What’s CMA Fest without Kelleigh Bannen? Pretty dull, that’s what! Good thing we had the chance to catch her performance at the Boot Barn down on Broadway that weekend!
Bannen was able to team up with Boot Barn to give fans the opportunity to win a makeover by the Country Artist! Other fans were able to watch the performance at the store!
VIDEO: KELLEIGH BANNEN PERFORMING “LANDLOCKED” LIVE AT CMA FEST
Bannen performed some new songs and let fans in on the secret that she would be releasing an EP (Friday June 17, 2016). The EP is titled Cheap Sunglasses and features 5 new songs from Bannen!
Natalie Stovall And The Drive is one of those bands that have been around for years but not everyone knows about. Variety Beat had the chance to catch up with Stovall and talk about the band, their music and her tour Three Girls Rock Into A Bar.
It’s important to have a community that supports each other and the fans have been there for Stovall and her band, even helping fund her latest EP. She talks about what inspired her single “Heartbreak” and surprisingly it’s not about a relationship. In fact, Stovall is happily married to James Bavendam who happens to be the drummer in her band.
VARIETY BEAT INTERVIEWS NATALIE STOVALL:
Variety Beat: Can you tell me about your band Natalie Stovall and The Drive. How did you all come together?
“My band and I have spent most of our time on the road – playing over 200 dates a year for the last few years. James Bavendam (drummer) and I met in college and put a band together. When we graduated, James and I were the only members that moved down to Nashville. We started looking for new members, put an ad on Craig’s list, and found Miguel! We met Joel through a former bass player, and that’s when it started to become a real band. After years of touring under just my name, I realized my music didn’t sound like me without them and wanted to give it a band name to recognize the fact that we really are a band. It’s so amazing to tour the world & make music with this band of brothers. They are some of the greatest and most talented people I’ve ever known, and I get to hang out with them every day!”
Variety Beat: You recently released your second EP after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Your first EP was also self released. What has that journey been like for you guys as a band and how has it connected you with your fans?
“It was such a bummer when the record label closed down right before our second single was being shipped to radio. But the way the fans have supported us, still come out to shows, and still asked about & bought our music has kept us going. It really is about the music and the people that support us – don’t care whether we have a fancy record deal or not. Making this new music was such a rewarding experience. Our fans funded our Kickstarter goal in a little over a week which was HUGE! The whole process – from what I was writing to working with different producers to playing the songs out live – has been such a growing process for us. We keep pushing ourselves as a band. And our fans have really responded to that! We just want to keep making music and reaching as many people as we can with it.”
Variety Beat: Your current single is called “Heartbreak,” can you explain the inspiration behind the song?
“I was writing with a couple of writers (Maile Misajon and Jason Gantt) in Nashville. It was right after the label had shut down and I was talking about everything I was going through at the time. We were discussing how it’s just like a relationship ending – it’s someone you depend on and makes you stronger and when that goes away it really is heartbreaking. So much of the momentum we had going came to a screeching halt. But it’s what you do AFTER that happens that defines you. So as we were having this discussion and started singing some lines that became the chorus and the song was born.”
Variety Beat: The music video for “Heartbreak” was a ton of fun to watch, was that also self released and what was that journey like?
“HA! Thank you! It was SO much fun to make. We made it with some friends in Dallas that have a production company called Distillery Media. We had come up with the rough idea of the video and I LOVED it cause it made me laugh just thinking about each of the guys being a “bad date”. We all sat around with the director, Randy, the day before we shot the video and just created each of the dates. I picked an outfit for each one and then my sweet friend, Hailey Steele, who is an incredible singer/songwriter, just happens to be amazing at hair and make-up, too. So she came and helped me with glam and then was IN the video as the girl Joel leaves me for AND the girl on the bad date at the end :). I highly recommend making videos with your friends. We shot the whole thing at 3 locations in 6 hours and laughed the whole time.”
Variety Beat: The video also features your band going on dates with you after finding them on a dating app type deal. Your husband’s date, who is the drummer in the band didn’t seem to go so well. Will he be getting a second date? 🙂 The ending was hilarious and everyone will have to watch to see what we are talking about!
“HAHA. If any of our original dates had gone that badly he would NOT have gotten a second date!”
