Stay ConnectedWhether you write music, record music, play music…….or just LOVE music, this podcast is for you!
Note: Mix equal parts Top Hill Recording Podcast and bourbon.
Visit “One Shot One Mic One Song” on YouTube to hear artists from this podcast recorded live with a minimalist one mic approach from the past.
Copyright: © Brad Weston/Neil Johnstone
Nate Brooks is a writer, producer, and musician from Stanton, KY, at the foothills of Appalachia. The multi-instrumentalist embraces the DIY approach, building songs like structures with the help of friends around the state. The outcome is a blend of folk and indie rock, with introspective writing at the core of each song.
His debut album, “Modern Mythology,” was released in October of 2021 and is soon to be followed by an album called “Picacho,” slated to be released in the Spring of 2023.
Nectar Valley is a young four-piece string band from Owensboro, Kentucky. The band formed from a passion for music and just picking around for fun, slowly evolving into what it has become today. Nectar Valley's own take on music has influences from Bluegrass, Folk, Psychedelic Rock, and Blues.
Vincent Gleeson is a singer-songwriter from Lexington Kentucky who plays an interesting mix of folk and jazz. Vincent primarily sings songs about the struggles of addiction, love, and poverty but also has some songs of happiness thrown in the mix. His influences include Nick Drake, Skip Spence, Coleman Hawkins, and Elliott Smith. Vincent honed his finger picking style through years of practicing ten hours per day, along with a three year stretch of busking five or six days a week.
Collins Black started off his music journey in Bedford, Kentucky under his given name Shawn Brandon. He began performing with family at church and around his local community from the age of five and as a soloist at school. Collins taught himself guitar and began writing music at 16 and landed a record deal with Abbey Road Nashville by 19. After he was released in Nashville, he attended Eastern Kentucky University and acquired his Bachelors in Music Industry with a concentration in voice. After college he signed with Wire & Wood entertainment and Wings Model Management. These short-lived endeavors inadvertently gave way to opportunities to appear on Blood on the Dancefloor's album "Evolution" as a writer & feature vocalist. That album charted out at #1 on Billboard's electronic charts & #42 on Billboard's top 200 chart. His track Hollywood Tragedy was the editor's pick by AP magazine, and he went on to write and be a feature vocalist on three more Blood on the Dancefloor's albums appearing alongside artists like Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Deuce of Hollywood Undead, and Jeffree Star. Collins also toured with the band as a background singer and feature vocalist nationally. After leaving the band he made a pivot and rebranded to his current stage name and finished top 5 on Shine Season 2, America's #1 short form competition singing series online. After a few years of retirement, Collins is back full force.
Born, raised, and based in Eastern Kentucky, Bedford is heading to the national music scene with something new in their pockets and something vintage in their souls. This band is able to capture lightning - put it in a bottle - and share it with the world as a familiar yet, unique sound. This unequivocal four-piece group has made it their personal mission to re-ignite the fiery passion of Rock, fused with a dose of Soul. Influenced by world-renowned artists since childhood, Bedford truly brings that "Sweet Old Sound" into the modern limelight. A true powerhouse band, Bedford's members (Sam May, Tristan Frazier, Trevor St John, and Kolby Swiney) all command the stage with not one or two, but FOUR powerful vocals, thundering drums, infectious bass-lines, and searing guitars. Bedford is the band that the world never knew it needed, but knows it wants. Keeping with recurrent themes in their lyrics and introducing the next hot sound - check out Bedford all over the surrounding states and beyond. Bedford released their first album "Content" in 2018 with prominent tracks such as " Bone Orchard Blues " and " Thank You". Followed in 2019 with their second record, "A Trip into The Sun" heavy cuts such as "Jump Into the Sun" and "The Castaway". While the entire music industry and community nearly ground to a halt with the COVID-19 Pandemic, Bedford utilized this time to re-focus and set their sights beyond the moon and stars. Currently in the progress of recording their upcoming self-titled record "Bedford", the band is pushing 'full steam ahead' into a bright future - and you don't want to miss out!
Andrew Wakefield is a songwriter, guitarist, and singer based in Asheville, NC with an eclectic catalogue of compositions ranging from guitar-driven bluegrass to folk, old-time, newgrass, rock, americana, and more. He is a contributing member of The Well Drinkers and former member of Supper Break and Cynefin. Career highlights include performing at Merlefest, performing with Molly Tuttle, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show, members of Billy Strings, Town Mountain, Fireside Collective, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, George Clinton, Jeff Sipe among others, and playing lead electric guitar in Ween drummer Claude Coleman's outfit, Amandla. With renewed focus on the solo project, a bluegrass-themed sophomore album is in the works and set for release in early 2023.
The Highlanders are a five-piece alternative band with a gritty roots sound, but don't consider themselves a country act anymore. "We definitely started playing standard country. We’re from Kentucky so we thought that’s what we had to play. As we kept progressing we finally were able to blend in a little bit of ourselves and our influences," said singer and guitarist Colin O’Daniel.
The group first got together in 2018 and went from playing cover songs at their local pool, to playing all original music at medium venues, all while developing a serious buzz in Louisville and Lexington. Their debut album, Different in the Dark, was a strong roots rock session, while their 2022 self-titled album, “The Highlanders” is a much more modern approach, leaning into the “Louisville Indie” and alternative folk genre.
Along with meeting each other through different Louisville bands we had played with over the years, (The Last Origin, Blank Agenda, The Balrogs) 7 out of our 9 members met through attended the University of Louisville School of Music, studying everything from jazz drumming to orchestral conducting. John, Misaki, and William met through playing in the UofL symphony orchestra together while Kenny, Matt, Christian, and Sam met through playing in the UofL Jazz department. John and Kenny (having known eachother through TLO) had been kicking around different demos/concepts starting in late 2020 and eventually wanted to form the band that would realize all of these ideas. The band gradually grew over the course of 2021-2022 by inviting in mutual friends from the UofL school of Music as well as friends from other bands in the area. While we have spent much of the past two years writing, practicing, and recording, we’ve put together a unique live show that we can’t wait to perform.
Frankie Leo is a singer/songwriter who currently lives in Louisville, KY with his wife McKenzie and two boys, Rowan and Dawson. He grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Staunton Virginia where he started to write and record music in the study room of the house where he was raised. Since then, he has released a handful of records and songs, a few of which you can access online today on most streaming platforms. He writes songs about nature, family, faith and even stories about others and draws inspiration from artists like Jackson Browne, Chris Stapleton, John Denver, Billy Strings, The Carpenters, Neil Young, and a lot of other stuff from the ‘70s.
Curb Records recording artist FILMORE made his major label debut in 2020 with the release of State I’m In. He has quickly amassed more than 245 million career streams. Prior to being signed, the Wildwood, Missouri native was the first independent artist to be featured on Spotify’s Hot Country cover. FILMORE’s catchy hooks and clever lyrics have since caught the attention of The New York Times, NBC’s “TODAY” show, The Bobby Bones Show, and Sirius XM’s “The Highway,” among other high-profile outlets. Moreover, the rising singer/songwriter has honed his electric live show by opening for acts such as Sam Hunt, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Lauren Alaina, and Pitbull; and rocked performances at Stagecoach, Watershed, CMA Fest, and Country Thunder.
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