Stacy's Music Row Report
© 2024
Swifties take note: My fellow Creative Community for Peace member SCOOTER BRAUN is memorializing the victims and honoring the survivors of the Nova Music Festival terrorist attack.
Braun, the CCFP's 2018 "Ambassador for Peace," six years later has launched the "Care Together" campaign, with a New York City exhibition called 6:29 AM The Moment Music Stood Still, in tribute to the October 7, 2023 festival's victims and survivors.
Additionally, coinciding with Braun's $100,000 donation to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Scooter has donated another $100,000 to help Palestinian families, remarking "I've always said you can do two things: You can say 'free the hostages' and also want the Palestinian people who are innocent to be protected from Hamas and this war."
Thanks to GOMI ZHOU and ASHLEY NATARENO for the invitation to see GLOOM GIRL MFG's May 2, 2024 performance at The Basement East
...to KEN WEINSTEIN and JUSTIN CICCONE for the invitation to attend THE INSPECTOR CLUZO's May 1, 2024 appearance at The Basement.
... to DOUG HALL and JULIA CASEY for the invitation to attend Irish pop-country singer/songwriter CMAT's April 19, 2024 showcase at 3rd & Lindsley
,,, to ASHLEY NATARENO for extending invitations to the following April and May 2024 showcases: DUSTIN KENSRUE (April 29th at the Eastside Bowl), MAX McNOWN (April 29th at The End), AARON LEE TASJAN (May 2nd at The Blue Room), MADDIE ZAHM (May 15th at the Brooklyn Bowl) and NICOLETTE & THE NOBODIES (May 16th at The Basement).
Column's congrats to EDEN GOLAN whose boycotted recording of Hurricane is a contender for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest honors.
Column's sympathy to the family of EDDY ARNOLD and especially Eddy's grandson, SHANNON POLLARD on the death of his mother (Eddy's daughter) JOANN.
"JoJo," as Joann was known, who was 78 at the time of her death, was not a singer in the tradition of her father. And while her son is the professional torch carrier of his grandfather's musical legacy, JoJo's was known for her "great affinity for rock & soul music and for having created the greatest strawberry cake ever concocted."
Those who knew JoJo "will all miss her signature laugh/cackle, which was best heard in sort of a two-part harmony" with JoJo's best friend.
JoJo was preceded in death by her mother, SALLY (the inspiration for PAUL McCARTNEY's song "Sally G"), brother, DICKIE and half-brother CHRIS TANNER.
"For the next five days the bile built up in his system and he became septic and was rushed back to St. Thomas via ambulance and put in ICU.
"They finally figured out that the bile duct was cut in half. St. Thomas could not repair the damage, so we had to life flight him to a specialist in Florida.
"They worked diligently for three months to get him well enough for rehab, but the damage was too extensive and we lost him. Those are the facts."
It's a Spotify world and with rare exceptions (think terrestrial radio listeners and CD owners like me) the rest of us are just living in it.
That being the case, Spotify aficionados will want to know of some time-savings shortcuts that will enhance their listening experience: Windows users will find it helpful to press the spacebar to play or pause, press CtrlA + the right arrow to skip to the next track and CtrlA + the up arrow to increase the volume.
Mac Users swap Ctrl for Cmd.
****
From the Fun Facts Department: Back in the year 2000, when Alabama Senator KATIE BRITT (then KATIE BOYD) was an America's Junior Miss contestant, the future deliverer of the 2024 State of the Union Response responded to the pageant application question re: her favorite singing group not with ALABAMA but rather The Dixie Chicks.
During the interview portion of the televised event, the high school senior, winner of the talent competition portion of the pageant, explained her choice, indicating "I really enjoy The Dixie Chicks' music and I think they are talented young women who have so much going for them."
Thanks to JULIA CASEY for the invitation to attend JON MUQ's March 27, 2024 show at the Concord Café.
At least I think that's the explanation for why, when ALLIE COLEEN appeared on the March 23, 2024 edition of Huckabee, she was dressed so that her heavily-tatted arms were not on display before host MIKE HUCKABEE and his Amen Corner studio audience (No, Garth's name was not mentioned anytime during the segment. If you know anything about publicists/media negotiations, I need "say" no more...)
Yes, Allie was given an interview and performance slot to close out the program, but, no, she didn't sing "Tattoos."
Now that JIMMIE ALLEN and the first "JANE DOE" have dropped their claims against each other (as per a March 14, 2024 U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Order) it's only a matter of time before we'll be hearing from Allen and LAUREN KRISTINE HAMRICK.
