May
2010
28
2010
Ash Bowers is one of country music’s newest faces. He’s been out on the road building up a fan base with an opening slot on Jason Aldean’s “Wide Open Tour” this past spring.
Here’s his story…
Before Bowers got his record deal he worked to build a his career grassroots style. After singing in church throughout his childhood, he started to sing solo at open mic nights until, at 20, he put together his first band. Just a year later, he was offered a Pacific tour through Armed Forces Entertainment after they had listened to a three-song demo he and his band had cut in Jackson, TN.
“They told us, ‘If you can be ready to leave in three weeks, you can go,’” Bowers says. “We all had good jobs and we were playing bar gigs, but I knew I was going with or without them. They all said, ‘Yeah’ and we went.”
The band played military bases in Japan, Korea, Guam and the Marshall Islands for 42 days, and when they returned they were a tight performing unit.
“It was probably the best learning experience we could have had as a band,” he says. “We learned what it was like being on the road, playing four or five nights a week. At that point, it was either go back and get another day job or book some gigs, and we weren’t about to go get jobs.”
They began with shows throughout western Tennessee, and as word spread they were able to work steadily from Alabama to California. ”In 2004 we played about 180 dates,” he says. “In 2005 we played 200 plus.”
Then came a pivotal moment in Ash’s career. A Nashville publisher saw the band on one of those dates and approached him afterward. When he learned Ash aspired to a record deal, he encouraged him to come to Nashville. Soon Ash was restricting his playing to weekends and spending his weeks commuting daily to Nashville. The kind of commitment it took to drive 260 miles a day, five days a week–it quickly paid off.
“I was getting a lot more accomplished in Nashville than I was trying to build a grassroots career on the road,” he says. Just a year and a half after he began commuting to Nashville, a CD of his material reached Broken Bow/Stoney Creek Records president Benny Brown, who invited him to play at a corporate Christmas party in California.
“The party was on a Saturday,” he says. “That next Monday we had a deal in progress.” Signed both as an artist and as a songwriter, he was soon working with some of Music City’s top writers.
“I’ve had people ask, ‘Did you ever think you’d get to this point?’ I say, ‘Absolutely!’ I never once doubted myself or my determination. I knew eventually there’d be an opportunity for me to get out of the jobs I was working and run with it, and that’s exactly what I did. Every day I get up and try to figure out another song to write or another gig to go play.”
Check out a live performance of his second single, “Ain’t No Stopping Her Now.”
Click HERE to learn more about Ash Bowers.
Similar Stories
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED
Congratulations to our winners:
Lynsi
Heather
Susan
Amber
Andy
Meet singer/songwriter Chris Cavanaugh.
Cavanaugh realized that he wanted to pursue a career in the country music business after performing in a middle school talent show when he was just 12 years old. After high school, he moved to Tennessee and after earning his degree at Middle Tennessee State University, Chris signed his first songwriting deal.
Over the next few years, he spent his time on music row as a songwriter. During this time however, he says, “I always knew that deep down my ultimate passion was playing and performing, so I eventually had to get out and do something about it…I had to get on the road.”
So, that’s what he did. In the last year alone, Chris has opened shows for artists such as Pat Green, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jason Michael Carroll, and Justin Moore.
Cavanaugh’s songwriting credits include Colt Ford feat. Joe Nichols “She Ain’t Too Good For That” and the title track to Lonestar’s upcoming release, “Party Heard Around The World.”
Cavanaugh has already recorded a self-titled debut album complete with ten songs, all of which he co-wrote.
Listen to a few tracks from the album below:
“College Years”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“Something’s Going On”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Visit his official website to learn more about Chris and to purchase his debut album. You can also find Cavanaugh on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.
CONTEST: To enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Cavanaugh’s debut album, leave a comment on this post with your name and e-mail address. We’ll randomly select FIVE winners on Sunday. Good luck!
Similar Stories
It’s that time again- time for us to introduce you to another up and coming country act!
