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Chase Bryant will be performing live at The Bluestone on Thursday, March 23rd
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening Artist: Joe Hall
Tickets are $16 in advance and $21 day of show
**One Dollar of Every Ticket sold will be donated to the ACM Lifting Lives**
PURCHASE HERE
THE ACM LIFTING LIVES HISTORY:
Through partnerships with artists and strong ties in the music industry, ACM Lifting Lives® develops and funds music-related therapy and education programs, and serves members of the community who face unexpected hardships through its Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund.
Through generous donations and the support of artists and fans, ACM Lifting Lives® is able to fund everything from disaster relief and helping communities in need, to music education in schools and music camps for those with disabilities, to supporting programs that use music therapy as a means to help our veterans and wounded warriors, while providing grants to help them ease back into life.
The Academy of Country Music and ACM Lifting Lives® have an almost 50-year history of charitable giving and since 2008 ACM Lifting Lives® has given more than $8 million dollars to more than 150 worthy causes and supports many projects throughout the year to create awareness and help those in need.
RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING
RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.
Admission tickets must be purchased separately.
- Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Prime view of stage!
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Exclusive Private Bar access
-
Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Private Bar Access
- May be Obstruction in View
*All Reserved tables located in the loft area
Music defines Chase Bryant. At every level and in often unexpected ways, his truths are expressed in melody, lyrics, hooks and sounds … but his reality goes even deeper than that. Bryant’s heritage is defined by music. His upbringing, his craft, his inspiration and his obsessions are all centered in the same – which is good – because there’s no other way to explain how a 23-year-old Texan could already be a top-flight guitar player, head-turning songwriter, RED BOW recording artist and co-producer of his debut album.
Raelynn will be performing live at The Bluestone on Thursday, April 20th
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets will go on-sale Wednesday, March 8th at 10am
Come for the concert and stay for the post concert dance party!
Get ready to #RaVe!!! Each night of the tour, we’ll kick things off with pre-show dance tracks curated by my friends at Radio Disney Country, and then after my show, we’ll dance the night away together! 
Tickets available on March 8th!
Spotlighted on Pandora’s Artists to Watch list for the new year, 2017 is already proving to be a career year for singer-songwriter RaeLynn.
Following the highly anticipated release of her Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville debut single “Love Triangle” to the overwhelming response of critics, the stunner has sold over 100,000 copies before even reaching the Top 30 on the Country singles chart.
“We all come from our own love triangles, I guess you could say,
RaeLynn shares. “I’m so proud of this song; it’s my favorite song I’ve ever written.”
Lauded as one of Rolling Stone Country’s Best 25 Songs of 2016, the heartbreakingly raw video for “Love Triangle” was released exclusively to PEOPLE.com and CMT and is striking a visceral reaction with Country radio and awestruck fans across the country.
Brian Davis Sept 22 2017
Country Rocker Brian Davis
will be performing LIVE at The Bluestone on Friday, September 22nd
Opening Artist: TBA
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Tickets are just $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets on-sale Friday, May 5th at 10am
PURCHASE HERE
RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING
RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.
Admission tickets must be purchased separately.
- Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Prime view of stage!
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Exclusive Private Bar access
-
Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Private Bar Access
- May be Obstruction in View
*All Reserved tables located in the loft area
ALL SALES ARE FINAL
How does a country boy from tiny Bilboa, North Carolina find himself an apprentice to one of the greatest songwriters in country music? Ever heard of Bilboa? Yes, it’s that small. But you’ve heard of Harlan Howard, right? “I Fall to Pieces?” THAT Harlan Howard.
Brian Davis isn’t one to push himself or his music on someone. It just isn’t his style. Fortunately, what is his style is writing great rockers and party anthems full of hot screaming guitar, booming bass and thumping drums. Sometimes.
On the other hand, his style is also writing emotive ballads laden with picturesque lyrics that twist and turn phrases to carry the listener on a musical journey of their own or Brian’s life. Those…those are best interpreted by Brian’s pure masculine baritone and an acoustic guitar.
