UMG Nashville

JON PARDI CELEBRATES FIRST GOLD SINGLE

tony.grotticelli — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 18:20:37 +0000

Capitol Nashville recording artist Jon Pardi is celebrating his first RIAA Gold-certified single “Up All Night.” Written by Pardi, Bart Butler and Brett Beavers, “Up All Night” was also the up-and-coming star’s first Top 10 single and the launch pad for his debut album, Write You A Song. The New York Times calls the album “redolent of the buttoned-up power-country of a couple decades ago, from Garth Brooks to Mark Chesnutt, and also the swinging attitude of Dwight Yoakam, who updated the Bakersfield sound.” NPR compliments Jon’s knack for “straddling two markets — what the large mainstream country demo wants, which is pop-country-rock as party anthems, and the smaller segment of the market that prizes its own concept of authenticity: the lineage that carries back to George Jones and Merle Haggard even unto Hank Williams.”

“I still can’t believe we’ve surpassed 500,000!” an enthusiastic Pardi exclaims. “I just want to say ‘thank you’ to country radio for taking a chance on this song.”

Pardi just wrapped up a tour with Thomas Rhett and played Luke Bryan’s Spring Break event in Panama City Beach, Fla. He will join Dierks Bentley on the RISER Tour this summer, as well as headline several of his own dates. Pardi’s new single “What I Can’t Put Down” impacts country radio today.

For more information, visit www.JonPardi.com. Fans can also connect with Pardi via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

LADY ANTEBELLUM NAVIGATES TO NO. ONE WITH EIGHTH CAREER CHART-TOPPER “COMPASS”

tony.grotticelli — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 21:57:31 +0000

March 10, 2014 – Three-time ACM award-winning “Vocal Group of The Year” and current nominee Lady Antebellum is at the top of the charts again this week, claiming the No. one spot on both the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase charts with their eighth career No. one “Compass.”

“When we got the news that ‘Compass’ was No. one, we were ironically enough, on a 500 mile detour on the bus in Canada trying to avoid an avalanche,” laughed Lady A’s Hillary Scott. “The timing was actually really funny and fortunately we’re going to make it in plenty of time to see all our fans in Vancouver tonight. We’re so thankful for all our friends in radio, our record label but especially to all the fans that are on their feet each night when we start the show with this song. The energy is infectious, and it sets the night off on an unbelievable course!”

“Lady A set the festive tempo for the show: first by making a surprise entrance from a riser at the back of the main floor and then by launching into the toe-tapping feel-good song ‘Compass.’” – Salt Lake Tribune

“From the opening notes of their current hit, ‘Compass,’ — delivered from a small stage at the back of the floor — the polished trio of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood put on a show long on enthusiasm…” – St. Louis Dispatch

“…their voices locked into pristine harmony on such tunes as foot-stomping opener ‘Compass.’” – Boston Globe

The trio will take a short detour from their TAKE ME DOWNTOWN TOUR with a stop in Washington, D.C. on April 2 where they will be honored at this year’s GRAMMYs on the Hill Awards, and receive the Recording Artists’ Coalition Award for their artistry and inventiveness in the country arena as well as their philanthropic efforts. For more information and for a full list of upcoming tour dates, visit www.ladyantebellum.com.

DIERKS BENTLEY’S ALBUM RISER SOARS TO NO. ONE

tony.grotticelli — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 16:13:10 +0000

March 5, 2014 – With his seventh studio album RISER, award-winning singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley has earned the No. one position on the Billboard Country Albums chart this week. RISER also marks his fifth career debut in the top spot on the country charts.

While USA Today awarded thealbum four out of four stars, critics across the country also chimed in to praise RISER for its depth and artistry with the Washington Post commending the singer/songwriter for “excelling outside the bro-zone.”

“On his latest, Riser, Dierks Bentley again elevates himself above the rest of the country pack.” – People

“The chiming guitars and slow-boiling melodies add a simmering passion to Bentley’s distinctive vocal and writing style…the singer/songwriter continues to bring a much needed heft to country music.” – Associated Press

“Dierks Bentley is here to save country music.” – Washington Times

“…revitalizes country music on his greatest album yet.” – Country Weekly

“Dierks Bentley has built impressive success– 10 number one songs– on bedrock concepts that feel more quaint all the time: musicianship, emotional integrity, and hard work. Those elements again make themselves known on his stirring seventh album ‘Riser.’” – Boston Globe

“Bentley bares his soul in meditations on love and loss, death and rebirth.” – USA Today

This whole album is not Nashville conveyor belt country, and nor is it just chasing hit singles. It is a bunch of the most personal and emotion-filled songs of Dierks’ career to date.” – Maverick

Up next, Bentley will head across the Atlantic for shows at Dublin and London’s O2 arenas (3/14 and 3/15) before launching his 2014 RISER TOUR on May 9 in Charlotte, NC. Fans can catch Bentley take the stage for CMT Crossroads: OneRepublic and Dierks Bentley airing March 21 at 9:00P CT on CMT. For more information and for a full list of tour dates, visit www.dierks.com.

