Now Hear This Entertainment

A special two-guest, on-location episode, leading off with a musician who has been the lead pianist or musical director with artists including Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, and John Mayer. Endorsed by Yamaha, he is known for his explosive and immersive live music performances. By the time he was eight years old, he was an acclaimed piano prodigy, winning statewide accolades and college-level competitions. His debut album was just released in mid-June. The second guest is the Sales Director for Adam Hall North America, working closely in artist relations. He has played in bands as a guitarist for decades. He has even designed custom guitars for musicians, including Paul McCartney. His background extends to retail, wholesale, marketing, new product development and more. Since 2012 he has been with the Adam Hall Group, which is a more than 45-year old leading German manufacturer and distribution company that provides event technology solutions to business customers worldwide, including retailers,

He has been called “one of the Top 10 Guitar Players in the World” by Guitar Magazine. In his 50-plus years of playing the instrument, he has created a wildly successful, multi-faceted career. He is a critically acclaimed musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer and educator with 16 albums and two live DVDs released worldwide. He is commonly regarded as a guitar virtuoso capable of playing any style of music with remarkable mastery and conviction. He has been one of L.A.’s elite “first call” session players for the past 38 years, playing on hundreds of records, movie soundtracks, and television shows. He became a member of the British rock group Supertramp in 1985 and he has played to millions of enthusiastic fans in sold out arenas worldwide. He plays live regularly, including shows he’ll be doing in Europe in October and November, as discussed in this interview.

Members of an alternative pop-rock band from Los Angeles, their music videos have combined for over 6.7 million views on YouTube. They have played at well-known venues in southern California including the Whisky-a-Go-Go, The Roxy, and still play regularly at Downtown Disney in Anaheim. They have opened for the Plain White Ts and Drake Bell. They had a single debut at Number 7 on the Billboard Hot Single Sales Chart and were in the Top 20 of the group category on “The X Factor,” winning praise from Simon Cowell. Listen too for their song-a-month approach to releasing new music.

He is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who is originally from New York. He has overcome two near-death experiences to become an award-winning front man who has an eight-octave range with the ability to hold notes for over a minute. His YouTube videos have amassed over five-and-a-half million views and he has had a song chart on the Top 20 in the Rock category (number 14, specifically) and he has charted on the Global Hot 100 (number 78). He has been seen on FOX, NBC, ABC, and the CW. He has performed at festivals that have included Machine Gun Kelly, Fall Out Boy, and Greta Van Vleet. He recently signed a licensing and publishing deal that will put his songs on television and in movies.

A singer, songwriter multi-instrumentalist who has a new EP coming out next week and appeared on Hit Parader’s unsigned band competition show, "No Cover." She won Best Female Artist in the International Acoustic Music Awards earlier this year. She has performed at venues ranging from the Hotel Café in Los Angeles to Rockwood Music Hall and the Bitter End in New York. She also sang on a song that was used in a Netflix movie. Her YouTube channel has over 14,000 subscribers and she was awarded a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music as a violin virtuoso.

A singer, songwriter, and guitar player from Nashville, where she had a residency at BB King’s Blues Club. She has released six new songs this year alone. She has had one song featured on the HBO series, “The Hype,” and had placements on the longtime daytime drama “The Young and the Restless.” Her videos on YouTube have combined for over 400,000 views and she has played live to groups numbering from a few to thousands in venues across the country. She is self-described as “rock and roll with a hint of soul.”

New York-based singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player. Before the pandemic she was playing 8-10 shows each week, including notable venues such as Rockwood Music Hall and the Bitter End. She was named a Sam Ash Music Store “Spotlight Artist” and just this year became a part of the Yamaha Guitar Ambassador Program. She released a 6-song EP on International Women’s Day last year to critical acclaim. (It spent two months on the Top 40 charts for The International Folk Alliance Folk DJ charts.) The engineer on it is a GRAMMY nominee. She also talks about a new recording project she’s working on.

She is an award-winning singer, songwriter, and ukulele player who has graced the cover of Ukulele Magazine twice. Her songs have seen both television and movie placements. She has performed internationally and has even opened for Jackson Browne, plus she teaches workshops for ukulele festivals and songwriting festivals. She appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, has ten albums under her belt, and her YouTube videos have a combined total of over 600,000 views.

Albuquerque, New Mexico-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who, in April, released his third EP, which has four songs and is actively being promoted during a jam-packed tour schedule this summer that takes him through eleven states over four months, which follow the same number of states he has already played in so far in 2022. This month he will hit his 500,00th mile driven on tour since starting in 2016. In his travels he has performed with the likes of Third Eye Blind, Sister Hazel, and Lifehouse, among others. In total he has played in 46 states and seven different countries.

