Live Music

RAPID FIRE 20Q WITH CAST OF LARRY KEETON THEATRE’s ‘WHITE CHRISTMAS’

December 1, 2022 by Jonathan

If you know me at all, or you’ve read any of my holiday reviews over the last decade or so, you likely know Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is my hands-down favorite movie musical, in any incarnation. Doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about the classic 1954 film, or the subsequent stage musical. I love all things White Christmas. Given that bit of insider info about myself, of course I had to chat with Kevin Raymond, Micheal Walley, Casey Cuba and Dani Haines for my latest Rapid Fire 20Q. The quartet of talented performers are starring in White Christmas directed by Keith Hardy at The Larry Keeton Dinner Theatre (108 Donelson Pike) beginning tonight, Thursday, December 1and continuing through Sunday, December 18.

———————————————

RAPID FIRE 20Q WITH THE CAST OF THE LARRY KEETON THEATRE’S WHITE CHRISTMAS

RAPID FIRE WITH KEVIN RAYMOND, BOB WALLACE IN WHITE CHRISTMAS

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Tell me a little about Bob Wallace.

KEVIN RAYMOND: Bob Wallace is a lovable character but sometimes he appears to be a bit sarcastic because he’s missing something in his life. There’s no romance going on he doesn’t have anybody to love. Even his partner Phil points out that he should “add a little romance to his life“ and maybe he’d be happier. He spends most of his time working on business deals and the Wallace and Davis act on his entire life since the army. The transition of his character in White Christmas is truly a beautiful one through his rocky relationship with Betty Haynes. Hopefully, you’ll have a chance to see the love in his heart, his joy in his business and performing as well as his general love for his fellow mankind.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Taking on the role made famous by Bing Crosby…daunting, a dream, or a combination of both?

KEVIN RAYMOND: I have to say, it is a daunting task! Bob sings a majority of the music in the show and appears in every scene except for two in the entire musical. One of the biggest things that I’ve enjoyed about this is the challenge set before me. But to be perfectly honest, this has been a dream role for my entire life. I feel as if I’m in an age right now to be the perfect Bob Wallace because 10 years ago I may have been too young and 10 years from now I’ll definitely be too old to play this character.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Your creative credits go beyond on-stage performing, you’ve also been involved in a number of productions at The Keeton and other theatre companies behind the scenes. Do you think that gives you an advantage when cast in a show?

KEVIN RAYMOND: I’m delighted to also be the choreographer for this production and one of the things that I generally always tell the cast is to think like a director or to think like a choreographer. I feel as if it’s a life learning lesson to have someone nurture you to the fact that if there’s an even number of people on stage, someone will split the center line when it comes to blocking a dance. If there’s an odd number of people on stage someone will always be on that center line. If you have thoughts like this in your head going in to a learning experience then it makes life so much more easy for you. Also, when you’re moving set pieces think about what might need to go off before some thing else comes on and vice versa. The knowledge that it takes to be able to pull things off like that is a vital life lesson for the arts. I think that my interaction with people and all of the previous artistic elements I’ve been involved in at the Keeton certainly help me to develop this and others as well. On top of that, because I generally think like a Director and Choreographer, blocking, staging and other elements come really easy for me and I can pour that natural instinct into a character.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Speaking of other gigs, a couple years ago you released a Christmas cd. What can you tell me about that project?

KEVIN RAYMOND: Christmas music is and always will be my favorite! I love being in the studio and creating art on a recorded medium. It’s very different than live performing because you can do quite a few takes and pick the best one or splice things together very easily. The CD was basically a labor of love and a really fun project that one of my best friends, Gabe Wateski, recorded and produced for me. The title of the CD is called Christmas Is… and can be found on my website at kevinfraymond.com. It has 18 truly wonderful tracks, some old and familiar and some new material.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I’m about to chat with you costars, so I gotta ask…what’s it been like to share the stage with Micheal Walley’s Phil Davis to your Bob Wallace?

KEVIN RAYMOND: Micheal is an absolute joy! I’m so thankful that the director, Keith Hardy, cast him because if I was directing, he would’ve gotten my first vote as well! Filling the shoes of Phil Davis (not to mention having everyone always comparing you to Danny Kaye) is not an easy one because he hast to be an absolute funny man. Every successful vaudeville act has to have two comedians where one is acting in the funny man capacity and the other as the straight man. Micheal is the perfect funny man for the show. He brings Phil to a light that I could’ve never even imagined. It is so easy to work off of him that I’m truly blessed to be on stage with Micheal. In real life, Micheal is a tremendously likable young man with a great personality and though I only met him when we started rehearsals for the show I feel as if I’ve known him forever already. I think at the Wallace and Davis combo along with the Haynes Sisters will leave you very pleased with White Christmas!

