By the time the world premiere of the documentary Matter of Time and a panel with key figures from it finished, the Tribeca Festival audience gathered in lower Manhattan on Thursday (June 12) was jonesing for the final part of the night’s programming: a solo acoustic performance by Eddie Vedder. Much to their relief, they didn’t have to wait long.

“That was a quick five-minute changeover,” the Pearl Jam frontman said as he took the stage. “That was very Saturday Night Live – and it’s only Thursday.”

Vedder wasn’t just in Tribeca as a performer, but as an activist and philanthropist. Matter of Time documents the work of the EB Research Partnership, a nonprofit founded by Vedder and his wife, Jill, dedicated to treating the rare genetic disorder Epidermolysis Bullosa, and a pair of Seattle concerts Vedder played during the organization’s Venture Into Cures Summit in October 2023.

After thanking “Bob” – “He bought my mom dinner once for her birthday, so I feel like I can call him Bob now,” Vedder quipped of Tribeca Festival co-founder Robert De Niro – the singer turned to the audience. “I just can’t thank you enough for taking that journey with us,” he said. “To accept all that information and all that emotion and be supporting and give us a way to ride the surfboard of hope – we are very, very grateful.”

As the screen behind him displayed pictures of EB patients – most of them children – Vedder launched into his first song, a heartfelt cover of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart.” The selection was emblematic of the six-song set, where a loose, reflective Vedder leaned heavily on covers. “If I f–k it up, you don’t really have to tell anybody,” he joked before the next song, a rendition of Tom Waits’ “Picture In a Frame” that he said he hadn’t planned to play.

After bringing out the singer-songwriter Glen Hansard to handle guitar duties for Hansard’s own “The Song of Good Hope,” Vedder continued on solo with a rousing version of Pearl Jam’s Ten classic “Porch.” He may have flubbed a transition in the song – “I think I just messed that up!” he remarked during it – but the audience gave him a standing ovation anyway.

“That was very generous, thank you,” Vedder said, before referencing Dr. Jean Tang, a Stanford researcher featured in Matter of Time. During Thursday’s panel, she explained that, with EBRP’s help, a new gene therapy treatment for the condition received FDA approval two months ago. “It wasn’t quite as loud as the ovation that science got, and I couldn’t be happier about that,” Vedder happily declared. “I’ll take a backseat to rock star Jean Tang any day.”

Moderated by Tribeca’s Casey Baron, Tang appeared on the brief panel with Jill Vedder, Matter of Time director Matt Finlin, EBRP CEO Michael Hund, and a young EB patient, Rowan, and her mother, Kate. “We need the cure, I’ve been waiting eight years!” Rowan good-naturedly told Tang. “But thank you for your science stuff.”

As the documentary and panel detailed, EB research has increased by leaps and bounds since the creation of EBRP in 2010. For the Vedders, the cause is personal: They were spurred into action after meeting a friend’s child who had EB. “There was nothing then,” Jill said during the panel. Today, with three FDA-approved treatments available, “it really feels like this [a cure] can happen in our lifetime. It really does feel close, and I’m really proud of our families for opening themselves up. We asked a lot of you to be in this film. Thank you for trusting us.”

While Matter of Time weaves in several Vedder performances from his two concerts at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall – Pearl Jam classics like “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” and “Better Man” and deep cuts like 2020’s “River Cross” shine – the film is primarily about the lives of EB patients and their families, and the researchers who are working toward a cure. Many of them attended the 2023 shows; the most powerful musical moment in the documentary isn’t any Pearl Jam song, but rather “Say Hi,” which Vedder wrote for the young patient Eli – “My friend, my teacher, my hero,” as Vedder describes him to the Seattle concert audience – who is featured heavily in the documentary and attended Thursday night’s premiere.

In Matter of Time, Jill says EBRP’s research isn’t just critical to curing EB – a devastating disease that one parent in the film says makes patients’ skin “slide off like skin on a ripe peach” – but to providing a model for private funding to support research of rare conditions at a time when public funding is often insufficient. Another parent in the film sums up the extent to which the Vedders’ activism has impacted the EB community: “They changed dread into hope.”

So, naturally, Tang received as impassioned an ovation when she spoke on Thursday as Vedder did – something that clearly buoyed him as he wrapped his set, with covers of Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss,” which Pearl Jam has played regularly for nearly 30 years, and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” which also features prominently in the documentary. When the crowd stood one final time to applaud, it wasn’t just for Vedder’s energetic performance, but for the efforts and perseverance on display throughout the evening. “Much love,” Vedder said, as he stood to exit. “Thank you.”

