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“Following the recent news that multi-award-winning country star Lauren Alaina is a contender on this season’s “Dancing with the Stars,” the platinum-selling singer’s That Girl Was Me Tour scheduled for this fall is shifting to a January start date. The That Girl Was Me Tour originally scheduled at The Bluestone on October 3rd 2019 is being rescheduled to February 1st 2020. ” If you have already purchased tickets, those tickets will be valid for the new date.
Lauren Alaina LIVE at The Bluestone on February 1st, 2020
Opening Artist: Filmore
Doors for the show will open at 7pm
Tickets are $20
This is an All Ages Show
Tickets on-sale NOW
PURCHASE HERE
Georgia native Lauren Alaina captured America’s hearts when she competed on Season 10 of American Idol. In 2017, Lauren followed up her No. 1 debuting first album, Wildflower, with the release of the critically-acclaimed Road Less Traveled. The album landed on multiple end-of-year “Best Of” lists including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Amazon, and it became the top-streamed female country album release of the year. Praised as “full of life lessons and uplift” (PEOPLE), the collection of 12 songs all written by the young star includes Lauren’s first No. 1 hit, title track “Road Less Traveled.”
The “sassy Southerner with killer pipes” (PARADE) has shared the stage with superstars including Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Martina McBride. Lauren recently joined Cole Swindell on the Reason to Drink Tour and is currently on tour with Jason Aldean for this summer’s High Noon Neon Tour.
Top of the World Tour
LAUREN ALAINA
Presented by maurices
March 25, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Tickets $20
Artist Biography
Lauren Alaina | Sitting Pretty on Top of the World
Ten years into her Nashville career, Lauren Alaina is in the upper echelon of country music’s most authentic voices, beloved personalities, and open hearts. She’s earned a reputation as one of the genre’s most compelling storytellers by boldly incorporating her struggles and heartache into her critically acclaimed first two albums. Lauren’s third studio collection, Sitting Pretty on Top of the World, is an artful evolution of immaculately penned, unflinching reflections of the mountains and valleys on her journey.
Sitting Pretty on Top of the World opens with the telltale sound of a needle dropping down on a record, and with that, Lauren sets the tone for some of the most captivating music of her career. Lauren was inspired to lean into the tenets of classic country music for this project and on the albums lead track, “It Was Me,” she offers a timeless country ballad filled with heartsick self-reflection. Lauren’s voice emotionally soars through the aching, introspective lyrics: “It wasn’t you I didn’t love, it was me.”
“The other person isn’t always the bad guy,” Lauren concedes. “On ‘It Was Me,’ I’m taking full ownership of being in the wrong. It was really hard to admit that I was the one at fault and to realize that I didn’t love myself enough to allow someone else to love me.” But the vulnerable “It Was Me,” co-written with Hillary Lindsey, is a song Lauren considers to be one of the best she’s ever written.
Lauren takes pride in the exposed transparency of her songwriting on this project, and though most writing sessions took place via Zoom, Lauren was crafting verses and choruses alongside the likes of award-winning songwriters including Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Emily Weisband, David Garcia, Jordan Reynolds, Ben Johnson and Kennedi Lykken. She co-wrote 14 of the album’s 15 songs, much of it inspired from recent life experiences including two impactful break-ups, the loss of her stepfather, and like much of the world, Lauren struggled with despondency as she adapted to life in the pandemic.
The album’s title track “On Top of the World” delves into the dark reality behind polished facades. Writing the song with Jordan Reynolds and Sasha Sloan after the pandemic forced her to stay home for the first time in a decade, Lauren, in a heightened emotional state, revealed how she felt enveloped in loneliness and sadness.
“I’ve been on the road and touring for 10 years and having that taken away so suddenly felt like an abrupt stop to everything I’ve been working for, and that was a really scary thing for me,” she says, “but the whole world stopped for everybody, and I needed to find new ways to connect with people.”
Lauren applies that same honest vulnerability throughout the album from the harrowing ballad “What Do You Think Of?” featuring Danish Pop Star Lukas Graham, to the pensive flow of “I’m Not Sad Anymore,” to the beautiful simplicity of “Good Ole Boy” with its scaled back production that truly allows Lauren’s vocals to shine.
