Roots Music Report

Nashville, TN (October 09, 2014) -- Trailblazing musician Dr. Ralph Stanley has been elected a fellow in the humanities and arts category of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in a class that also includes actor and director Al Pacino, novelists John Irving and Annie Proulx, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and oceanographer and discoverer of the Titanic, Robert Ballard, among others. In May, Stanley was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Yale University.  It... Read More

Blind Pig Records will release the following albums from celebrated guitarists JW-Jones and Jimmy Thackery on October 14th: JW-JONES   "BELMONT BOULEVARD" JW-Jones, a red hot young Canadian guitar slinger/songwriter, is set to break out in the U.S. and worldwide music scenes with his new release on renowned American roots music label Blind Pig Records, entitled Belmont Boulevard. Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, based in Toronto, referred to Jones as "one of this country's top blues... Read More

NATD Honors to Be Held November 11, 2014 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (October 8, 2014) – The Nashville Association of Talent Directors (NATD) today announced six industry leaders who will be recognized at the 4th annual NATD Honors Gala, scheduled for November 11, 2014 at the Hermitage Hotel. Honorees include Governor Bill Haslam, Rob Beckham, Partner and Co-Head of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment; Vanderbilt University’s Head Baseball Coach Tim Corbin; Founder and CEO of Parallel Entertainment J. P. Williams;... Read More

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces Nominees for 2015 Induction.  Visit www.rockhall.com to vote for your... Read More

Balsam Range Takes Top Honors at IBMA Awards Mountain Home Music Company artists honored for excellence in several categories   Nashville, TN –  It was a big night for Balsam Range at the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards, which were announced during a red carpet event at the annual World of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC.  Singer/Fiddler Buddy Melton was named Male Vocalist of the Year and shared his heartfelt gratitude from the stage. Balsam Range was honored as... Read More

Big & Rich Set To Launch New Album With Appearances On The Today Show, The Chew, Imus In The Morning, Huckabee & More   Country Duo Defying 'Gravity' with Historic Release   NEW YORK, NY (September 23, 2014) – There is no slowing down for country duo Big & Rich as John Rich and Big Kenny take New York City by storm!!  Gravity, the inaugural album for Big & Rich Records, contains 11-tracks including the current Top 20 single “Look At You,” hits stores today,... Read More

Raul Midón Premieres New Album "Don't Hesitate" via The Wall Street Journal   Appears on NPR's Nationally-Syndicated "Here and Now"   "Don't Hesitate" Out September 30 on Mack Avenue's Artistry Music Imprint     Virtuosic guitarist Raul... Read More

Americana Music Honors & Awards 2014 Winners: Album of the Year: Southeastern, Jason Isbell, Producer Dave Cobb Artist of the Year: Jason Isbell Duo Group of the Year: The Milk Carton Kids Song of the Year: “Cover Me Up,” Jason Isbell Emerging Artist of the Year: Sturgill Simpson Instrumentalist of the year: Buddy Miller Spirit of Americana / Free Speech in Music Award co-presented by the Americana Music Association and the First Amendment Center: Jackson Browne Lifetime Achievement... Read More

Clear Channel is looking to cement its status as a multiplatform media group and align more closely with its iHeartRadio brand by changing its name to iHeartMedia. "To capture all these concepts and still call it the legacy name really is a disservice to what we are and what people here have built," said CEO Robert Pittman. "So we've taken our biggest national brand, our newest brand, our most digital brand, and made that the name of the... Read More

"We work on this event year-round and were curious to see how this event affected the surrounding economy," says festival co-producer Dan Sheehan. "The entire Cali-Roots team is thrilled that we have built such an amazing event in Monterey County and it's awesome to see the results of this report." The California Roots Music and Art Festival has seen large growth in the 5 short years. Starting out as a one day afternoon festival it has... Read More

Radio Disney Selling 23 of  it's 24 Radio Stations Radio Disney just announced it will be divesting 23 of its 24 radio stations in markets across the U.S., effective September 26. Twenty-two of the stations are AM and one is FM. The company tells Radio Ink it will be discussing the sale of the stations with all prospective buyers. As a result, Radio Disney will reduce its workforce, affecting the employees at the local stations and some in Ad Sales and Operations. Radio... Read More

