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APRIL 2015 INTERNATIONAL REPORT • VOL 8, ISSUE 1

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IN THIS ISSUE

The Success of Country toCountry (C2C)

From The Land of Down Under

A Look At The Golden Guitars

Nashville Goes To Tamworth

The 5th Annual CMC Awards

CMC Rocks Queensland

Executive Q&AWith SarahTrahern

An Update On CanadianHappenings

CMA International Awards

U.S. Artist News

AristoMedia Celebrates 35

BillWalker ReceivesRecognition

-andmore-

April 2015 International Report provided by The AristoMedia Group

Country to Country (C2C)Sees Explosive Success In2015The 2015 Country to Country(C2C) Festivals in London, Dublin,Sweden and Norway were resounding successes with critical acclaimfrom fans and music officials alike.

C2C London 2015 saw Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Florida GeorgiaLine, Jason Aldean, Lee Ann Womack, Brantley Gilbert, Brandy Clarkand Kip Moore take to the main stage as well as launching the brandnew satellite stage which saw performances from UK talent such asThe Shires, Ward Thomas, Sam Palladio and upcoming Nashville artistSam Hunt.The pop up stages featured talent from all around the globeand gave fans a great cross section of global country music.

Freelance Journalist Alan Cackett wrote, "I had a great time at theCountry To Country Fest at London’s O2 ... For me one of the manyhighlights of the weekend was the Friday evening CMA SongwritersSeries at the Indigo—Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall were superb.The standard of music on the pop-up stages was also excellent. LovedBob Harris’ Under The Apple Tree Sessions—especially KimmieRhodes, Woody Pines, Ward Thomas and Angel Snow.” Other artistsappearing on the side stages included Katie Armiger, David Bradleyand The Cains.

Country to Country 2016 will now take place over three days at TheO2, London. The festival will start on Friday evening followed by thefull weekend of activities. C2C events in Glasgow and Dublin will alsotake place in 2016

Jason Aldean Performs At C2C

Lady Antebellum Energizes The C2C Crowd

Fans Celebrate At The Closing C2C ReceptionC2C Town Square At London's O2 Arena

**C2C Photo's Frography (by Flex)


News From The Land of Down Under

5th Annual CMC Music AwardsThe 5th Annual CMC Music Awards 2015 held just prior to CMC RocksQueensland celebrated country music in Australia. The awards are the onlyviewer voted Country Music awards in Australia, allowing music fans to votefor their favorite Domestic and International Country artists they thinkdeserve to be awarded the country’s favorite's over the categories.

The key winners for The 5th Annual CMC ( Country Music Channel) MusicAwards 2015 were as follows:

ADAM BRAND - CMC OZ Artist of the Year and CMC Australian Video ofthe Year award for “What Your Love Looks Like”MORGAN EVANS - CMC Male Oz Artist of the YearKEITH URBAN - CMC International Artist of the Year and CMC InternationalVideo of the YearCHRISTIE LAMB - CMC New Oz Artist of the YearAMBER LAWRENCE - CMC Female Oz Artist of the YearTHE McCLYMONTS - CMC Group or Duo of the Year

The awards included performances by Lady Antebellum, Maddie & Tae,Kacey Musgraves, Troy Cassar-Daley, Lee Brice and Adam Brand.Morgan Evans emceed the event.

CMC Rocks QueenslandFor the 8th consecutive year, the CMC Rocks festival was held in its new home of Queensland. CMC Rocks QLD 2015 featured internationalcontemporary country heavyweights Lady Antebellum, Big & Rich, Chris Young, Lee Brice, Kristian Bush, Kacey Musgraves and many more,alongside Australian stars like Troy Cassar-Daley and John Williamson. SiriusXM host Storme Warren once again hosted the main stage. Thepopular acoustic Songwriters Shows returned for a third year, this time hosted by songwriting legend Jeffrey Steele. The festival, held in Marchevery year is the biggest international country festival in the Southern hemisphere. Promoters Rob Potts Entertainment Edge and ChuggEntertainment will announce the dates for 2016 soon.

Following the Festival the ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart saw country invasion, with 10 country albums hitting or re-entering the charts.

Two country albums were in the Top 5 spots. Lee Kernaghan’s “Spirit of the Anzacs” at #2, and Troy Cassar-Daley’s “Freedom Ride” at #4,which was launched with a main stage performance at CMC Rocks QLD 2015. Additionally, there were five more artists who performed at thefestival in the Top 40.

“There is no denying the strong fan base forcountry music in Australia - and the impact ofthe massive international presence in themarket, driven by CMC Rocks QLD.” said CMCRocks co-promoter Rob Potts, CEO Rob PottsEntertainment Edge.