RAPID FIRE WITH MICHEAL WALLEY, PHIL DAVIS IN WHITE CHRISTMAS

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I just interviewed your co-star, Kevin and asked about working with you, so turn about is fair play…how is Kevin as a scene partner?

MICHEAL WALLEY: Oh, Kevin! When I auditioned for the show and read a scene with Kevin, I thought to myself, “I really would love to play opposite that guy!” It’s been a dream. Kevin truly is the ideal song-and-dance man, and getting to feed off of his energy and stage presence is so much fun. He and I also accidentally showed up wearing matching shirts at rehearsal one day, so he has great style.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I last saw you at the Darkhorse Theatre in Bucket List Productions’ Assassins earlier this year, but first saw you in Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre’s Minnie Pearl: All the News from Grinder’s Switch. All very diverse roles. What draws you to a role?

MICHEAL WALLEY: It’s been so fun getting to bring to life all sorts of different characters. Honestly, I’m grateful to do any role that is offered- whatever the type of role! I went a long time without doing any sort of theatre, and am in awe that people have trusted me with some really wonderful roles. The incredible team at Chaffin’s Barn (gosh – I miss it!), the cast mates that became family in Assassins, and the new friends in White Christmas have made Nashville feel like home. Each role has pushed me to be a better performer, and I’m so grateful for the community here. I’d jump at any chance to work with the wonderful people that make up the Nashville theatre community!

JHPENTERTAINMENT: If you could apply an aspect of Phil’s character into your real life, what would it be?

MICHEAL WALLEY: I love Phil’s optimism and glass-half-full nature. I’m usually an optimistic person, but man, the pandemic and the past few years have affected us all, and it’s a little harder to look on the bright side of things. I’m challenged to refocus and reconnect with my own optimism to ensure Phil’s joy is authentic onstage.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Snow is my favorite moment in the show…what’s yours?

MICHEAL WALLEY: I absolutely adore the Act 2 opener, I Love a Piano. While I’m sad that Choreography from the movie isn’t in the live stage show, this song is a pretty good substitute and a blast to perform. It’s such a big production number, and I’m really proud of what the cast has accomplished with it over the past few weeks. Plus – the costumes are fantastic!

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Singing, dancing, comedy and a little bit of drama…White Christmas has it all. I understand you co-star, Kevin is also the show’s choreographer. What has rehearsal been like?

MICHEAL WALLEY: Yes, the choreographer is none other than our Bob Wallace, Kevin Raymond. Kevin has pushed us beyond what we thought was possible. At our first rehearsal, I said, “I hope people watch my face and not my feet” because I don’t consider myself a great dancer. But Kevin has been a fantastic, patient teacher and I’ve learned so much from him. He’s helped create something really impressive on the Keeton stage, and we can’t wait for the audience to see our tapping feet! In the words of Clark Griswold, “This will be the hap, hap, happpiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny…Kaye!”

RAPID FIRE WITH CASEY CUBA, BETTY HAYNES IN WHITE CHRISTMAS

JHPENTERTAINMENT: While preparing for the role of Betty Haynes, what or who have you drawn from to channel certain attributes?

CASEY CUBA: Looking the part of Betty during this time period, I focused on the elegance and poise of my grandmothers. I always loved looking at their old photographs from the 1940s and envied how glamorous life seemed. As for the character of Betty, I have drawn on my own raw emotions, vulnerability, and life experiences. Betty is very independent and strong willed, traits that sometimes cause her to sabotage her own happiness. I often recognize these traits in myself.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Of course there are parallels between the two featured couples…Betty and Bob share more serious traits while Phil and Judy are a bit more carefree. In real life are you more a Betty or a Judy?

CASEY CUBA: I am definitely more of a Judy in real life! I am the one finding humor in almost ANY situation. Who doesn’t enjoy laughing?

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I’ve said it a hundred times…White Christmas isn’t just my favorite Christmas movie. Heck, it’s my favorite stage musical…of all-time. Aside from White Christmas, naturally…what’s your favorite holiday viewing?

CASEY CUBA: I can only choose one?!? Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is my favorite movie for Thanksgiving, but for Christmas…there are so many good ones! My top 2 favorites are probably It’s a Wonderful Life and Christmas Vacation.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: The wardrobe…can we talk about the wardrobe? The show’s director, Keith Hardy is doing double duty as the costumer as well. Do you have a favorite look?

CASEY CUBA: Yes, Keith is also the costumer. How amazing is that? He has knocked it out of the park…per usual. The dresses for Sisters, the iconic blue dresses and fans, are UNREAL! They are just gorgeous. But my absolute favorite look in the show is the black velvet gown that Betty wears for her solo of Love, You Didn’t Do Right By Me. It was made to look just like the gown Rosemary Clooney wore in the film and it is just stunning. I feel so connected to Betty in that scene with the glamour and the raw emotion. It’s just beautiful.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: If you hadn’t been cast as Betty, regardless of whether you’re the ‘type’, what other White Christmas role would you love to play?

