jazz | soft rock

Stephanie Adlington is known as the Siren of the South. She is the creator of an emergence: Jazzicana, old school jazz with American roots and organic compositions, revealing stories of vintage soul.

Growing up in small-town West Virginia, she was immersed in backwoods folklore as she and her Granny trekked to church every Sunday, listening to Hank Williams Sr. and Elvis singing Gospel. Stephanie studied at Carnegie Mellon University’s Eastman School of Music and The Royal Academy of Music, London.

http://www.stephanieadlington.com/

sultry singer

Dallas Starke is a songbird living in Nashville, who loves to share her love of jazz music and the blues. Influenced by Etta James, Adele, and Aretha Franklin, Dallas respects the classics but loves to add a little contemporary flavor to her sets.

https://dallasstarke.wordpress.com/

rock & roll

blues | rock | pop

Known for her ability to draw you in with her sweet melodies, heartfelt lyrics, and soulful presence, Jaclyn Monroe music reflects her evolution of years of self training, songwriting and recording. Like her striking red hair, Jaclyn’s songs jump out, grab your attention and demand your focus. They are stories drawn from her own bittersweet experiences of loss, hope, passion and heartbreak. Her music soars between blues, rock, soul, and pop with influences from Etta and Aretha to Janis and Bonnie Raitt. Adept at both piano and guitar, Jaclyn’s instrumental abilities solidly underscore her desire to share her stories. Jaclyn’s music is infectious with hypnotic melodies surrounded by lyrical depth that strikes straight to the heart. A true artist, her songs aren’t just crafted to the fad of industry. Jaclyn Monroe is due to break out this year, so keep an eye out for this amazing talent.

http://www.jaclynmonroe.com/

blues | rock

Matt McAtee is a singer/ guitarist/entertainer based out of Nashville. He has performed with numerous high profile country music artists, and has been a fixture on the Nashville music scene for nearly a decade. His band, the Eventuals, is a collection of seasoned, highly-skilled musicians who specialize in the art of variety. The Eventuals move seamlessly from classic country, to classic rock, Funk, 80’s pop, Disco, 90’s rock, and they continue to update their show with some of the best of contemporary music across several genres. Matt has Emceed and lead bands on over 1,000 gigs, and has played for every kind of audience imaginable. The dance floor is never empty at an Eventuals show!

pop | r&b

Over the last 20 years, flugelhorn and trumpet artist, Michael Fair, has placed himself prominently into the competitive smooth jazz market. Michael has carved a unique niche for himself musically here in the Middle Tennessee area for a couple of reasons. Performing and recording smooth jazz in a city primarily known for country and contemporary Christian music makes him a bit unique, and being notorious for playing the flugelhorn and trumpet make him a Nashville anomaly.

Michael’s partnership with the trumpet began early in his life. At the age of 12, he was given his first horn. It was no time at all until he began playing the songs that he heard his parents listening to by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Michael’s early performances included solo features in school bands. He studied trumpet performance at Middle Tennessee State University and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelors of Music. Early post-
college gigs included the typical frat band circuit, club gigs and casuals. Michael moved to Southern California in 1985 and actually did not touch the trumpet or flugelhorn for two years while pursuing other interests. A move back to Nashville in 1987 seemed as natural as picking the horn back up and joining up with a new band, The Cliff Notes, at the time. Working with this group gave Michael exposure to the Nashville music community, opening up opportunities for both live and session work.

http://michaelfairmusic.com/

blues | pop

Born on the Arkansas Delta, Garland is drawing comparisons to a swath of well-known musicians as wide as the meandering Mississippi river. After graduating from Arkansas State University in 2004 with a Bachelors of Arts
degree in Music, he formed his own band that quickly generated a buzz in northeast Arkansas, as well as Memphis, TN. After captivating audiences throughout the Mid-South, Garland moved to Las Vegas in the summer of 2010 to headline at the B.B. King’s Blues Club on the world famous strip.

Grant’s ability to emulate and embellish upon the diverse musical influences of musical legends that range from Stevie Wonder to Stevie Ray Vaughan, electrifies audiences both young and old. His pure talent not only crosses genre lines, but is generating genuine excitement from Las Vegas audiences. A talented piano and guitar player, he is also very versatile on brass instruments such as trumpet and flugel horn.

