Rhett Akins - Country Music Artis, Singer-Songwriter (visit website)

There is a new wave of excitement that is slowly forming and rolling across the American south, and that wave is centered on Country music singer and songwriter Rhett Akins. As a formidable performer, Rhett’s current live show is a combination of honky-tonk fun, sing along, tailgate party, and rock concert. Much of the current wave of excitement around Rhett stems from his love of songwriting and some recent cuts of his songs by other major artists including; Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton, Joe Nichols, Jake Owen, Colt Ford, Rodney Atkins, Josh Turner, and Luke Bryan. In 2008 he wrote the chart topping “Put a Girl in it” which was released by Brooks and Dunn making it all the way to number 2 on the Billboard charts. In 2009 Rhett’s song “Barefoot and Crazy” was released by Jack Ingram and quickly made it into the top 10. These songs and many of his other recent cuts are part of Rhett’s current live show and the crowds are reacting warmly, singing along. His concert repertoire also includes his earlier top 10 hits I Brake For Brunettes, Don’t Get Me Started, She Said Yes, and That Ain’t My Truck as well as some remakes of songs by his idols, Hank Williams Junior, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

A Rhett Akins concert isn’t just an event, it’s a happening. Backed by a great band, the shows are truly electric, and Rhett’s uncanny ability to command an audience while relating to them on a personal level is truly unique. Many songs are set-up by Rhett telling a short story about his younger days growing up in Valdosta Georgia. Fun tales of teenage mischief on the river banks, girls, high school football, and hunting are good prefaces to his songs about country life for everyday folks. It is not uncommon at a Rhett Akins concert to see young people singing along with every song, regardless of whether or not they were radio hits.

Football, not music, was Rhett’s first passion as a youngster, and his interest in the sport would eventually lead him to become a quarterback for the Junior Varsity team at the University of Georgia. After breaking every bone in his body 3 times, he decided football wasn’t his life’s work, yet he has kept a strong interest in it to this day, tuning in to watch national and college games weekly during football season. He has recently done some co-writing with Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins and one of their songs was played on the 2009 NFL season opening game between Tennessee and Pittsburg.

Rhett’s latest album “Down South” released in 2008 is a collection of new songs about country life written for the very people of Rhett’s new country generation. During that same year, he began playing some shows at college bars and fraternities in the Southeast. This new “Rhett Wave” into the college audiences of the south is creating quite a stir, as the young audiences are a natural fit to the young at heart Akins. “People Like Me” released in 2006 also contains some great songs with similar themes including the anthem “Kiss My Country Ass”, a show stopper that closes many of his concerts.

One more side to the complex character of Rhett Akins is Rhett the hunter and outdoorsman. Highly skilled with a bow and rifle, he has been hunting wild game for most of his life and is a frequent guest on many hunting and outdoors shows like “The Tommy Wilcox Show” or “Realtree Road Trips with Michael Waddell”, the number one show on the Outdoor Channel. He has just completed A CD of hunting songs with Michael called “Bone Collectors” which will be released soon.

Since he first hit the National scene as an opener for Reba McIntyre in 1995, Rhett has never stopped touring, and this has helped him to build a cult like following of loyal fans throughout the U.S. With loyal
followers from the early days being joined by this new wave of interest, Rhett is not likely to stop doing what he loves anytime soon.

Frank Taylor - Singer-Songwriter, Performing Musician (visit website)

Frank Taylor’s journey began in a place called Shavertown, a small community of 8,000 located in the cold confines of northeast Pennsylvania. Music has always been a passion for Frank and it was the songs and sounds of the Grateful Dead that would become one of his first major influences. Amidst the Deads repertoire were a lot of country songs, and this may have been where his love for the genre first began. At the age of eighteen he joined a local band and performed at local venues for a while before entering in a talent contest, the Country Showdown. Frank showed well at this event and as a result was picked up by one of the more popular bands in the area. Although it was great fun for a while, it only took a couple of years of playing the local circuit for Frank to realize he wanted to have a career in music and that it wasn’t going to happen in Pennsylvania. So, in 1995 at the age of 23, Frank packed up his belongings and made the move to Nashville, TN.

Shortly after his arrival, he picked up some gigs at Skull’s Rainbow Room which led to a regular spot at the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar. It was at this point that Frank discovered his passion and knack for songwriting. During this period, he spent his days writing and his nights performing or hanging at the Steel. As the years marched on Frank never stopped performing, but as his writing wasn’t earning him any money he was eventually forced to put it on the back burner and take a day job. Eventually, his luck would take a turn for the better and in 2008 he was offered a job as a staff writer for Better Angels Music. His strong sense of melody and lyrical sensibility opened the doors to collaborations with many of Nashville’s great writers. At the end of his 2 year tenure, Frank decided not to renew his deal with Better Angels and is currently looking for a new publishing deal. The experience yielded some great songwriting experiences including landing several cuts on the latest Air Supply album, and Frank is now looking to write with more lyric writers as his strength is melody writing. Keep checking back to his site or his myspace page for info about his soon to be released acoustic CD and upcoming shows. You can also still run in to Frank on some of his off nights at his favorite hang, The Fiddle and Steel located in historic Printer’s Alley, Nashville, TN.

Logan Moore-Singer-Songwriter, Performing Musician (visit website)

The city of Clarksville Tennessee, often referred to as the “gateway to the new south” is home to about 120,000 people. It may be a city, but this city still has a small town feel, and it was this side of Clarksville that found a young Logan Moore once running through its fields, hunting in its woods, and fishing in its streams and lakes. Growing up in the eighties and nineties, Logan found himself drawn to the music of an earlier time period. While he did enjoy much of the rock music of the day, it was the earthy songs of Country artists like Waylon Jennings and Keith Whitley that really caught his ear. This music made an impression on Logan that would eventually inspire him to learn to sing and play the guitar.

His journey into the world of performing and writing music began when he was twenty one. Performing at local venues, it didn’t take Logan long to develop a loyal following and this would help inspire Logan to delve into the world of songwriting. It was at this point that some more recent artists such as Rhett Akins, Daryle Singletary, and Jamey Johnson would also become an influence on his writing style. In 2008, Logan started a band called “Legend Street” with Kevin Stover and Scott Hisey, and they can be found playing at different venues throughout Tennessee. Check back often to see where you can see them live or for news about upcoming song releases from Logan.