This time, we’d like you to “meet” Tayla Lynn, Jennifer Wayne, and Caroline Cutbirth. They are collectively known as Stealing Angels and although you may not know them just yet, you know their families!
If any of their last names sound familiar to you…they should. These young women are descended from American icons, including country great Loretta Lynn, film legend John Wayne and American folk hero Daniel Boone. But it will be their music, not their background that promises to make their names as well known as their famous families.
Stealing Angels is already making a name for itself thanks to ABC’s Robin Roberts who featured the group in her one-hour TV special on country music, which aired nationally on ABC in November 2009. In a segment called “What’s In A Name”, Roberts posed the question if talent is genetic using examples including Johnny and Rosanne Cash, Vince and Jenny Gill and of course, Stealing Angels and their famous relatives.
The band is currently in the studio in Nashville with award winning producer Paul Worley (Lady Antebellum, Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride) working on their debut album, set for release sometime this year.
You can learn more about the trio (and check out their music!) on their MySpace. We’re looking forward to seeing (&hearing!) more of them this year!
Similar Stories
It’s that time again- we have another artist that we want to introduce to you!
Meet newcomer Josh Thompson…
Thompson is making waves at country radio with his debut single “Beer On The Table.” The song landed at No.22 on the Mediabase charts this week and we have a good feeling it will contine to climb the charts in the coming weeks.
Josh grew up in Milwaukee with his mother and father. In his early teenage years he began working for his father’s concrete business and became a journeyman concrete finisher at nineteen.
“Singing and songwriting were never even in my mind as being a career for me,” Thompson admits. He says he was actually interested in sports.
“I was quite a rambunctious kid,” he says, “and instead of putting me on Ritalin, my parents opted to put me in gymnastics.” His twelve years as a first-rate gymnast included two as all-around state champion, and he was active in football and track in high school.
After graduating high school, Thompson worked in the concrete business for three years then decided to go to college. While attending college, at the age of 21, he got his first guitar.
“I took lessons for a while, but once I could make three or four chords, I picked up the rest on my own and started writing. It was almost like a drug for me. I had to do it,” he says.
The rest is history. Thompson moved to Nashville and scored a publishing deal after just 7 months of attending writers’ nights. He is best known for penning the title track of Jason Michael Carroll’s latest album, Growing Up Is Getting Old.
Although he’s already come so far, Thompson’s journey is just beginning… He’s already opened up for artists such as Jamey Johnson and Hank Jr and says that he loves high-energy crowds.
“I love feeding on the crowd,” he says. “I love to get them rowdy and get rowdy back. I like to put on a show, to run around and beat the drums a little bit–literally. My drummer gets pissed off sometimes because cymbals are expensive, but what are you gonna do? Music makes you do some crazy things sometimes.”
Check out the video for “Beer On The Table”:
Click HERE to watch behind the scenes clips of the video.
His debut album hits stores early next year, but if you’re like us and you don’t want to wait that long to hear more music from him, you can purchase Thompson’s digital EP HERE.
He also has a really fun game on his website called “Whack-A-Beer.” Click HERE to check it out.
Similar Stories
It’s that time again…Time for another Listen UP!
I heard a song called “A Little More Country Than That” a few weeks ago on the radio and I couldn’t get it out of my head after I heard it! I did a little digging and got to know a lot about country newcomer Easton Corbin- and I thought I’d share….
Like many country artists, Corbin grew up in a SMALL town in rural Gilchrist County, FL (gotta love a good ole Florida boy!).
“There’s no Walmart there,” he says. “There was a Hardee’s, but it closed. That was the only franchise fast food place in the county. Trenton has a red light; Bell has a blinking light. It’s a great place.”
Growing up, he spent much of his time on his grandparent’s cattle farm (his parents divorced when he was young). He credits his grandparents for his love of music…
“My grandparents liked to watch the Opry,” Easton remembers. “We’d start Saturday night off with ‘Hee Haw’ and then ‘Opry Backstage’ and then ‘Opry Live’.”
