Country superstar Kenny Chesney will sit down for a candid Superstar Q&A at the second annual Billboard Country Music Summit in association with the Country Music Association (CMA).
The event, set to take place in Nashville on June 6-7 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel, will gather today’s top country music executives and other artists to network and discuss all aspects of the Country Music business. Chesney will be joining another one of the most successful entertainers in country music today, Carrie Underwood, who will also participate in a Q&A.
Billboard’s Ray Waddell will conduct the rare public interview with Chesney, who is among the elite artists in country music history, by any measure. His tours have raised the standard for country music in terms of production and ticket selling, moving more than a million tickets every time he embarks on a tour.
After taking 2010 off from touring, Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal tour is packing arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums coast to coast and nearly 800,000 tickets have already been sold. Chesney has won numerous industry awards including four CMA Entertainer of the Year awards, sold over 30 million albums, and his newest release, 2010’s “Hemingway’s Whiskey,” debuted at Number One on the all-genre Billboard 200 Album Chart, his sixth album to achieve that feat. His songs have been staples of country radio for years.
“As someone who has followed Kenny Chesney’s career since he was playing in clubs, I have a huge appreciation for all he has accomplished in country music,” says Waddell, executive director of content and programming for touring and live entertainment. “His insight into how his career has developed, his musical vision, and his successful outside projects will make for an informative and entertaining session for Summit attendees.”
Featuring two days of panel sessions, roundtable discussions and keynote interviews, the key stakeholders in Country Music will break down the most challenging issues and exciting opportunities in recording, radio, touring, sponsorships/branding, digital/mobile, and other areas. Like last year, the Billboard Country Music Summit program will kick off the activities leading up to the annual CMA Music Festival, which will be held June 9-12, in Nashville.
Additional speakers include Jason Aldean, Joe Nichols; Brian O’Connell, president, Live Nation Country Music; Sheri Warnke, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Country Music Association; John Esposito, president/CEO, Warner Music Nashville; Jay Frank, SVP of Music Strategy, CMT; Tom Gossin, Gloriana; Gary Weinberger, president, Red Mountain Entertainment; Kevin Neal, president, Buddy Lee Attractions; Drew McGowan, director of sponsorships, The Clorox Company; Rick Shedd, SVP of Operations, Broken Bow Records; Clarence Spalding, manager, Spalding Entertainment; CEO, Ian Rogers, CEO, TopSpin Media; J Sider, CEO, RootMusic; Jeff Walker, CEO, Aristo Media Group; and Rob Potts, CEO, Entertainment Edge. For a full list of speakers, click here.
The Billboard Country Music Summit will be geared toward managers, artists, agents, radio programmers, label executives, mobile/digital executives, sponsorship professionals, business managers, promoters, the copyright community, publishers, songwriters, music supervisors, producers and others closely associated with the vital Country Music business