It Has Begun – Reba McEntire Signs with NASH Icon
Tuesday morning, Reba McEntire appeared on Cumulus Media’s NASH-branded country music flagship broadcast America’s Morning Show to make a big announcement, and as speculated upon in the days before, Reba told the world she was the inaugural signee with Scott Borchetta’s and Cumulus Media’s joint record label NASH Icon—an endeavor that looks to put once high flying and still commercially relevant mature talent back on the airwaves, and back to a position of prominence in the mainstream.
The move was anticipated because Reba has worked with Scott Borchetta and the Big Machine Label Group in the past under the Valory Music imprint. Reba’s last two albums, Keep On Loving You and All The Women I Am were released under the Starstruck/Valory label, and Reba also appeared on a compilation released by Big Machine recently. Reba has sold over 80 million records worldwide, has a successful television acting career, and is seen as a large asset for the NASH Icon venture to build from.
Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta was on site for the announcement, and said he has been trying to convince Reba to record a new album for the past three years, which she recently agreed to. Working with producers Tony Brown and James Stroud, Reba says she has 11 songs already recorded for the album, and “three more to record that I have found. I’m always trying to beat out what I have already, so we just keep looking.”
Reba also made a point of making the signing not just about her being a more mature artist, but being a woman. “It’s been kind of a weird time in country music for females, I would say, and it’s in a trend now that I’m hoping is going to be more female friendly, for personal reasons,” said Reba.
Later Reba spoke to Country Weekly about being NASH Icon’s first. “I’m very pleased to be the first artist signed to Nash Icon. I think that’s a huge honor that they selected me and asked me to be a part of it. I always like that part ’cause with the folks I get to work with and help me find the songs and get in and record with the musicians, after the songwriters have done such a great job, now it’s my turn to get out there and do what I love to do.”
The announcement comes during a period of good news surrounding NASH Icon. It was revealed earlier in October that the new NASH Icon affiliate in Nashville was beating the once high flying and thought to be unbeatable Bobby Bones in his home market in ratings. Great intrigue has surrounded NASH Icon because of its potential ability to split the country music format in two—something country has resisted for years. The split, which appears to be currently underway, would see a new format with older country music from the 80’s and 90’s returning to the airwaves, along with new music from more mature artists such as Reba.
READ: A Breakdown of the NASH Icon Playlist (AKA Merle’s Back on Radio)
October 21, 2014 @ 9:47 am
That’s a good start for NASH Icon. I just hope they don’t ruin it by signing Shania Twain.
October 21, 2014 @ 9:56 am
LOL! Shania Twain. I have argued for years and mentioned it here a few times that she was downfall of modern country. When she released both “country” and “pop” version of her albums records labels saw HUGE $$$ and also thought to themselves, “You now we could save a lot of money and make MORE if we just made the pop record thing consumers seem to prefer.”
Also as long as the never play, Reba’s “Turn On The Radio”. It is catchy but even Reba knows it was a mistake and never performs it in concert.
I also hope that, while their scope is roughly the last twenty five years, they don’t skimp out on people like Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams or other less mainstream or alt acts of the period. But overall this pleases me greatly.
October 21, 2014 @ 10:22 am
I hate to always ask questions like this, but what was wrong with “Turn on the Radio”? thought it was a decent song myself. It wasn’t the next “Fancy”, but it certainly was miles ahead of anything from 2014.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:55 am
I just felt it was trying to be hip for the younger crowd, with lines like “text me, twitter me…” and all that. It was written by a younger girl (name eludes me) and her original is on YouTube and it just feels like a better fit for a younger artist. Also it was slightly over produced too my tastes.
Maybe I’m just nostalgic for, “Why Haven’t I Heard From You?” and “Take It Back” LOL!
October 21, 2014 @ 2:56 pm
Funny, when those two songs were on the radio it made me nostalgic for “The Last One to Know” and “How Blue”.