When Easton was about 15 years old he began taking guitar lessons from a local musician named Pee Wee Melton. “He was a great mentor,” Easton recalls. “He was a great player and a great teacher. He was a really big influence on me.”
Every day when he got home from school, Easton would practice guitar for hours, sometimes until his fingers were raw, then help his grandfather around the farm.
Melton encouraged Corbin to get out and start playing his music in front of an audience, so he joined a local band. “I’d always wanted to play and sing, but up until that time I never really did do it in public,” he says. “We’d play school functions and parties. We were too young to play bars, but we played everything else.”
After earning a business degree at the University of Florida, Easton took two important steps… “My wife, Brinn, and I got married on September 2, 2006, and on October 14 we moved to Nashville,” he says. “I always knew I wanted to move up here. There was never any question about it. I didn’t want to wake up one day and wish I would have tried it, but I had to get my education first so I had something to fall back on.”
When he got to Music City, Corbin got a day job at the local Ace Hardware and began playing around town on writer’s nights. His big break came when a distant cousin, who is also a professor of music management at the University of Montana, heard Easton’s music. He asked if he could send it to some of his Nashville contacts. The response was great! Among those who were impressed by Easton’s music was James Yelich, a booking agent, who asked if he could hear him play in person. Easton quickly agreed.
Also at the meeting was Joe Fisher, who had recently joined Universal Music Group Nashville as Senior Director of A&R. The two men were blown away and Fisher quickly signed him to the label and the rest is well, history.
His first single, “A Little More Country Than That,” was written by Rory Feek (of Joey & Rory), Don Poythress and Varble. ”Even though I didn’t write it, this song identifies who I am,” he says. “It shows character and that’s important where I’m from. You learn to say ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘no, sir,’ and to open the door for the ladies.”
Now that his life long dream is upon him, Easton says he’s ready. “I just want to make great country music,” he says. “Just the opportunity to play music for a living is a great thing. I’m just thankful to have the opportunity to do what I’m doing now.”
Have you heard the single yet? I absolutely LOVE it. The first time I heard it, I immediately thought that Easton’s voice reminded me of a young George Strait…what do you think?
If you haven’t heard it, check out the song/video now…
You can pick up his 4 song EP now on Amazon.
For more information on Easton Corbin, check out his official website. You can also follow him on Twitter HERE.
Similar Stories
In early June while attending the CMA Music Festival, fans were given iTunes cards with a code to download a free country music playlist. When I got home and downloaded the music, there was one song that I absolutely could not get out of my head! Even though I’d never heard of The Harters, their song “Jenny” found it’s way to the top of my playlist and hasn’t moved since I first heard it!
The Harters is made up of brothers Michael and Scott Harter, as well as their sister Leslie. Like so many country artists, the group grew up in a household full of music and they all admit that this group wouldn’t exist without each member. Although their musical backgrounds are varied, the trio finally decided to work together at the suggestion of their father one evening. “I’d moved back from Nashville,” Michael recalls, “and Leslie and I were thinking about being a duo. Scott had just come home from San Diego with some songs he’d written. The three of us started harmonizing on a song out on the back patio. After a while, my dad said, ‘I don’t know why you three don’t just sing together as a group.’” And the rest, as they say, is history.
The trio lives by their motto of “Family. Love. Harmony.” The first two words of that motto seem secondary for family, and it’s the third word where they not only excel, they dominate. You can listen to “Jenny,” their first single that will hit country radio later this summer, on their website. Just by entering your e-mail address on the site, you’ll get a free download of the single as well as another song, “Gettin’ Out Of Dodge.”
We know that sometimes it’s easier to stay inside your comfort zone when listening to your music, but we’re really hoping you give this trio a listen. We think that 3 minutes is all that it will take for you to fall in love with their sound, so give “Jenny” a listen. You can also check out this video of the trio rehearsing “Jenny” in the studio. Let us know what you think – we’re anxious to hear even more from The Harters and we think you will be too!
