Born in Yorba Linda and raised in Anaheim, California, just a stone's throw from Disneyland, Alissa began writing songs at 11 years old. At this early age, she took notice of how songs have the ability to induce feelings and set out determined to make a career in music. By 17, her singing and writing ability helped secure a publishing deal in Los Angeles and she began playing in local venues throughout Southern California. She performed at clubs, local bars, community events; any place that could continue to progress her musical development. When she was 21, she moved to Nashville, inspired by a growing community of great songwriters. Now in a place called Music City, far from the Pacific Ocean, and deep-rooted in country music, she began writing and recording music that motivated her to find her own voice. Alissa’s music attempts to bridge the gap between country and pop in a soulful way, by blending vintage California with the passionate simplicities of Tennessee. It’s a unique fusion of feelings that create a setting found only in Woody Allen films. Inspired by artists such as Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Patsy Cline, Aretha Franklin, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones; along with more contemporary artists like Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Adele, Eric Church, and Leon Bridges, Alissa generates qualities that remind us of when retro was much in vogue, while keeping us intimately aware of love, loss, and everything in between.
There’s a new kid bringing the heat to the Texas Music scene, and that kid is Aaron McBee. First things first, Aaron knows what country music is - and what he sings ain’t it! Growing up on Slim Shady, Nickelback, and Motley Crue left its mark, and has a large hand in inspiring the music Aaron performs and writes today. Not to discredit his country music upbringing, including influences such as the king himself, George Strait - Aaron is a modern day Texas grunge rockstar with country roots. His unique sound and larger than life personality has grown his social media following organically to over 100K followers on all platforms combined. In 2023, he was signed by Grey Area Music to grow his sound far and wide. Despite Aaron’s early and growing success, he is a humble artist that makes it very clear he cares most about the music and the authenticity behind it.
In the end, it’s not ALL sex, drugs, and rock & roll for this rising star. Aaron may be young and wild, but he’s a story teller at heart - taking real life experiences and giving them a musical twist that leaves the listener wondering just how much really happened. Every songwriter has a story to tell, and there’s no doubt that Aaron is writing his first chapter now.
Texas based singer-songwriter Austin Upchurch taught himself to play guitar in his dorm room at Howard Payne University. Not long after, he took to open mic nights, song swaps, and practically anywhere someone would let him cut his teeth. Austin decided he needed a band after releasing his first single in 2016. His versatile debut album, “Breakdown” in 2020 laid the blueprint for what was to come for the Godley, Texas native.
Austin Upchurch fronts a five-piece band musing about how to deal with yourself. Your own sadness, life’s unpredictable nature and learning to love yourself. The band found a niche opening for other Texas rock acts such as Giovannie and The Hired Guns and Kody West, developing a loyal local fanbase of those who relate to the moody tones and in-your-face guitar riffs.
The most recent releases with the EP “Sometimes the Sun Hurts Me” and 2023’s single “Automatic” signal the rock-forward direction of the homegrown act - moody lyrics, soaring hooks, and guitar sounds that would sound right at home on your favorite pop-punk albums.
Caleb Seth is a singer-songwriter that seamlessly combines the honest lyricism of country greats, with a captivating and timeless, soulful voice. Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and raised in West Tennessee with a big family - Caleb Seth was separated at a young age and spent his early years in foster care. Adopted at 7 years old, Caleb was raised on different styles of music like Pop, Rock, Country, and R&B. His love for music grew in his new home as he started playing music at 12 years old. His sound is truly a testament to the music he was raised on. In Caleb’s songs, you can hear the R&B influences of Boyz 2 Men & Michael Jackson, all the way to the songs of Tim McGraw, and Rascal Flatts, tied together with a subtle Rock & Roll edge - similar to artists like Nickelback & Daughtry.
After graduating from high school, and shortly after heading to the University of Memphis he obtained a full scholarship to play keys in a touring University music group. A year and half later he dropped out to pursue country music full time. In March of 2022, Caleb Seth began doing live streams on TikTok, and his following grew at rapid speed to over 50K TikTok followers. Just recently in the beginning of 2023, Caleb Seth signed to Grey Area Music - a record label located in Nashville, TN to kickstart his country music career. To Caleb, music is his universal language, his voice, and the way he communicates with the world. In his words, it is the only way he knows how to fully express himself. Stay tuned for more from this heartfelt Tennessee artist.
The latesinger-songwriter Judee Sill considered her style Country Cult Baroque, and Dan Spencer finds that this is a perfectway to describe his own music. His penchant for mixing morbid lyrical contentand black metal imagery with country-fried Southern rock doesn’t feel forced atall, considering his eclectic taste and background as a mortician. No, really.
Born near Nashville in Smyrnain 1993, the Tennessee troubadour grew up going to see hardcore bands in theregion because there were no age restrictions on those kind of shows. Heeventually moved to the college town of Cookeville, TN of which he notes, “It’sgot this pretty unique history of having a way better music scene than it oughtto.” Despite being in the heartland of country music, his interest in the genrecoalesced in an entirely circuitous way, via the California-based, punk-pedigreedexperimental band Amps For Christ. “They would cover a lot of traditionalScottish folk songs that morphed into Appalachian mountain music, which morphedinto country music. I had to hear it through that lens to get into it.”
