Five Songwriters to Take Stage at 'Tunesmithing' in Nashville on Nov. 16

         NASHVILLE, Tenn. (November 2019) -- Five professional songwriting acts will take the stage on Oct. 19 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. 

          Attendees will enjoy original songs and instrumentals by Steven Cade, Lisa Hannah, Les Kerr, Ida Kristin, and David Llewellyn. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer-educator-publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter-performer Paul Nielsen will handle sound. 

          "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels.  

          For more information about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@MusicCityArts.net, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.

 

'Tunesmithing' to Spotlight Five Songwriting Acts in Nashville on Jan. 20

         NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 2018) -- Five professional songwriting acts will perform on Jan. 20 (Saturday) at "Tunesmithing," a monthly songwriters show at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville West End Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. 

          Attendees will enjoy original songs and instrumentals by Lisa Aschmann, East Side Story, Suzahn Fiering, Les Kerr, and Paul Nielsen. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Nashville composer/educator/publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound. 

          "It's a great opportunity to hear and support some of Nashville's most talented songwriters in a listening environment," said Whiting, a composer and publicist who serves as a professor of Mass Communications at Motlow State Community College. "We are open to all genres of music, including Americana, country, pop, jazz, Christian and classical."

          "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network, Striking Moon Music, and Shine Time Music. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels.  

          For more information or to inquire about performing at "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@Tunesmithing.com, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.

'Tunesmithing' to Spotlight Five Americana Songwriting Acts on April 20

         NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 2016) -- "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase will spotlight five Americana songwriting acts from 7-9:30 p.m. April 20 (Wednesday) at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. (near Music Row). 

          Attendees will enjoy original songs by East Side Story, Dar Frantz, Donna Frost, Les Kerr, and Angel Pontier. Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound. 

East Side Story (Photo provided by East Side Story)

          "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Music City Arts Network and Whiting Publicity and Promotions. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters, as well as artists of all kinds. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for artists at all levels. 

Les Kerr (Photo provided by Les Kerr)

          For more information about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@Tunesmithing.com, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.

Donna Frost (Photo provided by Donna Frost)

Dar Frantz (Photo provided by Dar Frantz)

Angel Pontier (Photo provided by Angel Pontier)

'Tunesmithing' Songwriters Showcase to Celebrate Jazz and Blues Music on June 17

         NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 2015) -- "Tunesmithing" will spotlight five professional songwriting acts in jazz and blues music from 7-9:30 p.m. June 17 (Wednesday) at WXYZ Restaurant/Bar at the Aloft Nashville Hotel, 1719 West End Ave. (near Music Row). 

          Attendees will enjoy original songs by the jazz/blues/pop duo Kelley Cline & Chuck Whiting, award-winning jazz/folk/Americana singer-songwriter Suzahn Fiering (LIPA "Honored Friend Award" from Sir Paul McCartney), jazz/blues singer-songwriter-author Les Kerr ("Americana Boogie"), blues/country singer-songwriter Eddie Paul ("Young and Dumb"), and blues singer-songwriter Shannon "Bayou" Williford (leader of the band Delicious Blues Stew). 

Suzahn Fiering performs at "Tunesmithing" in 2014. (Photo by Chuck Whiting)

          Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Publicist Chuck Whiting will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound. 

          "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase is sponsored by Whiting Publicity & Promotions, Music City Arts Update, and Shine Time Records and Books. The monthly show was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for tunesmiths at all levels.  

          For more information about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@Tunesmithing.com, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.

'Tunesmithing' to Feature Claudia Nygaard, Les Kerr and A.C. Helms on Jan. 21

     NASHVILLE -- The monthly "Tunesmithing" songwriters showcase will spotlight eight professional and emerging songwriters from 8-10:30 p.m. Jan. 21 (Tuesday) at The Row Kitchen & Pub, 110 Lyle Ave. (near Music Row).

Claudia Nygaard

     Taking the stage for the "Professional Songwriters Segment" at 8 p.m. will be country/contemporary Christian singer-songwriter A.C. Helms (noted Nashville recording session vocalist); hillbilly blues/Caribbean/Rock 'n' Roll singer-songwriter/author Les Kerr ("The Americana Boogie" and "The Tennessee Book"); and hit Americana/Roots/folk singer-songwriter/storyteller Claudia Nygaard ("Let The Storm Roll In"/climbed to number one on the Cashbox Roots Music Country Chart).

