Welcome to Music City Arts Update, the online publication for Music City Arts Network! This arts-related blog provides news about career and life-changing opportunities for artists of all kinds. Please visit this site regularly for breaking news, feature stories, artist profiles, and photos. Follow us on the social networks @MusicCityArts. Send your arts news to info@MusicCityArtsUpdate.com.
NASHVILLE - Six professional songwriting acts will take the stage on March 21, 2020 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
A special "Ladies Night" will feature original songs and instrumentals by Lisa Aschmann, Olivia Bandy, Dee Moeller, Claudia Nygaard, Candy Paull, and Robin Ruddy. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter-performer-recording engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels.
NASHVILLE -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the stage
on Jan. 18, 2020 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing,"
a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West
End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and
instrumentals by Terry Bell, Meredith Blis, Erin
Gibney, Denny Sarokin, and Jody Soland. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be
available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter-performer-recording
engineer AJ Bigler will handle
sound.
"Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City
Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was
founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as
well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and
networking opportunities for artists at all levels.
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (November 2019) -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the stage
on Oct. 19 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing,"
a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West
End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and
instrumentals by Steven Cade, Lisa Hannah, Les
Kerr, Ida Kristin, and David Llewellyn. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be
available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter-performer
Paul Nielsen will handle sound.
"Tunesmithing"
songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon
Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight
emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds.
The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists
at all levels.
NASHVILLE -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the stage
on Oct. 19 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing,"
a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West
End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and
instrumentals by Lisa Aschmann, Pam Belford,
Everette Brown, Sam Gyllenhaal, and Paul Nielsen. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be
available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Engineer-songwriter-performer
AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"Our show is unique because we give performing songwriters the opportunity to perform solo sets of five songs each," said Whiting, who started the show 16 years ago. "It's a great way to support and reconnect with fellow songwriters at one of the city's most relaxing venues."
"Tunesmithing"
songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon
Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight
emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds.
The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists
at all levels.
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (September 2019) -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the
stage on Sept. 14 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing,"
a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West
End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and
instrumentals by Chakra Bleu, Valerie Connelly,
Jim Moran, Connor Schenk, and Ken Spooner. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be
available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Engineer-songwriter-performer
AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"Tunesmithing"
songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon
Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight
emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds.
The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists
at all levels.
For more information
about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@MusicCityArts.net,
or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (July 2019) -- The L.A. Party Dolls
will bring their multi-media retro tribute show "GIRLPOWER!" to Nashville for the first time with a matinee
show and an evening show on Aug. 17 (Saturday) at World Music Nashville.
The
trio, which includes award-winning Nashville singer-songwriter Laura Powers,
will present the hit songs and fun culture of Motown-era '60s girl-groups with
big hair, sequined costumes, classic choreography, three-part harmony, and
comedic interplay. Audiences can sing along as the Dolls perform classics by legendary
acts such as the Crystals, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Supremes, Ronettes,
and Aretha Franklin.
The L.A. Party Dolls (Photo provided by Laura Powers)
"We've wanted to bring our show to Nashville for many
years, and now our dream has finally come true," said Powers, who has
received several awards for the use of her music in film and television,
including Nashville Public Television.
Show times are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Admission
is $25 for VIP seating (first three rows with chilled water) and $20 for
general seating. Matinee discounts are available for groups of six or more and
children age 16 and under. World Music Nashville is located in the Bellevue
Valley Plaza at 7069 U.S. 70 S. in Bellevue. Parking is free. Individuals
can learn more or buy tickets by visiting www.lapartydolls.us.
Powers
started the L.A. Party Dolls when she lived in Los Angeles. The group has
performed extensively on the West Coast and in major casinos in Las Vegas and
Reno. The trio features Michelle Giacopuzzi, a bashful blonde seeking more
confidence; Rosanne Limeres, a redheaded, feisty Jersey girl; and Laura Powers,
a smart-allecky companion who dons a black beehive hairdo.
Video of the L.A. Party Dolls (Provided by Laura Powers)
The trio's Nashville
performance will include the classic hits “My Boyfriend’s Back," “These
Boots Are Made For Walking," "Da Do Ron Ron," “To Sir With Love"
“He’s a
Rebel,” “It’s My Party," “Dancing in
the Street," "Respect," and "Stop in the Name of
Love."
Music fans can follow the group on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
@TheLAPartyDolls.
NASHVILLE -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the stage on April 20 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and instrumentals by Katie Brooks, Cheaper Than A Movie, Warren Evans, Angel Pontier, and Rodeo Gypsy. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Engineer-songwriter-performer AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts
Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was
founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit
songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers
mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all
levels.
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (December 2018) -- Fifteen singer-songwriters will take the stage in Nashville on Dec. 8 (Saturday) for the annual "Tunesmithing: Celebrating the Holidays."