Festival headliners, Lady Antebellum saw theirlatest album, “747”, return to the Top 50 (#4 inOct, 14), moving fifty-four spots back up to #20,whilst also playing arenas in Sydney andMelbourne. Their Grammy-winning album,“Need You Now”, previously in the chart for 105weeks (#5 in Jun, 10), re-entered the chart at#81.

Known as one half of country music duo,Sugarland, American singer/songwriter KristianBush made his ARIA Album Chart debut at #31with his solo release, “Southern Gravity.”

Saturday night headliner Chris Young jumpedback in at #72, with his 2013 release, “A.M.” Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Kacey Musgraves, made her ARIA Album Chart debut at#77, with her release, “Same Trailer, Different Park”; and Lee Brice captured his ARIA Album Chart debut at #91 with his third studio albumreleased late last year, “I Don’t Dance”.

Pictured (L to R) Amber Lawrence, Adam Brand andMorgan Evans

The lineup for the Saturday Songwriters Show at CMC Rocks QLD 2015. L to R:Chase Bryant, Lee Brice, Morgan Evans, Kristian Bush, Jeffrey Steele and promoterRob Potts


In addition to the incredible activity in the Top 100 Albums (as well as the top two spots for country albums in the ARIA Top 100 PhysicalAlbums Chart), there are also 15 albums from CMC Rocks QLD 2015 artists in the Top 40 ARIA Country Albums Chart - including (in order onchart) Troy Cassar-Daley (with two albums), Lady Antebellum (with four albums), Kristian Bush, Chris Young, Kacey Musgraves, Lee Brice,Big & Rich (with 2015 release “Gravity” at #25), John Williamson (with two albums, including a mid-2014 release, “Honest People” re-enteringchart at #36), The Wolfe Brothers (with “Nothin’ But Trouble”, #2 in Sep 14, re-entering chart at #30), and Adam Harvey (two albums, with“Family Life”, #10 in Sep 14, re-entering at #39).

CMC Rocks QLD 2015 drew thousands of country fans to Willowbank for three days of non-stop music, featuring International and Australianartists performing back-to-back across two stages, with additional Saturday and Sunday afternoon Songwriter Shows and late-night bandperformances.

“Even if you were only a little bit country you would have been impressed by CMC Rocks over the weekend,” reported newspaper,Queensland Times. “Thousands of country music fans have enjoyed live performances from some of the genre's biggest names, includingAmerican acts, Big & Rich, Lee Brice, Chris Young and Lady Antebellum.”

Queensland, Australia - The crowd starts to build for the performances at CMC Rocks Qld

The Aristo International Report is published four times per year by The AristoMediaGroup, P.O. Box 22765 Nashville, TN, 37202. Publisher: Jeff Walker; Graphic Design& Layout: Jon Walker at AristoWorks; Editorial Contributors: Christy Watkins, SharilynPettus, Simone Diamond, Jeremy Dylan, Judy Seale, Jimmy Chapin, Kenny Roberb,Roger Ryan, CMA Media Department, James Freeman, Heather Cochran Cunningham,Barry Harley, Lyssa Wheaton, Mary Caterine Kinney, Tracy Dry Kane, Hayley Simmonsand Tim Daley; Photo credits include: Karlee Simmondo and Christian Bottorff.

Please submit your international Country music news items for consideration and address changes to:[email protected] and visit our website at www.aristomedia.com.


The Golden GuitarsEvery January in Australia the Golden Guitar Awards (presented by the Country Music Association of Australia-CMAA)is the pinnacle event of the Tamworth Country Music Festival many of the events are held across 10days which attracted 55,000 visitors fromacross Australia and around the world andmore than doubles Tamworth’s population.

The Toyota Country Music FestivalTamworth is Australia's longest runningmusic festival and Tamworth has long beenconsidered the home of country music inAustralia.

Australia’s greatest country performersmixed onstage with the new list of winnersprovided over three hours of non-stopentertainment including McAlister Kemp,Jasmine Rae, Adam Eckersley Band, KristyCox, Allan Caswell, Aleyce Simmonds,Jared Porter and Christie Lamb, KaseyChambers, Troy Cassar-Daley, JohnWilliamson, The McClymonts, AdamHarvey, Luke O’Shea and Morgan Evanswho also emceed.

