News & Publications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 8, 2007
“Third Annual CMA New From Nashville" European Tour Ends With Sold Out Glasgow Show Featuring Julie Roberts And Jace Everett
Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival Adds Additional Nashville Performers
NASHVILLE – “The Third Annual CMA New from Nashville (NUNV) Tour” has returned home after recent performances at Whelan’s in Dublin, Ireland (Jan. 30); Carling Academy/Islington in London, England (Feb. 1); and at Classic Grand as part of the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow, Scotland (Feb. 3). The tour, which featured artists Julie Roberts and Jace Everett, continues to make inroads into the expansion of Country Music outside North America by spotlighting rising Country artists in international markets showing increased support for the format. The NUNV objective is to build these countries into stronger sales markets for Country Music albums and concerts, creating a sturdy foundation for the genre outside the U.S. that can grow steadily throughout the world.
“The mission of the Country Music Association is to promote Country Music,” said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Operating Officer. “‘New from Nashville’ succeeds in that mission by opening new doors for our format and our artists while strengthening existing relationships internationally.”
Everett and Roberts excited the audiences in all three cities with their musical performances. The tour had a standing-room-only crowd in London and a sold-out venue in Glasgow.
“I am always impressed with the crowd responsiveness to the music and artists that are appearing on our NUNV showcases,” said Jeff Walker, President of AristoMedia and Chairman of the CMA Global Markets Committee. “Julie and Jace have built on the momentum established during the previous years. This year we noticed a larger percentage of younger people attending the events. We also saw an expanded interest in print and radio media coverage, and an increased level of Internet exposure -- up significantly from last year. Country Music’s appeal is definitely broadening overseas.”
Due to the success of past CMA NUNV tours, the Glasgow-based Celtic Connections Festival expanded their event schedule to include additional performances from several Nashville artists and songwriters, including former CMA Song of the Year winner Matraca Berg (1997 for “Strawberry Wine”); former CMA Horizon Award winner Suzy Bogguss (1992); former CMA Song of the Year winner Beth Nielsen Chapman (1999 for “This Kiss”); former CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Mary Chapin Carpenter (1992, 1993); former CMA Awards nominee Rosanne Cash (1981-1982, 1985-1989); former CMA Musician of the Year Jerry Douglas (2002, 2005); former CMA Song of the Year winner Gretchen Peters (1995 for “Independence Day”); and former CMA Song of the Year winner Jon Randall (2005 for “Whiskey Lullaby”). Randall first appeared at the Celtic Connections Festival as part of the inaugural CMA NUNV tour in 2005.
“‘The New from Nashville Tour’ has been a building block of our international business development strategy,” added Rick Murray, CMA Vice President of Strategic Marketing. “We organize and help underwrite the tour to introduce Nashville artists who are interested in developing an international career while at the same time hosting a full schedule of meetings with industry executives and media gatekeepers. For example it has resulted in RTE Ireland airing the 2006 CMA Awards in Ireland, in addition to the BBC airing in the United Kingdom.”
Indeed, performances are only one element of the NUNV tour. Throughout the six-day tour, both artists participated in more than 70 interviews with print, radio, Internet, and television outlets. While in London, Roberts taped an acoustic performance for Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2, whose broadcast reaches more than 14 million listeners and is the most listened to radio station in the U.K. Roberts and Everett also performed live on BBC Scotland Radio’s “Brand New Country” program hosted by Bryan Burnett.
Murray added, “It is a very interesting market to develop particularly compared to the United States. With the absence of an extensive Country Radio format in the UK for example, there seems to be a great opportunity to develop social networking communities and viral marketing campaigns to introduce artists and their music to potential fans. It can be a very effective and organic way for us to develop younger fans in particular who are embracing technology worldwide and using it as integral part of their entertainment lifestyle.”
“I am so glad to have been a part of the 2007 CMA ‘New from Nashville Tour’,” said Roberts. “As an artist, it is important that my trade association helps to develop new opportunities for all artists. After being here, I can see not only the incredible opportunity to expand my career, but also I have learned that it truly does take a commitment to revisit the territories on a regular basis. CMA has worked closely with my manager, record label, promoters, media, and others to make this an awesome trip that gave me a chance to meet new fans, interact with tons of media, check out some of the performance venues available overseas, and more importantly, learn and see first hand what it is like to tour internationally. Plus celebrating my birthday in London was amazing!”
Roberts celebrated her birthday in London on Feb. 1 in style. Everett joined her on stage for their version of the Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash classic “Jackson” before encouraging the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. Post show, the celebration continued at the Royal Garden Hotel where the entourage shared cake and cocktails while CMA presented Roberts with a gold Irish harp necklace from Dublin, the first stop on the tour.
“This has been an incredible experience for me,” said Everett. “Last year when I first appeared with Dierks Bentley, we kept hearing everyone say that an artist has to come back each year to work the market. CMA decided to include me for a second year to test the strategy and it has clearly worked. I began getting emails on my MySpace page from fans who saw me last year saying they were coming to see me again and then so many fans showed up who had either come last year or heard about the show.”
Gibson Guitars sponsored “The Third Annual CMA New from Nashville Tour” while providing the Gibson Tour Bus for artist transportation in the UK and backline gear throughout the entire tour. The tour was produced by Paul Fenn of Asgard Promotions. Previous NUNV Tours have featured Jessi Alexander, Dierks Bentley, Everett, Jamie O’Neal and Jon Randall.