Beats, Brews & Buddies

CHRIS KEATON is a 30 year Voting Member of the Recording Academy based in Nashville.  He is an award winning music publisher, management consultant and a member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame (Band of Oz, 2016).  He manages rock act Emblem 3. His song plugging for his clients has resulted in songs being recorded by George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Brook and Dunn, Lonestar, Reba ,Cliff Ric...

Born Justin Brownlee Tolley in Central VA April 6, 1974, Justin took in a variety of early music influences from an early age including classic rock, R&B, funk and classic country and Americana genres to eventually learn piano, trombone & bass guitar and navigate his unique path and career in music. He has arranged & written in Virginia original bands including RedLightGo 97-99 (Lexing...

Dylan Dent is a singer/songwriter, rapper, and producer. Throughout his 7 projects (with an 8th and 9th on the way) his music has crossed many genres. But he spends most of his time trying to find new angles on rap and pop music. The one thing that remains consistent is the strong theme of introspection in his songwriting. With everything he creates he hopes to add value to the lives of those expe...

I was born and raised in the Roanoke Valley. Mom is a classical pianist and was the music director at church and dad sang and played guitar so music was a big part of life from a young age. Started playing trumpet and guitar in middle school but the drum kit was always intriguing to me. When our church switched from hymns to “praise music” we needed a drummer. My parents bought me a drum kit and s...

Isaac Hadden is a young, genre-smashing guitarist and vocalist from Southwest, VA, currently based in Asheville, NC. He is gaining attention for his passion and talent, and building a supportive fanbase in the United States and abroad. He has played alongside some of the hottest acts on the music festival circuit and performed supporting sets for a growing list of legendary guitarists. He fronts t...

LIVE - featuring Annalyse Marie, Cassandra Lynn, and Charissa Joy!

Paul Tressel | Beats, Brews & Buddies | S2 EP22

“Momma said, I was singing before I was talking.” Terry Brown is a singer who comes to Roanoke Valley from Wilmington. DE. He came to Roanoke to pastor a small in 1986. Terry studied voice at Delaware State University and musical theater from the University of Delaware respectively. Although Terry studied classical voice in college, he grew up singing mainly R&B, Jazz, Show Tunes and Choral mu...

NEW EPISIODE ALERT featuring 2 Dollar Shake (Sam Nash & Jason Hill)

Cory Schmitt earned his Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2012 from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. While at JMU, Cory played trumpet and cornet in numerous ensembles, and was also the Drum Major for the 450-member Marching Royal Dukes. In 2014, Cory earned his Masters Degree in Wind Band Conducting and Trumpet Performance at the University of Northern Iowa, where he conducted th...

Andy & Abbey Neikirk are Roanoke natives and newlyweds. They met at Journey church when Andy joined the church’s band. While Abbey has primarily played music at church, Andy has been in bands like AM Avenue, Rutledge, Long Story Short and was a founding member of the Jerry Wimmer Trio. Andy plays guitar, bass, and is a vocalist. In part with playing music, Andy has gotten into live and studio...

Corey Hunley is a natural-born entertainer, just a guy passing through life with a guitar in his hand and a song in his head. He has been fortunate enough to share the stage with renowned musicians like Marty Stuart, Darrell Scott, Will Hoge, John Hiatt, Paul Thorn, Colbie Caillat, Uncle Kracker, and a few other cool folks. As a singer-songwriter, Corey possesses the ability to captivate his audie...

Sandra Aranegui launched Lover’s Rock Productions and Smith Mountain Lake Live Music (a DBA of Lover’s Rock Productions, a not-for-profit booking and promoting business) in September 2021, focusing on community events and festivals involving live music. She books musical talent for a total of 18 different restaurants, bars and breweries, and offers a weekly listing of live music and community even...

