Brown Sellers Brown, which is home to Quartz Hill Records, Stone Country Records and BSB Management, has rebranded to Quartz Hill Music Group.

Additionally, songwriter/producer/entrepreneur Ash Bowers has been elevated to the role of executive vice president for Quartz Hill Music Group. In his new role, Bowers will lead all daily operations for Quartz Hill Records and Stone Stone Country Records, in addition to leading management strategy and operations for several artists on the BSB Management roster.

Quartz Hill Records’ roster includes Joe Nichols, Runaway June, and 2 Lane Summer. Stone Country Records’ roster includes Annie Bosko, Ben Gallaher, Spencer Hatcher, and Lakelin Lemmings. The BSB Management roster includes each of these artists.

Bowers joined Brown Sellers Brown in 2025 as director of artist management and A&R support. Bowers launched his career as an artist signed to Benny Brown’s Stoney Creek Records, prior to transitioning into a role as a songwriter and producer, writing songs for Keith Urban (“Boy Gets a Truck”), Montgomery Gentry (“Folks Like Us”) and more. He also wrote songs recorded by Jimmie Allen (“Freedom Was a Highway”) and Matt Stell (“Prayed For You”). In 2013, he co-founded the publishing and management company Wide Open Music, which had success with songs including Brett Young’s “In Case You Didn’t Know,” as well as Parmalee’s “Close Your Eyes,” with the management division repping clients including Allen, Stell and George Birge. Bowers previously joined RECORDS Nashville in 2020 to lead its Nashville office. Bowers was named to Billboard’s Country Power Players list in 2022.

Brown Sellers Brown was founded in 2020 by country music exec Benny Brown alongside principal partner, chart-topping songwriter Jason Sellers and managing partner Paul Brown, Esq. Each remains an active part of the music group operations.

“I’m incredibly excited to step into the role of Executive Vice President at Quartz Hill Music Group,” Bowers said in a statement. “This new season of rebranding and restructuring marks a new chapter for the company, and I’m honored to help lead the charge. We have some of the most talented and inspiring artists in the industry, and it’s a privilege to support their creative journeys. Above all, I see this role as a chance to serve Jesus through leadership—using every connection, and opportunity as a way to reflect His purpose for me in the music industry.”

“Since I first signed Ash to Stoney Creek Records back in the early 2000’s, I knew that he was going to have a big impact on the Nashville music community,” company founder/president Benny Brown said in a statement. “All these years later, Ash has been proving me right all along! Jason, Paul and I are very excited to have Ash join our family. I always knew Ash was a person of strong faith. I’ve always had a lot of trust in Ash and in his ability to lead our team in the right direction as we continue to grow and expand our reach.”

As part of the rebranding, the email addresses for several members of the executive and label services teams have been changed. Those updated emails include:

Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, Rissi Palmer, Randy Travis, Luke Combs and Cody Johnson are among this year’s recipients of the Academy of Country Music’s special awards, and will be feted during the 18th Academy of Country Music Honors celebration, which will take place Wednesday, Aug. 20, at The Pinnacle in Nashville.

Wilson will be honored with the ACM artist-songwriter of the year accolade, while songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon (“Halfway to Hell,” “Am I Okay?”) will be honored with the songwriter of the year award. The ACM Honors will also recognize studio recording award and industry award winners.

Jelly Roll will be honored with the ACM lifting lives award, which recognizes a country music artist, duo/group or industry member who has devoted themselves to improving lives through music and is committed to serving others. The honor is voted on by the ACM lifting lives board of directors. Jelly Roll is being honored for his philanthropic work. He teamed with Live Nation to donate $1 from each ticket sold on his Backroad Baptism Tour, raising more than $600,000 for at-risk youth. He has also visited over 10 juvenile facilities, four rehabilitation centers and several homeless shelters to help bring hope and encouragement. He also testified before Congress to advocate for the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence Off Fentanyl Act.

Church and Ben Vaughn, president/CEO of Warner Chappell Music Nashville until his passing earlier this year, are the recipients of the ACM icon award, given to presented to a country music artist, duo/group or industry leader who has advanced the popularity of the genre through their contributions throughout their career. Church, a seven-time ACM Award winner, spearheaded the Concert for Carolina alongside Luke Combs, raising more than $24 million for Hurricane Helene relief efforts. For Church’s 2024 release “Darkest Hour,” he signed over all of his publishing royalties to aid those impacted by the floods in his homestate of North Carolina. During his career leading Warner Chappell Music Nashville, Vaughn was instrumental in developing numerous artists and songwriters including Dan+Shay, Kacey Musgraves, Lady A, Thomas Rhett and Chris Stapleton.

