Bee Gee, Paisley Join CRS 2021
• Country Radio Seminar announced that legendary artist, songwriter, producer and Bee Gees’ founding member, Sir Barry Gibb, and multi-award-winning artist Brad Paisley will appear at back-to-back sessions during next week’s CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience.
In an exclusive interview, conducted by Variety Chief Music Critic & Features Editor Chris Willman, “A Conversation with Sir Barry Gibb,” sponsored by BMLG, will cover Gibb’s prolific 60-year career and his new No. 1 album, GREENFIELDS: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook, Vol. 1, which was produced by Dave Cobb at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A. The conversation is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18 at 2pm CT.
Immediately following Barry Gibb, at 3pm CT, stay tuned for “So Much Cooler Online: A Conversation with Brad Paisley,” sponsored by CT40 with Fitz. When the world came to a halt in 2020, artists had to find new and creative ways to connect with their fans. Brad Paisley emerged as a forefront leader in creativity, thought, and authenticity. In a rare, guided interview conducted by best-selling author & pop culture pundit, David Wild, and television writer/producer, Phil Rosenthal, the conversation will dive into what inspired Paisley to reinvent how he connects with fans.
CRB/CRS Executive Director RJ Curtis, who we have met in person several times, commented, “The addition of Sir Barry Gibb and Brad Paisley will make an already impactful Thursday at CRS even more dynamic. Barry Gibb is on a short list of artists who transcend musical boundaries, and he’s done so for 60 years. Brad Paisley has been a creative and innovative voice in Country music for two decades; in 2020, he reimagined and redefined how artists successfully engage with fans. These back-to-back conversations will be nothing short of fascinating.”
CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience will run from Tuesday, Feb. 16, through Friday, Feb. 19. The expanded, four-day agenda offers attendees more than 14 educational sessions, four morning networking events, two lunchtime performances, four interactive workshops, Bob Kingsley’s Acoustic Alley featuring Thomas Rhett and Guests, and, for the first time in CRS history, a New Faces of Country Music® ticket with every registration. Registration for CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience is only $199 per person at CountryRadioSeminar.com.
• Bonus CRS 2021 Content: Programmers put tremendous amounts of effort into knowing what listeners want in terms of music, but when PDs rate morning show content, moment-by-moment, they are not always in-synch with listeners. That’s one of the findings to be revealed next week during the “Dial and Error” session at CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience. Strategic Solutions Research has tested actual content from a Country radio morning show with listeners of the program. That same content has been rated by scores of program directors as well, so we can compare how programmers perceive the content compared to listeners.
“The results may shock some people,” says Hal Rood (left), Partner at Strategic Solutions. “There are moments when the PDs’ rating of the content is quite different from the actual listeners of the show, but we will talk about how we learn from that along with some reasons for that disparity.” Rood will share “Four Core Ways to Improve Content” based upon the results of thousands of pieces of morning content analyzed over the years by Hal and the team at Strategic Solutions.
