After a short break and the constructing of a beautiful new location, the energetic, personable house concerts of Terry and Wanda Seay resumed on a strong note on the evening of Saturday, October 2nd. Old friends and familiar faces filled the room along with new guests and fresh new surroundings. As always there were delicious appetizers and good conversations taking place in every nook and cranny of the Seay’s living room/kitchen area. The evening kicked off with the usual open mic portion in which Brandon Maddox (a returning performer) delivered some of his promising songwriting portfolio. Joining Brandon this time around was talented Canada native Steven Demetrious. Steven who is currently working on his follow up album for 2011 shows sure footed direction and tight songwriting skill. Also returning to the open mic portion was Bruce Michael Miller on guitar and his son Forest Miller on violin. As always, Forest and Bruce brought a great collaboration exuding their musical gifts.
As the three featured hit songwriters took front and center stage it was clear that it would be a night of great storytelling, laughter and emotions of relativity as each songwriter spoke and played their hit songs in an intimate setting.
Beginning the round was the incredible Brandy Clark. I instantly connected with Brandy’s heartfelt music and deemed her as undoubtedly one of Nashville’s most talented songwriters. Brandy’s songs whether humorous, deep or just downright honest all contain a true transparency and realness that makes her a positive one of a kind musician and writer. A quality that particularly makes Brandy stand out is her humble ability to understand others and to write great story songs about every day people and situations. It is clear that she is a very down to earth person that knows how to reach all audiences. As a result, I found myself deeply identifying with her music and know that everyone else can as well. Brandy is currently writing for Bigger Picture Music Group and has scored cuts with Reba McEntire, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Mica Roberts, Heartland, Kenny Rogers, LeAnn Rimes and new artist Joanna Smith. With such a diverse songwriting catalog and truly some of the most amazing vocals I have ever heard, it is obvious why she is such a success. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of Brandy’s CD and it hasn’t left my CD player since.
Next up was the consistently entertaining Shane McAnally. Shane, who played a previous concert at the Seay’s residence, had returning supporters anticipating another great show. Not surprisingly, he also instantly gained new fans as he delivered his usual quick witted, fun filled, yet deep and meaningful performances. One of Shane’s most memorable and moving performances is always when he sings “Last Call,” his Grammy nominated hit song recorded by LeAnn Womack. This emotional and heartfelt song that I personally can deeply relate to is always a crowd favorite and rightfully so. Most recently, Shane is currently enjoying the fact that Kenny Chesney recorded his catchy and deserving song “Somewhere with you” on his newest album that was released September 28th. As if a major cut with Kenny Chesney isn’t enough to be absolutely thrilled about, Shane has also scored not just one but three cuts on Reba McEntire’s upcoming album, including the album’s title cut “All the Women I Am.” Shane who has toured with Martina McBride, Alabama and Kenny Chesney has also experienced recent cuts with LeAnn Rimes, Chris Young, Luke Bryan and Jake Owen. It is safe to say that Shane McAnally is unstoppable and has numerous #1 parties in his future. You can view my previous articles on Shane McAnally by clicking here:
Following Brandy and Shane was the tremendously talented Karyn Rochelle. This was my first opportunity to watch Karyn perform and she most certainly met and exceeded any expectations I could have had. I couldn’t help but tell Karyn that she just happens to be the writer of several of my favorite songs. Karyn’s beautiful vocals, diversity in her songwriting catalog and ability for writing emotion-filled lyrics simply shines as she performs her current hits and her future ones. I like to think of Karyn as a writer that can pen famous female anthems while luring in male listeners all at the same time. She wrote Trisha Yearwood’s unforgettable songs “Georgia Rain” and “This is Me You’re Talking To.” You can also spot her name on Kellie Pickler’s CD several times as she wrote Kellie’s first hit single “Red High Heels,” along with “I Wonder” and “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” You can also hear Karyn’s music on the albums of Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Ann Womack, Terri Clark, George Jones, Ronnie Milsap, Kenny G and more. A particularly memorable performance of Karyn’s during the Seay’s concert is when she was joined by hit songwriter Cory Batten. Cory who is the co-writer of Chris Young’s #1 hit “Getting You Home” (The Black Dress) treated listeners to that song before he and Karyn collaborated for their hilarious and creatively written duet about men and women hating one another. While Karyn has already obviously been very successful in her songwriting career it appears that she is just getting started and her name will be appearing in many more album inserts.
As always, it was an evening of top notch entertainment, enjoyable company and interesting conversation in the Seay household. Now that these unique events have resumed, house concert goers were also able to see Tom Hambridge, Chuck Jones and Stevie C the following Saturday night, October 9th (article will be up soon). Also, stay tuned for more articles as tonight October 16 the Nashville Songbirds will be playing and Saturday, November 6th Pearl Heart and special guest James Slater will be taking the stage. Needless to say I know where I will be on my upcoming Saturday nights! Congratulations to the Seay’s on their beautiful new home and their continual incredible hosting abilities as they consistently bring songwriting fans the best of the best A class entertainment in Music City. Also, thank you to the songwriting sensations that so personally and willingly shared their hearts and their music. Stay tuned for more…more news on these incredible songwriters..and more coverage of concerts at the Seay’s…as more will certainly be coming your way!
You can view my previous House Concert articles by clicking below:
(Wynn Varble, Danny Wells & Thom Shepherd) http://www.examiner.com/local-music-in-nashville/house-concerts-it-s-all-about-the-music
(Kent Blazy, Marv Green & Shane McAnally) http://www.examiner.com/local-music-in-nashville/it-is-all-about-the-music-another-spectacular-house-concert
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