Nashville

Today’s Note From The Universe

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Act with faith, Jessica. Prepare the way for your inevitable success. To the degree you can, behave as if your dreams have already come true, as if you already owned a career in the music industry, as if later today you were going to make it to Nashville. And you shall see the power you wield as the floodgates begin to tremble, the elements begin to conspire, people in your life begin to change, insights are summoned, comprehensions soar, and clarity is born.

Not to mention fierce, wild animals lying down when you walk on by –
The Universe

Pretending is so powerful, Jessica. Look how far it’s already taken you.

Definitely needed to read that today! So many signs from the universe lately are pointing me in this direction! ❤

To get your own daily (or however often you wish) Note from the Universe, go to tut.com!

Open Letter To All Contestants

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To Those Of You Who Aimlessly Enter Every Contest That Seems “Cool”,

(Warning: Mildly strong language, deeply passionate feelings!) 

There are two types of people who enter contests. The people with the mind-frame, “Hey it’s worth a shot, I might win!” and the people who considerately pick and choose which contests they enter because they wouldn’t want to take away a prize from someone who might want it more than they do. (For example, I wouldn’t try to win tickets to a concert for an artist that I only know a few songs and don’t 100% “love”… because there is a super-fan out there that I might take that opportunity away from.) Those people who fall into the latter category, of course only enter the ones that are really important to them, those that they would be able to actually attend/claim if they won. (High five to you like-minded souls out there!)

50th Annual CMA Awards. #ForeverCountry. You’re looking at the girl who wants to move to Nashville, who works at a country radio station, who has a country blog, who has been to over 130 country concerts, who has country music beating in her heart and running through her veins. You think I want to be there? Hell yeah. Am I bitter that I didn’t win any of the ones that I entered? Absolutely not, that’s not what this is about, AT ALL. (I actually fully trust God’s plan and that there’s a reason that I didn’t make it there, again, this year.) It’s about that one lady who did win…

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Win A Trip to the 50th CMA Awards in Nashville

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We are officially TWO WEEKS away from country music’s biggest night! Who wouldn’t LOVE to be in Nashville for the 50th CMA Awards?! I’ve definitely been entering every single contest that I come across! Most of them have ended… but if you act quickly… this one doesn’t end until Friday 10/21! Just click here to enter!* Good luck!

I’m praying that a miracle gets me there! It would be such an awesome networking opportunity! Being at the 50th would be pretty special. #ForeverCountry

*I am not affiliated with this contest in any way! Just wanted to give fans an opportunity of a lifetime! Make sure to check the official rules to see if you qualify! (For example, it might not be offered to countries other than the USA.)

NASH FM Guitar Pull at 3rd & Lindsley

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Well sorry it’s been a while, I’ve been out gathering information and going to events trying to figure out which way this post should go. I can attend events and brief y’all on what happened or I can give you a heads up about what’s about to happen in Nashville. Let me know what you’d like to see in the comment section below!

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New Country Themed Bar Opens at MGM Grand

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LOSERS at MGM omg omg omg

This discovery had me jumping out of my chair this morning. GUESS WHAT MGM GRAND NOW HAS JUST IN TIME FOR ACM WEEK?!?!?! LOSERS Bar & Grill! Straight from Nashville! This is going to be a SUPER popular place for those staying at MGM Grand during the epic “Week Vegas Goes Country”! Opened in late 2015, this place took the place of Rouge in “The District” section of MGM Grand. Maybe there will be some live entertainment over the weekend! Keep checking in with Country Heartbeat as the dates get closer! (Most up-to-date information can always be found on our Twitter!)

For those of you who aren’t familiar, Losers is a bar in Midtown (Nashville) that is popular spot among tourists and country fans visiting the area. Full of dive-bar charm, Losers hosts live bands and cheap drinks and is usually packed. Ironically, it’s also next door to a bar called Winners. It’s definitely a must-visit place if you ever take a trip to Music City!

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Are you going to be in Vegas for ACM Week? Let me know in the comments below what you are most excited for! If you don’t have plans to go this year, make sure to add it to your bucket list if you’re a huge country fan! I’ve been hooked since 2011 when I first won the “Dream Trip of a Lifetime”!

Hey HIGH VALLEY, Can I Make You Mine?

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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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Nashville Happenings

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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

 

 

What’s Up From Nashville

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I would like to start by introducing myself, I am a female living in Nashville enjoying the city and engulfing myself within the music industry that this city has to offer. I have lived in Nashville for almost 3 years now. I go to live shows, writers rounds and other fun events that go on here. I also attend other shows and events that are destination venues from Nashville based company’s.

A little about what I’ve been doing… I have been working with artists of all genres for about 6 years. I use to work in the North East booking, and promoting small bands that people never heard of, trying to get their name out. I have had a passion for music since I was a kid, but since I am no good at playing and I can’t sing for crap, I go by the rule if you can’t do it, promote and manage it. 🙂

So what I am going to be doing on here? Well I’m going to be showing, giving, introducing the Nashville life to the readers of Country Heartbeat, I’m going to get interviews with artists, let you know what’s happening in this amazing city and let you know what artists you might want to start checking out and events that have happened and are going to happen.

Well that’s a little about me. If y’all have any questions or want me to look into something or if you have any requests please comment and I will do my best to get you answers.

~CK

Photo Credit: Sarah Bell
Photo Credit: Sarah Bell

 

 

 

Empowering Women

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When it comes to empowering females in the country music world, Miranda Lambert is one name that comes to mind. As a part of this blog, my goal is to inspire not only women, but anyone who wants to rise higher in their personal lives and/or careers. This might be “old news” to some of you, but right now I’m on an “empowerment kick” and learning about what Miranda is doing for one lucky girl attending Belmont is definitely empowering and inspiring!

Established in 2015, the Miranda Lambert Women Creators Fund will provide over $40,000 to a female attending Belmont University in Nashville who is majoring in songwriting, entertainment industry studies or music business. The first scholarship will affect the 2016-17 school year. (Which, in that case, should I consider going back to school?!?) Several years ago I looked into Belmont, before realizing I didn’t want to have to go through all of those prerequisite and core classes again. Just take me straight to the music business courses, please! Nor do I have that kind of money to invest into a second college education. Thankfully, I’ve learned along this journey that you don’t need a Belmont degree to land a career in Nashville’s music industry. I would rather devote my hard work towards networking and gaining real-life experience instead of spending time in a classroom.

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