The Country Music Association Announces 'Introducing Nashville' Shows

The Country Music Association, which recently announced its new international artist-focused touring series, Introducing Nashville, has added back-to-back performances at Blue Note Tokyo in Japan on Saturday, March 30 featuring Brandy Clark, Devin Dawson and Lindsay Ell. Prior to Japan, Introducing Nashville will visit multiple cities in Australia and New Zealand with Clark, Dawson, Ell and Tenille Townes (Australia only). Tickets for Introducing Nashville's Japan performances are on sale here.

CMA will host an industry event at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Tokyo on Thursday, March 28, with the Deputy Chief of Mission Joseph Young welcoming CMA and Japanese industry representatives from all sectors in the business. The reception will feature Frankie Ballard, in addition to Clark, Dawson and Ell.

As part of CMA's mission to support the expansion of Country Music around the globe, Introducing Nashville will provide a platform to introduce exciting current artists to international audiences for the first time. Each tour stop will replicate a Nashville writer's round, with artists appearing on stage together in an acoustic lineup, introducing their songs and talking about their careers and personal stories.

As international touring opportunities and global streaming continues to grow for Country artists, CMA will continue to use strategic research and tactics in an effort to bring Country artists to fans in foreign territories eager to discover and learn more about the Country genre. As an artist focused brand, Introducing Nashville builds on the remarkable response CMA has seen during international tours of its songwriters focused CMA Songwriters Series.

Introducing Nashville 2019 (Australia, New Zealand, Japan):
March 18 - Lismore, Australia - Lismore City Hall
March 19 - Brisbane, Australia - The Old Museum
March 21 - Sydney, Australia - The Factory Theatre
March 22 - Canberra, Australia - The Abbey
March 23 - Melbourne, Australia - Athenaeum Theatre
March 26 - Auckland, New Zealand - Tuning Fork
March 30 - Tokyo, Japan - Blue Note Tokyo (2 shows)

Country-blues-rocker Frankie Ballard released his latest album El Rio (Warner Nashville) to critical acclaim, which was selected by Rolling Stone as one of the 25 Best Country and Americana albums of 2016 and The Tennessean as one of the best 16 Nashville albums of 2016. The singer-songwriter has had three No. 1 Country hits to date and boasts on-demand streams in excess of 340 million. With combined album sales of over 600,000 to date and over 2.3 million digital track sales, Ballard continues to mix an American heartland rock sound with traditional Country and blues. Ballard's previous album, Sunshine & Whiskey, produced three consecutive No. 1 singles - the platinum-certified "Sunshine & Whiskey," the gold-certified "Helluva Life," and one of the Top 3 Billboard Country Airplay songs of 2015, "Young & Crazy." He has performed on national television including "TODAY," "Live with Kelly and Ryan" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Ballard has toured with Big and Rich, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Bob Seger, Sugarland, and Keith Urban and performed at festivals such as CMA Fest, Summerfest, Tortuga Music Festival and many more. Read more at FrankieBallard.com.

The Nashville, Tennessee-based Brandy Clark, signed by Warner Brothers Records out of Los Angeles, received her first of an impressive six career Grammy nominations in 2013 in the Best Country Song category for co-writing the Miranda Lambert No. 1 hit "Mama's Broken Heart." Her talent as a storyteller has quickly propelled her into critical acclaim as one of Nashville's best tunesmiths, subsequently writing songs for Sheryl Crow, Billy Currington, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker and The Band Perry, to name a few. In 2013, Clark independently released her debut album, 12 Stories, which was embraced by music lovers and critics alike and garnered two Grammy nominations including Best New Artist and Best Country Album. 12 Stories went on to be named Best Album of 2013 by The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, NPR, New York Post and more. In 2014, Clark won the CMA Award for Song of the Year ("Follow Your Arrow"), which she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Musgraves, in addition to being nominated for New Artist of the Year. Her sophomore album, Big Day In A Small Town, was released in 2016 and garnered two Grammy nominations for Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance ("Love Can Go To Hell") and once again topped critics' "Best Of" lists including NPR, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, among others, cementing Clark as one of Country Music's most talented artists, beloved by fans, critics and fellow entertainers alike. Famed music critic and author, Ann Powers, calls Clark "a storyteller of the highest caliber." This past year, Clark has been honing her craft on the road playing with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson, Sugarland and Dwight Yoakam. Read more at BrandyClarkmusic.com.

Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville breakout Devin Dawson co-wrote every track on his debut album Dark Horse, which scored high marks on the charts in 2018, landing Top 5 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Produced by CMA Awards winner Jay Joyce, the album features Dawson's current single "Asking For A Friend," which he's performed on both "TODAY" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers," alongside the Gold-certified hit "All On Me." Dawson was recently presented with MusicRow's Breakthrough Artist-Writer award, having already been recognized with multiple nominations this year including ACM's New Male Artist, CMT's Breakthrough Video of the Year and Radio Disney's Best New Country Artist, among others. The California native has made additional TV appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "ELLEN" and has received critical praise from outlets such as Billboard, Huffington Post, Entertainment Weekly, People, ELLE, The Tennessean, AXS, HITS and more. Dawson recently toured with Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and just wrapped the second leg of The Long Way Tour with labelmate Brett Eldredge. His first headlining run, the Stray Off Course Tour, began in November and continues into 2019. Read more at DevinDawsonmusic.com.

Lauded as "one of the most exciting and talented young artists in country music" (Forbes), Lindsay Ell is a triple threat: accomplished musician, unique vocalist and songwriter. The Calgary native learned to play guitar while traveling with her father to Country/Bluegrass camps as a young girl. Ell honed her craft as a musical stylist and songwriter after being discovered at the age of 13 by BTO and The Guess Who's Randy Bachman ("American Woman," "Taking Care of Business"). The multi-instrumentalist has toured alongside the likes of Luke Bryan, Buddy Guy, The Band Perry and Keith Urban, as well as impressing audiences as Carrie Underwood's guitar player live on "The 50th Annual CMA Awards" and holding her own alongside icon Melissa Etheridge on "Skyville Live." In 2018 alone, Ell exhilarated audiences as part of Brad Paisley's Weekend Warrior World Tour, Sugarland's Still The Same Tour and select dates of Keith Urban's Graffiti U World Tour. Ell's first full-length album The Project debuted at No. 1 on the Nielsen Soundscan Country Albums Chart and was named Billboard's Best Country Album of 2017. Her single "Criminal" was the most added song at U.S. Country radio upon impact and became her first-ever Top 20 hit in the U.S., in addition to becoming her first No. 1 single on the Canadian Country radio charts. Read more at LindsayEll.com.

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