My 16th album, 'Current', is out November 3 on Kill Rock Stars Nashville. Learn more at daniellehowle.com.

Splintered from the foundations of John Prine, the Rolling Stones, and Jerry Jeff Walker, Mac Leaphart is an artist who puts the song first. He’s filled his award-winning career with a mix of hook-heavy roots music, honky-tonk rock & roll, and salty, sharply-detailed songwriting. It’s a sound that finds the Nashville-based troubadour nodding to those who've come before him while also pushing forward into uncharted territory, earning support from a cross-country spread of folk fans and Americana audiences along the way.

Leaphart’s 2024 release, Motel Breakfast, is an album for roadhouses, dive bars, and half-lit crowds who want to have a good time but also want to listen. If the bulk of the album conjures up images of Leaphart and company onstage, sweating their way through a rough-and-tumble set of American roots music, then the record's title track takes place the morning after the gig. It's the sort of morning that road-worn musicians know all too well, where the thrills of last night's show have all faded away, and all that's standing between you and another five-hour drive is a free motel breakfast.

Motel Breakfast - Available Everywhere May 10, 2024

Shelly Waters’ musical roots run as deep and wide as the mighty Mississippi River that snakes through her home state of Louisiana. Her sound is the epitome of the holy tonal trinity of blues, country, and rock.  The uniqueness of
Shelly’s powerful and haunting voice brings her music to life and her lyrics betray a life filled with twists, turns, and adventure.

As an independent artist/songwriter Luke Cunningham has spent years on the road touring alongside such nationally-renowned acts as The Fray, Avett Brothers, Donovan Frankenreiter, Pat Benatar and countless others. Yet it would ultimately be the release of the songwriter's debut solo album Heart Pressure (2012) that first forced music fans and critics alike to sit up and take notice. 

Hailed by press as “a triumph fraught with emotion” and “a welcomed reminder of what songwriters used to be” the response to Heart Pressure and its ten story-driven songs were a swift and sweet sucker punch to the Carolina music scene; an artfully-crafted wake up call announcing both Cunningham’s arrival as an artist and a writer with something to say.

By year’s end, two songs from Heart Pressure (For The Best and Songs About California) were in permanent radio rotation throughout the Carolinas, despite having neither label support nor paid radio campaigns to support them.The latter of the two tunes—a duet performed with Cary Ann Hearst of the Americana Award-Winning act Shovels & Rope—would go on to become a top-requested song on Charleston SC’s 105.5FM The Bridge and the album named one of the ‘Top Five Albums of The Year’ by Charleston Scene Magazine.

Cunningham’s commitment to his craft didn’t go unnoticed either. 

Profiled in national publications such as American Songwriter Magazine and nominated ‘Songwriter of The Year’ by Charleston City Paper, he was also hand-picked the by ASCAP (American Society of Authors and Composers) to be one of just 14 nationally-selected songwriters for their prestigious Lester Sills Songwriters Workshop in Los Angeles. The experience would lead to multiple soundtrack and film placement opportunities for the South Carolina songsmith as well as the formation of his own self-ran/administrated music publishing company.

In 2016 Cunningham answered battle cries for a follow up to Heart Pressure by entering the studio and recording his latest EP Kentucky. Released in October, the six-song collection draws deep from the wells of bygone country while retaining a familiar taste of modern tones, anthemic choruses and the kind of addictively-catchy hooks Cunningham has come to be known for. 

Tipping its hat to the musical influences he grew up around in the rural tobacco fields of the Bluegrass State, the stories themselves—as well as Cunningham’s ability to spin a good yarn—leave the listener personally-invested in each tale that unfolds. The result is a sonically-masterful tightrope, traversing the genres of country, rock and Americana with grace and grit; proof that—in modern country music—one mustn’t always abandon ‘substance’ for the sake of ‘style.’

Today Luke Cunningham resides in Nashville TN where he currently works as an independent commercial songwriter. Cowriting with up-and-coming country acts, collaborating with new artists and working alongside music supervisors and producers for various TV/film projects, he continues to occasionally tour and is a regular at writers-in-the-round events and venues throughout Nashville.

Cunningham’s latest EP Kentucky is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and other online music retail stores.

For more info, news, music and tour dates visit:
www.lukecunninghammusic.com

Produced by Ross Kanter, "South of Stanton" is New Carolina's first release. Comprised of original tracks, "South of Stanton" was conceived after playing in the New York City bar/club scene for a little more than a year. Each song began with an acoustic guitar and a single writer before evolving to the collaborative effort that you hear on the album. New Carolina's "South of Stanton" pays homage to the sounds of Folk, Rock, and Country that influenced them to first pick up their instruments.

