Now Hear This Entertainment

The founder of and guitarist for the alternative rock group Kickstand Jenny. In June the band released a ten-song album featuring some notable contributors, with one of the songs already having well over a hundred thousand streams on Spotify, where they have more than twenty thousand monthly listeners. On the live performance front, the band has shared the stage with notable headliners such as Slaughter, Living Colour, Sebastian Bach, and L.A. Guns. Last year the band signed with Spectra Music Group, and the videos on their official YouTube channel have a combined total of almost 1.7 million views.

Sacramento, California-based songwriter and guitar player, one half of the duo act The Cracker Brothers, and the CEO of Outer Marker Records. He is also Head of Marketing, Artist Relations and Sales for D.W. Fearn / Hazelrigg Industries, and in the past was Director of Marketing for TEAC America, which includes TASCAM. Listen as he talks about always being around music and having his eye on the next thing as well as the way he used the relationships he built over the years – creating music and working in the industry – to get the many opportunities discussed during this episode.

A musician, producer, composer, arranger, and pianist who just released a 16-song Christmas album at the end of October. From that project alone, one song has over a million streams on Spotify, another has more than 1.6 million streams, and yet a third has 2.6 million. He has collaborated with artists ranging from Chicago to Spyro Gyra to Tower of Power. He also spent a number of years in radio – both on and off the air – as well as an online streaming platform, reaching a worldwide audience of six million listeners in a single year. He is the owner of record label Studio 55 and says that he makes music to inspire and unite.

Miami-based entertainment executive who is the mastermind behind some of music’s biggest producers, including the multi-platinum Monsters & Strangerz and Latin GRAMMY Award-winning and GRAMMY Award-nominated Tainy, with whom he – four years ago – co-founded NEON16, a media and entertainment company that was voted the number one Most Innovative Music Company in 2021 by Fast Company. My guest has been included in Billboard magazine’s “Latin Power Players” list this year and their “40 Under 40” in 2020. His first documentary series was the most-watched, non-scripted show in Latin America on Disney-plus and one of the four most-streamed series in the United States.

Australia-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and internationally acclaimed, award-winning, Platinum and Gold selling artist who just released a new single at the end of September and is now releasing a music video for it. She has toured the UK and Europe including having had a residency in London. She has performed with Lionel Richie, among other notable names in music, and she won “Australian Idol” in 2007, was signed by Sony BMG Australia, plus she even made an appearance on “The Voice Australia.” She is also an author, a vocal coach, and the founder of “A Call to Wisdom,” a charity that helps people who have broken parts that require healing from sexual abuse, trauma, and domestic violence.

New York-based singer, songwriter, and the guitarist for the indie rock band, King Falcon. This past Friday they released an eleven-song, self-titled album, with mixing by a 12-time GRAMMY nominee. (A white vinyl version of the album will be released on December 1st.) On August 30th they’d released a music video for one of the songs from it, with that video already having gotten over 60 thousand views on YouTube. The band is currently touring, and in March and May of this year they’d released singles that are also off their new King Falcon album, with one of the songs peaking at number 5 on the Submodern Singles Chart. This guest has built a truly impressive collection of one-of-a-kind guitars, each with its own story, which he talks about here.

California-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, and actress who just released her newest single last month. She does reveal during this interview, however, that there are four more new songs coming. She has performed at the GRAMMY Teen Concert, The Fashion Life Tour, and iHeartRadio 102.7 KISS-FM Concert at IPOP, plus she talks here about having performed at the NAMM Show this past April. Aside from her music career, she is also involved in voiceover acting and on-camera acting, being most well known for being the voice of MC Swag on “LOL House of Surprises” and for her role in “Love XO.” She currently has 146 THOUSAND followers on Instagram and is closing in on a half-million combined video views on her official YouTube channel.

New York City-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and fashion model who in June put out a 13-song collection of remixes, one week after having released a music video for one of her singles from last year. She has worked with some of the leading DJs, remixers, and producers in the world, and she is a member of ISINA, Inc., a music talent search and mentoring program involving some very notable names in music. She is originally from Latvia but moved to and started performing in the UK as a teenager before moving in 2016 to the U.S., and has built up a tremendous following, as evidenced by a combined total of more than two million video views on her official YouTube channel and more than a million streams on her top song on Spotify.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, video director, and record label owner whose newest album was just released early last month. Previous successes include breaking into Billboard’s Top 40 with her debut release, and then hitting Number 1 on the Billboard Blues chart with her sophomore album. She even had one of her song’s featured in Pixar’s feature film “Cars 3.” All throughout this and next month she is on a tour that will see her do 14 shows throughout eight states. She has over 372 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, where her top five songs have a combined total of more than 40 million streams. And, she has a combined total of more than 55 million video views on her official YouTube channel.

Los Angeles-based recording artist who has scored over 30 films and had over 100 songs placed in film and TV shows. A singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, among her film scoring projects is “Maxine,” a just released Disney-plus film starring Margaret Cho. She is a voting member of the Recording Academy and a four-time Hollywood Music in Media Award Nominee. This past year, two of her film scores were presented at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Museum. She has her own recording studio, and her latest solo album is a nine-song release that came out on August 11th and is up for GRAMMY consideration for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album.