October 21, 2014 @ 6:32 pm
I’d have gone for “He Broke Your Memory Last Night” or “Have I Got A Deal For You” in place of “The Last One to Know,” but yeah, exactly…
October 21, 2014 @ 11:13 am
Hey no need to bring Shania Twain into this. She’s one of the reasons females were huge in the late 90s and early 2000s. She always acknowledged that she was country/pop and loved both genres. I’m just waiting for a new Twain cd!
October 21, 2014 @ 12:09 pm
I like Shania too, her music is fun and catchy. When she was popular radio was still pretty decent, so you’d hear a Shania song and then the next few songs would be Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, etc. I wouldn’t have wanted everything to sound like Shania*, but heck yeah it was fun when “I’m Outta Here” came on.
*I’d say that’s how it is now with FGL, etc, but that would be an insult to Shania. Even her silliest songs were sung in coherent English.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:23 pm
Sure, Patrick, Shania was great for female “country” singers in the late 1990s, just as Britney Spears was great for female pop singers in the late 1990s and just as Justin Bieber was great for male pop singers in the last few years. If sales numbers are the only thing that matters, you might be right. But an artist’s music is more important to me than her sales numbers. And gender quotas are no excuse for bad music.
Shania was in some respects even worse for country fans than Taylor Swift. The double CD format of “Up!”, with “country” and pop versions of every song, was a such a brainless and soulless idea that no crossover star that I am aware of has tried it since then. She seems to have a very transactional relationship with her fans. I’ve read her autobiography and what struck me most was that I don’t remember her having anything to say about the direction of contemporary country music and the impact of her pop music on the genre’s identity. She’s been asked if she’s country and she gave answers that I thought were very Clintonesque and evasive. And I’m not aware of her having a major hit song either before she met Mutt Lange, or after they were divorced.
October 22, 2014 @ 9:21 am
This reminds me, does anyone else remember the Mercury Triple Play? It was a marketing gimmick Mercury Records employed to jump-start the careers of Toby Keith, Shania Twain, and John Brannen. They released the eponymous debuts of the three artists the same day and sent them out on tour together. They also released a press kit and a sampler CD with songs from all three artists to radio (I still have one somewhere) to promote them. It seemed to work out alright for Toby Keith as he hit the top of the charts right out of the box with “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”; Shania had a couple of tunes from her debut top out in the lower half of the top 100, and John Brannen went completely under the radar and quit the music business for several years before re-emerging as a small-time MOR artist in the John Mellencamp-Jackson Brown vein.
Anyway, I think you are correct that her marriage to/professional relationship with Mutt Lange had as much to do with Shania’s success as anything. He took over for her second album and marketed and produced her like a rock act, producing albums 8-10 cuts deep rather than mixing 3-4 potential hits with a bunch of filler tunes. And the only song she’s released since the breakup was a bomb.
October 21, 2014 @ 1:04 pm
how come kentucky headhunters never get mentioned when people are figuring out why country is now rock?
interview from the news banner up top here
“We didn’t sound, look or act like anybody else. We were writing rock and roll and southern rock songs with southern sensibilities. A lot of people saw the video, and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
October 21, 2014 @ 2:59 pm
But outside of “Oh Lonesome Me”, their most notable singles were covers of classic country hits.
October 21, 2014 @ 3:00 pm
Sorry, I meant “Dumas Walker”. Obviously “Oh Lonesome Me” was a classic country cover.
October 21, 2014 @ 3:25 pm
You nailed it , Bear …on all points !
Shania DID take country over to the ‘dark side ‘. She was a pop singer from the get-go . I can’t recall anything by her that wasn’t a trite , substance-less , insignificant lyric ..although I don’t have her albums and stand to be corrected on THAT particular point. Her knockout looks sold her music to an audience that wasn’t country oriented at all – much like what the ‘hip, trendy , ball-capped and T-shirted Bro boys are doing now .
It was painful for me to watch REBA try to play that pop game . She’s a Singer with a capital ” S ” ( unlike Shania ) and I wouldn’t have thought she’d want to or need to go that route . Like Shania , Reba , in my opinion , has never looked more amazing . I only hope she’ll stick to her roots musically and not let this NASH thing turn her into a trend-chasing over-aged teenager . Talent-wise , Reba , most would agree I’m sure , is the real deal .