So, it’s really not a case of having to force himself on anyone. It’s more like, “If you build it, they will come.” If you write great songs, make great music and sing from your heart, they will come. And they have most definitely come. From playing all over his home state of North Carolina, to opening for pal and frequent co-writer Brantley Gilbert on the Hell On Wheels tour—last year and this year, Brian has taken his brand of rockin’ country music from a regional to a national level. His Tarheel fans are sitting back enjoying knowing that they saw the evolution of one of the hottest new artists in the format, while new fans are digging voraciously into his catalog that is already six albums deep.
Almost as if he could forecast the future when he recorded it, his newest album, Under the Influence, is almost a musical biography of Brian – both his life and the evolution of his music. “I’m really proud of it,” he beams. “We managed to put a lot of things that are extremely important to me on this record and tried to kind of balance it out. We’ve got things all the way from ‘Under the Influence,’ which people would assume, based on previous projects, that we were talking about going out and just getting hammered, but it’s not.”
Josh Abbott Band
live at
The Bluestone Thursday, November 16th
as part of their
“Until my Voice Runs Out tour”
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening Artist: TBD
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of show
PURCHASE HERE
RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING
RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.
Admission tickets must be purchased separately
The loft is located on the second level of The Bluestone
- Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Prime view of stage!
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Exclusive Private Bar access
-
Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Private Bar Access
- May be Obstruction in View
*All Reserved tables located in the loft area
ALL SALES ARE FINAL
When Josh Abbott Band recorded “Ghosts” for its fourth album, Front Row Seat, Abbott expected to redo the vocals. The final chorus had some technical imperfections, and he figured he could improve on the performance once his heart settled down. Producer Dwight Baker, one-half of the Austinbased duo The Wind and The Wave, wouldn’t let Abbott retouch it.
“I was actually crying my eyes out during that last chorus, and that’s why there’s a couple of notes in the beginning of that section that don’t really explode like normal,” Abbott says. “Dwight was like, ‘We’re keeping that. That’s real.’”
Real is the operative word for Front Row Seat, a 16-track song cycle that represents the most ambitious and emotionally challenging project yet for JAB, a highly melodic six-piece ensemble that’s managed to keep a foot in both the Texas music scene and the national country world. The band won four times during the inaugural Texas Regional Radio Awards behind an upbeat brand of country that still leans on classic instrumentation – particularly banjo and fiddle – to effect a raucous, roof-raising attitude.
The band has lobbed three singles onto the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart – including “Oh, Tonight,” the first charted track to feature Grammy-winning Kacey Musgraves – and nabbed a Top 10 album with the 2012 release Small Town Family Dreams and reached No. 12 with the 2014 EP Tuesday Night.
But Front Row Seat steps beyond the band’s honky-tonk inclinations for a more personal journey as the album traverses the emotional course of Abbott’s first marriage and subsequent divorce. It was not his original intention to depict his private life in a public way, but as he wrote the songs for Front Row Seat, beginning before the split actually occurred, he naturally mined his emotional life for a set of songs that were profoundly honest and revealing. It was only as they began recording the material at Baker’s Matchbox Studios outside of Austin, that they realized they had the germ of a tangible plot.
“We started looking at the music we’d done and had a whole bunch of other songs that we really loved and we were like, ‘Man, we could put this together and make a really neat story out of it,” fiddler Preston Wait recalls. “Especially with the song ‘Front Row Seat,’ we basically just made it kind of like you’re watching a movie and it’s your front row seat to this life.”
Owing to that silver-screen character, JAB employed screenwriting technique by assembling the project with the five elements of plot structure: the exposition, or beginning; an inciting incident; the climax; a falling action (in this case, a breakup); and the resolution.
The story begins with “While I’m Young,” in which a college-aged Abbott lives a typically carefree existence, spending much of his discretionary income in bars and living for the moment, an ideal that’s captured authoritatively in the anthemic “Live It While You Got It.” As the album progresses, he meets a woman who commands his attention for more than one evening, finding himself by track 7, “Crazy Things,” mulling what it is that would make a woman who’s dang-near perfect fall for someone so flawed.