JD Sutphin is a father, husband, musician and business owner from southwest Virginia.  Born in Botetourt County he finished out school in Franklin County where after graduation became an on air personality at WROV-FM in Roanoke as well as XL102 in Richmond while fronting the hard rock metal band, Madrone.  For over ten years, Madrone toured throughout the East coast eventually gained nationwide su...

JoJo Stockton is a Franklin County native who has opened for several Grammy-nominated artists such as Corey “Lil Pop” Ledet, “TAZ” Brandon Niederauer and Delbert McClinton. A true music enthusiast, JoJo enjoys all genres but holds the Blues near and dear to his heart! Thanks to his father’s early exposure to the blues guitar, JoJo has written, recorded and performed his originals all throughout th...

Hi, I’m Tad, born-and-bred in east Tennessee, and a Roanoker for almost 25 years. I’m 58 and I’ve been beating on things for about 50 of those years. I’ve been writing for about the same amount of time. I don’t do either one of them great, but I enjoy them both. I’ve played in country bands, rock bands, blues bands. Lately, I’m a member of alt-rock original songs group Monster Atlantic, and honky-...

Brooke Tolley is a native of Roanoke, Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Liberty University and a Master of Arts in Voice from Radford University. Brooke’s opera roles include Kate Pinkterton in Madama Butterfly, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief and Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone. As a concert s...

Cameron Hughes is a local Roanoke musician, producer, an engineer. He grew up in Rocky Mount, VA and attended Franklin County High. After high school, he studied Music Tech at Belmont University. His gift of playing piano started when he was around the age of 12 years old. By the age of 16 he started traveling professionally playing Smooth Jazz and R&8. Since then he has worked with multiple G...

Festival in the Park is a community event offering live music and a diversity of local vendors that has operated annually since its founding in 1968. As a qualifying 501C3 organization run by an all volunteer board of directors, Festival in the Park owes its annual success to the generosity of local volunteers and the undying support of the community.

Asia Sawyer, lead singer for the Asia Bronte Band, is an up-and-coming vocalist born and raised in the Roanoke Valley. She’s loved music as long as she can remember, but in the last few years she’s taken her passion to the next level with the help of her band mate Lewis Stump. Her biggest musical inspiration is Miranda Lambert, but her style isn’t confined to any one genre. You can find the Asia B...

Country-rocker Adam Rutledge is soaring to new heights with the release of his EP, Runway, which stands out with its “distinctive hybrid of country and rock, catchy guitar intros and lyrical depth” (Sports & Entertainment Nashville/Bob Paxman). The Roanoke, Va. native’s first-class songwriting, referred to as “storytelling that features clever turns of phrase (Taste of Country/Sterling Whitake...

Now 26, Christian was raised in the small town of Huddleston, Va and grew up spending his time around Smith Mountain Lake. Growing up, his life wasn’t always easy. With an alcoholic father, and an enabling mother of that drinking problem it was tough, but music found him at a young age. Picking up the guitar at the age of 11, then later getting professional vocal coaching from while participating...

Tyler Godsey, who is deaf, in 2017 founded 5 Points Music Sanctuary, a 501.c3 non-profit, in an old former church at the corner of Maple and Jefferson, under the mantra of sound and vibrations being ‘the core of all I've found that's good in people.’ …in October, he launched the "Chasing the Light" initiative, to bring awareness and support to Usher Syndrome, an untreatable genet...

Carolan spent her twenties touring up and down the east coast and sharing the stage with artists like Martina McBride, Aaron Tippin and many others. She currently writes and performs original music for her management deal and sits in with pop and rock bands to help pay the bills. It was after her daughter was born when she decided to finally follow her heart. She wrote her first album. Since then,...

Born and raised in Martinsville, VA, Andy has been playing music for most of his life. His obsession began at a very young age while watching Elvis movies with his mom. After seeing “the King” do his thing on TV, Andy decided that he wanted to do THAT! He began to dabble with guitar and drums when his cousin started taking lessons at a local music store. Andy would go over to her house and beg her...