RAINSVILLE – Nashville is coming to Northeast on Saturday, May 21, 2022! Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) is excited to host a songwriters’ night of music on campus featuring Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame member Gretchen Peters. The opening act will feature the fiddle, guitar playing, and twang singing Joshua “Mr. Jukebox” Hedley. The concert will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Tom Bevill Lyceum on NACC’s campus.
“We at Northeast are very excited about this concert,” stated NACC President Dr. David Campbell. “Gretchen and Joshua are two of the most talented musicians in Nashville. We are so pleased to bring them into an area like ours that has such a rich musical heritage.”
For two decades, Gretchen Peters has been one of Nashville’s most beloved and respected artists. Many folks will recognize her song “Independence Day”, which was recorded by Martina McBride and won the CMA Song of the Year award in 1995. Peters was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2014 by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell, who called her “both a songwriter and a poet who sings as beautifully as she writes.” Crowell also said her song “The Matador”, “moved me so greatly, I cried from the soles of my feet.”
Peters has accumulated accolades as a songwriter for artists as diverse as Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Neville Brothers, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Bryan Adams and Faith Hill. She has been nominated for 2 Grammys (“Independence Day/Martina McBride, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”/Patty Loveless), a Golden Globe (“Here I Am”/Bryan Adams), and numerous other awards. Her 2015 album Blackbirds was awarded International Album of the Year and Song of the Year by the UK Americana Association.
In 2015, The Telegraph named Peters one of the greatest 60 female singer-songwriters of all time. Her latest album, The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, is a loving tribute to another Hall of Fame songwriter and a profound influence on Peters’s own writing.
Opening for Peters on May 21st is Joshua Hedley. Hedley is “a singing professor of country & western,” he declares on his raucous and witty new album, Neon Blue. It might sound like a punchline, but it is not. An ace fiddle player, a sharp guitarist, and a singer with a granite twang, he’s devoted his entire life to the study of this genre. Ask him about it and he’ll explain: “When all my friends went off to college, I went to Nashville. I was 19 years old playing honkytonks and getting an education.” His 2018 debut, Mr. Jukebox, showcased his deep knowledge of country’s history, in particular the beery ballads of the 1950s and ‘60s. His mentors were George Jones, Ray Price, and Glen Campbell, but his most remarkable accomplishment was putting his own spin on their style.
We hope you will join us for a wonderful night of music featuring two great artists. NACC strives to provide opportunities for the local community to come together here on our campus and enjoy great events. Dr. David Campbell stated, “Our concerts like this are another way that Northeast likes to add to our area!”
Tickets are still available and may be purchased online at www.showclix.com. Prefer to order tickets by phone? Call 256-638-4418 ext. 2218. Tickets may also be purchased in person by visiting the box office located on the second floor of the Tom Bevill Lyceum.