By the time the album concludes, his once-ideal relationship has turned sour, and the two are no longer one. The fracture becomes apparent through the resignation of “Born To Break Your Heart,” and he discovers in “Ghosts” that all the memories that once lived with such passion and revelry continue to haunt his memory, taunting him with whispers of a past he can never reclaim. As Front Row Seat closes with “Anonymity,” Abbott sings a spare dirge with acoustic guitar and fiddle, fantasizing that he could return to the start of the relationship and live it out right.
Whiskey Myers
live at The Bluestone
Thursday, December 7th, 2017
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening Artist: Goodbye June
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show
Tickets On-Sale Friday, June 9th at 10am
PURCHASE HERE
RESERVED LOFT TABLE SEATING
RESERVED TABLE PURCHASE DOES NOT INCLUDE ADMISSION TICKETS TO THE SHOW.
Admission tickets must be purchased separately.
- Loft Lower Tier: $250 (seats four people-no exceptions)
- Prime view of stage!
- Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Exclusive Private Bar access
Loft Upper Tier: $200 (seats four people-no exceptions)
Includes first bucket of Miller or Coors Light
- Server
- Private Bar Access
- May be Obstruction in View
*All Reserved tables located in the loft area
ALL SALES ARE FINAL
It would be an understatement to say that a lot has happened since Whiskey Myers was last in the recording studio. Over two whirlwind years, the gritty Texas band hit #1 on the iTunes Country Chart with their breakout third album ‘Early Morning Shakes,’ earned raves everywhere from Rolling Stone to USA Today, and toured the US and UK relentlessly, slaying massive festival crowds and sharing stages with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams Jr., Jamey Johnson, and more along the way. You’d be forgiven, then, for expecting things to work a little differently this time around when the band reunited with acclaimed producer Dave Cobb for their stellar new album, ‘Mud.’ But as it turns out, success doesn’t change a Southern gentleman, and they don’t come any more Southern than Whiskey Myers.
Fueled by larger-than-life performances honed tight from countless nights on the road, ‘Mud’ finds the band scaling new heights of songwriting and musicianship, with searing guitars, soulful vocals, and indelible hooks. While their approach to the music and humble, hard-working attitudes may not have altered, there have been developments in the Whiskey Myers world, most notably with the arrival of new faces. For the recording sessions, the band’s five founding members—Cody Cannon on lead vocals and guitar, Cody Tate and John Jeffers on guitars, Gary Brown on bass, and Jeff Hogg on drums—fleshed out their sound with the addition of fiddler/keyboard player Jon Knudson and percussionist Tony Kent, who are both now full-time members. “They bring a great energy, and I think it’s really helped our sound and makes the band more versatile,” explains Cannon. “There’s less room onstage now, but sometimes a family grows.”
Wcol Winter Wonder Jam with
Michael Ray as part of his “Get To you Tour”
Special Guests: Love and Theft, Devin Dawson
Doors for the show will open at 8pm
Tickets just $30 in advance, $35 day of show
Tickets On-Sale November 6th at 10am
PURCHASE HERE
Michael Ray Roach (born April 29, 1988), best known as Michael Ray, is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is signed to Warner Music Nashville, for which he has released his debut single, “Kiss You in the Morning“. The song has reached No. 1 on Country Airplay. Before this single’s release, Ray was mentored by John Rich of Big & Rich on the singing competition The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep, which he won. He and Rich co-wrote Big & Rich’s 2015 single, “Run Away with You“.[1]
In March 2017, it was reported that Ray would put his acting chops to the test when he revealed that he landed a guest role on CMT’s show, Nashville.[2]
Love and Theft is an American country music group founded by Stephen Barker Liles, Eric Gunderson, and Brian Bandas, all three of whom alternated as lead singers and acoustic guiarists. Signed to Lyric Street Records subsidiary Carolwood Records in 2009, Love and Theft made their chart debut in early 2009 with the single “Runaway,” which reached the Top 10 on Billboard Hot Country Songs. The band’s debut album, World Wide Open, was released on August 25, 2009.
