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Mar

2010

Dirt Road Dancing now available on iTunes!

mattbanner-web Matt Stillwell's "Dirt Road Dancing" is now available on iTunes!

Click HERE to get yours today.

Mar

2010

AVERAGE JOE'S ENTERTAINMENT CRS-41 PARTY

AVERAGE JOE'S ENTERTAINMENT  CRS-41 PARTY  Thursday February 25, 2010  At Legends in Nashville, TN

The label side of the country music industry is really up in the air right now. From day to day we see lower numbers not meeting high expectations which leads to a lot of artists getting dropped, not getting albums released or the media push necessary to meet the predicted sales numbers, but it also allows for independent labels to make a bigger splash amongst the country music audience and when you look down the list of indies making noise right now there is only a handful that are closely watching and Average Joe's Entertainment is no doubt on everyone's radar.

The success of Colt Ford and the buzz surrounding his uniquely twisted country music is enough to raise an eyebrow, but with a roster that also now includes Josh Gracin, Matt Stillwill, and more, they seem ready to let loose and make a huge splash and in front of a packed house at Legends Corner during CRS-41 the label showcased their roster and had the crowd moving and singing along from start to finish.

Matt Stillwell grabbed the crowd first with his brand of rockin' country that tends to lean on the fun, party side more often then not as he showed with songs like "Whiskey Well," current single "Dirt Road Anthem," and his first single "Shine," his ode to the homemade mason jar based drink. With the deluxe edition on his debut album due out this year he also offered a taste of the new material to be included with the repackaged release allowing him to show how far he has come as an artist while giving the fans a chance to hear the things to come from him.

Mar

2010

Matt Stillwell entertains the crows at Capone's

countryschatter This has been a very busy weekend. And before I get started with what will probably be a very busy work week, I really want to tell you guys about Capone’s this past Friday night.

The fine folks at Capone’s had Matt Stllwell in for the night. It was pretty obvious all of Matt’s fans in the Johnson City area were ready for him. The place was packed , and they were all there for one reason. Matt and his band. (That’s two reasons, I suppose. But that’s why everyone was there).

We did get a pleasant surprise, as prior to Matt taking the stage, we got Michael King, who is part of the band Michael King and the Grounders. He and Allan Cole entertained us before Matt went on. Keep checking back, because I plan to get an article up about this band very soon. The band members are Michael King, Alan Cole, Tosh Newman and Brandon Clifton.

In addition to all of Matt’s fans, college kids, and a few older folks (like me), the crew from WXBQ radio was on hand again to make introductions and be a part of the party. And look at this, it’s WXBQ deejay Marc Tragler, who is actually ‘on the right side of the law’. Marc is standing on the right side of Lt. Jason Tilson, who is with the Unicoi County Sheriff’s Department.

I’ve written a lot about Matt Stillwell since I started Country’s Chatter more than 2 years ago. There probably isn’t a lot I can tell you about him anymore. You all know “Shine,” and “Sweet Sun Angel,” and a lot of you know, “Whiskey Well,” and “My Sweet Carolina.” And all of you who have ever read a post here about Matt Stillwell know that my favorite Matt Stillwell songs will always be “Damn This Rain,” and “Somewhere Between You and Me.” Remember you can go to Matt’s MySpace page and listen to his music, and he’s got videos up for you, too. If you don’t already have Matt’s CD, “Shine,” you can order it here.

Feb

2010

Check out the banner for the show this week

Can you find me in this picture? This is the banner for my show this Thursday night in Nashville. Awesome!

Feb

2010

Country Music News Today

Matt Stillwell grew up in Sylva, North Carolina with an eye on athletics. While he dabbled in music growing up, performing mainly at his church, he focused on sports. He played baseball through college and was a member of the Western Carolina University baseball team which won the Southern Conference while he was a member. When a career in the pros didn't work out, Stillwell started looking towards music.

“I played baseball my whole life, all the way up through college and that kind of dominated everything,” Stillwell said. “After I moved to Nashville, I dove in head first.”

While countless artists make the move to Nashville hoping to make it big as country music stars, for Stillwell, the move was about learning – learning the business, the craft and how to be relevant in the industry for a long time.

“The move to Nashville was to learn my craft, whether that's songwriting, performing, or being in the studio,” Stillwell said. “Nashville is by far the most talented city in the world. In terms of songwriting, the studio musicians, engineers, that kind of thing, there is no place that comes close. Learning has always been my focus. People come to Nashville thinking it will make them a star, but it doesn't do that for people.”

Stillwell has worked diligently since moving to Nashville and he feels his latest album, Shine, will be the album that gets him noticed on a grander scale. While it is not his first album, in a lot of ways, Stillwell said, it is.

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