Music his been a part of Eric Blankenship’s life since he was a boy. At 12 years old he won a vocal contest and knew that singing and performing were going to be a part of his life forever. As a young adult, he made a living as an entertainer in his home state of Texas. Achieving what he set out to do, he aimed his sights on Nashville, with one big dream... He KNEW he was going to be successful in the music business and in 1992, he put the wheels in motion and made the pilgrimage to Tennessee.
While he was navigating the music business, Eric started driving tour buses to make some extra money. That decision has helped him achieve more success than he ever imagined ‘in the business’ just not in the way he envisioned. With his savvy mechanical partner, Eric started All Access Coach Leasing in 2002, which now leases buses to A List country artists and celebrities that tour across the United States. These ‘homes on wheels’ are some of the best in the business, carrying the hottest stars to the most amazing venues in the country.
His love for singing and music has only grown. Eight years ago Eric started singing on the praise and worship team for a large church in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 2015 Eric decided that he was going to record a traditional country album, in the way he wanted to do it, with the songs that he wanted to cut. With a deep love of music of all kinds, country speaks to his heart and his early love of meaningful songs. Rollin’ With the Flow is more than just a way to deal with the twists and turns life throws at you. This album completes the loop of a long journey from Texas to Nashville, with a few detours along the road.
Exile formed in 1963 looking to play small clubs in Richmond, Kentucky, but managed to top both the pop and country charts during their over 55 year-long career. Their most successful hit, “Kiss You All Over” spent four weeks at the top of Billboard’s pop chart in 1978. In the early 1980’s Exile started to focus on country music. During their run on the country charts Exile has successfully had ten No. 1 singles including “I Don’t Want To Be A Memory” and “Give Me One More Chance.” The hit song "Kiss You All Over" was used in the 1996 Adam Sandler movie “Happy Gilmore” and in the 2006 film “Employee of the Month.” They have toured with acts including Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, The Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers and The Judds. The 5 original Exile members re-formed in 2008 and continue to tour today. Current members of the band include J.P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman. 2021 celebrates 58 years for the band and 43rd anniversary of the hit song “Kiss You All Over.”
Kick off Pigfest 2025 with a legendary bang as The Oak Ridge Boys take the stage! With decades of chart-topping hits, Grammy-winning harmonies, and unforgettable energy, these icons are bringing their signature sound to Hendersonville for an epic night of music and memories.
From “Elvira” to “American Made,” their timeless classics have been the soundtrack of generations—and now, they’re headlining the Pigfest 2025 Kickoff Concert! Whether you’re a lifelong fan or discovering their magic for the first time, get ready for a night filled with foot-stompin’, hand-clappin’, soul-liftin’ country goodness.
The legends are live. The crowd will be electric. The memories? Unforgettable.
Don’t miss The Oak Ridge Boys at Pigfest 2025!
Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery is having a good time – and it shows.
As one of the most recognizable voices in a generation of country singers, Montgomery continues to tour coast-to-coast behind a time-tested collection of rowdy and heartfelt songs. That collection grows with the new release – Home Run, a six-song EP that includes hard-workin’ stories, fatherly wisdom, brotherly appreciation and a boot-stomping reworking of Montgomery Gentry’s first single “Hillbilly Shoes.”
With five No. 1 country radio hits, a Grand Ole Opry membership and a Kentucky Music Hall of Fame induction under his belt as part of Montgomery Gentry, the man in the hat shows no signs of slowing down. After all, why would anyone walk away from a dream-come-true?
“I’m livin’ life,” Montgomery said. “I’m so happy that I gotta sit on my hands to keep ‘em from wavin’ at everybody.”
Home Run debuted Nov. 1 via Average Joes Entertainment. Ahead of the release, Montgomery unleashed a 25th anniversary edition of “Hillbilly Shoes,” a signature country-rocker originally released as Montgomery Gentry’s first single and the opening track of the duo’s debut album Tattoos & Scars.