CASEY CUBA: I would love to play Rita or Rhoda! Haha I mean c’mon! I think it would be so fun to play a ditzy, blonde bimbo! Their lines are so ridiculously funny and their costumes are hysterical!

RAPID FIRE WITH DANI HAINES, JUDY HAYNES IN WHITE CHRISTMAS JHPENTERTAINMENT: I’ve heard playing Judy a dream role for you. What is is about Judy Haynes that drew you to the part?

DANI HAINES: I’ve always had a connection with Judy since I first saw the movie when I was younger. She was a charismatic and dynamic performer and I think that really influenced how I’ve approached all the roles I’ve gotten the chance to do throughout my stage career.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I understand you’re a relative newcomer to Nashville and this is your first show at The Keeton. How’s your time in Music City been thus far and are you enjoying being part of the Keeton family?

DANI HAINES: I’ve lived in a lot of different places in my life, and Nashville has been one of my favorites! I’m excited to put down roots in a diverse, entertaining city. Joining a new theatre family will always come with unique challenges and barriers, but I’ve learned so much about myself and the community through the experience; and I’m extremely grateful for the love and support from my new friends.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: The role of Judy is dance-heavy, having first been portrayed on screen by the iconic Vera-Lynn. Do you have a dance background?

DANI HAINES: I’ve actually been a dancer most of my life! I started lessons at a young age in various genres of dance, and that was what created the gateway to my love for musical theatre. I’m so fortunate to have had the experiences I’ve been given and use them in this show.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: A little online sleuthing revealed when you’re not on stage, you work at an escape room. If you could create a White Christmas-themed escape room, what would it consist of?

DANI HAINES: Hmmm… Without a doubt, there would have to be a lot of music! I’d probably create a puzzle involving the iconic songs of the movie and the show. The theme would be “backstage and get ready so the show can go on”!

JHPENTERTAINMENT: What do you hope audiences take with them after seeing White Christmas at The Keeton?

DANI HAINES: One of the biggest lessons this show teaches its viewers is that a kind heart and goodwill towards others never goes out of style. I hope that this show serves as a reminder to us all that compassion and generosity should be celebrated year round, not just during the holiday seasons. I also hope they take home fun memories and some tapping toes!

———————————————

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas celebrates the holidays at The Larry Keeton Dinner Theatre with performances December 1-18. At the time of this posting, it would appear the entire run has sold out, but you just never know…some Scrooge might have to cancel at the last minute. You might want to call 615.231.1231 and check on last-minute availability. Dinner and Show tickets are $35/Adult and $25/children. Show Only tickets are $30/$20. CLICK HERE for more information.

Up next at The Keeton Dinner Theatre is Newsies. February 10-26. CLICK HERE for tickets. To keep up with the latest from The Larry Keeton Dinner Theatre, follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Interested in coverage for your latest entertaining endeavor? Click the contact page and drop me a note. You can also follow JHP Entertainment on Instagram and Facebook.

Rapid Fire Q&A with actor/playwright/director David Alford; ‘A Holiday To Remember’ recitations of Truman Capote’s ‘The Thanksgiving Visitor’ and ‘A Christmas Memory’ at Belmont Mansion this holiday season

November 22, 2022 by Jonathan

You may know David Alford by way of his six-season role as Bucky Dawes, manager to Connie Britton’s Rayna Jaymes on the hugely popular CMT/ABC drama series Nashville, multiple tv and film roles including The Good Fight, The Blacklist and The Last Castle, his recent appearance alongside Laura Linney, Cynthia Nixon, Richard Thomas and Michael McKean in the 2017 revival of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes on Broadway, or for having created Spirit: The Authentic Story of the Bell Witch, which recently celebrated its twentieth year in nearby Adams, TN. Either way, or even if you don’t know David, you’ll definitely want to check out A Holiday to Remember, Alford’s presentation of two of Truman Capote’s most-cherished stories, The Thanksgiving Visitor and A Christmas Memory, being presented in the Grand Salon of Nashville’s beautiful and historic Belmont Mansion with select performances November 23-December 17.

Having known David for years, not only by his aforementioned accolades, but through a mutual friend, as well as his tenure as Executive Artistic Director of Nashville Repertory Theatre a few years ago, when it was known as Tennessee Repertory Theatre, as soon as I learned he was returning to the Nashville theatre scene to perform this latest iteration of not one, but two Capote treasures, I knew I had to chat with him for my latest RAPID FIRE Q&A.

