THE PLAYERS

Billy Dean

Tennessee has long been known throughout the world for its rich musical heritage; talented musicians from across the nation have traveled to Nashville to begin legendary careers that have earned Music City USA a reputation that is unsurpassed in the pantheon of American Music.

One such talented musician is Billy Dean, whose insightful songwriting, clear and distinctive voice, and masterful instrumental gifts have earned him accolades from many awards academies and countless devoted fans.

A native of Quincy, Florida, Billy was raised appreciating the value of music and has a diverse array of musical influences. After attending college on a basketball scholarship, Billy moved to Nashville in 1983 and by 1990 had recorded his first Top 5 Hit "Only Here For A Little While".

Since then, Billy has transcended genres with his unique repertoire earning numerous awards, including: The Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year "Somewhere In My Broken Heart", ACM New Male Vocalist of The Year, BMI Pop Awards, BMI Song Awards, BMI Million Air Plays Award, Country Music Television Rising Star Award, NSAI Song of The Year, and a Grammy for a Country Tribute "Amazing Grace".

Billy’s appeal reaches beyond the music world. He has appeared on numerous television shows as well as made-for TV movies, including: Blue Valley Songbird, A Face to Kill For, Lois & Clark, One Life to Live, Diagnosis Murder, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, The Montel Show, and many others.

After twelve albums and eleven Top 10 singles spanning over a period of eighteen years, Billy has founded the publishing company BDMG (Billy Dean Music Group). Billy continues to make contributions to the Country Music world by building brands with music and empowering children, by being a spokesperson for Averitt Cares For Kids, and Sunkist’s Take A Stand Program.

His latest album "Let Them Be Little" was inspired by those closest to him, his two children Hannah & Eli, and his wife Stephanie. Billy’s illustrious career was recently recognized with a proclamation from the State of Tennessee House of Representatives.

Anna Wilson

Anna Wilson is a jazz recording artist and songwriter whose timeless, sophisticated sound is juxtaposed by her stunningly contemporary voice and message. She is best known for writing and recording original jazz songs that bring classic melodies, lyrics and arrangements, reminiscent of the golden age of the Great American Songbook into the modern era.

Her two critically acclaimed jazz records, "Time Changes Everything" and "Yule Swing!" have garnered praise from such publications as USA Today, Jazziz, Jazz Times, and The Philadelphia Daily News to name a few. In addition, she continues to capture fans with her energetic and entertaining live performances. Wilson was the breakout artist of the 2008 Park City Jazz Festival, and also performed at the Sundance Film Festival with Josh Groban and Habitat for Humanity International’s 25th Anniversary Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. All of this resulted in top chart positions on three of Billboard’s Jazz charts (#12 on the Overall jazz chart, plus the Heat-Seeker and Standard Jazz charts).

Anna Wilson’s songwriting and artistry is also featured though her Habitat for Humanity inspired song, "A House, A Home" which appears in all the charity’s national TV and radio public service announcements and marketing efforts to illustrate Habitat’s community and life-building work. To date, the PSAs have received over $5 million in free national and international advertising.

Wilson’s successful songwriting career continues to thrive as she establishes herself as an independent jazz artist, and she has a lot to be jazzed about. Reflective of the two musical genres that have defined Wilson’s professional career – jazz and country/pop, she co-wrote one of the hottest country singles of 2008, Chuck Wick’s "All I Ever Wanted" that reached #12 on the Media Base and Billboard country charts. Wilson’s other recent single is Suzy Bogguss’ "The Bus Ride" – a song that hails from Anna’s first album The Long Way (Curb/Asylum).

These recent accomplishments nicely complement Wilson’s remarkable catalogue that includes album cuts for artists like Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, Lee Ann Womack, Billy Ray Cyrus and Chris Cagle to name a few. In addition to all of this, Wilson has a long history of partnering with the entertainment industry and major consumer brands. Her songs appear everywhere from Miramax films, reality television shows to the Whirlpool Corporation’s website.

Born and raised in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, Anna Wilson has lived in Nashville for sixteen years. There, she continues Music City’s rich songwriting tradition while recording innovative vocal jazz projects.

For the latest Anna Wilson news, to see her perform live, or to listen to her music, visit www.annawilson.com

Monty Powell

Looking for Monty Powell? You don’t have to look far, he is usually hanging around somewhere at the top of the radio charts. He is also easily found on any one of the 50 million plus records floating around containing one of his songs. As a music business veteran for nearly 25 years, Monty Powell has successfully honed his songwriting craft and found his niche as a songwriter who often collaborates with such artists as Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Chris Cagle, James Otto, JoDee Messina, Chuck Wicks, Diamond Rio and many more.

Apart from songwriting, Powell is also an accomplished music producer. He co-produced Diamond Rio’s first three albums, two of which are now platinum and one is gold, as well as Keith Urban’s critically acclaimed band The Ranch for Capitol Records. In 1994, he won a CMA "Album of the Year" award for his production work on Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. In addition, Powell produced "Working Man’s Blues" by Jed Zepplin (Steve Wariner, Lee Roy Parnell and Diamond Rio) on the highly acclaimed Mamma’s Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard. Most recently Powell co-produced the current album on RCA recording artist, Chuck Wicks, as well as pop/jazz singer-songwriter Anna Wilson’s current CD Time Changes Everything, and her upcoming holiday record Yule Swing! set for release this coming fall.

Powell also has roles in artist management,. Over the past five years, management clients have included Muzik Mafia member, James Otto (Warner Brothers), Trent Tomlinson (Lyric Street) and Chuck Wicks (RCA), all who are steadily rising to country music stardom.

Over his twenty-five year career as a professional songwriter, Powell has written for every major music publisher in the music business. He currently writes for Universal Music Publishing and a top honor among his many career highlights was his 2006 CMA nomination for "Song of The Year" with Keith Urban’s, Tonight I Wanna Cry. Monty currently just celebrated his 8th No. 1 song with "Sweet Thing" off of Keith Urban’s new CD, Defying Gravity. Released March 31, 2009.

In addition to the many hats Monty wears, he also finds time to donate his talent to many charitable causes like St. Jude, T.J Martell, and Habitat For Humanity, but the cause closest to his heart is the Alzheimer’s Association. Powell’s father died from an early on-set of Alzheimer’s, so Monty decided to use music as his weapon to fight this terrible disease. In November, 2007, he took action by creating an initiative called better start livin’ that was inspired by his mega hit "Days Go By", penned with superstar Keith Urban. Together for the first time in concert, Powell was joined by Urban, Anna Wilson and rising star, Matt Jenkins at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta, GA, where they raised over $250,000 in a single evening to fund Alzheimer’s research.

Monty currently resides in Nashville, TN when he is not chasing fish with a fly rod on the gulf coast of Florida or skiing down a black diamond run on the slopes in Utah.

For More information please visit www.montypowell.com

Find Your Song

Allow Song Sessions to help you Find Your Song. For more information, please contact
Gary Glover at 615.429.9689 / or gary@songsessions.com

For more artist information,
please visit:
www.billydean.com
www.montypowell.com
www.annawilson.com