Month: February 2016

Hey HIGH VALLEY, Can I Make You Mine?

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HV Make You Mine Single Image

I’ve been waiting for a day like today in the office since I started working for my local country radio station, WPOR! Mid morning my boss told me that High Valley would be coming in around noon to play us some songs. I’ve been covering at the desk at the radio station (which I absolutely LOVE) and switching off days with another girl. On one of the days that she was here covering, Dan + Shay came in unexpectedly and I was so jealous and bummed that I had missed them! So this definitely made up for it!

Surprisingly, I had yet to hear of High Valley and did some research immediately. Turns out, these two musicians from a rural Canadian town about as high up as Alaska are pretty talented! I guess they are a pretty big deal already in Canada, earning many accolades including 10 GMA Canada Covenant Awards, multiple CCMA Award and JUNO Award nominations and the 2013 CCMA Award for Interactive Artist of the Year. In 2014, their top 5 single, “Country Line”, held the record as the longest running Top 10 hit on the Canadian country music charts! They’ve opened up for several major acts including Little Big Town, Alan Jackson, and Shania Twain.

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You Just Gotta Believe

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Shine Bright!

“How are you going to make enough money to survive? How are you going to make this happen? Where are you going to work? Do you even have a plan?”

In the words of Big Kenny (of Big & Rich):

“You just gotta believe. You come to this town and you start meeting all these people and you become inspired. Everywhere you go there’s someone who can play, someone who can write a song. You finally meet enough of them that you start to think to yourself, ‘Wow, maybe I am kind of normal after all.'”

Nashville. “It’s a crazy town full of neon dreams, everybody plays, everybody sings.”

Although I don’t have the typical musician dream, I do have a dream of working in the country music industry. I fully believe that once I am there, surrounded by the people that make this crazy passion of mine feel “normal,” that this dream is going to really take flight. Thriving most on inspiration, I am positive that, although I might feel slightly threatened by the competition at first, it’s what I truly need.

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For All Those Underappreciated Supporting Musicians Out There!

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I’ve always felt that the band members never get as much credit as the artists themselves. They can go out in public without being recognized (for the most part), and they rarely get to attend awards shows or join the main singers on stage when they win. Half of the time, they don’t even get to record their instruments on the record (there are of course exceptions to this rule!). After following certain bands for several years, I’ve noticed a lot of changes. It seems like just after I’ve finally located all of the band members on twitter and/or instagram, next show I go to, they’ve already been replaced! I guess the supporting musicians aren’t as set in stone as the singers, but I still feel like they play a very important role. I highly respect artists like Kip Moore who make it a point to include his band members in all that he does, and publicly recognizes “The Slow Hearts” as part of his success. We need more artists like him that truly believe in their band, and who know that it’s the support of the guys behind them on stage that make the live shows an amazing experience.

TO ALL OF THE BAND MEMBERS: Thanks for all that you do! Your efforts and kick ass performances do not go unnoticed by the true fans!

 

I think I will start with Kip Moore & The Slow Hearts, because I have so much friggin’ respect for those guys! Besides, who else’s band has their own name? With the exception of a change in drummer, Kip has stuck with his original crew that he started off with. 

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Manny Medina, my favorite Scorpio & Kip’s amazing bass player!
Adam and the Kip Chicks
Adam Browder and some loyal #kipchicks!

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New Music Monday

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opaque new music mon

Maren Morris – My Church

This song is starting to explode on country radio! Marren Morris is going to be someone who will rise to fame very quickly this year. For those of you who haven’t heard it, no the song isn’t religious or about going to church, so don’t shy away from it out of fear of that. It’s a powerful song about the healing powers of country music, and how one can just get lost in the music on a long drive and end up feeling so much better about everything. “I find my soul revival, singing every single verse / Yeah, I guess that’s my church.” I’ve always been a huge believer that music can save a soul, much like God or a church can, and this is the message that Maren is trying to get across in this single that is going to soar up the charts over the next few months!

Russell Dickerson – Yours

Can I just take a second and personally say, “Awwwwwww” and that I want a guy to feel like this about me one day? I yearn to make someone the best version of themselves, more than I want to find someone who is going to make me the best version of my own self! The fact that there is a “Wedding Version” on his EP for this song speaks magnitude about the power it will hold over people’s emotions. This song is going to touch hearts and that’s what makes or breaks a song in my opinion. His vocals are strong and the lyrics are touching and powerful. You need to give it a listen!

