometimes Always Never / Brandon Ratcliff / Monument 323/26 5 14 9 59 57 Population 2 / Tom Sexton / Lots To Do Music, LLC 305/24 4 12 6 62 58 Comin’ Home / The Desert City Ramblers / Crane Kick Records 302/21 13 34 2 61 59 Blame It On You / Jason Aldean / Broken Bow 298/25 11 30 15 55 60 betty / Taylor Swift / MCA Nashville/Republic Records 281/18 -13 -43 14 60 61 Single Saturday Night / Cole Swindell / Warner Music Nashville 275/17 1 3 7 64 62 I Can Tell By The Way You Dance / Josh Turner / MCA Nashville 268/18 9 23 5 68 63 Just The Way / Parmalee x Blanco Brown / Stoney Creek 257/15 33 64 4 67 64 As Soon As You / Bri Bagwell / 10XMusic 254/19 20 43 11 66 65 What Love Can Do / Bruce Larson / Busy@Play 252/18 14 31 7 65 66 Bad Decision / Emily Jean / SSM Evolution 250/19 8 18 24 24 67 Uncommon Man / Dallas Remington / RoadWarrior Records 239/16 -67 -487 2 78 68 Ghost Town Nation / Travis Tritt / Big Noise 208/12 29 47 3 77 69 You Time / Scotty McCreery / Triple Tigers Records 205/14 23 38 1 81 70 Worship You / Kane Brown / RCA Nashville 203/13 32 49 3 70 71 Your Love Won’t Let Me Cheat / RT Johnson / CCB Nashville 198/16 4 8 8 69 72 Saltwater Gospel (Fins Up Version) / Eli Young Band & Jimmy Buffett / Valory 192/13 0 0 4 71 73 Beers To Catch Up On / LOCASH / Wheelhouse Records 189/12 1 1 2 73 74 So Long So Long / Darlinghurst / Helium 183/10 0 0 3 74 75 Same Ole / Chris Kroeze / 182/15 0 0 1 82 76 Anybody Else / Mira Goto / ArtistMax/Copperline 181/16 20 30 3 76 77 Calling All The Angels / Brooke Lee / Brooke Lee Music 179/13 5 9 3 75 78 Martha Devine / Ashley McBryde / Atlantic Records/WMN/WAR 176/15 -1 -2 1 83 79 Meghan / Brecken Miles / Rhyme Partners 168/15 13 19 1 87 80 God Save The World / Jeff Carson / MC1 Nashville 165/12 18 25 No. 1 Song Greatest Spin Increase Highest Debut November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly ACM Lifting Lives Board Of Directors Announced For 2020-2021 Term “ACM Lifting Lives is grateful to have our Ofﬁcers continue for another term. With their service and leadership, ACM Lifting Lives has been able to help hundreds of individuals within the country music community who have been experiencing ﬁnancial hardships this year,” said Lyndsay Cruz, ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director. “We look forward to continuing the important work of being a resource for those in need.”

The ACM Lifting Lives Board of Directors is comprised of ACM Board Members, referred to as representative directors, as well as leaders in non-proﬁt and corporate affairs that aren’t ACM Board Members, referred to as public directors.

This year, there were four representative director positions elected, three public director positions elected, five representative director positions appointed and six ACM Lifting Lives has announced a second-year term public director positions appointed by the ACM Lifting for the ACM Lifting Lives Officers and announced the Lives Board of Directors. newly elected Board of Directors for the 2020-2021 term. Continuing their tenure in office are Chairman Learn the new representatives here. Paul Barnabee, Vice-Chairman Troy Vollhoffer, Vice-President Lorie Lytle, Treasurer Dwight Wiles, and Secretary Taylor Wolf.

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CMA Awards Leaders Sarah Trahern, Robert what we were doing months before we knew nominations Deaton Discuss Navigating An Awards Show I reached out to about 10 different managers who I During COVID-19 ﬁgured may have nominated artists and posed the question, saying ‘If we can, and we don’t know if we can, but if we can have artists in the room, do you think we would get the support of the artists or would you rather not participate and keep it all separate?’ And every response was, ‘My artist would like to be in the room with the other artists and keep it as much of a regular CMA Awards show as we can. If we’re allowed to do that and we can have the protocols set and it can be safe.’ From the very beginning we included artists and managers in on that decision. All the responses I’ve gotten, even the night of the show, we were about 2.5. hours into the show and Eric Church pulled me aside and said ‘The greatest thing about tonight is that we’re all together, we’re celebrating music and I’m seeing people that I haven’t seen in such a long time.’ From my viewpoint, it’s what Pictured: Sarah Trahern (Courtesy CMA), Robert Deaton (Photo: the artists wanted to do. I think they really enjoyed Jessica Lewis) themselves and it was a healing thing for them.

