AristoPR Archives - The Michigan Star

Music Spotlight: Kelli Belles

October 19, 2024 Bethany Bowman

Rising country artist Kelli Belles, known by her stage moniker Belles, is hitting the road this fall on her highly anticipated Trust Issues Tour. The tour kicked off on October 11th in Nashville, Tennessee, at The Basement and marked the beginning of a series of performances that will span the country, including stops in Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and more.

Belles comes from a musical family. Her grandmother, Geraldine A. “Jeri” Rizzuto, was a renowned jazz singer who performed in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. She also had a stint with the well-known Paul Moorhead Orchestra.

Music Spotlight: Connor Daly

October 9, 2024 Bethany Bowman

Rising Americana artist, Connor Daly, released his new album, Colors Fade in July with twelve original tracks that showcase his storytelling prowess and musical versatility.

Ty Herndon Releases ‘Jacob; Deluxe Edition

December 20, 2023 Bethany Bowman

Grammy-nominated and Dove Award-winning country artist Ty Herndon has released the deluxe edition of his highly acclaimed album, ‘Jacob’ which has two new tracks and four reimagined tracks.

Music Spotlight: Colton James

January 14, 2023January 13, 2023 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Colton James hails from a small town near Franklin, Virginia. Both of his grandmothers played piano and organ at church, while his mother had a strong singing voice. James started singing at church at age four and continued making music at church and in plays at his Christian school.

“My mother sang in church but my Granny on my dad’s side was a West Virginia honky tonk granny, and she might have a little drink here and there,” he said.

Music Spotlight: CHLSY

September 9, 2022September 8, 2022 Bethany Bowman

A 90s-inspired dark-rock band, CHLSY, presents original music on their latest record, ‘Quantum Entanglement.’

Music Spotlight: Country Radio Seminar

March 1, 2022 Bethany Bowman

Country Radio Seminar is one of the most significant events in Nashville, as it brings country radio and music industry professionals together to educate each other, enhance skills, facilitate business, and promote the growth of the industry.

World-Renowned Producer Fred Mollin Releases ‘It’s Great to be a Kid’

November 24, 2021November 23, 2021 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Fred Mollin is an award-winning American and Canadian record producer, musician, film and TV composer, music director, music supervisor, and songwriter whose discography spans 35 years. He has produced records for Jimmy Webb, Johnny Mathis, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lamont Dozier, and America, and has composed music for Beverly Hills, 90210, Friday the 13th (movies and television), Forever Knight, Hard Copy, and many more. Mollin rose to prominence early in his career by co-producing (with Matthew McCauley) Dan Hill’s international hit record, “Sometimes When We Touch”, in 1977.

Music Spotlight: Juna N Joey

November 4, 2021November 3, 2021 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Even though Juna and Joey Defeo are just 16 and 19 years old, they have been singing together for quite a while. They got their affinity for music from their grandparents. Their paternal grandfather was an opera singer in Italy and their maternal grandfather was in a country band who played “pretty much anything with strings.”

Music Spotlight: Creed Fisher

September 20, 2021September 20, 2021 Bethany Bowman

With over 22 million combined streams on Spotify and over 17 million views on YouTube with past releases like “Life of A Workin’ Man,” “The Way That I Am,” and “Old School” Texas-born and bred southern rock artist Creed Fisher is one of the most streamed and popular artists I have ever featured.

Fisher hails from Odessa, Texas, where his family’s roots trace back to his granddad, who was highly involved in the oil game back in the fifties. He started writing songs/poems at age nine. He states that “it wasn’t very good” but it was the beginning of his fruitful songwriting career.

Music Spotlight: Tebey

June 27, 2021June 27, 2021 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Until I started writing this column, I had no idea of Canadian musicians’ influence on the country music industry. Country music is as big in Canada as it is in America. Tebey is a prime example.

Music Spotlight: Nashvillains

April 21, 2021April 20, 2021 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- When I interviewed the Nashvillains I mentioned that they were like a modern country music supergroup. Turns out they agree. Signed to Fate Entertainment, the newly formed country-rock-infused band is made up of veteran musicians Troy Johnson, Brett Boyett, and Scott Lindsey.

Music Spotlight: Jason Charles Miller

April 12, 2021April 11, 2021 Bethany Bowman

Agents send me music to preview. Sometimes I get quite a few in one day. When Aristo PR sent me songs from Jason Charles Miller’s From the Wreckage, Part 1 Album, I thought, “This is good, really good.”

Although metal fans will know, I was not familiar with Miller from the rock band, Godhead. But this new music wasn’t metal at all. It was more like a mashup between Lynryd Skynyrd meets Americana. It was both fresh and familiar at the same time. And it was different than most of the music that is pitched to me.

Music Spotlight: Brett Kissel

March 30, 2021March 29, 2021 Bethany Bowman

If there were ever a darling of the Canadian Country Airwaves, it would be Brett Kissel. Not only has the 30-year-old won numerous Canadian Country Music Association Awards, but he also has three number one hits and numerous top-tens on Canadian Radio.

But the main reason I wanted to interview him was because his music really is that good. His songs are all over the spectrum sonically but they resonate with the listeners.

Kissel admits that absolutely no one in his family is musical. “Not a grandpa, not a dad, an uncle, an auntie, nobody ever played music, period.”

The fact that he picked up a guitar, the fact that he can sing, the fact that he can write songs, and the fact that he moved to Nashville and made a go of it, is nothing short of remarkable.

Music Spotlight: Andrew Beam

February 11, 2021February 10, 2021 Bethany Bowman

Andrew Beam is from Cashiers, (pronounced Cash-ers) North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountain area. The son of a bluegrass picking preacher, Beam watched his dad at bluegrass festivals, church socials, and front porch get-togethers.

Although he picked up a guitar when he was five, he didn’t get serious about it until age 11.

Music Spotlight: Daniel Borge

January 24, 2021January 23, 2021 Bethany Bowman

Daniel Borge is an up-and-coming country music star. When I heard his single, “There I Was” I could tell this song offered the classical country story with a more modern sound. What I didn’t realize was that Borge is from Norway and English is not his first language.

In many ways, Borge’s journey to country music is one of the most unique stories I have heard. However, his path follows one of the most common themes. He learned to sing in church. His dad is a preacher and even though they live in Norway, they played/sang American gospel music.

Music Spotlight: Cory Marks

September 2, 2020September 1, 2020 Bethany Bowman

As a kid from Canada who played hockey and wanted to become a pilot, Cory Marks might be the last person who you would expect to explode on the Southern Rock/Country Music scene. But after listening to his unapologetic, raw, yet real song, Outlaws and Outsiders, I wanted to find out what he was about.

Marks grew up in North Bay Ontario, Canada, about three hours north of Toronto. North Bay was a big hockey town and also a prominent military city hosting an important Air Force base in North America. Every summer Marks and his family attended the air shows in August which provided the young boy driven desire to become a pilot. Not only that, but he was also on hockey skates at age three. (His brother plays professional hockey.)