The song comes as part of a promise Montgomery and his partner Troy Gentry once made to each other – if one of them ever passed away, the other would carry on the Montgomery Gentry legacy. Sadly, Gentry died in a 2017 helicopter crash.
“I’m keepin’ it going, I’m keepin’ my promise,” Montgomery said. “A day don’t go by I don’t talk about him. A day don’t go by I don’t miss him.”
Alongside his new take on “Hillbilly Shoes,” the EP includes a can’t-miss cast of collaborators and co-writers, such as powerhouse Music Row hitmakers Ashley Gorley and Bobby Pinson, breakout singer-songwriter Bryan Martin and his brother John Michael Montgomery, among others.
As a tenured vocalist and storyteller, what does Montgomery look for in a song? It’s got to be real – like the stories shared sitting on a barstool after a long day.
“I just like real country music,” Montgomery said. “I can’t sing a song I don’t really know about. It’s very, very hard. [A good song], it makes you pour your soul out. It’ll make you feel better. It’ll get you through whatever you’re going through.”
Home Run opens with the working class anthem “Cost Of Being Me,” which features Bryan, a labelmate that Montgomery described as being “cut from the same cloth.” In the down-to-earth chorus, Montgomery sings, “I drink my whiskey from the well/ My souls for loan but ain’t for sale/ I've had my daddy pay my bail/ That kind of hell just don't come cheap/ If I had half of what I lost/ I'd be just a little bit better off/ I've paid a lot for being free … Yeah, that's the cost of being me.” The EP continues with the title track, a song about knowing how to find home when it matters most. Gorley, a fellow native of Danville, Kentucky, co-wrote the song.
“I run into his dad at Lowe’s all the time,” Montgomery said, laughing. “I heard ‘Home Run’ and was like, ‘Man, this reminds me how I feel going home. When I cross that Kentucky state line, it’s like, baby I’m home.’ I looked and said, ‘well, hell, Ashley Gorey wrote that song.’”
And Home Run includes an acoustic rendition of “My Son,” a 2021 song Montgomery co-wrote for the feature film Old Henry. A reflective number that carries the weight of fatherhood, Montgomery sings, “My son, please don't make mistakes I've made/ No don't chase the things I've chased/ Don't waste your life on the run/ My son, go ahead and spread your wings/ But while you're reaching for your dreams/ There's one thing you can't outrun/ You'll always be my son.”
For the release, Montgomery also offers a duet that can only be shared between kin – “Brotherly Love,” a taste of country nostalgia featuring John Michael Montgomery, Eddie Montgomery’s younger brother. The two grew up surrounded by music, from kids watching their parents gig at local nightclubs to playing in bands together as teenagers and beyond.
On singing with his brother “John-boy,” Montgomery said: “My dad always said, ‘If one of us got an apple, all of us got an apple.’ We always had each other’s back through music.”
Montgomery will take the new songs on the road and he doesn’t plan to slow down any time soon. Why? He’s having too much fun, of course. Or, in his words: “I want to play until the good man upstairs goes, ‘Well, I need ya now.’”
Website: www.montgomerygentry.com
Facebook: Montgomery Gentry
Instagram: montgomerygentry
The Frontmen features the dynamic voices of 90’s country legends: Richie McDonald (formerly of Lonestar), Larry Stewart (of Restless Heart) and Tim Rushlow (formerly of Little Texas).
From their rave review performances around the globe for our troops, to casinos, fairs and corporate events, to their globally televised performance on the steps of the hallowed Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, The Frontmen are making their mark on the Country music scene.
Stewart, Rushlow and McDonald have collectively sold over 30 million records and had over 30 major hits between them. They have a chemistry and brotherhood seldom matched and they have logged the travel miles to prove it, wowing audiences around the globe with their brand of highly successful intimate unplugged shows.
Powerhouse hits performed by the Frontmen of Country include Restless Heart classics, “The Bluest Eyes in Texas,” “That Rock Won’t Roll,” “I’ll Still Be Loving You” and “Why Does It Have to Be (Wrong or Right). Lonestar smashes such as “Amazed,” “Smile,” and “I’m Already There,” plus Little Texas hits including “God Blessed Texas,” “Amy’s Back in Austin,” and “What Might Have Been.” These songs and many others included in their shows are the soundtrack of a generation.