As he releases his 11th studio album Broken Branches, out today (June 13), Dierks Bentley knows more than a bit about constructing an album — and a career — that’s going to endure. After two decades spent notching 18 chart-topping Country Airplay hits and establishing himself as seasoned headliner, the artist, who spent nights early in his career soaking in bluegrass music at Nashville’s Station Inn and who collaborated with the bluegrass stalwarts Del McCoury Band on his debut 2003 album, says he’s tried to approach his career like a bluegrass band does a performance.

“It’s very collaborative, and all the pieces are important. You can’t make bluegrass music without all those unique instruments and unique voices,” Bentley tells Billboard. “I’ve tried to work with great people in every aspect of my career. It’s mixing my love of bluegrass instrumentation with my love of playing big rooms, and that requires big electric guitars and drums and bass. The original idea was to mix the bluegrass with the kickass, and I’m still trying to do that.”

On Broken Branches, he collaborated with a tight-knit group of fellow artists, producers and writers, including Ross Copperman and Jon Randall, and feted musicians including Jedd Hughes, Rob McNelly, Bryan Sutton and Charlie Worsham (who also plays in Bentley’s road band).

“They know my music and are able to take it places that maybe I hadn’t even thought about,” Bentley says. “They know it from underneath the car — I might be driving the car, but they know all the nuts and bolts of it, so it’s great working with those musicians.”

Bentley co-wrote four of the album’s 11 songs, infusing witty lyrics into “She Hates Me,” or examining the toils and rewards of working toward a goal on “Something Worth Fixing.” But most of the project finds him locked in on highlighting the songs of other writers.

“There’s people around me that are like, ‘Hey, you need to have some more songs on there that you wrote.’ I just want great songs,” he says. “I love being a big fan and proponent of the Nashville songwriting community. Nobody writes songs like Nashville. I have such respect for it, and I feel lucky [and] grateful to have some temporary ownership of some of these great songs on this record.”

Fifteen years ago, Bentley collaborated with Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson on “Bad Angel” from his 2010 Up on the Ridge bluegrass album. On Broken Branches, Bentley and Lambert reunite for the banjo-inflected “Never You.”

“She’s someone I’ve known forever and whose voice I love,” he says. “She’s exactly who she is offstage as she is onstage, and she is awesome. I sent the song to her, and she was in Scottsdale [Arizona]. She went into a studio we found out there and put down the vocal. She’s one of the true trailblazers in country music.”

When Bentley heard the song “Broken Branches,” written by Zach Abend, Beau Bailey and “Oil Money” hitmaker Graham Barham, he says it “gave us a story” to construct the album around.” He invited Riley Green and Country Music Hall of Fame member John Anderson to sing with him, linking together three generations of country hitmakers.

Green was Bentley’s first call. “Right away he was in on it and a couple of days later we were in the studio. While he’s singing, I was thinking, ‘How can I make this even more special?’” he recalls. “John Anderson came to mind, because the link between ‘Broken Branches’ and [Anderson’s 1983 hit] ‘Black Sheep,’ just subconsciously hit me. He came in the studio by himself like a week later. What a legend. He came off the road—he drives himself in his RV to all his gigs, which is so classic. His RV had broken down in Valdosta, Georgia and he spent three days in a motel—hard M—waiting to get it fixed. He’s the real deal and always has been.”

The song wraps with a bit of good-natured, ad-libbed ribbing as Bentley, Green and Anderson ended up recording the ending together. “You hear us talking [like on] Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett’s ‘It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,’ I like that stuff,” Bentley says. “It’s funny and it sticks out in my mind when I listen to those records. This song, it was all done together. It wasn’t no AI, no overdubbing or editing, just us around one mic kind of giving each other crap.”

The song naturally felt like the title track that tied the project together. “When I’m looking for songs, I’m trying to find those songs that are like little broken branches off the family tree,” Bentley explains. “Not the big popular ones, not the ones that sound like a big hit on radio. Those are great, but I’m trying to find songs that are a little bit different.”

He adds, “That really started with the [2014] Riser record and the song ‘Riser.’ I heard ‘Broken Branches’ and thought it’s a great song because I’m a broken branch. Most of my friends are broken branches. All the people I know that came to Nashville to do something in music are doing something that their family probably didn’t do. And they’re doing it; they love country music.”

