California native Shannon Ashley has an energetic & fearless country rock vibe, pulling influences from Miranda Lambert, Paramore & Fleetwood Mac. Shannon became fascinated with writing lyrics in elementary school and started her first band, Glitter Girls, in fifth grade and hasn’t stopped dreaming since. She released her debut iTunes single, "Cheater" in 2012 and a follow up single “Waitin’ All Week,” which she co-wrote with Big Tent Nashville writers, Cody Walden & David Reuter. 


Now Shannon Ashley is preparing to release her debut four track EP, Better Than Before, this November. 
Better Than Before features edgy and upbeat country rock songs including “Better Than Before”, “Never Be Too Far”, “I’m Thinkin’ Maybe”, and “Move On”. In her songs, all of which she co-wrote, she embraces her real-life heartbreak and pours her stories through her songs right into your soul.  

"Better Than Before" was co-written with producer Jonathan Smith. LA/Nashville Producer/Songwriter Jonathan also produced the song, which was recorded in LA. Brian Bonds, formerly Florida Georgia Line’s guitarist, recorded guitar on the song as well.

"Never Be Too Far" was co-written with Robert Wolf and produced by Chris Garcia produced the song, which was recorded in LA. She has said of this song, “I am proud of every song on my album, but "Never Be Too Far” holds a special place in my heart and is a very emotional piece for me. I have four grandparents who I was extremely close with, as well as a cousin who had this incredible energy - all of them are now in heaven. This song reminds me of them and how much I miss them, but I find comfort in knowing that their presence is always with me and one day I will have the chance to see them again. That day Robert Wolf and I sat down in the writing room in Nashville they were on my mind and in my heart – the result is this song about losing love whether that’s family passing, friendships lost or relationships broken. It’s hard to perform this song without getting teary-eyed and I think the emotions in this song are something everyone can relate to."

"I’m Thinkin’ Maybe" was co-written with Cody Walden & David Reuter from Big Tent Nashville. The track was also produced by Chris Garcia.

"Move On" was co-written with Ben Flanders and produced by Michael Flanders.

Better Than Before EP Track Listing:

1. Better Than Before
2. Never Be Too Far
3. I’m Thinkin’ Maybe
4. Move On 

Better Than Before will be released on November 20th. It will available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon with an instant download of "Better Than Before" on November 10th.

For more music, visit her official You Tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/ShannonAshleyVEVO/videos
Instagram: ShannonAshleyMusic
Twitter: SasheyMusic

(Nashville, Tenn. - Nov. 6, 2014) - Online social network and country lifestyle portal Digital Rodeo announces special guest host, Andy Griggs, for the upcoming DRX Artist Showcase to be held November 11th at 6 p.m. on Nashville’s famous 3rd and Lindsley Bar & Grill stage. The live performance will be streamed and can be viewed at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/digitalrodeox-live.

The DRX monthly showcases highlight some of the platform’s most promising Country artists and will help to promote some of the website's featured Independent Artists. The November DRX showcase will feature The Cheaters, Amber Hayes, Jason James, Phoenix Drive and Mitch Rossell.     
To view a sizzle reel from the Sept. 2014 showcase, visit here. 

Music industry representatives that RSVP in advance to [email protected] will be offered a limited number of complimentary drinks during the event.  DRX Members/Fans who RSVP are entered for special prizes (must be present to win).

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Chart-topping recording artist, accomplished producer, hit songwriter and studio owner Mac McAnally is many things, but tonight in Music City, he is simply "musician." For an astounding and record-setting seven consecutive years, McAnally has been named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association.

The honor breaks his tie with fiddler Mark O'Connor, who received the award from 1991-1996. McAnally was first nominated for Musician in 2007, winning in 2008 and every year since. The first person to ever receive the award was Chet Atkins, in 1988.

"I have to be the least deserving winner of the CMA Musician of the Year award, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for it," McAnally says. "The guys I'm nominated with honestly deserve it at least as much as I deserve it. Jerry Douglas could be half as good as he is and be the best in the world at his instrument. I wouldn't put myself in that category at all. But I'm the most grateful guy that's ever gotten the award, I'll say that."