You don’t need to meet Ryan Bonner to get a good impression of who he is. Just listen to his music. There is a thoughtful-nuanced attention to detail; even when the goal of those details is to make a song lighthearted. His most serious songs content wise have the most whimsical music attached to it and the songs where the melody is the most relaxed tend to be the most personal and in-depth.

     October 3, 2013 Ryan Bonner will release his second full-length record “Only When It’s Burning.” Recorded during most of 2012 this record finds Bonner working with Producer Joe Taylor for the first time; opting to self-produce previously releases, 2010’s “Monsters In The Hallway” EP and 2012’s “Think of England. LP.”	Joe Taylor’s expertise can be shadowed by the type of talent he has worked with in the past including Steve Holley, Buddy Miller and Emmylou Harris among many others. Taylor first got excited about Ryan Bonner’s music after listening to a previous release. “I was first made aware of Ryan by my friend, Bryan Compton, who rung me up and said ‘Hey, you really need to listen to this; it’s world-class material.’ So, I listened, and it was like listening to early Steve Earle or John Hiatt. Ryan Bonner has a genuinely distinctive voice, unfettered by popular affectation, and his songs spring from a well of keen observation and sharp wit. This is classic American music.”

     The full length record will be available through iTunes, Ryan Bonner’s Website, and in Charleston at Monster Music in Movies. The Lead Single “The Rapture” will going for Americana and Triple A Radio adds in the coming weeks.

     Joining Bonner and Taylor on the album are studio and touring veterans Steve Holley, drummer from Paul McCartney and Wings, and bassist Sean O’Bryan Smith, whose credits include Larry Carlton, Keith Urban and Lady Antebellum as well as his touring band Jack Friel, Malin Wagnon, and Whitt Algar.
A staple in South Carolina Music Scene, Bonner has had a strong presence on the radio both in Charleston, SC at WCOO, The Bridge at 1055 and WWNU, The Palm in Columbia, SC. Say’s WWNU Operations Manager, Mike Allen “Ryan Bonner has lyrical and songwriting skills that wring the emotion out of the everyday in our lives. Then his performance brings the words to life.”

     Ryan Bonner and The Dearly Beloved look forward to being road warriors in 2014 and bringing the new album to life. Regional Talent Buyer Hunter Dawson describes working with Ryan Bonner at his venues: “Having known and worked with Ryan Bonner for many years, I’ve been able to come to some conclusions. First and foremost, Ryan is dedicated to his craft. You can hear it in his soul-filled songs, and see it as he perfectly sound checks a room before every show. He is an easy going perfectionist with a quick wit and a warm handshake. More than anything else, he is a consummate professional. I’ve booked hundreds of artists during my career that spans nearly a decade, and Ryan is by far one of the best. He shows up ready to work, seamlessly performs a custom tailored concert for the patrons, and always bestows a lot of respect for the venue, its customers, and employees.”

This is Ryan Bonner:
“I'm from James Island. My dad bought me my first guitar for $50 from some hippie downtown whose apartment had tapestry-darkened windows and smelled like pot. I suppose he needed more pot.”

This is Ryan Bonner:
“Went to college and had to live in a dorm so I could only take an acoustic, and that’s when I really got into songwriters and writing songs. I wrote a lot of really bad ones. Really bad. Started a band. Played cover songs. Sucked. Got a little better.”

This is Ryan Bonner:
“Started making recordings and fell in love with the process. Put together a home studio and made a couple of records there. They sound pretty good. Traveled some. Got some radio stations that liked me. Shared bills with Shovels & Rope, Jason Isbell, Gloriana, Junior Brown, Unknown Hinson, Cowboy Mouth and some others that I can't really remember. Have had the opportunity to do a lot of cool things like producing, engineering, and film scoring. “

This is Ryan Bonner:
“Made new record with acclaimed producer and guitarist Joe Taylor at a studio in the woods by the marsh where cell phones don't work. Kept it simple. Had some guys from Wings, Joe Cocker's Band and Keith Urban's Band come play on the record.  Got a cool band called The Dearly Beloved. Great players, terrible haircuts. My aspirations are to write some good songs and keep playing with people who are good at music. I also think I would be a pretty good NASCAR driver.”

Ryan Bonner can be found on The World Wide Web at:
http://www.ryanbonnermusic.com
Questions, Interview, Media, and Booking requests: Joel Frank Brand Frankus Bonnermgmt@gmail.com 843-607-3025

Singer songwriter Matt MacKelcan has emerged from the southeast with a genuine combination of American soul and an upbeat pop-rock style.  Matt’s trademarks are a big voice, authentic songwriting, personable nature and an extra dose of funny.  He has toured all over America and performed at major festivals/events throughout the country.

T.j. Phillips is following