Author: Bethany Bowman

Music Spotlight: Lucas Hoge

Bethany Bowman

Lucas Hoge hails from Hubbell, Nebraska, a tiny town with two churches. He grew up singing in a little Methodist church his family attended. While his parents were rehearsing in the choir, the pastor gave Hoge a little electric drum pad to keep him occupied. He started playing along and the pastor cultivated his love for music at a very young age.

In high school, he was introduced to a music teacher who helped him craft his love of music.  “My music teacher was great, Mrs. Riggs. She was amazing,” he said. “She just wanted everyone to explore the love of music that they had in them.”

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Music Spotlight: Derek Jones

Bethany Bowman

Even though Derek Jones’ dad was a drummer and his grandmother played piano, he never played music until later in life.

“We always had music going on at the house at our supper table. If Dad was in charge of the music, we listened to Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Grand Funk Railroad but if Mom was in control [of the music], we listened to Lionel Richie, Jim Croce, stuff like that,” he said.

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Music Spotlight: Tyler Rich

Bethany Bowman

Tyler Rich grew up in Northern California in the small town of Yuba City. He grew up listening to country music with his mom and rock n roll with his dad.

“My Uncle [Tim] always had his guitar at every family function. He was always playing. He didn’t know genres, he just knew good music,” he said. “He would play, Tom Petty, Credence Clearwater, George Strait, Brooks, and Dunn or Garth Brooks. He even played Michael Jackson and the Beatles as long as it was good music.”

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Music Feeds Nashville Hosts Food Distribution Saturday

Bethany Bowman

Music Feeds Nashville is set to host its 13th food distribution Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Plaza Mariachi Music City. In partnership with One Generation Away, the Franklin food ministry has a community-based initiative designed to help unemployed Nashvillians keep food on the table.

The program brings the music community together to deliver food straight to Nashville Metro neighborhoods in an effort to make healthy food more accessible during the pandemic. Music
artists such as Martina McBride, Lauren Alaina, Michelle Branch, Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), and more have donated truckloads of food along with Marbaloo Marketing and CTK Enterprises.

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Charlie Daniels Reschedules 2020 Volunteer Jam

Bethany Bowman

Due to coronavirus concerns, Country Music Hall of Famer Charlie Daniels announced Friday that he is rescheduling his 2020 Volunteer Jam. The concert, originally set for September 15 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, will now take place Monday, February 22, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. Central Time.

“Volunteer Jam is alive and well and is moving from September 2020 to February 22, 2021,” said Daniels. “The Jam turns 46 years old this year and this could be the best one yet.”

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Author Jake Brown Releases a New Book About What Happens Behind the Scenes in Nashville’s Music Industry

Bethany Bowman

Jake Brown knows more about the music industry than any human I have ever met. Being that he just completed his 50th book, Behind the Boards: Nashville, he writes memoirs and provides a plethora of behind the scenes’ antidotes for all music genres.

Brown said he got interested in what goes behind the scenes when he was a kid. His mother took him and his brother to see the Bon Jovi –Slippery When Wet concert. At the concert, Brown and his family had such terrible seats that they couldn’t see the stage much. However, one thing Brown could see was what was happening behind the stage.

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Music Spotlight: Adam Sanders

Bethany Bowman

Nashville, Tennessee –  A native of Lake City, Florida, Adam Sanders knew at an early age that music would be his life.

“My mom likes to say I could sing before I could talk. It was as far back as I could remember. My earliest memories were dressing up like Alan Jackson and singing ‘Chattahoochee’ and ‘Don’t Rock the Jukebox,’” he said.

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Emily Hackett Releases Heartfelt ‘Handle’

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – I first interviewed Emily Hackett in October 2018 when she was featured in my Music Spotlight column. There has been a lot of shifts in the music world since then and we were able to talk about how that is affecting her/the industry.

As mentioned in my column, in 2018 Hackett released her EP By the Sun, and in 2019 she released its counterpart By the Moon which landed her as one of CMT Next Women of Country for 2019.

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Music City Dedicates This Year’s Fourth of July Celebration to First Responders

Bethany Bowman

Music City will honor healthcare heroes, first responders and frontline workers with a televised fireworks show from downtown Nashville on July 4th, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced today. There will be no public concert or spectators allowed in parks. A short fireworks display will be set to recorded music by Nashville artists, which will air locally on NewsChannel 5.

Country music superstar Brad Paisley, who was previously scheduled to headline this year’s July 4th event, will instead headline in 2021, giving the community something to look forward to and visitors a reason to book a trip to Nashville next year. 

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Music Spotlight: Brian Callihan

Bethany Bowman

Born and raised on a small farm in South Georgia, Brian Callihan was your typical country boy as he hunted and played baseball and football. However, he found his true passion when he started listening to Keith Whitley.

Callihan said when he was around 10 or 11 years old he got a “Keith Whitley’s Greatest Hits for Christmas,” which was his dad’s favorite singer.