How this plays out- and on differing platforms and timetables- will be interesting and a matter of succumbing to pressure following months of deafening silence (saved for my published comments), but fairness demands it- as well as full disclosure.
The handling of this matter has been a setback for the #MeToo movement, in general, and Music Row abuses bubbling beneath the surface, in particular.
Did you purchase "an ugly, brown faux leather instrument (mandolin) case" with "initials scratched in by the handle" years ago at LELIA SINCLAIR BALDASSARI's (Sylvan Park) yard sale?
Leila "was just contacted by the person who owns the instrument it was made for" and she'll "pay $50 for it."
What were you doing on June 6, 1974 (assuming you were born before then)? JOHN CONLEE, at that time a WLAC-FM morning disk jockey, was celebrating dairy month while representing the radio station as the winner of Nashville's Rivergate Mall's third annual milking contest.
After milking BOSSY, the future Grand Ole Opry star presumably milked one of his earliest achievements for all it was worth; Conlee's tangible reward being a two-foot tall ice cream sundae!
From the patriots' war front: Music Producer DANNY GROSS is building his business after serving his country. Read more about it here.
Memo to GARTH BROOKS: One of my earliest memories of you is of someone who apologized to me very early on in your career for something to which I took no offense.
I appreciated, and continue to appreciate, your sensitivity and most recent sentiments on the opening of Friends in Low Places (Broadway's biggest bar): "The world is a nasty place right now. Build a place where people love one another. That's what we want to do here."
I would only add (as I more-or-less suggested to you not long ago re: the practical application of such bromides truly necessary to change the world, if that's the goal): "Tell that to BOB DOYLE." (Doyle holds grudges for so long I doubt he even remembers what incidents prompted him to do so in the first place.)
From the "If you can think of how to be in two places at once department...": Thanks to JIM MERLIS for the invitation to attend LOW WATER BRIDGE BAND's (with special guest OLIVIA WOLF) March 10, 2024 performance at The Eastside Bowl and to SARAH HABERFELD for inviting me to attend PSYMON SPINE's March 10, 2024 performance at The Basement.
****
SAM WELLINGTON invites Stacy's Music Row Report readers to check out his latest (332 pages) book: Grand Ole Nashville: A Revealing Assessment of the people, places and events that helped put the music in Music City USA. Told with a humorous, entertaining flair! (Could be a review, but in the above instance it's one of Wellington's memorable subtitles.)
While you're at it, you'll want to read/reread Sam's earlier books (Who Wants to Be a Country Star?: The Right Way-The Wrong Way and the Nashville Way to Launch and Maintain a Music Career, In the Beginning... There was The Men's Room and Country Club: Where power, position, prominence and privilege reign supreme for The Club's elite, while lower tier members struggle to climb the social ladder, rarely making it past the first rungs) and let Sam "know what you think" here.
PAUL REVERE and the RAIDERS fans will be happy to learn that JIM VALLEY's newest music ties him to Nashville.
JIM HOKE produced Valley's recently-released digital single; a performance that Valley describes as "an R & B version of IRVING BERLIN's 'Always.'"
Another exclusive Stacy's Music Row Report investigation: While you're probably aware that the approaching two-year partnership of DOLLY PARTON and DUNCAN HINES has resulted in an expansion of the product line from boxed mixes to frozen and refrigerated perishables, left unsaid in promotional press releases is that perhaps some retooling of the existing "down-home comfort cuisine" is already in the works.
Belle Meade Kroger (or more precisely, Nashville Kroger, as store #843 is actually located within the Nashville city limits) is already removing Dolly's Southern Style coconut and Southern Style banana cake mixes from its shelves. Each cake mix is available, while supplies last, for $1.50 as "closeout" options. These empty caloric "sugar bombs" (18 grams of sugar per slice of cake) don't leave room for much other sugar in the daily diet, if one adheres to American Heart Association guidelines. The AHA recommends daily sugar consumption of no more than 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women and children.
In other words, two slices of Dolly's-Duncan's desserts would max out a man's sugar intake for the day, while a woman or child eating that second slice (let alone a single sugar cookie from Duncan's Dolly kit, containing 19 grams of sugar) with regularity would render them pre-diabetic. This begs the question of the original Parton family recipes' ingredients and how close to those truly homemade treats the mass-produced Conagra concoctions conform, particularly with respect to sugar content.
All of this is a cautionary tale invoked whenever celebrities lend their names, images and endorsements for the sole purpose of a financial profit from same. Caveat emptor.
If you're a part of the Music Row community make sure you're included in the forthcoming Greater Nashville Music Census. (Stacy's Music Row Report is proud to be one of the census' community partners.)
