A husband-wife duo that needs no introduction, thanks to having exploded onto the scene with the second single in 2010 from their self-titled debut album going multi-platinum.  The Grammy-nominated duo has toured the world; won multiple ACM, ACA, CMA, and CMT awards; appeared on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, NBC’s TODAY Show, and CBS This Morning, as well as numerous primetime TV specials and awards shows.  Plus, they have earned No. 1 records in three countries.  They are performing in the Florida panhandle this coming Sunday, October 6th, for the grand finale of the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival.

Now Hear This Entertainment

NHTE 555 Thompson Square

Massachusetts-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who began performing professionally at the age of just 15 years old.  He is a co-founder of the band The Sighs, who were signed to Virgin Records and toured with such artists as The Gin Blossoms and The Spin Doctors.  As a solo artist, last year he released a ten-song album, which he did with an Oscar-winning songwriter and producer.  At the time of this episode’s release, he will be performing as part of a five-week tour all throughout Germany, after having performed in August in Los Angeles.

NHTE 556 Robert LaRoche

Recorded on-location at the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival with this Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who two years ago this month won the Josie Music Award for Folk/Americana Single of the Year.  Last year she signed with SmashFarm Management and performed in December 2023 as part of an event that featured Ashley McBryde and Thompson Square, among others.  In addition to northwest Florida, she has been on the road of late, including eleven shows in South Carolina in August as well as having played in May down at the Key West Songwriters Festival.  She released a single early this year and has another new song on the way.

NHTE 557 Carlyle Griffin

A songwriter and author who lived in Nashville for 15 years before moving to his current location.  His book, “A Crazy Journey (And Finding My True Identity),” came out last December and captures his 40-plus years in various facets of the music industry and sports and entertainment, plus other areas of life, meeting and working with some of the most famous people.  He wrote a country Christian song that went to No. 1 after he moved out of Nashville, where he had hosted 120 events for songwriters and the music industry at his home, 112 consecutive months from 2003-2012.  He has had over a dozen songs recorded for artists' projects, including on Sirius XM and RFD TV.

NHTE 558 Doak Turner

UK-based award-winning recording artist who just released a single at the start of this month after having put out her latest album, her fourth studio album, in early August.  In late September she started a tour that goes through early December and includes shows throughout the UK as well as in the Netherlands and will conclude in Ireland.  Tickets have just gone on sale for her spring tour that will see her perform next March and April in the UK and Germany.  Her music has had success on Blues, Americana, Independent, and Album charts in addition to the awards that she has won.

NHTE 559 Elles Bailey

Singer, songwriter, bass player, and producer who has recorded and performed with numerous household names in music.  He has worked in over 85 countries and is currently working on a new album.  His music has been heard in film, television, radio, and albums, and he has lived in Los Angeles, been a part of numerous bands, and toured internationally, playing every major jazz festival around the world.  Based in Nashville, he teaches a masterclass, while also still going out and performing a one-man show, and, his official YouTube channel has amassed a combined total of almost three-quarters-of-a-million combined video views.  Among the countless celebrities he has performed with are Kenny G, Stevie Nicks, Herbie Hancock, George Benson, Michael Bolton, James Ingram, Steve Perry, Christopher Cross, Peabo Bryson, and more.

NHTE 560 Vail Johnson

A composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, recording & mix engineer, and YouTube personality.  Currently based in northern California, he is a voting member of the Recording Academy and has composed music for T-Mobile, Covergirl, and even an NBA star.  Plus, as lead composer, he scored an original series on the Zeus Network.  He has partnered with a handful of audio brands on his YouTube channel, which is approaching a combined total of ten million video views.  He also talks during this interview about a new recording project of his own that he has coming out in Spring 2025.

NHTE 561 Archie Beatz

British country-pop sensation who just released a new album less than two weeks ago.  The launch of that project came just six days after having performed at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  She has already released three music videos for songs from her new album and her official YouTube channel overall has a combined total of more than 1.6 million video views.  She has live shows on five consecutive days coming up at the end of November in the UK and had also performed in Nashville in September in conjunction with AmericanaFest.  She is also a member of CMT’s 2024 “Next Women of Country” class AND is the co-founder of an initiative aimed at promoting mental health and well-being in the music industry.  Before rising to country stardom, she performed as a backing singer and dancer for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.  Plus, she has done acting work, including alongside household names like Glenn Close and Christian Slater in film and stage.

NHTE 562 Twinnie

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who released an album on September 20th and followed it up with an official music video released at the end of October.  One of the tracks from her new album was featured on two Spotify playlists and another on Apple Music.  She also released an original Christmas song less than three weeks ago.  She has opened for big names in country music such as Maddie & Tae, Walker Hayes, Lainey Wilson, and Elle King, and this past June she had multiple performances as part of CMA Fest.  Her cover of the song “Neon Moon” was spotlighted on FOX TV’s The Resident and her official YouTube channel has a combined total of more than 4.1 million video views.

NHTE 563 Charly Reynolds

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who released an EP at the end of August.  He has been on the iTunes Top 10 Country Charts AND had one of his songs hand-picked by the Global Head of Country at Spotify to be on their “New Boots” playlist, where it stayed for several months being streamed close to two million times.  In 2016 his first official music video landed in the Top 10 on Vevo’s Country Charts for multiple weeks.  He has played at numerous songwriters festivals and shared stages by himself and with his band alongside artists and writers such as Jake Owen, Thomas Rhett, Nelly, Daughtry, and more.  The videos on his official YouTube channel have a combined total of more than 18 million views and his top five songs on Spotify alone have combined for more than 3.3 million streams.

NHTE 564 Ryan Robinette

Now Hear This is a Tampa, Florida-based agency specializing in management, publicity, and related services.  The company president, Bruce Wawrzyniak, hosts a weekly podcast called "Now Hear This Entertainment," featuring interviews with guests who are having success in entertainment (primarily music), with the content presented in a way that not only entertains fans of that guest and fans of good music (interviews) in general, but in a manner that educates musicians, singers, songwriters – entertainers who want to learn from those who are being interviewed.  The guests come from a wide array of genres and locales.

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