Cindy Watts

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Cindy Watts

Nashville is known as a 10-year town, and Kane Brown has almost hit the bullseye. He released his debut album in December of 2016 on Sony Music Nashville. Before that, he made a name for himself by singing country cover songs on social media. He often traveled the two hours from his native Chattanooga area to Music City. When Brown became a fixture on the country music scene, he was so shy he struggled to make eye contact.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Cindy Watts

A little over a decade since Garth Brooks officially ended his retirement from touring – he’s released the newest edition of his popular Anthology collection. Anthology V| The First Five Years is a collection of interviews, stories, and six albums from 2014 forward when he re-emerged in Nashville with plans for an album on Sony Music Nashville and a record-breaking years-long arena tour.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Cindy Watts

When you’ve worked in country music as long as Ira Dean, you’ve probably made a few friends. And, if you’ve built a reputation for being a decent guy and solid songwriter – they probably answer the phone when you call. More than two-and-a-half decades after Dean started cranking out country radio songs with the trio Trick Pony, he released what he sees as his first solo album on April 11. Dean called many of his friends to participate. They said yes.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Cindy Watts

AI is the hottest of topics in the creative space as artists, singers, writers, and speakers worry that internet-generated content mimicking their style and copying their voices will insult their integrity and threaten their livelihoods. But when used correctly—AI can restore what was lost. Country music icon Randy Travis lost his voice in a life-threatening stroke in 2013. He can speak or sing single words, but his disability makes it impossible to continue his career on the same trajectory.

1 week ago | americansongwriter.com | Cindy Watts

Charlie Daniels recognized that look in Ira Dean‘s eyes because he had been there himself. When Dean’s band, Trick Pony, opened for Daniels around 2002, Daniels sent his tour manager to fetch Dean after the show and bring him to his dressing room. Dean didn’t understand. He tried to grab his bandmates, Heidi Newfield and Keith Burns, and bring them with him. Daniels’ tour manager told him no. “Trick Pony was at our peak, and my self-destruction was at its peak,” Dean said.