This is an album that has a message that is very close to my heart and my own approach to coping with major issues such as cancer.
Jimmy Charles ‘Hard Way To Go’
Jimmy Charles first came to national attention when American Idol sent him to Hollywood. Now comes a seven-song collection titled HARD WAY TO GO. Produced by Paul David (CeCe Winans, Andre Crouch, Jonny Lang), the EP is a showcase for Charles’ musical range from soulful ballads to guitar-shredding rockers.
Charles spirit on this album demonstrates that he is more than just a strong and confident vocalist. The EP kicks off in high gear with the guitar-driven “Blue Spaces,” made for happy-go-lucky beach listening. Charles sings: Hey shotgun pilot / the coast is clear / let’s sail out of dodge / like two beach ballin’ buccaneers. It’s a fun ear-worm that gets the listener in the mood for next summer’s sand-between-the-toes seashore fun.
Anthem of hope and strength
“I Am Not Alone” (also his current single) tells the story of dealing with cancer from the perspective of a teenager, a married man, a young mother and a senior citizen. The song becomes an anthem of hope and strength as each person in turn finds the determination to carry on. (On that subject, please read my personal note, at the foot of this review.)Continue reading “Jimmy Charles finds ‘Hard Way To Go’”
“Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere” new single from upcoming album
When you meet most singer-songwriters, you discover they have a ‘day job,’ at least at the start of their music careers. Maybe they are restaurant servers or they are delivering pizzas. James Robert Webb has a day job and he has no intention of giving that up. He is a doctor with a medical practice in his home state of Oklahoma, as well as a blossoming recording career and a new album being produced in Nashville. As he told me during our interview (below), “I can’t abandon my patients.” His hashtags say it clearly: #DoctorByDay #SingerAtSundown
James Robert Webb
The upcoming album and the first single from the album, ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere,’ are under the direction of Grammy-winning producer Buddy Cannon. The single is now available everywhere on digital platforms. I recently met up with James Robert Webb to talk about his life and music.
Preshias Harris: OK, tell us the secret of how you balance a successful medical practice and a successful music career.
James Robert Webb: Sometimes I wonder how well I balance it. The other thing is, I’m a father, too. I’ve got my wife and three kids. The hardest thing for me is to make sure I’m spending enough time with the family, with all the travel and everything. But I don’t do a lot outside of music. My hobbies are all replaced by songwriting.
PH: So, no golf?
Keeping priorities straight
JRW: Exactly! Classically, as a doctor I’m not out playing golf. I’m not going out to Africa and shooting trophy lions or anything like that! [laughs] Most of my free time involves playing somewhere. But for me, it really comes down to having to keep the priorities straight. It might sound egotistical and greedy, but my number one priority is my health and me. Because if I crumble then everything else crumbles after that. Then it has to be my family, and third is my medical practice, because I always have to have that, and I can’t abandon my patients. And after that it’s music. That sounds like a lot of things to do, but you just get up every day and you’ve got to do those things in order.
“My goal is not to go out and be a star and play on stage for fame and glory or whatever. My goal is to create the best music. Music that can stand the test of time. To do the best I can with the gift I’ve been given.” – James Robert Webb
PH: What is one of the hardest things that you have to face in your dual careers?
JRW: It’s being away from my family, away from my kids. We would have moved here to Nashville, but we have a lot of family roots, both sides of the family, back home in Tulsa and Texas. So there’s a lot of support structure there, there’s a lot of people. Plus, my kids are in the age range of fourteen down to eight, so I don’t want to uproot them. But the good this is we have FaceTime, things like that we didn’t have ten or twenty years ago, to see people face to face.
PH: Your single, “Now We’re Getting’ Somewhere,” was released last month. Can you give me some “media tidbits” for what we can expect for your album?
JRW: A media tidbit… well, I’ve got a song I’m cutting by Bob McDill that has never been recorded. I love Bob McDill, he’s in the Hall of Fame. He’s been retired for a number of years.
Music is a way of life for Dustin Collins. Growing up in a family where music was always present, it was a natural progression for Dustin to focus on a musical career. His music-savvy parents weren’t quite so sure, but, as he told me during our interview, he knew he had to be involved some way with music for the rest of his life.
Dustin Collins
Coming off a Number One hit, this Kentucky boy is back with a new album, due out in August. IT’S BEEN AWHILE was produced and mixed by Bill McDermott and mastered by Noah Gordon. Dustin invests much of his time touring throughout the Midwest and his home state of Kentucky, including a slot on Aaron Watson’s Vaquero Tour, as well as opening for Chris Janson, Granger Smith, Kane Brown, The Kentucky Headhunters and many more.
