The Country Music Association, which recently announced its new international artist-focused touring series, Introducing Nashville, has added back-to-back performances at Blue Note Tokyo in Japan on Saturday, March 30 featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson and Lindsay Ell. Prior to Japan, Introducing Nashville will visit multiple cities in Australia and New Zealand with Clark, Dawson, Ell and Tenille Townes (Australia only). Tickets for Introducing Nashville’s Japan performances are on sale here.
CMA will host an industry event at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence in Tokyo on Thursday, March 28, with the Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Young welcoming CMA and Japanese industry representatives from all sectors in the business. The reception will feature Frankie Ballard, in addition to Clark, Dawson and Ell.
As part of CMA’s mission to support the expansion of Country Music around the globe, Introducing Nashville will
provide a platform to introduce exciting current artists to
international audiences for the first time. Each tour stop will
replicate a Nashville writer’s round, with artists appearing on stage
together in an acoustic lineup, introducing their songs and talking
about their careers and personal stories.
As
international touring opportunities and global streaming continues to
grow for Country artists, CMA will continue to use strategic research
and tactics in an effort to bring Country artists to fans in foreign
territories eager to discover and learn more about the Country genre. As
an artist focused brand, Introducing Nashville builds on the remarkable response CMA has seen during international tours of its songwriters focused CMA Songwriters Series.
Introducing Nashville 2019 (Australia, New Zealand, Japan):
March 18 – Lismore, Australia – Lismore City Hall
March 19 – Brisbane, Australia – The Old Museum
March 21 – Sydney, Australia – The Factory Theatre
March 22 – Canberra, Australia – The Abbey
March 23 – Melbourne, Australia – Athenaeum Theatre
March 26 – Auckland, New Zealand – Tuning Fork
March 30 – Tokyo, Japan – Blue Note Tokyo (2 shows)
Frankie Ballard
Country-blues-rocker Frankie Ballard released his latest album El Rio (Warner Nashville) to critical acclaim, which was selected by Rolling Stone as one of the 25 Best Country and Americana albums of 2016 and The Tennessean
as one of the best 16 Nashville albums of 2016. The singer-songwriter
has had three No. 1 Country hits to date and boasts on-demand streams in
excess of 340 million. With combined album sales of over 600,000 to
date and over 2.3 million digital track sales, Ballard continues to mix
an American heartland rock sound with traditional Country and blues.
Ballard’s previous album, Sunshine & Whiskey, produced three
consecutive No. 1 singles – the platinum-certified “Sunshine &
Whiskey,” the gold-certified “Helluva Life,” and one of the Top 3 Billboard Country
Airplay songs of 2015, “Young & Crazy.” He has performed on
national television including “TODAY,” “Live with Kelly and Ryan” and
“Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Ballard has toured with Big and Rich, Luke Bryan,
Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Bob Seger, Sugarland, and Keith Urban
and performed at festivals such as CMA Fest, Summerfest, Tortuga Music
Festival and many more. Read more at FrankieBallard.com.
Brandy Clark
The Nashville, Tennessee-based Brandy Clark, signed by Warner
Brothers Records out of Los Angeles, received her first of an impressive
six career Grammy nominations in 2013 in the Best Country Song category
for co-writing the Miranda Lambert No. 1 hit “Mama’s Broken Heart.” Her
talent as a storyteller has quickly propelled her into critical acclaim
as one of Nashville’s best tunesmiths, subsequently writing songs for
Sheryl Crow, Billy Currington, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, LeAnn
Rimes, Darius Rucker and The Band Perry, to name a few. In 2013, Clark
independently released her debut album, 12 Stories, which was
embraced by music lovers and critics alike and garnered two Grammy
nominations including Best New Artist and Best Country Album. 12 Stories went on to be named Best Album of 2013 by The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, NPR, New York Post
and more. In 2014, Clark won the CMA Award for Song of the Year
(“Follow Your Arrow”), which she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and
Musgraves, in addition to being nominated for New Artist of the Year.
Her sophomore album, Big Day In A Small Town, was released in
2016 and garnered two Grammy nominations for Best Country Album and Best
Country Solo Performance (“Love Can Go To Hell”) and once again topped
critics’ “Best Of” lists including NPR, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Billboard,
among others, cementing Clark as one of Country Music’s most talented
artists, beloved by fans, critics and fellow entertainers alike. Famed
music critic and author, Ann Powers, calls Clark “a storyteller of the
highest caliber.” This past year, Clark has been honing her craft on the
road playing with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson, Sugarland
and Dwight Yoakam. Read more at BrandyClarkmusic.com.
Devin Dawson
Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville breakout Devin Dawson co-wrote every track on his debut album Dark Horse, which scored high marks on the charts in 2018, landing Top 5 on Billboard’s
Top Country Albums chart. Produced by CMA Awards winner Jay Joyce, the
album features Dawson’s current single “Asking For A Friend,” which he’s
performed on both “TODAY” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” alongside
the Gold-certified hit “All On Me.” Dawson was recently presented with
MusicRow’s Breakthrough Artist-Writer award, having already been
recognized with multiple nominations this year including ACM’s New Male
Artist, CMT’s Breakthrough Video of the Year and Radio Disney’s Best New
Country Artist, among others. The California native has made additional
TV appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “ELLEN”
and has received critical praise from outlets such as Billboard, Huffington Post, Entertainment Weekly, People, ELLE, The Tennessean, AXS, HITS
and more. Dawson recently toured with Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and
just wrapped the second leg of The Long Way Tour with labelmate Brett
Eldredge. His first headlining run, the Stray Off Course Tour, began in
November and continues into 2019. Read more at DevinDawsonmusic.com.
Lindsay Ell
Lauded as “one of the most exciting and talented young artists in country music” (Forbes),
Lindsay Ell is a triple threat: accomplished musician, unique vocalist
and songwriter. The Calgary native learned to play guitar while
traveling with her father to Country/Bluegrass camps as a young girl.
Ell honed her craft as a musical stylist and songwriter after being
discovered at the age of 13 by BTO and The Guess Who’s Randy Bachman
(“American Woman,” “Taking Care of Business”). The multi-instrumentalist
has toured alongside the likes of Luke Bryan, Buddy Guy, The Band Perry
and Keith Urban, as well as impressing audiences as Carrie Underwood’s
guitar player live on “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” and holding her own
alongside icon Melissa Etheridge on “Skyville Live.” In 2018 alone, Ell
exhilarated audiences as part of Brad Paisley’s Weekend Warrior World
Tour, Sugarland’s Still The Same Tour and select dates of Keith Urban’s Graffiti U World Tour. Ell’s first full-length album The Project debuted at No. 1 on the Nielsen Soundscan Country Albums Chart and was named Billboard’s
Best Country Album of 2017. Her single “Criminal” was the most added
song at U.S. Country radio upon impact and became her first-ever Top 20
hit in the U.S., in addition to becoming her first No. 1 single on the
Canadian Country radio charts. Read more at LindsayEll.com.