The key winners of the 43rd Country Music Awards of Australia included:

Album of the Year: Bittersweet (Kasey Chambers), ProducerNick DidiaMale Artist of the Year: Luke O’SheaFemale Artist of the Year: Amber LawrenceCountry Music Capital News Group or Duo of the Year: TheMcClymontsVocal Collaboration of the Year: Dean Perrett & Troy Cassar-DaleyQantaslink New Talent of the Year: The Adam EckersleyBandTop Selling Australian Album of the Year: Here’s To You & I(The McClymonts)Top Selling International Album of the Year: Blue Smoke(Dolly Parton)

Nashville Visits TamworthNashville Mayor Karl Dean led a delegation of Sister Cities, fromNashville to the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

During the visit Dean exchanged gifts with Tamworth Mayor ColMurray, met with City and Country Music Dignitaries andattended the Tamworth Country Music Awards.

“Our delegation to Tamworth for the annual country musicfestival had a stellar experience,“ said Heather Cochran-Cunningham, Executive Director, Sister Cities of Nashville. “TheTamworth Regional Council and Mayor’s office hosted us for dinner, had us ride in their parade down Peel Street, and treated us to theGolden Guitar Awards and the final festival concert. One of the many highlights of the trip was having Nashville Mayor Karl Dean joinAustralian duo O’Shea in presenting one of the Golden Guitar Awards.”

Overall the festival was a major success.

According to festival director John Sommerlad said that this year’s Festival was one of the best attended and diverse in its history. “The calibreand breadth of established and emerging musical talent on show at Tamworth this year from Jared Porter to Kasey Chambers, right up tointernational country superstar Kenny Rogers is as unique as it is overwhelmingly good.” he noted.

One of the highlights of the Festival is the Toyota Star Maker competition. This years event was as fierce as ever, with an array of talentedhopefuls turning out to battle it out. Newcomer Mickey Pye took home the grand prize in the 36th annual competition.

The final day saw Kenny Rogers take the stage as part of his Farewell Down Under tour, his last visit to Australia. The 76 year old industrylegend thrilled crowds playing a string of his best loved hits.

The Toyota Country Music Festival Tamworth 2016 is scheduled from Friday 15 January to Sunday 24 January 2016.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Tamworth Mayor Col Murray


Q&A WITH SARAH TRAHERNCEO | Country Music AssociationSarah Trahern is the Chief Executive Officer of the Country Music Association.

Her role at CMA is to collaborate with the CMA Board of Directors to expandthe mission and strategic objectives of CMA while being mindful of the uniquelegacy and spirit of the organization.

She began her cable career at C-SPAN in Washington, D.C. covering politicsand public affairs while producing the popular series “Booknotes.” She movedto Nashville in 1995 to oversee specials and entertainment series for TNN. Shejoined Great American Country (GAC) in 2005 with Scripps’ ownership of thenetwork. She was promoted to SVP of Programming and in 2010 becameGeneral Manager of the network where her myriad duties included thestrategic direction of the network and oversight of GAC’s programming,marketing, creative and digital initiatives.

In 2010, she was named one of 30 Women “Power Players” in the musicbusiness by Billboard Magazine. In December 2011, she was the subject andhonoree of the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum at the Country Music Hall ofFame and Museum. She was recently recognized by SOURCE, a leadingwomens business group, as a top leader in the music business.

1. What are the key CMA current global initiatives that are helping to spread Country music around the globe?

Certainly continuing to grow country music on a global scale is a strategic priority of us at the CMA. We do that through many different ways.We have strong international representation on our Board by 4 key international business executives including Rob Potts from Australia, TedEllis from Canada and Bob Shennan and Milly Olykan from the UK. We have international distribution of our television properties in Canadaand Australia (both of which take the CMA Awards LIVE) and we are working to expand the number of countries doing so. We are beginningadditional research efforts to examine key growth markets for the business in order to grow the markets overseas. In addition, we have CMAAdvisory Groups of top industry professionals in three key territories. We are looking to expand that over time.

2. Having just returned from C2C (Country to Country-London) you must be excited at the growing demand for Country artists toperform overseas.

Yes, this was my second year going to C2C and the interest in Country Music in London is strong. The fans were in the seats at 4 p.m. for theopening acts and stayed late into the evening. It was amazing to me how well the fans in the arena knew most of the music and were singingalong. The Brits are passionate about our music and the artist's show performances. Most of the artists on the bill who were first timers allsaid they will be back to London…the crowds were engaged and made the shows fun for the performers as well.

3. What were your big takeaways from the C2C Festival?

While the concerts last year had strong attendance and great fan engagement, what I noticed this year was the growth outside of the ticketedevent inside the arena. The free stages throughout the footprint had strong crowds throughout the day. All of the ancillary programming weaired in the movie theatre played to a full house. It was fun to see the expansion of autograph signings and for these other stages to see anaudience beyond the ticket holders make the effort to come out and discover new music. It reminded me a lot of a smaller version of the CMAMusicFest experience.