He took time away from a hectic tour schedule to sit down with me and talk about his music. Knowing he shares my love for Kentucky basketball, the first thing I asked him was, “Does your blood run Kentucky blue?” With a wide grin, he replied, “You betcha life it does!” I knew it was going to be a great interview!
This is one of a series of interviews with emerging artists in which I ask about their creative process and approach to the music industry.
Touring Road Warrior
Preshias Harris: You are quite a road warrior. You’ve driven hundreds of thousands of miles playing everything from honky tonks to fairs and festivals. What are the pros and cons of touring like that?
‘The Barn’
Dustin Collins: Money! [laughs] That’s the ‘pro.’ And the ‘con!’ The pro is, you make enough money to stay on the road. The con is, you don’t make enough money to pay your car insurance. It is what it is. But I love it. I’d rather be on the road. I sleep better in my bunk than I do in my bed. I love getting out to meet new people, to see new people, play my songs for people who never heard of ‘em. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do, so I love being out there. So anytime we get a chance to take a road trip, all my guys are the same. They’re like, “Let’s Go!” By week two, they’re like, “Let’s go back home!”
Small towns seem to breed great country singers, and those small towns aren’t always located in America’s southern states. Patrick Darrah grew up in the small rural town of Bloomingdale, NY, where he joined his father’s auto body shop when he left school. He looked set to carry on the tradition as the fourth generation technician in the family business.
But music was calling. Earning a college degree in music production and audio engineering, he moved on, first to New York City and then further afield. He is now settled in Nashville to focus on his career as a singer and songwriter.
Patrick Darrah
His new album, NORTHERN TRUTH, dropped a few weeks ago and the lead-off single from the album, ‘I Never Got Over You,’ is now at country radio. We met during CMA Fest 2018 to talk about his music.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
From Punk to Country
Prehias Harris: What was the music you listened to, growing up in Bloomingdale, New York?
Patrick Darrah: A wide, wide variety. My dad was born in the 1950s so I heard all that 60s and 70s rock and roll; Roy Orbison, Temptations, all that kind of stuff. He was in a band so I heard him practicing. And my mother’s interest was country and things like the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Asleep At The Wheel… all those good quality, full bands that made some of the greatest songs, I think, ever written. So all of that, but I was in a punk rock band actually, growing up, if you can believe that!
PH: I can’t see that! I’m sorry!
Patrick Darrah’s Northern Truth
PD: Yeah, that tends to be a bit of a shocker when I tell people that. But, you know, going through your ‘teenage angst’ years, and all that. But everyone in the town loved country and the musicians played it, so we’d play ‘bar band’ music and punk rock music and I was playing my country music on the side. So it was a mix of everything.
PH: Who have been some of the biggest influences on your career? You’ve moved around a lot, too.
PD: I was in Pennsylvania in a little town called Richland. Oddly enough, I was going through a particularly strange but good part of my life at that time. Kind of sorting out my own personal demons, figuring out my direction musically. I don’t know it was necessarily the music around me more than the town itself and the people that were there. But playing in smaller bars there and meeting people did a lot to help shape the sound and the style of my music. Continue reading “Patrick Darrah’s music tells a ‘Northern Truth’”
Bo Steele and Ben Rubino are the Band Steele. They’ve been friends since they met in high school in Winston County, Alabama. After a video of Bo singing in a hospital waiting room went viral, they became celebrities appearing on local television and the nationally-syndicated Rick and Bubba radio show. They are now signed to indie label Fire River Records.
The Band Steele ‘Moon in a Mason Jar’
Bo and Ben are currently touring to support their new album, MOON IN A MASON JAR. ‘Good Times,’ one of the tracks on the album, is featured in the movie ‘Life on the Line’ starring John Travolta, Kate Bosworth and Sharon Stone. (Bo also secured a role in the movie!)
The Band Steele sat down to talk with me just after Fan Fest 2018. Or rather, Ben could talk, but Bo, who was suffering from strained vocal cords, was under doctor’s order to have complete vocal rest. Ben spoke for both of them while the normally talkative Bo wrote some notes that he could share with Ben and me during the interview.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
Playing on Broadway
Preshias Harris: Tell us what was one of the highlights of CMA Fest 2018 for you? And did you get to see any of your favorite artists?
