Now Hear This Entertainment

<p>Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who released two singles last month after having put out an album in April. She has also done work as a co-writer with a band that has gotten two nominations for Latin GRAMMYs. And for her own work, she is on the preliminary ballot in several categories. Last year she made her Grand Ole Opry debut, performing her own original songs. She has also made several appearances in television and film, and was first signed by Sony Music at age 16!</p>

<p>A sister duo with both singing, playing guitar, and writing their original 80s-electro-infused pop songs. They just released a brand new single, and a music video to go with it. They have recently become members of the Recording Academy and have been featured in publications such as Billboard and American Songwriter. Their music has garnered more than four-and-a-half million streams on Spotify and they have opened for Death Cab for Cutie, among others, and performed at South By Southwest, among other festivals. They also beat out over two thousand bands nationwide in Project: Aloft Star to win a tour with Aloft Hotels and a single track deal with Capitol Records. They had first gotten picked up by Sony BMG when they were just 16 years old.</p>

<p>Oklahoma-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who released a TWENTY song album at the beginning of September. He actually has two other releases on iTunes that have THIRTY songs each. He has worked on many films and TV shows, having just finished contributing music to the film "Sound of Freedom." He also does engineering and production and has partnered with TASCAM over the last couple years. (He also thanks Dan Wistrom, who played steel on both songs heard on this episode as well as much of the new album.)</p>

<p>Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who has just released a new single and a music video for it. She has now released five singles over the course of this year after having put out four in 2019. She has had over a quarter of a million combined streams just on Spotify and has more than 180 thousand followers across her social media platforms. She has appeared and performed at legendary venues and events including the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville as well as the CMA Music Festival. While she is actively pursuing her solo career, she also recently joined The Highway Women group. She is also very active as a spokesperson with The Jason Foundation.</p>

<p>A GRAMMY-recognized songwriter, music producer, and educator, plus he has even done TEDx talks on songwriting. He has built a catalog of over a thousand songs and has gotten cuts by major label artists across genres from country, pop, and jazz, to classical crossover. Last month he put out a new book called, “The Reason for the Rhymes: Mastering the Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs.”</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who just released an album on October 2nd. She had also released an album early last year and put out an EP in 2016. She has gotten airplay on SiriusXM and has performed at notable venues and events around the country, from Las Vegas to the Bluebird Café in Nashville, songwriters festivals, and more. She is also the founder and president of the not-for-profit organization, “Bands of 30A.” And, she co-authored a children's book.</p>

<p>A Grammy-nominated songwriter who has just put out a new book, called, “Dreams, Love, and Music Lifestyle Revised: The Soundtrack of My Life,” which follows the book she had put out in 2015. Along with the book, she is also releasing an album of songs that correlate to the chapter titles. At the beginning of her career she signed with Mecca Don/Elektra Entertainment Group and eventually performed on Soul Train and Show Time at the Apollo. She has worked and collaborated with Sean Diddy Combs, among other notable names, including having collaborated on a Mary J. Blige song. In addition to performing, she also does vocal coaching.</p>

<p>She has held the distinction of the youngest headlining singer to perform on “The Strip” and has been praised by Robin Leach as “Las Vegas favorite.” Plus, she was among MyVEGAS Magazine’s “Top 100 Women of Influence in Las Vegas.” She has headlined multiple shows on the Las Vegas “Strip,” been a lead vocalist in the supper club inside the Bellagio, also runs a corporate band, and even owns her own vocal studio. In late 2018 she released an EP and is still signed to that record label. She also has overcome two extreme physical injuries and is deeply involved with a non-profit called Positively Arts.</p>

<p>Based in Las Vegas, a singer, dancer, actor, and the host of a daily podcast. He has performed in nine shows on the Las Vegas Strip, in addition to having performed in Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, and New York City. Plus, he has sung as a featured soloist with renowned symphony orchestras. He has also been on radio and TV.</p>

<p>Melbourne, Australia-based singer/songwriter who is a classically trained vocalist that was born in India and studied in the United States. She released a new single last month and is releasing an EP this year. Plus, she released a new music video in July and has another one in the pipeline as well. She has performed at multiple venues in New York City, and, her music has gotten airplay on BBC Radio.</p>

