Paulina Jayne – Paulina Jayne is one of the most delightful people I have ever met and interviewed. Dubbed “Dolly Junior” by Ronnie Dunn, she exudes warmth and gratitude much like the beloved, real Dolly Parton.
“Except,” she says, “I got no boobs, but that’s OK, God blessed me on the lower half.”
Her song, “Big Hair, Bigger Dreams” really is an autobiographical tune about who she is. And though it is a little more tongue-in-cheek, her song, “Big Booty Country Girl” is a bit biographical as well.
But if she had anything she would want to tell her fans, it would be “Love’s Gonna Always Win.”
The last song that Jayne released, “Half” talks about “taking my half honey and make it whole.” She received the ASCAP Peggy Lee Songwriting Award for her solo write of the original tune.
She is currently working on new music and the song “Half” is an indication of the direction she is heading sonically.
Not only that people have been using the song to post videos of themselves on TikTok with their husbands or their spouses saying, “You know he’s my half.”
Jayne admits that she is slow in the creative process but hopes to put together a full album later this summer. I hope she won’t forget that she promised I could cover it.
In the meantime, be sure to follow Paulina Jayne on her website and all her socials.
Pryor Baird – On January 26, 2024, Music Spotlight artist, Pryor Baird had his Opry debut. The soulful country singer states it was “a dream come true. A lot of people have that dream but don’t get to do it. It’s a lot of work to get there, but God, what a feeling.”
For his debut, he was allowed to sing two songs. He sang his current single, “Mighta Met a Girl” and the currently unreleased song, “Beauty in the Broken” that you just had to see in person to appreciate.
The Voice alum explained, “It’s one of those songs when we wrote it, we had no idea we were writing it for the rest of the world. We just thought we were just writing a song, you know? And then it turns out we’ve been playing it every night on the road, and everybody just loves the song, and everybody identifies as the song because at some point, one point or another, somebody’s been broken.”
Hopefully, he will release it soon. But in the meantime, Baird is enjoying his newfound momentum and touring every chance he gets. Go to Pryor Baird’s website so you can keep up with everything that he has going on.
Queeva – Raised in a creative Irish clan with six children, Queeva (McDonagh) was born in the United States, but her parents hail from Ireland. As a seven-year-old, Queeva pursued acting and was in singing competitions. She was featured in a “Build a Bear” commercial and an episode of “Chicago Fire.” But by age nine, it was her love for gymnastics that laid the foundation for the rounded person she has become.
With all her options, I wanted to know the now twenty-year-old honed in on country music. It turns out that when she was a child, she entered a singing competition at the last minute and surprisingly she won it. That put the bug in her already ambitious heart. By age 14, she was in a recording studio cutting a new track, “Who You Really Are.” The song has had more than half a million streams on YouTube alone.
She admits that she never had a voice lesson until age 15 and was fortunate to team up with vocal coach extraordinaire, Brett Manning.
A little more than a year later, she released “How Do You Know,” a song that she co-wrote with Jamie O’Neal. The song explores young love.
Released in 2023, “Blue” is a heartbreak song that sounds like it could be played at Taylor Swift’s next concert.
Queeva is most excited about her next single, “Be So Lucky.” The song tells the story of a girl falling for someone who she wasn’t necessarily looking for but ended up glad that she found. She feels “so lucky” to have met a person who treats her with respect and love, and she’s excited to explore this new love, no matter what challenges they may face. The single will be released on March 8.
Be sure to follow Queeva on all her social media platforms. At twenty years of age, she is just getting started.
Rob Mayes – When I met Rob Mayes at RomaDrama in August of 2021, I was aware of his acting chops with films like John Dies At The End, A Soldier’s Revenge, and Hallmark Movies to name a few, but I was unaware of how exceedingly talented he was as a singer/songwriter. He was kind enough to let me feature him in my Music Spotlight column.
When he showed up at CRS, I was thrilled to interview him again. Like other artists, he was there to promote new music, particularly his newest movie, The Neon Highway. Co-starring Beau Bridges and Lee Brice, Mayes plays Wayne, an aspiring singer/songwriter, who is a heartbeat away from making it in Nashville when a car accident derailed his ambitions.
Like me, Mayes grew up in a musical family, but they didn’t do country music. He said in passing “Country Music found me.” I wanted to know what that meant.
He explained, “I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and you know I think a lot of people think if you’re not from Texas, you’re not from Georgia, what do you know about country music? Growing up in Cleveland, you know WGAR was one of the first radio stations that I stumbled upon.”
He continued, “I remember I was in the car with my dad, and we were driving around town and he always listened to polkas and jazz or talk radio AM on the radio. And one day he was flipping the stations and he kind of passed over quickly the country music station. And I said, ‘Wait a minute. What was that? Go back.’ That sounded pretty good. There are some harmonies and stuff. He was like, ‘Oh, that’s country.’ I said, ‘Yeah, it sounded pretty good. Go back.’ And he went back, and I haven’t gone back since.”