The Band Steele
Ben Rubino: We were too busy to see any of our favorite artists. But my highlight would be that we got to play down on Broadway at The Valentine. Just playing on Broadway, that’s what Nashville’s all about. So that was my highlight for sure.
PH: Was there any moment this year, interacting with fans, that stood out for you?
BR: So hard for me to pinpoint a moment. But the reaction from everybody, it was just amazing. I remember we were playing Alley Taps in Printers Alley and there was this table off to our left. We were jammin’ and they were just loving it! They were complete strangers and they were in that moment where I was at and it was just awesome!
PH: So the stars just lined up?
BR: Yeah, it was just a good feeling!
PH: Was this your first CMA Fest?
BR: It was our first time performingat CMA Fest.
PH: What were your main influences when you were growing up?
Michael Ray performs at CMA Fest 2018, Photo: Caitlin Harris/CMA
CMA Fest 2018 was a huge success by just about any standard. The Country Music Association (CMA) reported the ‘highest fan engagement’ in the festival’s forty-seven year history.
Country music fans from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and thirty-six international countries poured into Music City to attend the longest-running country music festival in the world.
Overseas fans arrived from as far away as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Chile. Attendance from European countries, including Germany and Poland was up. So was attendance by fans from Great Britain, possibly helped by new direct flights between Nashville and London, England, on British Airways.
Fans pack Riverfront Park at CMA Fest. Photo: Hunter Berry/CMA
This year, fans could see more than 300 acts performing on 11 official stages. Ticket proceeds go directly to helping enrich and sustain music education programs across the country through CMA’s nonprofit arm, the CMA Foundation, thanks to every artist at the festival donating their time.
Among this year’s highlights…
=>> A sold-out CMA Songwriters Series show at the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum featuring Mary Chapin Carpenter, Vince Gill, Mac McAnally and Don Schlitz.
==> The Ultimate Fan Experiences Drawing, which offers fans special access to artists meet-and-greets and performances, saw a 36 percent increase in participants. Traffic on the festival’s official website CMAfest.com increased by more than five percent over last year.
==> Over the course of the four-day festival, Xfinity Fan Fair X welcomed 71,000 attendees, up 10% over 2017, and hosted 365 artists across meet-and-greets and three indoor stages in the exhibit hall, including the expanded Radio Disney Country Stage.
==> Fans enjoyed listening to and meeting the 51 up-and-coming artists featured on the new CMA Spotlight Stage.
CMA Fest MuttNation. Photo: Amanda Eckard/CMA
==> Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation was a “pup-ular” highlight inside Fan Fair X again with 55 dogs finding their forever homes.
==> Fan safety and security was enhanced this year. A ‘clear bag’ policy was implemented across the CMA Fest footprint. CMA ramped up safety precautions with upgraded breakaway fencing at the Chevy Riverfront Stage, which was utilized Sunday afternoon as lightning neared the area allowing fans to exit the area swiftly.
==> Fans got see some of country’s biggest stars, including Carrie Underwood, Charley Pride, Chris Stapleton, Dan + Shay, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Jon Pardi, Kane Brown, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Maddie & Tae, Trisha Yearwood and many more.
Emerging artists at CMA Fest
For me, and for many other country fans, CMA Fest offers an unrivaled opportunity to see and meet the rising artists who are performing here just as their careers begin to take off. Many years from now, when those acts are headlining, we’ll look back and say, “I saw them when…”
Among the emerging artists that I saw and spoke to this year were Adam Rutledge, Band Steele, Dallas Remington, Dugger Band, Harper Rae, Mags, Matt Rogers, Patrick Darrah, Shane Owens, Uncle Si and the Sicotics and Zach Stone. Many of my interviews with these artists have appeared (or will soon appear) here at this blog. Although they are all unique in their own way, each of these acts impressed me with their courage, their persistence and their resolve to do what it takes to achieve their goals. Remember those names!
CMA Fest TV Special August 8
Photo: Hunter Berry/CMA
The festival was filmed for a three-hour special, ‘CMA Fest,’ which will be hosted by Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini and airs Wednesday, Aug. 8 on the ABC Television Network. This year marks the 15th consecutive year of the broadcast.
Ready to get your tix for next year? Verified fan pre-sale for CMA Fest 2019 begins Monday, July 30, with a national on-sale Monday, Aug. 6here.
Watch a ‘sizzle reel’ of all four days of CMA Fest 2018 at YouTube here.
CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium. Photo: Kayla Schoen/CMA
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com
Loss and release find understanding through ‘Bloodline’
Harper Grae is a young lady who has faced a lot of adversity in her life. She was raised by her grandparents when it became clear that her parents were unable to take care of her. Struggling to overcome the pain and sadness, Harper found comfort in music that eventually led to writing and performing songs inspired by her difficulties and the ways she faced them.
While attending Auburn University in Alabama, studying Musical Theatre and Religious Studies, she auditioned for ‘The Glee Project 2,’ a talent program attached to the hit TV show ‘Glee.’ The audition was successful and she found herself in Los Angeles for an intense education in every aspect of the musical business.
Now settled in Nashville, she has a new EP and a new single, ‘Bloodline,’ that she sang during appearances at CMA Fest 2018. Harper and I met during CMA Fest to catch up on her career.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
CMA Fest ‘was a whirlwind’
Preshias Harris: You made your first CMA Fest appearance this year. Can you describe that experience?
Harper Grae
Harper Grae: Yeah, the experience was a whirlwind! I mean, starting from the artist valet pick-up, for a small-town girl from Alabama, I was like, ‘Wow, this is SO cool!’ And walking onto the stage at CMA Fest was something I always dreamed about doing. The most incredible experience was the Meet and Greet where you really get to meet the fans and talk to them. That’s what I want to do, interact with people who like my music and want to talk about my story and the songs that I have written.
PH: Was there a special song that stuck out to the fans, that they gave you feedback about?
HG: They all loved ‘Bloodline.’ They all loved it. It was the last song on the set and we really tried to ‘bring the house down’ with it. It was cool because we were on the Spotlight Stage and you can see people walk by, and they could keep walking but they didn’t! And I made note of that. I said ‘Okay, let’s make a game of this. Let’s see how many people stop and stay.’ And it was quite a few and that was cool. Because at my core I’m the girl who thinks nobody’s going to come to her birthday party, so it was really nice to see a crowd there.
PH: Where are you from in Alabama?
HG: I’m from a small town called Reeltown, near Auburn, Alabama, a really small town!
The story behind ‘Bloodline’
PH: Tell me about your single, ‘Bloodline.’
Harper Grae, ‘Bloodline’
HG: ‘Bloodline’ is the first single off my EP, ‘Buck Moon Medleys,’ which was inspired by the loss of my mother in December of last year. I started to really look at the lack of relationship with my mom from a vulnerable perspective, a beginning-to-end experience. I wanted to start off talking about that in a song that really talks about ‘does the apple really fall far from the tree?’ In my case, I hope I fall very far. But then, sometimes, you don’t want to, because you don’t want to run from who you are, because at the end of the day, my mom and my dad, even though I didn’t have a relationship with them, they are why I’m here. I’d never really thought about it. I’d just harbored not-so-great feelings towards them.
Jordan and Seth Dugger are brothers that together form the Dugger Band. Their father is a pastor of a small community in the eastern part of Tennessee. They are both graduates of the University of Tennessee and are talented multi-instrumentalists as well as singer/songwriters. Their current single, ‘East Tennessee Son,’ is also the title track from their current album.
As CMA Fest 2018 drew to a close, I met up with Seth and Jordan to talk about their music and the audience reaction to their blend of contemporary and traditional country.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
Jordan & Seth Dugger
Smoky Mountain influence
Preshias Harris: Jordan, you both grew up in Greenville in East Tennessee, close to the Smoky Mountains. Do you feel that affected how your music developed?
Jordan Dugger: I think so, for sure. Most of our family are musical. A lot of the events we attended with our family, a lot of people would always bring guitars and fiddles and mandolins and all kinds of instruments to family get-togethers. So we grew up with the family harmony stuff and everybody singing together. Of course, growing up near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge where Dolly Parton is from, we drew influence from a lot of her music. And there’s a big Bluegrass influence and a lot of mountain music, but also a lot of country and some of the rockin’ country as well. It’s a pretty diverse music community in East Tennessee so that definitely influenced our style today. The biggest part, I think, is the harmonies. And the first instruments we were into were guitar and fiddle.
PH: Seth, tell me about being here at CMA Fest. Is it your first time?
Seth Dugger: We’ve been for a couple of years now. But this year, we’ve performed the most at CMA Fest. It’s a great experience! It’s cool to see all the hard-core country music fans from all over the world come to Nashville for this one week. A lot of our fans came in for it to sit in on some of the fan parties that we had and hear some of our acoustic songs. So that was really humbling for us to see all those people from all over the world for this one event.
