Country Update

Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS AUGUST 5, 2019 | PAGE 1 OF 20 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] Luke Combs’ Songwriter Ashley Gorley Advances From New Chart Marks >page 4 The Tape Room To The Executive Lounge Cash’s Kitchen Opens When Valory released the self-titled debut EP by new female act have a place in the music business or not, there was always some >page 10 Avenue Beat on July 26, it was perhaps a career-defining moment writing, some production, some publishing, some mentoring and for the Illinois-bred trio, but it also represents a new track for the some working with artists and labels and stuff like that. So it was Kentucky-born executive behind the band. just more of a matter of the order where I felt like I could commit.” Avenue Beat marks the first joint venture label deal for Gorley, who is actually a staff writer for Round Hill Music, isn’t Opry Names Tape Room, a publishing company founded by ace songwriter the only songwriter who has parlayed musical success into some New Leader Ashley Gorley (“Dirt on My Boots,” “Liv- form of a Nashville empire, but his mix of cre- >page 10 ing”) in 2011. If this expansion into new ative savvy and business acumen is a rare territory follows suit with Gorley’s history, combination among the genre’s composers. it would be the beginning of something big. “He’d probably be in Silicon Valley Gorley has piled up 34 No. 1country singles creating a new start-up right now if he weren’t Rhett And Brett: in Billboard as a songwriter, stretching from a songwriter,” says writer-producer Ross Fashion On Display Trace Adkins’ 2007 single “You’re Gonna Copperman (“I Lived It,” “Get Along”). >page 11 Miss This” to Lee Brice’s 2019 chart-topper “He’s that kind of dude. We always joked “Rumor,” and nabbed ASCAP’s country that he’d be running a bank in Nashville if songwriter of the year honor a record six he weren’t a songwriter.” Makin’ Tracks: times. Tape Room has published 16 Billboard In fact, songwriting was not even the Gabby Barrett’s No. 1s, including a number of titles — such as goal when Gorley set out from Danville, Ky., Surprising “Hope” Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” and to enroll in the music business program at Kane Brown’s “Lose It” — penned by staff Nashville’s Belmont University. A year or two >page 15 GORLEY writers without Gorley’s assistance. in, songwriting’s lack of a 9-to-5 routine ap- It took eight years from Tape Room’s pealed to him, and he embarked on a series founding to get to this space, but artist development was always of internships at roughly seven different publishing company Country Coda: a goal when he first created the firm as a joint venture with Com- “tape rooms” (thus the name of his company), where he learned Loveless’ “Timber” bustion Music and Warner Chappell Nashville. how songs got matched — or failed to get matched — to artists. Lined Up “It’s kind of expanding, or bringing to light, all the things I He wrote after hours, and his rural upbringing paid dividends >page 20 always wanted to be involved in,” says Gorley, seated in front of in the material. Living 35 miles outside of Lexington, he and his an electric keyboard in a suite of second-floor offices that Tape high school friends were close enough to a big city to hear music Room rents from Shane McAnally’s SMACKSongs. “Even when in multiple popular formats, from Dr. Dre to Nirvana. But coun- I first got out of college and was trying to figure out if I would try’s story-songs made a huge impression, too, and the various BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE AUGUST 5, 2019 | PAGE 2 OF 20 genres would find a way into his material as he recounted the field parties and farm work that were part of small-town life. “People that aren’t from those towns think these country songs don’t really happen,” says Gorley. “I’ve done every one of those things that are in the songs, so that’s just truth. You’re writing truth with a little bit of musical experimentation, so the mix of that kind of brought me to where I am now.” That mix is well represented among his No. 1 hits. Darius Rucker’s “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” and Carrie Underwood’s “All-American Girl” incorporate blue-collar storytelling. Luke Bryan’s “Kick the Dust Up” and Joe Nichols’ “Yeah” bring the field parties to life. Bryan’s “I See You” and Jason Aldean’s “Just Gettin’ Started” reflect Gorley’s rock roots. Thomas Rhett’s “Life Changes” and Dan + Shay’s “Nothin’ on