With their combined amazing vocal and instrumental talents, The Frontmen deliver a high energy show packed with fan-favorites from their three award-winning and critically-acclaimed bands, and also songs from some of the artists who have influenced them. The Frontmen deliver a truly one-of-a-kind concert experience.
Their stage is a place where they take you on a magical journey to the stories behind the songs. A place where the listener’s heart meets the singers’ hearts who made the songs famous, with an emotional impact that leaves audiences spellbound. The Frontmen deliver a show that is powerful, engaging, and authentic.
Website: www.thefrontmenlive.com
Facebook: The Frontmen Live
Twitter: @thefrontmenlive
Instagram: thefrontmenlive
Drenched in sun-kissed natural beauty both inside and out, Nashville native, Deana Carter, didn’t take a seemingly easy route to stardom, but instead chose to defy the conventional expectations of the typical Nashville artist blueprint and make her own mark. And she did, undeniably taking the industry and fans by storm with her wildly successful multi-platinum international debut “Did I Shave My Legs For This?” more two decades ago. Anchored by the dreamy super hit ” Strawberry Wine”, Carter showcased her own blend of country and retro- rock sprinkled with the folksy singer/songwriter qualities that have garnered Deana Carter well- deserved respect and wild acclaim.
With EIGHT albums under her belt, Carter explores many subjects commonly shared over a quaint dinner, afternoon coffee or a sunny day hike with a good friend.
Her last release of Southern Way of Life was her first dive as Label CEO on her own Little Nugget Records, distributed by Sony/Red. These songs weave through the sometimes rocky terrain of adulthood, including loss of love, relationships on many different levels, trials, tribulations and simply put – life. As always, Instinctively autobiographical, the subject matter mimics the interesting ride of Carter’s own life – so far.
The daughter of famed studio guitarist and producer Fred Carter, Jr., Deana grew up exposed to the wide variety of musicians her father worked with, including Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Simon & Garfunkel, Muddy Waters, Dolly Parton, and many more. Their strong influence would eventually seep into Deana’s own country-pop style, which reflects qualities that can also be heard in similar artists now, such as Miranda Lambert and reflective of artists like Sheryl Crow.
Developing her songwriting skills by trial and error at writer’s nights throughout Nashville, Carter eventually signed a writing deal with Polygram and soon after a record deal with Capitol Records. One of her demo tapes happened to fall into the hands of none other than Willie Nelson, who remembered Deana as a child. Impressed with how she’d grown as a songwriter, Nelson asked Deana to perform along with John Mellencamp, Kris Kristofferson and Neil Young as the only female solo artist to appear at Farm Aid VII in 1994.
Her debut album, “Did I Shave My Legs For This?” boasts six songs co-written and with the album co-produced by Carter, was released to strong reviews in late summer 1996. By the end of the year, the record had climbed to the top of both the country and pop charts, quickly achieving multi-platinum status, with 3 number one singles in a row. A “first” for the genre, Deana’s celebrated debut album held this distinction and many ground breaking achievements for more than 5 years and has become one of Country Music’s most treasured classics of the 90’s.
“Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” followed in late 1998 and in 2001 Carter realized her dream of performing with her dad on an intimate holiday album, aptly titled “Father Christmas.” Making a strong move towards adult pop Carter released “I’m Just a Girl” on Arista Records in 2003, the same year Capitol Records released a Greatest Hits compilation. Follow-ups “The Story of My Life” in 2005 and “The Chain” in 2007 were both released on Vanguard Records. In an effort to pay homage to her musical roots and preserve her legendary father’s label Nugget Records, that famously presented some of the best in country music some 40 years ago, Carter opened her own label, Little Nugget Records, on which her latest album “Southern Way of Life” was released.