Throughout his career, Bentley has prioritized lifting up the next generation of artists, sifting through sounds and championing those artists whose music catches his ear. Burgeoning artist Stephen Wilson Jr. co-wrote two songs on the album, “Cold Beer Can” and “Something Worth Fixing.” Bentley has also shared the stage with recent breakout artists like Red Clay Strays and Zach Top, the latter of whom is opening for Bentley on his the Broken Branches tour.

“I love the spot I’m in in country music. I’ve been around a lot of the older cats, and I love those guys—but I also love watching what the younger artists are doing,” he says. “I love what’s happening in country music right now and I love seeing those guys have that success. I first saw Red Clay Strays play at our Seven Peaks Festival a while back. I probably personally told like 500 people about those guys. Same with Zach. I’ve known about him since his bluegrass days, just [through] having a bunch of bluegrass guys in my band. Watching him come over to country and do what he’s done, it’s been fun to watch.”

The album ends with the reflective “Don’t Cry For Me,” which Bentley wrote with Jim Beavers. The song finds him taking stock of his life and career thus far and assuring that he’s happy with how it’s all turned out.

“It’s very personal for me just knowing that one day it all does come to an end, whether it’s your music career or your life,” he says. “I’ve been really blessed in my time here in Nashville. It’s just been a great career and I’ve still got a lot left, hopefully, to do.”

One thing not on that list? Making movies.

Though many of Bentley’s music videos, including the clip for “She Hates Me,” make use of his natural comedic talents, that’s as far as he’s likely to go as an actor. “I love making music videos, but I don’t have any desire to do anything beyond that,” he explains. “I get sent some stuff, and sometimes people think, ‘Hey, everyone just wants to be in a movie,’ and I just don’t. I love film and movies and shows, but I think I’m pretty good in my lane.”

But it’s likely fans could see him once again revisiting his bluegrass roots: “I think about that all the time when I’m listening to [SiriusXM channel] Bluegrass Junction. It’d be fun to make another record like that.”

While headlines from California, D.C., India and Iran have dominated a chaotic news cycle this week — plus add in a restructuring at MCA and the loss of two stone cold icons — the music industry has actually had a meh few days when it comes to promotions and new hires. So without any further delay here’s the latest edition of Executive Turntable.

BMI‘s board of directors has voted to keep president and CEO Mike O’Neill on for three more years, through Dec. 31, 2029. O’Neill has been with BMI, one of the most dominate performing rights organizations (PROs) in the U.S., for the last 30 years, and since taking the helm as president and CEO, O’Neill has guided the company through some of the biggest business changes in its history. This includes its 2024 sale to New Mountain Capital, its move to for-profit status, and its partnership with Music Nation to establish a licensing infrastructure in the UAE. “I have never been more optimistic about the future of BMI, and there are only greater things ahead,” O’Neill added. “BMI’s mission to drive value for our affiliates, increase our distributions and ensure the long-term success of our family of songwriters, composers and publishers continues at full speed.”

Wasserman elevated Shelley Pisarra to chief insights and innovation officer, reporting to COO Darrell Coetzee. Previously evp of global insights, Pisarra will now lead the company’s strategy and innovation platforms, aiming to fuel growth across sports, music and entertainment. Based in NYC, Pisarra’s new role includes expanding Wasserman’s product offerings and creating proprietary tools to drive revenue for talent, brands, and rights holders. With over 25 years of experience across sports, media, and consumer goods — including positions at PepsiCo, Novartis, Nestle and Bristol-Myers Squibb — Pisarra has played a key role in transforming Wasserman’s insights capabilities through data analytics, consumer profiling, and fan segmentation. “I’m thrilled to step into this role, as Wasserman continues to demonstrate our commitment to putting insights to work to best serve our clients, while anticipating what’s next for the fan at the intersection of sports, music, and entertainment,” said Pisarra.

NASHVILLE NOTES: FEM co-owner Leslie Fram was named governor of the Recording Academy’s Nashville Chapter … Artist management company Make Wake Artists launched an in-house digital strategy department. The new department is led by Jess Keifer (head of digital marketing and social strategy) and Kyle Jonas (artist strategy and management coordinator). Make Wake Artists’ clients include Luke Combs, The Castellows, The Wilder Blue, Brent Cobb and Cooper Alan.

