Kenny Whitmire Signs with MCADate Signed: May 2026Label: MCAType of Music: CountryManagement: River House ArtistsBooking: The Neal AgencyLegal: Hunter Cottingham PLLCPublicity: LEDEA&R: MCAWeb: kennywhitmire.com

Hailing from Woodstock, GA, Kenny Whitmire came to Nashville in 2022. The blossoming country star’s music draws on ‘90s-flavored hits every bit as much as the genre’s most famous traditionalists. He started putting original songs on social media, with one in particular, “I Gave Her The Moon,” taking off big time and generating a wave of industry attention.

Yet the wheels were already in motion for signing with MCA before that happened. Zebb Luster, who would eventually become Whitmire’s manager, connected him with Hannah Wilson, one of the storied label’s A&R reps. “She came to watch me play a gig, and soon after we had a little meeting,” reveals the crooner, whose voice has been compared to Keith Whitley and Randy Travis. “We got dinner and talked about music.”

That led to Wilson connecting Whitmire with producer Dave Cobb. “I had some phone calls with him, which is the coolest thing in the world,” admits Whitmire, “because I grew up on a lot of Chris Stapleton.” The artist was also impressed by MCA’s current crop of rising newcomers, including Carter Faith and Vincent Mason. 

Before offering a contract, the brass at MCA had Whitmire perform a quick acoustic show in their offices. “I played them five or six songs I had been writing. They seemed to enjoy most of them,” he recalls with characteristic modesty. Whitmire believes that the quality of his songwriting, combined with his videos going viral, is what ultimately got the venerable label to put forth a deal.

“It felt like the right choice. I trusted my gut and the good Lord,” tells Whitmire. Instinct aside, he sought the opinion of fellow Georgian Austin Snell, for whom he’d played guitar. “I talked to him a lot about what I should do,” he recalls. “And he seemed to be aligned with MCA.”

Whitmire further felt comfortable going with MCA based on Luster’s advice. “I put all my trust in him,” the young performer swears. “I knew he had my best interests at heart.” And despite meeting with other labels, he wanted to remain loyal to the home that first showed interest, calling it “a pretty easy choice.”

The down-to-earth singer is currently in the midst of a major tour supporting Billy Currington, Ian Munsick, and Tracy Lawrence. His debut EP, Fool In A King Size Bed, is out now.The post Kenny Whitmire Signs with MCA first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Authentic Brands Group acquires majority stake in IP of Drake’s OVO brandAs part of the transaction, Authentic network partner Vince Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: VNCE) has acquired OVO's operating business and will oversee the brand's design, product development, merchandising, and retail stores.
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10 Great Rock Albums That Were Completely Ignored When They Came Out

Kyle Fishman Signs with ERN’s Cadillac MusicDate Signed: June 2026Publisher: ERN’s Cadillac MusicType of Music: Country, Pop, RockManagement: Lauren LieuPublicity: Corey Brewer, Rachel Heatherly, Big Loud - corey@bigloud.comA&R: Mike Giangreco, Dane Schmidt

Born and raised in California, Kyle Fishman has been making music most of his life. He started out playing in death metal bands and touring throughout his teens, but he always liked other genres, including pop and country. 

Fishman began making a name for himself as a songwriter, collaborating with rock bands such as Underoath, The Used, and Story Of The Year. He eventually formed a friendship with fellow writer Dallas Davidson, who offered him a deal with his company, Play It Again Music Publishing, on the condition that he would move to Nashville. “I’ll be there tomorrow,” Fishman responded. “I just packed a backpack and my computer and left.”

At the time, Davidson was renting the top floor of Big Loud from the renowned label’s owner and founder, Craig Wiseman. Fishman moved in and started collaborating with others, including Morgan Wallen and a rapper named SNO (Ernest Keith Smith). Smith and Fishman continued creating together at each other’s studios during the seven or eight years Fishman was signed with Play It Again Music.

Fishman then took a break from publishing, remaining a free agent for over a year. Meanwhile, Smith reinvented himself as a country artist under the stage name ERNEST. In 2023, he founded his own publishing house, ERN’s Cadillac Music, through Big Loud Publishing and located on that third floor where Fishman had once lived. One day, Smith casually dropped that, if Fishman ever wanted another publishing deal, he’d be happy to sign him. 

