Posts

who-is-eli-winders

Who is Eli Winders? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

/in , , /by

Who is Eli Winders? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…

who-is-eli-winders

Quick Facts:

Full Name – Eli Winders
Birthdate – 05/29/2004
Hometown – Pikeville, North Carolina
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Sturgill Simpson, Eric Church, ERNEST, Keith Whitley
Label – Atlantic Records/Bad Realm Records
Current Single – “Two Wheel Drive Cowboy” // as of date of article: 4/29/2024

The Beginning:

The country music genre is buzzing with so many incredible artists including newcomers on the scene. Singer-songwriter, Eli Winders, a newcomer in country music, is an artist we are excited about! We chatted with the singer about his music, his record deal, and how he continues to grow his fanbase. Keep reading to learn more about his story and to say you were a day one fan!

“I’m from North Carolina in a little town called Pikeville. I grew up within five miles of every bit of my family,” began Winders. “We lived out in the country and we didn’t have cable growing up or an Xbox or any of that until I was like fourteen, fifteen, so we spent a lot of time playing outside with my cousins and friends. Life was just a lot of time doing stuff like that. I think that definitely played a role in playing music. I didn’t have a phone either when I started playing guitar, and I started learning guitar when I was about fourteen.”

As a teenager, Winders fell in love with music. He recalls listening to classic rock and bluegrass music throughout his upbringing, thanks to his parents. He showed off his love of music first through guitar “Once I started playing guitar, I didn’t know I could sing, so I just wanted to play lead guitar and play rock riffs, and join a band at some point. Then eventually, I started trying to sing a bit, and I stuck with that. Then I found my way getting into country music a little bit,” he shared. Adding, “It was going back to the Avett Brothers, Luke Combs, and Thomas Rhett, and then I found out about Tyler Childers and deep dove into that whole world of country music, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Around that same time, I wrote my first song and it was super cheesy, but I fell in love with it, and just kept going.”

The Turning Point:

Throughout high school, Winders kept playing music. Upon graduating, he began working at a feed-mill, while simultaneously taking night classes and starting to post original songs on social media. “After night classes, I would go home, and go online and post a video every single day [on social media],” shared the singer. “Then that took off a little bit, and started to get some attention from people in the music industry. That led to a record deal with Atlantic Records, and I started to work with management over at C3, and eventually left the feed mill. I moved out here to Nashville, and I’ve been writing songs since.”

While in class one day, Winders received a DM on Instagram from his now A&R representative at Atlantic Records, and his life shifted on its axis. After meeting with his now team in New York City, he eventually went to Los Angeles to sign his record deal with Atlantic Records and made the move to Nashville in May of 2023.

“I had no idea that [my social media videos] would reach people in the music industry. My intention was to post videos and post original songs to kind of grow a fanbase, and go play shows,” humbly shared Winders. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity I was given to just write songs everyday and to go play shows out on the road. It’s truly a dream come true being able to do this.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, Winders is cranking out music that fans are falling in love with. His songs, “Pack My Hometown” and “Carolina Blue” already caught the attention of tons of country music fans for their honest and relatable lyrics. Now, the singer is gearing up to release even more music.

Most recently, Winders released a stage-ready song called, “Two Wheel Drive Cowboy.” “When I moved to town, I started hanging out with some people, and a guy who’s not a songwriter was like “hey I have this cool idea. I think it would be a good song title.” I immediately thought it was awesome, and I threw it out in a few co-writes, and nobody took it, and then eventually I found some people that wanted to write it with me, and it came out exactly how I imagined it,” shared the singer when asked about the song.

“Two Wheel Drive Cowboy” is the type of song that is made to be played live. It is fun, energetic, and still has the heart and grit that Winders’ previous releases have. “It’s just a super fun one to play with the band. With all the shows we’re starting to do, I wanted to move more in that direction of a more fun song that’s going to get the crowd moving a bit more than “Pack My Hometown” and “Carolina Blue.” I thought it was a good one to just try out first in that sound space.”

As 2024 continues, fans can expect more music from Winders, as he continues to tease incredible songs on his social media. For tickets to live shows, head to his website here! “I’m hoping this year to play as many shows as possible and to just say yes to everything I can. We have so much more music coming out. I spent all of May to December just writing, so we have so much music to put out.”

Connect:

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Eli Winders releases.

To keep up with Eli Winders, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.