After having playedguitar in indie rock band Holy Coast and managing vocal/guitar duties for theCCR/Allman Brothers-inspired group Pumpkinseed, Spencer began writing andrecording solo material in early 2020, just in time for the pandemic to hit.His debut album Bursting WithCountry-Fresh Flavor (a Seinfeld reference) was unceremoniously releasedonline two years later. Music seemed like a dead end pursuit so he enrolled inmortuary school; a career path that shaped his music.
“Death is a big lyricaltopic I’m always exploring,” says Dan Spencer. “I think it really kicked offwhen I was working at a funeral home and reallysurrounded by it all the time that I learned new questions to ask about death.I think there’s just a culture, in the US specifically, where people are notprepared for grief at all. It’s also shocking working in that system seeing therandom and seemingly meaningless nature of death. It does something to you and definitelyinspires you to create art about it, with an infinite bowl to grab from. It makesyou so much more aware that whoever is running this show is not guaranteeingyou a long, fulfilled life of experiences and dreams coming true.”
It was much sweeter forhim when his dreams did start comingtrue, beginning with a chance encounter with a music industry veteran at apizza place in Nashville that Spencer was managing on the weekends. Pretty soonhis music ended up in the hands of Post Malone, a fellow musician withsimilarly diverse taste who was already at this point a platinum-sellinghousehold name with multiple #1 albums and singles under his belt. Spencerfound himself engaged in songwriting sessions with Malone and Brad Paisleyafter dropping out of mortuary school; it all seemed surreal.
Post Malone’s publishingcompany Electric Feel and Nashville record company Grey Area combined forces tocreate the label Feeling Grey, that released Dan Spencer’s follow-upfull-length effort, 2024’s Return To YourDark Master (also a Seinfeld reference).
Spencer explains that Return To Your Dark Master, which is asmusically indebted to indie/alt-country auteur Jason Molina as it is to Destroyer,Alkaline Trio and Finnish gothic rock band HIM, is a concept album. “Theconcept is most directly addressed in the song ‘Fat Vampire’. It’s this vampirewho’s lived for hundreds of years and going back through the people he hasloved who have died, and he wants to die with them. In the lyrics, the words‘death,’ and ‘love’ are sort of interchangeable because they mean the samething to an immortal person who wants to die. Death is tantamount to true love,which is an incredibly Hot Topic goth band concept! But that’s what it is forthat record.”
Lyrics have always beena focal point for Spencer. The imagery-rich “Pink Sword Lilies” was inspired bythe funeral director for whom he worked, who said his own funeral would bedecorated only with spider mums Gladiolus as a “fuck you” to his respectiveindustry, because those are the most difficult flowers to clean up.
The stark contrastbetween the Norwegian black metal-inspired cover art and the music contained onReturn To Your Dark Master mightthrow some for a loop, but Spencer assures this is not some kind of ironichipster stunt. “I absolutely like George Jones as much as I like Darkthrone andMayhem. There’s the little kid in me who has always wanted to put on corpsepaint and spikes and set fire to stuff in the woods; that’s why I have apentagram logo. It’s what we are listening to in the van. Take my word for it –I really do like this shit.”
Spencer’s love for heavymusic extends beyond imagery. His band, consisting of lead guitarist ConnerDuty, bassist Zach Ramsey, drummer Ethan Young, with Dan on vocals/guitar,often play hardcore shows, thereby making themselves the “softest” act on thebill. Sharing the stage with raging, underground punk bands like Brat Tamer,Shitfire and Lethal Method, but also opening Post Malone’s fall 2024 US tour issomething that may seem entirely random, but it makes perfect sense for DanSpencer, with his Country Cult Baroqueapproach to music and life.
Grey Area Recording Artist David J is a Country Singer/Songwriter and Producer from Rotterdam, NY. His grandfather – who is also musically talented – put a guitar in David’s hands 4 years ago. Fast forward to today, David has played shows at some of the top venues in the Northeast and in Nashville, TN. Within the past 4 years he has had multiple songs on the radio as an artist and as a producer/songwriter for other artists.
David Morris is a country artist, singer-songwriter and rapper from Charleston, West Virginia. His sound mixes trap style beats with slide guitars, banjos with catchy hooks, and lyrical mastery with relatable lyrics. David's music has the power to connect with fans from all walks of life and push the country music genre forward. His growth on all platforms has skyrocketed since the release of his 2020 debut album, "Red, White, & American Blues,” which features several standout single such as the feel good anthem “Smalltown Queen”, the supportive “Who Hurt You” and the anthemic “Does He Know About Us”. David has landed himself just shy of 25 million collective streams on Spotify, and 15 million on Apple Music alone. David has received praise from several critics, and Elevator Music even cited that he very well may be "The future of country music." David's success however, is matched with a humble outlook. He says, “The greatest honor as an artist is seeing your music resonate with people. Hearing that a song can comfort someone, or inspire someone is the real reward”. If you are looking for an artist that writes raw and honest lyrics, but also produces tracks that you can drive down a backroad blasting through your subwoofers, look no further.
