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Matt Stell Performs at Stage 17 for Nash FM 94.7

Matt Stell

This evening, one of our recent Swag Sessions, Matt Stell performed at Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 for Nash FM 94.7 and some very lucky NYCountry Swag winners. After a warm welcome from Nash FM 94.7 DJs Jesse Addy and Katie Neal Stell took the stage to give the listeners at home and in the studio audience a sneak peek at some new music and play his current single.

He sang a song he wrote with Ash Bowers, “Home in Hometown” as well as a great breakup song, about not being able to move on. “I could add another push pin to the map, that won’t stop me from missing you or looking back / there’s just one place I haven’t gone, I’ve moved everywhere but on,” he sang in the chorus.

“I grew up in a place nothing like here, at all, and it amazes me that so many people love country music and I think it’s a real testament to country music, that it speaks to us all,” he said to the audience. In honor of playing above Madison Square Garden, Stell worked up his own version of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind”. The acoustic guitar puts an entirely new spin on the classic tune.

Katie Neal and Jesse Addy came back to the stage to chat about Stell’s decision to forgo heading to Harvard Medical School to pursue his dream of writing and playing music in Nashville. “Honestly, I haven’t regretted it once,…that’s how I knew I need to be playing music”.

Matt Stell

They also discussed one of his more unique influences, Alanis Morrisette and her album Jagged Little Pill. “Music, in my opinion, is a means to an end, a means to a feeling, and she just did it in spades and every song on that record was so great,” he said.

He answered some questions from the studio audience like, “Whiskey or bourbon?” to which he quickly answered, bourbon. “Dream collaboration?” he said Levon Helm, who hailed from his home state of Arkansas and he named Hootie and the Blowfish as other influences in his life.

Finally, the DJs discussed Stell’s very first debut radio single, “Prayed For You” which applies to single people looking for love, people in loving relationships or even anyone fighting a battle and overcoming hardships. He closed his set by playing one of the most requested songs on Nash FM 94.7 in 2019, “Prayed For You”.  Watch the full Facebook Live below and thank you to all of our followers who entered our contest to win tickets.

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Florida Georgia Line Celebrate Album Release in NYC

Florida Georgia Line

This past Friday (Feb. 15), multi-platinum-selling country duo Florida Georgia Line spent the day promoting their highly anticipated fourth studio album, Can’t Say I Ain’t Country, throughout New York City.
We first caught the guys during their exclusive in-studio Nash FM 94.7 interview with host Kelly Ford in the early afternoon, which aired on Nash FM over the weekend. The superstar duo discussed the process of making the record, along with backstories behind a few of the songs, which Ford hand-picked. “Talk You Out Of It,” “Swerve” and “Speed Of Love” were among Ford’s favorites. The radio host continued to compliment Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley on their entrepreneurship with all three of their businesses; their Nashville bar, FGL House, their whiskey brand, Old Camp Whiskey and BK’s clothing brand, Tribe Kelley. Ending the interview, Hubbard and Kelley gave everyone in the audience a physical copy of the new album as a thank you for supporting them over the years.

Later that evening, the duo teamed up with iHeartRadio for an official intimate album release party held at the iHeartRadio theater. The two superstars performed an hour-long set, along with a special question and answer portion, hosted by Brooke Taylor.

Florida Georgia Line

Kelley and Hubbard opened up about the album’s title, their choice of featured artists on the record and who Brother Jervel is. When asked about why they named the album ‘Can’t Say I Ain’t Country’, Hubbard took the lead and revealed it started with the album’s title track, telling fans it became Kelley’s idea to title the album the same name. The duo continued to explain how they came to choose each collaboration for the record, “Everybody that’s on our album in the collaborations, it just fit perfect. It was really organic. We wrote a song called “Women” with Jason Derulo out in L.A. a couple years ago and there was no chance his voice wasn’t going to be on that one. We left it, already sounded amazing, and we already had a vision of what it was going to sound like. And Jason Aldean, he answered back real quick and said, ‘Hey. I’ll hop on with y’all. That’s sounds amazing. Love the song.’ And HARDY is somebody, one of those young guns. We love him and couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s a rock star. He’s a hell of a songwriter and also a heck of an artist, too. So we kind of go by the song and imagine who we hear and who fits naturally and just kind of put out feelers.”