Parton Earns Precious Metal with 'Better Day'   London, UK – Dolly Parton earns, yet, another sales award as her 42nd studio album, Blue Smoke – The Best Of, has been certified Gold by the BPI and remains #3 on the official UK chart in its sixth week of release.    “Dolly could not be any happier,” says Dolly’s manager Danny Nozell, CEO CTK Management.  “She has worked very hard over the past several years to create the momentum that we have... Read More

The biggest artists from every genre, sharing one stage for a legendary weekend in Vegas. Here's the lineup for the  2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival: Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Usher, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Motely Crue, Zac Brown Band, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Paramore, Iggy Azalea, Train, Eric Church, Lorde , Calvin Harris, Bastille, Steve Aoki, and more to be announced. September 19th and 20th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  22 artists, 2 nights, 1 stage...The Legend Returns.... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 23, 2014) – Multi-Platinum and seven-time GRAMMY winning icon Randy Travis’ new album Influence Vol. 2: The Man I Am due August 19th is available for pre-order on iTunes now. Fans who pre-order the album will get “Don't Worry 'Bout Me” as a special instant download. Two more songs will be available each week following the pre-order, including “Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line” on July 29th and “That’s The Way Love Goes,” on... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas — Texan singer-songwriter Brian Pounds is set to make his national debut with his new EP, Strikes and Gutters, which hits the streets on Sept. 2, 2014. The five-song album is a roots-rock, Americana gem, featuring lyrics that are mature beyond Pounds’ 25 years and warm vocals that are reminiscent of James Taylor’s early 1970s output. “Jesus, Don’t Let Me Die (On My Feet),” which was written in a rundown motel room during a two-week gig in Nevada, is a stark, realistic look at the music... Read More

Up until now, Clear Channel stations have been simulcasting commercials from the traditional radio signal being broadcast across the iHeartRadio app. That signal includes the local market commercials. Clear Channel has just announced it will be working with AdsWizz to insert targeted ads on its 840 plus stations as a way to create another revenue stream for the company. It certainly has the scale to score some very big advertisers. iHeartradio reaches over 245 million monthly users.    President of... Read More

BRISTOL, TN (July 22, 2014) -- DOYLE LAWSON and Martina McBride are set to headline a special concert at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol as part of the Birthplace of Country Music Museum Opening Weekend Celebration! The concert is on Sunday, August 3, 2014, at 7:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now, and will sell fast! We're told this show WILL SELL OUT ...  so get your seats reserved TODAY!! :) Sunday, August 3 - Paramount Center for the Arts - 518 State Street, Bristol, TN  37620 - 7:00 pm.  BIRTHPLACE OF... Read More

Jul 8, 2014 11:13 AM, Shane Toven, CBRE CBNT July 9, 2014 - American Public Media (APM) and National Public Radio (NPR) issued a note to stations today urging them to have listeners contact cellular carriers regarding activation of FM chips. Sprint is currently the only major carrier in the US that sells phones with the FM chip enabled. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile thus far do not provide FM radio service on their phones, although T-Mobile did recently begin offering free audio streaming. The note issued this morning from APM... Read More

July 4 2014 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROOTS MUSIC REPORT. Celebrating 16 Years... Read More

Cowboy Jack Clement’s last musical work—titled For Once and For All and produced by longtime cohort Dave “Fergie” Ferguson and Matt Sweeney with T Bone Burnett as executive producer—will be the debut release on John Grady's new I.R.S. Records Nashville label. The street date is July 15.  Special guests John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Dan Auerbach, Bobby Bare, Duane Eddy, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller, Leon Russell, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, Dierks Bentley and... Read More

The Avengers star Tom Hiddleston has been tapped to play country music singer Hank Williams in I Saw The Light. The British actor will star as the country music icon in the film, with Marc Abraham at the helm, Deadline first reported. In addition to directing, Abraham adapted the script from Colin Escott's biography. The film will follow Williams as he rose to fame and the struggles that came along with it before he tragically died at the age of 29 from heart failure. RatPac Entertainment, Bron Studios and Creative Wealth... Read More