You” utilize his pop/R&B Cole Swindell (center) met up with WDXB Birmingham, Ala., staff influences. backstage at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater. He’s flanked by WDXB “I can talk about the countryiest things ever, but I can also talk about the PD Tom Hanrahan (left) and WDXB personality “Dollar” Bill Lawson. craziest kind of music ever in the same conversation,” says Gorley. “I’m glad that God had that in store for me to soak that up.” When Gorley opened Tape Room, he approached it with a notable patience. He signed Zach Crowell (“Cop Car,” “Dirty Laundry”) as the first staff writer and waited to ink another until Crowell had developed. “I set out the goal to try to bat 1.000 and feel like writer one was on their way to success before even signing writer two and three and so on,” says Gorley. “It was a different thing than trying to run a big company and sign a ton of writers and have two or three of their successes carry the rest.” That allowed Gorley to give Crowell his full attention before he expanded the writing staff. “He would be brutally honest,” recalls Crowell. “If it was really good he would tell me, and if it was really bad he would tell me. I was a big boy about it and didn’t complain, took his notes and kept chipping away and climbing Justin Moore performed four songs from his new album, Late Nights the ladder into bigger rooms.” and Longnecks, to celebrate its release at Big Machine Distillery in The three Avenue Beat members bring Tape Room’s current roster to 10 Nashville on July 29. From left: Valory president George Briner, Moore, writers, including hit composers Brad Clawson (“Up Down”), Matt Jenkins Big Machine Label Group president/CEO Scott Borchetta and L3 (“Song for Another Time”) and Will Weatherly (“Good As You”). The Entertainment owner Peter Hartung. management team remains small, led by GM Blain Rhodes, vp creative Kelly Bolton and office manager Emily Foltz. Tape Room is also developing singer- songwriters Hunter Phelps (“Talk You Out of It”) and Conner Smith as artists. “Anybody that piques my interest is doing things that I can’t sit down and do or [ making me think], ‘I’ve never heard that idea before,’ or ‘That sounds like something I’d want to stream and go to the show and watch,’ ” he says. “They have different perspectives, their songs are really good, and they’re all coachable.” That last point stands out. Avenue Beat’s members often call Gorley “coach,” appropriate for a creative talent who has built a remarkable portfolio as a writer, publisher and now label partner. “I want to be able to disappear into the background,” he says. “That’s me doing my job if Thomas Rhett sings a song or Avenue Beat puts this record out, and I’m not [obviously] in there. If you dig long enough, maybe you’ll find out Aaron Watson (center) visited KUZZ Bakersfield, Calif., when he that I had something to do with that working, but it’s really them — [I] just help performed at the Crystal Palace. He’s joined by KUZZ PD Brent them find their voice. That’s what a good writer does.” Michaels (left) and BIG Label director of West promotion Gwen Foster. IMAGES GETTY WYATT TERRY MOORE: ACCESS THE BEST IN MUSIC. A DIGITAL VERSION OF EVERY ISSUE, FEATURING: COVER STORIES . SPECIAL REPORTS . CHARTS . REVIEWS INTERVIEWS . EVENT COVERAGE & MORE AVAILABLE FREE TO CURRENT BILLBOARD SUBSCRIBERS billboard.com/iPad BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE AUGUST 5, 2019 | PAGE 4 OF 20 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Luke Combs Hoists Six Pack Of Country Airplay No. 1s; This One’s For You Now Longest Leader Among Males On Top Country Albums Luke Combs banks his record-extending sixth straight career-opening No. 1 MOORE ALBUM NEWS Also on Top Country Albums, Justin Moore’s Late single on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Beer Never Broke My Heart” Nights and Long Necks (Valory/Big Machine Label Group) flies in at No. 2, (River House/Columbia Nashville) ascends 2-1 on the chart dated Aug. 10. The earning 19,000 units, with 14,000 in traditional album sales. song reigns with a 9% gain to 40.3 million audience impressions in the week Moore adds his fifth top 10 set following Kinda Don’t Care, which arrived ending Aug. 4, according to Nielsen Music. at No. 1 in September 2016; Off the Beaten Path, Combs became the first artist to send each of his which opened atop the list in October 2013; his first first five Country Airplay entries to the summit when No.

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