Hubbard revealed the man behind the character Brother Jervel who is featured in the four skits on the album. Brother Jervel is one of their longtime friends, whose real name is Chris. Chris would leave the guys funny voicemails and it sparked the idea of creating skits to set up some songs on the record.

The superstar duo performed five songs from Can’t Say I Ain’t Country, four of them being for the very first time, including “Colorado,” “People Are Different,” “Swerve” and “Y’all Boys.” They also performed the album’s lead single “Simple,” along with their record-breaking hit collaboration with Bebe Rexha, “Meant to Be” and tailgating tune with Morgan Wallen, “Up Down.”

Florida Georgia Line

Hubbard and Kelley couldn’t end the night without a few shots of their very own whiskey (of course) and performing their crowd-favorite hits, “H.O.L.Y.,” “Anything Goes,” “Round Here,” “This Is How We Roll” and the song that got it all started for them, “Cruise.”

Florida Georgia Line will hit the road this summer for their ‘Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour’ with Dan + Shay, Morgan Wallen, HARDY and Canaan Smith. New Yorkers can catch the show at Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on Saturday, July 20th. Visit http://www.floridageorgialine.com for all ticketing information.
Can’t Say I Ain’t Country is now available everywhere you stream or buy music.

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Randy Houser Performs Up Close & Country at Nash FM 94.7

On Tuesday, January 15, a lucky group of Nash FM 94.7 listeners and NYCountry Swag winners were invited to witness one of country music’s greatest vocalists, Randy Houser, live. Performing an acoustic set from the Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 as part of the station’s “Up Close and Country” series, Houser sang some of his biggest hits in addition to songs from his new album, Magnolia.

From the studio located high above Madison Square Garden, Houser launched his set with “How Country Feels,” which was the first song ever played on NASH FM 94.7 when it launched on January 21, 2013, and brought country music back to the Big Apple. Backed by a keyboardist and guitarist, Houser’s voice was on full display during the six-song set, which also included his first ever Top 5 hit, “Boots On,” which went to number 2. “There’s a big difference between number one and number two,” he laughed.

While Houser may have performed a few of his classics, the show was a really a celebration of Magnolia, released January 11th. For the singer-songwriter, the deeply-personal project was a “labor of love” that truly shows off a different side of the singer. “When I started this record, I had reached this point in my life where I wanted to make sure I was being able to flex my brain and my muscle,” Houser revealed. “I feel like a lot of times a lot of the music ends up staring to sound the same and like everyone else’s because everybody at a lot of record labels encourage people to copy the last thing that was working and whatever was the most popular thing last week. ‘Let’s make sure we do some of that.’ So for me, it was just like couldn’t do it. I grew a little bit tired of the same sound and I wanted to go create something that you could only get at Randy Houser’s house.”

In addition to the album, which Houser initially funded himself (“I thought I might get dropped,” he jokes of his record label.), the album is also the subject of a feature film, to be released at a later date. While the film was initially slated for release with the album, some large outlets and festivals have expressed interest, so the release is currently to be decided. According to Houser, the music serves as a backdrop for the film.

As for why he named the project Magnolia, Houser revealed that it all stemmed from a tree he discovered as a child that he’d get in trouble for climbing. “That’s partly the way I felt about this album. It was also something that was part of me climbing a tree and climbing up and ya know, using what I had to be me and to move up another level.” He felt like he was expected to “maintain the status quo” and make a lot of “different cars in that same color” because that was what was working and selling when it came to his music. “This album was sort of a return to myself, and what makes me, me…and the Magnolia trees I climbed.”

From the new album, Houser sang one of his favorite songs, “No Stone Unturned,” which he co-wrote with his brother-in-law Dallas Davidson about a “traveling man.” He also performed the ballad, “Our Hearts,” which was written about the start of his relationship with his wife, Tatiana. According to Houser, the song is “a really nice way of saying ‘Stay the heck out of my business’.”