Now the actor has relocated from L.A. to Nashville where he feels completely at home. He does co-writes and solo writes, sometimes twice in one day. In 2022, he released 4th full country album, Ain’t Nothin’ to See Here, and has numerous singles including fan favorites “Don’t Give Up on Me” and “Ain’t Nothin’ To See Here.” His newest single “hell I shouldn’t” has that rocking country sound that I have come to love.
As one of the most talented and ambitious artists I have ever interviewed, you will have to follow Rob Mayes on his website and his socials to keep up with all the projects and music he has in his pipeline.
Shenandoah – Two of my favorite people to talk to at CRS are Shenandoah’s Marty Raybon and Mike McGuire. In 2020 they put out a genius record called Every Road, a duets album with some of the hottest country artists in the industry.
And while the band has had unparalleled success, they continue to come to CRS. Back in the day, CRS was a place where unknown bands could get introduced to radio stations and radio personalities.
Raybon explained, “They may be at just some little mom-and-pop station, but before you know it, a couple of years later, they were at KSCS or something like the Big KGO or in Denver.”
Getting noticed by radio stations or DJs was key to an artist’s success before streaming.
“Sometimes we came because the label said, ‘This is what you need to do,’” Raybon shared.
Now when the pair attend CRS, it is more like a homecoming.
This year, Shenandoah is proud to have teamed up with Luke Combs to bring their newest collaboration, “Two Dozen Roses.”
McGuire stated, “We started getting video clips, different fans, and friends who went to Luke’s concerts. And he was doing “Two Dozen Roses” at his concert. There were 20,000 (new people) singing “Two Dozen Roses” because he was doing it at his show.
Raybon and McGuire are self-described “Weekend Warriors” and show no signs of slowing down. Check out Shenandoah’s touring schedule on their website.
Be sure to stream/download their new duet with Luke Combs, “Two Dozen Roses” and listen to another new song, “Revival” a song one fan called, “Country music the way it is supposed to be.”
Swon Brothers – I knew who the Swon Brothers were because opened for Carrie Underwood on her Storytellers Tour. They were also finalists on NBC’s The Voice in 2013.
What I was unaware of was their long history with the mega-country star, Carrie Underwood.
All being from Oklahoma, the Swon Brothers and Underwood grew up 15 minutes from each other. Zach Swon attended Northeastern State University with Underwood.
Zach recalled, “When we were younger, they had a lot of talent shows and contests around. And we knew that there was a good chance we were going to win unless she showed up.”
What started as a neighborly competition turned into a long-standing friendship. Now Zach and Colton Swon are successful songwriters and producers who have contributed to many projects in country music and beyond.
Their mega hits “Later On” and “Pretty Beautiful” and still popular fan favorites.
They attended CRS this year to promote their newest album, Covers, Volume 1. I was fascinated by this record because not only does it have rock covers like “Simple Man” and “Hysteria”, it also has pop covers like “Ooh La La” and “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” that were unexpected. Other songs like “Lookin’ for Love” “Already Gone” and “Georgia On My Mind” were popular long before the brothers were born. And if that weren’t enough, they teamed up with their Voice coach Blake Shelton to bring us “Love or Something Like It.”
It was their father who encouraged the duo to play songs for the “older audience.”
Despite all their success, the Swon Brothers are most excited to play at “All For the Hall” on March 30 which will held this year in Tulsa.
If you ever get a chance to see the Swon Brothers in person, go! But if you can’t, you should at least stream their music. They are amazing.
T. Graham Brown – You may think that an artist as legendary as T. Graham Brown has reached the pinnacle of success, but if you are a country music singer, there is always one peak you must reach before you ever truly feel successful; becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
On February 20th, 2024, T. Graham Brown was surprised during his Sirius XM’s Live Wire interview with Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry member Vince Gill with the ultimate invitation – to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry. (Watch the video here.)
Not only that, Brown was already scheduled to play the Opry that night so it made the day even more special. They worked hard to surprise the country singer, and it worked.
Brown always gives credit to his wife of 44 years, Shelia, for any success he has.
He told me, “The best part of this is seeing Shelia so happy. You work hard all your life and basically what else is left?”
Besides being the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry, he is currently in the studio wrapping up the touches on his latest album which will be released later this year.
Though he is 69 years old, Brown still does about 50 shows a year. He is currently on his “I Tell It Like It Used To Be” tour. Be sure to check out his schedule and of course, look for him at the Opry.
Tyler Reese Tritt – I recently featured Tyler Reese Tritt in my Music Spotlight column. Yes, she is drop-dead gorgeous and the daughter of mega-country star, Travis Tritt, and while that is beneficial to her career, the most important thing to me is “Can she sing?”
After featuring and following her career, I can assuredly state that she is an exceptional singer.
Her latest single, the heartfelt anthem, “Texas Hold Him”, was released in July of 2023. The track captures the emotions and challenges of moving forward from a breakup while leaving a piece of your heart behind. The track speaks to anyone who has ever had to make the difficult choice of pursuing their dreams.
