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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Holly Gentry




Holly Gentry, an Atlanta based singer/songwriter, is thrilled to release her debut album, So Much More. Drawing on her South Georgia roots, Holly’s music is tinged with country, blues and southern rock. This musical foundation stems from years of listening to an amalgamation of artists that only the Deep South provides. 

Her strongest influences are her mentor Rhetta Butler, Pat Benatar, Stevie Nicks, Rory Bloch, Deana Carter, Brandi Carlile, The Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the majority of female country singers who rose to fame in the 90’s. The songs recorded on So Much More reflect personal stories and recollections, which surfaced through Holly’s transition from young woman, to professional, wife and mother.

To realize her dream, Holly enlisted the help of producer Brian Molin and Grammy winning producer and engineer Don McCollister. Don McCollister has confirmed his platinum success as a producer with such top selling artists as Sister Hazel, Indigo Girls, Third Day, Shawn Mullins, and Caedman's Call. 

The majority of the album was recorded at Nickel and Dime Studios in Avondale and at The Quarry in Kennesaw, GA, where Molin brought together a stellar band of Atlanta and Athens notables.

Molin not only produced the entire album but contributed his unparalleled lead guitar skills. Both A.J Adams and Seth Hendershot of Athens’ favorite The Granfalloons and Blueground Undergrass pitched in. A.J. multi tasked on bass, slide and lap steel, while Seth Hendershot provided percussion. Atlanta keyboardist, Walt Austin and saxophone player Will Scruggs rounded out the album. Holly is thrilled that ace fiddler David Blackmon of Widespread Panic fame contributed to her version of “Child of Mine.”

Holly was born and raised in Thomasville, a small town in Southwest Georgia. She grew up the only child of an educator and banker. Holly was surrounded by a large extended family, including aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents just down the street and across town. Her days were filled with the pleasures of small town, big family living. Deep and wide spaces of quiet time to read, imagine, play and daydream - summer mornings bumping down ancient plantation roads in her Papa’s red and white Ford pick up to go check on his corn fields - afternoons rocking on the front porch with her mother - and there was always music.

Holly’s mother played piano for any church, kindergarten, elementary school and Brownie troop that asked. In moments of both frustration and happiness, she would sit down and play the antique piano Holly’s father gave her for their first anniversary. Her grandfather, a quiet and reserved man, would often burst into song, some made up on the spot and others he knew from church and radio. Musicality also trickled down from her father’s family. Holly’s uncle sang in doo wop and gospel groups, and her aunt was an accomplished pianist.

Holly grew up singing in church choirs, school productions and the local Music & Drama Troupe. Through it all, she learned a deep appreciation for the catharsis and joy that music could bring, and her earliest fantasy of grown up life included a long red sequined dress, a band, a microphone, and big blond hair (it was the 80’s).

Holly continued to hone her love of music on local stages as a teenager, and received a vocal scholarship to Wake Forest University where she graduated magna cum laude with an English major and music minor. After college, she attended law school at the University of Georgia, where she first began writing her own music as a means to keep her music alive. Upon graduating from University of Georgia School of Law, Holly accepted a position in Atlanta and began the daily grind of a civil litigation attorney. Music wouldn’t leave her alone, and soon became too loud to ignore. It was during this time she continued developing her songwriting and began to sing with local bands around the Atlanta area.

“When the student is ready, the master will appear.” For Holly, this maxim hit home when she began taking lessons with Rhetta Butler in 2002. Rhetta is Holly’s most profound musical influence, and is a mentor, teacher and friend. Over the years, Rhetta has taught in New York, Nashville and Atlanta. Ms. Butler is also a songwriter and recording artist who has been with Atlantic and Warner Bros. Records. Rhetta remains instrumental in guiding Holly to find her voice in both the literal sense and in songwriting, and continues to guide Holly’s musical path.

Recently, Holly collaborated on recording a duet with producer Bruce Bennett and Scott Patton, the famed musical director and guitarist of Sugarland. She is in the midst of songwriting and plans to reenter the Atlanta music scene now that she has given birth to her second child, Jay, born March 30, 2012. Holly lives in Atlanta with her tone deaf, but much loved husband Haynes, daughter Charlotte, son Jay and Chihuahuas Tallulah and Noelle. Holly’s greatest wishes are that her music is enjoyed and that So Much More be the opening cadence of much more to come in her musical career.