4. It seems that every year the foreign press involvement in CMA Music Festival and Awards show continues to grow. Howimportant is this in growing the footprint for country music globally.

Each year we see increasing interest from international media as the popularity and reach of Country Music continues to grow. And what isencouraging is that we aren’t just seeing increased pick up in the traditional outlets, but new media representatives coming on board andcovering our events and music. Their support is important and appreciated as we continue to help grow the platform for Country Music outsideof our domestic borders.

5. We know it is a goal to maximize airings of the CMA Television properties around the world. How is this progressing?

We are working towards expanding our broadcast partners in the coming year and although it is too early to provide any details I am confidentwe will see expanded broadcasts of our TV properties in the future.


6. The CMA World GlobaLive! Show (formerly the Global ArtistParty) will be celebrating it’s 11th year and expanding toNashville’s Hall of Fame Park this year on the Monday (June 8,2015) before the CMA Fest kick off…You must be excited to seethe continued evolution of this event.

Yes! The CMA Global Artist Party always had strong crowds at theclubs and featured a strong and diverse music mix from around theworld. With visitors from around the globe flocking to Nashville for CMAFest, the popularity of CMA’s International showcase, CMA WorldGlobaLive!, exceeded its traditional club setting in 2014 and hasexpanded again in 2015. To meet the demand, CMA is moving theannual free concert by international Country artists to The Hilton Walkof Fame Park with international food and beverage vendors. The CMAWorld GlobaLive! will take place Monday, June 8 (6:00-11:30 PM).

7. It seems that more and more artists/writers from outside theU.S. are relocating to Nashville and trying to establish a careerhere. How can CMA be a resource for them?

Our membership team meets with many of these members when theycome to the US and can give context on other associations ornetworking events. CMA Members also receive our CMA MembershipDirectory which is a great resource for them. If their personal healthcare coverage does not relocate with them to the US, our memberprogram, CMA Instrumental Healthcare may assist with personalcoverage

8. How many countries are represented in the overall CMA'smembership?

We have International Members from 31 countries. Canada, the UKand Australia have the largest representation but we also havemembers from Kenya, Slovenia, Italy and Brazil.

Pictured at the recent CMA songwriters series held in London in conjunction with the C2C festival are (left to right) Butch Spyridon(Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau), Milly Olykan (C2C /AEG Live), Sarah Trahern (CMA), Justin Davis and Sarah Zimmermann(Striking Matches), Songwriters Sam Palladio, Jon Randall, Jessi Alexander, Kix Brooks, John Esposito (Warner Bros Nashville andCMA President)

Sarah (at right) pictured with current CMA Board leadershipJohn Esposito (President), Sally Williams (President Elect),Jesse Schmidt (Treasurer) and Frank Bumstead (Chairman)

(L to R) Reba, Kix Brooks and Sarah as Kix was honored withthe Inaugural CMA Foundation Humanitarian Award

"Each year we seeincreasing interest frominternational media as thepopularity and reach of

Country Music continues togrow."

- Sarah Trahern


Canadian Country Music Week2015For the first time in over 30 years, Canadian Country Music Week and theCCMA Awards will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from September 10 –13, 2015. Canadian country music artists, industry, fans and media willmake themselves at home in Atlantic Canada’s entertainment and culturalcapital, Halifax. Plans are well underway for Canada’s most prominent andprestigious celebration of Canadian country music. Tickets are already onsale for the star-studded Awards Show which will be broadcast in Canadaon CBC-TV and CMT Canada. Host hotel rooms and rates are nowavailable, and submissions for the ever-popular CCMA Songwriters’Series have already opened. During the week, the winner of the CCMADiscovery program is named after a high profile showcase is heldfeaturing all finalists. More information can be obtained at www.ccma.org

Artist News: The Road Hammers

The Road Hammers have and extremely busy summer schedule withmany appearances slated including:

Rain Maker Rodeo - St. Albert, AB,

Grande Prairie Stompede - Grand Prairie, AB,

Summer in the City - Steinback, MB

Martitime Country Festival - Fredericton,NB

Tweed Stampeded - Tweed, ON

and the Boothill Country Jam - Bothwell, ON

Artist News: Dean Brody

With his last album earning recognition from both The JUNO Awards andthe CCMA Awards for Country Album of the Year in 2014, nine-timeCCMA Award winner and three-time JUNO Award nominee Dean Brodyhas announced the release date for his 5th studio album on Open RoadRecordings on April 21, 2015. To challenge himself in new ways, Brodycomposed three of the album’s ten tracks on instruments he had neverplayed before. The result was a record, the title of which will beannounced first to fans via social media closer to release date and is aperfect combination of both the Canadian East and West Coast influences.Having grown up in the mountains and now living on the ocean, Brodyproudly admits that this coastal inspiration runs through all of his work.

