Now Hear This Entertainment

The founder of the Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival, which will celebrate its tenth such event in October. The festival is five days long and features close to 100 songwriters who over the years have come from places like Nashville, as far away as L.A., and even some from right there in Pensacola, Florida. Writers of songs that have become Number One hits have participated in the annual event, which also features community outreach aspects that are talked about in this interview. She also speaks to individuals who think they want to put on a songwriters festival, songwriters who wonder how to get to perform at such an event, and fans who think they know what a songwriters festival might be.

She has sold over a million records worldwide and won various awards, including Billboard and Juno, and has been called “one of the pioneers of female fronted rock." A singer/songwriter, she has toured and/or worked with an impressive list that ranges from Aerosmith to Alice Cooper to Cheap Trick to Van Halen, Carlos Santana, and Joe Cocker. She was also a feature actor in the episodic TV show “Sisters” and from 2003-2008 starred as one of the four judges on the hugely popular television series, “Canadian Idol.”

A saxophonist/guitarist for the likes of Supertramp, Pink Floyd, and Toto, among others, he actually plays several other instruments and sings too. He is also the CEO, President, and Co-Founder of Ignited Network - his fourth startup company - and is an invited guest lecturer (having taught at USC) and panelist at numerous new media conferences and university symposium, and was named one of “The Top 100 Multimedia Producers” by Multimedia Magazine. Scott also produced the world's first interactive cartoon. He also talks about having performed in the last year in places like the Canary Islands, Italy, Lebanon, and China.

An award-winning singer, composer, trumpeter, and producer who won Best EDM Song at the 2016 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, although he performs what he considers a sub-genre called TDM – Trumpet Dance Music. He has a multi-decade résumé of work with artists from different eras and has created a movement called “We Are One.” He once played with Dizzy Gillespie and has performed at venues and events ranging from LA Fashion Week to Carnegie Hall to the White House to the Hollywood Palladium and even in Las Vegas. He had a song that became the first recording on the Billboard Dance Music chart by a trumpeter since Herb Alpert more than three decades earlier. He has even played for legendary pop and rock artists including Foreigner, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye.

A singer/songwriter with 1.5 million YouTube subscribers, she released a 14-song album last year and then five months later put out the first in a four-part EP series. She talks about how headlining a tour was different – a learning experience – from being an opening act, and why she doesn’t have immediate plans to get back on the road. Originally from Colorado, she also discusses why she left L.A. to move to Nashville as well as why she could be considered an advocate.

A return appearance to the show for this California-based country singer, songwriter, guitar player, who this time was joined by his producer (and lead guitar player), who were on-location at the 2018 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim. At the time of the interview they were working toward the release of a single, expected to be followed by another, and targeting a likely full album release by the end of 2018, and the conversation continued to talk of a mini-tour to support the single(s). Miller also talks about working with publishing companies, plus his diverse influences, and, doing all this while planning for a wedding this November.

The bass player from Love and a .38, who had a video for one of their songs featured by Universal Studios on a 40-foot screen at City Walk. The band has gone throughout the southwest and up and down the west coast of the U.S., plus they've performed at SXSW too. Working with the band towards a new EP at the time of this interview, Justin also talks about advocacy work that he has done through the NAMM Foundation both in Sacramento as well as at the federal level in Washington, D.C. He also talks about their being entirely indie/DIY, including landing an impressive list of sponsors.

A fingerstyle guitarist known for a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that integrates the percussive potential of the guitar body. One of the greatest and most influential guitarists in the world, he has been captivating audiences globally for almost three decades. To-date, he has recorded seventeen albums and is working on his next, which he hopes to release later this year or in early 2019. In 2000 he moved to Scotland, where he puts on his own week-long workshops, which have been attended by many over the years, including Ed Sheeran.

With a seven-song EP on target for release this summer, award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Chandler Juliet is on a path being paved by success stories. Her debut EP in 2015 was featured through a sold out CD release party at Boardner’s in Hollywood. She has also performed at noted Hollywood venues such as The Troubador, The Viper Room, and Whisky-A-Go-Go. More recently, working with producer/songwriter Dean Dinning (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Mikal Blue (Colbie Caillat, OneRepublic, Five for Fighting), the first single from the upcoming EP was nominated for three 2017 Indie Music Channel Awards and took home the award for Best Indie Pop Recording.

A singer, songwriter, guitar player who lives in Oklahoma but has also performed in places like Texas, California, and Nashville, she became a featured artist on Radio Disney. She recorded an EP under the direction of producer Ken Caillat, best known for his work with Fleetwood Mac. Emily was named the Oklahoma and North American Country Music Association's Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year for five consecutive years. She opened shows for Marty Stuart, Sawyer Brown, and Bryan White, and even performed for President George W. Bush. One of her music videos gained almost 300 thousand views on YouTube in just ten months.