———————————————

RAPID FIRE Q&A WITH ‘A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER’ STAR, DAVID ALFORD

JHPENTERTAINMENT: In preparing to chat with you, I rewatched the mid-60s television presentations of both The Thanksgiving Visitor and A Christmas Memory starring Geraldine Page as Sook. I remember seeing them on TV about a decade later when I was a kid. These stories were my introduction to Truman Capote. What was yours?

DAVID ALFORD: My first introduction to Capote, like many other people, was seeing him on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I was young. He struck me as a strange fellow with a funny voice that the adults seemed to find terribly amusing. I knew he had a reputation as being a bit of a provocateur, someone who liked pushing boundaries. It was many years later, shortly after graduating drama school and being cast in a stage adaptation of his holiday stories, that I learned that he was much more than his public persona. He was a true literary genius, with extraordinary range. The stories from his childhood featuring his eccentric cousin Miss Sook Faulk are beautifully written and deeply moving.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Speaking of introductions, ABC’s recent drama series, Nashville may have served as an introduction to you for millions of TV viewers, but those of us in the actual town of Nashville have known you through your theatrical works for years. In fact, just last month you celebrated the 20th anniversary of your play, Spirit: The Authentic Story of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. Before we get into A Holiday to Remember, What was it like to revisit Spirit as director again this year?

DAVID ALFORD: Rewarding and humbling. I wrote and directed the first production in 2002, and then directed a revision I did in 2008. Other than that, I have been involved only as an unofficial advisor from time to time until this year. The group behind the production, CSI (Community Spirit, Inc.) has not only kept the show going every year, but they’ve grown the play into a month-long festival. The show’s success is really a testament to their commitment and hard work. Every performance this year was sold out. I’d look into the audience and see men in John Deere caps seated next to women in business attire with a few occultists thrown into the mix. It’s hard to describe the sense of gratitude I feel looking at an audience of people from wildly different backgrounds seated next to each other and experiencing the same story. It’s become its own unique phenomenon.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Now on to A Holiday to Remember. Over the years you’ve presented a variation of this show from time to time. If memory serves, I believe it’s been 30-some years since you performed A Southern Christmas Sampler and about a decade since the former iteration, Christmas Down Home was presented here in Music City. What prompted you to revisit and revise it this year at Belmont and to include not only A Christmas Memory, but also Capote’s other holiday offering, The Thanksgiving Visitor?

DAVID ALFORD: I stopped doing A Christmas Memory mainly because of my commitments to the TV show. Then I moved away for a while. I’m back home now and it felt like the time was right. I’m a little older and can bring a little more life-experience to it. Plus, I’ve missed doing the piece. I still feel very connected to it. As far as pairing it with The Thanksgiving Visitor, we actually did it before in 2004 when I was Artistic Director at Tennessee Rep (now Nashville Rep) in the Polk Theatre at TPAC. It went well, though I thought the show might have worked better in a more intimate space. This is a chance to try that. Plus, it’s an opportunity to work my memorization muscles a bit. With both pieces, it’s me doing Capote’s words for about an hour-and-a-half. I like the challenge.

Composer/Guitarist Paul Carroll Binkley’s music accompanies David Alford’s storytelling in “A Christmas Memory”

JHPENTERTAINMENT: As you have done in previous incarnations, you’ve once again enlisted the talents of your friend, Paul Carrol Binkley whose original music is featured. How did you and Paul first connect?

DAVID ALFORD: I met Paul in 1985 at Austin Peay Statue University in Clarksville, where we were both students. He became the guitarist and band leader for a group I’d earlier formed with some high school friends called The Red River Boys. We gigged a lot together, and of course Paul was already composing and playing his own music at the time. Right before I went to Juilliard, he was the music director for a production of The Robber Bridegroom I was in at APSU, and he really knocked it out of the park. So I knew he had theatre chops. When I came back to Nashville in 1994 to start Mockingbird Theatre, Paul was one of the first people I called. He did the music for our second production, Tennessee Williams‘ The Glass Menagerie, and that started a long and successful working relationship. When I had the idea to do A Christmas Memory as the centerpiece for a potential Mockingbird holiday show (which became our Southern Christmas Sampler) I asked Paul to create some underscoring for it. He did, and it was perfect. Those original musical ideas have become an irreplaceable part of the performance for me. I can’t imagine doing the piece without Paul. I still get choked up every time I hear him play the opening phrase.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: This isn’t the first time you’ve performed at Belmont Mansion in the Grand Salon. What makes it such an ideal venue for these stories?

DAVID ALFORD: Well, it’s an incredibly evocative space, and the acoustics are excellent. Both pieces are about Truman’s childhood and set in the early 1930s, and though Belmont Mansion was around long before that, there are still echoes of the past that help underscore the context. And while I love working in traditional theaters, sometimes matching content with an appropriate nontraditional performance space can really resonate with an audience. I think this show in the mansion does that pretty well.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: For those who may not have seen your previous presentations, what can the audience expect?