Album #5 has been described as delivering, without question, the carefree nature of summers on the ocean and the feeling of freedom foundin roaming through the Rockies.

Canada is gearing up for an amazingly busy country music Fair and Festival seasonwith key events on the calendar including:

Dauphins Countryfest (June 25th – June 28th) - Dauphin, Manitoba

Announced Performers: Miranda Lambert, Chad Brownlee, Jake Owen, BrantleyGilbert, Brett Kissel, Jess Moskaluke, Tyler Farr, Jason Blaine & more!

Bud Country Fever (June 26th – 28th) - Grand Prairie, Alberta

Performers: LeAnn Rimes, Lonestar, Tebey, Kristian Bush, Josh Turner & more!

Calgary Stampede (July 3rd – July 12th) - Calgary, Alberta

Performers: Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, Kira Isabella, Blake Shelton, ChadBrownlee, Dallas Smith, Deric Ruttan, Gord Bamford, Brett Kissel, Bobby Wills, TimHicks & more.

Craven Country Jamboree (July 9th – July 12th) - Craven, SK

Performers: Florida Georgia Line, Dallas Smith, Wes Mack, Brett Kissel, Blake Shelton,Bobby Wills, Jason Aldean, Colt Ford, Craig Morgan, Lindsay Ell & more!

Cavendish Beach Music Festival (July 10th – 12th) - Cavendish, PEI

Performers: Keith Urban, Eric Church, Kira Isabella, Dallas Smith, Brantley Gilbert, HighValley, Dan + Shay, The Mavericks, Kristian Bush & more!

Sunfest (July 30th - August 2nd) - Duncan, British Columbia

Performers: Keith Urban, Lee Brice, Sam Hunt, Joe Nichols, Thomas Rhett .

Boots and Hearts Music Festival (August 6th – August 9th) – Oro – Medonte,Ontario.

Performers: Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Dallas Smith, JustinMoore, Little Big Town, Thomas Rhett, Chad Brownlee, High Valley, Maddie & Tae,Frankie Ballard, David Nail, Mackenzie Porter & more!

Havelock Country Jamboree (August 13th – August 16th) - Havelock, ON

Performers: Big & Rich, Clint Black, Brett Kissel, Corb Lund & more!

Music In The Fields (August 28th & August 29th) - Lucknow, ON

Performers: The Band Perry, Dallas Smith, Easton Corbin, Chad Brownlee, Autumn Hill,Jess Moskaluke, Livy Jeanne & more!

The Road Hammers

Dean Brody

CANADIAN FESTIVALS


Canadian Gord Bamford HeadsSouth of the BorderCanadian country cornerstone Gord Bamford begins his U.S.campaign in the next few weeks with a sweeping radio tour inadvance of a May single release. Visits to stations in 70 top marketscommence mid-April following a successful mid-March showcase inBamford's native Alberta that introduced him to key U.S.programmers, consultants and tastemakers.

The reigning CCMA's Male Artist of the Year will make a brief detourduring his promotional trek to perform during the 50th Annual ACMAwards. During the weekend of festivities leading up to the April 19telecast from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, Bamford will play theACM Party for A Cause Festival at Globe Life Park on April 17 as wellas the All-Star Jam, the Academy's "official" after-party immediatelyfollowing the Awards Show in the West Plaza of the stadium.

Also on the schedule are a few performance dates in the U.S.Bamford will be headlining the Grizzly Rose in Denver, CO on April10, and the following night he will be playing in Loveland, CO for theBoys & Girls Clubs of Weld County's 34th Annual Elegant Night inBlack & White event, a fundraiser that has raised millions of dollarsfor the Clubs so that they can continue to serve the at-risk youth intheir local communities.

Pictured during the recent Gord BamfordBanff weekend getaway are (l-r) JeffWalker (AristoMedia), Keith Miller (WME),Vinny Cinquemani (The Feldman Agency),Bamford, Ron Sakamoto (SakamotoEntertainment), Manager Brian Halbertand Elaine Shock (Publicist)

Bamford Performs at a recent show Bamford at the CCMA's


CMA ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF INTERNATIONAL WINNERSThe Country Music Association recently announced the recipients of the organization’s International Awards.

“Advancing Country Music around the world is at the very foundation of CMA’s mission,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer inannouncing the winners. “Being able to acknowledge the exhaustive efforts of our international and domestic colleagues outside of U.S.borders is very rewarding and central to our strategic objective of growing the business and developing new territories for Country Music.”

“These are the people on the frontline of advancing Country Music around the globe and they are all deserving of these honors.”