Adam Rutledge has a reputation for bringing contagious high energy to the stage that quickly cranks up the audience at his live shows. Adam has appeared with hot acts such as Brothers Osborn, Chris Janson, Eli Young Band, Cassadee Pope and Phil Vassar. In fact, Adam’s career is now managed by Phil Vassar (along with Amy Millslagle of i81 Entertainment).
He has a strong presence on social media with around 12,000 Instagram followers and thousands more on Facebook. Adam was in Nashville for CMA Fest 2018, playing at Music City Light Stage, Bridgestone Arena Plaza. He has a brand new EP, RUNWAY, that includes his new single, ‘Love Kickin’ In.’
Taking a few minutes away from the CMA Fest hustle and bustle, Adam sat down with me to catch up on what’s new with him.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
Airfield serves as video backdrop
Preshias Harris: Tell us about what’s been going on with your career since you dropped your single.
Adam Rutledge
Adam Rutledge: Yeah, so it’s been exciting! I’ve shot a music video for the single which we’re really excited about. It’ll be out in a few weeks. We shot it at an old, abandoned airport on a runway. It was a beautiful backdrop for the video. And I’m promoting another record coming out June 22nd.
PH: Tell me about any radio tours you’ve got planned.
AR: We’re in the process of planning radio tours right now.
PH: You’ve got a lot of wheels moving in your career. Which is the most exciting one?
AR: Being right here with you! No, it’s all so exciting. I can’t just pick one. There’s the new record, the video and working with so many talented people. I’m just one percent of all this! It’s everybody else that makes this all work for me. I’m just thankful for all the good people on my team.
PH: How long did it take you to get the songs for your CD?
AR: Some of them I’ve had written for years. Some of them I’d released on my own, years ago, and we went back and re-recorded and re-mixed them. And some of them were pitched to me and they are pretty new, so the songs span a large period of my life, actually.
PH: I’m going to ask you something that every artist hates when I ask it but I’m going to ask it anyway. What’s your favorite song on the album? Or a special one that means more to you personally? Continue reading “Adam Rutledge drops new single and EP”
Matt Rogers is making sure he will reach the eyes and ears of as many potential fans as possible during CMA Fest 2018. The Eatonton, Georgia, native now calls Nashville ‘home,’ but devotes a large part of every year to touring far and wide.
His latest project is an EP titled ‘Richest Place On Earth’ and he recently released the music video for the title track exclusively on Raised Rowdy. The song recently won a top award in the Music City SongStar competition.
I caught up with Matt in between some of his scheduled CMA Fest appearances.
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
Preshias Harris: You gave up a career in the medical career to move to Nashville. Why did you do that?
Matt Rogers. Photo credit: Preshias Harris
Matt Rogers: Music has always been there for me. When I was growing up, I played in church. I was in a youth ‘praise and worship’ band, I had a garage band, I had a little group in college. I started writing in college and when I moved home, I started playing more and more often in bars and clubs and I put a band together. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was really fumbling through different careers and different jobs, things like that, until I finally got a great job and a great career. But I had a goal to move up here [to Nashville] and I had a lot of support to move up here, so I saved up some money and set my plans and my goals out. And I ‘saddled up’ and moved on up.
The move to Nashville
PH: What was your time frame for that move?
MR: I was already coming up here often, monthly or bi-monthly, to take meetings, writing sessions, things like that. But I’d made a plan. I said, ‘In a year-and-a-half, I’ll move to Nashville.’ So I made a plan and started meeting people who could help me with that transition. At the end of that year, I found a place to rent, and I haven’t looked back since.
PH: Tell me about your EP, ‘Richest Place On Earth.’
Richest Place on Earth
MR: It’s a personal story. For the first year-and-a-half I was up here, I wrote about two hundred songs. So I wanted to narrow it down to just a few that would really describe who I was, not only as an artist but as a person. I wanted a cohesive project that you can listen to, start to finish, and have a better idea about who I was after you got through listening to it.
PH: What made you pick that title?
MR: It’s about me leaving that full-time job in Georgia and moving up here and taking the chance to do what I was wanting to do. To do what I think I was meant to do. That’s the story. I want to live out loud and break the mold. I want to leave a story behind to be told. Continue reading “Matt Rogers knows it takes hard work to reach the top”
This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.