DAVID NAIL’S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM I’M A FIRE IN STORES NOW

tony.grotticelli — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:08:11 +0000

MCA Recording and GRAMMY-nominated artist, David Nail, released his highly anticipated brand new album, I’m A Fire, today to all retailers. I’m A Fire, an album that Country Weekly has given an A- rating, was produced by Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf, and is the third album by the Missouri native.

Surrounding the release of I’m A Fire Nail will perform on SIRIUS XM’s The Highway (today, March 4) as well as appearances on NBC’s TODAY and CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow, March 5. Check your local listings for airtimes.

About his new album, I’m A Fire, Nail says “‘I’m A Fire’ was the perfect song [title track] to not only sum up the record, but sum up me personally and professionally. There’s been a lot of moments throughout my career where I could’ve packed up and given up and people could have given up on me. I’ve had a strong collection of people in my corner from the beginning,” adding “I’m a fire and I’m still burning, and I feel at this moment in time, better than ever.”

I’m A Fire boasts 11 tracks including the No. 1 hit song “Whatever She’s Got” that recently was certified PLATINUM by the RIAA for sales of 1 million as well as Nail’s current single, the vulnerable “Kiss You Tonight.” To see and hear more of the songs that make up I’m A Fire, click here.

The week immediately following the release of I’m A Fire, Nail will perform several shows at the annual music conference, South-By-Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. Nail is set to be the first-ever country artist to perform on an Rdio Session to be held on Thursday, March 13 at the Driskill Hotel.

Nail will then head back out on his own headlining tour with stops in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and Madison just before he heads to Las Vegas for the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs).

LUKE BRYAN TO RELEASE NEW DIGITAL EP

tony.grotticelli — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 23:35:56 +0000

ACM Awards Show co-host and reigning Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan will release his next Spring Break themed digital EP on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, SPRING BREAK 6…LIKE WE AIN’T EVER. The album contains six original songs, all co-written by Luke.

“The songs for this project came together so fast,” said Bryan. “These special EP’s all began as a way to get new music out to the fans between studio projects. I feel like year after year we get a little bit better at writing for this. I think with these new songs I would be proud to put them on any album we release.”

Luke will once again play two free concerts at Spinnaker’s Beach Club in Panama City, Florida on March 11 and 12 for the sixth consecutive year. Last year’s shows saw a 2-day crowd total of 120,000 fans.
SPRING BREAK 6…LIKE WE AIN’T EVER
1. She Get Me High
2. Like We Ain’t Ever
3. Night One
4. Are You Leaving With Him
5. Good Lookin Girl
6. The Sand I Brought To The Beach
Luke’s previous five Spring Break releases have sold over 750k copies. Last year’s album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country sales chart and earning him his first #1 album on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, selling 149,515 units its first week.

ERIC CHURCH’S NEW ALBUM DEBUTS NO. 1 ON BOTH BILLBOARD TOP 200 AND BILLBOARD COUNTRY CHARTS

tony.grotticelli — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 16:01:56 +0000

One week after the release of Eric Church’s critically acclaimed new studio album, The Outsiders, he sits at the No. 1 spot on both the Billboard Top 200 and the Billboard Top Country Album sales charts with album sales of 287,688 according to Soundscan. With this news, Church has nearly doubled his previous 2011 album, Chief’s, first week sales.

Fans and critics alike have been anxious for the North Carolina singer/songwriter’s fourth studio album, produced by Jay Joyce, that was released via EMI Nashville on February 11; an album that Entertainment Weekly gave a Grade A and says is “the still-rising star’s most brazen, brilliant disc yet, and the first great album of this year,” while NPR Fresh Air’s critic Ken Tucker announced “Eric Church is working on a level that few other country artists of his generation can touch.”

In advance of the release of The Outsiders, Church was recently profiled on CBS Sunday Morning with footage taken at Church’s remote cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. That same week he graced the cover of SPIN where the magazine claims “He’s the most exciting, sonically fearless singer in Nashville,” adding “The guy [is] so divisive he’s a uniter.”

USA Today listed The Outsiders as its Album Of The Week on February 11, giving the release FOUR out of FOUR Stars, touting “It’s adventurous and outrageous, full of metallic guitars and funky country skronk but also expresses vulnerability and pain.” The Tampa Bay Times says that the singer/songwriter is “Giving you something new and unexpected: That’s how Church scores his high.”

DAVID NAIL RELEASES SECOND SINGLE “KISS YOU TONIGHT”

tony.grotticelli — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:45:53 +0000

Today MCA recording artist David Nail released his second single, “Kiss You Tonight,” to country radio. The new song is the follow-up single to Nail’s massive No. 1 hit “Whatever She’s Got.” Both songs appear on Nail’s forthcoming third album I’m A Fire set to release on March 4.