Beyond being one of the most respected guitar players and vocalists in Nashville, he has also been nominated for a CMA Award as an artist. In 2009, he and Kenny Chesney were up for Musical Event of the Year for "Down The Road," a duet that rocketed to No. 1 two decades after Mac wrote and recorded it himself as a solo artist.

Early next year, McAnally the artist will perform on Mountain Stage with Larry Groce. The National Public Radio program will tape Jan. 18 in Morgantown, WV, produced by West Virginia Public Radio. Also on the show are Lee Ann Womack, Charlie Worsham and Angaleena Presley. Tickets went on sale this week.

Speaking of Womack, Mac showcased his skills as a player and vocalist during recording sessions for her acclaimed new album The Way I'm Livin'. "It's just outstanding," McAnally says of the project. "Nobody ever regrets being a part of high quality work and that's what we strive for every day - to be associated not just with things that succeed, but with things that are lastingly good."

And with his seventh CMA trophy setting a new bar in a town renowned for having the best musicians in the world, Mac McAnally has redefined the phrase "lastingly good."

ASHVILLE, Tenn.  -- (Nov. 05, 2014) – Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Brandy Clark won her first-ever CMA Award, for “Song of the Year” for “Follow Your Arrow” (which she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves, and was recorded by Musgraves), during tonight's “48th Annual CMA Awards.” The three writers were previously nominated together in that category in 2013 for co-writing Miranda Lambert’s No.1 hit song “Mama’s Broken Heart.” 

When asked how she felt, Clark said, "When I came off stage, Vince Gill grabbed me and said 'you just won the biggest award you can ever win. I know, I've won them all and this one means the most to me.' That about sums it up!"

Clark and Musgraves have now joined an exclusive club of only 14 women who have written a CMA Song of the Year. The other female songwriters who have won the category are Jessi Alexander and Connie Harrington (2013 - “Drive Your Truck” along with Jimmy Yeary), Miranda Lambert (2012 - “Over You” along with Blake Shelton), Kimberly Perry (2011 - “If I Die Young”), Jennifer Nettles (2008 - “Stay”), Tia Sellers (2000 - “I Hope You Dance” along with Mark D. Sanders), Annie Roboff, Robin Lerner and Beth Nielsen Chapman (1999 - “This Kiss”), Matraca Berg (1997 - “Strawberry Wine” along with Gary Harrison), Gretchen Peters (1995 - “Independence Day”), and K.T. Oslin (1988 - “’80s Ladies”). 

Clark was a double CMA nominee this year, having also been nominated for New Artist of the Year. Originally released on Blue Slate Records in late 2013, Clark's debut album 12 Stories was named among the best albums of the year by a wide range of media outlets including The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, New York Post, The New Yorker, NPR, Rolling Stone, and many more.

Earlier this week it was announced that Clark had signed a new recording contract with Warner Bros. Records/Los Angeles. Clark is currently on the road with Eric Church as part of his “The Outsiders World Tour” and she will join Alan Jackson for his “25th Anniversary Tour” in 2015. She is also the co-writer (along with McAnally and Bob DiPiero) of Toby Keith’s current hit single “Drunk Americans.”

Clark toured with Jennifer Nettles during the summer and opened for Loretta Lynn at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium in October. Earlier in the year she performed for the first time on both “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and debuted her music video for “Get High” on PerezHilton.com. Her song “Stripes” was featured in Beats Music’s Super Bowl commercial, which starred DeGeneres. Clark also co-wrote The Band Perry’s No. 1 hit “Better Dig Two.” Other artists to record her songs include Craig Campbell, Sheryl Crow, Reba McEntire, Craig Morgan, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, and more. 

For more information, visit www.brandyclarkmusic.com.

Blackberry Smoke just announced the release of their brand new studio album: Holding All The Roses which will be released February 10th on Rounder Records. The album contains twelve tracks including "Rock and Roll Again" which you can listen to HERE.

Along with the new album, the band is heading out on a massive US tour starting in February.

Check out what cities they're hitting right HERE. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, November 14th but if you pre order the new album through their website, a code will be sent to you on Monday the 10th to access an exclusive ticket pre sale on Tuesday the 11th!



