NKD Mag - Issue #85 (July 2018)

ISSUE #85 - JULY 2018 #7YEARSNKD

by Catherine Powell

NAFESSA WILLIAMS

JULY 2018 04 BARRETT WILBERT WEED

18 JENNA ORTEGA

36 NAFESSA WILLIAMS

on her mother’s encouragement + her role on mean girls

on working on her various shows + her directing dreams

on her life-changing role on black lightning

08 ALEX ROE

24 CALE DODDS

46 TYLER RICH

on hot summer nights + season 2 of siren

on his new single “take you back” + his ever-growing live show

on his transition from california to tennessee

14 KIIARA

26 MICHAEL RAY

50 SONG SUFFRAGETTES

on her new single “messy” + collaborating with other artists

on paying tribute to his grandfather + challenging himself

the all-female songwriter round celebrates four years

32 THOMPSON SQUARE

on becoming an independent act + their son, cooper

CATHERINE POWELL

publisher, editor, photographer, designer, writer

CARLY BUSH

IAN HAYS

NICOLE MOOREFIELD

SELINA FALCON

RACHEL HILL

writer

writer

LEXI SHANNON

AUTUMN HALLE

MARISSA JOHNSON

writer

writer

writer

writer

writer writer

OLIVIA SINGH writer

barrett wilbert weed Words by SELINA FALCON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

It almost goes without saying that Mean Girls is one of the defining films of millennial pop culture history. Its quotes have become a part of our everyday lexicon; its memes are just a part of what makes the Internet the Internet.

And now it has come to life again in the form of a Tony-nominated Broadway musical.

Starring as our favorite brooding grunge chick Janis Sarkisian is 29-year-old actress Barrett Wilbert Weed.

Barrett grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts as the daughter of two visual artists. Her mother made large-scale ceramic pottery and her father made large-scale sculptures before becoming a contractor. He purchased and rebuilt the Civil War-era house she grew up while in his early 30s.

“It’s really funny if you’re in the house, there are things that someone who’s, like, a little bit older probably would have done differently – like more closets or more bathrooms [or] not putting a staircase in the middle of the floor,” she laughs. “But my mom hasn’t changed any of it. He passed away when I was 7, so it’s really just been me and my mom most of my life. My mom raised me by herself.”

Barrett speaks highly of her mother, who she says put her through and paid for her to go to

an arts boarding school. “I think it’s like the closest thing that exists to Hogwarts,” she laughs. “I think it’s incredible that single parent households can support stuff like that. My mom makes dreams come true.”

Growing up in a female-centered world, in a liberal place like Massachusetts, and going to a liberal boarding school, Barrett says she always thought of racism, misogyny, and homophobia as “foreign things”, so when she left for college, she says it was jarring for her to see those things firsthand.

“I think I’m very fortunate to have grown up that way with everyone around me, and especially my mom choosing how she wanted her life to be and making sure that that happened, and making sure that it [also] happened for me,” she said Barrett went to Elon University in North Carolina for her undergraduate degree, which was the only college of the 13 she applied to that accepted her. After college she moved to New York and has been there for seven years. She says theater has always been her only career plan and she never had something to fall back on.

“My mom never encouraged me to have a backup plan. I think even if she was privately just being like, ‘Oh dear God, please let her

pick another field to go into’, she never told me that,” she explains.

“She never encouraged me to think in a more practical way. It was always just kind of like, ‘If that’s what you want, then you have to make it happen and I’ll help you as much as I can,’ but that’s going to have its limitations because she doesn’t know anybody.”

Barrett says she has always been told how different she is for her field. “And sometimes it’s said with a negative connotation of like, ‘Well we can’t cast her because she’s a very different type of girl for this industry’, or like, ‘We’re going to cast her because it’s such a contrary vibe to everyone else’.”

It’s her different vibe, she says, that is probably the reason she got cast as Janis in Mean Girls.

“I love this character so much,” Barrett says. “I think she’s incredibly self-assured and very confident, and that’s rare. She doesn’t really have a lot of self-doubt. And we don’t really see that often in young female characters – we see that a lot in young male characters, but not a lot in young female characters even though it exists in young female women, like, really prevalently.”

Barrett says she had no idea that she and Grey Henson (who plays Damian Hubbard) would be narrating the show.

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“We showed up for our first read through and were like, ‘Holy shit’,” she says. “We thought we were going to be just kind of popping in and popping out, like we didn’t really think that it was going to be as extreme as it was.”

Barrett has taken care to represent Janis and develop her as a character as best she can. She wants to make it clear that she is playing a character whose sexuality is fluid and ambiguous.

“We’re not dealing with a straight girl character who’s being bullied for being different, and therefore being called a gay person. I’m sure that that is still happening to kids somewhere in the country, but that’s not really what is happening now. Labeling someone as gay as an insult -- it’s incredibly 2006,” she explains.

“And I wanted to make sure that we weren’t doing that. And I’m not sure if we accomplish that in the show or not, which is why when I give interviews, I’m trying to be very open about, like, ‘Yeah, Janis is not straight. Capital N, capital S, she’s not a straight character.’ And that doesn’t mean she’s gay, that doesn’t mean she’s bi, it just means she doesn’t want to label herself to make other people comfortable.”

Barrett says it has been “interesting to see how people react to an angry, queer, female character”.

Most of the reaction, she says, hasn’t been good, but she wears that as a badge of honor because it means she’s doing her job well. “I just wanted to make sure that [Janis is] like what I see in the world, and not like a made up cartoon,” Barrett says.

Much of the research Barrett put into Janis stemmed from the 06

kids, teenagers, and young adults she has taught in her master classes prior to being in Mean Girls.

“So when I’m building this character, I’m just trying to make her look and sound and feel like the world’s coolest, most confident version of those kids, and not an old, white, straight man’s idea of what that character would look like, which I think Casey [Nicholaw] and Tina [Fey] have allowed me to do,” she says.

Barrett says she is happy for the attention Mean Girls has gotten and that it is being taken seriously.

“It’s a bunch of young women in the leading roles in this show and that’s really amazing,” she says. “It’s sad that it has taken so long for a show like this to come around that’s like an undeniable, blockbuster, impossible-to-geta-ticket-for show. It’s sad that it’s taken that long for a show like this to be about women by women for women. But I’m glad that it’s here, and I’m glad that I’m a part of it, and I’m glad that that’s, like, normal.”

Though she is busy with and locked into Mean Girls until April of next year, Barrett says she is in the very beginning stages of working on an album. She says she doesn’t know what she wants it to be, but it is on her mind. She is also trying to write something about her mother.