Being friends for so long meant negotiating the agreement was simple. “I told them what I wanted and expected, and he told me what he wanted and expected,” explains Fishman. “It kind of lined up perfectly.” Fishman has penned hits for artists such as Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, and Dustin Lynch. With that kind of talent, it’s no surprise many other publishers made overtures, but going with ERNEST was the only decision he seriously considered. 

Besides bringing his Music City journey full circle, signing with ERN’s Cadillac Music feels like a homecoming. “It’s a friends and family vibe,” states Fishman, whose country-oriented production and writing credits now include Kenny Chesney, Florida Georgia Line, and Blake Shelton. “It’s a really comfortable and creative place to be. It’s just like hanging with your friends and songs happen in between.”The post Kyle Fishman Signs with ERN’s Cadillac Music first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Luminate launches AI music identification framework, with ‘AI Generated’ labels reaching CONNECT later this yearLuminate says its CONNECT platform "can now flag AI-generated songs and artists worldwide."
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The First Albums That Started It All for AllMusic’s Editors

Dummy Signs with Polyvinyl Record Co.Date Signed: March 2026Label: Polyvinyl Record Co.Band Members: Alex Ewell, drums, synths; Emma Maatman, vocals, synths, organ; Nathan O’Dell, vocals, guitar, organ; Joe Trainor, guitar, synths; Lance Umble, bassType of Music: Ambient RockManagement: Eric Mayers, Red Light Management - eric.mayers@redlightmanagement.comBooking: Geoff McGovern - Ground Control Touring, geoff@groundcontroltouring.com Legal: Paul SommersteinPublicity: Patrick Tilley / Pitch Perfect PR, patrick@pitchperfectpr.comA&R: Seth HubbardWeb: notdummy.com

For ambient rockers Dummy, making music a full-time endeavor wasn’t part of the original equation. “Our ambition was solely artistic,” asserts guitarist Joe Trainor. “The goal was just to make music we thought was cool, play some shows, and maybe put out a cassette.” 

And yet, through focusing on their craft, they earned the attention of Trouble In Mind Records. The husband-and-wife duo that founded the Chicago-based indie had discovered Dummy during the pandemic and decided to reach out. A conversation about likeminded artists ensued. “They were dweebs about music in the same way we were,” explains Trainor.

Two albums later, the couple shut down the label, leaving Dummy in the lurch. The band soldiered on and recorded a demo for their third LP, with Trainor assuming the duty of sending the tune to friends on labels they liked. One was Fred Thomas whose group, Saturday Looks Good To Me, is signed to Polyvinyl Record Co., home to artists such as Laura Jane Grace, Deerhoof, and The Get Up Kids. Thomas subsequently passed a note to the label’s cofounders, Darcie Knight and Matt Lunsford, informing them the band was a free agent.

As luck would have it, the label’s heads were already fans. For their part, Dummy’s members had been lovers of all things Polyvinyl for a long time. Trainor recalls discovering one of their leading artists, Rainer Maria, while he was still in high school. “In college, I was obsessed with all those records,” chimes in drummer Alex Ewell. “It was a dream label for us.”

Polyvinyl is much larger than Trouble In Mind, thus allowing the band greater financial resources for everything from longer studio sessions to lusher album packaging. “For the first time, we have a budget for music videos and stuff like that,” rambles Trainor with glee. 

The label is also putting out Dummy’s first two albums, Mandatory Enjoyment and Free Energy. Neither has been commercially available for approximately a year. Notes Trainor with gratitude, “We’re stoked that those records will be back in stores.”The post Dummy Signs with Polyvinyl Record Co. first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

The Amazon Pain ForestThe latest 'Tim's Take' from Music Business Worldwide founder, Tim Ingham
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Maria BC’s Marathon Tour of the US Comes to a Close

A Song That Changed My Life: The Wldlfe on John Mayer’s “The Age of Worry”The Band Members: Jansen Hogan, lead vocals; Carson Hogan, guitars, keyboards, vocals; Jack Crane, bass.

The Storyteller: Jansen Hogan of The Wldlfe

The Song: Warm and rolling, the bright, lilting guitar of John Mayer’s “The Age of Worry” effortlessly floats above a complex, swirling rhythm of a waltz-like, swaying cadence, creating a comforting, nostalgia-inducing soundscape. This soothing, rhythmic sleight of hand is further amplified by a set of free-verse lyrics, in which whispers of worry about attaining perceived self-perfection are ultimately quelled by a serene, simple mantra of existing unmasked as oneself.