DAVID ALFORD: The show is me doing Capote’s text uncut from memory with Paul’s original underscoring. The Thanksgiving Visitor is first. It has a four-piece combo and is a little more energetic in feel with me mostly on my feet. For A Christmas Memory, we’re performing it the same way we have since the beginning: I’m seated on a stool, with Paul in a chair just behind. It’s me, Capote’s words, and Paul’s guitar.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Aside from Buddy, the young boy at the center of both The Thanksgiving Visitor and A Christmas Memory, both stories feature his Cousin, Sook, an eccentric relative, and Buddy’s best friend. Research also revealed that you once cited your grandmother as your voice inspiration for your Sook. What can you tell me about finding the voice for each of the characters?

DAVID ALFORD: Good question! Thankfully the stories are mostly Capote’s narrative prose, so I don’t have to do a huge amount of vocal characterization. It’s mostly Sook and Buddy (her nickname for young Truman) with a handful of other characters sprinkled in. The challenge is to honor the text and what Capote’s trying to accomplish from a narrative perspective, while finding voices that stay true to the setting (a small town in the depression-era Deep South). And then within that framework, to find enough variation so the audience doesn’t get confused. Mostly it’s a lot of experimentation and trying to use as much of my vocal range as I can!

JHPENTERTAINMENT: On the subject of voices and characters, Capote, himself was quite a character and he possessed a very distinctive voice. I mentioned earlier the mid-60s teleplays. Capote served as narrator for those, so I gotta know…do you narrate in a Capote-esque voice?

DAVID ALFORD: I do not, for a couple of reasons. First, I think trying to replicate Truman’s voice calls too much attention to the performer and not enough to the words on the page. Instead, what I try to do in the narration is present Truman’s literary voice, his written voice, which is substantially more expressive and has greater range than his speaking voice ever did. His writing in these stories is masterful: funny, lyrical, and at times breathtakingly beautiful. I wouldn’t want any impression I did to get in the way of that. There’s definitely a specific southern flavor of course: accent, playfulness, and wit, but less affectation. But also, from a practical perspective, I think the more important voice is Sook’s and the other characters, and it’s hard to imagine someone with Truman’s voice being able to alter their tonality enough to make those voices convincing. So you’re either doing Truman all the way through (including the other character’s voices) or you’re finding the voices of the other characters and making the narration more neutral. I don’t think you can do both. So I do the latter.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: Oh, I knew we should have gone ahead and done a full Rapid Fire 20Q, but I didn’t want to take up too much of your time…so….Can you share a little about cherished holiday memories of your own?

DAVID ALFORD: Well, of course, I have many, most of them from my childhood and from people that are gone now. My dad rarely provided the things on our Christmas lists, but he always made it special. He was a pastor, and this was his favorite time of year. One of the things that brings people back to A Christmas Memory is that Capote acknowledges the full range of memories of the people we love who are no longer with us. Those memories can be funny, touching, sweet, warm, awkward, joyful: but they can also make us feel a keen sense of loss. Leave it to his genius to be able to encapsulate all that in a short story. But to answer your question directly, and at the risk of sounding schmaltzy, the truth is that many of my most treasured holiday experiences have been sharing this story with a roomful of fellow human beings.

JHPENTERTAINMENT: I usually end these chats with basically the same question…What do you hope audiences take away from seeing A Holiday to Remember?

DAVID ALFORD: That Truman Capote is an under-appreciated genius and one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. That all people, no matter how odd, eccentric, or marginalized, have value and can teach us something. That love always makes a difference.

———————————————

David Alford’s A Holiday to Remember begins Wednesday, November 23 with subsequent performances November 25 & 26 and December 1,3,15 and 16. All Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and will take place in the Grand Salon on Belmont Mansion (On the campus of Belmont University at the corner of Acklen Avenue and Belmont Blvd- behind Freeman Hall, 1901 15th Ave S., Nashville, TN 37212) Tickets to each performance are $45 and include lite refreshments and a peek at the holiday decorations of the Mansion’s first floor. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets. For more about David Alford, CLICK HERE. If you’re interested in learning more about Belmont Mansion or perhaps scheduling a full tour during the holiday, CLICK HERE.

As always, if you wanna follow JHPEntertainment to find out who I’m chatting with for my next Rapid Fire Q&A, or for my take on the latest local and national theatre, music and movie offerings, find us at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Got an event or show we should know about, drop us a line at the Contact tab. Till then, #GoSeeTheShow!

