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Country Artist Marlee Scott Cooks Up a Hit In the Kitchen

Rising singer shares recipe for ‘Marls Bars Squares’ in humorous video blog, Country Weekly feature

(Nashville, Tenn. – Aug. 24, 2011) Country artist Marlee Scott is cooking up something sweet with her latest creation – an easy-to-make but delicious chocolate treat called Marls Bars Squares.

A self-proclaimed “chocoholic,” Scott loves to cook and acquired the skill from her mother, although the recipe for her Marls Bars Squares was passed down from her older sister. The rising singer recently shared the recipe with Country Weekly magazine in its August 8 issue. Watch Scott give step-by-step instructions on how to make the chocolate squares in her humorous “In The Kitchen” video blog here.

Scott is also known to make a batch of Marls Bars for the staff of the radio stations she visits on her ongoing radio tour. Since June, Scott has been traveling across the U.S. in support of her current single, “Beautiful Maybe,” and has visited more than 50 stations so far. The song’s official music video can already be seen on CMT Pure, CMT.com, The Country Network, Yahoo and Yallwire.com, among dozens of other video destinations. See the Wes Edwards-directed video online here.

The Ontario native and Nashville resident is traveling to Canada for the Canadian Country Music Association Awards and Country Music Week, where she is participating in a number of events Sept. 9-12. Scott also released a dance remix version of the “Beautiful Maybe” single in August to more than 240 clubs, DJs and dance instructors around the U.S.

For more information, visit www.MarleeScott.com.

Marls Bars Squares recipe:

Ingredients:
4 Milky Way candy bars
½ cup butter
3 ½ cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Cut Milky Way bars into one-inch squares. Melt in medium-size saucepan with stick of butter or margarine.
2. Once melted, whisk into smooth mixture. Fold in cereal until mixture has thickened to a firm consistency.
3. Transfer mixture and press evenly into a non-stick, square pan. Spray with non-stick cooking spray first to ensure mixture releases properly from pan after cooling.
4. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips until smooth.
5. Pour chocolate over top of mixture in pan.
6. Refrigerate one hour until cool.

Popularity: 2%

Popularity: 3%

Deborah Allen Released New Album Hear Me Now
Album’s debut single, “Anything Other Than Love” at Country radio now

Nashville, Tenn. – Aug. 17, 2011) Delta Rock Records artist and Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and performer Deborah Allen has released her long-anticipated new album, titled Hear Me Now, yesterday.

Hear Me Now includes Allen’s current single, the danceable Country-shuffle “Anything Other Than Love,” which continues its steady climb up the Music Row chart. The 12 songs on the album reflect Allen’s overall versatility as a singer and songwriter, as well as her trademark ability to incorporate elements of Country, Blues, Pop, Rock and Gospel into a cohesive piece of art. Allen also produced nine of the album’s 12 tracks.

“Each song on Hear Me Now is a musical journey, and together they make one of my favorite collections of music I have ever released,” says Allen. “I know it’s been a while since my last record, so I thought it would be appropriate for my new album to be called Hear Me Now. When you are listening to these songs, know that you are listening to a little piece of my heart!”

Allen is accompanied on Hear Me Now by some of Nashville’s finest songwriters and musicians, including Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member Gary Burr (”Anything Other Than Love” co-writer), and nominee Gary Nicholson, 12-time ACM Guitarist of the Year and two-time CMA Musician of the Year Brent Mason, ACM Keyboard Player of the Year Michael Rojas, ACM Guitarist of the Year Brent Rowan and legendary songwriter/producer Bobby Braddock, who produced three songs on the album (”All That I Want,” “Last Time For Everything,” “What Makes A Woman”). Marty Stuart drummer Harry Stinson, former Shenandoah vocalist Curtis Wright and Pebe Sebert (mother of Pop star Ke$ha) also contribute material as songwriters on Hear Me Now.

“Deborah is singing better than ever, which is saying a lot!” says Braddock. “‘Anything Other Than Love’ is one of the best Country singles in years. It just keeps rockin’ my brain!”

Hear Me Now opens with one of Allen’s favorite new songs, the powerful and poignant ballad “Amazing Graceland,” which the Delta singer wrote after her first visit inside Elvis’ Graceland mansion two years ago.

“I could feel Elvis’ spirit in every room,” says Allen, who was born and raised in Memphis. “I was so moved. On the way back to Nashville, the one word that kept going through my head was ‘amazing.’ As soon as I walked in my back door, I went straight to the piano and began writing this song as a tribute for the international legend, my hometown hero and the beautiful place he called home.”

The Aug. 16 release of Hear Me Now coincides with Elvis week, held in Memphis Aug. 10-16. Allen will appear at numerous events during the week, including a performance at George Klein’s Memphis Mafia Reunion on Aug. 14 and an appearance at the Elvis Candlelight Vigil on Aug. 16.

As an artist with career hits like “Baby I Lied,” “I’ve Been Wrong Before,” “Rock Me” and “I Hurt For You,” Deborah Allen is a two-time Grammy nominee and a recipient of multiple BMI Millionaire Airplay awards. As one of Nashville’s most versatile songwriters, Allen has a catalog of more than 1,600 published songs, including cuts for LeAnn Rimes, Brooks & Dunn, Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, John Conlee, Janie Fricke, Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Fleetwood Mac and others.

Hear Me Now will be available Aug. 16 at retail stores and through all major digital outlets, including iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody and more. The album is released in a joint venture with Nashville-based digital label, GMV Nashville.

For more information, visit www.DeborahAllen.com.

About Deborah Allen:
Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer and Grammy-nominated recording artist Deborah Allen is known as one of the music industry’s most diverse and dynamic talents. With more than 1,600 published songs, including her own hits like “Baby I Lied,” “Rock Me” and “I’ve Been Wrong Before,” Deborah Allen has written songs recorded by an impressive list of artists, including LeAnn Rimes, Tanya Tucker, Patty Loveless, Brooks & Dunn, Janie Fricke, Mickey Gilley, Sheena Easton, Diana Ross and Fleetwood Mac, among others. Allen’s newest album, Hear Me Now, will be released Aug. 16, 2011. For more information, visit www.DeborahAllen.com.

Popularity: 1%

New Allen Morgan-produced track distributed to nearly 250 outlets via Marco Club Connection

(Nashville, Tenn. – Aug. 11, 2011) Bigride Records artist Marlee Scott has released a special dance club remix of her debut U.S. single, “Beautiful Maybe,” to more than 240 DJs, club owners and dance instructors through Marco Club Connection.

Produced and remixed by veteran producer/mixer/programmer Allen Morgan (Dolly Parton, Reba, Taylor Swift, Jack Ingram), the dance version of “Beautiful Maybe” capitalizes on the song’s high-energy mix and Scott’s Pop-influenced vocal delivery. Listen here.

“Marlee has such a strong voice, and I really wanted to bring that out in this mix,” says Morgan. “This song has a really rich sound quality. ‘Beautiful Maybe’ just makes you want to move!”

Adds Marco Club Connection Manager/Venue Marketing Bobbe Morhiser, “We were thrilled to have Allen Morgan remix ‘Beautiful Maybe’ for our clubs and the more than 200,000 patrons that will be exposed each weekend to this energetic new dance mix. Allen’s enthusiasm for this record, and for Marlee, really shines through on this project, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Marco Club Connection, a Nashville-based dance venue marketing company, is promoting the special remix to more than 240 club owners, DJs and dance instructors across the U.S. Since 2004, Club Connection has operated as a division of secondary radio promotion company, Marco Promotions, and has worked successful remix singles for acts including Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, Reba, Dierks Bentley, Gloriana and more.

The Country radio version of Scott’s “Beautiful Maybe” was produced by David Kalmusky (Journey, Emerson Drive, The Wilkinsons) and was written by chart-topping Nashville songwriters Marcus Hummon (Rascal Flatts, Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw), Tia Sillers (Dixie Chicks, Pam Tillis, Lee Ann Womack) and Tania Hancheroff. The radio single continues to move up Music Row’s CountryBreakout chart, and the Wes Anderson-directed video can be seen here at CMT.com.

The Ontario native is also traveling to Canada for the CCMA Awards and Country Music Week, where she is participating in a number of events Sept. 9-12. A Nashville resident since 2007, Scott has been traveling across the U.S. on a national radio tour since June in support of “Beautiful Maybe.”

Visit www.MarleeScott.com for more information.

About Marco Club Connection:
A division of secondary radio promotion company, Marco Promotions, Club Connection specializes in marketing dance club singles to nightclubs and dance venues across the country. Club Connection maintains a national database of more than 240 venues and world-renowned dance instructor contacts, reaching more than 200,000 club patrons each weekend. For more information, visit: www.MarcoClubConnection.com.