October 21, 2014 @ 7:25 pm
Bear, you are wrong Reba always does “Turn On The Radio”, just saw her 10 days ago. Great song.
October 21, 2014 @ 10:51 pm
You know, when I hear the song “Turn On The Radio” I hear a double entendre, though I don’t know if it was intended. The song sounds like it was written for a radio format that has targeted younger audiences. The point of the song might be to get radio airplay, get the attention of radio programmers. “Turn on” the radio.
I do think Reba is a great fit for the NASH Icons format. She was born a country girl, she has a big voice with a lot of emotion, and she can nail those classic country tunes. She’s mature, but recent enough that most long time country radio listeners over 30 have heard some of her music. I’d also like to see Lee Ann Womack, Patty Loveless, and Alan Jackson on NASH Icons.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:34 pm
Patty Loveless has one of the most solid catalogs out there, I also enjoy Kathy Mattea. And while Trisha Yearwood also has a near flawless catalog her new album has me worried if Garth’s rebirth is a sign of things to come from that camp. Also being a duet with Kelly Clarkson while not bad has me fearing Trisha may go too pop her last record was amazing, though.
Others I’d hope to see reborn on Icons; Pam Tillis, Lorrie Morgan, Suzy Boggus, Nanci Griffith, Iris Dement, Dwight Yoakum, Marty Stuart, Chris LeDoux, VInce Gill, Bobbie Cryner, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Carlene Carter, Aaron Tippin, Wynonna…
October 21, 2014 @ 11:39 pm
Well, since you are on the forum right now, I suppose the 3 of us could start the NASH Icon petition…
Speaking of Pam Tillis, I was listening to the 1995 ACM yesterday and the following song definitely caught my attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAsIAiyqHKk
The combination of the deep lyrics, gorgeous music, and Pam’s heavenly voice gave me physical chills. After listening to this, Pam Tillis has definitely rocketed to near the top of my list of greatest female country singers.
October 22, 2014 @ 6:22 am
Nash won’t be signing Chris LeDoux as he died in 2005….
October 23, 2014 @ 6:39 am
Maybe with in the case of Chris LeDoux he was talking about a literal rebirth?
I don’t know if the figurative use of the term really applies to Nanci Griffith or Iris Dement as neither of them has ever had much of a mainstream radio presence. And although I’d love to hear them on the radio, I don’t think their sound really fits NASH’s 80s/90s/current mix.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:34 pm
I am still burning with envy over having no NASH Icon station here in the Bay Area, with KRTY and the new Cumulus pop-country station being the only country options. Maybe the two of us could start a petition to bring NASH Icon here…
October 21, 2014 @ 11:45 pm
Oh man, that song… I know this cliche gets said often over the decades but THEY DON”T make em like that anymore. I ADORE that song but “Shake The Sugar Tree” may be my favorite. Pam did a few cheesy numbers like “Cleopatra, Queen of Denial” (fun but cheesy) and the hit or miss project with Lorrie Morgan “Dos Divas” but when she was on she was ON. Helps having your Mel Tillis as your father.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:47 pm
Eric, I hear you. KRTY has been a big disappointment. They’re supposed to be one of those small, scrappy, “independent” stations but their playlist is corporate country, bro country and pop country crap. I think there are many people who are not mainstream country fans who could be convinced of the artistic merits of the genre if they’d hear some Alison Krauss or Ashley Monroe, or if they heard a wider range of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson tunes. Heck, the majority of people in the Bay Area might describe their music tastes as “anything but country”, but still the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco gets a good turnout, largely from people who don’t listen to corporate country.
But as one of the 1% of people in KRTY’s market who actually live in what the Census Bureau considers to be “the country”, I doubt their radio programmers care much about what I think of “country” music.
