Music & Movie Mojo! "Pursuit of Happyness" Author Chris Gardner Joins AT&T For Agility Is Challenge, Hennessy's Limited Edition Bottle Launch Visits Chicago & BMI Music Announces Lollapalooza Line Up

July 6th AT&T (Michigan Avenue store) hosted a Facebook Live announcement of the national winners of their Agility Is contest for small business owners.  The event was hosted by none other than Chris Gardner, the Chicago-based entrepreneur and author of the #1 New York Times best-selling memoir, "The Pursuit of Happyness," which was later turned into a blockbuster movie starring Will Smith!

Chris Gardner

With more than 1,000 business owners across the country responding, a panel of judges had the arduous task of narrowing the semi-finalists down to only ten. Today, July 26th, is the last day to vote for the five winners which will be announced on August 1st.

The finalists are as follows:

Anew Life - Detroit, MI
Cornbread Hustle - Dalllas, TX
CoSign - New York, NY
Fasano's Pizza - Justice, IL
GoodBoy Clothing - Flint, MI
Heritage Hollow Farms - Sperryville, Va
Midwest Performance Cars - Chicago, IL
Phillip Ashley Chocolates - Memphis, TN
Tashi Handmade Naturals - Klamath Falls, Oregon
Whittaker Beef - Lawrenceville, IL

There's $100,000 on the line, so head over to Business Circle, view the videos and vote for your favorite TODAY!

Scott Campbell 

Chicago's finest came out to 1st Ward, Wicker Park to celebrate the Hennessy Limited Edition Bottle Launch by renowned tattoo artist, Scott Campbell. This was the second stop of a multi-city debut showcasing Hennessy's Very Special bottle design by the highly sought after tattoo artist.

DJ Ruckus

World-famous DJ Ruckus rocked the the 1s and 2s while his fiance, Victoria Secret model, Shanina Shaik, came out to show support for her beau. 

Lamorne Morris

Chicago native, Lamorne Morris, actor of Fox's hit sitcom, New Girl, was also on the scene. Morris and party guests enjoyed the evening’s signature cocktails.

Hennessy, the #1 Cognac in the world, continues to champion artists such as Campbell, who show an uncompromising drive to continue pushing the boundaries of their potential and "Never stop, Never settle.”

To find out more about the limited edition by Scott Campbell and upcoming Art of the Chase events, go to www.hennessy.com.

Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), the global leader in music rights management closes out the last day of Lollapalooza (7/31) with a series of finale performances by six acts poised for stardom. The BMI stage will play host to country newcomers LANco, indie rock band the Dreamers, musically diverse duo Unified Highway, R&B crooner TOTEM, the unconventional quartet Mothers, and provocative rap trio the Flatbush ZOMBiES.

BMI STAGE SCHEDULE - SUNDAY, JULY 31st:

LANco (1:00-1:40pm): LANco is blazing trails in country music and the recent buzz surrounding them proves it. The five-man band incorporates refreshing elements of production mixed with classic country songwriting, creating a distinct sound.Extended Play, their debut EP, further defined the band’s musical style of which Billboard called “boundary-pushing.” LANco appeared on Spotify’sSpotlight on 2016 Country artists list and on Rolling Stone Country’s “10 New Country Artists You Need to Know” for their “rich mash-up of contemporary country and gleaming pop.” They recently debuted their music video for the catchy-tune “Long Live Tonight” on the Sony billboard in Times Square and the single is set to hit radio on July 11th. @LancoMusic

Dreamers (2:10-2:50pm):  According to Music Connection, Dreamers has “found themselves in the enviable position of being a legitimate buzz-band.” Since the release of their 2014 self-titled debut EP, they have been featured in several top music outlets including SPIN, Billboard, Alternative Press and EarMilk to name a few and their breakout single “Wolves (You’ve Got Me)” landed in full rotation on SiriusXM’s “AltNation” and was voted on the Alt18 Countdown where it remained for 17 weeks, prior to signing a record deal.  Of their debut EP, Stereogum touted the Brooklyn-based trio for taking “little bits and pieces from the past six decades of rock and molded it into something fresh and interesting.” After signing a deal with Fairfax Records, the band released their highly anticipated follow-up You Are Here (2016) with Billboard predicting the band is “ready for the big leagues.” @DREAMERSjoinus

Unified Highway (3:20-4:00pm): Unified Highway is the musical point of intersection for vocalist/ guitarist Eric Rachmany and DJ, producer and remixer Amp Live (formerly of Zion I). Sharing the stage on previous occasions, the pair discovered an undeniable magic in a joint collaboration. Their self-titled debut (2016) fused each of their wide-ranging musical strengths – reggae, electronic, hip-hop, alternative and soul – into a sonically unique and appealing record.   As Mass Appeal exclaimed, “File under: unlikely collabs that succeed despite all odds.” @unifiedhighway

TOTEM (4:30-5:10pm):  Recently named "Musician to Watch" by HighSnobiety, NY based singer-songwriter TOTEM is set to catapult from indie darling to household name with the help of his latest release “Bubblegum.” “Bubblegum” produced by Aalias (who co-wrote/co-produced hit song “Middle” feat. Bipolar Sunshine with DJ Snake and co-wrote/co-produced Eminem & Rihanna's #1 song “The Monster”) racked up over 1 million plays on Spotify in four weeks with support on Spotify's marquee playlists including NMF, Weekend Buzz, Pop Rising, Alternative R&B and Apple Music's “Best of the Week”.  Described by Pigeons and Planes as “an artist visiting familiar pop confines with fresh perspective” and with nods from Billboard, COMPLEX, Earmilk and more, this kid is poised for stardom. @totemsound

Mothers (5:40-6:20pm): Selected as a “Band to Watch” by Stereogum, Mothers has blossomed from lead singer Kristine Leschper’s solo project into a distinctively unconventional quartet on-the-rise. Their debut album, When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired, released earlier this year earned high praise from NPR Music ('First Listen'),The New York Times, Pitchfork, The Guardian,NME ('Radar'), Q Magazine and more. Their inaugural record is an introduction to the foundations of the young band, a snapshot of a particular period of their genesis that maps both where they began and where they are heading. AsNPR Music stated, "These songs feel like a snapshot of a time getting left behind rather than lived in, performed by a riveting, honest band.”@mothersathens

Flatbush ZOMBiES (6:50-7:30pm): Heralded byXXL as “the most exciting act” out right now, theFlatbush ZOMBiES “have only shown a brief glimpse of what they can do.” True to the culturally diverse mix of their home turf of Brooklyn, the incendiary hip-hop trio Flatbush ZOMBiES are willfully difficult to categorize. After amassing a cult following the release of three mixtapes and constant touring, their long awaited debut album, 3001: A Laced Odyssey (2016), entered the Billboard 200 charts at an impressive #10. “An excellent debut that flows perfectly and offers something new with every return”, All Music says the trio is showing itself to be “unstoppable, something underlined by how effortlessly they spit their brilliance.” @flatbushzombies

For more information on the BMI Stage, please visit, www.bmi.com/lollapalooza and follow @BMIon Twitter for updates on your favorite acts.

Photo credits:  

AT&T Photos 1 & 3 courtesy of C-Style Magazine
Chris Gardner photo courtesy of Chris Gardner Media

Hennessy Limited Edition Bottle Launch courtesy of Hennessy

BMI Lollapalooza Line-up courtesy of BMI Music, Inc.