Nash FM 94.7 Summer Shindig Kicks Off Memorial Day Weekend

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Nash FM Summer Shindig

Photo Via @NashFm947 Instagram

This past Friday (May 25.), was without a doubt the most beautiful day of the long weekend and New York Country Swag headed down to the Jersey Shore to celebrate the official summer kick off with Nash FM 94.7 and their Summer Shindig. Taking place right on the boardwalk of the New Jersey beaches, DJs, Katie Neal and Jesse Addy broadcasted live from Spicy Cantina prior to the concert event.  Fans gathered early rocking their bathing suits, American flag attire, and smiles as the boardwalk was filled with country music lovers and beachgoers alike.

Nash FM Summer Shindig

Photo Via @NashFm947 Instagram

As the tri-state area’s lifeline to new country music, Nash FM 9.47 brought a full line-up of incredible artists to the beach for their very first Summer Shindig including Jessie Chris, Michael Tyler, Carly Pearce, Chris Lane and Granger Smith. First up, Jessie Chris sang a few of her original songs before local high school student Bri Dorso took the stage to sing an incredible rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with the American Flag waving behind her.

Nash FM Summer Shindig

Michael Tyler photo via @NashFm947 Instagram

Michael Tyler was next to the stage after Nash FM 94.7 DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy welcomed the crowd to the event.  Tyler who sang his singles “Hey Mama” and “They Can’t See” also put a spin on a song he co-wrote for Dierks Bentley, “Somewhere on a Beach” which was fitting for the boardwalk, beach setting.  Tyler told PIX News 11 in an interview it was the first time he was singing the song actually on a beach.

Nash Fm Summer Shindig

Carly Pearce photo via @NashFm947 Instagram

After a short break, Carly Pearce was next up, wearing a tank top with the word “Wine” in a heart, which boded well considering it was National Wine Day and played perfectly when she sang her second radio hit “Hide the Wine”. Check out a clip from the song here.  Pearce sang album cuts including her very first single and number one song, “Every Little Thing”. “Thanks to stations like this one, shout out to NashFM 94,” Pearce exclaimed for helping her to achieve the accomplishment with “Every Little Thing”.

Nash FM Summer Shindig

Chris Lane Photo Via @NashFm947 Instagram

Chris Lane’s stage presence and energy brought Nash FM’s Summer Shindig to another level, performing his singles “Let Me Love You”, “Fix”, and even some throwback Tim McGraw with “I Like It, I Love It”.  The singer also invited a pint-size fan to the stage, she sat on a stool while he serenaded her with his love song “For Her”.  Lane asked the ladies in the audience to sing Tori Kelly’s part in his most recent smash hit “Take Back Home Girl”, check out our exclusive clip here.

Nash FM Summer Shindig

“Nash FM 94.7 knows how to throw a party, this is awesome!  Thank you guys for coming out here and letting us live our dreams tonight,” Granger Smith said after taking the stage as the final artist of the afternoon.  Smith sang songs from his latest album When the Good Guys Win including “Happens Like That” and in true Earl Dibble’s Jr. form, “Don’t Tread on Me” complete with “Yee Yee’s” from the crowd. Check out our exclusive from the stage video of “If the Boot Fits” here. 

Nash FM Summer Shindig

Nash FM DJs Katie Neal & Jesse Addy introducing each act to the stage. Photo via @NashFm947 Instagram

The blue sky and sunshine was the perfect setting for a day filled with American pride and great country music.  For more info on events that NashFM 94.7 is hosting this summer head to their Instagram or their website.

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NYCS Swag Spotlight: Natalie Stovall

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Natalie Stovall

Natalie Stovall had quite the different upbringing compared to other children her age.  She explained her backstory to New York Country Swag in a recent phone conversation.  When she was very young, she knew that she wanted to play music and be on stage for a living.  She started playing the fiddle when she was four years old, growing up in a small town about an hour outside of Nashville.  Her parents were very supportive, driving her back and forth to all of her lessons whether it was for the fiddle, acting or singing classes.

Since she spent so much time in the car, she recalls always listening to music through the car radio. “I was such a child of the radio, it didn’t matter if it was country or top 40, but I kind of knew every song on the radio. I would do homework and listen to music in the car,” she tells us. She was enamored by the making of Michael Jackson’s music video “Thriller” from a very young age, she explains “Thriller” and Cinderella were on repeat in her house.

“I grew up playing and when I was ten I auditioned for a show called ‘The Opry Land Kids Club’ it was kind of like the Mickey Mouse Club type of show, but it was in the same park as Opryland USA,” she told us.  From then on she took every opportunity to be on stage performing, singing and playing her fiddle for an audience. She attended college in Boston at a music school, perfecting her craft until she finally graduated, came right back to Nashville and has been writing and performing ever since.

