My new song ‘Gone Enough’ is out NOW! Give it a listen & SHARE it if you like it! #GoneEnough
https://wmna.sh/wmm_goneenough

Independent record label based in Nashville, TN. Current label home of Travis Meadows, Christian Lopez, Matt Haeck and Big Little Lions.
Distributed worldwide by The Orchard.

"You can tell when something's real," says the man known simply as Big Smo. "You can tell when it's true. And I think what's made us successful and gotten us this far is that we're just real people, down-home country folk who really love to make music. People see that."

Word of mouth, charged by the Internet, meant Smo could count his YouTube views in the millions before he talked to a record label. Low-budget videos showcasing his 32-acre farm, which has been passed down for generations, is his home base HQ. Homegrown in Tennessee, the self-proclaimed Boss of the Stix seamlessly weaves his work and play, his lifestyle and music on that farm, as compellingly as he weaves country, rock and hip-hop together. 
His loyal fans - who he affectionately calls his Kinfoke - had better get ready to share Big Smo with an even larger audience.

​The reason begins with the release of his major-label debut (June 3 on Warner Bros. records), titled Kuntry Livin', a 13-song look inside the mind and music of one of the world's true originals. Followed by a debut of an A&E original series centered on the country rapper, and it's obvious this larger-than-life Tennessean has entered new territory - with every bit of the edge that brought him here. 

​"The most important thing," Smo says, "is that when we went from being independent artists to being on a label, we didn't lose any control of who we are or what we do. That's why the label called us. They told me, 'We'll let you drive. We like the way you steer.' I was like, 'Cool. I won't let you down.'"

​Produced by John Conner and DJ Orig, Kuntry Livin’ sums up everything that has brought Big Smo to the forefront: the pulse-pounding beats, passionate vocals, electrifying guitars and subject matter that's pure back-country reality. The album includes the first single, boots-on blue-collar anthem "Workin'," the country-as-cornbread celebration of roots, "Who I'll Be," the work-hard-play-hard life sketch, "Down in the Backwoods," and the love-gone-wrong tale, "Cover My Eyes."

Working with Big Smo on individual tracks are songwriters Casey Beathard, Rhett Akins and Jim Beavers, singer Shelly Fairchild, and musicians including Charlie Worsham, Jimmy Stewart, David Yudkin and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Peter Keys.
​The A&E Network show, an original series produced by Brownstone Entertainment, is an inside look at Big Smo's life and career, and the friends, fans and family who share and support his journey.
​Called "Hick Ross," by his Kinfoke, Smo has racked up over 16 million views on YouTube and sold over 150,000 digital tracks. The breakthrough was "Kickin' It In Tennessee," a song and video celebration that went viral, helping draw new fans to live shows whose over-the-top energy makes believers, and brought Smo to the attention of Warner Music Nashville senior executives. 
​His is the story of a country boy catching fire in a digital age, where musical cross-pollination is everywhere. Big Smo's rise has been fueled by high energy and relatable lyrics, a band with the ability to rock a crowd and the studio savvy to capture that lightning in a bottle. Big Smo owns that place where country, Southern rock and hip hop come together, where the beat rocks the story and the story rocks the beat. An early review put it this way: "If Kid Rock and Run D.M.C. had a love child, he would be named Big Smo."

​His success has been as hard won as it is impressive. What began as two friends—Smo and Orig the DJ—experimenting with samples, beats and lyrics in a makeshift home studio has turned into four independent CDs and now a major-label project, major network original series and hundreds of tour stops before massive crowds from mud parks in Florida to Vegas. 

He and his band—Orig, vocalists Alexander King and Haden Carpenter, guitarist Travis Tidwell, bassist Eric Flores and drummer Ryan Peel—have opened for Brantley Gilbert, appeared at 2012's Bamajam on a bill with Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson, sold out Nashville's historic Exit/In and rocked the crowd at 2013's CMA Music Fest. He has toured the nation talking to select radio stations including an early supporter, Nashville-based, nationally syndicated tastemaker Bobby Bones.

​Big Smo's story begins on the farm he grew up on—the farm that is still home. "I can still remember the smell of the fresh cut hay and how blue the sky was," he says. "I had hard-working grandparents and even harder-working parents that had great family values. I was always into music and was always writing on the side."

​As with so many of his generation, he heard music from both sides of the fence, rural and urban, country ("with an outlaw vibe") and hip-hop, and both stirred his soul, as did the Southern and classic rock he heard as a teenager.​

"When I listen to the music we make today," he says, "I see all those things in everything we make. The elements are all there and it's working. People love it because they can relate to it." Smo adds, "​People got into what we were doing and before long we had our first paid gig.” ​Smo began producing his own CDs with Orig early on, and touring all over the southern U.S., traveling in a converted church bus. 
"YouTube became the place for seeing what was happening," he says, "so we took advantage to get what we were doing out there to the world." Soon, it led Smo and team to Warner Music Nashville, where the back woods met the power of full-scale national promotion. At bottom, though, is the same wide-ranging love of music and the same bootstrap mentality.