Centricity Music promoted four team members to vice president roles, highlighting the Nashville-based Christian label’s growth. Matt Ewald is now vp of A&R, Kris Love becomes vp of promotions, Joshua Wurzelbacher advances to vp of creative and Michael Pons is promoted to vp of finance. These promotions follow five earlier ones this year, with all four individuals having advanced internally since joining between 2013 and 2020. “Centricity has grown over the years in terms of artists, writers and employees,” said Caren Seidle, CEO. “This growth has led to increased responsibilities and work load of our staff. These promotions recognize the leadership these employees provide to their departments consistent with the high level of service for which Centricity is known.”

RockForce, a provider of workforce and production solutions for the live industry, opened a new office in Nashville to support regional productions. The office includes RockForce divisions The Production Collective and Collective Payroll. Jeremy Young, the company’s evp of business development, has also been named vp of operations for the new location. With nearly 30 years of experience in artist management, touring, and commercial leadership, Young began his career at SFX/Clear Channel Entertainment and has worked with artists like Maroon 5 and Gavin DeGraw. He later managed DeGraw’s career and led national sales for CAPS/Cast & Crew before joining RockForce. “RockForce is experiencing meaningful and sustainable growth, and I’m thrilled to be part of it,” said Young.

RADIO, RADIO: Matt Pinfield returns as host of Flashback With Matt Pinfield on Westwood One this weekend, following a near-fatal stroke in January that left him unresponsive for over two months. After extensive rehab in Los Angeles, the former MTV VJ is set to resume hosting duties on June 14–15 on the nationally syndicated rock show. During his recovery, Leslie Fram served as interim host of Flashback. Pinfield also continues his weekday role on The Matt Pinfield Show on 88.5 The SoCal Sound in Los Angeles. Cumulus Media’s Brian Philips praised Pinfield’s recovery, calling him a “warrior.”

ICYMI:

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Under new boss Mike Harris, MCA Nashville laid off nearly 20 employees across multiple departments. The cuts affect several high-level execs, including vps Leigh Malleus (media marketing), Karen Naff (creative services) and Gary Keffer (strategic marketing). Senior directors Michelle Hall, Troy Scott and Leah Ducey were also let go, along with multiple directors and coordinators. [Keep Reading]

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Last Week’s Turntable: Big Machine Promotes Streaming Driver

Elizabeth Nichols could have been an author, an accountant or a lawyer.

Instead, she chose artist. And now she has a breakthrough song with the quirky kiss-off “I Got a New One.” The attitude-driven song about kicking toxic, possessive lovers to the curb got a boost recently when Kelly Clarkson gave it the “Kellyoke treatment” on an episode of her popular talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Nichols independently released “I Got a New One” in December. Soon after, The Kelly Clarkson Show’s team reached out, asking for permission to use the song.

“I signed everything, did the legal stuff and then I didn’t hear anything,” Nichols recalls to Billboard. “I thought maybe it was going to play in the credits or something. But then I woke up and Kelly was singing it on TV. I freaked out, alone in my house. I ordered Dickey’s Barbeque to celebrate — nothing like barbeque to celebrate.”

After her rendition, Clarkson expressed her happiness at being able to shout out a “fellow Texan” and heaped praise on Nichols’ song (“I love it so much. It’s so funny”). “I heard what she said on TV and it was so kind. It was a very huge honor,” Nichols adds.

Nichols is No. 15 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart, and has already opened shows for Wyatt Flores. Her seven-song debut EP Tough Love comes out on June 20 on Pulse Records.

“I’m just counting down the days until [Tough Love] releases,” she says. “It comes out the day before my birthday, and I’m celebrating with a crawfish boil. That was my one request.”

The set, produced in part by Nichols, Travis Heidleman, Steve Rusch and Jackson Foote, includes the flirtatiious, quirky “Mama,” as well as another sterling track, “Somebody Cooked Here” — which Nichols wrote with Mags Duval, co-writer of Alex Warren’s current two-week Billboard Hot 100 chart-leader “Ordinary.”

Texas native Nichols, who grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, doesn’t see songwriting as all that different from her pursuits as an author. “I kind of look at songs as mini-books or stories,” she says. “There needs to be a cliffhanger or a plot twist.”

Nichols knows something about a plot twist; her own career journey is filled with them. A pastor’s daughter, Nichols grew up singing in church and started writing songs at age nine. But she put songwriting aside to focus on school and long-form writing, studying writing at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma. She then earned her master’s degree in accounting in Melbourne, Australia. But even then, she was being pulled toward music. She began writing songs again, sometimes crafting tunes about various classmates, and putting out snippets of those songs under an alias account on TikTok.