Band Name: Holly Gentry
Album Name: Country Rock 1
Email Address: hollymgentry@gmail.com
Website Address: http://www.hollygentry.com
Music Style: Country Rock Pop
Influences:


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Bruno Mars is Billboard's 2013 Artist of the Year

Bruno Mars is Billboard's 2013 Artist of the Year

LOS ANGELES Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:07pm EST
Bruno Mars (C) performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada September 21, 2013. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
Bruno Mars (C) performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada September 21, 2013.
CREDIT: REUTERS/STEVE MARCUS
(Reuters) - Singer Bruno Mars was named Billboard's 2013 Artist of the Year by the industry trade magazine on Friday.
Hawaiian-born Mars, 28, topped eight of Billboard's year-end music chart lists, including the Hot 100 Artists, Mainstream Top 40 and Hot Digital Songs, and his 2012 album "Unorthodox Jukebox" has becoming one of this year's best-selling records with more than 1.8 million copies sold in the United States.
"Bruno did well in touring and I think longevity does really well for him. His songs stuck around on multiple formats all year round," Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard magazine, told Reuters.
"He's a powerhouse, and really keeps his focus on the music in a year where conversations have been dominated by (MTV's Video Music Award) performances and PR cycles."
Grammy-winning Mars, whose music crosses between R&B and pop, has established a successful career as a singer and producer with The Smeezingtons, working on songs both for himself and other artists.
He also notched four Grammy nominations this month, including two of the industry's top prizes - his single "Locked Out of Heaven" picked up both record and song of the year nods.
The singer will embark on the North American leg of his "Moonshine Jungle World Tour" in 2014, and will also headline the Super Bowl half time show in February.
Mars's music crosses over between pop, R&B, soul and hip hop, and he is known for conjuring up different musical eras within his albums. He reimagined 1940s doo-wop music for his 2010 debut album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans," and revived sounds of Motown and 1970s disco in "Unorthodox Jukebox."

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Mohammad Zargham)

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers to Receive DGA's Diversity Award

11:10 AM PST 12/3/2013 by Lesley Goldberg

The longtime producing partners will be honored for providing jobs and opportunities to women and minorities, marking only the fifth time the guild has doled out the prize.






Betsy Beers, left, and Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes and longtime producing partner Betsy Beers are being honored for their commitment to diversity.
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The Directors Guild of America announced Tuesday that the Grey's Anatomy and Scandal producers will receive its 2014 Diversity Award. The prize -- only the fifth of its kind to be awarded -- will honor the Shondaland duo for their commitment to diversity hiring and history of providing jobs and opportunities to women and minorities in DGA-covered categories and the example they set for the rest of the industry.

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"The DGA Diversity Award is an exceedingly rare honor, given only when we feel strongly that someone is making a real difference in the hiring of women and minorities," DGA president Paris Barclay said in making the announcement. "In the decade that Shonda and Betsy have been creating and producing buzzworthy television, their record of diverse hiring has been consistently outstanding at a time when very few television series meet that standard. As a result, they have impacted the careers of dozens of women and minorities -- they've made stars not only in front of, but behind the camera as well. They're strong and outspoken advocates for diversity throughout our industry, and we are very proud to recognize them with the DGA's Diversity Award."

Rhimes launched ABC Studios-based Shondaland in 2004. The prolific showrunner has created Grey's Anatomy and Kerry Washington starrer Scandal, in addition to Grey's spinoff Private Practice, which ended its run in January. Rhimes has twice been included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people, Fortune's 50 most powerful women in business and The Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment and top showrunners. This year, Rhimes was appointed by President Obama to serve as a trustee for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"It has always been important that the world created in my shows look like the actual world that we live in," Rhimes said. "I am truly honored to be receiving this prestigious award and am thankful for all of the work that the DGA does to promote diversity in our industry."

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Rhimes' series have always been diverse and inclusive, often featuring gay characters that have earned the writer-producer accolades from LGBT watchdog group GLAAD. Scandal star Washington became the first African-American Emmy nominee for best actress in a drama since Cicely Tyson in 1995. A black actress has yet to take home the statuette in the category.

For her part, Beers is an EP on Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and Private Practice, and has been honored multiple times for her work as a producer. She is a partner in Shondaland, where she and Rhimes work together to develop and produce additional feature film and television projects.

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"I am thrilled and honored to be receiving this award from the DGA," Beers said. "We want to accurately reflect the world in which we live today -- and that means ensuring that a diverse workplace exists, both on- and offscreen."

Previous Diversity Award recipients include Bruce Paltrow, John Wells and Christopher Chulack (1997); Steven Bochco (1999); HBO (2000); and Stephen McPherson (2005). The award will be presented Jan. 25 at the DGA's 66th annual awards.

The DGA Diversity Award winner is selected by the guild's Diversity Task Force and was unanimously approved by the National Board.

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit