MoxieTalk with Kirt Jacobs

***DISCLAIMER*** *Due to the live nature of our Hometown Rising music festival coverage, & external circumstances  beyond our control,  the audio production in the following MoxieTalk is unable to be brought to our normal  MoxieTalk listening and viewing standards.  We apologize for any inconvenience.* As Rolling Stone so cleverly put it, Hannah Ellis is an artist for fans of "spontaneous declarat...

***DISCLAIMER*** *Due to the live nature of our Hometown Rising music festival coverage, & external circumstances  beyond our control,  the audio production in the following MoxieTalk is unable to be brought to our normal  MoxieTalk listening and viewing standards.  We apologize for any inconvenience.* "At an after-party one night we watched a video of The Band's "The Last Waltz" over a bottle of...

As an emerging female country artist in Nashville, history suggests that the quickest path to success is somehow aligning oneself with one of the major publishers, producers, songwriters, labels, or managers that are the heart of Music Row. So what do you do if you are an emerging female country artist in Nashville, and also happen to be the granddaughter of musical icon, Willie Nelson? You hook u...

Known mononymously as IMAJ, the artist fans everywhere call their "Country Darling" is a multi-talented Country singer-songwriter, visual artist, novelist, actress and humanitarian. Born in Miami Beach, FL to a model mother and actor father, 80's TV icon Philip Michael Thomas (Tubbs of Miami Vice), IMAJ grew up in a "utopian environment where creativity was encouraged." IMAJ has been a special gue...

With a pair of critically acclaimed Woods Music/Thirty Tigers releases under their belts in Straw in the Wind(2017) and Old News(2019), Nashville-based The Steel Woods have lived up to their name as a hybrid musical force both in the studio, but especially live. The band's two original members are native sons of the south who both hale from small-town backgrounds. The Alabama-born Wes Bayliss play...

"It's a song about taking the risk to do what you love," Alice Wallace says of the soaring track, "The Blue," which yields a lyric entitling her spellbinding new album. With Into the Blue, the California-country singer-songwriter conjures the atmospheric sound of the Golden State's canyons and deserts, mountains and crashing waves, its crowning beauty and its tragic losses. At the same time, the s...

A tractor cab might not seem like the ideal place for an aspiring artist to nurture her musical dreams, but it sure did the trick for Clare Dunn. Growing up in tiny Two Buttes, Colorado (population: 43), she spent days at a time helping plow and plant the family farm, sharpening her ears with uninterrupted music-listening in the driver's seat, even as she strengthened her work ethic. "That's where...

***DISCLAIMER*** *Due to the live nature of our Hometown Rising music festival coverage, & external circumstances  beyond our control,  the audio production in the following MoxieTalk is unable to be brought to our normal  MoxieTalk listening and viewing standards.  We apologize for any inconvenience.* Noah rose to fame covering chart-topping hits on YouTube. He received national attention with hi...

Trained at The Australian Ballet School & having enjoyed a thrilling & fulfilling career with The Australian Ballet as a Principal Artist, Robert took his passion & discipline he developed as a dancer & set his sights on diversifying his knowledge, skills & abilities. With education and experience, he continually expanded his ability to move his own body on stage & through this, moving an audience...

GE Appliances, a Haier company, is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, where Marcia Brey leads the Lean strategy for the business focusing on delivering winning products and services for customers & consumers while minimizing waste throughout ALL functions. Known as the Lean Enterprise, Marcia is responsible for implementing transformational, cross-functional processes, growing the capability o...

Alex attends Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky and has served as Lieutenant Governor of the Kentucky Youth Assembly and more recently elected to serve as the KYA President of the Senate. Additionally, he was selected to represent Kentucky at the Conference On National Affairs. Since the age of 11, Alex has been leading a bipartisan effort in the Kentucky legislature to end the use o...

Josh runs IDEAS xLab – an artist-led nonprofit based in Louisville, KY. He is an artist with a background in entrepreneurship, art & business administration, & editorial production – & explores the world through photography (& a lot of running), documenting his journey through joshmiller.ventures. In addition to his outdoor explorations, Josh celebrates the brilliance and strength of marginalized...

Lee Pennington is a graduate of Berea College and the University of Iowa. He holds two Honorary Doctor degrees – A Doctor of Literature from World University & Doctor of Philosophy in Arts from The Academy of Southern Arts & Letters. He taught for nearly 40 years, the last 32 as Professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky's Jefferson Community College until he retired i...

Shelly is a community leader & an internationally recognized authority on American quilts. Check out  www.shellyzegart.com  for more information. She collects, curates exhibitions, writes, lectures, and appraises fine quilts. Shelly has curated many exhibits in the U.S. & abroad, and lectures on all aspects of quilt history and aesthetics. She is the President of the not-for-profit Kentucky Quilt...

Ramez Naam is the co-chair of Energy and Environment at Singularity University. He is a computer scientist who spent 13 years at Microsoft leading teams that worked on email, web browsing, internet search, machine learning, internet-scale systems, and artificial intelligence. The products he built have touched the lives of more than a billion people. Ramez is an inventor with more than 20 patents,...

Dr. Richard Murphy, who has been the research director at the Alltech European Bioscience Centre in Dunboyne, Ireland, for 17 years, is the recipient of the Alltech Medal of Excellence. Alltech's highest distinction, it is awarded annually to someone of great character and achievement. Dr. Murphy is being recognized for his pioneering work in the areas of organic trace element assimilation, microb...

Amanda Radke is a fifth-generation rancher from Mitchell, South Dakota, who has dedicated her career to serving as a voice for the nation's beef producers. A 2009 graduate of South Dakota State University (SDSU) with a degree in agricultural communications, education, and leadership, Amanda served internships with the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service in Wash...

Samantha considers herself a Media Specialist, having worked for such organizations as Fairfax Media, Food Miles Magazine, the Daily Telegraph, and the Glen Innes Examiner.  Based in Sydney Australia, Samantha became the Runner-Up 2019 IFAJ Alltech International Award for Leadership.

Deborah Wilson is senior vice president of TrustBIX Inc., which operates Business InfoXchange (BIX) in Canada and Viewtrak Technologies in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and China. BIX is currently expanding into other countries and beyond beef to other species and commodities. Her role includes business development, data management system development, blockchain use, traceability in supply chains, col...

Mike Mills is an American  multi-instrumentalist , singer, and  composer  who was a founding member of the  alternative rock  band  R.E.M.  Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments. He contributed to a majority of the band's musical compositions.

Linkin' Bridge is a musical group consisting of Louisville, Kentucky natives Big Rome, Montre Davis, Shon China Lacy, and Elliot Nicholas. Montre and China are cousins that have known each other all their lives.  The group grew up in the hip-hop era, listening to Run–D.M.C., Tupac, and N.W.A. Their goal is to take their message to the masses with controversy and comedy.

Natalie Zea is an American actress known for her performances on television. Natalie began her acting career in theatre. Her first major role was on the  NBC  daytime soap opera  Passions  (2000–2002), where she played the role of  Gwen Hotchkiss . Her breakout role was on the  ABC  primetime soap opera  Dirty Sexy Money  as socialite  Karen Darling , where she starred from 2007 to 2009. Natalie a...

Jennifer Nettles performed the National Anthem at the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4th, 2019. American  country music  singer, songwriter, and actress. She is the lead vocalist of the duo  Sugarland  alongside  Kristian Bush , and prior to this, she fronted the  Atlanta -based bands of Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band. She also charted as a duet partner on th...

Venezuelan American  actor, producer, singer and television personality. He is best known for the role of  Fez  in the sitcom  That '70s Show  (1998–2006) and as Carlos Madrigal in  From Dusk till Dawn: The Series  (2014–16). He was also the host of the  MTV  series  Yo Momma  (2006–07), the voice of Manny in the children's show  Handy Manny  (2006–13) and has had recurring roles on  Grey's Anatom...

American singer, songwriter, actor, and model, best known as a member of the  Backstreet Boys . Kevin was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame along with his cousin and bandmate  Brian Littrell  on April 10, 2015.