“We were raised on Waylon and Willie, Johnny Cash and Jerry Reed,” he says, “and we were raised on the Beastie Boys and Dirty South, so it’s not a surprise that’s who we’ve become. And that’s the place a whole lot of fans are, loving not just country but hip-hop as well. They’re country people who love to party and have a good time, and love that hip-hop beat and that country story telling. It’s connecting to a lot of people.”

​“I wouldn’t trade away anything about the way we did it, because we learned it from the bottom up,” he says. “We paid our dues. I enjoy knowing that’s where we started and here’s where we are today.”


Honesty is a powerful magnet that always draws an eager audience and it has proven to be a potent tool in Eric Paslay’s creative arsenal. Sometimes playful, often poignant and always thoroughly entertaining, the 6’ 4” singer/songwriter with the fiery red hair and easy smile has quickly earned a reputation as an artist that knows how to capture the attention of an audience and hold them in the palm of his hands.

 

   All it takes is seeing Paslay perform once to become hooked, a fact that has become obvious as he’s toured the country, opening for Little Big Town, The Eli Young Band, Jake Owen and others. Prior to the release of his EMI Nashville debut album, fans have been able to purchase a five-song sampler at Paslay’s shows. “The very first night we got to sell them I gave the merch guy two boxes and he sold out,” Paslay says in a tone that exudes a mixture of humility and awe. After Paslay did the math, he realized that one in 12 attendees went home with his CD. “I’m just excited that I made some fans and they got to take me with them. I’m excited that my music is out there.”

 

   When country music fans see Paslay perform, they want to take his music home and make his songs the soundtrack of their lives. Whether he’s performing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry or taking his place this summer on the Country Throwdown Tour sharing his new hit, “If the Fish Don’t Bite,” Paslay always knows how to reel a crowd in.

 

   His music has substance and depth, but his debut album is every bit as entertaining and accessible as it is meaningful, and therein lies Paslay’s charm. “It’s hopeful music,” he says describing his style.  “There’s only one sad song on the whole record and that’s ‘Amarillo Rain,’ but there’s still a beauty behind it that makes people feel alive somehow.”

 

   Paslay has the ability to paint vivid portraits in his songs and he does just that with his new single, “If The Fish Don’t Bite,” a sly, sexy romp about a guy who has plans for his girl beyond casting a line in the water.  “A lot of guys are annoyed by chicks coming to fish when it can be a lot of fun,” he says with a smile.  “If the fish aren’t biting, why not cuddle up a little closer?”

 

   Whether he’s serving up a light-hearted up tempo tune like “If The Fish Don’t Bite” or delivering an emotionally riveting song like “Deep As It Is Wide,” Paslay proves to be a compelling storyteller and versatile performer. It’s a gift he comes by honestly.  “My granddad was a musician,” says Paslay, a native Texan, who was born in Abilene and raised in Waco and Temple. “Granddad and his brothers had a band called Arnold Schiller and the Moonlight Serenaders.  My grandfather was Arnold, and they played at dance halls. I was two and a half when he died. It’s interesting how it rubbed off even though I didn’t really know him very well.  He had red hair and it’s kind of funny because I like all the things he liked.”

 

 Paslay says his family never pushed him to play music, but supported his interest when he began playing guitar at 15.    “I love melodies,” he says.  “My dad always had oldies on, and listening to that music growing up influenced me. There’s so many cool melodies and it was great ear candy. It still resonates with every teenager, every grown up, every grandmother because it’s human. That type of music really stays with you.”

 

   By the time he began performing around Texas, Paslay had studied some of the great singer/songwriters and learned how to make a song memorable. “I was influenced by Rich Mullins,” Paslay says. “He was one of those guys I really listened to because he was real. He was a Christian artist, but it was cool to hear someone mix their beliefs with real life. He was honest and it was almost scary honest. I’d listen to his songs and think, ‘Did you really mean to say that?’  It was cool. Then there was Rodney Crowell. I love Rodney Crowell. Johnny Cash has influenced me from his storytelling.  He was such a cool storyteller and you really believed him.”

 

   He also studied what made an artist command a crowd’s attention while they were on stage. “I watched Austin City Limits and the Grand Ole Opry,” he says. “I was into everything from country artists to rock artists to Southern rock artists to jazz players. In high school I definitely went and saw quite a few Dave Matthews Band shows and that was always an experience.”

 

   Though most aspiring artists playing clubs routinely perform cover tunes, Paslay learned to lead with his strengths and played his original songs. Even though he was building a reputation for his live show, like most artists, he briefly flirted with a more stable career and during his early days in college, he planned on becoming a pediatric endocrinologist. “I had diabetes and I thought I could help kids with diabetes because I could relate to them and talk to them,” he says.