Brooke Eden – Daddy’s Money

Brooke has been in the Nashville scene for a few years now, and after releasing an EP in early 2014 and the single American Dreamin’ later that year, now she’s come out with a brand new single that country radio is going to love! This song isn’t about being handed everything on a silver platter, it’s just the opposite! Brooke sings about working hard for everything she has gotten, and encourages all of the girls around town to not let it hold them up or slow them down if they don’t have the ease of living off of “Daddy’s Money”. It’s a sassy single with attitude and girl-power that is going to be her big break in 2016 and just goes to prove that hard work (and of course talent) will get you far. Sometimes it’s about who you know, but in Brooke’s case, she wants it known that pure determination and hard work got her to where she is today!

Brothers Osborne – It Ain’t My Fault

I had the pleasure of hearing this song live, acoustically, for the very first time at the Brothers Osborne CD Release Party. So let’s just start out by saying that as a kid, one of my favorite games was Mouse Trap, simply for the fact that it was a game of cause and effect based on a chain reaction… where one action influenced the next. (Memory refresh here!) Same with my obsession for the Back to the Future… do you remember Doc’s alarm clock contraption in the opening sequence? (If not, refresh your memory here!) Basically, these type of Rube Goldberg machines intrigue me, and It Ain’t My Fault is a song with that same basic idea, but reversed. It’s all about blaming the previous night’s behavior on a plethora of things, each one leading to the next. It’s a fun song about someone who is guilty of a “damn good time”. Not sure which track BR-OS plans on releasing as their next single, but this would be my pick for sure!

Be sure to follow along on twitter and like our facebook page! I would love for you to join me along in my journey through the country music industry and help me chase my dreams!

Do We Have Your Vote?

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I normally wouldn’t reach out on the blog like this, but…

Would you guys do me a giant favor and help me win a trip to Tortuga Music Festival (in case I don’t make it to the ACM’s this year!) This trip would help with the depression that would result in not being in Vegas during The Week Vegas Goes Country. Perhaps a chance to heal a broken heart!

All that you have to do is click and vote a 10 on our photo! I believe it asks for your email address as well. I would appreciate it so much! Voting ends 2/10/16! I would truly appreciate it! 🙂

Vote for Boston’s Cutest Country Couple

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Nashville Happenings

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News F Nash 2 merged

Hello Country Heartbeat readers! This week has been packed with events from the NHL® All-Star weekend where Dierks Bentley, Eli Young Band and Kelsea Ballerini preformed on a packed street in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday. The Sunday show was the last of the daily concerts that were being preformed in downtown Nashville starting on Thursday. Other great musicians such as Big and Rich, Lo Cash, Lee Brice, Chris Young, Clare Bowen, Charles Esten and Russell Dickerson were part of the IntelliCentrics Honda NHL® All-Star Festivities Outdoor Concert Series presented by Bridgestone.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend these shows because I was up in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Kip Moore Wild Ones Tour concert at Bogarts. Kip Moore and The Slow Hearts put on a great show as always, full of energy playing some classic Kip songs and new songs off the long awaited Wild Ones Album.

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To end the weekend, on Tuesday I attended a benefit for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation at the High Watt on Cannery Row, hosted by Chris Cavanaugh and sponsored by Galena Garlic Company. Chris has been throwing this benefit for the past three years. Though Chris was the main performer, there were guest/friends who also performed. Chris invited some fellow songwriters who have written hits for many artists. Matt Rogers (“We Went” for Randy Houser), Jody Stevens ( “Lemme See Ya Girl” for Cole Swindell and “Home Alone Tonight” for Luke Bryan), Doug Johnson (“Love Like Crazy” for Lee Brice and “3 Wooden Crosses” for Randy Travis), and Scott Stepakoff (“Looking At Stars” and “Underage” on the new Kelsea Ballerini album) also came out to help raise money. Chris Cavanaugh is a touring Nashville based musician from Missouri; he just released his new EP Footprints on My Windshield, which is available now on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon MP3 and Spotify. The benefit ended up raising over $3,000 for the CCFA even with the horrible weather and tornado warnings. Congrats to Chris for a successful night!

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I’ll be posting in the next day events going on in Nashville for the week that people might want to attend…

~CK

 

 

TBT #5 – Canaan Smith (WAY Back When!)

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THROWBACK THURSDAY!

WHEN: June 16th, 2012
WHERE: Meadowbrook Pavilion, Gilford NH
HOW: Stood in line for over an hour after Sugarland’s set to get an autograph and photo!