Similar Stories
We’d like to introduce you to Johnny Bulford, the winner of the 27th Annual Colgate Country Showdown. At the early age of 23, the singer.songwriter has already opened for country music stars such as Josh Turner, Emerson Drive, Jason Michael Carroll, and more. After coming close to winning the Colgate Country Showdown in 2003 and 2004, Bulford took home the grand prize of $100,000 earlier this year.
Bulford has an amazing voice and we have a feeling you’ll enjoy his music. We absolutely love his song “How Could I Not.” We recently sat down with Bulford to chat about his win and his music and got a special treat when he performed the song acoustically for us. Head on over to his MySpace to check out his music. His voice is so raw- we just can’t get enough.
He plays a lot of gigs around Florida and says he hopes to move to Nashville to pursue his career.
Check out CountryMusicIsLove’s interview with Bulford below…
Similar Stories
When we do these “Listen UP!” posts, we really try to introduce you to GOOD music – we’ve featured a lot of artists here that you’ve grown to love – Adam Gregory, Gloriana, Zac Brown Band, Matt Stillwell and many others – and this time, we have another artist that we know you’re going to love!
Dustin Bogue is a singer/songwriter currently in Nashville and he has a great sound! There are lots of people trying to make it in Nashville and Dustin has a voice that sets him apart from others. Once that voice pulls you in (trust us, it won’t take long!,) the powerful lyrics in his songs will hit you just as hard as his voice did. One song that we’re loving and that you MUST listen to is “It Takes A Burn To Learn.” The lyrics are so honest and raw - the song hits you and makes you feel something, which is refreshing. Definitely go listen to that song HERE and come back and let us know what you think – we love it!
Another favorite of ours is “Didn’t Feel A Thing.” Watch the video below and you’ll understand why! This song is another great example of Dustin’s most valueable instrument: his voice. He has such a raw sound that forces the music to hit you immediately - which translates to ”mission accomplished” in music, right?! When you listen to music don’t you want to feel something, don’t you want the music to move you? That’s exactly what Dustin’s music does! The lyrics back his voice up in a way that actually surprised us. A lot of songs on country radio currently tend to carry the same theme – after you’ve heard the first few lines, you can generally guess the direction the song is headed. But Dustin’s songs aren’t that way – sure there are only so many stories to be told, but Dustin’s music takes a fresh approach with the lyrics instead of following tradition. Here’s the video for “Didn’t Feel A Thing”…
Dustin Bogue – Didnt Feel a Thing
You can listen to Dustin’s music on his MySpace page – take a listen, add him as a friend, and let him know that CountryMusicIsLove sent you! He also has a great website and if you’re in the Nashville area, you can check him out most Saturdays at the Second Fiddle on Broadway. I’ll be seeing him in a couple of weeks and will come back with a full report for you!
Dustin has a GREAT offer for CountryMusicIsLove fans! You can order his current CD, Proud, for only $10 and he’ll even autograph it for you! Get in touch with him via MySpace and mention “CountryMusicIsLove” to take advantage of the great deal! You can also e-mail us and we’ll put you in touch with his team if you’d like to place an order.
Leave Dustin some love in the comments section and let us know what you think of his music!
Similar Stories
Billy Currington
Julianne Hough
Trace Adkins
Reba McEntire
Contest
Jimmy Wayne
Montgomery Gentry
LeAnn Rimes
Kenny Chesney
Academy of Country Music
Kellie Pickler
James Otto
Fan Story
Keith Urban
Miranda Lambert
Faith Hill
Rascal Flatts
Dierks Bentley
Brad Paisley
Sara Evans
Alan Jackson
Joe Nichols
George Strait
Rodney Atkins
CMT
Brooks & Dunn
Lady Antebellum
Blake Shelton
Eric Church
Sugarland
Jessica Simpson
Jake Owen
Chuck Wicks
Craig Morgan
Toby Keith
Darius Rucker
Jason Michael Carroll
Taylor Swift
Martina McBride
Randy Houser
Zac Brown Band
Carrie Underwood
CMA Music Festival
Little Big Town
Jamey Johnson
Gloriana
Chris Young
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Tim McGraw