Category Archives: – Contests

Rusty Weir contest, Rd 2, Wk 1, 2.10.19

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Brett Dillon, left, introducing songwriters into the Round 2 segment of the 2019 Rusty Wier contest.

Story and photos by Mary Jane Farmer. Anyone is welcome to download a photo without charge. These are saved on Flickr.com, click here, at 7×5, 360 dpi.

It’s back on, folks — The 9th yearly Rusty Wier singer/songwriter contest held at Love & War in Texas every winter. After a 2-week break, Round 2 began Sunday, Feb. 10, with six of the 18 remaining talented contestants presenting their original songs in two-people songswaps. And, oh, what talent was on that L&W stage Sunday afternoon!

The line-up had Boomer Lowrie and Reid Perry hitting the stage first, followed by Dave Thomas and Matt Johnson. Justin Cashion and Byron Dowd closed it out. Amazingly well-crafted songs from each one of them, some humorous, some poignant, some told stories, some told emotions.

Well, almost — Actually, two of the judges, Aubrey Lynn and Dustin Hendricks played two songs after the contest was over. Aubrey Lynn was the Hank’s Texas Grill open mic contest years ago with that powerful, pitch-perfect voice of hers. L&W fans first heard that voice on its stage before that, when she sang “The Star Spangled Banner” to open a Shiner Sunday concert.

Sunday, there were people from TexasMusic.Live there. This is a trip that includes

TexasMusic.Live

Texas musicians Jamie Richards and Walt Wilkins, not to mention KHYI’s Brett Dillon and Diana Love.

The promoters said there are a limited number of spots still available and offered a $500 discount for those who signed up. Go to that Website for more information.

These six songwriters are not just vying against each other, but against the other 12 still playing in this round.

Next Sunday will have Harley Dale Brown, Kevin Edwards, Stacey Shope, Zach Pohl, Parker Twomey, and Town Walsh in the contest; and then, on February 24, it will be James Lann, Saille Branch, Nick Flint, Jared Thomas, Larry Martin, and Mitchell Ferguson rounding out Round 2.

These shows all start at 4 pm and there’s never a cover charge to attend. Love & War in Texas is at the northeast corner of U.S. 75 and Plano Parkway, and there’s plenty of free parking.

And, as a BTW, last year’s winner, Justin Pickard, is playing tonight at El Patio Escondido in Van Alstyne, starting about 6:30 pm. No cover charge here, either, and it has the best genuine Tex-Mex food in North Texas, bar none!

And just another announcement, but worthy of mention — the Shiner Sunday 4 pm concerts at Love & War in Texas begin on April 28. Who is playing that date is only described now as a “biggie” and promises to be just that — a biggie…

Trey Rose auditioned for The Voice

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First appeared in The Paris News, Sunday, 2.10.19 Story and photo by Mary Jane Farmer

For Jack Rosenthal III, things are hoppin’ like a grasshopper on steroids.

Trey, who goes professionally as Trey Rose, announced Friday that he’s tried out for “The Voice.” At this point, his manager, Chris Gunn, said, they cannot say any more about it, as of confidentiality agreements between Trey and all those who tried out and NBC, “The Voice” host network.

Trey is from Hugo, and has made his home in Paris, and is from a long line of Rosenthals. He, with his children, make their home in Houston now. One wouldn’t know it, because Trey returns home as often as he can.

To date, Trey placed high in the prestigious Larry Joe Taylor Songwriter showcase and came out with a 4-song EP in 2018.

Trey has played for years at Choctaw Casino’s River Bar & Grill and The Cove, at Buffalo Joe’s in Paris, and other local venues. This single-father-of-two also performs regularly all across Texas.

“I have got a lot of gas left in the tank and I’m going to need all of it to get where I’m going,” Trey said in a 2018 interview.

