NashvilleHype!

As you know I just returned from a short vacation in Florida where I got to see my two friends Rachel Farley and Aaron Tippin in concert.

First of all, if you’ve not gone to your local Cracker Barrel and picked up Aaron’s new cd “He Believed” you definately should.

Second, if you’ve not ever had a chance to see Aaron in concert, or it’s been a while, you should definately make plans when he comes to a city near you. 

Rachel had come to Nashville because she had a writing appointment with Rissi Palmer and was set to also meet her producer Keith Thomas.  It was a monday, which was a perfect night to go see our friend Ashlee Hewitt perform on Nashville Star - so we met at Opry Mills.  While getting caught up on all the goings on, Rachel happened to mention she was going to be in Florida at the same time I was - opening for Aaron.

Aaron puts on a great show - it’s a high energy show that touches on every emotion, and has a few surprises in store as well.

You know I’ve been friends with Aaron for 15 years or more and one of the reasons we get along so well is because he has the biggest heart - he constantly is giving to others - not only his time, but also gifts.  One of the surprises during the show (and I’m not going to give it away here, you’ll have to go see for yourself) is one of the gifts he gives away at each show — over 600 times he’s given a gift to this organization and that alone is worth the price of admission.

But then you add in the fact you know almost EVERY song he sings (Aaron has had SO many hits) and you have yourself a great show and a good time.

I had called Aaron to tell him to take good care of Rachel who was opening his show, but I failed to mention that I was actually coming down to see the show myself (my ‘vacation’ was actually to go see my sister and family, it just happened to turn out that this concert was happening) — so after the fireworks I thought I’d go over and talk with Aaron for a little bit.

Aaron had a line longer than the stage itself!  It wrapped around and zigged and zagged.  He met with EVERYONE of his fans that wanted to meet.  He took pictures, signed autographs, and as time allowed, had conversations.  Seems like his ‘meet and greet’ line took longer than his actual show.  THAT should tell you something about what kind of person he is - and has always been.

As my neices and I waited around back we watched as the line finally dwindled down - and as Aaron was set to leave, we watched him sign another dozen or so autographs (and take as many pictures) - on the way back to the bus!

Aaron Tippin is a star - as a person.  I’m thrilled that his new album is doing so well.  You can’t go wrong with Aaron Tippin.  Seriously.  Buy his music, go to his shows - you’ll have the time of your life.

Pictures below:

Rachel Farley on Stage

Rachel Farley again

The Hardest Working Man in Music - Aaron Tippin

Aaron Tippin

And last, my beautiful neices Loren and Melissa (Loren is going to be a SuperStar! - not in country music, in acting, singing, dancing - Disney style!)

This is a video of Rachel Farley doing Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead”.  This video was shot during CMA Week at the Cadillac Ranch in downtown Nashville.  The night before, at midnight, she had went down to play with this band. She’d never played with them before (or a true band from what I know), but she was invited, so she went - played a few songs and learned a little of what it means to improvise on stage - even if you aren’t sure what’s going on or what to do next.  The band invited her back, so the next day, she went again.  The place was packed out, and this was Rachel’s first song with the band. Seriously, her FIRST song.

I say this reluctantly but I want to make a point - Rachel is 13.  Admit it, Rachel Farley is AWESOME! Can you even imagine when she starts recording with Keith Thomas??  Forget about it - she’s taking over the world.

Here’s what I wrote about it June 10th, 2008:

Walk around Nashville a little while, look around, and make our way over to the Cadillac Ranch to see Rachel Farley perform

and she COMPLETELY took everyone in the audience by surprize -

cause people, just listen to me please! - Rachel is a STAR!  She absolutely ROCKS!  You wonder why she wins so many awards?  Why she’s working with Grammy winning mega-producers?  Why major record label Presidents show up to a Benefit Concert?  It’s not cause it’s a good cause!  Wonder why I had her on NashvilleHype! before anyone knew a Rachel Farley existed?  Because she KILLS from the stage!  Especially with a band.  I’ve not seen her perform with a band before and oh my… just unbelievable.  She has really grown in stage presence since I first saw her perform.  And her future is only going to get brighter.