She explains that most artists don’t spend as much time as she did on the road in the beginning, but right after college her love for being on stage has kept her traveling and playing gigs across the country. “I very quickly started playing over 200 days a year, I realized I had to start asking for days off or I would never be home,” she laughs. “I love being on the road, being on stage, that is where the magic happens and that’s where I want to be as much as possible.”

She has learned that balance is the key component in this industry, balancing her time out on the road with being home and writing new music as well as a balance between recording outside cuts that move her and recording her own songs.  “Nashville is the epicenter of great songwriters and incredible songs, there are more songs that have been written here that are just mindblowing, that will level you,” she tells us “That’s one of those things that Nashville has such an incredible wealth of music that I always want to be open to all sides of it.” When Stovall hears a song that she wishes she wrote, that is how she knows it should be something she should consider recording for her own projects.

Her latest single “Making Out in Cars” is one of those songs that she did not write, but knew right when she heard it that it should be recorded for the world to hear. “It’s messy and complicated but it’s also hopeful and it’s all of the emotions at once; it’s like a snapshot of someone’s life and I just think it’s such a cool song,” Stovall says about the song.

She is looking forward to continuing to release music a little at a time and get to support that music on the road this summer. For tour dates head to nataliestovall.com and be sure to follow Stovall on social media: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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Walker Hayes Shares Thank You Letter About New Single, “Craig”

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If you haven’t heard Walker Hayes’ brand new single “Craig” yet, you should take a listen to the song that wasn’t originally meant for anyone to hear but Craig and his family.  Yesterday, Hayes shared on his Instagram a very personal thank you to his team and to everyone who has supported the song since his decision to put it on his debut album Boom. Click here to see the Instagram post, below are the incredible words he wrote regarding the song and his team for encouraging him to release it.

 

Walker Hayes Craig Letter via Instagram

Walker Hayes Craig Letter via Instagram

From Walker: 

“just a ripped out draft…help me clean it up

I felt a responsibility as an artist to put “Craig” out as my second single.
I know it’s not the easiest option for country radio to play…
I know it takes a listen or two for people to embrace the message…
I know it is alarmingly different and stylistically polarizing…
But it’s the truth…and every time I sing it, I mean it…I feel it…and I know it means something to someone listening.

It took me about 3 months to write “Craig.”
My sole intention was to say “thank you” to Craig for all that he means to my family and me.
I personally struggle with expressing emotions of love or gratitude to other guys…
It is very awkward and forced when I say “I love you” to my dad or my brothers…
I’m not sure why…it’s just always been like that…
I had told Craig thank you many times and that we loved him and his family, but it was always followed with a joke or a quick subject change…
This song was my thank you note.

The lyrics to “Craig” are exactly how the story went down.
Every line is the truth.
The church really is called Redeeming Grace…
I really did smell like beer…
We really did lose our van…
And Craig really did show up at the ballpark “after my sons game one night in two cars with his wife Laura watchin’ from the other…”

There’s at least 3 pages of story that didn’t make it in the song.
There was an entire verse about how…from the stage…I could always see Craig in the back of the bar…talking someone’s ear off.
I knew every time he was telling them how amazing he thought I was…how well I could write…that I’d be playing stadiums one day…
here was also a verse about how Craig wasn’t rich…how his gesture truly was a sacrifice for his family to make by offering me their own van.
There was so much to the story that I wanted to share…

Craig and his wife, Laura, appreciated the song so much…
They listened to it in their car in a movie theater parking lot and cried together.
Craig’s first text to me after hearing the song was…”speechless”
Craig and Laura didn’t play it for anyone.  That’s how humble they are.
They never told anyone they had given us a van. Not a soul.
Even Craig’s twin brother had no idea they had helped us.
The song was meant to be a gift for their ears only.  A thank you in song form.

But everything changed when I played the song for my producer, Shane McAnally.
He insisted that it go on the album and I was shocked…
The song is so specific and personal I wondered who could relate…
We took the original version and added an intro to it…
We were all “speechless” when the final edit was 3 minutes and 16 seconds long…
3:16.
I know…goosebumps right…

The reactions to “Craig” have spoken…
I’ve met countless people who are reminded of the “Craig’s” in their lives.
I’ve met countless people who are inspired to be like Craig.
I’ve met countless people who have been inspired by the song to give cars to families in need, pay it forward, adopting children, etc. in response to the song.
It’s crazy what the story of Craig and me is causing…
And as an artist…that’s what it’s all about…
Telling the world about things that change us…
That’s why I had to put this song out.

Craig and his family and their example mean everything to me.
I needed them.  I must tell y’all about em.
I want to introduce them to everyone.

I think my kids were safe cuz Craig was saved.”

 

The New York Country Swag team was honored to have Walker Hayes play a Swag Session with us recently when he was in town opening for Kelsea Ballerini.  Check out the full video below where Hayes gives even more of a backstory about “Craig” and grab the single here.

 

 

 

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