October 22, 2014 @ 12:05 am
Do you actually get KRTY reception in the Santa Cruz Mountains? Every time I have driven there, I have received little to no signal. It seems that 94.5 KBAY is just about the only one of my regular stations that actually transmits a strong signal there.
Of course, I generally drive near the northern end of Santa Clara County, relatively far from San Jose, and the reception might be better in the mountains near Saratoga, for example.
October 22, 2014 @ 8:22 am
Eric, I do get good reception with KRTY, probably because their transmitter is only a few miles away. KRTY’s transmitter is on a mountain above Los Gatos. I don’t think they have a very strong signal, and I’ve noticed that reception fades out in the hills on the Peninsula west of Redwood City and Palo Alto.
October 22, 2014 @ 4:07 pm
Woah! someone mentioning my hometown area!
I grew up in the mountains just south of Saratoga…I guess I don’t really have much to add to the conversation though, because I was mostly just listening to cassette tapes back then, but damn, do I miss that area, I’m down in LA now, and I can’t see moving back up any time soon, because there isn’t much of a country bar circuit up there (as far as I know) and It’d be harder to make money…
how is it up there these days?
October 23, 2014 @ 12:42 pm
Eli,
Saratoga is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited in America. From the standpoint of both scenery and culture, it is, in my opinion, one of the best places for living (although I live well to the north, in the flat area of Silicon Valley).
The downside, of course, is that prices are skyrocketing all over this region. The place is fast becoming unaffordable for the middle class.
October 22, 2014 @ 6:06 am
I would sign a petition for Pam or Patty!!!
October 22, 2014 @ 5:43 am
Reba performs Turn on the Radio at every single concert….she closes her show with it and then returns to perform Fancy as her encore. It wasn’ty favorite song either until I saw her perform it live and she absolutely tears it up on stage with that one!
October 21, 2014 @ 10:24 am
Trigger, might there be any other connotations to Reba being the first signing to the NASH Icon label? Remember, she apparently doesn’t think the Opry fits her image anymore. That’s about a sacrilegious a comment I’ve heard from any established country music artist, particularly one that began their career in the ’70s.
October 21, 2014 @ 10:38 am
The validity of that quote has been questioned, and whether it was true or not, it’s not like it was said in some public forum and is top of mind to anyone but in-touch music nerds such as ourselves. I really don’t think that had any impact.
October 22, 2014 @ 5:56 am
There is no
October 22, 2014 @ 5:58 am
There is no source for this quote…considering Reba was just there to invite LBT to join Id say we can file that where it belongs…
October 21, 2014 @ 10:39 am
Great for Reba and country fans. Also a smart move on NASH Icon’s part. A big name with commercial appeal and a traditional sound. What I’ll be curious to see is if they go after some smaller names from the 90s for the label since Garth, Strait and Jackson (the big three) aren’t signing with them. I’d love to see artists like Sammy Kershaw and Ronnie Dunn get a shot with NASH Icon. I think Dunn is a strong possibility, but Kershaw might be more of long shot (the world needs to hear more of his music because he’s criminally underrated).
October 21, 2014 @ 1:32 pm
I’m for Clint Black. He hasn’t put out a new album in a decade and hasn’t been all that relevant in even longer. I feel like he could make a bit of a comeback with someone like Scott Borchetta in his corner. His songs are all over many classic stations as is.
October 21, 2014 @ 2:10 pm
I could definitely see Black signing with NASH Icon. I would also like to hear his music on the radio. He’s one of the artists on my list who’s catalog I need to take a better look at. I’m not real familiar with his music, but from the songs I’ve heard I like him.
October 21, 2014 @ 5:39 pm
Well he’s definitely worth the time. Though Black is often overshadowed due to his career going M.I.A. as of late and the fact that he was a contemporary of Garth Brooks, he was the quickest out of the Class of ’89 gate. His debut album Killin’ Time is considered one of the best and most important country music albums in history (and even made our resident Triggerman’s “Greatest Albums of All Time” list a while ago). One of the more notable elements of his work ethic is that he rarely cuts songs that he himself did not have at least a part in writing. A lot of fans have called this arrogance and pointed to it for his eventual “downfall” but I digress.