By bypassing predictable pop patterns and rigid lyrical schemes, Mayer cleverly manipulates traditional musical formulas to achieve an emotional prosody that comforts the subconscious. This juxtaposition of off-kilter rhythm and rhyme allows the song to stay steeped in its inherent worry while morphing it into an anthem of resilience.

The Background: Adopting the old-school band-in-a-van, life-on-the-road principle—eschewing the fleeting, frantic rush of immediate digital boom-or-bust—the Indy-to-Music City band The Wldlfe embraced the local circuit, a traditional grind where die-hard fanbases are forged through the irreplaceable chemistry born on a live stage. This slow-burn causeway became the engine of the polished indie-pop outfit’s survival, fueling the grit required to drop their first self-released EP, New (2016) — propelled into streaming circulation by the sweet-sounding, painfully passionate single “Waterfalls.”

While continuing their tireless touring sojourns, the band found a fertile sanctuary within their pockets of time to hone their songwriting skills, eventually helping them craft their guitar-driven, retro-glow melodies. Through a rapid succession of self-funded releases spanning from 2017 to 2020—highlighted by the multi-single compilation Waking Up Is Hard To Do (2020) —The Wldlfe steadily boosted their visibility across digital platforms with readily accessible music, while injecting their setlists with fresh tracks for the I-65 faithful.

Continuing to navigate their van-to-studio routine for a few years, they eventually settled in Nashville, surrounding themselves within its historic songwriting roundtables. Seeking to build on this new creative foundation, the band expanded their digital dossier and refined their sonic identity, while sustaining a relentless release schedule. This prolific work ethic resulted in a diverse catalog of music that includes the bright grooves of their defining release Repaint My Mind (2021), the cinematic evolution of Goodbye To All Of That (2023), and the unforgettable hooks and catchy rhythms of Heaven is a place (2024).

Fast forward to the present, and the trio is entering their most ambitious era yet. With their upcoming full-length album, Revolver, scheduled to arrive via Riser House Records, the band is primed to channel years of self-funded creativity into a definitive new chapter. As The Wldlfe prepares to step onto larger national stages, they hold fast to the foundational lessons learned, drawing on the concept of unmasking oneself to achieve true artistic integrity.

The Story: There is a distinct, almost magical synergy in the way music and physical movement intertwine; when they align, a song can effortlessly loop a listener back to a specific place and time. This form of neural nostalgia, specifically auditory-motor entrainment, is especially common in a highly creative mind. Many artists find themselves pulling melodies, rhythms, or harmonic textures from the past; however, it is also their intrinsic nature to look toward the future: always observing and searching for the special spark needed to create what does not yet exist.

While this backward-and-forward-looking vantage point is often unsettling — where the creator is trapped in a paradox, and tomorrow's anticipation overshadows today's reality — syncing with a song that settles into the present can instantly snap the subconscious back to the safety of its origins. For Jansen Hogan, hearing John Mayer's "The Age of Worry" pulled off this rare trick: it used the comforting sounds of yesterday to secure him in the present, helping him make the conscious choice to simply exist unmasked.“I remember listening to John Mayer's Heavier Things in the car with my dad and that kind of being the catalyst for me loving music," he recalls. But while those early records lit the initial spark, a deeper, more individual connection was waiting down the road. "I think the first song that really felt personal for me was a song of John's called 'The Age of Worry.' Although Born and Raised aged quite well for me over time, 'The Age of Worry' was one of the few on the record that felt like what I remembered listening to with my dad, and something that was fresh and new."

Beyond that childhood connection, Hogan was drawn to the song because of its specific musical layout. “The cadence of it felt similar to a hymn, and that has always been an ear-catcher for me personally. It feels like the best way to tell a story while maintaining a melody that feels familiar,” he notes. That rhythmic familiarity offered a peace of mind for the threads of thought that easily unravel. "I've always been a person who is thinking toward the future and not always living in the moment," Hogan admits. "Spending so much time thinking about what has yet to come can sometimes turn into a vacuum of 'worry.' This song put that into perspective in a way that felt really positive for me."

To break out of that overwhelming mindset, he found comfort in the track's straightforward lyrics. “‘Smile in the age of worry’ is the punchline, so to speak, and maybe it isn't the most poetic lyric in this song, but it represents that, to a certain point, there can be a conscious choice when it comes to how we view life day-to-day. It's a good reminder."

