In The Round: Crossing Borders

It's impossible to ignore what some consider to be the greatest aspect of country music, and what makes it resonant as a genre - the song writing. In The Round: Crossing Borders, presented by ole, features four masterclass songwriters from both sides of the border in a guitar pull setting. These notable and award-winning songwriters will share the stories behind country music’s biggest hits. Experience this unique and one-time-only stage event with the names behind the country songs you know and love.

Alan Doyle, actor, producer, best-selling author, and best-known as lead singer for Newfoundland’s beloved Great Big Sea for over 20 years hardly needs an introduction. Great Big Sea’s nine albums, double-disc hits retrospective, and two DVD releases have all been declared Gold or Platinum and have sold a combined 1.2 million copies in Canada. With two solo albums under his belt and a third on the way, having recently completed recording with the legendary Bob Rock, Doyle has been touring the world with his ace six-piece band for the last five years. His album So Let’s Go continues to cement his reputation as one of the country’s most treasured musicians and storytellers. Amidst his music and author projects, Doyle has found time to write music for and appear on CBC’s Republic of Doyle, guest star on CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries, have roles in both 2014’s Winter’s Tale and 2010’s Robin Hood.

EMI Records Nashville breakout country artist, Eric Paslay, delivers a powerful punch as a renowned, Platinum-selling, hit songwriter and dynamic performer. Paslay has celebrated five No. 1 hits including “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” (Eli Young Band), “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” (Jake Owen), “Angel Eyes” (Love & Theft), “Rewind” (Rascal Flatts) and “Friday Night,” the smash lead single from his critically acclaimed self-titled debut album. The Temple, Texas native earned nominations for GRAMMY Best Country Song, ACM Song of the Year and CMA Song of The Year for “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” in 2013 and earned his first GRAMMY nomination as an artist in 2016 for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “The Driver”- a collaboration with friends Charles Kelley and Dierks Bentley. Most recently he was honoured with a 2016 ACM Song of the Year nomination for “She Don’t Love You”. A true artist’s artist, USA Today calls Paslay “flat out-brilliant” and American Songwriter names him an influencer of country music.

Born and raised in Texas, Liz Rose moved to Nashville and began writing songs at the age of 37. She has since penned 16 songs with Taylor Swift, including the No. 1 crossover hits “Tim McGraw”, “Teardrops On My Guitar”, “You Belong With Me”, GRAMMY Award-winning Best Country Song “White Horse”, and ACM Song of the Year “Crazy Girl”. More recently, she co-wrote Little Big Town’s double platinum smash hit, “Girl Crush”, which earned the GRAMMY for Best Country Song in 2016, and the Country Music Association’s Award for Song Of The Year in 2015. Rose has also written songs for many other artists including Alison Krauss, Blake Shelton, Bonnie Raitt, Carrie Underwood, Chris Young, Gary Allan, LeeAnn Womack, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw. Together, her songs have sold more than 20 million copies.

Deric Ruttan is a GRAMMY-nominated, Nashville-based singer/songwriter and a Canadian country music artist. Ruttan has had over 75 songs recorded by other artists, including cuts by Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley. Bentley’s chart-toppers “What Was I Thinkin’” and “Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do” are Ruttan co-writes, as are the Eric Church hits, “Guys Like Me” and “Hell On The Heart”. “Mine Would Be You”, recorded by country superstar and The Voice judge Blake Shelton, was a three-week No. 1 Billboard hit, and was nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song, and an ACM Award for Song Of The Year. In June of 2016 Ruttan celebrated his second Blake Shelton No. 1 hit with the introspective “Came Here To Forget”, and in April of 2017 he celebrated his fourth No. 1 country single when Jason Aldean took his song “Any Ol’ Barstool” to the top of both the Billboard and Mediabase country charts. An ASCAP (6x), SOCAN (10x), CCMA (Canadian Country Music Association) (2x) and CMAO (Country Music Association Of Ontario) (5x) Award winner, Ruttan has headlined four of his own coast-to-coast tours in Canada, where he has had 11 Top 10 singles as an artist, and 2 #1 videos on CMT.