It’s interesting that you’re not too familiar with his work. He was all over the radio and consistently racked up Platinum records throughout the entirety of the ’90s. Only when his contract with RCA expired did his gravy train come to an end. He made the decision not to renew that contract and instead start his own independent label, Equity Records, and released his first album on that imprint in 2004 called Spend My Time. I personally think that’s the worst album of his career bar none, but that’s getting away from the point of the story. Anyways, it had some modest chart success but suffered due to his label’s lack of funds to put toward promotion. Ironically, he followed that album up with one of his best albums Drinkin’ Songs & Other Logic in 2005, which was even less successful. He then took a break due to some legal issues with Equity, mostly dealing with young upstarts Little Big Town, that had been signed to the label but left once they became famous due to some oversights on management’s part. Clint released a three (four if you got it from iTunes) song extended play by the name of The Long Cool EP in 2008. To date, this has been Black’s last hurrah as Equity ended up closing its doors in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Since then, there have been off and on rumblings of a new album. It’s really disappointing because I imagine that there are a few albums worth of material sitting in his vaults. He didn’t quit working on new material so much as lose his outlet for releasing it. Yet again, he’s speaking of a new album as recently as a few months ago and has even embarked on a tour, so hopefully new music isn’t far off. Ideally, Clint Black would be a great candidate for this program because he is essentially labeless, in contrast with other talent that might need to be drawn away from whatever deal they’re in independent or not. I’d also nominate Ricky Van Shelton, but he’s essentially retired at this point.
October 21, 2014 @ 6:01 pm
Thanks for the background on him. I made a recent post on my site about how I wasn’t really that familiar with Garth Brooks’ music either. I was born in 1992 and probably didn’t start to remember what I heard on the radio until about 1998. So with the majority of Black’s most prominent work coming before I was born or wasn’t listening to music, that explains why I’m not familiar with his work.
Personally I don’t think it’s arrogant at all he likes to record stuff that only he had a hand in writing. I think it’s actually commendable and many artists today should do this themselves. His career certainly sounds like an interesting one and I’m probably going to go dive into his music later tonight now that you’ve got me intrigued. This seems like a no-brainer signing for NASH Icon.
October 21, 2014 @ 6:08 pm
Okay after listening to a few songs off his greatest hits CD I take back not hearing his music before. I recognize it now after hearing it again. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him sing 🙂
October 22, 2014 @ 11:32 am
Killin time and Put yourself in my shoes. Two albums that should be in everyone’s collection. His next few were great also, but those two have always truly stuck with me.
October 22, 2014 @ 4:10 pm
Sammy Kershaw is too damn good. I just bought a bunch of 90’s country cds…clint black, Sammy Kershaw, Tracy Byrd and a bunch of other guys, I just got the greatest hits so I could get a bit of a taste of all of their music (I was a kid when they were big, and we mostly played Asleep at the wheel, some other older country acts, and the beatles during their heyday.
October 21, 2014 @ 11:59 am
I hope there’ll be a way to listen to listen to NASH in Canada, especially if they play new music from my favorite artists. I haven’t listened to any radio in 5+ years.
Like I said on the FGL post, the worst part of “nu-country” is in the rush to skew to the youngest demographic possible (what’s next, a duet between Tyler Hubbard and Dora the Explorer?), it’s pushed the more traditional artists off the radio. Alan Jackson released a very strong album a couple years ago and none of the singles even cracked the top 10. If ALAN FREAKING JACKSON can’t get airplay on country radio, there’s something seriously wrong. I hope this will create a buzz for more traditional artists and female artists, even those who don’t sign with the label.
Now, how to get airplay for 20somethings like Ashley Monroe and Kellie Pickler who make great music, yet get passed over for Sam Hunt and Cole Swindell on country radio?
October 23, 2014 @ 6:43 am
“what”™s next, a duet between Tyler Hubbard and Dora the Explorer?”