Gunn said that more information is forthcoming as NBC lets them release it, and that he and Trey hope that Trey’s friends and future friends will watch “The Voice” Season 16, which airs on your local NBC station at 7 p.m. (Central),  February 25. Coaches this year are returnees Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, joined this season by John Legend. That Website is NBC.com/the-voice.

This video (click here) from a Facebook page, “Voice Views,” indicates that Trey may have made it onto the stage.

Meet Trey Rose of The Voice Season 16

USA TV adding REAL COUNTRY USA to its weekly line-up

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Jake Owen, Shania Twain, Travis Tritt — hosts of USA TV’s Real Country series.

12.1/18 UPDATE:

The finale (8th episode) will include Copper Chief (Texas), Kylie Frey (Texas), Jaida Dreyer (Tenn), and Larry Fleet (Tenn)

Texas’ Copper Chief took the first night of Real Country by storm. Travis Tritt added them to the contest, and he said about them being from Texas “Where all this dirt road country stuff is coming from right now, which I think is an absolute breath of fresh air to this business that has gotten somewhat stale in the past few years… ” For winning last night, they will be playing The Stagecoach Country Music Festival in California next summer, and took a little bit of money home with them. They Also, will be playing in the 8th episode, the finale, for top dog honor.
Next week, (Nov. 21) the Texas group, also picked by Tritt, will be Scooter Brown, along with Savannah Keyes (state of residence unknown) and Kylie Frey of Louisiana. 8 from Tennessee, 6 from Texas, and the rest from elsewhere..

11/10/18: Adapted from press release from The Press Office, two courtesy photos and one by Mary Jane Farmer.

Mary Jane’s Notes:  It’s wonderful when Nashville artists, such as the three icons who are hosting the new USA TV series called REAL COUNTRY. Travis Tritt, Shania Twain, and Jake Owen are calling for more real country music, and providing, through their producers, a way for the music and the musicians to get heard. I have also included a link here to Tony Brown’s video coverage of George Jones “The Grand Tour.” Click here

More comments and lists of all contestants, including several Texans, at the bottom.

Nashville, Tennessee – REAL COUNTRY is a new country music showcase series featuring multi-platinum, five-time Grammy Award®-winning trailblazer Shania Twain, ACM Award-winning and platinum-selling singer-songwriter Jake Owen, and multi-platinum, Grammy Award®-winning country music legend Travis Tritt. Each selected, sometimes even hand-picked, 7 of the 21 performers/contestants in this eight-part series. Premiering on USA, the series was filmed in Nashville and produced by Wilshire Studios.

In each hour-long episode, Twain, Owen and Tritt feature these emerging solo artists, duos, and groups to perform in showcases which spotlight the rich traditions, songs and themes of specific country genres. The best artists from each showcase will perform in a grand finale, for the chance to be named one of country music’s next breakout acts.

Tony Brown

The series begins at 9 pm CST, November 13, on the USA TV Network.

One of the most talked about singers in Nashville today, Tony Jackson, will appear on REAL COUNTRY as contestant/performer. Jackson’s debut album Tony Jackson yielded 4 chart singles, and his viral video, for the recording of the George Jones classic “The Grand Tour” reached over 39 million Facebook views!

Tony Brown traveled as pianist with Elvis Presley’s band until The King’s death, and has produced music for country music legends Vince Gill, George Strait, Reba McEntire, and others of that ilk. There is a 36-minute YouTube.com video of him in interview with The Producer’s Room (Episode No. 19) in which he talks at great length about his entire professional career in just about all aspects of country music. Worth the watching.

Bri Bagwell, taken at LJT Texas Music Festival

“I’m humbled to have been selected by Travis Tritt for REAL COUNTRY,” Jackson proclaimed. The former marine fell in love with country music as a young man after seeing Randy Travis perform on an army base in Spain. His passion for writing, recording, and delivering traditional country flourished into his original music has reached more than 62 million fans across his social channels.