The special show will occur from 7-9:30
p.m. at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End
Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. Attendees will enjoy original and classic holiday songs,
poems and/or stories by Lisa Aschmann, AJ Bigler, Meredith
Bliss, Everette Brown, Wil Comstock, Suzahn Fiering, Dar Frantz, Les Kerr, Michael
Laidley, Candy Paull, Angel Pontier, Susan Shann, Chuck Whiting, and Jamey & Tamara Whiting.
Nashville
composer/educator/publicist Chuck
Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound. "Tunesmithing" songwriters
showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network and Shine Time Books and Music.
Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and
hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring,
career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels.
NASHVILLE -- Five professional songwriting acts will perform on June 16 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show hosted by Music City Arts at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. Attendees will enjoy original songs and instrumentals by Sarah DeFors, Gordon Ellis, Mike Mitchell, Susan Shann, and Jamey & Tamara Whiting. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 2018) -- Five professional songwriting acts will perform on May 19 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave.
Attendees will enjoy original songs and instrumentals by Meredith Blis, Warren Evans, Lisa Hannah, Antoinette Olesen, and Debbie Watts. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound.
"This month's 'Tunesmithing' will be an exciting mix of piano and guitar," said Whiting, a composer, educator and publicist who founded Music City Arts Network. "We always have outstanding talent. It's also a wonderful opportunity for songwriters to fellowship with their peers and learn from some of the top professionals in Nashville."
"Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels. For more information about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@MusicCityArts.net, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 2017) -- Jazz-Americana artist Bryan Cumming will celebrate the release of his new album, "Come Out Swinging," with a concert and CD signing from 6-10 p.m. on Feb. 17 (Friday) at World Music in Bellevue.
Cumming, who has recorded with popular acts such as Al Jarreau and The Pointer Sisters, is launching his solo career by paying tribute to the classic songs and legendary jazz artists of the Silent Generation. Joining him on stage will be keyboardist Kelli Cox, drummer Adam Mormolstein, and bassist John Vogt. Admission is free; complimentary hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided.
"I grew up listening to the music my father loved, including recordings by jazz artists such as Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, and Glen Miller," said Cumming, who also performs as a member of the Grammy-nominated Beatles tribute band The WannaBeatles. "As my music career has developed, I've found myself gravitating toward swing. It has a life-affirming tempo that expresses optimism, enthusiasm and energy. I hope my new album will inspire motion, inviting dancers to sway together, bounce, and enjoy the moment, just like in my daddy's day."
Cumming's 10-song project, which will be released on Feb. 17, will celebrate the spirit of swing with a lively mix of traditional jazz classics and originals. Highlights will include covers of standards written and/or performed by legendary artists such as Nat King Cole, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Dorothy Fields, and Irving Berlin. The album was recorded at Java Jive Studio in Nashville.
Among the covers will be "Sunny Side of the Street," a standard recorded by Tommy Dorsey and The Sentimentalists in 1944. Other covers will include "Straighten Up and Fly Right," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "It Had to Be You," and "Blue Skies."
The album's title track, "Come Out Swinging," swings to life with the sounds and lyrical images of the '30s, '40s and '50s. Jazz and Americana music fans can hear the preview single at https://soundcloud.com/bryan-cumming/come-out-swinging.
"I wrote the song in 2008 to celebrate the timeless swing music I sang and played with my dad," said Cumming. "'Come Out Swinging' is a nostalgic look at yesterday. It is presented as an imaginary epiphany, where the singer hears the phone ring and mysteriously hears the sounds of old swing tunes. He gets inspired and preaches the message 'it's time to play' to his listeners."
According to music critic Chuck Davis, '"Come Out Swinging' is a fluent expression of a musical maturing... delivering swing-inspired original tunes for his father's generation and re-distributing 'that thing called swing' to the next generation."
A Georgia native, Bryan Cumming grew up in a musical family playing Dixieland and classic jazz and singing harmony on Beatles songs. After serving a year in the U.S. Army playing saxophone, he toured and recorded with Martin Mull. He moved to Los Angeles in 1976, playing sax on sessions with artists such as Al Jarreau, The Pointer Sisters, Maria Muldaur, Al Hirt, and The Ohio Players. He later joined Billy Vera and The Beaters, performing at the Tokyo Music Festival and on the number one single "At This Moment". He performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion as a member of the Los Angeles Jazz Choir. He toured Japan and South America with David Soul, and toured four years as the lead guitarist for ShaNaNa.
Since moving to Nashville in 1988, he has performed and/or recorded with artists such as K.T. Oslin, Cleve Francis, and the Grammy-nominated Beatles tribute band The WannaBeatles. In 2009, The WannaBeatles received a Grammy nomination for the CD "Fab Fan Memories - The Beatles Bond." Cumming also produces and records artists at Studio 23, a production company he founded in Nashville.