“This whole thing [album] is about loving yourself and being brave and being strong,” Lauren says. “I was faced with all these trials, and I hope people feel themselves in these songs. I think we all live the same stories with different characters. And maybe people realize new beginnings can be good.”
“Getting Good,” a duet with Trisha Yearwood, is the only song Lauren didn’t write on the album. Penned by Weisband, the song is a poignant truth-telling about choosing to be happy. Drawn to the concept, Lauren says, “Life is all about perspective, and you sometimes you have to shift your perspective.”
Lauren punctuates the lovelorn with the playful yet forthright “When the Party’s Over” and with the propulsive yet nostalgic “Run.” She also teamed up with Emily Weisband and the album’s producer Paul DiGiovanni to write the lighthearted, here-for-the-fun, rebound tune, “Getting Over Him,” featuring country star Jon Pardi. Lauren rounds out the album with the beautifully hopeful “Change My Mind,” which she co-wrote with Seth Ennis and Cameron Bedell.
Then with the familiar crackle of a vinyl record nearing its end, the album comes to a close. A journey from start to finish. Lauren explores life in these unique times and Sitting Pretty on Top of the World is the salve and the soundtrack for anyone traversing their own personal quest for hope and new beginnings.
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s
with Alex Williams
April 10, 2022 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
About Whitey Morgan:
In a career spanning 15 years, Morgan has released five studio albums and a live recording from his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Additionally, he has toured relentlessly averaging over 125 shows annually. Rolling Stone has described him as a “Waylon Jennings acolyte.. modern day outlaw [with a] hard hitting blue-collar brand of music” while NPR Music hailed, “Staying close to the sound and subject matter of classic outlaw artists like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and David Allan Coe, Morgan is poised to lead this hand-worn brand of country to the next generation.” His most recent LP, Sonic Ranch (2015), was released to critical acclaim and praised by Detroit Free Press as, “a bold well-crafted album that doesn’t forsake the gritty undercurrent running through Morgan’s stuff.”
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s anticipated new album, self-produced by Morgan, was recorded in the Neve Room at famed Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas. Featured on the record are collaborations with acclaimed songwriters Travis Meadows and Ward Davis plus a cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid.” Alongside Morgan, the 78’s consist of Brett Robinson (pedal steel guitar), Joey Spina (guitar), Alex Lyon (bass) and Eric Savage (drums).
Of the recording, Morgan shares, “It’s not like my vision happened overnight. I’ve been chipping away at it forever. It’s slowly evolving and it’s going in a little bit different direction. It’s not so straightforward anymore. This record definitely has a wider path, it’s broader, but it still sounds like a Whitey Morgan record.” With grandparents from Tennessee and Kentucky and hometown roots in Flint, Michigan, Morgan’s family geography has factored into his approach to music.
Iration
May 15, 2022 6 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
Bio: Iration has a natural affinity for reggae and island sounds. Their love and appreciation for music spans across a wide range of styles and genres including rock, pop, R&B and funk. Over the past 15 years, the celebrated five-piece – Micah Pueschel [Lead Vocals / Guitar], Adam Taylor [Bass], Joe Dickens [Drums], Cayson Peterson [Keyboard / Synth] and Micah Brown [Guitar / Vocals] – have perfected their distinct hybrid style of music, blending all influences together as evidenced on their seventh, and most recent, full-length album Coastin’ [Three Prong Records). A record about being thankful for the moments that we have.
Iration has been touring nationally since 2008, performing at festivals nationwide from Lollapalooza to Sunfest and Hangout, closing stages at festivals like Bottlerock and Outside Lands. The Hawaiian-bred musicians look forward to spreading their original sound and ‘Aloha spirit’ all the while never forgetting to get a surf in when possible.
Matt Stell
w/ George Birge
November 17, 2022 8 PM
Doors Open 7 PM
at The Bluestone
Columbus, Ohio
About Matt Stell:
THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS LONG BEEN FILLED WITH ITS SHARE OF CHARACTERS. FROM WILLIE TO HANK AND DOLLY TO WAYLON, EVERY LEGEND STARTS OUT AS JUST ANOTHER ARTIST THAT DOESN’T FIT EASILY INTO SOME PREDETERMINED BOX. AND AS HARD AS COUNTRY MUSIC MAY TRY TO FIT MATT STELL INTO ONE OF THOSE TRIED AND TRUE BOXES, IT’S DARN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE.