Nashville House Concerts December offering to feature Gretchen Wilson, Diana DeGarmo and all-star line-up at War Memorial Auditorium Thursday, December 6

December 4, 2018 by Jonathan

In its short year-plus history, Nashville House Concerts has quickly become one of Music City’s most popular monthly live music events. Heck, its debut season was even named the city’s Best New Concert Series by the Nashville Convention & Visitor Corporation. With a roster including Marcus and Levi Hummon, Lucie Silvas, New Reveille, Tegan Marie, Halfway to Hazard, Diana DeGarmo and Gretchen Wilson, the December 6 installment, housed as always at War Memorial Auditorium, is poised to prove that accolade true.

Having debuted the first Thursday in September 2017, Season One of Nashville House Concerts continued each first Thursday through June 2017. The monthly music series returned to the stage of Music City’s historic War Memorial Auditorium in September of this year.

Nashville House Concerts host Storme Warren

Co-hosted by SiriusXM’s Storme Warren, Season Two of the Nashville House Concerts has Warren joined by co-host, singer Shelly Fairchild with singer/songwriter Chris Roberts at the helm of the It Is What It Is house band made up of some on Music City’s most sought-after players.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to talk with Storme about the concert series. When asked about the mix of entertainers presented each month at the iconic venue, Storme explained, “Each show we strive to put on display artists from all corners of music and entertainment. Newcomers, songwriters, comedians and superstars all share this legendary stage.”

Of the show’s brief, but successful stint, Storme continued, “Music, stories, laughs and audience interaction are the goals each month. A year and a half in, this series just keeps getting better.”

When asked about the job of co-hosting the monthly concert series, Storme revealed, “I got in to this business to get close to people who create art. But truly, the real goal has always been to bring fans closer to those who create the soundtracks and entertainment for our lives. I’m just a conduit.”

The Nashville House Concerts certainly do bring fans closer to the artists. Presented in one of Nashville’s older concert venues…the building was originally built in 1925…War Memorial Auditorium seats around 2000 patrons. When you compare that to venues like nearby Bridgestone Arena, with a seating capacity of 20,000, an evening at War Memorial Auditorium is an intimate experience, indeed.

More About the December Nashville House Concerts artists

MARCUS AND LEVI HUMMON

Marcus and Levi Hummon are singer/songwriters, who just so happen to be father and son. Marcus garnered notoriety and a Grammy as co-writer of Rascal Flatts‘ 2004 mega-hit, Bless the Broken Road. Marcus and co-writers Bobby Boyd and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna had originally penned the song in 1994, and prior to Rascal Flatts recording it, it had originally been recorded by Hanna and his bandmates for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Acoustic cd. Human also covered the tune in 1995 on his solo debut album, All in Good Time. The song was also recorded by Sons of the Desert, although that version was never released due to conflict between the band and their label. Proving the song’s power, following Rascal Flatts’ duetting with Carrie Underwood on it during the 2005 American Idol season, a studio recording of their new duet was released. Also indicating the power of the song, just last year the tune was the basis for the inspirational movie of the same title. Among his many other songwriter credits, Hummon also co-wrote Ready to Run and Cowboy Take Me Away for Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw’s One of These Days, Wynona’s Only Love, Chely Wright’s Jezebel and Sara Evans’ Born to Fly, just to name a few.

Though music was always around him while growing up, Levi Hummon had no real intentions of following in his famous songwriter father’s footsteps, focusing instead on visual arts and sculpture while attending college away from Nashville at a private school in Florida. In spite of his flair for visual art, the younger Hummon, whose bio cites musical influences as varied the Ramones and Mumford and Sons to the White Stripes and Outcast, did always have a guitar near and while away at school began to occasionally pluck away, writing a song here and there, eventually returning to Nashville and beginning weekly co-writing sessions with his dad and others. a publishing deal, as well as a recording contract soon followed. Interestingly, those weekly writing sessions, occurred on Thursday, just like the Nashville House Concerts series. Hummon’s popularity only growing, Patient, his latest EP was released in October and his Spotify artist profile currently boasts more than 505,000 monthly listeners.

LUCIE SILVAS

British-born singer Silvas released her debut single It’s Too Late in the spring of 2000. A year later, she switched gears a bit as she signed a publishing contract as a songwriter for Chrysalis Records. Those early tunes were recorded by British artists including Liberty X, Gareth Gates and Will Young, who all got their start on Brit-based music competition shows. Though she was enjoying success behind the scenes, Silvas continued to write and record music herself, releasing Breathe In in 2004. The project’s release, propelled by six singles, became a Platinum-selling record in the UK, Spanish Album Chart and Dutch Albums Chart. It also enjoyed success on the Austrian and French charts.

More international success followed with SIlvas’ 2007 release, The Same Side and in 2010, Silvas made the trek across the pond where she began working on music for her next project, Letters to Ghosts. While working on Letters, Silvas also wrote songs for the hit NBC musical drama, Smash for Hit List, the Season 2 musical within the show. Among her Smash tunes: Heart Shaped Wreckage, Pretender, Don’t Let Me Know, and Calling Out My Name. On October 15, 2013 Silvas’ songs were included in a live concert at New York’s famed 54 Below, performed by Smash stars Jeremy Jordan, Andy Mientus and Krysta Rodriguez.