After Rachel performed, I got a chance to dispel some good old fashion wisdom in her direction

and she’s a sponge.  Look at those eyes.  I wish every artists would listen to me as intently as Rachel does - things might be better for them.  ahh, cest la vie.

Here’s a bonus video, just to show you what kind of songs she’s writing RIGHT NOW — this is an Original song written solely by Rachel - “Empty Bottle and an Empty Heart”

I Guarantee NO OTHER WEBSITE has this Video at the moment - NashvilleHype! is the only weblog/news source where you can see this!

As I reported several weeks ago, our good friend Glenn Sweitzer recently shot a video with another friend of ours Rissi Palmer performing her new (and soon to be a Hit!) single, “No Air” .   Rissi has always been one of our favorite artist.  If you’ve never heard of Rissi - you should get to know her and her music - and definitely pick up her cd!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Rissi Palmer leak video

I was lucky enough to work with Rissi Palmer on a video for her new single “No Air”. The label wanted a simple behind the scenes look music video, which also included a cameo of her producer, Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift’s producer). This is not the main video, but a video to “leak” it out to work with the song at radio early on. I think it is so smart to do it this way.
I had a very short time to shoot this, since Nathan had to be on a plane and Rissi had to leave. Had a lot of fun doing this. Rissi is a very charming person… so was her little pooch.
The crazy thing with this song, is that this is the 4th version of it. There is now a version in POP, Rock, Christian and now country. I think Rissi nailed this, and will be around for quite a while!
shot and directed by glenn sweitzer

We’re thrilled to be able to present this video to you -

Rissi Palmer - NO AIR - Shot and Directed by Glenn Sweitzer

As an aside, I’ve recently been talking with my friend Jesse Lee, who as we reported, signed with Atlantic Records and is also working with producer Nathan Chapman.  Jesse tells me that her album is coming along well and she only has three more songs to sing and then add background vocals to.  There’s no release date for a new single yet, but expect one in the not-so-distant future.  Her album will follow soon thereafter.  As always, NashvilleHype! will keep you informed.

And last but not least, one more Nathan Chapman / six degrees of seperation story  –

If you happened to watch Nashville Star with our good friend Ashlee Hewitt performing (remember to vote for Ashlee this week!) then you know Taylor Swift was the featured performer for the week.  My old roommate Grant has been her guitar player for over a year now and I’ve also talked to him about the possibility of him coming on site to talk about his life now - being on the road, playing on the Tonight Show (as well as every other show) and being in the limelight.  I hope to get something worked out with his schedule in the near future.

Come see Rachel Farley perform at the Cadillac Ranch tonight! 6 pm!

!! UPDATE:  I just talked to my friend Glenn Sweitzer of Fresh Films, he told me that just last week he shot a special video for Rissi and CMT - look for this new video to hit the airwaves soon!!

I haven’t had a chance to write about Rissi Palmer in a while. As long time readers know, I love Rissi and I’ve had her on site from the beginning (really, NashvilleHype! was a very early supporter of Rissi!). A few minutes ago I actually saw an ad on MySpace for her and I thought I should go over to her site, like you should, and get caught up.

Rissi, I’m happy to say, is doing fantastic. I’m not in Nashville right now but on her site I see she was mentioned in the Tennessean for being a knockout on the red carpet at the ACMs. That’s pretty cool… but this is cooler:

This is pretty cool!  I’ll tell you why:

I’m a little tired (though I understand it’s all a part of the process of allowing people to know who ’you’ are) of the stories about Rissi’s race and influence in country music.   I HEARD Rissi and I knew she was country to the bone and is awesome (just like my friend Miko Marks who’s fantastic).  In fact, I had first written about Rissi in an article about Charlie Pride - and in a really ironic twist, I even mentioned that fully 25% of NASCAR fans are black – making the point that just as NASCAR is missing a great opportunity to expand it’s audience, so is country music.