The track’s unique arrangement also revealed a brilliant lesson in artistic contrast that directly influences Hogan's own approach to music. "I really like the juxtaposition of taking something that lyrically has maybe a somber tone to it, and making it into something that feels light," he explains. "I could only hope to write a song as good as this one though!" This realization of how a song can balance heavy emotions with a light atmosphere completely changed how Hogan approaches his songwriting. It allowed him to shed the pressure of trying to create perfect music, revealing that the act of simply playing often yields the best ideas. “I feel like I fall in love with songs when it's just a guitar or piano and I can just freestyle. I think sometimes what needs to be said finds its way out when you take away the 'box,' and give lyrics the freedom to fall where they may." 

Photo Credit: Alex GreenThe post A Song That Changed My Life: The Wldlfe on John Mayer’s “The Age of Worry” first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

5 things to know about Round Hill’s Suno and Anthropic lawsuits: model weights, extraction tools, and a $75M numberRound Hill says statutory damages could approach or exceed $1 billion in each case, and intends to take both Suno and Anthropic to trial.
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Untitled With Drums’ Made Flesh album review by Kurt Orzeck

Phil Robinson at The Laurie Beechman Theater, New York, NYContact: phil.robinson@roomfulofsky.comWeb: instagram.com/philrobinsonmusicPlayers: Phil Robinson, vocals, guitar, harmonica; Anthony Surace, electric guitar; Jason Vitelli, keyboards, vocals, sax, guitar; John Carlos Feliciano, bass; Ryan McBride, drums; Swagata Biswas, vocals; Lisa Trenary, vocals; Samantha Echo, vocals; Heather Conrad, vocals; Maxie Poe, vocals, percussion.

One way to ring in your birthday is to book a performance and invite your music colleagues and friends to share the stage. That’s just how Phil Robinson chose to celebrate his big day. Treating us to 90 minutes of his mix of pop, rock, and blues, Robinson covered the gamut with originals and covers. Kicking off the set with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” followed by George Michael’s “Careless Whisper,” the show ramped up the mood and enthusiasm of both performers and audience. In “25 Miles,” one of his originals, Robinson recalls the drive home from college after an exhausting semester. The long anticipatory lead up, almost spoken, breaks into a quasi-frenzied rant conveying the urgency to reach his destination. One can’t help being all in with “Through the Middle,” with its infectious hook that repeats numerous times, making it hard to forget. 

Widely known for his harmonica playing, lending his talents to many other artists, a highpoint in the show was “Transcendental Cowboy.” The playing was smooth and polished adding further sonic dimension to the set. 

Not knowing what a typical Robinson show looks like and strictly from a staging perspective, less might be more. The crowded space and numerous female backup singers in a rainbow of colored dresses, made it hard to take in everything simultaneously. Because Robinson shares the stage with so many performers the focus on him is sometimes deflected. Moving the singers to the back or sides and featuring each when the spotlight is on them would keep Robinson front and center. But he easily grabs it back with his gift of gab and does not leave any empty moments. There’s always an anecdote to share or an endearing quip, “I’m New Jersey’s third favorite singer,” he proclaims. Or a shout out to his mom who couldn’t attend the show. 

He closed with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” always a poignant note to end on.

Overall, it was an entertaining and celebratory evening from a performer who knows how to give his audience exactly what they came for. The post Phil Robinson at The Laurie Beechman Theater, New York, NY first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

New Music Critique of RohmeelaContact: rohmeela.sound@gmail.comWeb: SpotifySeeking: Label, Booking, AirplayStyle: Afro-Fusion, Afro-Hip

Rohmeela, born Chukwumela Ohia, blends hip-hop with afro-beat, and the results are startlingly effective. Rohmeela creates sounds that make dancing practically compulsory. “Give Me Love” and “Crazy Love” have a “slow dance in the dancehall” vibe, while “3 Minutes” is where the artist shows off his rap skills. It all makes for a heady brew, as Rohmeela combines his ability to sing and spit rhymes, while telling his authentic tales. He can switch from romantic to aggressive at the shake of a dog’s tail, which is fascinating when working your way through his Grace of God (G.O.D.) album.The post New Music Critique of Rohmeela first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Vanessa Bosåen exits Virgin Music Group, where she’s led the UK business since 2021She joined UMG in 2021 from Regent Street Records, the independent label and publisher she founded in 2014, having spent 15 years as a touring musician.
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