 

   However, music was too strong a passion to be ignored and following a friend’s advice, he moved to Nashville. Paslay attended Middle Tennessee State University. He also volunteered for anything just to get his foot in a door on Nashville’s famed Music Row. He did everything from help out at a charity golf tournament to change light bulbs in the NARAS office, a feat made easier because of his height. “I’d just go help anywhere I could because I thought if you have a job to do and you do it well, then if  they let you be creative and make a record, at least they know you’re going to do it well,” Paslay says. “They’ll know you are going to put all your mind, strength and skill into doing whatever job they give you.”

 

   Paslay landed a deal at Cal IV Publishing. His songwriting credits include Jake Owen’s hit “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” as well as the title track for Donny and Marie Osmond’s country set “The Good Life” and cuts by Lady Antebellum and the Eli Young Band. Though appreciative of the songs that others have recorded, Paslay will be the first to admit he didn’t move to Nashville to be a songwriter, but to be an artist.

 

   He has a passion for using his voice to connect with an audience, and there’s a warm, earnest quality that commands attention, particularly on potent anthems such as “Deep As It is Wide.” “It’s about the hope that there is something bigger and better than us,” he says. “There’s light at the end of the tunnel and there’s something out there. When I finished this song I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a disconnect between each verse, so I went down the street to play it for a friend. The way I was sitting, I couldn’t see her while I was playing. When I was finished singing, I turned around and she was crying, so I figured I was done.”

 

   “Less Than Whole” is a thoughtful treatise on grace and forgiveness Paslay co-wrote with Big Kenny that Kenny included on his 2010 solo album. “Sweet By and By” is an infectious number Paslay penned with his friend Sarah Buxton. “That was the first song we ever wrote together,” he says. “I saw her the other night and she didn’t even know it was on the record. She started crying and saying, ‘I’m so happy it made the record!’”

 

   Though Paslay enjoyed recording the album and has an affinity for the studio, his true love is the stage. “I turn it on when I get on stage.  I love to entertain,” says Paslay, who has opened for Dierks Bentley, Clint Black, Eric Church, Blake Shelton and Little Big Town, among others. “The songs on this record are the ones that really connect when I played them live. When I write, I’d rather there be a little bit of hope in every song, even in the sad songs. There’s still hope in there. With all the negativity everywhere these days, I’d like the positive to come out. A song can give you a little boost in confidence or make you fall in love deeper or dream higher.   I’m not writing and singing this stuff to be cool. I was never the cool kid. I was the kid standing in the back of the room watching.”

    

 Off stage, Paslay has a gentle, everyman quality that endears him to all who meet him. He loves performing, but is just as comfortable remodeling a bathroom or getting in the kitchen with his mom, Donna, and making  kolaches, a pastry that is a favorite among Texans. Most of all, Eric Paslay loves forging that special connection with people that can only be made with a song. “I just love making music.  I love how much you can say to someone in a song,” he says. “I want to be a part of the soundtrack of people’s lives.”

Aaron Parker is "black hat" country with kick drum beats. Raised in Southern Alabama, Aaron's love for performing and songwriting brought him to Nashville. Not long after moving to Music City, Aaron began touring with country music staples and writing with some of Nashville's songwriting greats. Aaron’s voice is often described as, "a young Garth Brooks meets early Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw," but his musical influences know no boundaries. Drawing inspiration from 1990s country lyricism, alternative rock musicality, and Top 40 singability; Aaron has been able to create his unique sound, all of which can be found on his self-titled debut EP and witnessed during his live shows.

Aaron has taken an 'old school progressive' approach to what he writes, how he releases it, and what he does live. His self-titled EP showcases the progressive sounds featured in his rockin' Tom Petty-esque focus track, "I'd Go Right Now," alongside the throwback 90's tune 'Country Songs and You.' His release method is as dynamic as his songwriting. The only way to get Parker's EP is by joining his fan club -- a back-in-the-day staple of country fandom. Fans receive the EP, along with an exclusive rookie T-shirt and magnet. Most interesting, though, fans also receive a postcard to return that allows them to send another copy of the EP to any one of their friends for free in an almost chainmail fashion. The only other way to hear his EP couldn't be more 2015; it's free and available to stream in full via SoundCloud. He has recently toured with country classics; Alabama, Travis Tritt, Trace Adkins and Loretta Lynn as well as crossover stars Brett Eldredge, Cassadee Pope, and Chase Rice.


Sonia Leigh’s musical style cannot be put in a box. From Hip-Hop to Country to Pop and Rock and Roll, Sonia’s meticulously crafted lyrics tell stories that transcend genre and leave the listener feeling engaged and empowered. Sonia’s dedication to her fans is unprecedented and she has built a loyal fan base that keeps her on the road when she is not in the studio. 

Sonia hails from Atlanta but has been releasing records, touring, and writing country, pop and sync hits out of Nashville for the greater part of the last decade. Her songs have been heard on ‘The Sims,’ ‘The Good Wife,’ and ‘Nashville’ (to name a few), and have gone #1 when recorded by artists like Zac Brown, Daphne Willis, and Big and Rich.
Sonia is currently jet setting from London, to NYC, to LA and everywhere in between, collaborating with other writers and producers, spreading her musical prowess around the globe.

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