A Grammy award-winning songwriter, Gordie Sampson lives and writes in Nashville where his songs have been covered by Carrie Underwood, Hunter Hayes, Florida Georgia Line, and Little Big Town – to name just a few. Of late, Sampson has returned to producing. Recent projects include JUNO Award-winning group, The East Pointers’ new record, as well as the Port Cities debut released earlier this year. An award winning artist in his own right, Sampson returns home to the East Coast of Canada every summer where enthusiastic audiences welcome him year after year. Sampson just celebrated the 8^th Annual Gordie Sampson Songcamp which takes place each year in Ingonish, Cape Breton.

WHEN:
September 10, 2017
Doors open at 12:45PM
1PM - 3PM

WHERE:
TCU Place (35 22 St E, Saskatoon, SK, S7K 0C8)

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets are $40.00 each (plus fees) and are available via TCU Place (online, in-person at the TCU Place Box Office and by phone at 888-639-7770).

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES NOW:
Media interested in phone-in interviews with artists announced to perform on In The Round: Crossing Borders can contact Jess Seguire at jess@penelopepr.com or 613-921-2314.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES DURING POTASHCORP COUNTRY MUSIC WEEK:
For accredited media only.

PotashCorp Country Music Week 2017 will be held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, September 7-10.
For more information on PotashCorp Country Music Week, visit ccma.org.

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About the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA)
Established in 1976, the CCMA is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization committed to the promotion and recognition of Canadian country music. Built upon the foundation to educate, elevate and celebrate Canadian talent, the CCMA progressively heralds the spirit, community and creativity that country music fosters through year-round initiatives, culminating every fall with Country Music Week and the Canadian Country Music Association Awards. Sponsors of PotashCorp Country Music Week and the 2017 CCMA Awards Show include FACTOR, Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s “Canada Music Fund”, Radio Starmaker Fund, the Province of Saskatchewan, the City of Saskatoon, Tourism Saskatchewan and Tourism Saskatoon. Produced with the participation of the Bell Fund.

About ole
ole is one of the world's foremost rights management companies with investments of over $540M in music intellectual property (IP). Founded in 2004, with operations in Toronto, Nashville, New York, Los Angeles and London, ole is engaged in IP acquisitions, creative development, and worldwide rights management. The ole catalog includes over 55,000 songs and 60,000 hours of TV and film music across all genres. Copyrights under ole's control include songs recorded by artists such as the Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé, Blake Shelton, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Michael Jackson, One Direction, Rihanna, Rush, Taylor Swift, and Timbaland.

ole controls substantial A/V music and secondary rights including catalogs from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Entertainment One, MGM, Miramax, Nelvana, and Nu Image/Millennium, as well as an extensive production music library of over 750,000 tracks including Jingle Punks, Cavendish Music, 5 Alarm Music, MusicBox, Nelvana Production Music, Auracle, and Cue. In September 2016, ole acquired rights management company Compact Media - which manages Audio-Visual Secondary Rights for more than 700 clients around the world - in a major deal that furthers ole's commitment to delivering leading-edge IP rights management services across the globe.

ole is committed to the creative development of its 150+ staff songwriters, legacy writers, and composers and adding value to our catalogs and client catalogs. Current ole writers include Timbaland, Tyler Farr, Chris Janson, Josh Dorr, Gord Bamford, Brett Jones, Jeremy Stover, Phil O'Donnell, Jordan Davis, and Ian Thornley. ole has ongoing ventures with Last Gang Publishing, Roots Three Music, Jackoby Publishing, and most recently, ole-Bluestone Publishing, ole's venture with global hitmaker Timbaland. ole's legacy catalogs and writers include Rush, Max Webster, Coney Hatch, and Ian Thomas.

ole also operates a robust label services arm under the umbrella of ole Label Group. The division includes Anthem Entertainment Group, the label home of Rush, Big Wreck, Ian Thornley, Steven Page, The Tea Party. Anthem Legacy includes Max Webster, Ian Thomas, and artist development label red dot, which has developed and up-streamed artists including Charlie Worsham, Haley Reinhart, Josh Dorr, Sam Grow, and Jordan Davis.

ole Digital is a full YouTube MCN partner for all media with over 12 billion views across publishing, masters and A/V to date.

For more information, visit www.majorlyindie.com.

Media Contacts

Jess Seguire | jess@penelopepr.com | 613-921-2314
Tiffany Astle | tiffany@penelopepr.com | 416-554-7329

We acknowledge the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada and of Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier de FACTOR, du gouvernement du Canada, et des radio diffuseurs privés du Canada.