Houser also performed “No Good Place to Cry,” a deeply personal track that was written nearly ten years ago during “a way crappier time” in his life. Of that track, he admitted that this was the first album the song had a home on saying, “I never felt like any of those albums deserved this song.” Houser also admitted that he wasn’t always super proud of the music he was releasing so he refrained from doing press. However, of Magnolia, he says, “This one I wanted to come back and brag on.”

Despite a fan request for one of his biggest hits, “Runnin’ Out of Moonlight,” to which Houser quipped “I never heard it,” he ended his set with his current single “What Whiskey Does”. With a voice as big as Madison Square Garden, Randy Houser charmed fans last night in the audience and on Facebook Live. If you didn’t have a chance to attend last night’s intimate show, you’re in luck because you can watch a replay of it below.

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Runaway June Performs On Halloween at Nash FM 94.7’s Stage 17

Runaway June Nash FM

Photo Via NASH FM 94.7 Facebook

It was a happy-and hilarious-Halloween last night (October 31) as Runway June took the Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 at Nash FM 94.7 dressed in costume as another country trio: Midland. The Nash FM 94.7 team was also in the holiday spirit with Jesse Addy, a Dalmatian, and Katie Neal, Cruella De Ville, introducing the first all-female trio in over a decade to have a top 25 hit (“Lipstick”).

Donning mustaches and hats reminiscent of Midland, Naomi Cooke as Jess, Hannah Mulholland as Cam and Jennifer Wayne as Mark took to the stage in front of an intimate group of fans. After the first song, Naomi and Jennifer shed their faux mustaches which were interfering with being able to sing. Hannah, however, stuck with hers, saying “it feels horrible, but I’m going to commit to the mustache” with a laugh.

Runaway June Nash FM

Photo Via NASH FM 94.7 Facebook

Next, Naomi told the group “you might know this one” as they went into a cover of Keith Urban’s “Love Somebody Like You”. Following the song, she explained the trio was “In four states in one day” the prior day, using that to introduce their latest hit on country radio “Wild West”. Fun fact: Jennifer is the granddaughter of Hollywood Western legend John Wayne. Fans were treated to an amazing live rendition of the bluegrass-tinged single, which earned them an ACM 2018 nomination for new vocal duo or group of the year.

As the trio launched into their hit freedom anthem “Buy My Own Drinks”, Naomi took notice of the one fan, a woman named Tracey, that had been dancing solo from the start of the show, bringing her up on stage. Tracey later told us she first heard the group/song three weeks ago while visiting her daughter in New Hampshire and it struck a chord with her as her husband passed away six years ago. After that, the ladies launched into their take on Eric Paslay’s “She Don’t Love You” which was co-written by Jennifer. Finally, the trio performed a lively, sing-along worthy version of “Lipstick”, the perfect close to a spirited night. Watch the full live video below.

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Kip Moore Plays to Intimate Crowd at Nash FM 94.7’s HMH Stage 17

Kip Moore, Nash FM 94.7 HMH Stage 17, NYC (Photo by Nash FM 94.7 via Facebook)

Kip Moore, Nash FM 94.7 HMH Stage 17 (Photo by Nash FM 94.7 Facebook)

Friday morning, (Sept. 21), just after kicking off the first night of his headline ‘After The Sunburn’ Tour, Kip Moore stopped by Nash FM 94.7’s Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17 for a special Up Close & Country performance.

After being introduced by Nash DJ Jesse Addy, Moore discussed some of his upcoming projects which includes an acoustic tour at the end of this run as well as a new full length album. “The fans have been asking for an acoustic project. I’ve been doing acoustic headlining things at the end of my fall tour for the last couple of years and I’m gonna do it again this year. […] The fans are used to it now and they love the singer-songwriter’s songs. They call out for those songs that have never even been on a record, so that’s been a beautiful thing.” Moore mentioned in addition to the project, he’s also stockpiling music for the follow-up record to his latest release Slowheart, claiming he hopes to get back in the studio this November, and fans can expect a new album out some time next Spring.