Most of the performances were live. How did you Last week’s 54th Annual CMA Awards, held at decide which would be live and which would be pre- Nashville’s Music City Center, ushered in new winners taped? in several categories, including Eric Church taking home his first Entertainer of the Year honor, and Maren Sarah: Because of COVID restrictions, even though we Morris picking up her first Female Vocalist, Single and had two performance stages in the room, we had to allow Song of the Year wins. time between performances to totally clean stages between the live performances, so a lot of the scheduling The evening also marked the first time country music’s had to do with the stacking of the performances and artists had gathered all in one room for an awards show allowing appropriate distances between live acts. in 2020. Robert: In order to be safe and follow COVID protocols, In addition to navigating an array of COVID-19 we could not have every performance live. We had to protocols to ensure the safety of attendees, the CMA’s have at least a minimum of 15 minutes between each team also prepared backup plans in case performers or stage to be able to clean and move people on and off in a presenters had to drop out of the show at the last safe manner. I put together the board, first, to get a great minute—which did happen to a few artists and show run and a great flow from beginning to end, and out performers including Lee Brice, Florida Georgia Line’s of that, that’s how we decided who would be live and who Tyler Hubbard, Lady A, Rascal Flatts and Musician of would be pre-taped. the Year winner Jenee Fleenor. What did it take behind the scenes, especially for the The Country Music Association’s CEO Sarah Trahern fuller-band performances such as those from and CMA Awards Executive Producer Robert Deaton Brothers Osborne or Jon Pardi, to pull that off? discussed the planning that went into many of the awards show’s special moments, such as tributes to the Robert: Those performances weren’t any more difficult late Charlie Daniels, Kenny Rogers, Joe Diffie and than say, the Thomas Rhett performance. The thing Mac Davis, and bringing artists together safely in one about it is, this year we had to really cut down on the space. number of live musicians. For example on Brothers Osborne, that’s a pre-recorded track, but vocals are live MusicRow: The CMA Awards marked a milestone in and so was John Osborne’s guitars. To be safe and terms of awards shows in 2020, as the nominees follow protocols, we couldn’t have that many people and performers were all in one room. When you onstage mic’ing instruments and so on. If you look at 22 first brought this idea to artists and their teams, or so performances, that’s a lot of musicians. We just did what was the initial response, and what has not have the bandwidth to go “live, live” like we normally feedback been like since the awards took place? do on most of our performances on a normal CMA Awards year. When you cut down the number of people Robert: Here’s the thing, we never move forward with onstage, the setup goes a whole lot quicker, so it really anything without the approval of our artists and was not any more difficult than Darius and Reba’s management. In fact, as we were trying to figure out performance with just the two of them onstage.

Page 10 of 16 November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly the right artist to perform that song. It’s interesting though Charley Pride, Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee were all that with “In the Ghetto,” I did not put that together. Reba in attendance, with Pride performing with Jimmie had already cut that song, prior to Mac passing away, Allen. Were any special/additional precautions taken with Darius. So when that happened and Reba said she’d to make sure they took part in the show safely? cut that song, it made obvious sense for them to do that. And again with Joe Difﬁe. Who doesn’t love “Pickup Robert: No, our protocols were in place for everybody. It Man?” I thought, once again, I heard Jon Pardi. It just was an extremely safe environment. The entire crew, sounds like a Jon Pardi song. It’s a little bit of A&R., everybody in Zone A, wore both masks and face shields. putting together the right song with the right artist. That’s The precautions on a whole were so tight and safe, I how those songs are chosen. don’t know what additional precautions could have been taken beyond what we did. Sarah: I think that’s truly one of Robert’s gifts. A few years ago he had Little Big Town do “Wichita Lineman” Sarah: I agree with Robert. We worked for months with for Glen Campbell. These tributes aren’t meant to be an the CDC and local health ofﬁcials to make sure this was all-inclusive In Memoriam, which we’ve only done once the safest environment possible and all protocol was on the show. One of Robert’s gifts is that he can think strictly enforced across the board. about the artists and knows the songs so well that he has a great ability to put the right artist with the song to make Several performers, including Lady A, Rascal Flatts it pop. and Jenee Fleenor, announced just before or during the broadcast that they were not taking part in the We saw that this year’s ratings were down, just like show due to COVID. What changes did that most awards shows this year. How do you interpret necessitate during the show? those ratings?