“I think she’s just had the coolest life and it needs to be documented. I have no idea what medium that will eventually take shape in, but it will come to be for sure. She will most likely be played by Sally Field because she looks exactly like Sally Field,” she laughs. NKD

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alex roe Words by RACHEL HILL Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Grooming by FAYE LAUREN

If you haven’t already Googled Alex Roe after watching his lead performance in Forever My Girl (2018), you may realize you recognize him from The 5th Wave (2016) and Rings (2017). He’s also had considerable success in both British and American television, starring in CITV’s The Fugitives (2005), BBC Two’s The Cut (2010), and ABC Family’s tennis drama Unstrung (2014).

As he continues to make a name for himself in Los Angeles, Alex looks for roles that stretch unchallenged muscles.

This 28-year-old London, England native is a half-blood in terms of his kin’s geographical ties. Half of his family is from Hartlepool, a smaller mining town in northern England, while the other resides in London. Alex had a working-class upbringing, with his mother moving to West London to be a ballerina. Growing up, Alex remembers being captivated by two things: soccer and movies. His obsession with films is what sparked his inquiry of the world of acting in the first place.

Alex holds his English and American careers separately in his mind. The dawn of his overall acting groove occurred while still based in London.

He recounts the chance encounter while acting in his school play, an adaptation of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good, in which he played Scottish Major Robbie Ross and Irish hangman James “Ketch” Freeman. These roles stick out in his mind as the 10

point in which he realized he truly wanted to continue acting long-term. “I loved playing two quite different roles with quite different accents and it felt really good. There was something about being in front of an audience and having their energy kind of come toward you and I imagined I could continue doing this,” he reveals. Maybe his ‘half-blood’ lineage is to thank for mastering opposing accents with ease. By chance, Jennifer Saunders, an English staple of an actress in Alex’s eyes, was in the audience and suggested he audition for her sitcom Jam & Jerusalem. “And from there that was my first little taste of acting. I got the audition and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Alex says.

Fast forward to present day, Alex stars in Hot Summer Nights, a coming-of-age story written and directed by Elijah Bynum. He stars alongside Timothée Chalamet, Maika Monroe and Maia Mitchell in the drama centered in 1990s Cape Cod – a period with notably strict marijuana possession punishments. Alex plays Hunter Strawberry, the cool guy who has lived an arduous life with his mother passing away when he was 14 and his father dealing with his own demons. Hunter moves to Cape Cod a few years after his mother’s death to seek a sort of salvation to make ends meet.

It is here that he encounters a meek Daniel (Timothée Chalamet), who has not been living up to his potential and after losing his dad, is under a wave

of depression. He’s desperate for the change and adventure that Hunter brings to the table.

“Hunter provides this excitement as the local weed dealer in Cape Cod and has access to quite a lot of excitement. So that relationship, he kind of takes Daniel under his wing,” Alex explains. Hunter’s rough upbringing contributes to his jealousy of Daniel’s innocence, but he quickly realizes he may be a vital contributor to his weed empire. “I think Daniel’s a lot smarter than him. Hunter is definitely the brawns of the operation and I think it’s an interesting relationship because of that,” Alex says.

Alex was initially attracted to the script when introduced to it by his agent. It had been on the previous year’s blacklist, which is a compilation of the best scripts that were not developed into movies. The director had two scripts on the list, despite this being his directorial debut. Alex felt this was quite promising and followed through with his agent’s advice. “I had a read at it and properly fell in love with it. It was written in this amazing way. All of the stage directions and the descriptions of the characters beyond the actual dialogue was written in such a cool and interesting and relatable way. And really funny too,” he says. Alex admits he was drawn to the ease of the script’s read. ”These characters just don’t come along very often. Kind of like a James Dean, Marlon Brando kind of vibe of a character with quite a lot of

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depth and way cooler than I am,” he says.

On the small screen, Alex stars in the Freeform series Siren, which was recently picked up for a second season. Siren tells the tale of a coastal town in which, legend has it, used to be home to mermaids. When a mysterious woman arrives, the local myths are proven true as the predatory creatures battle man to take back their claim to the ocean. Alex plays Ben Pownall, the town’s marine biologist who makes it his mission to discover what is driving this tantalizing hunter of the ocean’s depths to land.

The themes of ecological and environmental concerns are found at the forefront of the storyline, which is consistent with issues we as humankind face present day. Ben helps determine the overfishing of the surrounding oceans are drawing the mermaids closer to shore. Alex discloses Siren’s writers and those on set in general keep the discussion flowing on how to relate the storyline to real-life consequences humanity must confront resulting from centuries of crimes against the environment. “I think sci-fi or horror can be a really great way to give an extreme result of the way that we’re living our lives right now or the problem that we’re causing right now for the result to be mermaids coming closer to shore and wanting to have some revenge on humankind,” he says.

To prepare for the role of Ben Pownall, he wanted to

get inside the headspace of someone who has made environmental preservation their life’s work. Alex ventured down to Long Beach, California to meet with a marine biologist who has dedicated 40 years of his life to rescuing washed up marine life, including those tangled in nets left by fishermen. “I wanted to understand where he was coming from and what might have got him into it in the first place and hanging out with other marine biologists and stuff and seeing what they are privy to and how that shaped their thoughts of the world,” he explains.

What to expect in Season 2?

Alex reveals we will find out more about the matriarchal society the mermaids inhabit and will focus on some of the dilemmas facing the integration of the creatures with the town.

The second season is set to film in British Columbia later this year. Following the season’s wrap, he will begin shooting an undisclosed film that is expected to be released in 2019.

Down the line, Alex hopes to try his hand at something different. Comedy perhaps, or getting more physical in an action-filled film. Although, his connection with the script lies at the heart of his determination to secure a project. “I feel like if I have too much of an exact idea of what I want I feel like I might compromise on the feeling that you get when you just read a script that you love,” he notes, “It’s weird. It’s like kind of an unexplainable thing.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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kiiara Words by MARISSA JOHNSON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Breakout star Kiiara rose to fame with her debut single “Gold” which has amassed over eighty million views and gained the attention of fans all over the world.

Now, the Illinois native has collaborated with major artists such as Linkin Park and Lil Wayne, and is hard at work on her debut album.

Her latest genre- bending single, “Messy”, is already climbing the Billboard charts and has established Kiiara as a full-fledged artist.

Growing up, did music always play a big role or was there a specific point in your life when you realized that you wanted to be an artist?

K: I played piano for five years, but would only play by ear, so I went through so many piano teachers because they’d all get frustrated that I didn’t want to play their notes, but other than that I played a lot of volleyball and did some ballet. Music sort of became a coping mechanism for me, I always had a lot on my mind so one day I decided that I wanted to try to write a song.

A friend of mine told me that in

order to master the craft you just had to keep writing, to try to write as many songs as you can in one day, so I would sit down and write for sometimes eight hours a day, and from that I wrote “Gold” and everything just sort of happened from there.

When you first started writing your own music, was there anyone that influenced your writing style?

K: I listened to a variety of artists, I grew up listening to Linkin Park, Eminem, Rihanna, and a lot of Lana Del Rey, so it obviously has influence in a way, but I never really thought that much into it, I just wrote what I felt like writing.

Your style has sometimes been labeled as “trap-pop”, how would you describe your sound to someone who has maybe never heard your music?

K: It’s definitely electronic and pop, but it’s not typical pop. Genre is tough because it is kind of your own interpretation of the music.

You’ve collaborated with artists like Linkin Park, Lil Wayne and Lil Aaron, how did those collaborations come together and is there anyone that you would like to work with in the future?

K: I met Linkin Park through Zane Lowe, who introduced me to Mike Shinoda. Mike invited me to the studio a couple times and it just went from there, he played me a lot of the album and I was just a fan and got to work with them from then. With Aaron, he’s been one of my best friends for four or five years, he was one of the first writers I worked with when I moved to Los Angeles and we became friends and have written together ever since, finally four years later we put out a song together. Aaron would come to all of my sessions, when I first moved out here I wasn’t used to working with other producers, so when I started working with other people it was very nerve wracking for me so he would come along to help write but also be a sort of buffer. I would really like to work with Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Eminem - they’re my dream collaborations.

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For the new single, “Messy”, did the concept for the video come during the writing process or was it something that happened later on?

K: This video was directed by Jared Hogan, he brought me that treatment and I really liked it overall, I added a few comments here and there but what he originally brought me really fit for this song. I wasn’t expecting the whole vibe and direction we went with it but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I wouldn’t say that when I’m writing the song I’m thinking of the visuals, I just like to be in the moment when I’m writing and the rest will come later.

What can we expect for the rest of the year, anything you can tell us about your debut album?

K: I would say keep your eyes out for new music soon, I just released “Messy” and a song with Lil Aaron, and there will definitely be a few more random releases here and there. I’ve been working on the album for the past two years so right now I’m still figuring everything out, and its going through its last few phases and being molded into the final product, I don’t even know when it’s going to be out yet. Right now, I’m still doing a lot of writing and perfecting the album in between the random releases.

I plan on doing some touring in the fall, I’m really excited to get back on the road and do a proper bus tour, so hopefully everything goes to plan with that! NKD 16

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jenna ortega Words by LEXI SHANNON Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Glam by ANGELA CALISTI

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15-year-old Jenna Ortega knew from the day she was born that she was destined for something great. The outgoing, young professional describes herself as the “crazy” and “outgoing” one in her family. The California native has quite the impressive resume for her young age – she’s worked on Jane the Virgin, Elena of Avalor, Stuck in the Middle, CSI, and Iron Man 3. Even from a young age, Jenna knew she wanted to be an actress. “Acting was something that I fell in love with at a young age when I was around 6- years-old, but I didn’t start acting until I was around 9.” she explains.

For Jenna, it was evident that she had the talent and dedication for the screen. “The first time I told my mom I wanted to [act], she actually laughed in my face,” she explains, giggling.

“It wasn’t even like a rude way because when I was younger I wanted to do a bunch of different things, so she thought it was just a phase. But two years later, I wrote a monologue for her and she filmed me doing it because she thought it was really good. It was a dramatic monologue talking about how my mom had cancer… She posted it on Facebook and a casting director saw and got me a meeting with an agency.”

Despite her young age, Jenna’s work ethic and confidence in her work surpasses many in her industry who may be well over double her age. “I’ve always been very motivated, very determined, and I work really hard and am often compliment-

ed on my work,” she says. At the age of 9, Jenna played a role on the Rob Schneider show, Rob, which ran for one season on CBS. There, she played a little girl on the episode “The Baby Bug.” “He [Rob] takes my baby doll and I had to kick him in the area where the sun doesn’t shine because I was upset you took my doll,” she laughs.

Since working with Rob Schneider, she’s been able to work on The CW, Netflix, and every little girl’s dream – Disney. Most recently, Jenna has been known for her roles on Disney’s Stuck in the Middle and Elena of Avalor. She earned the lead role on Stuck in the Middle, Harley Diaz - the middle child of seven who is struggles to navigate through the thick and thin of life as a teenage girl. Jenna noted how Harley has been her favorite role to date.

On the opposite end of the acting spectrum, Jenna has a voiceover role on Disney’s Elena of Avalor, in which she voices Princess Isabel, Elena’s younger sister. Jenna’s knowledge of acting shines through on Elena of Avalor, given the difficulty and differences of being on a set as opposed to only having your voice to showcase emotion. She explains the technicality of voiceovers and just how difficult it is to use your voice to paint the picture of emotion. “I feel like voiceover is more challenging, just because you can’t use fascial expressions. You can portray an emotion on set with just the look, but when you’re recording something, you have to make that emotion come out

of your voice and that’s hard,” Jenna says. “Like if you’re running through a forest and you have to do like, oh, you’re out of breath, or you’re pushing something so you have to make a pushing noise. It’s like, I’m really sad but you can’t see my face so I’m going to have to make my voice quiver. It’s very technical.”

Transitioning from Disney to Jane the Virgin on The CW, Jenna portrays Jane’s younger self (age 10) in flashbacks. The set is one of her favorites, with a cast with a heart of gold and a crew who always have a smile on their face. “Everyone [on set] is so genuine, so funny, so kind and it’s a great environment,” Jenna says.

On set, the vast majority of her scenes are flashbacks, meaning she often doesn’t work with the main cast. Despite this, Jenna is treated like a little sister on set. Whereas many others are spending 16 hours a day on set, she’s only there for two. “It’s kind of like, ‘Oh hey, we ran by each other. So nice to see you again,’ and then you just keep going,” Jenna explains.

Jenna has been a part of the cast since the show’s pilot in 2014. Out of all the scenes she’s been a part of, one of her favorites to film was when Little Jane was with her TV mom Andrea and they were at a book reading, in which Little Jane told off the author for making errors in her book. Another favorite of Jenna’s was a scene where Little Jane tried on Alba’s earrings and loses them, having to fess up to Alba that she made a misNKDMAG.COM

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take. “I definitely related to that scene because, you know, you mess up. I thought it was really genuine,” Jenna says.