So this is before ANYONE had ANY idea of who Canaan Smith even was… but HE was the main reason that I wanted to go see the Sugarland show in June of 2016. I had been a fan for a little while since We Got Us was released earlier that year and I had been following him on twitter for a while. (He was just too adorable to resist!)

A couple days before the show, he actually replied to my tweet, and that got me EVEN MORE PSYCHED for the upcoming show!!

canaan smith june 14th 2012

During his set, he mentioned that he would be willing to meet EVERYONE after Sugarland’s set over by the merch booth. I had bought his CD with two original tracks, We Got Us and All In My Head. I convinced my friend to wait in line with me while he took the time to meet each and every fan, sign an autograph, AND take a photo. To put it into perspective, the venue has about 8,000 seats and there was a long line, but the wait was so worth it! I remember that security was extremely strict about taking photos with your own camera, but I snuck some anyway. (Typical.) Canaan was a sweetheart and introduced himself (like I didn’t already know who he was!) and I told him that he put on an awesome show and he thanked me. I don’t remember much besides that, it WAS nearly 4 years ago!

CANAAAAAAN

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Canaan has always been awesome about interacting with his fans. I’m so happy that I grabbed these screenshots [of tweets] all those years ago! I’ve been a fan of Canaan since the very beginning of his career and am proud of how far that he has come! Since then, I’ve seen him in concert several times and met him a couple more times over the years. I will always be a supporter of his music!

canaan smith reply

Follow Canaan on Twitter and check out his website for tour dates and more information!

2016 ACM Nominees Announced

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If you’re new to this blog, and unaware, I am extremely partial to the Academy of Country Music, the ACM Awards Show, and The Week Vegas Goes Country. Check out this post of where this passion for the ACM’s began, when I won my “Dream Trip of a Lifetime”! I NEED TO FIND A WAY BACK THIS YEAR! I’m so torn between saving the money that I had originally saved for my annual ACM trip and putting it toward my Nashville move. That would put me one step closer to my long term goal, but devastate me when April comes around. It’s been a struggle trying to make this decision. I want more than anything to be in my favorite place on earth (Vegas) during my favorite week of the year (ACM week)… with all of the new connections I’ve made over the past two years, I can only imagine how epic this trip would be. I could network like CRAZY and tell everyone I meet that I’m moving to Nashville and tell them I’m looking for a job… Vegas turns me into the person that I wish I could be every day; I become this wonderful confident version of myself and to put that version of me in an environment SURROUNDED by country music everywhere would benefit my career and future immeasurably.

However, without that money that I’ve saved up for ACM week, saving enough to get to Nashville by the end of the year might not be feasible. I know that sacrificing the trip would most likely be beneficial to my long term goal, but I know how painful it would be not to go this year, especially with how far that I’ve come where this dream is concerned. I tend to base decisions on feelings instead of logic… logic says save that money and make the move to Nashville, but my heart knows how much it would break not being there… especially with seeing everyone’s snap chats and tweets all week. I need to make a decision fairly quickly, seeing as how I need to purchase flights and outfits and start a hard core work out routine and all of the prep that goes into that week. I just wish so badly someone could come with me and split the room with me! I can’t afford to do it alone! I’m hoping that the Universe sends me a clear message soon to help me with my decision! But anyway…

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It’s Your Thing!

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Raise your hand if you made a 2016 resolution/goal to lose weight.

Raise your hand if you have wanted to try the SlimFast diet fad, but have been unsure about how those things taste!

You’re in the right place then.

Starting in early January, I myself decided that I needed to shed a few extra pounds that I had put on this past year. I guess they are right about your metabolism slowing down as you age, because I haven’t done much else differently but I’ve somehow managed to put on almost 10 unwelcomed pounds. So when Influenster sent me a bunch of SlimFast samples in the mail to try, I was very excited!

I started off the new year reflecting on 2015 and setting some goals for myself and my blog in 2016. The first thing that I tested out were the Sour Cream & Onion 100 Calorie Pack Baked Crisps while sitting on my bed reviewing and celebrating 2015 with the Big Dreams, Small Wonders workbook. These were actually pretty good! They satisfied my need for something both salty and crispy and I would compare them to other baked potato chips. For a “diet” type of food/snack, it was pretty agreeable. I even devoured the crumbs at the bottom of the bag! I would definitely buy these on my own, either as part of a weight-loss program or just to snack on when I get a craving.

Next up: SlimFast 100 Calorie Snack Drizzled Cinnamon Crisps

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