No Justice Finishing New Album for Debut Carved Records Release

(Nashville, TN – March 10, 2010) Dallas-based independent label, Carved Records, has announced a distribution agreement for No Justice through RED Distribution and MRI Associated Labels, Inc.

The agreement is a co-venture between Carved Records and MRI, with RED handling all distribution duties for Carved product.

“Securing distribution for Carved Records through our deal with RED and MRI is a key component to the success of this label,” says Carved Records CEO Tim Porter. “Both companies have a proven track record when it comes to working with independent artists, and we’re thrilled to be working with them to distribute No Justice and Texas Hippie Coalition.”

RED Distribution is an independent record distributor and artist development company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. RED currently handles distribution duties for more than 50 independent and major record labels, including MRI.

“We are very excited and proud to welcome Carved Records into our family of labels. I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Carved’s VP of Operations, Phil Thomas, for more than 15 years. With Phil’s and Tim Porter’s impeccable leadership, coupled with their great love for music, this label will be a leader in the indie music scene,” says Dewayne Brown, RED Nashville, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

Stillwater, Oklahoma’s No Justice recently finished their debut album for Carved Records with producer Dexter Green. Titled Second Avenue, the new album was recorded in Nashville and is scheduled for a late spring 2010 release. A debut single will be released to radio in the coming weeks.

Founded in 2009, Carved Records has already signed two acts to its label thus far in 2010: Texas radio chart-toppers No Justice and Southern metal act, Texas Hippie Coalition. For more information on No Justice and Carved Records, visit: www.NoJustice.com and www.CarvedRecords.com.

Panels on Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams to Highlight Event

(Nashville, TN – Apr. 8, 2009)  The 26th annual International Country Music Conference will be held May 21-23, 2009 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

The event features appearances by some of the top historians and scholars in country music and includes presentations of The Belmont University Book Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award and The Charlie Lamb Awards. This year’s conference will also include special panels on legends Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, as well as address the topic of how to define country music.

The panel “Defining Country Music: What It Is and Does It Matter” will be hosted by Dr. Don Cusic, author of “Discovering Country Music,” Ronnie Pugh, author of “Ernest Tubb: Texas Troubadour,” Dr. Jocelyn Neal, author of “The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers,” as well as Dr. Erika Brady and Dr. Patrick Huber.

“The leading scholars in country music will be in Nashville for this conference,” says ICMC co-chair Don Cusic. “We’ll have panels with authors and writers who have written significant books and articles on country music, as well as contributors from Australia and other parts of the world.  For those who study and teach country music, this is the place to be.”

Special papers on Hank Williams will be presented by Jim Murphy, Tom Wilmeth and Colin Escott.   Additionally, Barry Mazor, Dr. Tim Wise, Dr. Anthony Lis, Dr. Jocelyn Neal, Dr. Nolan Porterfield and Dr. Catherine Davies will present papers on Jimmie Rodgers.

The event will be co-chaired by James Akenson and Cusic.  Registration is $100 and checks should be sent to James Akenson, Box 5042, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, 38505.

The 2008 ICMC Program Schedule can be found here: www.internationalcountrymusic.org/schedule.html

For more information, visit: www.internationalcountrymusic.org

Contact:
Don Cusic – ICMC – 615.460.5438 – cusicd@mail.belmont.edu

(Nashville, TN – March 30, 2009)  David Corlew, owner of d. corlew films and Corlew Music Group, has announced the signing of new writer Jaron Boyer and the addition of veteran songplugger Penny Dionne to the CMG staff.

A native of Ardmore, Okla., Boyer began his musical career as a teenager singing in church.  In 2003, he moved to Nashville, where he honed his songwriting skills and learned to play guitar.

“I still remember writing my first song just 6 years ago,” Boyer.  “I never dreamed then that I would be a signed writer today.  I might not have known it when I moved here, but God had a plan for me, and it has been an exciting journey watching it all unfold.”

In addition, Corlew Music Group has added veteran songplugger Penny Dionne to work the CMG catalog.  Owner of publishing company Little Vixen Music, Dionne serves as Vice-President of the Nashville-based Women’s Music Business Association and recently co-authored “Songplugger: The Cuts and the Bruises.” She is an active volunteer with the Nashville Humane Society and contributes to the annual Dog Day Festival at Centennial Park.

About Corlew Music Group:

Corlew Music Group was initially established in 1999 and currently exists as a joint venture with Windswept / Bug Music.  Numerous songs in the CMG catalog have gone to No. 1, including Toby Keith’s “Love Me If You Can,” Sugarland’s “Settlin’,” and Brad Paisley’s “Ticks.”

This Is My America Wins Over Listeners with Mix of Education, Entertainment
Critics, Historians, Educators Embrace Concept, Unique Box Set

(Nashville, TN – March 19, 2009) Initial response to the three-disc This Is My America project has seen critics, educators and historians alike all praise the epic set for its ambitious combination of educational concepts, moving narratives and entertaining music.

“It would have been very easy for a project like this to have been filled with nothing but variations of ‘America the Beautiful’ and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ uber-patriotic songs about the beauty and the majesty of the United States,” writes HistoryNet.com’s Senior Online Editor Gerald Swick.  “Instead, the songs and narrations have depth.  Listening to this three-CD set is like watching an epic motion picture!”

The This Is My America collection features 38 songs and 26 spoken narratives, documenting prominent events and subjects in American history, such as the Underground Railroad, the California Gold Rush, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War I and II, the emergence of Radio, journalist Daniel Pearl, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and many more.

“Many of the songs would make great introductions to new topics in a U.S. history survey or other U.S. history classes,” says North Carolina State University History Professor Richard Slatta.  “Students today are well attuned to music in all its varieties, so this collection makes a great ‘hook’ to draw them into discussions and questions about the American past.  Excellent writing, production, and performances add to the attractiveness of ‘This is My America.’”

The History Channel Magazine called the collection of songs “as aesthetically pleasing as they are patriotically rousing.”

College professors and history buffs aren’t the only ones praising This Is My America for its educational value.  Several of the album’s singers and songwriters spoke on the subject during the official CD release party in Nashville.

“I finally read the entire Declaration of Independence,” said Billy Dean, singer of one of the album’s trademark songs, “Wave On, Old Glory, Wave On.”  “I realized that I had never read it all the way through, and I think when fans listen to this album, they will get a better appreciation of this country.  It definitely had a profound effect on me.  It got me back watching the History Channel again!”

Renowned music critic and author Robert K. Oermann described Dean’s “Wave On” as “an anthem for a new era.  Stirring, patriotic and completely thrilling.”

The album also features performances from Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Kathy Mattea, Mark O’Connor, the Nashville Symphony, the Fisk Jubilee Singers and many more.  In total, nearly 60 different singers and songwriters contributed to the This Is My America project, one of the most expensive albums ever recorded in Nashville.

“This Is My America is a prime example of what can happen when you gather up a ton of superb songwriters, a few dozen nationally known artists, a renowned symphony and a historical group of harmonic singers to share and blend their craft,” wrote About.com’s Jan Duke.  “It’s the perfect recipe for success.”

About This Is My America:
This Is My America is a musical journey through America’s history.  It is much more than another contemporary collection of patriotic hits; it is an epic concept album that provides unique insight into the Story of America, as told through the original interpretations of 58 award-winning songwriters and performers.  For more information, or to buy the album, visit: www.ThisIsMyAmerica.com

For press materials, interview requests or CD review copies, please contact Christy Watkins at: christy@aristomedia.com