Black River Entertainment is an independent record label in Nashville, Tennessee, specializing in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. The company is a partially owned subsidiary of

Pegula Sports and Entertainment Pegula Sports & Entertainment (PSE) is an American sports and entertainment company based in Buffalo, New York. The company was established after multi-billionaire Terry Pegula and his family combined their sports, property and entertainment ass ...

, which otherwise specializes primarily in professional sports team ownership in western New York (including the Buffalo Bills,

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more po ...

, Buffalo Beauts, and

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, ...

). The label’s roster includes

Kelsea Ballerini Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. H ...

and she is the label’s main focus. The company also contains Black River Publishing and Sound Stage Studio both out of Nashville.

Background

Black River Entertainment was started in late 2007 by Nashville session musician Jimmy Nichols (James Ginnetti), his wife Tonya Cochran Ginnetti, and Pennsylvania-based oil magnates

Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

and

Kim Pegula Kim S. Pegula (née Kerr; born June 7, 1969) is an American businesswoman and with her husband Terry Pegula, one of the principal owners of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. She is also the president of Pegula Sports and Entertai ...

. Black River's first signing was former

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

recording artist, Jeff Bates, who had previously reached the '' Billboard'' top 40 with three of his songs. Label president Jimmy Nichols (along with

Kenny Beard Kenny Beard (February 26, 1959 - October 1, 2017) was an American country music songwriter. He wrote songs for Trace Adkins, Tracy Lawrence, and Aaron Tippin. Biography Kenny Beard was born February 26, 1959, in Ringgold, Louisiana. He moved to ...

and

Mickey Jack Cones Mickey Jack Cones (born in San Antonio, TX) is an American record producer, engineer, session musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in a musical family, he is the grandson of Glenn Gray Orchestra singer Jane Cones and son of Jackie Cones of Th ...

) produced Bates' self-titled album that was released in April 2008. During preparation for Bates' release, Black River began their search for their next potential artist. Singer/songwriter

Sarah Darling Sarah Ann Darling (born October 4, 1982) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has worked and toured in Nashville, Los Angeles, and the UK. Her last full album release, Wonderland, reached #1 on the official UK Country Charts. ...

was discovered via her MySpace music page. Darling had already made her name known to the public when she was a finalist on

E! Entertainment Television E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUnivers ...

's reality show ''The Entertainer'', hosted by

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

. The label signed Darling and moved into the studio in the summer of 2008 to record her debut album, '' Every Monday Morning'' (released on June 16, 2009). Her single, "Jack of Hearts" successfully made its debut on CMT's top 20 countdown. Darling's first top-40 country hit (and the label's second), "Home to Me," peaked in fall 2012, after which she left the label. After much success with two artists, they signed their third, Emma Jacob, in February 2009. Nichols produced her album, along with her manager, Lex Lipsitz, who also manages Kate and Kacey. Black River does the majority of their recording in the studio "Ronnie's Place" which is located in their building in Nashville. It was previously owned by Ronnie Milsap. Black River signed

Craig Morgan Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. A veteran of the United States Army as a forward observer, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for th ...

in 2011. Morgan, who has compiled fifteen top-40 singles on the country charts over the course of his career, had previously been with

BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, ...

Broken Bow Records BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. Craig Morgan ...

and Atlantic Records prior to joining Black River. Morgan gave Black River its first single (" This Ole Boy") to reach the Top 40 of ''Billboards

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart. On October 8, 2012, CMT reported that ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' alumni

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed ...

had signed with the label, and had already begun working with her on her fourth studio album. ''

The Woman I Am ''The Woman I Am'' is the eighth studio album by American R&B/ funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1992. It was Khan's first studio album since 1988's '' CK'' and due to artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bro ...

'' was released on November 11, 2013. In January 2013, Black River Entertainment added The John King Band to the roster. In December 2013, the label added

to their roster, and released her debut single, "

Love Me Like You Mean It "Love Me Like You Mean It" is a song co-written and recorded by American country pop singer Kelsea Ballerini. Ballerini co-wrote the song with Josh Kerr, Forest Glen Whitehead and Lance Carpenter. It was released on July 8, 2014, as Ballerini's d ...

," in 2014. It serves as the lead-off single to her debut album, '' The First Time'', which was released on May 19, 2015. "Love Me Like You Mean It" reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart for the week ending July 4, 2015, giving Black River their first number-one hit on that chart and also earning the label the distinction of being the first independent label to bring a female artist's debut single to the top of the country chart; they are also the first independent label to have a female artist at number one since

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's "

Ours One Union of Regional Staff (OURS) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was formed in early 2010 by the merger of the Derbyshire Group Staff Union and the Cheshire Group Staff Union. It organises former Derbyshire Building Soc ...

" led in December 2012. Ballerini's song " Half of My Hometown," a collaboration with

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...

, won the Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year at the

55th Annual Country Music Association Awards The 55th Annual Country Music Association Awards were held on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The ceremony was hosted CMA Award winner Luke Bryan. Background After a video clip surfaced in early 2021 ...

in 2021.

Black River Records

*Pryor Baird *

*Ray Fulcher * Ronnie Milsap *Josiah Siska *MaRynn Taylor

Former Black River Records artists

Abby Anderson Abby Anderson (born March 10, 1997) is an American country music singer-songwriter from Southlake, Texas near Dallas. She is signed to the independent entertainment company, Black River Entertainment. Early life Abby Anderson is one of seve ...

Jeff Bates Jeffery Wayne Bates (born September 19, 1963) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Nashville in late 2002, Bates released his debut album ''Rainbow Man'' in May 2003. In 2005 he released his second album, ''Leave the Light On'' ...

* Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots *

*Jacob Davis * Due West *Emma Jacob *Willie Jones * John King *

*Pryor & Lee * Glen Templeton *Ty Williams

Black River Christian

* Matty Mullins * Josh Wilson * Wildfire Worship Collective

Former Black River Christian artists

Hannah Kerr Hannah Elizabeth Kerr (born January 6, 1997) is an American Christian musician, who plays a Christian pop style contemporary worship music. She released ''I Stand Here'', on M2T (Made to Thrive) Records, in 2015, a record label founded by Mark ...

Former Black River Americana artists

*Carolina Story

References

External links

* {{Authority control American independent record labels American country music record labels Christian record labels Pegula Sports and Entertainment Record labels based in Tennessee