Silvas’ long-anticipated Letters to Ghosts was released by Silvas’ own label, Furthest Point Records in September 2015. In 2016, she continued to solidify her Music City ties by co-writing and providing backing vocals on Miranda Lambert’s Smoking Jacket, included on Lambert’s ACM Album of the Year, The Weight of These Wings. While continuing to establish herself in Nashville, Silvas also bridged the gap between Music City and her British roots by appearing as part of the 2017 line-up for C2C: Country to Country an international country music festival held each year in London’s famed O2 Arena. Silvas’ latest cd, E.G.O. was released earlier this year.

NEW REVEILLE

Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, New Reveille, is a five-member Americana band comprised of lead vocalist Amy Kamm, banjo and guitars by Daniel Cook, guitarist George Hage, violinist Autumn Brand and cellist Kaitlin Grady. That’s right, while they’re categorized as Americana, a sound deeply rooted in country and bluegrass, the inclusion of a cello indicates they just might be genre-defying…or is that genre-defining? Currently signed to Loud and Proud Records (roster mates include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Zant, Blues Traveler and Rick Springfield), New Reveille’s just-released The Keep was getting notice even before its September 7 release date. Rolling Stone Country named them among the 10 New Country Artists You Need To Know. Following their debut release, New Reveille lived up to the Rolling Stone mention with performances around Music City during September’s 19th annual AmericanaFest, as well as featured performances on Today in Nashville and The Attic Sessions. Produced by Grammy-winning producer/engineer Ben Fowler. The Keep’s lead single, Hounds is out now.

TEGAN MARIE

When she was just seven years old, Tegan Marie became an internet sensation by posting a music performance video on a popular entertainment site for young girls. In the eight years since, Marie started her own YouTube channel and continued to post videos of herself covering songs ranging from The Band Perry and RaeLynn to LeAnn Rimes and Faith Hill, resulting in thousands and thousands of online views and droves of adoring fans of all ages. It wasn’t just fans who were paying attention, but also music industry folks as well.

In 2017, at the age of 13, Marie signed a recording contract with Warner, making her the youngest singer to sign such a deal in more than four decades—Tanya Tucker, who had her first hit in 1972, also at age 13, previously held that honor. Marie’s current deal, a partnership between Warner and the teen and tween girls’ site, SweetyHigh.com has already produced two singles, Keep It Lit, released in January of this year, and I Know How To Make A Boy Cry, released in June. Last month, in a bit of age-appropriateness, Marie, now 15, appeared at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade high atop the Girl Scouts’ Building a Better World float where she performed Keep it Lit. Following Thursday’s Nashville House Concert, Tegan Marie will next be seen in Nashville at Wendy Darling at TPAC in Lythgoe Family Panto’s Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate Christmas.

HALFWAY TO HAZARD

Singer/songwriters David Tolliver and Chad Warrix, collectively known as Halfway to Hazard, released their self-titled debut album on Mercury Nashville in 2007. The cd’s first single Daisy hit the US Billboard Hot Country Songs Top 40 chart in 2007 while the album itself peaked at an impressive #14, just a few spots shy of the US Country Top Ten. That same year, they toured as the opening act for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul tour. Landing such a key tour gig no doubt came to fruition, at least in part, thanks to the fact that McGraw co-produced the project alongside Byron Gallimore. With a nomination for ACM Duo of the Year to their credit, Halfway to Hazard later joined McGraw and Jason Aldean on their Live Your Voice tour.

Following the switch to indie label Picnic Hill Records, Halfway to Hazard released their sophomore effort, Come On Time in 2009, its featured single, I Know Where Heaven Is. In 2012, Warrix related a solo album and both he and Tolliver seemed to focus on songwriting, Tolliver signing a publishing deal as a songwriter for McGraw’s StyleSonic publishing company that resulted in a Tolliver/Warrix co-write on McGraw’s Die by My Own Hand from the singer’s 2012 Emotional Traffic album. In 2013, Tolliver penned the tune Let Me Love It Out of You, included on McGraw’s 2013 Big Machine debut recording. In 2017, Halfway to Hazard released their third studio album, REDemption which included singles Heaven On Down the Highway and American Outlaw.

DIANA DeGARMO

Singer/songwriter/actress Diana DeGarmo, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Snellville, Georgia. As a youngster, she performed in musical theatre productions, but it was during Season 3 of American Idol in 2004 that he star began to rise. After landing in the final two for the season, DeGarmo’s undeniable charm, talent and stage presences only grew. Not long after her Idol season, DeGarmo starred as Maria in a regional production of West Side Story in the fall of 2005. That lead to her Broadway debut as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray in 2006.