"Holding All The Roses" Tracklist:
1. Let Me Help You (Find The Door)
2. Holding All The Roses
3. Living in the Song
4. Rock and Roll Again
5. Woman in the Moon
6. Too High
7. Wish in One Hand
8. Randolph County Farewell
9. Payback's a Bitch
10. Lay It All on Me
11. No Way Back to Eden
12. Fire in the Hole

Nashville, TN – (November 3, 2014) -- BMI Icon Honoree, ACM Poet Award Honoree and world renowned singer/songwriter, Dean Dillon, has partnered with LMG, BMI and Elevation Hotel and Spa to announce Mountain High Music Festival, held from January 14th to 18th, 2015 in majestic Crested Butte, Colorado. The festival will proudly present a diverse lineup of the world's best recording artists and songwriters, along with music’s future hit-makers, for an eclectic mix of mountain-high musical performances. 

Tickets to this year’s event can be purchased at www.mountainhighmusicfest.com and through Eventbrite –www.eventbrite.com. 

Mountain High Music Festival will offer patrons the opportunity to listen to the hottest recording artists and songwriters whose songs come to life with their phenomenal talent and hear the legendary 2013 BMI Icon of The Year, Dean Dillon, who helped skyrocket the King of Country Music, George Strait, into stardom with his lyrics and melodies. Patrons will have an opportunity, like none other, to capture the music of some of the industry’s finest in an intimate venue. Performances will be presented in various locations around the beautiful town of  Mt. Crested Butte, CO, voted the #1 Ski Town for 2014 in North America by Powder Magazine's "Ski Town Throwdown." Hosted by GAC and SiriusXM’s on-air personality Storme Warren, artists and songwriters will swap stories and mingle in a series of full-band, casual, and intimate performances set against the breathtaking backdrop of Mt Crested Butte. The exciting line-up includes performances from esteemed recording artists and singer/songwriters such as Texas mainstay Robert Earl Keen ("Merry Christmas from The Family"), reigning CMA and ACM "Song of The Year"-winning artist Lee Brice ("I Drive Your Truck," "A Woman Like You," "I Don't Dance"), Grammy award-winning songwriter Rodney Clawson ("Drink On It" "Crash My Party"), ACM and CMA Award-winning duo Thompson Square ("Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not" "If I Didn't Have You"), Nicolle Galyon ("We Were Us") from NBC’s “The Voice,” rising star, Brooke Eden ("American Dreamin'"), Sonia Leigh, co-writer of the Zac Brown Band hit “Sweet Annie”, vocal group Due West ("I Get That All the Time"), R&B recording artist Colin Lake ("Temporary Living"), Celtic Bluegrass music sensations The Crowlin Ferlies from Aspen, Colorado, local artists Chris Coady, Bill Dowell and legendary event host Dean Dillon. Look for forthcoming information for added performers.

Much gratitude is extended to our generous sponsors, (as of this date) LMG,  BMI, The Town of Mt Crested Butte, HD Radio and Texas Roadhouse, and our host hotel Elevation Hotel and Spa, whom without their contributions and participation this event would not be possible. 

ABOUT DEAN DILLON 

A native of Lake City, Tennessee, Dean Dillon hitchhiked his way to Nashville in 1973 to pursue his dreams of becoming a writer and artist. Two short years later, he caught the attention of hit producer Tom Collins who had Barbara Mandrell cut three of his songs on her Friends, Lovers and Strangers album. In 1979, the same year Dean has his first #1 song, “Lying in Love With You” by Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius, he met a new artist named George Strait, “King George” as he is known today. Over the years, Dillon has had songs recorded by Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Vern Gosdin, Toby Keith, Keith Whitley, Lee Ann Womack and others. Dillon was named BMI Icon at The 61st Annual BMI Country Awards in Nashville, TN in November of 2013. Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) bestows the honor on those who have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." With over 90 charted singles to his credit, Dillon joins past BMI Icon honorees Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and others. He was inducted in to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Dillon was also recently honored by the ACM with their “Poet Award.”  When not in Nashville writing or on the road performing, Dillon and his wife Susie spend much of their time at their home in Gunnison, Colorado. Their passion for organizing and performing events for Tough Enough To Wear Pink  and has led to over $1.4 million being raised for breast cancer awareness in their community.