Grant Garland has performed with and opened for artists such as B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Steve Cropper, Margo Rey, Jimmy Hall, Mike Farris Jimbo Mathus, Charlie Wood, Jon Faddis, Bob Mintzer, Carl Saunders, Corey Osborn, Chris Vadala, Exile, Preston Shannon, and Jason D. Williams. His self-titled debut album was released in April of 2009. His second album is currently in production.

http://grantgarlandmusic.com/

blues

Steve also developed an interest in playing piano. He learned to play by ear and at the age of thirteen, he became the musician for the Youth Choir at his church. He is currently the Minister of Music for all choirs at his church. Throughout the years, Steve has continued to play the guitar, and has played with B.B. King, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Johnny Jones and many others. His band has opened up and played for famous jazz and blues artists like Najee, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Phil Perry, The Manhattans, Nick Colionne and other numerous bands that have come through Nashville to perform. He is consistently included in the line up for Nashville’s annual Jazz Blues and Heritage Festival, where he and his band provided the music for Lori Jenaire, Jackiem Joyner, Joey Somerfield, Andre Ward, Alex Bugnon The Drifters, Glenn Jones, Alexander O’Neal, Howard Hewitt, Kindred The Family, Jessica Reedy, Pamela Williams, After 7, Paula Atherton, Freddie Jackson, Rashaad Patterson, Mike Farris, Vivian Green and Marion Meadows. He was the band leader and music director for the Steven Roper and the B.B. King Allstars at the B.B. King Club in Nashville for over three years. Steve’s first love is jazz and blues, this is the genre he’s famous for in the Nashville area; however, his talent is not limited to jazz and blues, he is equally talented in R&B and even country. That is the reason he still enjoys playing classics like, Betcha By Golly Wow, Fantasy, That’s The Way of the World, and The World Is A Ghetto and music from his CD’s, Colors of my Journey and Colors.

http://muscleshoalstheriverthatsings.com/steve-roper.html

rock

Jazz rocker (SFWeekly) singer/songwriter/instrumentalist, Ben Graves, represents an eclectic history of musical experience; in high school in rural Tennessee he was a neo-folk/classical guitarist, a jazz saxophonist, and the lead singer in a band that would become the platinum-selling hard rock outfit Fuel. He attended Wesleyan University and Berklee College of Music (where he was awarded scholarships for both saxophone and voice) studying with avante-garde maverick Anthony Braxton, Ghanaian master-drummer Abraham Adzinyah and pop icon Billy Joel. After Berklee, Ben won an assistantship at Washington State University, where he earned a master’s degree in music and was recognized as an outstanding alto saxophonist at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. After grad school, Graves found his way to San Francisco. From 1996 to 2003, he honed his craft, recording 2 original Cds and performing his original music in many of the Bay Area’s hippest venues: the Fillmore, Great American Music Hall, Cafe du Nord, the Hotel Utah, Freight and Salvage, Sweetwater, and many others. In 2003, he moved to Nashville, where he worked as a sideman with country artists Rebecca Lynn Howard, James Otto, Amy Dalley, and others. He spent most of 2005 doing administrative work for the New York Philharmonic in Manhattan and taking part in the New York scene before returning to Nashville, where he remains active as a session musician, performing songwriter, sideman, and educator.

Ben is a true multi-instrumentalist; he’s jammed on guitar and harmonica with Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith, played electric bass with Kid Rock and at the Grand Ole Opry, and has blown saxophone with Modern Jazz Quartet bassist Percy Heath, Late Show drummer Anton Fig, and tons of people you’ve never heard of. Ben embraces the jazz ethic of keeping the performance loose enough so that almost anything can happen, and nothing sounds stale. Solo, or in the company of other fine musicians, Ben Graves weaves his unique harmony and soulful voice into a truly original tapestry that is at once innovative, informed, and inspired.

http://www.bengraves.com/

blues

Stacy Mitchhart’s Live My Life stakes out bold new territory for the veteran entertainer. The 12-song album mixes down-home blues with a splash of soul to serve as a springboard for his canny storytelling and meanly elegant guitar. Live My Life is a departure from his mostly soul-blues flavored catalog, reflecting Mitchhart’s deepening connection with the genre’s primal Mississippi roots.

Powered by strong, original songwriting and surprises like raw-boned cigar box guitar, Live My Life opens with the grinding blues howler “I Drink Whiskey,” showcasing his dirty licks ‘n’ tricks. The title track, which is also the album’s first video, shines a beacon on the rollicking artist’s newly stripped down approach. The song is among the three tracks that showcase Mitchhart’s cigar boxes, while another side of his playing fuels the instrumental “Soul Stoll,” which teams an elegant, funky soul-blues groove with flashes of jazz and a sinuous melody. The disc’s biggest surprise, besides its unfiltered hard-core blues sound, is Mitchhart’s interpretation of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” which he reinvents as a killer Delta blues.

Live My Life was co-producer by Mitchhart and Scott McEwen at Nashville’s all-analog Fry Pharmacy studio and features the touring band that accompanies Mitchhart for an impressive 275 shows a year, including his famed ongoing residency at Nashville’s Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar.

http://www.stacymitchhart.com/