NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (Dec. 7, 2015 Press Release) – Brandy Clark’s “Hold My Hand” was announced today as a GRAMMY nominee for Country Song of the Year. The song, written by Clark and Mark Stephen Jones, is from Clark’s debut album 12 Stories, which was originally released by Slate Creek Records before being re-released by Warner Bros. Records. Clark performed the song with Dwight Yoakam earlier this year on the 2015 GRAMMY Awards in one of the night’s most talked-about moments.
 
Clark, who has spent much of the year working on her upcoming second album due out in 2016, said, “Wow! I was not expecting this news today. What a surprise and a fantastic way to start my week. I appreciate the support and respect from the GRAMMY voters. It means the world to me.”
 
This is the fourth career GRAMMY nomination for Clark. She received two nominations in 2014 in the Best Country Album (12 Stories) and the all-genre Best New Artist categories, and one nomination in 2013 for Best Country Song for “Mama’s Broken Heart,” a No. 1 hit for Miranda Lambert that Clark co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves. 
 
Clark is currently on the road with Jennifer Nettles, after opening for Alan Jackson on his “25thAnniversary Tour” earlier this year.  She won the CMA Song of the Year Award last year for “Follow Your Arrow,” which she also co-wrote with McAnally and Musgraves. She was named the 2014 Music Row Breakthrough Artist of the Year. For more information, visit BrandyClarkMusic.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/TheBrandyClark and on Twitter @TheBrandyClark.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Press Release) — Ever enticing loyal fans with their unique fusion of melodies and charisma that evoke a palpable groove, The Mavericks have once again impressed an elite industry group. The troupe of musical comrades — Raul Malo (lead vocals), Paul Deakin (drums),Eddie Perez (guitars) and Jerry Dale McFadden(keyboards) — earned two GRAMMY nominations this morning in both the Best American Roots Song (“All Night Long”) and Best Americana Album (Mono) categories. The honor comes two decades after they took home Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for “Here Comes the Rain.”

“We are incredibly grateful that our music is able to do exactly what we intended … free people from themselves and their struggles,” shared Malo. “On the road our fans dance, cry, sing, laugh and get into a vibe that transcends outside obstacles like race, language and social status. Thank you to the Recording Academy for noticing and again believing in the Mavericks.”

Continued Perez, “this band has always defied the odds and expectations … a country band from Miami with a Cuban singer? But it works, because people feel the passion.”

(Nashville, TN) — December 7, 2015 — For Lee Ann Womack’s The Way I’m Livin’, an album seven years in the coming, it’s a work of love, courage and putting the music first. With a Country Album of the Year nomination in 2015, the little record that could has brought the progressive hard country chanteuse to a new place. When the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announced the 2016 GRAMMY nominees, Womack’s very long year supporting Livin’ yielded two nominations: Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for “Chances Are.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Womack, still asleep when the call came, said. “I tell myself music matters and people care about songs. Sometimes looking around, you wonder. But then you get a call like this, and you, well, you believe in the power of great music, great songwriters and great musicians to stand out…

People thought Frank and I were crazy when we made this record. Maybe we are. But it sure felt good to cut songs we really believed in, that talked to people falling part and trying to hang on… ‘Chances Are’ is the most hopeful sad song, and I’m glad Luke Lewis pitched us Hayes Carll’s incredible song when he told Frank and me to make a record without thinking about formats or promotion or marketing, just cut the best songs we could find.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Press Release) – Texas Country Rocker, Cameran Nelson, releases his highly anticipated sophomore album, "Good Thing Going," today, Friday, Decemeber 4. The album is available on iTunes here. 

The Texas native's sophomore album will include his latest single, "Nothin's Got Nothin'," a sexy feel-good song that continues to climb the Texas Music Chart and Texas Regional Radio Report and leaves nothing to the imagination for fans. The project will also include chart-toppers “Shotgun” and “You Can Still Wear White," along with "Beer Lease," a humorous song Nelson collaborated on with Texas Country’s cheeky crooner Kevin Fowler.

Nelson, who recently joined Thirty Tigers management roster and signed a distribution deal with Smith Music, continues to captivate fans across the nation with his energetic show, performing with Country music mainstays Lee Brice, Dustin Lynch, Randy Rogers Band, Jack Ingram and many more. 

 For more information about Cameran Nelson, visit www.camerannelson.com.

New Single Available Now Digitally and at Country Radio on Dec. 7

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (Dec. 4, 2015) –  Born and raised at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Hokes Bluff, Alabama, Drake White grew up scanning his radio dial for anything he could relate to from country to blues to rock 'n roll. In the rural south, White's musical tastes knew no boundaries, labels or discriminations, a trait that has taken root in his performance style with Rolling Stone Country observing, "He doesn't play music so much as become possessed by it, shaking, clomping and hopping up on his toes like a cowboy Michael Jackson. It's a celebration of his country roots and, really, of being back in control." That verve is encapsulated in White's new single "Livin' The Dream," and it's a message he knows audiences worldwide need to hear. 
 
Written by Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston and Luke Laird, the lyrics for "Livin' The Dream" celebrate life, and even though there are struggles -- "Lots of reasons just to give it on up/Leave your soul on the shelf collecting dust/Live in a world with broken promises/And empty tanks..." -- White reminds us to denounce the negative and celebrate the little things. 

Announced in an adorable Facebook post, Temecula Road will be joining Jessie James Decker on The Lights Down Low Tour 2016. Known for their impeccable harmonies, Temecula Road is a new country trio to keep an eye on. Before hitting the road with Decker, Temecula Road will open for Joe Nichols on 12/10 in Scottsdale, AZ and 12/11 in Cerritos, CA. 