On I’m A Fire, the GRAMMY-nominated Missouri native teamed back up with Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf for the producing duties. In an early 2014 music preview, NPR Music sums up Nail saying “Blessed with a soaring tenor that allows him to do country melodrama right, Nail’s also great with the genre’s bread and butter — songs about the little complexities of every couple’s domestic life.”

In January, Nail announced that he will be hitting the road with a set of headlining shows this spring with new singer/songwriter and MCA label mate Sam Hunt opening. In addition to his own tour, Nail is currently on tour with Darius Rucker on the True Believers Tour and will also open for Lady Antebellum for select dates on their Take Me Downtown Tour later in the spring.

LUKE BRYAN CELEBRATES NINTH NO. 1 SINGLE WITH “DRINK A BEER”

tony.grotticelli — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 17:46:35 +0000

Reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan takes the top spot at country radio with “Drink A Beer,” making this his ninth career No. 1 single. The song, written by Chris Stapleton and Jim Beavers, has spent the last 11 weeks as a Top 5 download on Nielsen’s Country Digital Song chart, five of which were spent at No. 1. The multi-week chart topper is the third consecutive No. 1 single from Luke’s Crash My Party album which was certified Platinum in just six weeks.
Crash My Party debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Country sales charts with 527,783 units sold, making it the biggest sales debut for a Country male artist since 2004.
Luke’s “That’s My Kind of Night Tour,” which has sold out all dates on its first leg this year, will also include his first-ever headline stadium shows this summer- June 21 in Pittsburgh, Penn. at Heinz Field, Lincoln Financial Field on August 15 in Philadelphia, Penn. and on August 31 in Chicago, Ill. at Soldier Field.
Luke currently has three ACM Award nominations, Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for Crash My Party. Luke will co-host the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards with Blake Shelton on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

KACEY MUSGRAVES’ DEBUT ALBUM SAME TRAILER DIFFERENT PARK RETURNS TO NO.1

tony.grotticelli — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:06:46 +0000

Today Mercury Records singer/songwriter Kacey Musgraves’ debut album Same Trailer Different Park returns to the No. 1 position on the Billboard Country albums chart with 27,288 albums sold this week making a sales lift of 177% bringing the album’s total sales to 342,640 according to Soundscan.

This marks the second time Musgraves has been in the No. 1 seat on the Billboard Country albums chart; first time being when Same Trailer Different Park debuted No. 1 on the Billboard Country albums chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart last March when the album released.

The impressive sales increase is accredited to Musgraves’ two GRAMMY wins from the 56th Annual Grammy Awards for BEST COUNTRY SONG (“Merry Go ‘Round) and BEST COUNTRY ALBUM (Same Trailer Different Park) as well has her performance of “Follow Your Arrow” during the telecast on CBS.

“Follow Your Arrow” also received a nice lift with a 98% increase this week with sales of 56,359 tracks making it the No. 2 Country track this week raising the total song downloads of “Follow Your Arrow” to 325,377 according to Soundscan.

Also, Musgrave’s first single and GRAMMY-winning song, “Merry Go ‘Round,” received a 84% increase this week with sales of 15,155 to a total of 820,215 according to Soundscan.

To cap off this week, Musgraves’ performance on the PBS long-running series Austin City Limits will air as the season finale this Saturday, February 8. Click here to check your local listings for air time. Starting Saturday fans can stream the performance here.

Jon Pardi Launches Debut Album with Multiple Sold-Out Shows, Earns First Top Ten Single

tony.grotticelli — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:47:54 +0000

Capitol Records Nashville artist Jon Pardi came out of the gate swinging with seven sold-out album release shows for his debut effort, Write You A Song. Pardi co-wrote ten of the 11 tracks on the Jan. 14 release including recent hit “Up All Night” and previous Top 25 tune, “Missin’ You Crazy.”

Pardi secured his first Top Ten single with “Up All Night” and performed the tune on Friday’s “The Queen Latifah Show” Super Bowl special. View the performance HERE.

With a strong Bakersfield influence, Pardi is being praised for his traditional sound and fun, festive melodies. NPR’s Ken Tucker notes Pardi’s ability to “maintain a certain roughness, and [he has] a clear fondness for more hardcore honky-tonk music.” (Listen to full NPR Fresh Air review HERE). New York Magazine music critic Jody Rosen commends Pardi’s “excellent songwriting,” while County Weekly’s Jon Freeman credits Pardi for delivering lyrics that are “undeniably catchy and upbeat.”

Pardi’s refreshing style is resonating with the country music audience resulting in record crowds for the newcomer and a string of sold-out album release shows stretching from coast to coast.

In addition to joining Dierks Bentley on the RISER Tour, Pardi will be on select tour dates with Thomas Rhett beginning this Friday in Baton Rouge, La. For a full list of Pardi’s tour stops and to register to win a Spring Break Fly-Away to see Pardi perform live in Panama City Beach, Fla., visit www.JonPardi.com.