Lee Roy Parnell is part of a long line of Texas roots-music eclectics and is among the elite few who can be identified as a triple threat. An ace guitarist, as well as a distinctive singer, and hit songwriter, his music runs the gamut of diversity. Combining the influences of Blue-Eyed Soul, Delta Blues, Road House Rock, Southern Boogie, Texas Swing, and Gospel, Parnell’s sound defies conventional classification. He draws from a broad range of musical sources and combines them with seamless dexterity and, unlike many other hard-to-pigeonhole artists, Parnell has enjoyed a run of success on the country and blues charts. He reflects, “I am a writer, guitarist, vocalist & a performer. Every skill set feeds the next. I’ve never been able to separate one from the other. It all starts with the song and when writing I’ve found that nothing is stronger than the truth. It is from that wellspring that my singing and playing are born…performing, too. My goal is to keep it honest and let the listener feel what I’m feeling. No matter our different walks in life I believe that most of us experience similar emotions. I’m tapping into you as much as you are tapping into me.”

From the start of his career through today, Parnell has approached all aspects of his life with a keen sense of protecting his integrity. He offers, “The people I most respect and relate to musically or in life have been people who stood up for what they believe in and stuck to their guns, no matter what.”

Midnight Believer, Parnell’s new album encompasses a realized vision that reflects the cumulative essence of who Lee Roy Parnell is today. He states, “One of the best things about gaining some maturity is you finally find out ‘Who You Is and Who You Ain’t.’ That said, I’d have to say that the song ‘Too Far Gone’ best describes me as an artist, now. It’s clearly a Blue-Eyed Soul ‘Beat Ballad’ as Barry Beckett (of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and my first producer) would call it. Barry really taught me how to make records. He taught me about groove, soul, vocal delivery and how to make every note count! The message here is in life and love we ebb and flow. We have good days and tough days. What counts is going the distance (or at least as far as you can.) I would be remiss not to give credit to ‘Sunny Days.’ That song is a real gift. The message is one of survival. ‘At least I lived long enough to know, that the rainy days, they make the flowers grow.’ It took me a long time to get that vocal…not because it was too ‘range-ey’ but because the lyric really hit home for me, and I’m not alone. I have countless people come to me after we’ve done a show with tears in their eyes saying, ‘Man…that song slayed me!’ I reply, ‘I know…me, too.’”

Musically, Parnell presents some of the best performances of his career on Midnight Believer. He approached this release with the intention of letting the music and performances speak. There is a level of organically-delivered emotion through his playing that took the path of not over-producing every track. He reflects, “Well, it’s funny…most folks think of me primarily as a slide guitarist, and to some degree that is true, but I played ‘regular lead guitar’ long before I played slide. On the song ‘Hours In Between’ what you’re hearing is one continuous lead guitar track from me…one pass going down with my band and no fixes. Not to say I didn’t want to, but they all threatened to walk out on me if I did! Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t get the chance to fix anything.”

Gary Nicholson is a number one hit songwriter, two time Grammy winning record producer and recording artist. He was inducted into the Texas Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame class of 2022. There are over seven hundred recordings of his songs in various genres including country, blues, rock, folk, Americana, bluegrass, and pop.

Country cuts by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks, George Strait, George Jones, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Chris Stapleton, Trisha Yearwood, Don Williams, Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, Patty Loveless, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, The Chicks, Reba McEntire, Alabama, The Mavericks, The Judds, Wynonna, Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley, T Graham Brown, Lee Roy Parnell, Billy Currington, Toby Keith, Gary Allan, Montgomery Gentry, Conway Twitty, Travis Tritt, Ronnie Milsap, Tanya Tucker, John Anderson, Guy Clark, Pam Tillis, Billy Joe Shaver, and the list goes on.

Pop/rock/blues cuts by BB King, Bonnie Raitt, Ringo Starr, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Neil Diamond, John Prine, Buddy Guy, Michael McDonald, Delbert McClinton, Keb Mo, Taj Mahal, Gregg Allman, The Neville Brothers, Robert Plant, Etta James, Dion,

George Thorogood, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Los Lonely Boys, Joan Osborne, Arthur Alexander, The Blues Brothers, and so many more.

In addition to his two Grammy winning records with Delbert McClinton, he has produced records for Billy Joe Shaver, Marcia Ball, The Judds, Wynonna, Pam Tillis, T Graham Brown, Chris Knight, Seth Walker and many others. As a guitarist he has played live and recorded with Guy Clark, Delbert McClinton, Billy Joe Shaver, Bobby Bare, Joe Ely, Bo Diddley, and others. His songs have been included in many major motion pictures and television, the song “Falling and Flying" is featured in the Oscar winning film “Crazy Heart” performed by Jeff Bridges. Gary has also conducted songwriting and guitar workshops at various festivals and Berklee School of Music.

For more info and complete discography visit garynicholsonmusic.com.

More news, the co-written title song of Ringo Starr’s recent record ”Give More Love”, a song on Chris Stapelton’s current release “Worry B Gone”, a co-written song with Keb Mo and Taj Mahal on their Grammy winning record “Tajmo”, the title song of Buddy Guy’s Grammy winning records, “The Blues is Alive and Well” and “Skin Deep”, new recordings by Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, George Thorogood, and Foghat.

Rafe Van Hoy began his music career as a songwriter, landing his first publishing contract at 17. In the next 7 years he would become one of Nashville’s new emerging songwriters with 10 number one songs and as many top 10 singles, along with nearly 200 cuts by other artists. In one three- year period he had between 50 and 60 songs cuts each year. During this early time Rafe also worked as a session musician on many hit records, and then began adding producer to his list of credits, with songwriting always as his first passion.

Rafe has been active and successful as both writer and producer over four decades with credits in several categories and genres of music, including a Grammy Nomination, 11 BMI One Million Airplay Awards, 3 BMI Two Million Airplay Awards and beyond, and songs recorded by George Jones and Tammy Wynette (including the classic “Golden Ring”), Oak Ridge Boys, Michael Martin Murphy’s “What’s Forever For”, John Conlee, Patti Loveless, Brooks and Dunn, Reba McEntire, Leann Rimes, Fleetwood Mac, Diana Ross, Issac Hayes, Paul Carrack, and a long long list of others, including Trick Daddy (“I’m A Thug”).  His songs have been on records selling well over 50 million copies.

Rafe loves working in all styles of music and continues to stay current creating music in many formats.