Might that census include TikTok? The global media app's Chinese officials are committed to purchasing at least 100,000 square feet for a Nashville office, preferably, Realtors have been advised, on Record Row.
Thanks to EMILY GINSBERG for the invitation to attend GREENSKY BLUEGRASS @ The Ryman March 8-9, 2024
... to ASCAP for the invitation to attend its annual membership meeting in New York City February 28, 2024
... to ROMY BAYHACK for the invite to KITTY COEN's February 24, 2024 showcase at The End.
... to KENZIE DAVIS for extending an invitation to GLIXEN's February 20, 2024 showcase at The End.
... to DOUG HALL for inviting me to British trio The Wandering Hearts' February 2, 2024 showcase at 3rd & Lindsley
... and to CHLOE GONZALEZ for the invitation to The Grammy Party February 1, 2024 showcase at The Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, California.
Braun, the CCFP's 2018 "Ambassador for Peace," six years later has launched the "Care Together" campaign, with a New York City exhibition called 6:29 AM The Moment Music Stood Still, in tribute to the October 7, 2023 festival's victims and survivors.
Additionally, coinciding with Braun's $100,000 donation to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Scooter has donated another $100,000 to help Palestinian families, remarking "I've always said you can do two things: You can say 'free the hostages' and also want the Palestinian people who are innocent to be protected from Hamas and this war."
****
Thanks to GOMI ZHOU and ASHLEY NATARENO for the invitation to see GLOOM GIRL MFG's May 2, 2024 performance at The Basement East
...to KEN WEINSTEIN and JUSTIN CICCONE for the invitation to attend THE INSPECTOR CLUZO's May 1, 2024 appearance at The Basement.
... to DOUG HALL and JULIA CASEY for the invitation to attend Irish pop-country singer/songwriter CMAT's April 19, 2024 showcase at 3rd & Lindsley
,,, to ASHLEY NATARENO for extending invitations to the following April and May 2024 showcases: DUSTIN KENSRUE (April 29th at the Eastside Bowl), MAX McNOWN (April 29th at The End), AARON LEE TASJAN (May 2nd at The Blue Room), MADDIE ZAHM (May 15th at the Brooklyn Bowl) and NICOLETTE & THE NOBODIES (May 16th at The Basement).
****
Column's congrats to EDEN GOLAN whose boycotted recording of Hurricane is a contender for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest honors.
****
Column's sympathy to the family of EDDY ARNOLD and especially Eddy's grandson, SHANNON POLLARD on the death of his mother (Eddy's daughter) JOANN.
"JoJo," as Joann was known, who was 78 at the time of her death, was not a singer in the tradition of her father. And while her son is the professional torch carrier of his grandfather's musical legacy, JoJo's was known for her "great affinity for rock & soul music and for having created the greatest strawberry cake ever concocted."
Those who knew JoJo "will all miss her signature laugh/cackle, which was best heard in sort of a two-part harmony" with JoJo's best friend.
JoJo was preceded in death by her mother, SALLY (the inspiration for PAUL McCARTNEY's song "Sally G"), brother, DICKIE and half-brother CHRIS TANNER.
****
Belated best wishes to newlyweds JOSEPH GREGORY and CHUCK RAPP.****
ERV WOOLSEY'S ex-wife, CONNIE wants to set the record straight re: the circumstances of Erv's passing: "Erv went into St.Thomas for a routine gall bladder removal. The doctor, PATRICK WOLF, sliced the liver bile duct in half and sent him home."For the next five days the bile built up in his system and he became septic and was rushed back to St. Thomas via ambulance and put in ICU.
"They finally figured out that the bile duct was cut in half. St. Thomas could not repair the damage, so we had to life flight him to a specialist in Florida.
"They worked diligently for three months to get him well enough for rehab, but the damage was too extensive and we lost him. Those are the facts."
It's a Spotify world and with rare exceptions (think terrestrial radio listeners and CD owners like me) the rest of us are just living in it.
That being the case, Spotify aficionados will want to know of some time-savings shortcuts that will enhance their listening experience: Windows users will find it helpful to press the spacebar to play or pause, press CtrlA + the right arrow to skip to the next track and CtrlA + the up arrow to increase the volume.
Mac Users swap Ctrl for Cmd.
From the Fun Facts Department: Back in the year 2000, when Alabama Senator KATIE BRITT (then KATIE BOYD) was an America's Junior Miss contestant, the future deliverer of the 2024 State of the Union Response responded to the pageant application question re: her favorite singing group not with ALABAMA but rather The Dixie Chicks.
During the interview portion of the televised event, the high school senior, winner of the talent competition portion of the pageant, explained her choice, indicating "I really enjoy The Dixie Chicks' music and I think they are talented young women who have so much going for them."