A two-time GRAMMY nominee in addition to having been nominated for a Dove Award for Song of the Year. A Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player, he also has an Academy of Country Music nomination and two CMA nominations. Plus, he was nominated for the 2019 Australia’s Golden Guitar Award for Best Traditional Country Album. His first single had been a top 20 hit with the band The Dirt Drifters on Warner Brothers Records. During his career he has had over 100 independent and major label cuts. He is also the organizer of the Nashville Nights event taking place in September in Denmark. He will also be a featured performer next month at the 2nd Lake Martin Songwriters Festival in Alabama.

Florida-based singer, songwriter, guitar player who has had two Number 1 radio singles and has been awarded as a triple platinum selling songwriter. In 2008 on the famed Ryman stage, he was awarded first place in the Colgate Country Showdown, beating out 50 thousand artists from all over the United States. Present day, he performs live with his wife across a variety of locations, having played recently from Key West, Florida, up to Vermont and Maine, with upcoming dates in California and in late July at the 2nd Lake Martin Songwriters Festival. Plus, the two of them are extremely active live streaming on Twitch, where they have over 18 thousand followers. Meanwhile, all of their top five songs on Spotify have been streamed 35 thousand or more times each.

A platinum-selling singer songwriter who is a four-time GRAMMY nominee and an Academy of Country Music and Billboard Awards winner. She has appeared on The Tonight Show, David Letterman, and numerous other national TV shows. In addition to writing her own original music, she has written hits for the likes of Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Leann Rimes, and more. She was also picked as Carrie Underwood’s duet partner for a song on CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets. She is performing extensively, both here in the U.S. and internationally.

Texas-based singer, songwriter, guitar and piano player whose debut album came out just over a year ago. He has a new single coming out this Friday, May 20th, and country superstar Cody Johnson put two of his songs on his new album. He is touring in full force, having started this month in Key West after having been in Georgia and, of course, Texas, the month before and New Mexico earlier this year. At the end of May he’ll be playing at the famous Bluebird Café in Nashville before heading on to Kentucky and Louisiana. Plus, in July, he’ll be a featured participant in the 2nd Lake Martin Songwriters Festival in Alabama.

Las Vegas performer who is a singer, songwriter, vocal producer, and vocal & performance coach. She just released a new single in January and has written with a GRAMMY Award winner on her original music and co-wrote with another notable name on a song for a motion picture. Her voice has also been heard in popular jingles for commercials, and her voice was heard in a Rugrats movie by Universal Pictures. In Las Vegas she performs on “The Strip” six nights a week in the role of music icon Cher and will be doing so next month in Australia and on other 2022 dates in several U.S. cities.

Belgium-based singer, songwriter, performer, and podcast host whose latest release was a five-song EP that she put out last year, with two of the songs from that each gaining over one hundred thousand streams on Spotify. Last year she also wrote and submitted music for the Eurovision Song Contest, which has led to additional efforts she is making this year to again include that and other initiatives. She has enjoyed support from not only Belgian but international radio stations as well. Plus, she has gotten press coverage from all over, ranging from the U.S. to France to India to New Zealand to the UK.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and recording engineer who is also the founder of the independent record label Lost Coast Records. He also owns Lost Chord Guitars, which includes a music venue and a boutique guitar shop. He even is the founder of a company that does speaker systems. Throughout his career he has performed or worked with everyone from actor and recording artist Jeff Bridges to Disney to Third Eye Blind, Michael McDonald, and more. He is currently working on a solo record of his own.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, and film composer who just released a new single less than two weeks ago and also has an album coming out later this year. In 2019 she appeared on Season 17 of “American Idol,” and she has also toured with High School Nation. She has 1.1 million followers on TikTok and over 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs have a combined total of over three million streams. On top of all that, the videos on her official YouTube channel have gotten a combined total of 1.1 million views.

A singer, songwriter, piano player whose music has gotten more than a million-and-a-half streams. As recently as two months ago he has been opening for the Gin Blossoms and has also been invited to plays with the likes of Everclear, Lisa Loeb, 38 Special, and more. He has not only performed throughout the U.S. but in international locations such as Nicaragua and Croatia. He has gotten acclaim from a number of publications, including Huffington Post, and has had Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads as a producer on his music. He has a new album on the way, which will be his sixth.

The president and CEO of NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, which is a global not-for-profit trade association representing more than ten thousand manufacturers and retailers of musical instruments, professional sound, and live event production products. Their massive annual trade show is coming up at the beginning of June in Anaheim, the proceeds from which they reinvest into grants, scholarships, scientific research, industry promotions, and public and government relations programs. Well-versed across the business, he is also a musician himself and was a touring manager and even an installer.

Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player and percussionist who has a new single coming out this Friday, April 1st, after having just released another new song earlier this month. She has been crowdfunding towards what will be her tenth album and along the way has launched what she calls an ‘inspirational career coaching’ business that is not just for musicians. She continues to perform regularly, not only in Music City but as far away as San Diego and Hawaii, among other locations. She has also sung up and down the aisles and over the p.a. on 24 – and counting – Southwest Airlines flights. She has been a guest on this show twice before, way back on Episode 52 as well as the second ever episode of NHTE.