A duo, both originally from California but reconnected in Nashville, they are working on a new EP hoped to be released in the Spring. They have written hundreds of songs together and toured across the nation and have opened for the likes of Thompson Square, Love and Theft, and Daryle Singeltary as well as performed at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and (twice) at the Key West Songwriters Festival. They talk about the successful (overfunded) Kickstarter that they'd done for their debut EP and the unique approach they took to recording it (at Warner Studios, to boot).

Recognized by Nashville Songwriters Association International as "One to Watch" (for being a songwriter on the rise), already in her young career she has performed at the likes of Downtown Disney (Orlando, FL), The Bluebird Cafe (Nashville, TN), Eddie's Attic (Atlanta, GA), and The Coca Cola 600 Speed Street Festival (Charlotte, NC). She has recorded two EPs working with Nashville producer, songwriter, recording artist Greg Bates, whose Music City debut landed him in the Billboard Top 5 with his Big Machine Label Group release "Did It For The Girl." An ASCAP songwriter and already a CMA member, Dare is sponsored by MAC Cosmetics and she is involved with many charitable events.

She plays eleven different instruments and is a seasoned performer and headliner of over 4000 festivals and concerts. She tells an amazing tale about being in a car accident such that she hit the windshield and the visor hit her throat and one of her vocal chords was paralyzed and they weren't sure it was ever going to move again. ("I'm a walking miracle," she says.) She is going to Europe later this year to tour, having just released her latest album, "Blazing." She produces music for herself and other artists, produces shows and videos, and is co-writing a novel trilogy about the music world. A true nomad, she talks during this interview about being born in Alabama and moving to Minnesota and California (now lives in Nashville).

The first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship, she is a guitarist and harp guitarist who has performed with the likes of Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Earl Klugh, and more. She has released more than a dozen solo albums, instructional CDs, and DVDs. Her music can be heard in Woody Allen's film, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Her album "Heartstrings" accompanied astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery and her CD "Nightlight Daylight" was chosen as one of the top 10 CDs of the decade by Guitar Player Magazine.

2018 Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (his fourth Grammy nomination). He has recorded and/or toured with Ray Charles, Better Midler, Diana Krall, George Benson, David Sanborn, and many others. He played 200-plus nights a year throughout the course of his career. He was inducted in the inaugural class of the Hammond Organ Hall of Fame and two years later was put on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. He got his first record deal at age 16 with Columbia Records and at 17 became one of the two youngest players ever recruited for a Miles Davis ensemble.

Songwriter, producer, and performer based in Wales (UK) who has been referred to by BBC Radio 1 as “Warped Genius.” He is also the owner of Konic Records and is in the band Kyshera. He has written and produced three Kyshera albums and three solo albums. He has performed hundreds of shows in many different countries. His latest solo album was a Top 50 Best Seller on Amazon.

A recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who has drawn accolades from The New York Times, Billboard Magazine, the Washington Post, and more. His current run at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall has now sold out for two and a half years, performing alongside Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning special guests. He has also headlined around the globe, doing 100 concerts across 50,000 miles of touring on both sides of the Atlantic this past year alone. He is also the founder and owner of the global company ECR Music Group and he started the iRespectMusic movement. He also talks about a recent article that went viral about a closed-door artists-only meeting he was in at Spotify.

A Washington, DC-based pianist, composer, and vocalist who last August signed a multi-album contract with SRI Jazz. He has worked with Grammy and Oscar-winning composer/performers Marvin Hamlisch and Randy Newman. He has released more than a dozen CDs and his music has been featured in movies and TV shows. Plus, his songs have been performed by stars of “Orange is the New Black” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” He has appeared at thousands of venues, including the Kennedy Center.

Working towards a new album, this L.A.-based recording artist's dance track debuted at the start of this month at Number 47 on the Billboard dance chart and the following week climbed to Number 40. She has released a video for it that has gotten almost 83 thousand views in just over a month on YouTube. She has another song that is the theme song for a new, but yet-to-be-released movie. She has been featured in a PBS TV special and has performed and directed musicals, recitals, professional concerts and television shows, plus she is a vocal coach. She also talks on this interview about a reality series that she does once a year.

The son of a rock and roll legend, Roy Jr. is a musician, producer, music publisher, and author. Plus, he also hosts a podcast. He talks extensively about his father's storied career and how he and others are working to preserve and carry on his legacy through a number of projects, including recordings, a museum, two plays, two movies, and a musical.