In 2011, following the departure of Bandas, Love and Theft continued as a duo consisting of Gunderson and Liles. The duo moved to RCA Records Nashville that year and released the single “Angel Eyes“, which became their first number 1 single. It and the Top 40 singles “Runnin’ Out of Air” and “If You Ever Get Lonely” all appear on their second, self-titled album.
Devin Dawson is an American country music singer-songwriter.
Devin Dawson first became famous after filming a mashup of Taylor Swift songs, which gained popularity on YouTube.[2][3][4] His debut single “All on Me” is also his first hit song.[2] With the help of producer Jay Joyce, he signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2017.[5] Dawson’s “All on Me” has charted on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts.
Dawson has also toured with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.[6]
Aaron Lewis at The Bluestone Two Nights, BACK TO BACK!
*August 23rd, 2018 and August 24th, 2018 (SOLD OUT)
*Opening Artist: Travis Marvin
*Doors for the show will open at 7pm each night
*Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 day of show
(Ticket is only valid for admission for the date printed on the ticket)
Tickets are on-sale NOW!
PURCHASE THURSDAY, AUGUST 23rd TICKET HERE
Lewis has been performing solo acoustic shows since he was 17 and still does today. He has written and performed many songs that have never been officially released such as “Angel”, “Something Like Me”, “Bonghits for Breakfast” (originally performed with J-CAT), and “Sleeping at the Wheel”.
In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a country music EP entitled Town Line that was released March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. It features seven tracks including three versions of the first single “Country Boy” featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as the songs “Massachusetts”, “Vicious Circles”, “The Story Never Ends”, and a re-recording of “Tangled Up in You” originally from The Illusion of Progress.[5] Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer Kid Rock.[6]
Lewis performing at the House of Blues in Cleveland in 2013
Lewis released his first full solo album, The Road, in November 2012. Its debut single, “Endless Summer”, has also made the country charts. Lewis wrote every song on the 10 track collection, except for “Granddaddy’s Gun” which was penned by Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Bobby Pinson, marking the first time Lewis has recorded outside material for an album.[7] In an interview with Broadway’s Electric Barnyard, Lewis said he recorded “Granddaddy’s Gun” as both a compliment to a friend, and because he was pressed for time.[8]
Lewis wrote songs for his second solo album whilst touring in support of The Road, often performing the unreleased material in his live sets.[9][10] The album, dubbed Sinner, was mostly recorded in a single 18 hour session, with many tracks done in one take. Aaron’s daughter Zoe also provides guest vocals on one song.[11] It was released on September 16, 2016, with the lead single, “That Ain’t Country”, released on 17 June. Country artist Willie Nelson is featured on the album’s title track as well.
Mitchell Tenpenny LIVE at The Bluestone on Friday, December 21st, 2018
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Opening Artist: Ross Ellis
Tickets are $21 in advance
THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT
Every ticket for this show includes a physical CD of Mitchell Tenpenny’s forthcoming album, Telling All My Secrets. You will receive an email with instructions on how to redeem this offer approximately 7 days after your ticket purchase.
PURCHASE HERE
Mitchell Tenpenny is an industry insider/outlier. Someone who has a local’s appreciation for the origins of Nashville and keen focus on what happens outside of Music City.
The rugged individualist operates with complete confidence and comfort in the space between contradictory themes. He is a creative thinker with a keen business sense. He is fiercely competitive, but is equally vocal proponent for his industry colleagues. He finds inspiration in music as diverse as Michael Jackson and the Oak Ridge Boys.
And none of that seems the least bit unusual or out of whack to the Nashville native with an industry pedigree (his grandmother was industry legend Donna Hilley who shaped the musical landscape of country music as CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing). He lives his life and his budding musical career on both ends of the spectrum.
He’s authentic thanks in large part to Tenpenny’s fearless skill as a songwriter, which includes a Top 5 hit for Granger Smith, “If the Boot Fits,” and time spent opening for a variety of influential artists including Smith, Dustin Lynch (Ride of Die Tour), Maren Morris (Renegade Revival Run), Jake Owen, Brett Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dustin Lynch, Gary Allan, and others.