Taking requests from the audience, the country singer kicked off the intimate set with a signature Moore deep and raspy version of “Dirt Road”. As fans continued to throw out songs, Moore went on to play “Everything But You”, “Last Shot” his current single which is sitting in the Top 25 on Country Airplay charts and ended with “Complicated”. Moore’s raw and infectious energy captivated the entire audience from beginning to end.

Kip Moore with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Kip Moore with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Sharing banter with the crowd between songs, Moore showed off the playful side to his personality. The lucky audience members who won their way in to the exclusive private show were treated to a meet & greet opportunity following his set, before he headed off to soundcheck for his Hammerstein Ballroom show Friday evening.

Check out the full Nash FM 94.7 Up Close & Country performance in the video below.

 

Make sure you are listening to Nash FM 94.7 for your chance to win your way in to these special events. Keep up with Kip Moore on Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook. For a full list of tour dates, visit kipmoore.net.

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Brett Young Teases New Music for Fans at Nash FM 94.7’s HMH Stage 17

Brett Young, Nash FM 94.7 HMH Stage 17, NYC

Brett Young, Nash FM 94.7 HMH Stage 17, NYC

Wednesday evening (Sept. 19), Nash FM 94.7 fans were treated to a special Up Close & Country recording with breakout star, Brett Young at Nash’s home base, Hackensack Meridian Health Stage 17.

After being introduced by Nash DJs Jesse Addy & Katie Neal, Young took the stage to play an intimate acoustic set filled with songs from his debut album as well as unreleased new music, from his forthcoming album, Ticket to L.A.

While chatting with Addy & Neal, Young spoke about his decision on releasing new music after coming off of four straight #1 songs from the debut album. “It gets to a point where you realize people are coming to your shows over and over again with only 12 songs to listen to, so it felt like it would have been greedy to try to send another song from the first record to radio. It felt like time for new music.” Young explains before playing “Catch” an unreleased song fans can look forward to hearing on the new album. 

Brett Young with Nash FM 94.7 DJs Jesse Addy & Katie Neal

Brett Young with Nash FM 94.7 DJs Jesse Addy & Katie Neal

With a captivated audience, Young went on to discuss his latest single release and the first song off the new album, “Here Tonight”. One of the first weekends of touring with Lady Antebellum, Young had songwriters Justin Ebach and Ben Caver out to write when Charles Kelley of Lady A approached the trio and told them he wanted to write with them. “Two hours later we were all on the bus writing with Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum, which was incredible, the more incredible part of it for me is that that ended up being the song that is the first single off the second record”.

If “Here Tonight” is any indicator of what’s to expect from the new album, it’s safe to say that Young has a few more #1’s to add to his collection.

Lucky fans who won their way in to this exclusive private show were treated to a meet and greet after the show. Those who weren’t there, will have to wait until the video airs in December.

Brett Young with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Brett Young with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Young’s Ticket to L.A. is out December 7th and is available for pre-order now. Keep up with Brett Young on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook and don’t miss his next NYC tour stop on December 9th at Playstation Theater with guests Tyler Rich and Rachel Wammack.

 

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Dierks Albu

Dierks Bentley NYC Album Release Week

Dierks Bentley released his latest album, The Mountain last Friday so naturally, he came to NYC to help promote the new music.  Stopping at Good Morning America, Nash FM 94.7 Studios, Pandora, Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and many other outlets.

Dierks Album Release

Photo courtesy of Nash FM 94.7 Facebook

The New York Country Swag Team headed first to his Nash FM 94.7 Stage 17 show yesterday, (Wednesday, June 13th) where Bentley chatted with Nash DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy about the new music.  He was pridefully rocking an FDNY t-shirt during his set.  He performed his 17th number one chart-topper “Woman, Amen” as well as his next single “Burning Man” which features Brothers Osborne on the album version.  He couldn’t leave the studios without singing his biggest hits, “Drunk on a Plane” and “I Hold On”.