Robert: There were no changes going into the show. The Robert: The way I interpret is that everybody is down. In awakening moment for me was when Lee tested positive. historic measures. These are unprecedented times and We thought this could happen again, so we decided to this has been an unprecedented year for most of us. We overbook the show. Just overbook, so that in case understood that we were going to be down. We can’t sit someone fell out we were still okay and we could end on here and look at all of our friends who have shows and time. So we overbooked the show and I had an idea they’re down and expect that we wouldn’t be. I don’t called “The CMA Flashback” taking one or two know the exact reason why that is, but we all knew this performances from the past and we showed things that was going to happen. were important to us. For example in 1983 at The 17th Annual CMA Awards we had Dolly and Kenny perform Sarah: Overall we expected to be down based on the “Islands in the Stream.” We thought that could be a really trends in television today, but still strongly believe in the fun moment to revisit that performance if on the day of impact of live programming. And although the demo was show somebody called and said they can’t come for lower, we were pleased with our total viewers number. whatever reason. And so, we were just preparing We drew a significant audience, in today’s landscape, ourselves. Luckily we didn’t have to use any of those and were able to keep them throughout the show. backup plans. There were plenty of first wins in several categories This year’s show celebrated a few country greats that —Entertainer, Female Vocalist, Song, Single. What do passed away earlier this year. Instead of featuring you feel this signals about the country music more obvious Charlie Daniels hits, songs like landscape as a whole? “Texas” and “Trudy” were included. And Darius and Reba honored Mac Davis with “In The Ghetto.” How Sarah: We felt like the nominees across the board were did everyone decide on those particular songs to particularly strong this year and that’s one of the reasons perform on the show? we were so excited to be able to pull off a live show in front of other artists. Some of my favorite moments were Robert: I put together the Charlie Daniels tribute the support people gave each other in the room when because I wanted to represent Charlie Daniels. I wanted they won. Whether it’s the females leaning in to support it to feel like Charlie Daniels. When you do a tribute, you Maren and her three wins, or Luke Combs jumping to his think of the song and then you think of the artist that it feet to celebrate Eric Church. It’s what I think is so fits. So when I thought of “Long Haired Country Boy,” I special about our country music community and what the thought of an acoustic guitar in the middle of the room CMA Awards are all about. It was an exciting night for a with Dierks Bentley. When I heard “Trudy,” I thought it new generation of country artists. MR sounded like a Brothers Osborne song. And the same goes with Jason Aldean on “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and Ashley McBryde on “Texas.” To me, it’s about honoring the artist and getting the right song with

Page 11 of 16 November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly

Amy Cranford Elevated To Sr. VP, Administration At Sony/ATV Music Publishing

John and Robin Berry Zoom Chat with Megan Amy Cranford. Photo: Ed Rode Photography Alexander and Charlie Mattos at WSM Radio about the upcoming 24th Annual Songs and Stories Amy Cranford has been promoted to Senior Vice 2020 Christmas Tour and their new Faith, Family & President, Administration at Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Friends podcast. Based in Nashville, Cranford reports to Dale Esworthy, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Administration. Carrie Underwood To Debut ‘My Gift’ In her new position, Cranford is responsible for Christmas Special Dec. 3 On HBO Max overseeing Sony/ATV’s administration initiatives to better support its songwriters, including the client portal SCORE and its app, and she will continue leading the company’s audit team. In addition, she will serve as the business liaison for the global publishing system TEMPO and work to create and implement strategies to further advance its capabilities.

Since joining Sony/ATV in 1994, Cranford has spearheaded numerous efforts which have strengthened the company’s administration services, including the “Cash Out” feature, which enables songwriters to request some or all of their current royalty balance to be paid immediately. Under her watch, Sony/ATV also introduced real-time processing for all its foreign earnings. As a result, foreign earnings will now be Carrie Underwood released her first holiday reported and paid in the same period in which they are album, My Gift, in September, but the Grammy- collected. winner has another holiday gift for her fans: her upcoming HBO Max music special, My Gift: A “Amy’s ability to generate ideas, build consensus and Christmas Special From Carrie Underwood, set to implement new initiatives makes her a key leader and begin streaming on Dec. 3. trusted colleague,” said Esworthy. “We are grateful for her selfless dedication and many contributions.” Underwood will offer a mix of traditional holiday favorites as well as original material from her My “I am proud to be a part of Sony/ATV, where our mission Gift album, accompanied by her band and a live is to deliver best-in-class services to our songwriters,” orchestra and choir, led by musical director Rickey said Cranford. “I look forward to working with Jon, Dale Minor. The special will include Underwood and the entire leadership team in this new role, and I’m collaborating with John Legend on “Hallelujah,” an excited to further expand our administrative efforts and original song Legend wrote with Toby Gad, as well build upon our success.” MR as behind-the-scenes moments of Underwood recording “Little Drummer Boy” alongside her five- year-old son, Isaiah.

Page 12 of 16 November 20, 2020 The MusicRow Weekly

DISClaimer Single Reviews: Kelsea Ballerini, Shania Twain, Logan Mize, Clare Dunn, And More

Welcome to a country-music, all- duets edition of DisClaimer.

Let’s cut right to the chase. Logan Mize and Clare Dunn have the Disc of the Day with Jonathan Tyler and Nikki Lane snapping at their heels and picking up a DisCovery Award as a consolation prize for Tyler.

But the previously reviewed “Rebels and Angels” by Terry McBride and Patty Loveless is still my 2020 favorite in this sub genre.

Click here to read Robert K. Oermann's reviews of Kelsea Ballerini & Shania Twain, Larkin Poe, Shenandoah & Ashley McBryde, and more.