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Music Spotlight: Heidi Newfield

Bethany Bowman

Nashville, Tennessee –  Even though I was familiar with the country/rock band, Trick Pony, the first time I was aware of Heidi Newfield the solo artist was when I heard “Johnny and June” on the radio in 2008. When I learned that Newfield was going to be one of the guests performing at the Her Song fundraiser for Thistle Farms at Third and Lindsley/Backstage Nashville, I got tickets to help a good cause and see some awesome female artists in an intimate setting. Fortunately, I was able to meet and secure an interview with Newfield who has one of the most beautiful, raw, bluesy voices I have ever heard.

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Music Spotlight: James Robert Webb

Bethany Bowman

Nashville, Tennessee-  You may have heard of the story Longwood Symphony Orchestra which is a symphony comprised exclusively of Boston physicians and health-care professionals. The link between music and medicine is well-documented. So when 117 Entertainment Group asked me to interview a traditional country crooner from Tulsa named James Robert Webb who happened also to be a renowned radiologist, I was eager to hear his story.

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Music Spotlight: Andrew Hopson

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Rarely do I agree to write a story on a person based on one single. But when I heard the song “Stronger Than That,” it was a no-brainer for me. I knew I had to interview this up and coming artist. Andrew Hopson is a true country boy from Tazewell, Tennessee (located where West Virginia meets Kentucky), whose music will bring you back to the traditional honky-tonk sounds of Hank, Willie, and Waylon.

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Music Spotlight: Heidi Raye

Bethany Bowman

Nashville, TN  It is not surprising at all when a country music singer says they come from a small rural town. What is surprising is when that small rural town is in Canada. Heidi Raye was born and raised on a hobby farm Dawson Creek, British Columbia, a place that she describes as the Texas of Canada. Her dad was a John Deere salesman and a Pro Team Roper while her mom was a Pro Barrel Racer. She began singing in church when she was 3, learned to play guitar when she was 12, and then began exploring songwriting soon thereafter. The only genre of music she was exposed to was Country Music. “We say ‘y’all’. I didn’t know it was only a southern thing until I moved to America.”

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Free Admission to the Country Music Hall of Fame December 15

Bethany Bowman

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is pleased to partner with the Ford Motor Company Fund for the museum’s 11th Ford Community Day, on Sunday, December 15. Museum admission will be FREE from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Sunday, as a way to say “thank you” to the Middle Tennessee community and to reward lucky out-of-town visitors. Tours of Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B will also be free and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Music Spotlight: Levi Hummon

Bethany Bowman

Nashville, TN Levi Hummon is a rarity when it comes to singers and songwriters. He was actually born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, “literally on ‘The Row’” as he explains. His father, Marcus Hummon, was and still is an accomplished songwriter and he wrote songs like the Grammy Award Winning “Bless the Open Road” (Rascal Flatts), “Ready to Run” and “Cowboy Take Me Away” (Dixie Chicks), “Born to Fly” (Sarah Evans) along with songs for many country music artists, including Top 40 singles for Tim McGraw, Wynonna Judd, and Alabama. His mother, Becca Stevens, runs a non-profit, Thistle Farms which helps women who have survived trafficking, prostitution, and addiction get a second chance at life.

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Music Spotlight: George Ducas

Bethany Bowman

When I initially heard George Ducas sing at Bluebird café, I didn’t realize he was an accomplished songwriter with quite a few songs under his belt.  What I did immediately perceive was what strong, smooth vocals he had and how was completely at ease he was in the intimate setting. When I interviewed Ducas a few weeks later, I was shocked to find out that he had no previous formal musical training. Here is his story.

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Kalie Shorr Releases First-Ever Full Link Album, ‘Open Book’

Bethany Bowman

After her album release party on September 26, Music Spotlight artist, Kalie Shorr’s long-anticipated, brutally honest first-ever full-length album, Open Book, is finally available.  She had already released “Too Much To Say” which is an introduction to Shorr’s new sonic direction where she daringly plunges into an abyss of vulnerability. Tapering the rock n’ roll sound to a more sustained acoustic vibe, her second song “Escape,” is an emotionally raw but hopeful piece that has proven to be a fan favorite at Shorr’s live shows. Recently Shorr released a music video for one of my personal favorite’s “Lullaby.” Hurt and anger become exposed with this pop-rock inspired fragile anthem for the wounded.

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Michael Ray Celebrates 3rd Number One Hit ‘One That Got Away’

Bethany Bowman

The “One That Got Away” is a song written by Jesse Frasure, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey, and Trevor Rosen, and recorded by American country music singer Michael Ray.  Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen are part of the blazing hot country band, Old Dominion, and are among the top songwriters in Nashville and America. They, along with Jesse Frasure and Josh Osborne decided to “let this one go” and not put the song on their own album. Yet somehow, in the back of their heads, they knew they had written a likely hit.  It got tossed in the pile with all the other “later” songs.

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