Despite being a professional actress for most of her life, Jenna has plans to go onto college to pursue her dream career of being a director, stating how she can’t see herself not going to college. She attributes her desire to be a director to the experience she’s gotten on set at a young age, noting how she’s getting the best experience now to help further her career when she’s older. Jenna’s dream film to direct would be a true story documentary-style – “I like seeing everybody’s different twist on them [true stories],” she says.

After booking Stuck in the Middle, Jenna transitioned to homeschooling so she could easily study on set, while still getting work done. Being so young, school and work are easy to manage for Jenna. “It’s not as hard as it seems [to balance the two] just because a part of child labor laws is that we have to get a certain amount of school in every day. No matter how behind we are, no matter how crazy things are, we’re always going to have that school time. And then after work, let’s say if I didn’t get everything I wanted to get done finished, I’ll just finish it later,” she says.

The young actress’ dreams for the future are to work more in film. She hopes to soon get her feet wet in the realm of directing. Whatever it may be, expect Jenna Ortega’s name to be plastered on your television screen. NKD 22

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DODDS

Words by NICOLE MOOREFIELD Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

CALE

Cale Dodds grew up in Columbus, Georgia with music in his soul. “Music has always played a huge role in my life. It never really was a question of what I wanted to do,” he explains.

Cale was raised on country radio, an unfailing soundtrack to family fishing trips on the Chattahoochee River. These fondly-remembered bonding excursions shaped the man Cale would become. “It’s always stuck out to me as a very pivotal moment in my life of really discovering music and feeling something,” he notes.

Although Cale’s family isn’t musical, they always encouraged his passion. “My dad could barely play the radio, but he always played it,” Cale reflects. “I’m very thankful for that.” Growing up, he always wanted to play guitar like the cowboys he admired, and taught himself how on a guitar gifted to his grandfather, stationed on nearby Fort Benning.

“Every time we went over to his house, I’d always just want to run and grab it and play it. I didn’t know why, I just felt drawn to it,” he says.

Cale wrote his first song at just 12 and it was, as he succinctly describes, “awful”. His first performance was the same year: a birthday party in someone’s garage. “We knew three songs and we played them over and over again for an hour and a half,” he recalls. That first gig, also “awful” for listeners, was eye-opening for the young musician. At that moment, Cale knew how he wanted to spend his life. “I didn’t really care about anything else,” he remembers.

Over time, Cale began gigging bands in Georgia before moving to Nashville in 2011 to further his career. “I always wrote songs by myself and I didn’t know what it meant to co-write until I moved,” he shares, but in Music City, Cale began getting

cuts with other artists, including “(This Ain’t No) Drunk Dial” with A Thousand Horses in 2015. While he continued touring, Spotify’s constant support grew Cale’s fanbase and landed him a publishing deal.

He just wrapped up a radio tour in early June, immediately followed by CMA Fest and a summer tour, and with the January release of his newest single “Take You Back”, Cale has been busy.

A unique brand of country rooted in rock and inspired by classic musicians like Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and George Strait, Cale describes his music as “arena country,” with a “big chorus, big sound, [and the] feeling of a big drum.” His first two EPs, Wild and Reckless and People Watching, were released in 2014 and 2016, respectively. He has since released three song duos, starting in 2017 and leading up to the 2018 release of “Like We Do” and “Take You Back.”

Of all his songs, Cale is proudest of “Take You Back,” which perfectly captures the nostalgia of running into someone you used to love and wondering what your life would be like with them still in it. “It’s so personal, and I’m watching people relate to it, and I’m seeing people continue to sing it in different places that I go, and that’s important to me,” he imparts. “Everyone at some point has experienced that feeling, so it’s cool to see it translate and transcend across different places that I’m touring,” he adds.

The idea for “Take You Back” first came to Cale while living in a garage in Nashville. For months, “I woke up with this melody in my head and I didn’t know what the melody was trying to say to me,” he reveals. It wasn’t until he ran into an old flame

in Georgia over the holidays that the lyrics started coming together. “We picked up right where we had left off, and it just kind of wrote itself after that.”

“One reason I love writing so much is because it’s never the same.

As an ADD kid growing up, I [realized that] there’s no monotony to songwriting,” he shares. When writing, Cale will sometimes hear a melody first, or a guitar part, a beat, or even a single line. While the spontaneity of writing first sparked his interest, storytelling is what kindles the flame. “If I tell my stories in song, that’s when they connect the most.

My songs are my stories: where I’ve been, where I’m going, and anything I’ve gone through. I want my music to feel how it sounds, and to sound how it feels,” he explains.

From January to June, Cale lived on the road. While touring is exhausting, he admits, the chance to interact with supporters both old and new is worth it. “I love hearing their stories as much as I like telling mine,” he says. Since the release of “Take You Back,” Cale has heard from numerous fans who used the song to reach out to exes, which “is always cool to me, to hear how my songs are affecting people without me even knowing”.

What Cale loves most about music is the way it brings people together.

“There are no walls,” he remarks.

“Whether we disagree on what we like or not, we all agree on music.”

Even arguments create conversation between adversaries, he points out.

Conversely, “I’ve seen people be armin-arm, crying with a stranger over a song,” Cale adds. “They might never speak again, but in that moment, they have [a bond]. That’s always been a powerful thing.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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michael ray Words by AUTUMN HALLE Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Michael Ray was born for the stage. Anyone who has witnessed the tornado of energy that he brings to the spotlight can attest to that. The Florida-born musician, who began performing alongside family members at a young age, knows that his love affair with the stage was the catalyst for his now successful career.

“My family had a band when I was about elementary school age,” Michael says of growing up in a highly musical family. “And then life and jobs and kids came around and they sort of stopped for a while, but my grandfather continued to play shows.”.

In fact, it was his grandfather, Amos, that had the biggest influence on getting Michael into the music at such a young age.

Eventually pulling Michael on stage with him and teaching him how to play guitar, allowing the youngster his first glimpse of what life in the industry could be like.

But how did a boy from Florida come to fall in love with country music? It’s simple, his grandfather was a fan of all the greats like Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, and George Jones. Michael was immersed in the world of old school country from the start, but ever the eclectic fan, was also into the modern alternative rock and pop he heard on his local radio stations. The mix of influences set the foundation for the music he would one day make on his own.

