Meet Jill Colucci

Friday, September 7th - 6:00PM 

 VBC Playhouse Huntsville, AL

Jill Colucci: 

Jill’s first exposure to the music business came when most kids are still clutching crayolas - - - at age five. Her musical aptitude was apparent at a young age as she sang along with the family’s Brenda Lee albums. She and her brother had an act where he played the accordian and she sang. By age seven, Jill was a winner of the televised talent competition on the Gene Carroll Show (Cleveland, Ohio), and became a regular entertainer on the program for the following ten years. 

She formed her own band after graduating from high school, touring for two years as drummer and lead vocalist. Jill eventually moved to California where success was quick to follow, as she earned work as a vocalist, and developed her songwriting.

Her slightly raspy singing voice has been a fixture on television. For three years running she sang ABC’s network theme. She sang "Celebrate Me Home" for the Disney Channel’s commercials. She was songwriter and vocalist for the "America’s Funniest Home Videos" show. Other commercial credits include Coors Beer, Glidden Paint, Oldsmobile, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola and Toyota’s "I Love What You Do For Me" campaign plus many more.

Jill has been lead vocalist for numerous feature films including Mystic Pizza, Where The Boys Are, Taps, All The Right Moves and White Water Summer. She wrote the song "Paradise", which was featured in White Water Summer and Little Nikita.

Her vocals have been featured on albums by artists such as Donna Summer, Julio Iglesias, Anne Murray, Laura Branigan and Phoebe Snow. Jill has also added her vocals to television shows such as "Miami Vice", "Designing Women", "Santa Barbara", "Spencer For Hire" and numerous "Movies Of The Week".

Jill has made her mark on Country Radio with hit songs she has written such as 1993 Billboard Song of the Year "No One Else On Earth" sung by Wynonna Judd: ASCAP #1 Award and CMA #1 Award winning songs "I’m Gonna Be Somebody" and "Anymore" by Travis Tritt. Jill has had cuts on gold albums from Anne Murray and Gloria Loring. Other artists who have recorded her songs include: Lacy J. Dalton, Michelle Wright, Richard Carpenter, Kennedy Rose, Larry Stewart, Mark Beeson, Andy Childs and Akina Nakamori.

Jill, who has been a singer/songwriter all of her life, has now released an album of her own songs. The CD, "No Regrets", features her hit compositions "No One Else On Earth", "Anymore" and "He Would Be Sixteen". It is available for sale here on her website  Online Store.

Meet Alan Rhody

Friday, September 7th - 6:00PM 

 VBC Playhouse Huntsville, AL

Alan Rhody

To date, Rhody has released nine independent solo albums. His latest, "Led by Love" (2012) is a living breathing testimony to his own life's lessons and to his story-telling in song, sometimes dark or melancholy observations of the world we live in but also sometimes extremely humorous. Rhody is at his poetic and energetic best on the new record, whether dealing with petty crime or real love ("Somebody To Care") for which there is a new video out, or war through the eyes of a young boy ("Arrowhead") or the sad absence of honesty and trust in today's politics and some of the out of control media ("They Call Me The Truth"), as well as his more vunerable personal side ("Old D-28"). The new record also includes guest spots from Sam Bush on mandolin and fiddle and slide guitar from Mike Henderson along with the very "in the pocket" and expressive tracks and lead parts by Guthrie Trapp (guitars/mondolin), Rick Lonow (drums/percussion) and Mike Bub (bass).

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee in fall, 1977, he soon found himself with a fast moving hit on his hands by a gospel quartet making their first ventures into country music. Rhody would later included the song on his own first full length album, "Stop The Rain" (1981). The song was his haunting ballad, "I'll Be True To You" and the former gospel group was The Oak Ridge Boys. Now over four million in sales and having become a "Country Classic" on radio worldwide, "I'll Be True To You" first hit #1 on all three country charts and crossed over into the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1978.

Alan's Songs Covered By:

His songs have been covered by a long list of major artists in country, folk and bluegrass and include several other top hits. Some of those artists are: 

Del McCoury; Maine's David Mallett; Canada's Murray McLauchlan, The Good Brothers and Ron Hynes; The Atlanta Rhythm Section; Suzy Boggus; Michael Martin Murphey; Kevin Welch; Kieran Kane; The Oak Ridge Boys; Lorrie Morgan; George Jones; Toby Keith; Lee Greenwood; John Schneider; Lynn Anderson; Ricky Van Shelton and Tanya Tucker.

Press Releases:

"A singer-songwriter of uncommon clarity and intelligence " - Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

"He has earned a level of respect and recognition that places him in the vanguard of pioneers of the contemporary roots music movement." - Greg Quill, Toronto Star

"If you've never seen this Nashville singer-songwriter perform, you're missing out on one of our most entertaining and amusing acoustic troubadours." - Robert K. Oermann, Music Journalist, Author, Historian

"You can at once laugh out loud and a few seconds later, be put in the most somber of moods."

- American Songwriter

Jim Parker's Songwriter Series

Follow Me On Twitter @JimEParker

www.JimParkerMusic.com

Friday, September 7, 2012

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Meet Our Homegrown Songwriters

This blog started sometime in April, 2009 to highlight Our Homegrown Songwriters, who usually show up every Wednesday night at the Coffee Tree Books & Brew on Bailey Cove Road in Huntsville, Alabama. They all have one thing in common ...the love of writing and sharing their songs. There were a few seasoned songwriters around like B.D. Chase, George Wells, Karen Newsum, Susan and Donny Grace, Jim Parker and Cristina Lynn, ready to lean a helping hand, to encourage, but by large, most were novices to the craft. 

It's amazing at the progress so many have made! Many have come and gone and new ones keep coming. The Coffee Tree is just the place for songwriters to gather, develop friendships, collaborate on co-writing and in general just to have a great time. They have joined forces to raise money for worthy causes and to support one another. It is always nice when someone is doing a show out of town and looks out to see familiar faces in the crowd. That's support, love and true friendship. Like family!

Watch this blog over the next several days or weeks to see who may be featured. Who knows? It could be you.

So meet the place ...  of course!

 The Coffee Tree Books & Brew 7900 Bailey Cove RD SE, Huntsville, AL 35802

In addition to hosting the Songwriters Open Mic on Wednesdays, Friday nights are reserved for 2 hour shows booked by the songwriters. Then, there's fun for everyone on Saturday Night Open Mic and whomever wants  to step up to the the microphone and sing. Something original or a cover, it doesn't matter as long as it's family friendly.

"The Tree," as we affectionately call it, is more than for songwriters, groups of all types meet there on a regular basis and Kitty and her staff offer up the best food and service one could hope for. When we first started going to "The Tree" another familiar face on the staff was Tom Crain who is no longer there full time but drops down from Missouri when he gets a chance. Tom is certainly one who is missed and we are always happy when he visits. 

That's all for now. Drop by again, soon, for reviews, featues and updates on what's happening with Our Homegrown Songwriters From Our Sweet Home Alabama