Three-time CMA Vocal Group of the Year, Lady Antebellum helped break the good news by recording individual messages for each of thewinners. Award recipients in alphabetical order by category:

GLOBAL COUNTRY ARTIST AWARD – Morgan Evans (Australia)

The Global Country Artist Award recognizes outstanding achievements by a Country Music artist originally signed outside of the United States– in both furthering the popularity of Country Music and bringing attention to the Country Music format in their foreign-based territory.

The winner of a record-breaking three Country Music Channel Music Awards this year, Morgan Evans was recently signed as a presenter,host, and ambassador for the Country Music Channel in Australia. He has toured with Country superstars including Alan Jackson and TaylorSwift, as well as headlining his own tours in Australia and New Zealand. Evans was recently signed to William Morris Endeavour Agency.

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Brad Paisley (U.S.)

Formerly the International Touring Artist Award, the CMA International Artist Achievement Award recognizes outstanding achievement by aU.S.-based artist who contributes to the awareness and development of Country Music outside the United States.

Since he first received the award in 2011, Brad Paisley has remained dedicated to including the international market place in his schedule. In2014, he headlined the C2C Festival in London and Dublin as well as recording the special “Brad Paisley & Friends” for BBC Radio 2 beforegoing on to headline shows in Norway and Sweden.

INTERNATIONAL COUNTRY BROADCASTER AWARD – Ricky Ross (U.K. - BBC)

The International Country Broadcast Award recognizes outstanding achievement by radio broadcasters outside the U.S. who have madeimportant contributions to the development of Country Music in their country.

Singer/songwriter Ricky Ross, who regularly visits Nashville, presents the BBC Radio Scotland’s “Another Country.” With a mix of classics andnew Country releases, Americana, and alternative Country, he has won two Sony Radio Awards, the first in 2011 and the second the followingyear.

JO WALKER-MEADOR AWARD – Scott Borchetta (U.S. - Big Machine Label Group)

Named for Country Music Hall of Fame member and longtime Executive Director of CMA, the Jo Walker-Meador Award recognizesoutstanding achievement by an individual or company in advocating and supporting Country Music’s marketing development in territoriesoutside the United States.

As the founder and CEO of Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta has supported artist development internationally early in artists’ careers. Hisphilosophy has been a major force in changing the perception of Country Music internationally. Borchetta previously won the Jo Walker-Meador Award in 2012.

WESLEY ROSE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD –Bob Shennan (U.K. - BBC)

The Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award recognizesoutstanding achievements in the media, which contribute to thedevelopment of Country Music outside the United States. Radio, TV, printjournalists, authors, editors, television writers, producers, and PRcompanies who reside outside the United States are eligible to win thisaward.

Since Bob Shennan took over as Controller of BBC Radio 2 in 2009, hehas driven exposure opportunities and was instrumental in bringingCountry Music into the mainstream arena. Now Director of Music,Shennan chairs the newly formed CMA U.K. Advisory Group and serveson the CMA Board of Directors.

CMA International Awards are voted on by CMA International Membershipas well as a panel of domestic U.S.-based industry.

Through honors such as these and events including the internationalexpansion of the CMA Songwriters Series (Belfast, Dublin, London, Paris)and involvement in the popular C2C concerts since 2013, CMA seeks torecognize and empower its international membership and Country Musicfans globally.

BBC's Bob Shennan - CMA Broadcaster of the Year


The Irish Fest comes to NashvilleIn mid March Nashville hosted the first annual Music City Irish Fest. The vision for this festival was to create a world class event that woulddraw an audience from the southeastern United States and educate them about the Irish and Scots-Irish basis for the bluegrass and countrymusic they know and love. Nashville and Ireland have two of the strongest music traditions in the world. The festival also held specialsignificance for Nashville as the city celebrates the 20th anniversary of joining with Belfast, Northern Ireland as Sister Cities. Nashville andBelfast have strengthened their musical, educational and civic ties over those twenty years, including the Belfast-Nashville SongwritersFestival. It is only fitting that Nashville, Belfast, the state of Tennessee and the island of Ireland join together to celebrate the best in music.

Headlining the festival was the award-winning Red Hot Chilli Pipers (pictured) voted the best act in Scotland, with triple Platinum album status,and the originators of "bagrock," famous pop/rock tunes infused with bagpipes and celtic tunes. Other artists appearing included The WillisClan, Molly Ramone, Colm Kirwan and the duo Beat Root.