WATCH: NATALIE STOVALL AND THE DRIVE’S MUSIC VIDEO “HEARTBREAK”
Variety Beat: I noticed some upcoming shows called 3 Girls Rock Into A Bar with Ruthie Collins and Kelleigh Bannen. How did you all come together to get that set up?
“I have wanted to do a tour like this for a LONG time. Ruthie and Kelleigh are 2 of my favorite artists in Nashville, so what better way to go on the road than with my band and friends?! My band plays for everyone and we all sing and play for each other and it’s just a big party of sharing our favorite music on stage. So far the shows have gone really well and we just want to keep growing it so we can take even more girls out with us!”
Be sure to catch Natalie Stovall and The Drive on the road. Dates here.
Headlining night 1 of ACM’s Party For A Cause was none other than Carrie Underwood. It’s her we have to thank for this wonderful day of Women In Country! She requested the bill for Friday to be all Female Country Artists! It was definitely a day in heaven!
Underwood has one of the most amazing voices across all genres! It was wonderful to hear her perform her new single “Church Bells.”
Her previous single, “Heartbeat” recently hit #1 and happens to be my favorite off the Storyteller album!
Underwood also performed a song off her album Storyteller called “Dirty Laundry.” It’s a fun song about what happens when a man cheats on you! Of course being cheated on is definitely not fun, but it’s a warning to men, if you do it, well your dirty laundry is going to be aired!
Waiting all day/night for Underwood to perform was well worth it. She always blows it out of the water! Speaking of water, she performed her GRAMMY winning song “Something In The Water.” I had to record a clip as it’s such a powerful song that really showcases her vocal range!
Not only did Underood request to have an all female bill, but she then invited them back to sing with her! The atmosphere was crazy as Kelleigh Bannen, Lauren Alaina, Kellie Pickler and Jana Kramer all came back out to perform “Before He Cheats” with Underwood!
PHOTO GALLERY: CARRIE UNDERWOOD PERFORMING AT ACM PARTY FOR A CAUSE
Be sure to catch Carrie Underwood on the StorytellerTour! Can’t wait to see her again in a few weeks at Stagecoach! Coverage will be here after so check back early next month!
If you’ve been following this site for the last few years, you will know that over at Variety Beat, we are huge Kelleigh Bannen fans! It was so exciting to see Bannen perform at ACM Party For A Cause! Bannen was the very first performer of the festival and she set the tone right away with a song called “Welcome To The Party,” which was very fitting!
I do have to say, being in the front for the performance, made the sound quality a little off, but for those die hard fans who need a taste of new music, we have you covered! Keep reading for more videos and photo galleries!
Kelleigh Bannen Photo Gallery
Bannen also debuted some new songs and did a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.”
Nine hours to the closest beach? That sounds terrible! Thankfully for those of us near water, we don’t have to worry about that! But this fun song about it being damn hot and being “Landlocked” sure is fun!
Bannen also performed a couple of her past singles including “Smoke When I Drink” and she closed with “Famous.” Of course we were too busy dancing to record any of that! Don’t worry, we did get a video of a new song called “All Good Things.” Bannen will hopefully be able to tell us about some “good things” happening in her life, music wise soon!
It was a great day as we got to start and end our day with Bannen! Headliner, Carrie Underwood (gallery coming soon), brought out Bannen along with Lauren Alaina, Kellie Pickler and Jana Kramer to sing her hit song “Before He Cheats.”
WATCH KELLEIGH BANNEN PERFORMING “BEFORE HE CHEATS” WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD AND MORE.
Camera Phone Quality Photo Gallery
You can catch Kelleigh Bannen on the 3 Girls Rock Into A Bar tour with Natalie Stovall and Ruthie Collins. Additionally, you can follow her blog at This Nashville Life to get a taste on what the industry is really like, her take on fashion, glam and fitness.
You should also follow her on snapchat @kelleigh_bannen
Found myself on there!
One day of seeing my fav was also not enough so we got to catch up the following day for a little bit! It’s so wonderful to find people so down to earth and genuine! That’s what connects us to each other!
Bannen also attended the 51st Annual ACM Awards and we ran into each other again! BFF status!
Just a couple more weeks until we are in Las Vegas for ACM Party For A Cause! If you’re like us, then you have been anxious to plan your day and see when your favorite artists are performing. The set times were just announced and you can even download the ACM Awards app and add each artist to your schedule!
Stay tuned for more info coming soon. Did I hear something about Meet And Greets?!
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