March 2014

Dolly Parton has topped the New Zealand all-genre album chart with the release of her latest album BLUE SMOKE. In addition it has topped the Australian Country album chart for four consecutive weeks and reached number 7 on the overall all genre album chart. After returning from a busy schedule in New Zealand and Australia, Dolly also announced that she will make an appearance at the legendary Glastonbury Festival while touring Europe this summer. Achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, Dolly has had 25 songs reach number 1 on the Billboard Country charts, a record for a female artist. She has 41 career top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years. All-inclusive sales of singles, albums, hits collections, paid digital downloads and compilation usage during her Hall of Fame career have reportedly topped a staggering 100 million records worldwide. She has garnered 7 Grammy Awards, 10 Country Music Association Awards, 5 Academy of Country Music Awards, 3 American Music Awards and is one of only five female artists to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award. Dolly was inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. And the litany goes on.

Showcase submissions for the 2014 Americana Music Festival & Conference are now open, and will be accepted through Friday, March 28th. There are two ways to submit: AMA Members can submit for free by printing the submission application and mailing it to the Americana office at PO Box 628, Franklin, TN 37065. Non-members can submit via the digital platform, Populr, for a small fee of $25. Are you an AMA member, but prefer to submit online? You’ll still have to pay the $25 fee. Sorry, there’s no way around that. Not a member, but want to submit via standard mail? You can join the Americana Music Association and take advantage of free submissions. All applicants will be notified by Friday, June 27th, 2014 as to whether or not they have been selected for this year’s event. Selected artists will showcase Wednesday, September 17th through Saturday, September 20th at many premiere venues in Nashville, TN. Each year, the Americana Music Festival & Conference brings together legendary artists, the next generation of rising stars and industry professionals for four days of music and education. The event will take place September 17-21, 2014, gathering thousands of artists, fans and industry professionals from all over the world in Nashville. The Americana Music Conference features numerous panels, seminars and much more, proudly providing Nashville’s most educational music industry forum. This special event covers the interests and needs of artists, managers, labels, radio stations, publishers, agents, promoters, retailers, legal and business affairs executives, merchandisers and new media professionals – all enthusiastically attended and presented by music industry leaders.

From a young age, Danni Nicholls soaked up American folk, country and rock n roll music from her Grandmother’s record collection which included Patsy Cline, Elvis, and Willie Nelson. When she inherited her uncle Heathcliff’s electric guitar aged 16, it all came pouring back out in the form of her own original material and has been flowing ever since. Danni Nicholls will be touring the UK to promote her critically acclaimed, crowd-funded debut album A LITTLE REDEMPTION which was recorded in Nashville, TN with Chris Donohue (Emmylou Harris, The Civil Wars, Robert Plant). Danni will bring an eclectic musical style which moves between alt-country, folk and soul to performances throughout March and April.

On February 27th, Maverick Magazine attended Music Week’s Evening Sessions at the Barbican Centre on Silk Street in London. Among the guest speakers was Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, who took part in a Q&A with the guests in his only UK visit of 2014. He was joined on stage by Live Nation’s EU President of Concerts, John Reid. The evening was a great success, and gave an insight into the the business of the music industry, as well as providing a superb opportunity for networking with some key decision-makers.

Calling all CMA Music Fest Fans! The lineup for LP Field will be revealed to the world in a couple of weeks! Since CMA Fest is all about the fans, they are giving you first crack at guessing the artists playing the big stage in 2014. Clues for LP Field artists will be posted each weekday, Monday, March 3rd until Tuesday, March 18th, on CMA’s official Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. What you have to do is pretty simple: 1. “Like” CMA on Facebook and “Follow” CMA on Twitter and Instagram. 2. Check every weekday for clues. 3. Tag and retweet to get a little help from your friends. 4. Use the hashtag #CMAFestGuess 5. Kick back and relax with a confident smile on your face.