I’m pretty sure Bryan Kelley is the voice of Dora the Explorer anyway so we’ve already heard that.
October 21, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
Very good choice.
On a similar note, I was watching the 1995 ACM on Youtube yesterday. One thing I was struck by, other than the high quality of music, was how sober and un-flashy the whole event was. It is clear that country music back then was aiming for a very different audience than today.
I also really liked the time that was devoted to honoring the legendary songs and artists in country music, especially the medley of old songs performed by new artists.
Here’s the video, for those interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dd-4hU-Lbs
October 21, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
Thanks for the link!
October 21, 2014 @ 1:54 pm
“I also really liked the time that was devoted to honoring the legendary songs and artists in country music, especially the medley of old songs performed by new artists.”
It was that very thing – that respect and honor shown to previous generations of performers – that turned this punk-era Bostonian into a country music fan back in the early 80s when it was FAR from the cool thing to listen to in the Northeast! Music Row has turned its back on that sense of legacy in its pursuit of the youth $$$. Hopefully Nash ICON takes off and shows them the error of their ways.
October 21, 2014 @ 4:26 pm
Thank you for the link! I was most struck by the awards featuring a “Best New Female” category. It’s not a combo of male and female like it is in many award shows today.
October 21, 2014 @ 5:34 pm
Thanks for the link, Eric.
I’m not much of a 90’s mainstream country guy, but I think we can all agree that things have changed drastically even since then.
However, I still think Jeff Foxworthy is a goober.
October 22, 2014 @ 4:12 pm
That was great. I imagine Tanya had tongues wagging in her day.
October 21, 2014 @ 5:32 pm
Since the new ‘Nash Icon’ format launched in my town, I made it a pre-set on my radio dial. I typically don’t listen to much FM radio, but I do flip to the station occasionally to keep tabs on what they’re playing. For example, the other day I turned on my radio and caught Don Williams’ “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good” coming through with crystal clear sound, complete with extended mandolin solo at the end. This put me in a great mood. Then, after the station ID sweeper blasted in to say “Nash Icon… the best music and the most variety,” the opening beat of Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” began to assault my eardrums. Before Luke could get to “jacked-up truck,” I had mumbled an expletive and slammed my radio dial off. On another recent occasion I was amazed to hear Glen Cambell’s farewell single “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” on the same station, but again, it was followed up by Cole Swindell.
Nash Icon needs to ditch the bro-country content immediately if it wants to keep certain people listening. I know Trigger specifically said as much in an article a few weeks back, but it bears repeating over and over again. I think bringing more new music from mature artists on board will be a huge step in the right direction of course; I doubt a Reba McEntire song would ever cause me to slam my radio off or switch stations in disgust unless it was truly embarrassing on the level of say, “Lookin’ For That Girl.” But the fact that Cumulus has been successful so far by splitting the difference between mainstream pop-country and older music makes me think the format won’t truly split at all, as least not to my satisfaction. I think the programmers need to understand that the bro-country material is like toxic poison to a lot of folks. Not only do I not care for it, I find it literally intolerable.
October 21, 2014 @ 7:14 pm
I think its a food deal for Reba. Usually, late in careers, the majors will not touch you no matter what you did for them in the past, and with the at least short term success of Nash icon radio, that label is poised to be a major. Would love to see Alabama, Alan Jackson, and Travis Tritt sign on. Would give any new material some air play on the Nash icon stations.
October 21, 2014 @ 7:15 pm
*good* not food. Stupid auto correct.
December 24, 2014 @ 8:13 am
This good deal will keep food on Reba’s table so you’re right on both counts! 🙂
October 22, 2014 @ 7:51 am
Reba is very competitive. She wants to remain relevant.
We barely hear a whisper from Martina, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Clark, Jo Dee Messina, Sara Evans, Kellie Pickler, Faith and Alison Krauss.
October 25, 2014 @ 3:35 am
Don’t know if he was mentioned but Mark Chestnut is another guy who I would like to hear more often.