Johnson is the recipient of the ACM spirit award, inspired by the late country music legend Merle Haggard. The award is presented to a singer-songwriter who continues the legacy of Haggard by following their own path, crafting compelling songs and presenting them through high-caliber performances. Johnson has earned two No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay hits, “‘Til You Can’t” and “The Painter.”

Combs will be honored with the ACM international award, which celebrates a country music artist, duo/group or industry leader for outstanding contributions to the growth of country music globally. Combs’ headlining tours have sold out in the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia, demonstrating his global appeal and fanbase.

Palmer will be feted with the ACM’s lift every voice award, which is presented to a country music artist, duo/group, industry leader or affiliate/partner who elevates underrepresented voices in the country music genre. The nominee for this category is proposed by the rising leaders in the ACM’s LEVel UP: Lift Every Voice professional development program. In addition to leading her own music career, Palmer is the creator and host of Apple Music’s Color Me Country Radio with Rissi Palmer, which celebrates diversity and inclusion in the country music genre and spotlights artists of color.

Mac McAnally will be recognized with the ACM poet’s award, which honors a country music songwriter for longstanding musical contributions to country music. In addition to writing his own music, this Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member has had songs recorded by Jimmy Buffett (“It’s My Job”) Kenny Chesney (“Down the Road”), Alabama (“Old Flame”), Sawyer Brown (“I Will Leave the Light On”), Shenandoah (“Two Dozen Roses”) and more.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Travis will be honored as the recipient of the ACM milestone award, which is presented to a country music artist, duo/group or industry leader for outstanding achievements in country music during the preceding calendar year. Travis incorporated AI-assisted vocals to re-imagine and revive older and previously unheard songs, preserving and continuing his unmistakable sound.

The ACM film award, which recognizes an outstanding movie, series or feature film released during the preceding calendar year that prominently features country music, will be presented for the film Twisters. The film’s soundtrack featured music from Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Jelly Roll and more.

Executive Lori Badgett is the recipient of the ACM service award, which is given to an outstanding country music artist, duo/group or industry leader to recognize years of dedication and service to the ACM. In her work at City National Bank, Badgett has helped establish the bank’s presence in Nashville and she now plays an essential role in the ACM and its charitable arm ACM Lifting Lives, having chaired both organizations. Badgett’s leadership was instrumental in the Academy’s transition from Los Angeles to Nashville and she continues to serve on multiple committees for both organizations.

“This year’s ACM Special Awards honorees each have played an essential role in Country Music’s success,” Kerri Edwards, chair of the ACM Special Awards committee, said in a statement. “From some of country music’s legendary artists to the incredible songwriters and powerhouse executives, we are so excited to celebrate these well-deserved recipients next month at The Pinnacle in Nashville. Congratulations to all the honorees.”

Tickets for the ACM Honors will be available to ACM A-List newsletter subscribers and Academy members in a pre-sale starting July 10. General onsale tickets will be available starting July 11 through AXS.

Robert Earl Keen has a personal connection to Kerrville, TX, the site of massive flooding on July 4 that authorities say resulted in the deaths of 111 people, with nearly 170 still unaccounted for at press time. Not only did the legendary singer-songwriter have a ranch just outside of Kerrville, but his two daughters, Clara and Chloe, both attended Camp Mystic, the Christian summer camp where authorities say 27 campers and counselors were killed — and 11 are still reported missing — and he was scheduled to once again play the town’s Fourth on the River music festival before rapidly rising floodwaters devastated the area last week.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Keen, 69, said that he’s working on arranging a benefit concert and reminisced about the special beauty of the area, as well as the summers his kids spent at Camp Mystic. Keen had participated in the Fourth on the River event for 15 years, but after fast-rising floodwaters covered the festival grounds and swamped production equipment last week, the Arcadia Live Theater, which hosts the event, was turned into an emergency makeshift family reunification center and shelter.

The singer announced on Monday that he’s donating money from merchandise sales from his current tour to flood relief efforts as he recalled Kerrville’s long history with music and its ties to his own career. Keen said the Kerrville Folk Festival began in 1972, drawing fans including former president and Texas native LBJ, as well as musicians from all over the world while spotlighting new artists. He was one of those lucky singers, winning the “new folk songwriter” prize at the fest in 1981, when he still lived in Austin.

Keen headlined the Fourth on the River festival for 12 years in Kerrville before “retiring” from it a few years ago and returning in 2024 to help out. “And now, with it being washed out, I kind of feel like I was somewhat of a spearhead or a flashpoint, as far as the other artists who are now part of the whole tragedy,” he told RS. That’s why he is donating 100% of his merch sales to flood relief.