Heck, he’s 6’7.
But more so than the massive physique that helped Stell become a collegiate basketball standout, the Platinum certified singer has proven via the songs he sings and the shows he puts on that he is far too powerful of an artist to ever fit into some sort of singular category. In fact, to describe Stell in a few words would be a complete disservice to the man he is and the artist he looks to become as he releases his new EP Better Than That on October 16.
“If you cut a groove too deep, it’s hard to get out of it,” he remarks with a chuckle. “I’ve never wanted to be some one-dimensional artist, and with this new EP, I think I’m determined to show that there is much more to me than just a guy who can sing a love song.”
Indeed, the Arkansas native comes from a long line of self proclaimed badasses. He can spin a romantic verse as easy as he can rock out an anthem. He can overanalyze a word as easily as he can let the melody ride a lyrical wave. And yes, he gets as much enjoyment out of discovering a hook in the writing room as he does hooking a fish.
“When you step out into that river and the salmon are still swimming upstream like they have for thousands of years, it’s a real cathartic, therapeutic thing for me,” he says of a recent fishing trip to Alaska. “It’s a great reset.”
In everything he does, it’s evident that Stell is reflective and adventurous and funny and pretty damn smart. And if he’s being totally honest with himself, he’s never been one to love a love song.
Yep, you heard that right.
Granted, it was in fact a love song that catapulted Stell to country music success in 2019 via his massive hit “Prayed for You,” a life-changer of a song that spent two weeks at the number one spot. As the only debut single to top Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2019, and one of NSAI’s “10 Songs We Wish We’d Written,” the hit has gone on to rack up some impressive stats with over 270 million streams, his first RIAA Platinum certification and more than 20 million views of its official music video to date.
But there’s a catch.
“If the only thing you’ve heard is ‘Prayed for You,’ you would have a different idea of who I really am,” Stell explains. “Knowing that you are making music that means something to people is the ultimate compliment, but there is so much more to me.”
A few more of the many facets of Stell are currently on display via his current top 10 and rising single “Everywhere But On,” a song that Stell calls ‘autobiographical’ in the way that it tells the story of a man trying to escape the memories of a long lost love.
“Having two songs on the radio is an incredible thing, but what’s even more incredible is finding your own voice and your own identity,” he says.
Stell showcased a whole bunch of identities in another Better Than That EP standout – “If I Was a Bar.” At a time when some of his fellow artists were perfectly content in simply sitting down with their guitar and playing their songs during the pandemic that Stell lovingly refers to as a ‘damn biological hurricane,’ Stell and his rather relentless work ethic turned out a music video that had him playing thirteen different roles in the span of a 3-plus minute song.
“I threw every stitch of clothing I have ever owned into my truck for that video shoot,” laughs Stell of the somewhat restrictive project. “Sometimes creativity benefits from constraints.”
Yet, there were few constraints on Stell’s songwriting during the creation of the new Better Than That EP, which was co-produced by Stell alongside Ash Bowers. Via songs co-written by Stell such as “I Love You Too,” “Chase It Down” and the title track “Better Than That,” the listener can still hear Stell’s distinctive way of wrapping a lyric around a memory and the twist he can put on a phrase.
“Songwriting is a craft that can get better the more time you put into it,” remarks Stell, as he laments to himself about how much he hates clichés.
But for the first time in his still evolving career, Stell relied on outside writers on three of the eight tracks of the Better Than That EP in an effort to fill in the blanks of the overall project.
One of those cuts is “Sadie,” a melodic brain-buster of a song that offers ‘a sparse lyric but one in which every word means something.’ Another outside cut is “Look At Me Now,” perhaps one of the most earth-shattering love songs in recent memory. Yes, the guy who says love songs aren’t his thing just might make history with yet another love song.
But before Stell looks too far into the future, he finds his soul planted deeply in the present. He is praying for the day he can plug his amp back in and jump on the bus with his band and play these new songs for a live crowd.
This new chapter in his journey leaves Stell with a whole bunch more ammunition in the writing room and a unique vantage point to view the characters in his songs…and the character he might ultimately turn out to be.