They are currently working together as artist and producer on an upcoming new album and are up for consideration for the GRAMMYs next February. She has done everything from sing for popes to appearing on “American Idol” to founding her own production company. She has trained in Rome, lived in London and New York, and, of course, released her own original music, all in addition to being an activist. He was a guest on this show more than a year-and-a-half ago on Episode 422 and since then has continued working as a vocal coach with Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, and more, and recently sang at a David Crosby tribute alongside some key members of the music world. His background ranges from work with household names ranging from Elton John to Michael Jackson to pop supergroup Ambrosia.

The biggest episode ever. Clearly the guests have only gotten better and better as evidenced by how many from the last hundred episodes are featured in this look back at a good number of "Now Hear This Entertainment" episodes since NHTE 401 Best Of Volume 4. On this edition you'll hear everything from befriending actor John Malkovich to thinking a call from Kenny Loggins was a prank to meeting Kris Kristofferson in a back alley to meeting Michael Jackson to getting hired to play in Taylor Swift's band to performing in Las Vegas the night of a sibling's passing, and much, much (much) more. In total, there are 27 past guests you'll hear from, plus two more who are represented by way of their music being played.

A renowned guitarist and vocalist who has sold millions of albums. From 1995 on, he took seven singles into the Top 10, and holds the record for the longest-running album on the Billboard Blues Charts. He has been nominated for five GRAMMY Awards and has received two Billboard Music Awards, two Blues Music Awards, and two Orville H. Gibson Awards. In September 2008, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. released a Signature Series Stratocaster that he designed exclusively. In 2013 he, along with Stephen Stills and Barry Goldberg formed a band called The Rides. Throughout his career he has opened up for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, and The Eagles. From television performances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to The Late Show with David Letterman to Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to features in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Maxim Magazine, Blender, Spin, USA Today and more, his musical career has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has a new album coming in November, with a new song coming each month between now and then.

Singer, songwriter, actress, and influencer who just put out a six-song EP in late June. The title track from that release reached number 11 on the iTunes charts and she has gotten airplay on iHeartRadio. She lives in Los Angeles and is known for her roles as Olive on Disney Channel’s “Sydney to the Max” and as Ava on Disney’s Emmy-nominated “Girl Meets World.” She has also appeared in multiple major feature films. She is a Sony Electronics audio ambassador and has amassed a tremendous following, including 4.3 million followers on TikTok, one million followers on Instagram, and a combined total of more than 4.2 million video views on her official YouTube channel.

Singer, songwriter, guitar and player who has a new album coming out next week Friday, September 8th, which follows four singles that he has already released this year. Earlier this year he appeared on “American Idol,” and he has been hailed by Us Weekly as “One of the hottest young rising stars to watch in music right now.” Originally from South Africa, he recently became the youngest artist in the history of that country to have a number 1 hit. He has a combined total of more than 14 million video views on his official YouTube channel and between Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok alone he has a combined following of well over half a million.

Award-winning singer, songwriter, guitar player who just last month put out a seven-song EP. She is also beginning work on a new album as well as a separate EP, both of which she talks about here. She regularly travels back and forth to Nashville and was named “One to Watch” by Nashville Songwriters Association International in Spring 2021 and Spring 2022. Earlier this month she took home the silver for “USA Entertainer of the Year” at the 2023 International Singer-Songwriters Association awards. Her top five songs on Spotify alone have a combined total of almost 440 thousand streams and she has more than 13 thousand monthly listeners on that platform.

Singer, songwriter, guitar player whose newest single was just released five days ago. In April he was signed by ONErpm, which operates one of the world’s largest music distribution platforms and YouTube multi-channel networks. He has drawn praise from the New York Times, and his debut album back in 2016 opened in the Top 5 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart and landed him on countless year-end best album lists, including Rolling Stone and iTunes. He had signed a major label deal at the age of just 19 and landed at Number 1 on Mediabase with the Gold certified, “I Met a Girl.” He was at CMA Fest this past June and has performed more than 50 times on the Grand Ole Opry, plus he was featured by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as a highlighted artist in the 2017 American Currents exhibit. That same year he joined Maren Morris and three others in being named New Faces of Country Music in conjunction with the annual Country Radio Seminar.

Award-winning, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, guitar player, and producer who co-wrote Jason Aldean’s hit, “She’s Country,” which was the most played song on country radio across the U.S. in 2009 and held the number 1 position on the chart for two consecutive weeks and has had 181 million streams on Spotify alone. Her song “Loud” was selected as the official theme song for ACC football’s 2010 season. She has also had cuts with Randy Houser and George Clinton, among others, and, of course, as a recording artist, has released her own original music along the way as well. Meanwhile, she is vice president of SoNash Publishing and also serves on the board of The Charley Foundation, which she also talks about here.

Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who has a new single coming out this Friday, August 4th to begin a single each month through and including December for a total of five singles, which will culminate in an EP. She was invited to do one of the coveted performance slots at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, in April, and has partnerships with multiple companies in that space. As a mental health advocate, she is also the host of a weekly podcast, called, “You’re Not Alone.” And, she is also active as a speaker. She was previously a guest on this show approximately a year-and-a-half ago on Episode 417 in February 2022.

New York-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist who is one of the founders of the eight-piece roots rock band, American Nomads. He has toured internationally as well as written and recorded multiple film soundtracks, plus he had a song chosen for a movie trailer and played on a French film. Early in his career he had founded another band, and, present day, American Nomads has a new single that was just released last month, plus they’ll be releasing a new album in September and another in January. The band’s music has received national radio play, reached number 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and passed the first round of GRAMMY nominations for one of their songs.