“We haven’t confirmed it yet, but we’re going to be putting on a show,” he said, promising a “real solid musical event” with details to be revealed later this week. In the meantime, the singer said his wife is back home helping first responders by handing over one of their rental properties for them to stay in. “It’s an entire family effort. You can’t take away what happened,” he said. “You can only go forward, and do as much as you can, for as long as you can.”

Keen and daughter Clara also talked about what Camp Mystic meant to their family, with the singer saying that though it was Christian, longtime camp directors Dick and Tweety Eastland “embraced everybody”; Dick Eastland, 74, died in the floods trying to save his campers. “I just found out that my youngest daughter, Chloe… a cabin that washed away was the cabin that she stayed in when she was first there,” Keen said. “And she has a definite visceral connection to this tragedy.” He said older daughter Clara attended Mystic for eight years and “just loved it.”

Clara recalled the camp’s “no-tech” policy, which encouraged campers to write letters home, something she still enjoys to this day because it reminds her of “hot afternoons in June, sitting on my bunk bed during rest hours just poring over letters from my parents and friends in the world beyond Mystic.” She said her dad would writer her letters called “The Farm Report,” where he would run down how all the animals on the family ranch were doing, missives her camp friends loved and would gather around to read.

“Mystic allowed me to grow into myself, on my own terms but with the help of good-natured guidance” said Clara, a self-described “weird kid” who sometimes struggled to make “real-life” friends outside of camp. She recalled that the nearly 100-year-old camp was “intertwined” with the nearby Guadalupe River, which rapidly overspilled its banks and swamped the campsite as floodwaters rose nearly 26 feet in just 45 minutes on July 4.

“The river was this constant, not only during the term, but over the years,” she said.

In addition to working on setting up the benefit show, Keen encouraged anyone who wants to send money, or who is putting together their own fundraising show, to send it to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.

“I would really ask those who are willing to listen and to show kindness and grace,” added Clara. “Texas is not a monolith, and there are people here who have loved and lost on a level which is dark and incomprehensible. People, these people, deserve supportive love more than anything at this time.”

She quoted a saying Camp Mystic saying that the Eastland’s use to share with their young charges: “A bell is not a bell until you ring it. A song is not a song until you sing it. The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay, love isn’t love until you give it away.”

In addition to artists including Billie Eilish, Shakira, Lana Del Rey, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris and Hilary Duff sending their love and encouraging donations, the impact of the flooding has hit home for some Texas-bred acts, including singer Pat Green. The Fort Worth native revealed on Monday that his younger brother John and his wife Julie, as well as two of their children were swept away in the flood.

Watch an Instagram video from Keen earlier this week in which he first announced his plans for a benefit below.

Playboi Carti and The Weeknd’s recent partnership yields another No. 1 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart as “Rather Lie” leads the list dated July 12. The pair previously linked up for “Timeless,” which reigned for four weeks last November-December.

“Rather Lie” — from Playboi Carti’s MUSIC album — leaps from No. 4 and becomes the most played song on panel-contributing rhythm radio stations in the United States for the tracking week of June 27-July 3, according to Luminate. The song takes the throne from PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s “Somebody Loves Me” after the latter’s one-week stay.

Thanks to the current single, Playboi Carti snags his second No. 1 on the radio chart. The Weeknd, meanwhile, collects a 16th leader and moves within one champ of tying Rihanna for the second-most in the chart’s history, dating to its start in October 1992.

Here’s an updated review of the leaderboard:

In all, “Rather Lie” is the third Rhythmic Airplay entry that Playboi Carti and The Weeknd share. In addition to “Timeless,” the duo joined forces with Madonna on “Popular,” a No. 7 hit in September 2023. Beyond their recent singles, the pair has taken their collaborative to the road, with Playboi Carti serving as an opening act for the 2025 leg of The Weeknd’s After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour.

As The Weeknd welcomes another chart-topper to his collection, let’s recap his No. 1s on Rhythmic Airplay:

Further, thanks to “Cry for Me” and “Rather Lie,” The Weeknd achieves multiple Rhythmic Airplay No. 1s in the same calendar year for the first time since 2016.

Elsewhere, “Rather Lie” repeats at No. 9 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, but improves 4% in plays for the tracking week compared with the prior period. It also holds at No. 3 on the Rap Airplay ranking, though it gains 9% in audience. Gains from the sectors and its rhythmic strength help the single push 45-44 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, it added 8% in audience for the week, reaching 17.6 million in listenership.