<p>An acoustic duo who released a new single earlier this year, there might also be an EP from them before year's end. Between the two of them they have a number 1 song in Norway, film credits, and songs playing on radio stations all over the world. As a duo they have performed from South Carolina to as far west as California and even down in the Virgin Islands, among other locations. They are both classically trained musicians who each play more than one instrument, and, they live and tour in a converted sprinter van. Plus, they have done a video series documenting their traveling and performing.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player who continues to perform with Grammy Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Billy Joel. At the beginning of June he released a new single and has a new album on the way. He was a guest on this show just over three-and-a-half years ago, back on Episode 150, and among his work since then has been a single that will be on his upcoming album that has a music video featuring actor Kevin James. He also continues to perform with his Billy Joel tribute band, called, Big Shot.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, dancer who just last month released a new single and a video to go with it featuring an acoustic performance of the song. Late last year she had put out a six-song EP. She is currently a nominee for four different awards in Creative Loafing’s 30th “Best of the Bay” awards. She was the guest on this show way back on Episode 67 and since then has continued to perform not only at various venues and events, but even on cruise ships!</p>

<p>Just last Friday she put out a double release, two singles. A singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player, she already this summer released music that drew praise from the likes of Billboard and Forbes. There is a full album coming next month and she has been busy this year with releasing singles. She had a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign, which we talk about during this interview. She has more than ten thousand followers on Spotify, where she is currently getting more than 67 thousand monthly listeners. On July 31 she released a new lyric video, which got more than 1,300 views on YouTube in its first twelve days. She was the guest way back on Episode 14 of this show.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player whose new album will be out next month. She got signed to a publishing deal a year ago and her music has been recognized by the likes of Rolling Stone, CMT, and NPR, and, has gotten placed in films and TV shows. She also co-wrote a song that was on a Grammy-nominated album. On Spotify she has over 27 thousand monthly listeners, and two of her songs on there have gotten more than a million streams each. For her latest single she, just over six weeks ago, released a music video done with a director who has also done the same with Cage The Elephant, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jack White, among others.</p>

<p>He records and releases under the artist name GRW (pronounced GROW) and is a songwriter, performer, and producer who has just completed his twelfth album, due to be released later this year, although the first single from it was released on June 20th. His musical journey has taken him from New York to San Francisco and now to Music City, along the way working with a variety of artists, including Jane Wiedlen from The Go-Go’s, among many others. He has performed at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville and has his own studio there.</p>

<p>The president of BiCoastal Productions, a New York City-based concert and theatrical booking agency. He had attended Columbia College in Chicago with a focus in Arts, Entertainment & Media Management, after which he was recruited to ICM Partners’ New York City branch in the Urban Concerts department, and would later join BiCoastal Productions, being promoted to company president last month.</p>

<p>Miami-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who has released a number of singles this year, the latest of them being less than two weeks ago (July 10th). The official lyric video for it got over five thousand views in the first six days on YouTube. He has done collaborations with Pitbull, Lil Jon, and Flo Rida, and was previously signed to Epic Records under Sony Music’s umbrella. He has been featured by the likes of CNN, MTV, and BET. He currently has over 20 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify and has a new album coming out in November.</p>

<p>An award-winning female vocal duo in New Zealand who are releasing their latest single next week Friday, July 24th, after having already released new singles this year on May 29th and April 3rd. A video for one of those songs was released just over a month ago and already has more than 8600 views on YouTube. The two of them were individual artists and songwriters before coming together as an act that has performed at numerous venues and events. Meanwhile, they have successfully pivoted during the pandemic to maintain an online presence of a different kind. (NOTE: On the bonus content recorded for Patreon after this podcast interview, Iveta and Simone made a big announcement that is only teased here, near the end, on NHTE 336!)</p>

<p>Canadian singer, songwriter, piano player now based in Hollywood who released a new single last month, a video for it last week, and has a remix of the song coming out this Friday (July 10) - and more new music coming out this year! She has landed multiple sync placements across the likes of NBC, Netflix, Disney, and the E! network. Some of her premiers/interviews include Billboard, Huffington Post, and Perez Hilton. She has close to 400 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where she had 8.4 million streams of her music in 2019.</p>

<p>In January he released an EP that got over 60 thousand streams on Spotify in the first month alone. A singer, songwriter based one hour north of San Diego, he is about to release a full album, which will have twelve songs and come out on July 3rd. Last year there were a million-and-a-half streams of his music on Spotify alone. Along with his wife and kids he also has a family YouTube channel that has over five million subscribers and close to four BILLION views. Meanwhile, his latest music video has already gotten almost 135 thousand views in the first month alone.</p>