Tracy Lawrence will be performing LIVE at The Bluestone
Special guest Tyler Booth
November 19th, 2021
Presale $25 Day of show $30
Doors at 7 PM
If you purchased tickets for the previous show and did not receive a refund, your ticket will be good for the new date.
Tracy Lawrence
In 1994, Lawrence contributed the Top Ten hit “Renegades, Rebels and Rogues” to the soundtrack of the movie version of Maverick and also released his third album, I See It Now. “Texas Tornado” became his sixth number one hit, and three more singles — the title track, “As Any Fool Can See,” and “If the World Had a Front Porch” — all went to number two. Somewhat lost in all the success was Lawrence‘s arrest that same year on a weapons charge, but it didn’t slow his career momentum at all. He tossed off the Live and Unplugged set in 1995, which compiled acoustic tracks and concert performances with his backing band Little Elvis. In 1996, he returned with the proper follow-up album Time Marches On. The title track was a huge hit, topping the country charts, and “If You Love Me,” “Stars Over Texas,” and “Is That a Tear” all went Top Five. His hit streak continued with 1997’s The Coast Is Clear, which contained two more Top Five singles in the title track and “Better Man, Better Off.”
This ticket is a revocable license and may be taken up and admission refused upon refunding the purchase price appearing hereon and is grounds for seizure and cancellation without compensation. Holder of this ticket (“Holder”) voluntarily assumes all risks and danger incidental to the game or event for which this ticket is issued whether occurring prior to, during, or after same, including, but not limited to, contracting, and/or spreading the COVID-19 virus, and agrees that the organization, venue, presenter, agents, participants, or players are not responsible or liable for any injuries, sickness, or death resulting from such causes. Holder acknowledges that the COVID-19 pandemic remains a threat to individual and public health, COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease transmitted through human contact and respiratory droplets (including through the air and via common surfaces) and it is possible that Holder may contract COVID-19 while at the game or event for which this ticket is issued. Holder agrees by use of this ticket not to transmit or aid in transmitting any description, account, picture, or reproduction of the game or event to which this ticket is issued. Breach of the foregoing will automatically terminate this license. Holder agrees that the license comprised by this ticket may be removed and Holder may be ejected from the game or event for which this ticket is issued in the event that Holder violates any law, ordinance, or venue regulation. Holder grants permission to the organization sponsoring the game or event for which this ticket is issued to utilize Holder’s image or likeness in connection with any video or other transmission or reproduction of the event to which this ticket relates.
Jimmie Allen
Down Home Tour
presented by 92.3 WCOL
w/ special guest Neon Union
March 11, 2022 at 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
JIMMIE ALLEN
Official Website: https://www.jimmieallenmusic.com/ [jimmieallenmusic.com]
Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jimmieallenmusic
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmieallen/ @JimmieAllen
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimmieallen/ @jimmieallen
Official YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/jimmieallen
NEON UNION
Official Website: https://www.neonunionmusic.com/ [neonunionmusic.com]
Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Neon-Union-Music-108322624961837
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/neonunionmusic @neonunionmusic
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neonunionmusic/@neonunionmusic
Artist Biography
For multi-platinum selling, trailblazing Country star and current GRAMMY Award nominee Jimmie Allen, a simple phrase sums up his view on life and music: Never give up.
A native of Southern Delaware – the “slower, lower” part of the state, he explains – Allen has carried that mantra with him through good times and bad, whether than meant living in his car or receiving his first ACM nomination for New Male Artist of the Year in 2019, a CMA Awards nomination for New Artist of the Year in 2020, subsequently winning the ACM Award for New Male Artist of the Year – the first Black artist to win that category since its inception, and a win with which he hopes “open[s] some doors for more Black artists to have success in country and more Black artists to feel comfortable enough to do country if that’s what they want to do” – as well as the CMA New Artist of the Year Award in 2021. GRAMMY.com has hailed Allen as one of “5 Black Artists Rewriting Country Music.” His current nomination for Best New Artist at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2022 is his first ever GRAMMY nomination; he is also the only Country nominee in an all-genre category.
