(Press Release) Nashville-based country/Americana singer-songwriter Michelle LeBlanc is set to release her debut EP, A Man Like You, on March 2, 2018.  Produced by Nick Buda and recorded at The Loft Studio in East Nashville, the record is a true reflection of LeBlanc’s own fiery heart and gypsy soul, where she wrestles with love and vulnerability and her decision to leave it behind.  “If there’s one thing I know by this point, it’s that if something’s meant to be in your life, it won’t let you give up on it,” she says. “Music and the songwriting and Nashville—they continue to teach me this.” 
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Born in Columbia, South Carolina to a local singer/songwriter, she discovered acting as a teen, which took her eventually to New York City to pursue that dream, yet she also taught herself how to play the guitar and write songs.  “I really loved digging into the characters and their stories and all of the collaboration that came with acting,” LeBlanc says.  “It was safer to tell other people’s stories.  Writing songs was always about my own personal stories and that was scarier.” 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Press Release) - For the fourth consecutive year, Nashville recording artist, Colorado-native, and former professional bull rider Austin Wahlert, will return for a live performance at Boettcher Atrium in Children's Hospital Colorado for the 4th Annual Children's Hospital Colorado Rodeo Experience on January 12, 2018. 
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The event, which will be held from 10:00am-noon, offers patients the opportunity to meet professional cowboys and cowgirls and participate with them in rodeo activities such as stick horse barrel racing, dummy roping and patient room visits.

The Colorado Children's hospital is near and dear to Wahlert's heart, as his 5 year old daughter, Raegan, who is diagnosed with Down syndrome, had open heart surgery there as an infant.

Nashville, Tenn. (January 3, 2018 Press Release) – The Tillis family has announced details for a public memorial service for the late Mel Tillis. On Wednesday, January 31 at10:00 a.m., family, friends, fans, and music industry colleagues, will gather atNashville's historic Ryman Auditoriumto honor the life and career of theCountry Music Hall of Famer.
 
A slew of country stars will perform some of Tillis' most memorable career songs. Those scheduled to take the stage include Ricky Skaggs, Ray Stevens,Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers,Brenda Lee, Alison Krauss with theStreet Corner Symphony, Jamey Johnson, Collin Raye, Daryle Singletary, Lorrie Morgan, IraDean, Pam Tillis, Sonny Tillis,and Carrie April Tillis. The Statesiders, Tillis' band, will accompany select performances.

Touring in support of Alright, his first collection of new songs in 15 years, soulful singer-songwriter-guitarist Jeffrey Gaines will be in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall on February 3rd.

Throughout his two-and-a-half-decade recording career, Jeffrey Gaines has maintained an impressive standard for soul-searching, introspective lyrics and catchy, uplifting melodies. Since bursting on the scene with his self-titled 1992 debut album, the charismatic singer-songwriter-guitarist has built a beloved body of recordings that’s won him a large and deeply devoted international fan base.

Now, after an extended absence from the recording studio, Gaines returns with Alright, his first Omnivore Recordings release due January 26, 2018. The new album features ten irresistible examples of the Philadelphia-based artist's personally charged songcraft, performed with the same effortless exuberance that's long been a hallmark of Gaines’ artful recordings and his dazzling live performances.

Come out and hear for yourself
When: Saturday, February 3rd
Were: Rockwood Music Hall NYC Stage 3
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $15
https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1611717

Legendary music producer and FAME Studios founder Rick Hall has died at the age of 85. Hall died this morning at his home in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, not far from his world famous recording studio.
The family has issued the following statement:
It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of our father, husband and beloved grandfather, Rick Hall. His spirit will live on forever through the massive amount of legendary music that he so tirelessly produced. Music was his life and because of him, Fame Studios and Muscle Shoals will always be “shooting for the stars!" We hope the band in Heaven is ready. If not, there’s going to be a problem.

Rick Hall made music history when he founded FAME Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals. Hall went on to earn international fame and eventually a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement. In the days when Martin Luther King Jr. was marching for freedom, Hall proved to be a civil rights pioneer through his music. His open collaboration among black and white artists was a revolutionary cultural standard not only to “deep south” Alabama, but to the nation at large. FAME’s color blind atmosphere, and the raw music it produced, would help shape American culture during its most troubled and tumultuous time.  

Considered the “Father of the Muscle Shoals Sound,” Hall helped define a generation by pioneering a new sound that would inspire artists, give birth to new kinds of music and launch the careers of hundreds of superstars, songwriters, musicians and music executives. Record executives literally flocked to Muscle Shoals for Hall to produce and engineer a mind-boggling array of major artists, including Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, Mac Davis, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Alabama, Tom Jones, Allman Brothers, The Osmonds, Shenandoah, Wayne Newton, TG Sheppard, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, Little Richard, Lou Rawls and so many more. With more than 300 hit singles to his credit, and more than 40 Gold and Platinum records, Hall was one of the top producers of Pop, Rock, R&B and Country records in the world. 

Hall was featured in the 2013 Grammy Award-winning documentary "Muscle Shoals,” and in 2015 he released his autobiography, "The Man from Muscle Shoals: My Journey from Shame to Fame,” with a foreword by famed music historian Peter Guralnick. A television series centered around Hall and FAME Studios is currently in development.
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Hall is survived by his wife Linda, sons Rick Jr., Mark and Rodney, as well as his 5 grandchildren, Rebecca, Mary Elizabeth, Jackson, Sara and Sam.

January 2, 2018 (Press Release) - Folk/Americana singer/songwriter R. Finn (aka Chris Rondinella) has officially announced his forthcoming debut LP, Collecting Trip, out 1/19. Co-produced by Jim Keltner (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Lennon), the album's first single, "Quiet House," premiered at Glide, who said, "It’s impossible to ignore the song’s rustic, heartfelt tone that is brought to life by Finn’s reflective lyrics and warm harmonies."
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​With his new debut, Collecting Trip, R. Finn has created a heartfelt album rooted in timeless Americana and colored by subtly lush, alternately haunting and hopeful arrangements. The Southern California songwriter took the long way around on this journey, some of his songs on the record tracing back nearly a decade. 

The LP's title not only references the “collecting trips” taken by folk musicologists John and Alan Lomax, but also what the album represents to Finn: All the years of accumulating songs, players, styles and gear that have resulted in his affecting, long-evolving sound. And then there’s his deep devotion as a student of songwriting and music history. “I’m just trying to do what I love and what I listen to,” Finn says. “I’m always trying to evoke Ray Charles or Woody Guthrie.”