For more information about Bryan Cumming and his new album, "Come Out Swinging", visit http://www.BryanCumming.com. World Music is located at 7069 Highway 70 S. in Bellevue (at Old Hickory Boulevard).
NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (December 2016) -- Americana/pop/inspirational Singer-songwriter-guitarist
AJ Bigler will celebrate the release
of his new album "AJ and Friends"
with a concert and CD signing from 7-8:30 p.m. Dec. 9 (Friday) at Radio Cafe',
4150 Gallatin Pike in East Nashville.
Bigler will be joined on stage by
vocalist/keyboardist Jake Hill. The 12-song CD features performances by Bigler
and noted musicians such as vocalists Frankie Statton, Tia McGraff, Elizabeth
Capel, and Sean O'Shea; keyboardist Josh Rosen, bass player Jared Palmer, and
drummers Lis Ficalora and Lois Hess.
Highlights from the album include the upbeat
pop song "Love Is The Reason", the romantic ballad "Inside
Job" (performed by vocalist Tia McGraff), and the inspirational anthem
"You're The Reason" (performed by vocalist/keyboardist Sean O'Shea).
Admission to the concert is free; complimentary hors
d'oeuvres and beverages will be provided. For more information about AJ Bigler and his new album "AJ and
Friends", visit http://www.AJ-Bigler.com.
DENVER (September 2016) – Award-winning folk-bluegrass-Americana artist Mary Beth Cross will celebrate her Top-10 hit bluegrass-Americana EP, "Feels Like Home", with a concert at 8 p.m. Oct. 15 (Saturday) at Swallow Hill Music, 71 E. Yale Ave. in Denver.
Admission is $12 in advance and $14 day of show. To buy tickets, visit http://swallowhillmusic.org/denver-concerts/mary-beth-cross/oct-15-2016-8-00-pm/. The artist will be joined by the Denver-based bluegrass band Meadow Mountain Music.
Mary Beth Cross performs with Meadow Mountain Music
Cross's latest project celebrates the importance of home in the lives of average, everyday Americans. The eight-song EP climbed to number nine on Roots Music Report's Alternative Folk Albums Chart. It features originals, as well as classics written and/or performed by legendary artists such as Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Garry White, Van Morrison, George Gershwin, and Dubose Heyward. The EP is dedicated to her late nephew, Christopher Chmiel, who died unexpectedly in 2015.
"My latest project includes cover songs that are part of the tapestry of my upbringing in Wisconsin, as well as originals that reflect my current home in Colorado," said Cross, whose last project, "Beyond Good and Evil", was named "2014 Folk-Country CD of the Year" by the National Traditional Country Music Association.
Among the covers is "Kathy's Song", a classic written and recorded by folk-pop legend Paul Simon. To download selections from the EP, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/feels-like-home-ep/id1097215219. You can learn more about Mary Beth Cross at www.MaryBethCross.com.
DENVER
(January 2013) – Denver folk-Americana singer-songwriter Mary Beth Cross will celebrate her fourth CD with a special concert
and signing from 4-6 p.m. Jan 27 (Sunday) at Fourteen Seventy-Two Lowcountry
Dining, 1472 Pearl St. in Denver.
The artist’s latest album, “Beyond Good and Evil”, celebrates the
pioneer spirit of the American frontier with original songs and cover tunes.
The free event will include live music, hors d’oeuvres, a full bar, and prize
giveaways.
Recorded in Nashville, “Beyond Good and Evil” features performances
by eight-time International Bluegrass Music Association “Fiddler of the Year” Stuart Duncan. Cross spent the past
year penning songs reflecting the spirit and grit of the pioneers who blazed a
trail from the East to the West in search of what they treasured most: beauty,
adventure, a land to call their own, new opportunities for work, and freedom
from oppression.
“All of these are part of the collective tapestry of a country
that continues to forge on and grow despite great adversity,” said Cross, who
performed last summer at the Spiritual Project’s “10th Anniversary
Gala” at the University of Denver. “The choices, sacrifice and yearning for a
place that feels like home remain timeless.”
“Beyond Good and Evil” is being
promoted nationally to folk-Americana radio by Nashville-based Bill Wence
Promotions.
An accomplished vocalist and tunesmith, Cross moved to Denver in
the 1990s to pursue a nursing career. She has emerged on the regional and
national music scene with appearances on radio station KRFC-FM’s “Live @ Lunch”
show at Colorado State University and musical performances at the Summit
Foundation’s “Great Rubber Duck Races” in Breckenridge, Colo., and the
“Rockygrass Academy Band Scramble” in Lyons, Colo. Cross, who holds a nursing
degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will speak and perform at the
National Association of School Nurses annual conference in Orlando, Fla., in
June 2013.