The Grammy's add a new category - Best American Roots Music Performance, an artist’s award - to the American Roots Music Field for the 2015 GRAMMY® Awards.  The new category will give roots music artists, a home for the recognition of their work.  The new category compliments previously created categories including Best American Roots Music Song, Best Americana Album, Best Bluegrass Album, Best Blues Album, Best Folk Album and Best Regional Roots Album.  According to a press release from the Recording Academy... Read More

Stoney Larue, Oklahoma born singer/songwriter and reigning Male Vocalist of the Year for the Texas Regional Radio Awards, has signed with Entertainment One Music.  eOne is a TV development, film distribution and worldwide music company with offices in New York, LA, Toronto, Nashville and London.  Larue has teamed with well known award-winning producers Frank Liddell (Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, David Nail, Chris Knight) and Austin’s Michael McCarthy (Spoon, Patty Griffin, Heartless Bastards, The Features) for his eOne... Read More

DOLLY PARTON SCORES HER HIGHEST CHARTING SOLO ALBUM EVER WITH BLUE SMOKE Nashville, Tenn. (May 21, 2014) – The most celebrated female in country music history, Dolly Parton, adds another career milestone to her long list of accomplishments!!!  With the release of her 42nd studio album, BLUE SMOKE, Parton scores her highest charting solo album ever.  Parton, amazingly, has only visited the top 10 of the Billboard 200 once: with the collaborative set "Trio," with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.... Read More

Yale University today (May 19) awarded bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley the Doctor of Music degree at ceremonies in New Haven, Conn. that also saw honorary degrees going to World Wide Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, poet Rita Dove and actor Anna Deavere Smith, among others. Stanley’s award was presented by Yale president Peter Salovey, a bluegrass enthusiast himself who plays bass in a band called Professors of Bluegrass. Stanley’s citation read “You are the patriarch of traditional mountain and bluegrass music.  From... Read More

Australian blues artist Ash Grunwald today released his self-titled album on US iTunes, a collection of live and studio tracks that fans from around the world would consider a “best of.” The album, as well as Ash’s 24-date summer tour as direct support for lifelong friend Xavier Rudd that kicks off next week in Salt Lake City, marks his official US debut. After releasing a total of ten albums and touring throughout Australia, Japan, Europe and Canada for over a decade, Ash Grunwald is excited to bring his crowd frenzied shows... Read More

Dolly Parton Discussing 4 of the tracks on her new album Blue Smoke. The songs she talks about are: "Blue Smoke", "Banks of the Ohio", "Don't Think Twice", and "Unlikely Angel" You can get the album on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/blue-smoke/id833659923?uo=4&at=1l3v7ze&ct=youtube or on... Read More

Wall Street Journal Speakeasy premiered Amanda Shires' new video for "Look Like A Bird" from her lastest album, Down Fell The Doves. Director Matt Mahurin is known for his striking work with artists such as Metallica, Tom Waits and Peter Gabriel. Shires' new album has already been praised by NPR's All Things Considered, the Wall Street Journal, and more. She'll play a few concerts in the Southeast before heading across the pond for a UK tour (dates below). She'll do more headlining US dates this... Read More

For almost a decade, emcees Rapper Big Pooh and Roc C have put in serious work, consistently releasing dope music and collaborating with the most respected emcees and producers in the rap game. Naturally, it felt right for the two veterans to join forces for a bicoastal collaborative album. And thus, the pair have released Trouble In The Neighborhood. Blending their styles to create a cohesive 11-track project wasn't simple, but it's something Pooh and Roc agreed would sound the most authentic. "We call it controlled... Read More

“No Deal’s atmosphere lurks in the same place as This Mortal Coil’s Lynchian glow, Portishead’s sinister authority, and Mark Hollis of Talk Talk’s smoky self-titled solo album.” - The Guardian “No Deal is an album to get completely immersed in.” - BBC Music Magazine “On a line between a beats-free Portishead and a subtle union of the voices of June Christy and Mahalia Jackson.” - MOJO Magazine Acclaimed Belgian dark-jazz singer/flautist Melanie De Biasio will release her new... Read More