Bentley with NYCountry Swag Founder, Stephanie Wagner

Next up, we caught Bentley at his Pandora Up Close performance which took place at the beautiful Capitale in downtown Manhattan.  The theme of Bentley’s album, The Mountain was prevalent throughout the space, his backdrop the outline of a mountain with tiny lights representing a night sky.  He opened his hour-long set with an oldie but a goodie from his debut album, “What Was I Thinking”  right after exclaiming to the crowd “What was I thinking? I was thinking that New York City has the best fans!”

Dierks Album Release

Throughout the night he mixed new songs from his album including “Woman, Amen”, “Burning Man” and “Living” with hits that have gotten him to this point in his career like “Up On the Ridge” and “Somewhere on a Beach”.  “We haven’t done this song in many, many years but we wanted to keep you guys on your toes tonight, I hope you remember it,” he told the audience before singing “Come A Little Closer” from his 2005 album Modern Day Drifter.

Bentley referenced several times how excited he is to bring his Mountain High Tour to Madison Square Garden this fall.  “We’re playing the biggest honky-tonk in the world, MSG, that is right at the top of my bucket list, bigger than any dream I could ever dream.” For tickets to the September 8th show, head to www.dierks.com/tour “This song is for you guys, I certainly want to specifically thank all of our firefighters and police officers as well,” Bentley told the crowd before singing his emotional and uplifting hit “Riser”.

Before playing his final song of the night, Pandora hosts surprised Bentley on stage with a plaque that indicated he had reached over three billion spins on Pandora.  Putting him in a class with the Rolling Stones, Snoop Dog, Lady Gaga and one of Bentley’s all-time heroes in country music, Alan Jackson.  Bentley was honored and humbled by the surprise.  He closed out the high energy set with “Drunk on a Plane”, leaving the packed room of fans in awe of his stage presence and commitment to making incredible music.  Grab your copy of The Mountain here.

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NASH FM 94.7 Presents Chris Janson at Opry City Stage

Chris Janson Opry City Stage Nash FM

Wednesday night (May 30) the newest inductee to the Grand Ole Opry, Chris Janson made his Opry City Stage debut for an intimate performance for NASH FM 94.7 winners.  Janson took the stage after being introduced by NASH FM DJ Jesse Addy to tell stories about his songwriting, his latest album Everybody and to play some of his biggest hits to date.

“I write all of my own songs. I only write and record my own songs no matter what and I am so thankful that it has paid off, thanks to NASH FM especially, it’s paid off,” Janson says at one point during his performance, as he discussed with the audience the origins of his songs “Everybody” and the song he wrote with Preston and Lucas from LOCASH, that they then cut and was a top ten hit, “I Love This Life”.

He also played his breakout hit, and first number one song “Buy Me A Boat” and the title track to his latest album, “Everybody” along with his own version of a song that Tim McGraw recorded called “That’s How I’ll Always Be”.  The intimate setting on the fourth floor of Opry City Stage always allows artists to feel like they can share stories about their music instead of just playing them.  Janson admitted that he was first and foremost a huge punk rock fan growing up, wanting to rebel against his small-town life growing up in Perryville, Missouri.  He explained that he was a fan of The Ramones, Weezer, and Sublime and he knew that the New York City crowd would understand his love for those bands.  He mashed into his set “Undone” by Weezer and The Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated”.

Chris Janson Opry City Stage Nash FM

 

“All I can say is thank you, Jesus, and thank you NASH FM 94.7” he laughed as he explained how incredible it was to have a song of his go number one, right before singing his second number one, “Fix a Drink” then in true New York City fashion, sat down at the piano and played the unmistakeable chords on his harmonica to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”, which had entire crowd swaying and singing along. As his set came to a close,  he performed his current single, “Drunk Girl”  as he told the crowd that he has four children, two daughters, and two sons and he hopes in the future that his daughters are taken care of like hte girl in the song but more importantly that his sons are good men and listen to the lyrics of the heartfelt song.

Ending the night with an upbeat, Janson version of “Folsom Prison Blues”, Chris Janson proved why he is not only the youngest living member of The Grand Ole Opry but also one of the best entertainers in country music.  Head to our Instagram for exclusive stories and videos from the show.

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