Carter now divides her time between Los Angeles, Florida and Nashville, writing and producing for both the pop/rock and country markets when not on the road touring or making movies.
Her superstar success continues to be evident as the chart topper “You & Tequila”, co-written with Matraca Berg and recorded by Kenny Chesney, was nominated as CMA’s “Song of the Year”, as well as two Grammy nods, notable the coveted “Song of the Year” , and, also, received a nomination as ACM’s “Song of the Year”. You and Tequila received a coveted ‘Songs I Wished I’d Written’ by the NSAI in Nashville, something Deana treasures, coming from her hometown music community.
Carter also co-wrote and produced an album for recording artist Audra Mae & the Almighty Sound, while putting the finishing touches on her own “Southern Way of Life.”
She has recently held a Governor’s seat on the Grammy Board for the Recording Academy and served on the Producer’s & Engineer’s Wing, The Membership Committee, & held an active voice for Artists & Creators with Advocacy in Washington, D. C. & throughout the last year for Pandemic Relief.
Singer, songwriter, producer – Deana Carter continues to defy conventional expectations, making waves as she makes great music, tours, & makes movies.
Website: www.deana.com
Facebook: Official Deana Carter
Twitter: @deanasings
Instagram: deanatunes
Nashville recording artist and television host, Julia Cole, encourages empowering self-worth and good vibes to her growing #ColeTeam community. Julia has amassed well over 100,000,000 streams, is a CMT Next Women of Country, made her GRAND OLE OPRY DEBUT, and has been featured on CMT, SIRIUS XM, CIRCLE TV, CBS, Audience Network, The CW, and more. Julia is hosting festival lifestyle series “Circle’s Ultimate Fanfest” on Circle TV as well as appearing on Circle’s 2023 “My Opry Debut” series and CMT’s 2023 “Viral to Verified” season.
Influenced by the genre-crossed locker room playlists she and her Texas volleyball teammates blasted, Julia’s musical style blends authentic country storytelling with a little Houston rhythm and attitude. Julia got her start performing the Star-Spangled Banner before her own high-school volleyball games, and was soon performing for NFL, MLB, MLS, NASCAR, and ESPN events before crowds of 75,000. She’s since signed to CAA and toured globally in over 10 countries opening for acts like Dan + Shay, Jon Pardi, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Kane Brown, The Chainsmokers, Dierks Bentley, Chase Rice, Lee Brice, Eli Young Band, Chris Lane, Michael Ray, Jake Owen and more. Julia brings her love for music and sports full-circle by advocating for women's athletics and empowerment and collaborating with the Boys and Girls Club, the NFL’s GenYouth program, and Mizuno athleticwear.
Website: www.juliacolemusic.com
Facebook: Julia Cole Music
Twitter: @juliacolemusic
Instagram: juliacolemusic
Walker Montgomery, chosen as an Artist to Watch in 2022 by Country Now and Music Mayhem Magazine; as well as Artist to Watch in 2021 by Sounds Like Nashville and The Boot and a Country Next pick by Country Now, is a rising singer/songwriter who knows a thing or two about family tradition, but he’s an artist making his own legacy. The 21-year-old son of John Michael Montgomery and nephew of Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery, the emerging star was raised away from the spotlight in Nicholasville, Kentucky. But now that he’s found that spotlight on his own, Montgomery’s pedigree is matched only by his country passion. Signed to Play It Again Entertainment and produced by the multi-award-winning chart-topping team known to the world as The Peach Pickers – Dallas Davidson; Ben Hayslip; and Rhett Akins (who have nearly 80 No. 1 songs between them)– he’s already put his classically-inspired, honey-bourbon vocal to use on a self-penned hit debut (“Simple Town,” over 4 Million Spotify streams). A pair of story-building singles followed – the high-energy “Like My Daddy Done It” and passionate “Saving For A Rainy Night” – and there’s more on the way. Montgomery and his team have already logged countless hours in the studio, as the breakout talent works to hone his lyrical honesty and integrity, plus a lived-in sound that brings country’s past into the present tense. “I want my music to stand the test of time and connect with people no matter who they are,” he says. “I learned from my family that the way you do that is by being true to yourself, and that’s the reason I’m here. That’s the reason I get up every day and do what I do – to help take care of the family name and make them proud.”