<p>An internationally acclaimed vocalist, actor, songwriter, and producer who is a voting member of the GRAMMYs. On June 5th he released a video that got more than 125 THOUSAND views on Facebook alone in the first twelve-and-a-half days. He has toured with Grammy-winning Chanticleer and was hailed as the jewel in their crown. He is known for his extreme range – stylistically between Sam Smith and Pavarotti – and has done everything from being a solo vocalist with the London Philharmonic to doing lead vocals on an international club hit remix with DJ Tracy Young, which appeared on an album with Madonna, Chaka Khan, and Cyndi Lauper.</p>

<p>He has performed nationally and internationally, including opening for artists from Selena Gomez and Ed Sheeran to Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson. He has also performed on NBC’s Today Show and The Tonight Show, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, and he was even a semi-finalist on Season 13 of “America’s Got Talent.” Based in South Carolina, he is a singer, songwriter, guitar player who has a new single coming out next month. His music catalog is extensive going back to 2014, having first garnered attention by covering chart-topping artists and posting them online, which landed him a role on the hit TV show, “Glee.” It has also led to him having over a half-million subscribers to his YouTube channel.</p>

<p>With a new EP just released two weeks ago, this singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist has performed in notable venues such as The Bitter End and Rockwood Music Hall in New York as well as the Hotel Café in Los Angeles. He has even performed in France. He had more than 53 thousand streams of his music last year on Spotify – despite not putting out any new releases in 2019! Now living in Nashville, he grew up in Boston, and has also lived in New York, Los Angeles, and Orlando.</p>

<p>With song placements already this year in Samsung and Cadillac commercials, he is a Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player who has gotten tens of millions of streams on Spotify, with well over a half-million monthly listeners on that platform. He has done national headlining tours and has opened for the likes of the Zac Brown Band, Gavin DeGraw, and James Bay. He has appeared on “The Today Show” and on the MTV Europe Music Awards. Plus he has had songs in national ads and Super Bowl commercials. Already in 2020 he has released an EP and several singles.</p>

<p>L.A.-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who's originally from Florida but also spends plenty of time in Nashville. She has opened for Chris Stapleton, Scotty McCreery, Jake Owen, and Joe Nichols, and has performed at some highly respected events and venues, including the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles. Along the way she has also gotten support from Radio Disney and she was an iHeartRadio Digital Artist of the Month and has performed at the iHeartRadio Live Sessions in New York City. Last year she had almost 200 thousand streams of her music on Spotify.</p>

<p>A singer and actress who just released a new single two months ago and video for it as well. Grammy Award-winning Cory Rooney, executive producer and producer for Jennifer Lopez, who has also produced for artists such as Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, & Mark Anthony, has marked her as his next artist for development. She starred on Season 3 of Snapchat Original’s hit show, “Endless,” and has a social media following of over a half-million. Several of her videos have gone viral on TikTok and her new single is a popular sound for users on there to create videos for. She even recently created a new filter for Instagram based on the cover of her latest single.</p>

<p>Identical twin sisters who hail from western Canada. They have a new EP coming out in a few months digitally (although available now in physical units) and they have a song that was recently featured on CMT and is currently playing on SiriusXM. They have amassed three Canadian Country Music Association Award nominations, 13 British Columbia Country Music Association nominations, two Vancouver Island Music awards, two John Lennon Songwriting Award wins, and the 2019 Independent Music Award for Best Holiday Song. They were guests on this show back on Episode 142.</p>

<p>A British Columbia-based singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player who has gotten airplay on country radio in Canada. She has performed at notable venues and events, and has even traveled to Nashville to record new music that is coming soon. She is using her platform as an entertainer to be a role model for strength, confidence, and authentic self-expression. She also talks about using the down time of the pandemic for writing a song for front line workers - and an opportunity that came from that!</p>

<p>The senior editor of media and entertainment at Forbes. He is the author of four books, including his newest, which was just released last month and is called, “A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley.” His writing has also appeared in the likes of the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Billboard, to name just a few. And he has even been a speaker at South By Southwest and done a TEDx talk.</p>