That same year, DeGarmo starred in the national touring company of Brooklyn, returning to Broadway for a second to resume the role of Penny in Hairspray.

In 2009, DeGarmo starred as the Narrator in a local production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She returned to New York later that year to star off-Broadway in The Toxic Avenger. Still in New York in 2010, DeGarmo joined the Broadway company of Hair, which coincidentally also starred another former American Idol contender, Ace Young. Coincidence became the stuff of fairy tales as the two eventually fell in love and married.

2010 saw DeGarmo take on the role of Doralee Rhodes in the national touring company of 9 to 5: The Musical. Dolly Parton had originated the character in the film upon which the musical is based.

After moving to Nashville, DeGarmo married fellow Idol vet Young in 2013. The following year, the duo shared the stage in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, DeGarmo reprising her role as the Narrator, with husband, Ace, starring as Joseph. Following her time with the tour, DeGarmo landed the lead of Dorothy Gale in Studio Tenn’s Broadway-worthy production of The Wizard of Oz in 2015. The next year saw DeGarmo continue to wow audiences with her international turn as Lucy in the South Korean production of Jekyll and Hyde. In May 2018, DeGarmo and hubby Young shared the stage once again as she returned to Studio Tenn for their hugely successful production of Grease. Of course she played Sandy to his Danny.

DeGarmo’s Nashville House Concerts appearance comes just after her late-summer run in North Shore’s Jekyll and Hyde. Immediately following Thursday’s Nashville House Concerts performance, DeGarmo resumes rehearsals for her next role. She’ll be sharing the stage at TPAC with her Nashville House Concerts co-headliner, Tegan Marie playing Tinker Bell in the aforementioned Lythgoe Family Panto Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: A Pirate Christmas, which also stars Garrett Clayton as Peter Pan, John O’Hurley as Captain Hook and Ben Giroux as Smee.

GRETCHEN WILSON

Having been a part of Music City’s infamous MuzikMafia, Gretchen Wilson has always been seen as one of modern country music’s authentic outlaws. From the moment Gretchen Wilson released her unapologetically anthemic Grammy-winning Redneck Woman, the #1 single off her 2004 debut record, Here for the Party, Music City—and the world—knew there was a new woman in town and she was ready to take no prisoners. She kept that momentum going with the singles Here for the Party, Homewrecker and When I Think About Cheatin’, all three of which landed in the Top 5 Hot Country Singles Chart as well. In addition to the above-referenced Grammy win for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Wilson’s debut release also received Grammy nominations for Best Country Album, Best Country Song and Wilson received a nod in the Best New Artist category.

Her sophomore effort, All Jacked Up debuted at #1 while the lead single debuted at #21, setting what was then the record for the highest-debuting single by a female country artist. Other charting singles included I Don’t Feel Like Loving You Today, Politically Uncorrect (with Merle Haggard) and California Girls. While it wasn’t released as a single, the album also included Wilson’s beautiful take on the Billie Holiday torch classic, Good Morning Heartache. Once again, Wilson snagged a handful of Grammy nominations, including Best Country Album, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.

Wilson’s third album, One of the Boys, was released in 2007 and debuted at #1 on the Country Album Chart. The project featured a duet with her MuzikMafia pal, John Rich on the single Come to Bed. Other singles from the album included the title track and You Don’t Have to Go Home.

Practicing her outlaw self-sufficient ways, Wilson parted way with her label and started her own, Redneck Records. In 2010 he long-awaited fourth album I Got Your Country Right Here marked her label’s premiere release. The album’s lead single, Work Hard, Play Harder became her first Top 20 hit since 2005’s All Jacked Up. The title track became her second single, with I’d Love to Be Your Last, released in 2011, being the third and final single released from the album.

2013 saw Wilson release an impressive three projects, Right On Time, resulting in Still Rollin, One Good Friend and Crazy. Among the unreleased tracks, my personal favorite, Get Out of My Yard, written by Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Kacey Musgraves. Wilson’s other 2013 releases—Under the Covers, a collection of cover tunes presented with Wilson’s unique handling and Christmas in My Heart, a holiday offering containing a mix of new and classic Christmas songs. Wilson returned in 2017 with the appropriately titled Ready to Get Rowdy…as if she ever wasn’t.

Nashville House Concerts will continue the first Thursday of each month through June 2019. CLICK HERE for tickets.

If you’ve enjoyed this preview and would like to keep up with upcoming Nashville House Concerts and other events at War Memorial Auditorium, find them online at wmarocks.com, ’like’ them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram and Twitter.

Interested in coverage for your latest entertaining endeavor? Click the contact page and drop me a note. You can also follow JHP Entertainment on Instagram and Facebook.