****
Thanks to JULIA CASEY for the invitation to attend JON MUQ's March 27, 2024 show at the Concord Café.
****
GARTH BROOKS' daughter knows "her" audience.At least I think that's the explanation for why, when ALLIE COLEEN appeared on the March 23, 2024 edition of Huckabee, she was dressed so that her heavily-tatted arms were not on display before host MIKE HUCKABEE and his Amen Corner studio audience (No, Garth's name was not mentioned anytime during the segment. If you know anything about publicists/media negotiations, I need "say" no more...)
Yes, Allie was given an interview and performance slot to close out the program, but, no, she didn't sing "Tattoos."
****
Now that JIMMIE ALLEN and the first "JANE DOE" have dropped their claims against each other (as per a March 14, 2024 U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Order) it's only a matter of time before we'll be hearing from Allen and LAUREN KRISTINE HAMRICK.
How this plays out- and on differing platforms and timetables- will be interesting and a matter of succumbing to pressure following months of deafening silence (saved for my published comments), but fairness demands it- as well as full disclosure.
The handling of this matter has been a setback for the #MeToo movement, in general, and Music Row abuses bubbling beneath the surface, in particular.
****
Did you purchase "an ugly, brown faux leather instrument (mandolin) case" with "initials scratched in by the handle" years ago at LELIA SINCLAIR BALDASSARI's (Sylvan Park) yard sale?
Leila "was just contacted by the person who owns the instrument it was made for" and she'll "pay $50 for it."
****
What were you doing on June 6, 1974 (assuming you were born before then)? JOHN CONLEE, at that time a WLAC-FM morning disk jockey, was celebrating dairy month while representing the radio station as the winner of Nashville's Rivergate Mall's third annual milking contest.
After milking BOSSY, the future Grand Ole Opry star presumably milked one of his earliest achievements for all it was worth; Conlee's tangible reward being a two-foot tall ice cream sundae!
****
From the patriots' war front: Music Producer DANNY GROSS is building his business after serving his country. Read more about it here.
****
Memo to GARTH BROOKS: One of my earliest memories of you is of someone who apologized to me very early on in your career for something to which I took no offense.
I appreciated, and continue to appreciate, your sensitivity and most recent sentiments on the opening of Friends in Low Places (Broadway's biggest bar): "The world is a nasty place right now. Build a place where people love one another. That's what we want to do here."
I would only add (as I more-or-less suggested to you not long ago re: the practical application of such bromides truly necessary to change the world, if that's the goal): "Tell that to BOB DOYLE." (Doyle holds grudges for so long I doubt he even remembers what incidents prompted him to do so in the first place.)
****
Column's best wishes to TAYLOR VAUGHN. Taylor writes: "After almost ten years at Republic Records I am sad to say today is my last day at the company.
"I have loved my time at Republic and am proud of the work I was able to do with you, our artists, and our amazing team.
"I look forward to working with you on my next chapter- whatever that may be. Will keep you updated.
"Please be in touch... As a wise man named TIGGER once said "TTFN, ta ta for now!"
"I have loved my time at Republic and am proud of the work I was able to do with you, our artists, and our amazing team.
"I look forward to working with you on my next chapter- whatever that may be. Will keep you updated.
"Please be in touch... As a wise man named TIGGER once said "TTFN, ta ta for now!"
****
From the "If you can think of how to be in two places at once department...": Thanks to JIM MERLIS for the invitation to attend LOW WATER BRIDGE BAND's (with special guest OLIVIA WOLF) March 10, 2024 performance at The Eastside Bowl and to SARAH HABERFELD for inviting me to attend PSYMON SPINE's March 10, 2024 performance at The Basement.
****
SAM WELLINGTON invites Stacy's Music Row Report readers to check out his latest (332 pages) book: Grand Ole Nashville: A Revealing Assessment of the people, places and events that helped put the music in Music City USA. Told with a humorous, entertaining flair! (Could be a review, but in the above instance it's one of Wellington's memorable subtitles.)
While you're at it, you'll want to read/reread Sam's earlier books (Who Wants to Be a Country Star?: The Right Way-The Wrong Way and the Nashville Way to Launch and Maintain a Music Career, In the Beginning... There was The Men's Room and Country Club: Where power, position, prominence and privilege reign supreme for The Club's elite, while lower tier members struggle to climb the social ladder, rarely making it past the first rungs) and let Sam "know what you think" here.
****
PAUL REVERE and the RAIDERS fans will be happy to learn that JIM VALLEY's newest music ties him to Nashville.