<p>She made it to the Top 20 on Season 13 of “The Voice” and had a stint on “American Idol” last year. A singer, songwriter, guitar player who is just releasing a new single, she put out three new songs last year and has more new music planned for 2020. She has opened for Joan Jett, among others, and was also chosen to perform at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.</p>

<p>A recording artist and entrepreneur known for his platinum hit single, “Jordan Belfort” and accompanying tour where he performed 50-plus shows across the U.S. and Europe. The song reached number 25 on the Billboard charts and the official music video for it has more than 36.5 million views. As of 2020 the rapper/hip-hop artist has more than one million monthly listeners and over 200 million streams worldwide. Based in Philadelphia, he just released a brand new official music video for the song “Bad Hair," and has a new song coming out nine days after the release of this episode. He also has an independent boutique label that he's developing independent artist services for, including distribution.</p>

<p>Miami-based singer, songwriter, speaker, and the founder of the #REBIRTH Movement. She has been singing professionally for 20 years and was a contestant on NBC Telemundo’s American Spanish-language singing competition, “La Voz.” She has also shared the stage with some Latin music legends, two of which have called her “the voice of Mexico.” She has created concerts that she calls “FOSTER Nights.” She is originally from Mexico and her music has been sung on the show “Latin American Idol” and her songs have been featured in Latin American soap operas. She has 16 thousand subscribers to her YouTube channel, where she has gotten more than 6.2 million views for her videos, and last year she had one million streams on Spotify alone. She is getting set to release another Spanish language album but is planning to record another English language album this year too!</p>

<p>Garth Brooks had said about him, “This kid, as soon as he opens his mouth — you believe him.” A Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and guitar player originally from Pennsylvania, he walked away from a college baseball scholarship to pursue music and ended up in the top four on Season 11 of "The Voice." He has over a million streams on Spotify and the video for his song “Boots Like Mine” spent four weeks at Number 1 on the CMT Music 12 pack.</p>

<p>Singer songwriter duo who relocated from Louisiana to Los Angeles. They are currently putting the finishing touches on their second album which is due out later this year. Separately, they have played with Kelly Osbourne and Pat Benatar and this summer they are scheduled to tour with Rick Springfield and Chicago. They also got music into the “SAW” horror film series. There is also talk here of the serious health scare that Heather had to endure and its impact on their duo project.</p>

<p>One of the world’s foremost fingerstyle guitarists and harp-guitarists. Her new project is an international cookbook with a CD containing a tune for each recipe. She has released more than a dozen instrumental CDs and eight instructional DVDs and has also published articles in numerous guitar magazines. Her YouTube channel has gotten approximately 1.2 million views. She is also the founder of the Music for Life Alliance charity.</p>

<p>They have two singles on Spotify that have amassed more than a million listens and their YouTube videos have over a million views. A reggae band out of Orlando, Florida, that got signed by LAW Records and reached Number 2 on the Billboard and iTunes reggae charts, they released their second album last August and followed this interview with a cross-country tour covering approximately a dozen states in America, and dates still upcoming at events from Florida to California. They have also gotten airplay on SiriusXM.</p>

<p>A multiple Grammy-winning keyboardist from Texas, he works in a variety of styles from instrumental jazz to gospel to hip-hop and R&B. He emerged in the 1990s by building his reputation as a session player and his willingness and ability to be a subtle part of each band. He performs with the jazz fusion phenomenon, Snarky Puppy, as well as a new trio project he has put together called Three-O. He has also worked with Erykah Badu, Timbaland, Kirk Franklin, and Chaka Khan.</p>

<p>The winner of Season 10 of "The Voice," last year she released her third album. She is a singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress originally from Massachusetts, now living in Los Angeles. As a child, she was the title character in the movie, “Curly Sue,” and has also been in other movies including “Parenthood” and “Meet Dave.” She has also had television roles on "Pee Wee’s Playhouse" and "Family Ties."</p>

<p>A musician, rapper, and entrepreneur who hails from Baltimore, Maryland. He makes clean, purposeful, hip-hop music with a strong motivational message and also has his own independent label. He is a voting member of the Grammys and has partnerships with Netflix, ESPN, NFL Network, and WWE, his songs having appeared in TV and movies. He is also planning a foundation to work with the homeless in Baltimore.</p>

