Raised an only child, Matthew Kenney of Edgewood, Kentucky, was tasked with finding ways to entertain himself. The baby grand piano in his parents’ sitting room was his first inspiration. He began piano lessons in the third grade, but bored with the formal training, he quit after six months. Instead, he played by ear, learning everything from commercial jingles to the pop songs on his mom’s favorite radio station.
Many musicians end up working “day jobs” to make ends meet, but Brenda Lynn Allen loves her day job just as much as she loves evening gigs performing on stage, in and around Nashville.
When Jessica Brown was just a little girl, she used the power of music as her best means of communication.
Though there are plenty of bloodline bands in the world, the Bunnell Strings are not only a family five-piece ensemble of double bass, cello, viola, and two violins, but the bonds that tie them together are much stronger than the average. Siblings—Keren, 25 years old; Kimberly, 23; Corrie, 22; Cara, 20, and Ross, 19—lost both of their parents, their father to skin cancer in 2007 and their mother of colon cancer three years later.
“Singing and making music have been my passion since I can remember,” says Sabrina Duke, who says she grew up singing all the time to whoever would listen.
One of the most successful female country musicians of all time, Kathy Mattea has had numerous top 40 hits in her three-decade career.
Rich Ridenour has had an impressive career. After studying music at the University of Michigan and Juilliard, he went on to perform around the country. But his greatest passion—spreading his enthusiasm for piano and music—is what drives his career. To perform around the country. He also arranges, tackling music ranging from classical to ragtime to rock ‘n’ roll. But his greatest passion—spreading his enthusiasm for piano and music—is what drives his career.
The corporate world and the rock world are not as dissimilar as one might think. Being a CEO, or even managing a staff of employees, can be a lot like leading a band. The parallels between the two are indisputable. Charting a direction, team building, hiring and firing, and communicating ideas are all equally applicable job-related concepts whether you’re the head of a company, a department, or a band. Stu Kemper of Dublin, Ohio, and Ozzy Nelson of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are both bandleaders and bosses at their companies.
rammy-nominated singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb launched into the spotlight in 1994 with her platinum-selling, number one hit song “Stay (I Missed You)” from the Ben Stiller-directed film Reality Bites
The thing about life is that everything you know and plan can change on a dime. That’s what happened to Justin Echols in January 2003, when the Oklahoma City Police Officer and Army Reservist was involved in a head-on collision.