December 2014

Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards have been announced by The Recording Academy and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by The Academy’s voting members. “This year’s nominees are a reflection of the music community’s diversity and range of talent, and a testament to The Academy’s voting process,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “The Recording Academy is pleased to celebrate this talented crop of artists, nominated to receive music’s greatest honor for their contributions to their respective genres. The tone for Music’s Biggest Night has undoubtedly been set, and we look forward to producing one of the most exciting telecasts in GRAMMY history.” The nominations were revealed on a rolling basis throughout the day, starting with four categories on “CBS This Morning,” followed by a series of video announcements posted by a variety of artists and celebrities on Twitter. The day culminated with the unveiling of Album Of The Year nominations on the one-hour entertainment special “A Very GRAMMY Christmas,” which featured performances of holiday classics and current pop songs. The country artist nominations are as follows: Best New Artist:
 Brandy Clark Best Solo Country Artist Performance: Give Me Back My Hometown – Eric Church Invisible – Hunter Hayes Automatic – Miranda Lambert Something In The Water – Carrie Underwood Cop Car – Keith Urban Country Duo/Group Performance: Gentle On My Mind – Band Perry Somethin’ Bad – Miranda Lambert With Carrie Underwood; Day Drinking – Little Big Town Meanwhile Back At Mama’s – Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill Raise ‘Em Up – Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church.
 Best Country Song: American Kids – Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird & Shane McAnally, songwriters (Kenny Chesney) Automatic – Nicolle Galyon, Natalie Hemby & Miranda Lambert, songwriters (Miranda Lambert) Give Me Back My Hometown – Eric Church & Luke Laird, songwriters (Eric Church) I’m Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell & Julian Raymond, songwriters (Glen Campbell) Meanwhile Back At Mama’s – Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston & Jeffrey Steele, songwriters (Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill) The Best Country Album: RISER – Dierks Bentley THE OUTSIDERS – Eric Church 12 STORIES – Brandy Clark PLATINUM – Miranda Lambert THE WAY I’M LIVIN’ – Lee Ann Womack This year’s GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 17 to The Recording Academy’s voting members. Ballots are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by Jan. 16, 2015, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards broadcast. The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held Feb. 8, 2015, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy’s social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

Acclaimed Nashville-based, Memphis-born singer-songwriter Drew Holcomb announces January-February 2015 UK & Ireland Tour, which opens at Celtic Connections on January 29, in support of the new Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors album MEDICINE (out January 26). For Nashville based, Memphis born Drew Holcomb, “music is medicine” and it seems only fitting that along with his band The Neighbors – wife Ellie (vocals, guitar), Nathan Dugger (guitar, keys) and Rick Brinsfield (bass) – the group will celebrate a decade long career with the release of their new full-length studio album Medicine on January 26 via his own imprint Magnolia Music. Recorded over eight days at Joe Pisapia’s Middletree Studios in East Nashville, the twelve song album was co-produced by Pisapia (Ben Folds, KD Lang, Guster, Josh Rouse) and the band and tackles issues of everyday life including loyalty, hardship, marriage, friendship, alienation and faith. Medicine is the follow-up to 2013’s full-length studio release Good Light – their most successful album to date. Drew Holcomb · January-February 2015 · UK & Ireland Tour Accompanied by Nathan Dugger Jan Thu 29: Glasgow, The Art Club, Celtic Connections 2015 Fri 30: Rathfriland, N. Ireland, The Brontë Centre Sat 31: Lisburn, N. Ireland, Island Arts Centre
 Feb Sun 1: Ballincollig, Ireland, The White Horse Tue 3: London, The Old Queen’s Head Wed 4: Brighton, The Prince Albert 
 Thu 5: Plymouth, The B-Bar 
Fri 6: Kirton-in-Lindsey, Town Hall Sat 7: Oxford, The Bullingdon Sun 8: Nottingham, The Maze

On Tuesday evening, Merle Haggard politely accepted the first-ever CMT Artist of a Lifetime Award in Nashville. His acceptance speech was brief stating “Anything I’d say would be short remarks, so thank you very much and God bless you.” He also commented that music will live forever. Plenty of others praised Haggard at the event including Billy Bob Thornton, who revealed that Haggard will be atop the CMT All-Time Top 40, an industry countdown of the most influential musicians of all time, across genres voted by country artists. Video testimonials were also given at the event by Vince Gill, Miranda Lambert, Joe Nichols, Keith Urban and many more. Thornton also introduced a musical tribute by Eric Church, Ashley Monroe and producer T Bone Burnett, who submitted a rousing rendition of “Workin’ Man Blues,” a No. 1 single for Haggard in 1969. At the end of the music, Thornton, an Oscar-winning screenwriter went off-script. “I’d just like to add something to what they’ve got here,” Thornton said to the audience, “which is that I wouldn’t only include Merle Haggard in the greatest songwriters of all time. But I would put him up there alongside people like Tennessee Williams and William Faulker, Erskine Caldwell and John Steinbeck because he is truly a storyteller. That’s something that has been lost over the years, and I’m glad to see that it is coming back a little bit. And Merle Haggard personifies the storyteller.”

The annual Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival takes place on April 11 and 12 next year at the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park in Florida. With Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band headlining, the other artists announced include Jake Owen, Little Big Town, Trace Adkins, David Nail, The Mavericks, Colt Ford, Chase Rice, Sam Hunt, Frankie Ballard, The Cadillac Three, Maddie & Tae and the Southern rock group Dirty Guv’nahs. The two day festival brings together artists from multiple genres to help raise awareness and funds in conjunction with Rock The Ocean Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting marine conservation initiatives. Tickets go on sale this Friday (December 5, 2014).