Country Music People August 2019 | Page 4

country MUSIC PEOPLE News Walt Trott in Nashville Duncan Warwick in London AUGUST 2019 Volume 50 Number 8 Issue 594 Editor Duncan Warwick Contributors David Allan, Janet Aspley, Donnie Ayers, Craig Baguley, Tony Byworth, Larry Delaney, Don Cusic, Julie Flaskett, Kelly Gregory, Michael Hingston, Stan Hitchcock, Tony Ives, Spencer Leigh, John Lomax III, Adrian Peel, Paul Riley, Alex Rossi, Wayne Smart, Chris Smith, Tom Travis, Walt Trott, Dave Watkins, Jack Watkins New release consultant: Steve Tidbury Assistant editor / Special projects coordinator Kelly Gregory Photographers Patricia Presley, Barry Dixon, Billie McAleer Printed by Micropress www.micropress.co.uk I f you feel that country radio is not catering to your tastes you might want to check out the new online station Gimme Country. It’s available online via gimmecountry. com and through an app available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. Aiming to “give the fans a truly unique music experience – one that at its core celebrates the vibrant community of country music fans that just don’t have a home,” is its mission, according to CEO Tyler Lenane. “There are legions of fans of country music that are just not being served by the other digital music services or traditional radio,” he also said. Among those presenting shows on Gimme Country are Lee Ann Womack, Brandy Clark, and newcomer Dillon Carmichael as well as the tantalisingly named “The Grand Tour” which is presented by Joshua Hedley and features just the kind of classic country one might expect from Hedley. Lee Ann Womack said in a statement, “Gimme Country is the perfect place for me to showcase the range of my musical tastes and play my favourite classics and new favourites all in the same show.” Previously, the people behind Gimme Country focused on ‘Metal’ but they also plan to roll out other genres using a similar format. Distributor Seymour International Press Distributors Ltd. 2 East Poultry Avenue London EC1A 9PT Telephone [phone] Country Music People is published the last Thursday of each month by KICKIN’ CUTS LIMITED 24 Darley Close, Wittering, Peterborough PE8 6EQ, UK Telephone [phone] - 783689 [email protected] www.cmpcountry.com CRY PLAGIARISM C ©2019 Kickin’ Cuts Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for statement of fact or opinion expressed by contributors. The views of the contributors are not necessarily those of Country Music People or its editor. 4 cmp - AUGUST 2019 arrie Underwood, along with the NFL (National Football League) and TV network NBC, have been hit with a lawsuit claiming the theme from this year’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ has been plagiarised. In the lawsuit, filed by singer Heidi Merrill, Alex Wong, Jeff Cohen, and Niclas Lundin in Manhattan, they claim copyright infringement on their 2016 song Game On. Merrill claims that she pitched her song to Underwood’s producer, Mark Bright, at a Nashville event in 2017 and that a couple of month’s later received an email from Bright’s assistant saying that he and Underwood were going to pass on the song. The Cry Pretty singer then went on to write a song also called Game On, with co- writers Chris DeStefano and Brett James. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs state that not only do the songs share the same title but that the Underwood song includes “substantially–even strikingly–similar, if not identical” musical elements, including its main hook. Underwood, the NFL and NBC have yet to comment, but for what it’s worth we reckon they’re distinctly different except for the title.