Tickets for The Lights Down ow Tour go on sale Fri., December 11th.


Tour Dates:
2/25 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
2/26 - San Antonio, TX - Aztec Theater
2/27 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
3/3 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
3/4 - Chicago, IL - Joe’s Bar
3/5 - Springfield, IL - Boondocks
3/10 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
3/11 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
3/12 - Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
4/2 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues

ASHEVILLE, NC -- The Honeycutters recently filmed a music video for their original song "Jukebox" at the historical and eclectic Town Pump Tavern in Black Mountain, NC, just east of their hometown of Asheville. Folk Alley premiered the video and writes of it, “The jolly, honky-tonk rhythm of the song underscores the sweet plaintiveness of Platt's voice...until it doesn't. As she steps up on to the stage to join the band, her smile wide, her voice big and bright, she and the other musicians seem to be in perfect sync, swinging, swaying and encouraging the whole of the bar to join in and look ahead to the brighter side of life.”

“Jukebox” is the lead track and perfect introduction to their new album Me Oh My [Organic Records® April 2015], an album which is threaded with themes of love, loss, acceptance and regrowth. “‘Jukebox’ features a woman done with waiting to fully live and imploring her partner to come along and make some magic with her, ‘I’m going dancin’, you comin’ or not? Take a chance on me daddy, this may be all we got,’” writes Front Row Focus’ Beth Baldino. “And in a line that reflects an overarching theme running throughout the album, ‘no use asking why, songbirds just ain’t built to fly, but sooner or later we all have to try.’ In other words, don’t dwell on why it’s taken us this long, it's about time for us to shine.”

When: Saturday, February 6th 
Where: City Winery 155 Varick St. NYC
Showtime: 9 p.m.
Tickets: $25-$32

“Back before Napster and Spotify, we toured to promote record sales,” McMurtry says. “Now we make records to promote tour dates.” Clearly, the sea change has only inspired the songwriter. “[McMurtry] might be our finest narrative storyteller working today,” CMT Edge raves of the new record, Complicated Game, released earlier this year.

McMurtry's first collection in six years spotlights a craftsman in peak form as he turns from political toward personal (“These Things I've Come to Know,” “You Got to Me”). “The lyrical theme is mostly about relationships,” the longtime Austin resident says. “It's also a little about the big old world verses the poor little farmer or fisherman.” Either way, McMurtry spins his stories with a poet’s pen (“Long Island Sound”) and a painter’s precision (“She Loves Me”) throughout.

Folks notice Complicated Game delivering McMurtry’s trademark story songs time and again (“Copper Canteen,” “Deaver's Crossing”). “At a stage where most veteran musicians fall into a groove or rut, McMurtry continues to surprise,” Texas Music magazine notes. “[Complicated Game] is a collection of narratives as sharply observed as any from McMurtry, but with a contemplative depth that comes with maturity.” “[McMurtry] Fuses wry, literate observations about the world with the snarl of barroom rock,” National Public Radio echoes. “The result is at times sardonic, subversive and funny, but often vulnerable and always poignant.”

Longtime fans know McMurtry’s vibrant vignettes have turned heads for a quarter century now. “James McMurtry is one of my very few favorite songwriters on Earth and these days he’s working at the top of his game,” says Americana all-star Jason Isbell. “He has that rare gift of being able to make a listener laugh out loud at one line and choke up at the next. I don't think anybody writes better lyrics.” Yes. Spin “South Dakota.” You'll hear. “McMurtry is arguably the quintessential Americana artist,” Rollingstone.com proclaims, “seamlessly combining rock, country and folk.”

McMurtry tours year round and consistently throws down unparalleled powerhouse performances. The Washington Post notes: "Much attention is paid to James McMurtry’s lyrics and rightfully so: He creates a novel’s worth of emotion and experience in four minutes of blisteringly stark couplets. What gets overlooked, however, is that he's an accomplished rock guitar player... serious stuff, imparted by a singularly serious band."

Following the release of his celebrated eighth studio album Mixtape of the Open Road earlier this year, acclaimed singer/songwriter Martin Sexton gives a special thanks to his fans with a free download to Volume 1 of his Best of Martin Sexton album.  The collection of tracks was compiled from fan submissions of their two favorite songs from each album in his discography, as announced on his socials the week prior to the surprise release.
 
DOWNLOAD: Best of Martin Sexton, Vol. 1:
www.martinsexton.com/bestof
 
"A wise man once told me that gratitude was best show with action," stated Sexton.  "So to say thank you, I've compiled a 'Best Of' record that you can download for free, no strings attached.  Your love of music is an inspiration and a blessing.  I am truly grateful and wish you a happy and healthy new year."
 
Track List:
01. Black Sheep
02. Diner
03. The American
04. Angeline
05. Glory Bound
06. Long Haul
07. Where It Begins
08. Happy
09. Set In Stone
10. One Voice Together
11. Can't Stop Thinking 'Bout You
12. Diggin Me
13. The Way I Am
14. America The Beautiful
 
Sexton will hit the road again in early 2016 for a round of dates on a secondary market run.  For the full list of dates, visit www.martinsexton.com.
 
Mixtape of the Open Road was released earlier this year.  Inspired by the mixtapes he and his friends/family used to make for each other over the years, this new album is a musical cross-country trip blazing through all territories of style, cruising through time and place.  It's a charm bracelet of twelve gems all strung together with the golden thread of what Rolling Stone calls Martin's "soul marinated voice."