Now 26, Tyler Reese Tritt has been singing since she was 14 years old and is one of the hardest-working artists in the industry. She is currently working on a new EP and has tour dates scheduled into November with more being added daily.
With her big booming voice and unstoppable energy, I am sure that I will be featuring Tyler and her music for many years to come. As her website so aptly states, “Tyler’s journey in country music isn’t just a path, it’s the very road she was born to travel.”
Walker Montgomery– Walker Montgomery is a Kentucky boy who is famously related to his uncle, Eddie Montgomery, and his dad, John Michael Montgomery. And while he has been around country music for his entire life, that in no way means he can sing.
But fortunately for us, with his rich baritone voice, he can absolutely sing. That, along with his devilish good looks, makes him one of Nashville’s young stars to watch. His popular songs “Don’t She Know,” “Simple Town,” and “Bad Day To Be A Beer” prove he is exactly where he is meant to be.
Walker has been attending CRS since 2019 and he finds it a great place to “knock the rust off after winter.”
Regardless of your career accomplishments, as a country artist, you never feel fulfilled until you have made your Opry debut. On December 1, 2023, Walker Montgomery made his Opry debut flanked by his dad and uncle.
Now as the young singer’s star continues to rise, he is touring as part of the Start Your Legacy PBR Tour. He has teamed up with Randy Rogers to re-release his fan-favorite song, “Never Again, One More Time.” And he is working on new music. You will just have to follow Walker Montgomery on his website and socials to keep up the country crooner.
Waylon Hannel- Waylon Hanel’s name is no accident. It is his real name, and he indeed was named after the country legend, Waylon Jennings.
The Michigan boy admitted, “I grew up listening to Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, the Highwaymen, and some classic rock, you know Tom Petty and all that stuff. Old music is all I grew up on.”
The twenty-one-year-old self-taught musician has worked to hone his skills as a vintage, traditional country singer. In 2022, he released a self-titled EP which included songs like the self-penned “New Old Outlaws’ and “Concrete Pastures.”
In 2023, he was given the song “My Kind of Lonely” a song that details a chance encounter between two ships passing in the neon light. The song echoes the sentiments of a young Joe Nichols, a popular country artist who is more than twice Hanel’s age.
Now he 2024, he brings the sizzling honky tonk single “Lighten that Load” off his forthcoming CD, Don’t Mess With My Country. The twangy tune alludes to the fact that music is a healer, and as a country music entertainer, he’ll play you “anything you want to help you lighten that load.”
I’ll have to admit that after hearing his music first, I was taken aback by Hanel’s Michigan accent. But I am here to tell you, that Waylon Hanel is the real deal. He proves outright that traditional country music is not a place, it is a state of mind. He is so talented that I was thrilled to have run across his path. Soon, Waylon Hanel will be a name that everyone knows.
Whitney Miller – Whitney Miller has a magnetic personality that makes you want to be around her. Thankfully for me, the former 2012 “Miss US” and kickboxing commentator from Texas is also a country music singer.
Last year her single “Diamond Country,” premiered on CMT, and her song “15 Minutes of Fame” premiered in People magazine. Now CMT is spinning “Go Ahead & Make It,” a relatable song about finding new love. Her song “Nobody” is also not to be missed.
The thing that endears me most to Whitney Miller is that she is a little different than the rest. With her short, cropped haircut (that I love) and devil-may-care attitude, she is not the usual female country in Nashville.
She told me, “I’ve always been a little off-center, a little edgier, a little out-of-the-box. And I think the music that I have out portrays that. I’ve never been one to walk a straight and narrow, and I’m certainly not going to start now.”
Currently about to release a new EP, she is “sitting with it a bit longer to get it just right.”
With Miller’s big rocking, country vocals, I am already blown away by the music she has put out so far. And she promises that her next EP will rock even harder.
Follow Whitney Miller on her website and all her socials to keep up with what’s next.
Will Wesley – The rebellious Will Wesley has been sneaking into and playing in country bars across Louisiana since he was 15 years old. Because he could play guitar and grow a decent beard, they let him in. He has been doing music his entire life.
He explained, “If you grew a beard and thought you were a good guitar player, they’d let you play in with the band, but you’d have to go back outside during the breaks.”
Initially, when he teamed up with Florian Fox, I thought Wesley’s sound leaned more toward traditional country with the hit song, “Wasted Again.” But then after hearing “A New Kind of Blues” I got a soulful rock vibe, not unlike a young Tom Petty. And the rock theme continued with his single, “Attitude.”
Now he has a brand new single, “Ready to Ride” which continues with the country rocker theme. It’s fascinating to hear a shimmying fiddle plied against a driving backbeat and a wailing, electric guitar.
Despite a career that has already found him touring several countries in Europe and Southeast Asia, and playing alongside the likes of Alabama, Jason Boland & the Stragglers, and Robert Cray, this is somewhat a beginning for Will Wesley. He has the grit and talent to take it to the next level.
Be sure and follow Will Wesley on his website and all his social media accounts.
Bethany Writes 