Contestants include: Texans-Bri Bagwell, Copper Chief, Scooter Brown, Billie Jo, Riley Thompson, Frank Ray; and (poor them-non-Texans): The Davisson Brothers Band (W.V.), Kylie Frey (Louisiana), Porter Union, (Missouri), Cody Purvis (Virginia), and Tony Jackson, The Young Fables, Jaida Dreyer, Regan Stewart, Jamie Floyd, Adairs Run, Larry Fleet, Dave Kennedy (all of Tennessee), along with Tiera, Micah Woods, Savannah Keyes (whose cities of residence weren’t found).

 

 

“Local Talent Live” contest upcoming

Mary Jane Farmer for Scene In Town

Denison’s Music on Main and its partner, Overdrive Entertainment, have been excellent about using local talent to open up the Music on Main concerts each summer. They are seeking out other bands to be involved in the 2019 season, and reserving one spot for the winner of a band contest which begins later this year.

Music on Main is a weekly summertime concert series in downtown Denison that began in 2002 and has grown in popularity each year. In 2018, the crowds surpassed a total of $15,000 attendees during the 3-month series, which featured local favorites opening for regional favorite bands.

As an example of organizers’ passion for showcasing local talent, the 1018 schedule saw locals Sons of Fannin opening for Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, and local Travis Parker up before the Metroplex’s Max Stalling.

Called the “Local Talent Live,” the contest will focus on finding that one band with superior musicianship that will add even more depth and soul to the season.

“We get a lot of inquiries to book bands, and this will provide an opportunity for the public to hear more artists as well as to highlight our local venues inside (the city’s) entertainment districts which offer music year-round,” said Donna Dow, Denison Main Street’s director. “

Here’s how it will work:  Bands choosing to participate in Local Talent Live must submit three songs via YouTube links, sent via email to ashley@overdriveent.com. Those entries must be submitted before Oct. 1. These must include one original song and the others can be original or cover songs. They must have been videoed live, no studio recordings accepted. And the performance showing on the YouTube videos must show the band’s behavior to be family friendly. Music on Main is definitely a family-friendly concert series.

Bands will be screened and those invited to perform at Local Talent Live will be given 30-40 minutes on stage. And to demonstrate their market draw, each artist in each competing band will be provided with $50 tickets to sell at $10 each.

Competing bands will be scheduled to compete at one of the different Denison venues, with either 2 or 3 competing each time. The competitions will be on Thursdays. Each Thursday, judges will pick one band to move into the next round. “Organizers may issue a life-line option to an artist at their discretion,” according to a press release issued.

Finalists will compete on February 21, March 7, or March 21.

On March 21, the winning band will be named, and the 2019 Music on Main concert schedule will be announced.

If anyone needs more information, that can be obtained by emailing Ashley@OverdriveEnt.com.

 

 

 

Rusty Wier Contest Rd 1 Wk 1

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Aubrey Lynn and Dustin Hendricks

Story by Mary Jane Farmer, Photos by Mary Jane Farmer and Ken Maxwell, as noted. Click on link at bottom for photos

This year’s Rusty Weir singer/songwriter contest kicked off in fine fashion Sunday, Jan. 7, (2018) at sponsor Love & War in Texas‘ Plano facility.

Round 1, Week 1 saw songwriters James Nored, Tanner Sparks, John Wesley Shelton, Joseph Wayne Miller, Justin Pickard, Brad Purdom, Shotgun Josephine, and  Mr. Troll vying to move into Round 2. The deal is, tho, they are actually competing against the other 16 who are in this round’s Weeks 2 and 3. The scores of several judges are combined and the top scorers will move into Round 2.

These, and those coming up, played/will play in duo song-swap style, four songs each.

But this whole affair is more of a “let’s all get together and have a good time” group of musicians who don’t often have a chance to enjoy one another’s company and music. Those not competing, or who tried out this year and didn’t make it into the competition also come and just enjoy the Sunday afternoons.

Round 1 Week 2 has happened, and photos coming soon! (I promise!)

For all photos, click here