With the 2018 release of his debut album Mercury Lane – named in tribute to the street he grew up on and the origin of his incredible journey – on BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records, a lifetime of never giving up brought him full circle.
“I didn’t quit, I never will,” he says. “Stuff ain’t easy, and you shouldn’t quit either. There’s a big difference between busting your ass and sitting on it.”
For Allen, musical dreams and a love of true-to-themselves artists like Alan Jackson, Aaron Tippin, Montgomery Gentry, and Jason Aldean brought him all the way to Nashville and beyond, –from traveling around the world to places like Japan, Germany and the UK; to performing a tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors for Garth Brooks, the national anthem at the Indy 500, returning to American Idol as a mentor after being cut from the same competition a decade ago, and other once-in-a-lifetime moments.
But it was actually a nightmare which turned this promising singer into the artist he is today. After a series of bad breaks Allen was forced to live in his car, too proud to ask for a bail out. For months he worked multiple jobs and finally saved enough for an apartment, but hit then another snag – country music wasn’t ready for him.
“People were just trying to help,” he says now. “But they wanted me to change my sound and told me I had to lose my boots. The turning point came when I stopped listening, and finally let my music be a natural reflection of who I am.”
Since then Allen has been following his own compass, and it’s leading somewhere special. In 2017, he caught his big break and signed a record deal with BBR Music Group/Stoney Creek Records and a team who embraced his individuality.
“I don’t regret the hard times,” he explains about his trials. “I think each thing you do adds a layer, whether it’s a layer of toughness, perseverance, motivation, or just a layer of wisdom. At the end of the day you come back to what you know, and what’s embedded in you.”
What’s embedded in Allen is a powerful, soulful sense of groove – “If my body don’t move in the first four seconds, it ain’t for me,” he says – a love of deep messages and a knack for razor-sharp hooks.
Those driving forces formed the bedrock of Mercury Lane – a cutting-edge mix of country, rock, R&B, and pop, produced by Ash Bowers and Eric Torres, that received critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone raving that it “challenges the narrowly defined model of what constitutes a next big thing in country music” and The New York Times hailing it one of 2018’s strongest, calling it a “conventional country album, filled with songs about the small details.”
With Mercury Lane, Allen made history as the first Black artist to launch a career with two consecutive No. 1 hits on country radio, with “Best Shot” claiming the No. 1 spot for three weeks and his second single “Make Me Want To” hitting the top spot in March 2020.Allen’s hard-earned dreams are finally becoming reality, but he shows no signs of limiting himself.
He followed up the success of Mercury Lane with his July 2020 collaboration project, Bettie James, that has amassed171+ million streams and has further established Allen as Country’s next superstar. The star-studded seven-track project combined his deep love of family and genre-spanning taste in music. Named in honor of Allen’s late grandmother, Bettie Snead, who passed away in 2014 and his late father, James Allen, who passed away in 2019, Allen hand selected artist that touched the life of Allen, his grandmother and father in some way, allowing their legacies to weave seamlessly throughout Bettie James. The wide array of hitmakers include Brad Paisley, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, Mickey Guyton, Nelly, Noah Cyrus, The Oak Ridge Boys, Rita Wilson, Tauren Wells and Tim McGraw.
“My dad and grandmom were two completely different people, but both played a huge part in my life,” Allen says of the motivation for the project. “Since they died, I have been wanting to leave trails of their legacies throughout my music.”
The result is a musical composition of love, heartbreak, perseverance, hope and faith. Jimmie’s current single “Freedom Was A Highway” pairs Allen with his friend and Country music superstar Paisley for a breezy, windows down track that joins Allen’s distinctively breezy grooves with a Paisley signature guitar solo.