The singer learned by watching and doing, and soon enough, it became clear that his dreams were bigger than the small town venues of Eustis, Florida.

“I was playing almost every day of the week, whenever I could,” he continues. “In High School is when I realized that I really wanted to give this thing a shot. And my family was of the school that I shouldn’t have a ‘Plan B’, if I really wanted to make it happen, I had to jump right in.”

So, Michael did what all budding country musicians eventually do. He made his way to Nashville on the weekends to try and get his foot in the door.

It quickly became clear that Nashville was inundated with country musicians chasing their dreams, and standing out in the crowd was increasingly harder than it once had been.

After playing some songs for an executive at BMI, the only one that would listen at the time, he got some much needed advice.

“He said, ‘If I was you I’d stay in Florida and become the biggest thing in Florida and then move here. You’re going to have to build something on your own and get their attention that way’,” Michael recalls.

Michael, eager to do whatever it took to make it, followed the advice.

He made his way back to Florida and booked his first full band show at local bar opening for Jason Michael Carroll. It was one of those meant-to-be nights where everything seemed to fall into place just the way it was supposed to.

“We got on stage that night, and it was just one of those nights where everything felt perfect, there was just an energy in the air,” Michael says of this NKDMAG.COM

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first full band performance. “I’ll never forget, we went into that night like it was an award show performance, that’s how much it meant to us.”

In fact, that night would be magical in more than one way.

Ever the networker, Michael had been passing out press packets and CD’s at shows an in effort to grow his following.

“That night, this woman came up to me while I was handing out CDs and asked if she could have one, so I gave it to her,” Michael looks back on one of the biggest moments in his career. “Next thing I knew I have this buddy calling me like, ‘Man you’re on the radio, like Kenny Chesney, you, and Jason Aldean.’

I come to find out that woman was a radio personality on the local radio station and just decided to start spinning our song.”

Needless to say, that was the moment when Nashville really started paying attention. Michael made his way back to Music City as labels began to take notice.

With organic radio spins and packed crowds at his shows, he’d captured the attention of Warner Records.

“I feel like I passed a lot of key rungs on the later when it came to getting a labels attention, but we just worked hard and made it happen by playing all these shows,” he says of finally getting the attention of Warner and moving to Nashville permanently.

In 2015, his first single, “Kiss Me In The Morning” was released and immediately caught fire.

“You never really know when

you go to release a single whether or not it’s going to connect with people,” Michael says of the track. “When it’s your first step out into the world it’s a scary thing and you want to put your best foot forward. We just didn’t know it was going to do what it did and hit number one.”

By the time his much anticipated self-titled major label debut came out, audiences were already familiar with the handsome crooner who was quickly taking the country world by storm. He made his Grand Ole Opry debut, toured the country for the first time and hit the stage at CMA Fest — making an even bigger name for himself for himself in the process.

So, when it came time to begin work on his second album, Michael spent time reflecting on the accomplishments and experiences of the last few years.

He knew, going into the album, that he wanted to go back to his roots.

“This time around I really wanted to put more of the old school country I grew up on into the album,” Michael expands.

“That’s why it’s named after my grandfather, Amos.”

The album, which was released in June, features everything fans have come to expect from Michael: energetic pop-country hits that translate well to live performances and tender, touching country ballads that showcase his smooth baritone voice.

On the newest single, “The One That Got Away”, Michael found most of the inspiration in those moments over the past few

years where he took the stage.

“I really wanted it to be high energy and to work well when we hit the stage, that’s why it really spoke to me,” he says of the upbeat, summer-infused track.

This summer, he’ll be touring the country with friends Old Dominion, finally getting a chance to share each and every track with audiences all over the world. For some, the first time they’ll hear the songs off of Amos live.

“I’m excited to take these songs on the road and see how the fans react to them,” Michael says. “I’m a huge fan of Old Dominion as well, those guys have been friends of mine for a while, and I’m looking forward to watching and learning from them.”

It’s in those fleeting live performances, in which he gets the chance to connect with fans, that truly drives Michael to continue making great music.

“My parents divorced when I was pretty young, and for me, music and performing were always the escape I had from going through that, a way for me to process what I was feeling, you know?” Michael says of his live performances. “What I really want when I get on stage is to give my fans a chance to escape the world and whatever they’re going through, and lose themselves for that hour.”

Michael Ray has built a career off of his tireless work ethic, creativity and unforgettable performance style. If Amos is any indicator, we’ve still only scratched the surface of what he’s capable of. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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THOMPSON SQUARE Words & Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Thompson Square – comprised of married couple, Keifer and Shawna Thompson – shot to country stardom following the release of their 2010 single “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” in 2010. Now, eight years later, the duo is back with their third studio album, Masterpiece, and a 2-year-old boy full of inspiration.

“It would seem there was a break from the outside in,” Keifer reflects on the five years between albums. “But inside out, we haven’t stopped really doing anything.” The two were touring and writing consistently throughout that time, but because of a decomposing relationship with their former record label, they weren’t able to get any new music out. “We didn’t feel like we belonged there anymore,” Keifer admits.

The “break-up” was amicable, and Thompson Square was able to seamlessly split from Broken Bow Records.

During those five years, Keifer and Shawna also became parents. With their joint career being such a large part of their marriage, the two had to sit down and decide if they wanted to miss out on being parents while they navigated the ever-changing music industry.

They agreed they didn’t, and Cooper was born in January 2016. “The scary thing about asking yourself life questions is you can’t lie to yourself, and once we knew that answer, we, so to speak, got right to work,” Keifer says.

Cooper (who really likes Batman, if you were wondering), travels with his parents everywhere and has been a new source of inspiration for songwriting. “Cooper was really at the forefront,” Keifer says.

The title track, “Masterpiece” is written about Cooper, and as soon as Sharna heard it she knew the album had to be titled that. “As a writer, he’s filled my creative tank,” Keifer says of his son. Fans of Thompson Square have watched Cooper grow up on the band’s social media pages, so to now have songs that relate back to what listeners knew the couple was experiencing felt like a natural step for the Thompsons.

While there was some interest from other labels once Thompson Square left Broken Bow, the band opted to “take the reins” on their career and released their latest album, Masterpiece, independently via their own label, T2. “It’s been rejuvenating,” Sharna says.