Les Kerr

     The "Emerging Songwriters Segment" at 9:30 p.m. will feature Global Songwriters Connection members Erskin Anavitarte, Gary Chapman, Melissa Miller, Debbie Pascarella and Sarah Spencer.Admission is free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Publicists Chuck Whiting and Scott Johnson will emcee the show. Songwriter/audio engineer AJ Bigler will handle sound. "Tunesmithing" is sponsored by Whiting Publicity & Promotions, Music City Arts Update, and Shine Time Records and Books.

     "Tunesmithing" was founded in 2003 to spotlight emerging, professional and hit songwriters. The event offers mentoring, career growth and networking opportunities for tunesmiths at all levels. For more information about "Tunesmithing", call (615) 423-9857, write Info@Tunesmithing.com, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com.

A.C. Helms

'Tunesmithing' Spotlight: Les Kerr

Singer-songwriter Les Kerr will be one of four blues and jazz artists to perform at "Tunesmithing Off Music Row" on June 20 (Wednesday). The show will occur from 7-10 p.m. at Taps in Hillsboro Village.  Following is more information about Les Kerr.

Mississippi Gulf Coast native Les Kerr combines blues, Gulf Coast and New Orleans influences to create the music he calls “Hillbilly Blues Caribbean Rock & Roll.” A Nashville resident since 1987, Kerr has hosted twenty-one annual Mardi Gras concerts at the Bluebird Café He created and hosts “Original Blues” concerts at the venue, as well, featuring songwriters who focus on blues music.  

His original song Mackinac Blues was included in NPR’s All Songs Considered and Kerr participated in the 2011 Mississippi Songwriters Festival. A three-time Music City Blues Society award nominee, Kerr was nominated for the organization’s Male Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year and CD of the Year awards.  He was called by OffBeat Magazine of New Orleans, “…a bluesy Johnny Cash,” in a review of his Red Blues CD. 

Lyrics of two of Kerr’s songs, Below the Level of the Sea and New Orleans in the Spring, were included in the New Orleans poetry anthology, Maple Leaf Rag IV.

Highlands of Tennessee, co-written by Kerr and Bryan Cumming, was adopted as the official theme song of the city of Cookeville, Tennessee.

Kerr’s six CDs include his latest, New Orleans Set. As leader of Les Kerr & The Bayou Band, Kerr has performed at Nashville’s Jefferson Street Jazz & Blues Festival, Franklin Jazz Festival, the Southern Festival of Books, and Nashville’s official  July 4 Celebration at Riverfront Park.  He also tours with his band and as a solo performer.  While based in Nashville, Kerr performs periodically in New Orleans, other Gulf Coast locations and throughout the U.S.

Recently, Kerr and his band appeared in Civil War Songs and Stories, a music documentary aired on PBS TV stations nationwide.

'Tunesmithing' to Celebrate Bayou Blues and Jazz on June 20

            NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 2012) -- "Tunesmithing Off Music Row" will spotlight nine professional and emerging songwriters with a special Bayou Blues and Jazz Night from 7-10 p.m. June 20 (Wednesday) at Taps, 2117 Belcourt Ave. in Hillsboro Village. 

Taking the stage for professional songwriter spotlights from 8-10 p.m. will be singer-songwriters Bryan Cumming (Grammy nominee/"Fab Fan Memories" by The WannaBeatles); Ted Drozdowski (DVD/CD "BIG SHOES: Walking and Talking the Blues"/number five on XM/Sirius Radio's "B.B. King's Bluesville"); Les Kerr ("Mackinac Blues"/NPR's "All Things Considered"); and Mark Robinson ("Quit Your Job -- Play Guitar" CD).  

(Photo: Les Kerr)

An opening guests segment from 7-8 p.m. will feature songwriters Zophia Amey, Julie Delgado, Rocky Dimmick, Haley Georgia, and Kristen Voorhies.  

Publicist-educator-author- songwriter Chuck Whiting and comedian Paulina Combow will emcee the show.  Admission is free. "Tunesmithing" is sponsored by Whiting Publicity & Promotions, Music City Arts Update, and Shine Time Books & Music.  

For more information about the event, call (615) 242-9857, write Tunesmithing@Earthlink.net, or visit http://www.Tunesmithing.com .