News from the Emerald IsleIreland’s Hot Country Awards Show will be staged at the Mullingar Park Hotel, Mullingar, Co.Westmeath( West of Dublin), on Tuesday April28th, and promises to be a glittering affair with a who’s who of Irish Country Artist's set to collect awards and to perform on the night. "Thisannual event has grown from strength to strength in recent years and is a one of a kind event for country music in Ireland," notes veteran Irishjournalist Roger Ryan.

Charley Pride is set to embark on a new 7 date Irish tour with stops that include Dublin, Belfast and Cork.

Dates have been announced for the 25th Athy Bluegrass Festival. It will be held on 10-12 July 2015 in Kildare - 50 km (31 mi) west of Dublin.

Nashville Fans enjoy the Irish festivities The Red Hot Chili Pipers Perform In Nashville


U.S. ARTIST NEWSSony Nashville

Sony Nashville has reported a lot of international activity for someof its artists.

Old Dominion, Tyler Farr, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney,Jake Owen and Chase Rice will all be heading North of the borderto play in Canada thissummer.

Of all their roster, ChrisYoung deserves a jet setteraward…..Following recentappearances in Australia,South Korea and Japan heheads to Switzerland(Gstaad), London, Glasgow,Dublin, Germany (Munich,Cologne, Berlin) andStockholm, Sweden laterthis year.

Chris is quickly becoming aninternational ambassador forcountry music. He made hisinaugural trip to the UK and Ireland in 2013 for the CMASongwriters Series. That same year he made his CMC RocksFestival debut in Australia. In 2014 Young made another trekacross the pond for shows in London, Dublin, Stavanger, Oslo,Gotteborg and Stockholm and was honored with the BritishCountry Music Award International Act of the Year trophy. 2015will mark his third consecutive year to share his talents withinternational audiences.

UMG Nashville

UMG Nashville is reporting strong reviews for it’s artists thatrecently made overseas trips..

Sam Hunt received positive accolades from UK Country Music,The Music Intro and The London Community News.

Similarly Luke Bryan from Rolling Stone (UK) The Guardian andEntertainment Focus (UK).

Kip Moore received strong compliments from The LondonEvening Standard AND the UK’s Digital Fix.

Kacey Musgraves was warmly welcomed in Australia with positivereviews by ABC AU,The Shotgun Seat, News AU and TheAustralian.

Taylor Swift

Globally Taylor Swift's 1989 recently crossed over 7 million unitssold/shipped Worldwide.

In Australia this month she is the cover story of Dolly Magazine¹snew issue and in Germany she is on the cover story on Gala StyleMagazine, which will be displayed for 6 months.

Swift’s 1989 World Tour will kick off in Tokyo on May 5th, 2015.

Florida Georgia Line

FGL had incredible performances at their C2C tour dates inDublin, Stockholm, Oslo, London & Glasgow. Show reviews werecompleted by the Financial Times, New Country UK, CultNoise,The Digital Fix Music, The Times, Entertainment Focus and SvDKultur(Swedish review). FGL was highlighted in the newsletterHero that went out in Norway and Sweden surrounding their C2Cdates (approx. 2.5M people reached). They also interviewed withBBCs Paul Sexton while in the UK. They were recently the coverstory in an Acoustic Magazines story in the UK.

The Cadillac Three

The Cadillac Three just wrapped a European tour with sold outshows in Wolverhampton, Glasgow, Leeds, Norwich,Southampton & Londonwere.

The band was featured in a BBC Radio 3 Session, which includedperformances of Days of Gold, White Lightening, Peace Love &Dixie and The South.

They released a European exclusive EP titled Peace Love & Dixiein March in support of the European tour dates.

Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Gilbert's liveLondon performance at C2CFestival can be heard onthe BBC¹s website. He wasalso featured in the UKmusic publicationsEntertainment Focus andMusic Trespass.

He toured throughoutGermany and performed atall four C2C FestivalEuropean dates. Country.dereviewed his show inCologne, Germany.

Brantley is the cover storyon Maverick Magazine¹s March/April issue, with a full 10 pagefeature.

The Mavericks

The Mavericks kicked off their Mono Mundo Tour with atriumphant swing through Europe, where they performed in theU.K., France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Thetalented group (Raul Malo, guitarist Eddie Perez, keyboardistJerry Dale McFadden and drummer Paul Deakin) and their"Fantastic Four" backing musicians received rave reviews at allEuropean shows. They played Paris for the first time .

The fans in the Netherlands, Germany and Copenhagen greetedthem like returning heroes from all media accounts . They will bemaking a quick trip back to Europe in June to play the Truckerand Country Festival in Interlaken, Switzerland.