They went into this record with no intentions of writing a “radio friendly” hit, and just included songs that they both truly enjoyed and responded to. “I would rather be who we are and be smaller, than be someone else and be bigger,” Keifer says, “You have to sleep with yourself at night.” Because listeners are consuming music in a much different way that when Thompson Square started their careers, and radio play isn’t as important as it used to be, when writing this record, they found it easier to stretch their creative muscles knowing that there are more ways for the songs to be heard. “If you take that pressure off of yourself, which we have, the cream rises,” Keifer says.

The two agree that Masterpiece is the best representation of them as artists. In addition to working with producers, they also produced two tracks on their own – “Masterpiece” and “Breakers” – because the songs were too personal to let anyone else touch them. “Breakers” especially was incredibly difficult for Sharna to sing and broke down crying multiple times while recording it. The track was pieced together from multiple takes, and the duo NKDMAG.COM

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knew that bringing in another producer for this specific song wouldn’t have made sense.

Now that Masterpiece is out, Thompson Square are ready to get back into the studio. After such a long period of not releasing new music – and now that they have the ability to release songs at any frequency they want – they’re eager to keep writing and releasing.

Because they’re not pushing any songs to terrestrial radio at the moment, they’re letting fans decide which songs they like the most and seeing what they can do with them from there, noting that different streaming services have playlisted different songs – as opposed to everyone pushing one track. The two will also be doing a large amount of acoustic shows this year, as a result of fan demand. “We have had some of the most musical fun we’ve ever had doing the acoustic shows,” Sharna says.

Releasing Masterpiece was an amazing feeling for Thompson Square – especially after years of anticipation. The response to the record has been extremely positive from both fans and critics alike, and the Thompsons are truly just excited that people are connecting with their songs, considering they’re the most personal ones they’ve ever released. “I don’t think we’ve ever been as proud of an album release, because we put 110% of ourselves into it,” Sharna says. “I always say I want to be under appreciated, as opposed to overrated,” Keifer adds, “Right now we feel very appreciated.” NKD NKDMAG.COM

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NAFESSA WILLIAMS Words by OLIVIA SINGH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL Hair by IYANA WINFIELD Make-Up by KAYDA GEORGE Styling by SCOT LOUIE

Nafessa Williams stars as Anissa Pierce – also known as Thunder – on The CW’s newest DC universe show, Black Lightning.

As a child, she watched TV shows and dreamed of being in the same position as the actors she saw on screen. Now, the 28-year-old actress is fulfilling that goal, and using her role on the show to inspire and be an activist through her art.

Growing up in West Philadelphia, TV shows were more than just entertainment for Nafessa.

They were a way to escape reality, even it were a temporary fix.

“I loved watching TV coming up and it was actually an escape for some of the issues that I’d witnessed or just was around in the inner city,” she says. “I’d escape into the television and imagine that my life would be like some of the characters within those shows that I was watching.”

In particular, Nafessa cites The Cosby Show’s Rudy Huxtable (played by Keshia Knight Pulliam) as igniting her early curiosity toward acting.

“I remember watching The Cosby Show as a little girl and being like, ‘Wow, I look like her. Who is she?

I want to do what she’s doing,’” Nafessa recalls. “That show was the first spark of interest for me for wanting to be on TV.” Because she was from Philadelphia and didn’t know anyone in the entertainment industry, she pushed thoughts of becoming an actress aside.

“As a little kid, I was just trying to figure that out,” she says. “And I didn’t really know how to bring that to fruition as very small kid.”

Rather than act, she decided to become a lawyer. She completed 38

high school, graduated from West Chester University with honors and a degree in criminal justice, and worked in the homicide unit at the D.A.’s office. Post-graduation, she realized that she was unhappy with her job and needed to revisit acting.

“I literally hated going to work,” she recalls. “And I was like, ‘You know what? I need to tap back into my dreams and really make it a reality, because if not, I’m going to go through life regretting not going for it.’”

Nafessa had experience with local modeling, but while working at a law firm, she started seeking auditions. When she got one, she was told that she couldn’t take the day off from work.

“I went anyway and they fired me,” she says with a laugh. “And that was the start of where I am today.”

Nafessa booked a role on One Life to Live approximately a year into acting, and being part of the soap opera gave her “the hope of confidence” that she needed to continue acting.

Following One Life to Live, Nafessa landed roles on series and films like Brotherly Love, Code Black, Twin Peaks, and True to the Game.

Her big break arrived when learned about a new CW show called Black Lightning, based on characters from DC Comics.

Though it’s certainly not the first CW show based on superheroes, it is a standout comic book-based series because it’s basely solely on an African-American family – and that was one of the reasons why Nafessa felt compelled to audition for the role of Anissa Pierce in the

first place.

“I was blown away at the fact that there was this black superhero that no one really knew about,” Nafessa says. “I didn’t know about Black Lightning until I got the script last February and I auditioned for it.”

Reading the script for Black Lightning further convinced Nafessa that she needed to play a part in telling this story about a family of African-American superheroes.

She was also intrigued by how multi-faceted Anissa is.

“I seek out to play characters who are very bold women, who are strong and fearless and independent all by themselves, and that was what stood out to me,” Nafessa says. “I was like, ‘Wow, she’s so strong, and not to mention, she’s the first black lesbian superhero.’

That alone spoke volumes to me and I thought, ‘I have to be a part of telling this story.’

At her core, Anissa is strongwilled, bold, and fearless – and Nafessa can relate to these qualities.

“When she has her mind made up on something – and I’m the same exact way – it has to happen,” Nafessa says. “And it’s a parallel between her discovering her powers and following her dreams as a superhero as it is for me following mine as an actress. No matter who was opposed to my ideas of becoming an actress or who thought it wasn’t a good idea, I knew what I wanted and I was fearless about it and I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone stop me, and that’s the same fire that Anissa has in her.”

Going into the Black Lightning auditions, Nafessa was determined to prove that she was the perfect fit for the role.

“When I saw the breakdown of who the character was and what she represented, I was like, ‘I have to play her,’” Nafessa explains. “I went in so focused and with the mindset that ‘This is mine.’ I told myself, ‘You are Anissa.’ I went in with that fuel and with that fire in me and it went great.

After the first audition, Nafessa didn’t hear back for approximately two weeks. At that point, she had started to come to terms with the possibility that she wasn’t selected for the role. But then she got a phone call, asking to participate in the final part of the audition process, the screen test with future co-stars Cress Williams (who plays Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning) and China Anne McClain (who plays Jennifer Pierce).

She found herself in a room with more than 10 people watching her, from executives and writers to decision-makers at Warner Bros. and The CW. Throughout the multiple test, Nafessa says that she maintained her concentration and focus.