Thank you for being with us and our special guests!
Tickets on sale now! General Admission tickets $25, VIP $50. Kids 12 and Under are free!
Save the date: Tuesday June 20th at Sanders Ferry Park!!
Food Trucks, Kids Zone, Great Music and more!
Website: www.walkermontgomery.com
Facebook: WalkerCMontgomery
Twitter: @WalkMontgomery
Instagram: walkermontgomery
For an artist who’s amassed so many light-hearted country songs, Mitchell Tenpenny is actually dead serious about his craft. And the result of that is a carefully curated batch of bona fide country songs that he hopes will keep getting fans to listen and to love what they hear.
“This isn’t a hobby for me. This is my job: to get people to love and believe my songs. I have a responsibility to make music that people latch on to. That’s what songwriting is to me,” Tenpenny says now, four years after making his debut in 2018 with Telling All My Secrets. “It’s like that old adage, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’” That album earned him the best first week showing for any major label country debut LP at the time of its release.
Even with that solid work ethic, Tenpenny knows that half the fun of making the music is the having fun part. The songwriting and wordsmithing come naturally, he says, even when he’s been out drinking with friends. “There’s a clarity in the drunk. Sometimes that’s when you have the best titles, phrases, and alliterations, because you’re free and you’re talking, and things just come out differently.” He says his hook book is packed with ideas from good hangs and nights out.
Now that he’s on the verge of releasing his ambitious 20-track studio album This Is The Heavy, he maintains that while his rock influences are featured on the songs, with heavy drums and guitars, the foundation for everything he does is country. Which you’d expect from someone who was born and raised in Nashville, in a family with deep roots in the country music business.
“In the heyday of Brooks & Dunn, they were my favorite band. And going to Fan Fair with my grandma (former Sony/ATV Music CEO Donna Hilley) was awesome,” he recalls. “But there was a lot more than just country music going on in Nashville. There was the emo-rock scene and the Rocketown scene. After being so engulfed in country music, when I got to high school, I made friends by starting a rock band.” Even as they explored that sound, Tenpenny’s origins stayed with him and ultimately, led him to a proper career in country music. “When teacher says, ‘write whatever you want in your journal’: that’s how songwriting feels to me. Just free. So lyrically we stay country, but we also explore new sounds.”
That’s the very reason that Tenpenny’s music sounds like an evolution of sorts. If fans expect him to recreate traditional country music, that’s just not him. “If I copy Waylon and Willie, that’s not authentic. Because those records have already been made. I write what I know and what I like, and hope that other people like it, too.”
At 32, Tenpenny also knows that he hasn’t lived quite enough life to make every single song about him. He’s okay with telling a compelling story when it happens to make a compelling song. “I don’t always just write about myself. Johnny Cash didn’t really shoot a man in Reno just to watch him die. It was just a great lyric. A lot of my songs come from true life, but a lot of them are stories I make up in my head.”
He’s learned those songwriting lessons from his idols, like Bobby Braddock, who he says can write a million different songs a million different ways. And from Brett and Brad Warren, who he credits with getting him his first publishing deal. “They told me when we met that if they ever had a songwriting cancellation, they’d call me. They did, and we ended up writing ‘That’s How She Goes.’ Keith Urban put it on hold, then Blake Shelton put it on hold. I always thought it was someone else’s song, but then it finally felt right for me, and I knew I needed to cut it myself.” The song makes its debut appearance on This Is the Heavy even though it was written nearly a decade ago.
The Nashville that built Tenpenny isn’t much like the one that exists today. His memories of the influential music from Lower Broadway take him back to Paradise Park Trailer Park at 4th and Broadway. A place where he and his buddies could drink $6 pitchers of Natty Light and listen to a guitar player with a Fender Forever tattoo. “It was the coolest place in the world. Rest in peace, Paradise Park,” he says of the honky-tonk that closed in 2018.