Now admittedly I haven’t read the accompanying article in the magazine here, but I’m pretty sure it’s about Rissi and her Dog - not about how a black female is singing country music.  And I find THAT cool!

P.S.  as a bonus pic (and to drive home the NASCAR point) - here’s another pic on Rissi’s site:

Rissi with Jr.  — That Rocks!

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Several artists we’re very proud to have had on NashvilleHype! have been written about in their local papers, are going to huge National competitions and winning, are being played on radio shows coast to coast, gaining more fans than anyone can shake a stick at, and generally having a blast as their careers kick into high gear.   NashvilleHype! is all about letting others know about great artists we believe in, and in the promotion of these artist.  All of these artists came and performed for us at the Supercell Benefit.

Kelsey Skaggs has a great write up in the Dayton Daily News.  Our favorite part of her article is:

“Kelsey’s older brother, Kyle, came home for a visit after a year at the University of Louisiana and said to me, ‘Do you realize how much has happened for Kelsey since I left for school? I’ve never seen anything explode like that,’ ” Lisa Skaggs (Kelsey’s mother) said.

Thomas Miller, the popular Internet Radio Show host, just raves about Kelsey on his show.  He loves her music almost as much as we do - and she is featured not only on his show but also featured on the Thomas Miller Show homepage. 

Like we continue to say, it’s only going to get better for Kelsey.  She is amazingly talented and she’s taking all the steps necessary to have a long, lasting, and successful career.  Industry insiders here in Nashville (particularly those in the secular Christian music market) need to wake up and start taking note of Kelsey.  I promise you, you’re going to miss out if you don’t.

William Ferrarini just had an article released on Reminder Publications. 

“Ferrarini has been writing songs since he was 16 and touts “Send Me a Miracle” as one of the most meaningful of all the songs he’s ever been a part of writing. Cathryn Miller Gipson of www.nashvillehype.com, an online entertainmet news blog, seemed to agree. Of Ferrarini she wrote on the site, “While listening to it myself, I find it to be at a place of tranquility and quietness. His voice is comforting and soothing and a sound all his own.”

Paul King, the owner and editor of NashvilleHype.com, said Ferrarini’s “a good man for coming all the way down here to help us with the benefit … William is a rare find. He’s an extremely talented performer and songwriter, yet one of the most down to earth, humble and caring individuals you will ever meet.”That’s just too cool.  It seems like William is everywhere - and he’s certainly popular here on NashvilleHype!

Kelly Ray Davis probably did more than any other artists to promote the Supercell Show.  He had several news articles written about him and his focus was on the show - and he had several radio interviews as well and it was the same thing.   The Herald-Dispatch has written about Kelly a couple of times.  Kelly continues to tear it up back home and is looking forward to more trips to Nashville as things continue to pick up for him.

Readers know how much we love Rachel Farley.  She’s like family at this point, so when we learned that she had won numerous National awards from the North America Country Music Association International, we were thrilled!  She won 2008 Traditional Songwriter of the Year for “Lonely Alone”, 2008 New Country Songwriter of the Year for “Tennessee”, 2008 CD of the Year, 2008 Rising Star Award-Female Entertainer of the Year, 2008 Most Promising Vocalist of the Year!  Holy Cow!

You might recall we reported when she had gone to the local awards show in Georgia and brought home a handful of awards then.  This National awards show included the top 2 from each state and also Canada.  That’s a lot of competition! 

Rachel was recently selected as one of the 5 contestants for “15 Minutes of Fame, Jr” at Opry Mills on April 5th.  They will have a decible meter and will measure which contestant gets the biggest response from the audience as well as adding up judges scores. If she wins she goes to finals later in the year!  So we’re asking everyone to come see this spectacular talent perform and also help support her by making a lot of good noise after she performs.  We want Rachel to win and go to the Nationals - so come out and help!

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