Popularity: 1%

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THE DIRT DRIFTERS WEBSITE
They met in Nashville, five musicians from four states with backgrounds from across the spectrum and a hunger to make music that matters. Their growing suspicion that they had something special was confirmed over and over as they took to the road. Fans in one club after another reacted as they always do in the presence of the real thing, and The Dirt Drifters began attracting a rabid and loyal following.

By name and position they are lead singer/guitarist Matt Fleener, vocalist/guitarist Ryan Fleener, guitarist/vocalist Jeff Middleton, bassist Jeremy Little and drummer Nick Diamond. They bring resumes that embrace country, rock, funk and R&B to bear on a gritty, lyrical roadhouse country that offers something substantial to the heart, the mind and the dance floor. One of the best summations of their appeal came from the last member to join the group. Bass player Jeremy Little saw the others live and, he says, “I was floored. I knew this was where I belonged musically. It was fun. It was entertaining. I thought Matt was one of the most charismatic people I’d ever seen onstage. It was everything about music I wanted to be a part of.”

Road-tested, club-polished, they signed to Warner Bros. Records. Their challenge, they knew, was to capture the night-after-night magic they produce on the road in the studio. Working with producer Justin Niebank, the phenomenal musical talent known for his work with Vince Gill, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, among others, they have done just that. This Is My Blood wears like a badge of honor the dust and grit of the long road the band has traveled. From beginning to end, it weaves compelling stories from life’s good and bad—stories all the more riveting for their truth.

“Everything on the record is our life,” says Matt. “Not only are we playing all the music on the album and writing the songs, we’ve lived them.”

For a band whose sound was forged on a thousand club stages, playing on the record was a prerequisite.

“Too many times,” says Nick, “the playing on a record is perfect but you don’t get the raw energy that goes with a live sound. We’re a band, and we knew we could bring that energy to every note.”

“Justin told us, ‘If you guys aren’t playing on the record, I don’t want to be a part of it,’” adds Matt. “Everybody knows how good he is at his job, but that speaks everything about him as a person and why he was so right for this project.”

“This wouldn’t be the record it is without Justin and the way he brought out the best in us,” says Jeff.

The result is that place where real life and real music meet head-on. This Is My Blood has Stones-level rocking on songs like “Something Better,” blue-collar poetry in “Name On My Shirt,” story-telling magic in “Married Men And Motel Rooms,” and lump-in-the-throat honesty in “This Is My Blood.” To top it off, there’s the pure adrenaline rush of “I’ll Shut Up Now,” which features a guest appearance from none other than musical icon Willie Nelson.

This is a record that is loud and raucous when it wants to be, soft and reflective when it needs to be, and filled with intelligence and insight throughout. The only real problem the quintet faced was choosing the final song line-up.

“We had nineteen songs,” says Ryan, “and had to narrow it down to eleven. Jeff made index cards and we hashed it out. It was a tough process, but we’re all really happy with the way it turned out.”

The result is top-shelf honky-tonk music, bringing vintage sounds and sensibilities up to date in a country landscape hungry to reconnect with its roots.

“We’re a country band,” says Jeff, “and I think that comes from the songwriting. We’ve all lived out the lyrics of these songs, struggling from paycheck to paycheck. I think that’s one of the main reasons audiences connect with this music.”

That connection, forged in their earliest days as a band, grew out of their backgrounds.

Brothers Matt and Ryan Fleener grew up in Oklahoma, the sons of a musically inclined mechanic and a schoolteacher. They moved to Nashville to pursue music themselves and after five years of dues-paying and wall-hitting as songwriters and as a duo, they met up with the musicians who would form The Dirt Drifters.

Jersey rocker Jeff Middleton headed to Nashville after being inspired by Garth Brooks to become a songwriter and musician, turning his back on the security of the business world to pursue a dream. Louisiana-born Nick Diamond was brought up in his preacher father’s church playing multiple instruments. He settled on drums and, ironically enough, met the core of his future honky-tonk band mates at church. Jeremy Little cut his teeth in rock bands in Chattanooga, then moved to Nashville after graduation. His sound brought the finishing touches to the Drifters’ musical brotherhood.

The band’s blue-collar ethos remains firmly in place.

“We’re a working band,” says Nick. “On the day of our digital album release, we were in the studio, laying down demos. It was a full-circle moment. That’s where we’re most at home—in the studio or on a stage.”

Fortunately for fans, the sound they’ve forged through the years has made it intact to the CD.

“When people push play,” says Matt, “they get The Dirt Drifters, guys who’ve traveled down the highway together. It’s our stories, our lives.”

“At the end of the day” adds Jeff, “we wanted to make a record we were proud of. And we’re really proud of this record.”

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