Another instrumental part of Tenpenny’s early attempts at songwriting came in college when he hit the roommate jackpot. He lived with Brad Clawson — “Happy Does,” “Up Down” — the son of prolific hitmaker Rodney Clawson. They didn’t plan to make a living in country music, but they also didn’t plan not to. “We had guitars in our room, and there was nothing else to do but just try to figure this out. We started writing country songs. It just kind of happened, because we didn’t have a plan B. We were so naïve. But we had jobs – I worked in construction and valet parking – and I learned that you never know who’s in the room. When you’re too focused on becoming an artist, you lose sight of everything that’s around you. And then you might miss the opportunities around you.”
Opportunities such as meeting a producer while he was putting insulation in a roof in Nashville. “You have to be open minded enough to take chances every time you get them,” he says. And then those seemingly random moments can lead to bigger things, like Tenpenny’s breakout hit “Drunk Me,” which has amassed more than 550 million on-demand streams. He wrote the song with Jordan Schmidt and Justin Wilson, and it became his debut single. It was released in 2018, but he remembers hearing it on the radio for the first time as if it was yesterday.
“I remember being in my truck driving around Nashville, and I heard my voice. I thought it was just my CD and that I was listening to the mix. But it sounded different,” he says. When he pushed the eject button and nothing came out, he had the quintessential epiphany: “Is this the radio? It said 103.3 Country. I couldn’t believe my song was on the radio. I started crying, I called my mom: that feeling never changes.”
He considers his new song stack more mature, with a best-of-both-worlds sound. “It goes back to my rock influences, with more expressive arrangements, but lyrically it’s about what I’ve been doing the last four years of my life,” he says. His intention was not to veer off course. “There are still songs that have the vibe of ‘Drunk Me’ and ‘Alcohol You Later.’ I’m not one to ever leave the fans behind. Because I loved when bands stuck to what made me fall in love with them. That’s important to me. I never want to venture off too far from what first got me started.”
And its those fans that have pushed his on-demand streams to be among the best out of today’s breakout artists, with over 1.3 billion total and as many as six tracks exceeding competitive artists’ tracks thanks to his loyal fan base. At the close of 2021, Mitchell was a Top 10 artist on Spotify’s Hot Country (#7) and the #5 most-played artist on SiriusXM’s The Highway only just behind superstars like Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, and Chris Stapleton. His social following continues to grow and specifically, his TikTok following, and likes are competitive with current headlining acts.
When Tenpenny set out to make This Is the Heavy, there was no question that he’d write all the songs the way he did on his first studio album. “It’s hard for me to make someone believe a song I didn’t write. When it comes to my own record, I feel like I’m the best one to write my own story and say what I want to say.” The album’s first single “Truth About You” has already racked up 120+ million streams and landed in the Top 13 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. Tenpenny’s debut album and his follow-up EPs also caught the attention of expert talent spotter Luke Bryan, who invited Tenpenny to join him on his current “Raised Up Right Tour.”
Mitchell10penny.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Nashville’s most unpredictable hitmaker ERNEST is “The Charmer” (MusicRow), a triple threat talent and one of Music City’s on the rise artist/writers that’s changing the status quo. As a chart-topping songwriter, he fuses influences ranging from Eminem to George Jones, creating a twist-heavy verse style that’s become his signature, proving its mettle, and earning him seven #1 hits to date. The eccentric free spirit and 2022 CMA Triple Play Award winner launched his debut single to country radio “Flower Shops” feat. Morgan Wallen in January to 88 first week stations, the #1 most added single of the week. The Top 20 track continues to make waves, hitting another benchmark with RIAA platinum certification. His debut full-length album of the same name - Flower Shops (The Album) – is out now, showing off the more classically country side of his craft. Nashville’s “busiest – and most consistently successful – creative force” (Tennessean) just wrapped his first-ever sold-out headlining Sucker For Small Towns Tour, spanning college towns nationwide.