<p>An indie rock band that hails from Black Hills, South Dakota, they played 120 dates last year, including headlining at Sturgis. They’ve opened for the likes of Third Eye Blind, Uncle Cracker, and Puddle of Mud. They have amassed more than half a million streams on Spotify alone and had their album chart on the iTunes rock charts. They have 13 new songs ready to record.</p>

<p>Singer and songwriter of emotive dream pop who is originally from New York but now lives in Los Angeles. She was named one of the top 100 unsigned artists by Music Connection Magazine. A clip from one of her videos has been heavily featured at Hard Rock Cafes all over the world. Her first album resulted in her voice being in the same conversation as artists like Annie Lennox and Sarah McLachlan and her second studio album is just months from being released.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, guitar player originally from Illinois, now living in Virginia. He is a Navy Veteran and Boot Campaign Veteran Ambassador who has written a song for the TV show, "Sons of Anarchy." He has opened for notable artists including Cheap Trick, 38 Special, and Florida Georgia Line. His most recent album has made a handful of Billboard charts, including No. 11 in country album sales and he talks here about his next album, which he is working on. He blends traditional country and Americana music with southern rock and rock 'n' roll to bring you a new but familiar sound.</p>

<p>A singer, dancer, and actress who last year released two singles, one of which was released on All Star Music/Sony/Red and produced by PJ Bianco, who discovered and developed the Jonas Brothers. She is currently working on new music. And, she was also in the Disney movie, “A Wrinkle in Time,” starring Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon. She was also in a short film last year that starred Eric Roberts.</p>

<p>An award-winning guitarist, songwriter, singer, composer, producer, and sound engineer who has been blind since a brain tumor as an infant. He also runs a studio and is a voting member of the GRAMMYs. He is very active as a touring musician, having started off 2020 with a show at the famed Whisky-A-Go-Go in Hollywood. In the last quarter of 2019 alone he performed in Washington DC, Georgia, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, and California. He has opened for or worked with numerous major musical acts. Last October he released a five-song holiday EP called, “A Santa That Plays Guitar.”</p>

<p>He gained national recognition in 2014 when he was in the top five on Season 13 of “American Idol.” That same year he released his debut EP, working with a Grammy Award winning producer. He has also worked with a Grammy nominated engineer and he has co-headlined an event with the Doobie Brothers, War, and Jefferson Starship. A singer, songwriter, guitar player who just relocated to Los Angeles, he also had one of his original songs debut at the Sundance Film Festival. He's performing next week at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim and hopes to release a new song each month this year.</p>

<p>The band has a song that is up for a GRAMMY in the Best Metal Performance category. They are signed to Nuclear Blast Records and released an album in May 2019 and a music video in November, and next month they will do seven shows in nine days in Europe, performing in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Germany. They have a rabid, worldwide following with a combined total of almost 800 thousand across their social media platforms. This is the second NHTE appearance for Death Angel, having previously been on Episode 163. This interview features songwriter and lead vocalist Mark Osegueda and songwriter, lead guitar player, and band founder, Rob Cavestany.</p>

<p>Calling himself a music historian, he is a Nashville-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist. He has had two Top 75 Americana Music Association charting records and is currently recording a blues album to be released in Spring of next year. He has toured for more than 15 years, including last month and this month in the likes of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, and on February 1st he’ll even be playing up in New York. He has opened for the likes of Blake Shelton, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, and many more. And, he has an impressive list of endorsements.</p>

<p>Based in the Florida panhandle, she's a singer, songwriter, and guitar player. Plus, she and her husband have a record label and produce music events. She is very active performing, doing shows in December alone in Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee. Earlier this year she traveled to New York where she was a nominee for Best Country Song at the Independent Music Awards. She has even been featured in the Mississippi Songwriters Festival as well as headlining in Chicago. She also performs as part of the Last Honkytonk Music Series, and also talks about a book that she is writing.</p>

<p>Singer, songwriter, guitar player, publisher, and producer who has had songs played on “The Today Show” on NBC as well as on FOX Sports. Based in Nashville, he holds major publishing deals in every country in the world, garnering over 120 songs cut, including four Number One songs on the Americana and Independent charts, six Top 40 on Billboard and Independent charts, and songs in major movies and documentaries. He is currently recording his fourth studio album, set for release next year. And, he has and is currently writing, performing, producing, and touring with artists that include 3 Doors Down, Cowboy Troy, Mickie James, and many more.</p>