JIM HOKE produced Valley's recently-released digital single; a performance that Valley describes as "an R & B version of IRVING BERLIN's 'Always.'"
****
****
Column's congrats to Report reader T. GRAHAM BROWN on his (overdue) invitation to join the list of Grand Ole Opry members.A REBA MCENTIRE story that might be new to you: In 1991, while preparing to produce Montana Christmas Skies (what turned out be JOHN DENVER's last television special) at John's Aspen, Colorado home, STEVE BINDER learned that Reba and McEntire's then second husband and manager NARVEL BLACKSTOCK were ski-vacationing nearby.
Binder phoned Reba and Narvel, inviting them to come to John's home to meet the singer/songwriter for the first time.
When the couple arrived, John met them with two guitars, handing one to Reba.
Steve watched Reba and John jamming for more than a half-hour. Having enjoyed the performances, Steve invited Reba to appear on John's TV special (to be filmed on Fort Belknap, Montana's fourth-largest Indian reservation) "and when we all departed, I was sure that she was going to do it."
However, "a few days later" Blackstock called Binder, explaining that, while McEntire was "excited" to be a part of the program, her participation included acceptance of one condition: that no other country artists were to be booked on the special.
Steve politely said sayonara and that is why, when you buy the DVD, you'll see performances by the host, PATTY LOVELESS, CLINT BLACK, and KATHY MATTEA- but not Reba McEntire!
Binder phoned Reba and Narvel, inviting them to come to John's home to meet the singer/songwriter for the first time.
When the couple arrived, John met them with two guitars, handing one to Reba.
Steve watched Reba and John jamming for more than a half-hour. Having enjoyed the performances, Steve invited Reba to appear on John's TV special (to be filmed on Fort Belknap, Montana's fourth-largest Indian reservation) "and when we all departed, I was sure that she was going to do it."
However, "a few days later" Blackstock called Binder, explaining that, while McEntire was "excited" to be a part of the program, her participation included acceptance of one condition: that no other country artists were to be booked on the special.
Steve politely said sayonara and that is why, when you buy the DVD, you'll see performances by the host, PATTY LOVELESS, CLINT BLACK, and KATHY MATTEA- but not Reba McEntire!
****
****
Another exclusive Stacy's Music Row Report investigation: While you're probably aware that the approaching two-year partnership of DOLLY PARTON and DUNCAN HINES has resulted in an expansion of the product line from boxed mixes to frozen and refrigerated perishables, left unsaid in promotional press releases is that perhaps some retooling of the existing "down-home comfort cuisine" is already in the works.
Belle Meade Kroger (or more precisely, Nashville Kroger, as store #843 is actually located within the Nashville city limits) is already removing Dolly's Southern Style coconut and Southern Style banana cake mixes from its shelves. Each cake mix is available, while supplies last, for $1.50 as "closeout" options. These empty caloric "sugar bombs" (18 grams of sugar per slice of cake) don't leave room for much other sugar in the daily diet, if one adheres to American Heart Association guidelines. The AHA recommends daily sugar consumption of no more than 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women and children.
In other words, two slices of Dolly's-Duncan's desserts would max out a man's sugar intake for the day, while a woman or child eating that second slice (let alone a single sugar cookie from Duncan's Dolly kit, containing 19 grams of sugar) with regularity would render them pre-diabetic. This begs the question of the original Parton family recipes' ingredients and how close to those truly homemade treats the mass-produced Conagra concoctions conform, particularly with respect to sugar content.
All of this is a cautionary tale invoked whenever celebrities lend their names, images and endorsements for the sole purpose of a financial profit from same. Caveat emptor.
****
If you're a part of the Music Row community make sure you're included in the forthcoming Greater Nashville Music Census. (Stacy's Music Row Report is proud to be one of the census' community partners.)
Might that census include TikTok? The global media app's Chinese officials are committed to purchasing at least 100,000 square feet for a Nashville office, preferably, Realtors have been advised, on Record Row.
****
Thanks to EMILY GINSBERG for the invitation to attend GREENSKY BLUEGRASS @ The Ryman March 8-9, 2024
... to ASCAP for the invitation to attend its annual membership meeting in New York City February 28, 2024
... to ROMY BAYHACK for the invite to KITTY COEN's February 24, 2024 showcase at The End.
... to KENZIE DAVIS for extending an invitation to GLIXEN's February 20, 2024 showcase at The End.
... to DOUG HALL for inviting me to British trio The Wandering Hearts' February 2, 2024 showcase at 3rd & Lindsley
... and to CHLOE GONZALEZ for the invitation to The Grammy Party February 1, 2024 showcase at The Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, California.