Bettie James received a slew of critical acclaim for not only the music, but the historic nature of various collaborations, and the project’s subsequent place in country music history. NPR calls the project an “announcement of [Allen’s] arrival” and a “huge step for country” while Billboard hails it “a powerful statement from a developing voice.” The EP appeared on several “Best of 2020” lists including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Sounds Like Nashville.
Rolling Stone describes “Why Things Happen” – which brings together three generations of Black country artists in Allen, Darius Rucker and Charley Pride – as “part polemic, part proclamation, and part prayer… opening up space for the artists to bear witness.”
Reflecting on Allen’s wide-ranging musical sensibilities, Music Row notes of the project: “While some artists still in the early sunrise of their careers, with a handful of hits to their credit, would be focused solely on extending their chart successes, it’s clear that Allen’s goals for his music are loftier than mere chart hits and No. 1 parties—he’s striving for music that testifies to his full spectrum of creative abilities.”
Allen, who has an incredible knack for connecting with people of all backgrounds and interests, enjoyed collaborating with other artists so much while making his monumentally successful predecessor that he didn’t want to stop – so instead, in trademark Allen fashion, he kept going. The result: Bettie James Gold Edition. Released June 25, 2021, the 16-track album doubles down on Allen’s expansive love for music across genres, with nine brand new collaborations with Babyface, Breland, Keith Urban, LANCO, Lathan Warlick, Lindsay Ell, Little Big Town, LOCASH, Monica, Neon Union, Pitbull, teamwork. and Vikina.
As Hits Daily Double notes, for Allen, “it’s about being grounded in the genre’s traditions and protecting the roots as much as it’s about creating a future for country music that’s more expansive and inclusive.”
“When it comes to music I love, I don’t really get wrapped up in boundaries or genres. After we finished Bettie James, I was like man, there’s so much music out there that I love, so many artists that I love, and I just wasn’t done making collaborations,” Allen says of the impetus for Bettie James Gold Edition; a sentiment that Billboard echoes, applauding that the album “broadens country’s borders.”
Beyond the music, Allen has also established Bettie James Fest in their honor. Consistently vocal about his deep reverence for his family, hometown, and home state, the inaugural sold out event took place August 7, 2021 in Allen’s hometown of Milton, DE.
Allen is currently featured in The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s annual American Currents: State of the Music exhibit with his friend and fellow country artist Darius Rucker. The exhibit’s Unbroken Circle illustrates the connection between country music’s past and present by pairing artists with those who have influenced them or share musical perspectives. The exhibit runs through February 2022.
Additionally, he is a member of the 2021 Artists Committee for the 44th Kennedy Center Honors.
Much like his approach to music, Allen’s other creative pursuits know no boundaries.
Allen’s debut picture book, My Voice Is a Trumpet, was published July 13, 2021 with Flamingo Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. Illustrated by veteran illustrator Cathy Ann Johnson, the book is a powerful story about speaking up for what you believe in,
at any age. The book has received a starred review from School Library Journal, who hails that “the rhythm and flow of words perfectly match the art while advising readers to choose love and use their voices in a powerful song.”
“It’s very important to me that kids learn at a young age that they have a voice, and that it is powerful. It is up to us as adults to teach them to use their voice to encourage and show love,” Allen says of his first ever book. “Being a father of two kids, I try to encourage them to be themselves and love everyone around them. I’m hoping this book inspires at least one child and they always remember their voice is a trumpet.”
Allen also serves as Executive Music Producer for Netflix’s series Titletown High, which premiered globally on August 27. His song “Big In A Small Town” is the theme song for the series, which follows a Georgia town where football rules and winning is paramount, a champion high school team tackles rivalries, romance and real life as they work toward the ultimate goal: a state title. Full of high stakes sports action and relatable teenage drama, Titletown High delivers a complex portrait of the most unique football culture in America.
He most recently competed for the coveted mirrorball trophy as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars’ landmark 30thseason on ABC in the fall of 2021, reaching the quarterfinals with his pro partner Emma Slater.
As Allen’s rising star power shows no signs of slowing down, he remains unapologetically himself and proof of what can happen when you never give up.
For more information on Allen, visit www.jimmieallenmusic.com or follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