Her homespun songs began connecting with not only fans, but with other artists. Her first-ever co-writing session, prior to moving to Nashville, was with “Indigo” hitmaker Sam Barber. She landed a co-write on his 2024 album Restless Mind.

“I got a DM from Sam’s manager, and they were like, ‘He likes your music. Do you do co-writes?’” Nichols recalls. “I had to Google what a co-write was — I had no clue. But I flew to Montana and met Sam and we wrote for a few days. Sam’s so talented and amazing. The first song we wrote was ‘Morning Time,’ which ended up on his album. Right after that, I went and got a guitar and was like, ‘This is my career now.’”

She moved to Nashville in August 2024 and enrolled in law school at Belmont University, but kept writing songs and setting up co-writing sessions. The first week she arrived in Nashville, a writing session with writer-producer Jackson Foote brought about “I Got a New One.”

“I’m kind of ornery,” she says with a grin, as she talks of co-writing the defiant song. “I had the story arc thought out. I was like, ‘Now, let’s just make the music and flesh it out.’”

By January, Nichols dropped out of law school to focus fully on music. In early June she experienced her first CMA Fest in Nashville. When her first official CMA Fest debut was rained out early on during the four-day festival, Nichols orchestrated her own plot twist, performing on the street in downtown Nashville for fans that same day.

“I got to meet everyone, shake their hands, take pictures with them. It was cool,” she recalls. “I just started playing shows a month ago, but I was recognizing people from my comments section, like, ‘Oh, you comment on my videos!’ My screen time is scary. I’m a little chronic.”

In addition to releasing her EP, she’ll be opening shows for Little Big Town and Russell Dickerson throughout the summer. Billboard caught up with Nichols, Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month for June, at CMA Fest to discuss “I Got A New One,” the Kelly Clarkson performance, her EP and more. See our conversation below.

This EP also includes “Somebody Cooked Here,” a song you wrote with Mags, about a woman who visits her lover and realizes he was previously in a pretty serious relationship. What do you remember about writing that?

We wrote that the first month I came to town, it was the first time we met. It took us about 20 minutes to write the whole song. It was immediately like sparks flying. Songwriting is like a first date. Sometimes it takes you time to click with someone and sometimes you go in there and it’s instant. I had the idea for “Somebody Cooked Here,” and we were like, “Let’s make it literal.” That’s one of my favorites, and we’ve written so many songs that are soon to come out.

You signed with Pulse Records in March. How did you connect with them?

I’m such a fan of everybody on my team, and they make my job so easy. When “I Got a New One” first came out, I released it independently and then talked to so many people. It was the hardest decision. It was like giving me 20 great options and asking what cut of steak I want — filet mignon, rib eye? Pulse and I just connected. I saw the projects they were working on and they were just killing it.

You just wrapped a tour opening for Wyatt Flores. What was that like?

When I had just 300 followers on TikTok, he was one of the first people who followed me; he was the first person of anyone in the music industry. Wyatt Flores is the best A&R. He was so [supportive] early on and so, it’s a full-circle moment for me to be opening for him. And he’s such a sweetheart and so kind.

What are your favorite cover songs to work into your set?

I love Toby Keith. “How Do You Like Me Now?!” is such a good, fun kiss-off song. We throw a few ones like that in there. And his music is funny — I like funny singers.

What kind of music did you grow up listening to?

I grew up in church, so I listened to a lot of CeCe Winans, Marvin Sapp.

Is a gospel project in your future?

I would love to one day, because the sky’s the limit. You never know. My dad would be happy about that.

What did he think when you told him you were going to pursue music?

I was in law school here in Nashville, and I dropped out in January. I called my dad and told him, and he was like, ‘Oh, god.’ But he’s the most supportive. He’s been at every show. He has this calendar printed out with every date of every show I have for the next year and he’s already booked flights for every single one. He’s happy. He just wanted a free lawyer. But he’s fine. He gets free concerts.

What is a song you wish you had written?

Any Kacey Musgraves song. “Tin Man” from Miranda Lambert. It makes me angry when I listen to it, sometimes because I’m like, “I wish I could have written this.” It’s so beautiful.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

I’m a big Zach Top fan. Who isn’t? He’s killing it, and he does the cool, old-school thing.

What podcast or book are you into right now?

I’m reading The Hunger Games, which has been fun. I finished the first book before CMA Fest. I have the rest of the books and I made my roommate hide them so I wouldn’t read them during the Fest. So I’m excited for Monday after the festival because I can read [the series’ second book] Catching Fire.