“The chemistry from just the beginning was there, with both of them,” Nafessa recalls. “And I had so much fun in the room with China, and we just got each other. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this has to be my sister.’”

Shortly after arriving back at her apartment following the screen test, she got a phone call from her team.

“My first question to my agents was, ‘Is China Anne McClain playing my sister?’” Nafessa recalls. “We just had this instant connection and this chemistry and we understood each other, and I knew it would be easy and fun to play alongside her as her sister.”

Needless to say, everyone in the

audition took notice of their effortless connection and agreed to have Nafessa on board.

“I screamed at the top of my lungs, I went and got a massage that I had booked earlier that day and I just celebrated,” she recalls. “I feel like I haven’t stopped celebrating. It’s just been a great ride.”

Black Lightning premiered in January 2018. Four months later, the series was renewed for a second season. The show centers on the Pierce family, comprised of Jefferson, Lynn (played by Christine Adams), Anissa, and Jennifer. Jefferson, a former-vigilante-turned-high-school-principal, resumes his role as Black Lightning when Anissa and Jennifer get wrapped up in issues with the neighborhood’s gang, The 100.

During the first episode of Season 1, Anissa’s metahuman powers are triggered and she rips the bathroom sink away from the wall with her bare hands. From there, she uses her abilities to her advantage, as a way to facilitate real change in her community. Her super strength and ability to create shockwaves with the stomp of her feet or clap of her hands make her an asset (and make the name “Thunder” wellearned).

While Anissa is captivated by her powers and chooses to fight alongside Black Lightning, Jennifer initially wants nothing to do with her abilities, which are introduced later in the season.

“We have two different reactions to learning about our powers,” Nafessa says, “Anissa is like ‘Oh my God, yes. I want to go save the world, I want to hit the streets, fight crime, make a difference,’ whereas Jennifer, she was very reluctant,

hesitant, and wasn’t as excited. I thought it was a cool way for the writers to show the distinction between the two.”

Although Black Lightning is a show about a family of superheroes, the storytelling is captivating because it is rooted in real, human experiences. The series tackles a variety of topics, from social injustice and racism to police brutality and black-on-black crime.

“There’s a reality that is attached to it [the show],” Nafessa says.

“It’s real issues, it’s issues that are happening, and I just love how we push the envelope and we really touch on these issues that are going on in our country. And as artists, it’s a way to use our activism and be activists. I totally feel like my activism is being portrayed through this character, and I love that.”

Since Black Lightning aired, Nafessa has received feedback from fans of all ages and backgrounds, and their words are a testament to how impactful the show is.

“Me playing this character, I’ve been getting the response, especially from young lesbians coming up to me, and one young woman in particular said, ‘Thank you so much for playing Thunder. After seeing you on the show, I now feel normal.’ And to me, as an actor, that’s my job. That’s my duty – to inspire, to empower – and I feel like I’m fulfilling that purpose by playing Thunder. It’s very rewarding.”

“It’s really a show about family and the love that the family has for each other,” she adds. “And then the superhero aspect is secondary.

But it’s really a family who is going through life issues just like any other family and they want to save NKDMAG.COM

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their community.”

Anissa’s storyline in Season 1 revolved around the discovery of her powers, learning how to navigate society with them, and using her gifts as a tool to elicit positive changes. Next season, Nafessa hopes that fans will be able to see more of Anissa’s love life explored.

It was briefly visited in the season through her relationships with Chenoa and Grace.

“She didn’t really get a chance to focus on that as much, since she was dealing with her powers and understanding them – how they unfold, how they work,” Nafessa says. “She’s working on herself. The season for her was mainly self-discovery for sure.”

“I’d like to see more of her romantic side,” Nafessa adds. “A lot of the fans are wanting to see Grace come back, so hopefully we get to see that, because Grace is a character within the comic books, and I like the idea that we’re giving the fans a visual of what they’ve been reading all this time.”

With production for Season 2 of “Black Lightning” underway, that’s what Nafessa will be dedicating a majority of her time to. When she’s not working, she’s also involved in Saturday Dreaming, an online boutique that she created with best friend Michelle Savage. The idea behind the brand is to provide clothing for young women who want high quality, yet reasonably priced clothing.

“I know what it’s like being an artist and being in college and having to shop on a budget, so that’s our mission – to provide affordable, unique pieces for the young girl boss.”

It’s been seven years since NafesNKDMAG.COM

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sa’s first acting job, and there are a few lessons she’s learned along the way before finding a home on Black Lightning.

“Be yourself and stay authentic to who you are, because that’s how you’re going to shine,” she says. “Not just in this industry, but in any industry, any field you’re working in. Just be yourself and bring the truth of who you are to what you’re doing, and you’ll win.

In this industry, you have to stand out, and the only way to do that is to really, truly be yourself.”

As she continues to audition for more projects, she’s selective about the kinds of roles she wants to go for, and knows exactly which ones she’s interested in.

“I definitely don’t mind doing more action, but I love comedy and I definitely want to flex that muscle a little bit more,” she says. “Maybe do either a romantic comedy or something comedic. Saturday Night Live is my ultimate dream.”

“I love sketch and I’m ready for people to see a different side of me, because I play more dramatic roles, but I have this comedic element to me – and I definitely want the world to see that, which they will,” Nafessa adds. “That’s what I’d definitely like to tap into next.”

Looking ahead to the rest of 2018, nothing is set in stone for Nafessa, but she’s excited to continue her role as Anissa/Thunder.

“I’m super excited for Season 2 and that’s what’s in front of me right now,” she says. “But who knows. I don’t know what’s next as far as other projects, but I’m definitely interested in some movies, so we’ll see where life takes me these next few month and rest of the year.” NKD 44

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tyler rich Words by IAN HAYS Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

Music is a shared experience.

For Tyler Rich, that means family.

In Yuba City, a farming town in Northern California, holidays meant extended family. Music always trailed not too far behind. Holiday songs, pop and rock covers, nothing was off limits. The instigator seemed to always be Uncle Tim. “It didn’t matter if it was Christmas, or what. He and all his buddies would show up with my cousins.

They would bust out the guitars and drinks. And the more they drank, the more they played. For hours, it was just The Beatles, Tom Petty, Garth Brooks, Brooks and Dunn,” Tyler said.

Tyler’s love of music came with an emphasis on live music. Music wasn’t passive listening but a physical act.

He witnessed his uncle control an entire room by tilting his voice and plucking a string. A force of good bringing everyone together. Ten separate conversations pause to join in a familiar song. Tyler saw time and time again live music bringing people together.