Eli Winders’ music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

who-is-skip-ewing

Who is Skip Ewing? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

/in , , /by

Who is Skip Ewing? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…

who-is-skip-ewing

Quick Facts:

Full Name – Donald Ralph “Skip” Ewing
Birthdate – March 6th
Hometown – Redlands, California
Current City – Dubois, Wyoming
Musical Influences – James Taylor, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson
Current Single – “Windmill” // as of date of article: 4/17/2024

The Beginning:

Today’s spotlight shines on an artist who has lived many lifetimes. Skip Ewing is an award-winning singer-songwriter, who has boasted multiple number ones as a songwriter. He decided to step away from the music industry, only to find himself back in it currently. We chatted with the artist about his incredible and windy path, new music, and everything in between.

“I don’t remember a time where I didn’t play guitar. I was told I asked for a guitar when I was like four,” began the California native. “I just played it incessantly, I just loved it. The joke was that I could play guitar before I could read.” At an early age, Ewing was engulfed in music. “There was so many different musical influences like classical and country. […] Country influences would have been like Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and then there were people like James Taylor, and I was totally into The Police, and Sting, and The Beatles.”

Throughout his upbringing, the singer-songwriter would craft music and play different instruments during every waking moment. “I couldn’t really get very many guitar lessons, so I would stay up late at night and I would put a foam curler under my strings, all the way up the saddle of my guitar, so I could play and I wouldn’t get caught. I would just make stuff up,” he shared. Adding,“I started playing five-string mandolin, and I played bass, and piano. I just played everything that I possibly could. I sang in choir, I did musical theatre, and I didn’t know I would be a country music artist [at the time].”

While the singer did not necessarily dream of a career in country music, he always yearned to continue to express himself through music. “I just wanted to express myself artistically in the most authentic way I could,” shared the artist, who found himself landing in Nashville shortly upon graduating high school.

The Turning Point:

Once he was offered a job in Nashville, Tennessee, Ewing took it and there was no turning back. “I was an ensemble singer there. Some people heard some songs I was working on and they liked it, and I got signed to publishing deal.” Shortly thereafter he landed cuts and hits for artists like George Jones, Randy Travis, and Trisha Yearwood.

He also landed himself a record deal. Despite the fact that Ewing was seemingly “living the dream,” he was losing touch with the self-expression that he always loved in music. “What happened was that the songs I wanted to record as an artist, I was told were terrible. Some of the songs I wanted to record were number one hits. […] I tried to make people happy, and maybe I tried to make the wrong people happy, but my heart wasn’t happy. I kept trying to please everyone else, but it got to a place where it felt like my artistic soul was eroding a bit.”

He decided to leave it all behind and sell everything in favor of studying horsemanship, something he had begun to love. “On my own spiritual journey, I had fallen in love with horses. The more I worked with horses, the more I learned about myself, and the more I learned about myself, the more I realized I could be a better human if I studied that,” he shared. Adding,“The more that went along, the more powerful the journey became. I met my wife in Texas at a clinic down there, and that just led itself all the way up to us moving to Wyoming. […] We moved there on faith and we just said let’s be here because it’s gorgeous, and I feel like I’m planting my roots in the right kind of soil.”

Eventually, while his wife was away working as a videographer and photographer, Ewing began to pick up the guitar again. “She came home after I had written a few songs, and I played them for her. She said, ‘honey, I think the journeys have to come together. I think you’re in a place, where the world needs to hear what you are doing.’”

Ewing and his wife took another leap of faith, and the singer-songwriter began to write and release music again.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Ewing is as relevant today as he was many years ago. Still crafting songs that speak to his artistry, the singer is at his absolute best. “It was like being a brand new artist. What I did was I wrote a few songs, and then somehow I just knew in my heart who should produce it with me. It was someone I hadn’t done anything with for over twenty years. The very first song I ever played guitar on for someone else, that I wrote was a song for, was Randy Travis called “If I Didn’t Have You,” the number one single from his greatest hits album. I went to play guitar in the studio and the proper, his name was Kyle Lehning, and his presence in the studio struck me and I never forgot it.”

With a Christmas record and one album, Wyoming already under his belt, Ewing is about to release another new record called, Road To California. Recently, the singer released a song off the project called, “Windmill,” which truly speaks to the poetic nature of his songwriting.

“That song really describes the singer who is the windmill, who speaks to his own efforts of being still deeply in love with someone that they lost, and he experiences that person as the wind. A windmill doesn’t really have a choice, it spins towards the wind, if there’s wind, it spins. And in its own way the power of love that exists in its own way takes a small breath of a memory or anything like that to just spin us around and have us right back in it,” he shared.

While we await Ewing’s next studio album, fans can checkout “Windmill,” as well as, the songwriter’s cut on Ernest’s new duet with Lainey Wilson called “Would If I Could.” To keep up with the singer and to catch him on the road, head to his website here.

Connect:

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Skip Ewing releases.

To keep up with Skip Ewing, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Skip Ewing’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.