Chris Young

Brantley Gilbert


AristoMedia Turns 35The AristoMedia Group celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary later thismonth. The Nashville based entertainment marketing company wasfounded in 1980 by CEO Jeff Walker as a publicity firm, but has sinceevolved into a Music Row Entertainment Marketing company offeringservices that include public relations and media marketing, digital/social marketing, web development, secondary, tertiary and internet

radio promotion,video clip and epk promotions and management consulting.

After the initial success of AristoMedia as an independent PR firm (now branded as Aristo PR), the company expanded its horizons in 1983with the addition of a video promotion division: Aristo Video and it’s visual distribution arm The Goodland Group. The next major expansioncame in 1991 when Walker created Marco Promotions, the radio promotions arm of the company. AristoMedia continued to grow in thefollowing years with the additions of a music consulting division Jeff Walker and Associates, dance club promotion division Marco ClubConnection, Digital department Aristoworks and StreamTrack, a digital music delivery service for online streaming audio and visual outlets thatmade its debut in 2014.

Another integral part of AristoMedia is the company’s focus on promotion of international Country artists in the United States. An Australiannative, Walker has tirelessly advocated the globalization of Nashville-based music. The company is a strong advocate of expanding Countrymusic's international reach, and prepares a quarterly global newsletter highlighting International activities which is distributed to over 7000recipients world wide. Walker’s individual honors in this area include the CMA's President's Award, CMA’S Jo Walker Meador InternationalAward, CMAA (Australia) Lifetime Achievement Award, BCMA (UK) International Services Award, CCMA (Canada) Leonard T. RambeauInternational Support Award, Operation Troop Aid Certification of Appointment and more.

Senior Staff of the company include Craig Bann (Sr.V.P. Promotion/ Marketing), Christy Watkins (V.P. Public Relations/Media Marketing), RickKelly (V.P.Promotion), Jon Walker (V.P. Digital) and Matt Watkins(V.P.Marketing/Operations).

As The AristoMedia Group celebrates its 35h birthday in the music business this month, Walker sets his sights on the future:

Bill Walker Receives RecognitionWorld renowned arranger, conductor, and music director, Bill Walker wasrecently presented with the 50 Years of Service To The Industry pin by theNashville Musicians Association (American Federation of Music). AFMPresident, Dave Pomeroy, made the presentation to Walker and noted,“Over the past few years it has been a real pleasure to get to know BillWalker. He is a great arranger, composer, conductor, bandleader, and awonderful man. His impact on the Nashville music scene has beentremendous, and it was an honor to present him with his 50-year AFMpin.”

Bill Walker, a native Australian, arrived in Nashville in 1964 following astint in South Africa. While working as musical director on the filmKimberly Jim, Walker met Jim Reeves who invited him to Nashville – aninvitation he accepted. Once settled in Nashville, Walker connected withChet Atkins, who was working with artist Eddy Arnold. Atkins askedWalker to do orchestral arrangements for Arnold’s album “My World,”which contained the #1 single, “Make The World Go Away.” That recordbecame Walker’s first gold release and lead to a longtime career ofmaking music in the Music City.

Walker’s extensive body of work includes music director residency on various television shows, including The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971)on ABC, the CMA Awards (for 15 years), the Music City News Awards, Music Hall America (Syndicated), The Statler Brothers Show on TNN(1991-1998) and numerous other prime-time television specials. He is recognized for his work in movies, and produced or arranged some ofthe biggest hits in Country music history.

Although semi-retired, Walker recently worked with Crystal Gayle to arrange and conduct the strings for select tracks on her new album.Walker lives in Brentwood, Tennessee with his wife Jeanine Walker. Several of Walker’s original releases are available on GMV Nashville(www.gmvnashville.com).

Bill Walker Recognized For 50 Years Of Music Service

“When I started the company the compact disc was still in development, the Internet was overdecade away from major acceptance and digital downloads and streaming were not even inthe music business vocabulary. In these days of constant change we have to constantly re-invent what we do…Close your eyes and something new becomes relevant. But necessity isthe mother of invention. As long as we remember that content is king and continue to provide

professional niche market media services, the future continues to look bright.”- Jeff Walker


PHOTO GALLERY

London - The CMA songwriters series receives enthusiastic London - An enthusiastic C2C at Londons O2 Arena

London - The Cains (Logan, Taylor and Madison) perform onstage at C2C marking their first overseas appearance

Nashville, Tennessee - backstage at the Irish Festival. (L toR) Ruth Moran (Tourism Ireland), Mayor Karl Dean(Nashville), Samantha Hayes Fisher (Nashville WKRNChannel 2), Niall Gibbons (Tourism Ireland) and Tracy Kane(Sister Cities of Nashville)

Tamworth - The welcome area to Country Music weekactivities in January

Tamworth - The crowd shows that Country is alive and welldown under

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