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Nashville's premier entertainment blog including album, song and show reviews and exclusive artist interviews.
One of Country music’s most buzzed about debut artists, SaraBeth, is ready to spread holiday cheer with the release of “Silent Night.” The blonde bombshell showcases her powerhouse vocals while delivering a fresh spin on the beloved holiday classic. As part of the promotion, SaraBeth will be donating 70% of the sales price to City of Hope, a charity she has showed longtime support for through StageIt concerts and social media awareness.
L to R: BRANDI SIMMS (Senior Director of Membership and Balloting), SARAH TRAHERN (Chief Executive Officer), ZACH SWON, COLTON SWON (The Swon Brothers) and GREG HILL (CEO of Hill Entertainment Group), BRENDEN OLIVER Membership and Balloting Coordinator and CARRIE TEKAUTZ Membership and Balloting Assistant.
Zach and Colton, The Swon Brothers, recently visited the Country Music Association to share a little brotherly love, or rather… a little sibling rivalry, entertaining the staff not only with their undeniable blood harmony, but also their witty and affable personalities.
With a little of their comedic banter thrown in for good measure, the brothers performed an acoustic set that included “Pray for You” – the compelling new single from the duo’s self-titled album – scaled back with just themselves on acoustic guitar, bass and vocals.
www.swonbrothers.com / @theswonbrothers
The winners were announced tonight for CMA’s touring industry honors known as the SRO Awards. The trophies were presented at an industry event hosted by road veteran Kix Brooks at Marathon Music Works in Nashville.
Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Will Hoge visited Nashville School of the Arts as the featured guest for its student produced program, “NSA Presents” on Friday (12/5). Launched by Julia Hoge,former counselor at NSA and Will Hoge’s wife, the program is designed to bring in artists, musicians, and actors to help students find ways to translate their passions into careers. The series is hosted by Lightning 100 On-Air Personality Wells Adams and has brought in artists including Chip Esten, Chris Young, Ruby Amanfu and more.
Florida Georgia Line is passionate about giving back and every year Brian and Tyler find a new way to make someone’s Christmas a little brighter. This year they are partnering with their home church, Cross Point Church, in their Dollar Club initiative.These small gestures of generosity have led to some incredible stories of hope and change in the community such as replacing the roof of a local church, funding the physical therapy that is helping a young boy learn to walk again and helping to build a playground for underprivileged children.
“The Dollar Club is one of our favorite wayswe get to see all of these moments come to life. We love how giving just one dollar can make a difference in someone’s life,” shares FGL’s Brian Kelley.
Founded in January 2014, Cross Point Church’s the Dollar Club gives 100% of monies received directly to people in need.
If you would like to join the Dollar Club and see the difference others have made with a $1 donation please visit:https://crosspoint.secure2.agroup.com/dollar-club
MoonPie, an American favorite since 1917, along with country music artist Craig Morgan, is shipping over 35,000 MoonPies to USO centers across the country this week as a “thank you treat” for U.S. troops who are heading home for the holidays. MoonPie enlisted the country music star and Army veteran to assist with a six-month social media campaign that invited MoonPie and Morgan fans to donate a free MoonPie to the troops. The USO, with their long history of supporting American troops, was the natural partner for the campaign.
MADDIE & TAE have something. Writing a song scoffing at the nameless bootie-short-sporting hotties the bro-cos seem to like, Maddie Marlow and Tae Dye signed a deal as Big Machine’s first act on the historic Dot label while recording “Girl In A Country Song.” Rushed into the studio, then straight to country radio, Maddie & Tae struck a nerve: mining Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, USA Today, RollingStone and NPR, followed by Late Show with David Letterman, TODAY and Entertainment Tonight, then an RIAA GOLD-certified single as the turn-around’s-fair-play single hit the Top 5.
The Ada, Oklahoman and Sugar Land, Texan are the first female act ineight years to top the Country Singles chart with their debut single “Girl In A Country Song.”
“That’s crazy,” Maddie marvels. “When Tae and I got our publishing deal, we wanted to write songs from a young woman’s perspective about all the things in life. Who knew that a song about wanting to be more than a girl in Daisy Dukes and a bikini top would hit people like this?”
Obviously BMLG President & CEO Scott Borchetta, who upon hearing the song fast-tracked their deal. And every country radio station in America, who put “Girl In A Country Song” in rotation with all the songs it was sending up, watching the phones light up as their airplay helped drive the table-turning guy-objectification video well past 14 million Vevo views.
“You dream about having a #1 song,” says Tae. “Everyone does. We’re just two girls, living a dream, writing our songs and getting to go out on the road and play for people. That’s a pretty big ‘wow’ in itself…”
“Wow!” moments are becoming a big part of Maddie & Tae’s reality. Rolling Stone cited them one of 10 New Artists You Need To Know across all genres and their self-titled EP hit Billboard’s Twitter Emerging Artist Chart at #1. NPR’s Ann Powers proclaimed, “they’re songwriters, powerful harmonizers and in the video for ‘Girl In A Country Song,’ natural comediennes…” CMT tapped them for their Next Women of Country designation and they’ve been added to Country Radio Seminar’s New Faces show, in addition to being courted for some of 2015’s hottest tours.
“There’s so much more to Maddie and every other girl we know than how we look so we decided to share another side of the story,” picks up Tae. “We couldn’t stop screaming when they told us the news because it humbles us even more to know this is something people wanted to hear. We didn’t want to get our hopes up when our incredible team told us it looked good for the #1 spot because we just got here.”
Maddie continues, “we’re here to have our songs be heard … but the way this whole thing happened? Well, just wow.”
Three-time Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter, guitarist and modern day blues and americana artist,Keb’ Mo’ has had a lot to celebrate this year. Most recently, it’s the three 2015 Grammy nominations he’s garnered and his 12th studio album, BLUESAmericana, being named one of the Top 100 Americana Albums of 2014 (at #19).
Nashville’s renowned chefs Tyler Brown of the Capitol Grille, Hal Holden-Bache of Lockeland Table and Tandy Wilson of City House have joined forces to prepare a unique dining experience for attendees of Make-A-Wish® Middle Tennessee’s third annual “Stars for Wishes” event, taking place Saturday, January 17 at Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Tickets to the event are available here. Continue Reading →
Scotty McCreery presents a check for $60,000 to the 12.14 Foundation backstage at his concert in Wallingford, CT. Left to right: Jay Winuck, 12.14 Foundation Board Member; Scotty McCreery; and Michael Baroody, MD, 12.14 Foundation Founder.
Photographer: EB Media
Mercury Nashville / 19 / Interscope Records artist Scotty McCreery performed a fundraising concert at the Toyota Oakdale in Wallingford, CT last night that raised $60,000 for the 12.14 Foundation. Their mission is to develop programs that help children gain confidence, inspiration and skills to rise above and ultimately go beyond even the most horrific events. The programs will be an innovative combination of exploration of the arts, and a coherent, evidence based personal development strategy. The organization’s long-term goal is to build a special center to house these multi-disciplinary educational programs, including a performing arts center, which will be based in Newtown, but its doors will be open to benefit people nationwide. The center will honor those lost on December 14, 2012, while providing a venue that supports many forms of healing and forward-looking positive change.