Even at 14 with Tyler getting his first guitar, it was never about bands or stardom. He just wanted to be able to join in with his uncle on the fun.

After a few lessons and a little persistence, Tyler found himself playing along with the gang by the following Christmas. Learning to play by covering popular songs taught him to make a cover his own.

“I say kudos and props to everyone who utilizes YouTube for cover songs. When I was younger, we didn’t have that as an option. It’s a lot of work and they spend hours not just on the covers but the videos, too,” Tyler says.

While Tyler was not as public in those early experiences, he still put up videos now and then when it felt right. It was never about self-promotion or locking down his brand. It was just a way to share the music he was feeling at the time. Once he felt the point was made, he would just as quickly take the cover down. He was fully aware of the stigma within the music industry of being that one YouTube cover singer. While there are always exceptions to the rules, Tyler was meant for a different path.

Even today, he puts together medleys and special live cover songs.

“Right now, I’m in the middle of doing kind of a story of my upbringing and being in love with Pure Country with George Straight, as a kid. I go into a story about how it got me into country music. I go from playing a medley of songs from that story to playing Michael Jackson’s, ‘Billie Jean’. And while cover songs are important for coming into your own, but it’s just as important how you deliver it,” Tyler says.

The influence from these covers is now innate in Tyler’s writing. While he’s working a song that is all country focused, a friend will tell him how

that melody reminds them of one of his pop influences. Genre follows the music, not the other way around. For years, Tyler played cover/ lounge gigs at casinos in Vegas and California wine country. Sets were four hours each. Some weeks, he played five nights in a row. That much time playing covers for audiences allowed him to fully make those covers his own.

It taught him how to reign in crowds who honestly weren’t there for him.

It was more than background noise to lull happy patrons into playing another round. Tyler took something established and made it recognizable in a refreshing way.

“Those gigs taught me everything,” he says, “They taught me how to not lose my voice after four hours of singing. They prepared me for the chaos of everything going on right now.”

Right out of high school, Tyler was in a pop-rock indie band that signed a record deal. A few years of touring unfortunately yielded no fruit. Keeping his promise to his family, he went to Sacramento State after the band broke up. He got a degree in economics. An Associate’s Degree, new guidelines for majors, and knowing he needed to get a “practical” degree led to the “living nightmare” of studying economics.

“I mean, after graduating, I got offered a job at the state capitol as a financial advisor. Somehow, California was going to trust me with their NKDMAG.COM

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money,” he laughs, “But, I had said that after graduating I would move to LA and work towards a solo career.

Which meant my early twenties were spent working at the Red Robin, makin’ ends meet.”

Years of hard work paid off as Tyler made connections and started working with writing partners and producers. This was at the time he landed the casino cover gigs, flying where needed. That was his day job to pay the bills. In the most literal sense, his day job was professional musician. And while Tyler’s initial motives for playing music – that comradery brought on through live performances – was satiated for a time with these gigs, he began to push for something more.

So, between flights and gigs, Tyler worked on original solo material.

Eventually, he was ready to release something to the public. He dropped his first stand-alone single, ‘Radio’.

The song steadily gained traction via YouTube and Spotify.

“I went up to play a hometown show in Sacramento and like no one was there. But, the radio program director that was there, he loved the show and the song. He started playing it on the radio. And within a month, it became the third most requested song in Sacramento.”

Redemption came full circle when he flew back up to Sacramento for another hometown gig. He sold out two nights in a row. The dominoes all fell into place. Popularity meant meetings with industry execs. This brought Tyler to Nashville, where he has now lived for three years. While Nashville has proven it has more to offer than just country, that is the route Tyler has taken. Growing up in an agriculture town meant his home was country friendly.

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Even when he was in the poppunk band, country was on his mind. While a couple of his former band mates weren’t fans, one of the co-singers was and they would do a pop-punk cover of ‘Friends in Low Places’, just ever so slightly scratch that itch. When the meetings began to take a more serious tone in L.A., they asked him full stop what kind of solo artist he was going to be. He told them he always had a penchant for country music.

“I showed them some stuff and they were like, ‘Dude! That is it! This is all you’re allowed to do!’” he recalls, “I mean, starting off, you can’t go to L.A. to do country. I can’t walk into a studio with Red Robin money and say, ‘Hey, record my country album.’

And that’s where I got lucky with this.”

In Tyler’s experience, you work on songs when you feel it in L.A. Could be any time, but when you get that creative juice flowing, you hit up your bandmates and production team and go to the studio. In Nashville, it’s treated like a day job. Tyler already has his writing sessions for the next several months already on the calendar. Sometimes it’s people you know. Other times its strangers.

But the shared experience of delving into something uncharted every session keeps Tyler always looking ahead of the curve. And while the sessions in form differ between L.A. and Nashville, Tyler is notes the most important factor is always who is in the room.

With is current hit single, ‘The Difference, Tyler is starting to work the circuit. In May, he made his live television debut on The Today Show.

Up until June, he was on a year-long radio promo tour. That meant several stops a day at different stations and

events, playing half hour sets and going through the standard press questions.

But, July through October, it’s all about the touring.

“Lots of festivals and not a lot of sleep,” Tyler says, “But, I’m excited.

I’m excited to get new music released and for the new singles. Things are going well and I just want to record more and get this album out.”

Keeping his eyes on the future, Tyler is looking to spread his country love to those outside the US. He’s looking forward to playing Canada but also eventually making it overseas. The goal is to get out to the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. With C2C and the globalization of music genres, country is no longer a niche American art form.

For so long, country music to the lay European audience meant banjos, westerns, and old school country.

The new generation has figured out there is so much more to it than that.

“Country has really become a new version of pop-rock. I have friends who ‘don’t like country’ and I’ll play them something and they’ll say it’s good. And I’ll tell them who it is and that its country and then they realize they actually like country,” he says, “It’s spreading and only getting bigger. I get messages every day asking when I’m coming out – Stockholm, Scotland, Berlin. I mean, I’m ready to go!”

For a musician who cut their teeth on live performances, this is the dream. It brought his family together. Live music meant connecting.

To have that love and bring it to the masses is performing. The walls have crumbled and barriers mean nothing to music. Tyler figured this out from a whiskey-stained acoustic. The rest of us are just catching up. NKD

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FOUR YEARS OF

Words By CARLY BUSH Photos by CATHERINE POWELL

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Since their inaugural event at 3rd and Lindsley Backstage in the spring of 2014, Nashville’s premier all-female songwriting collective has grown from a small group of ambitious young artists to a sweeping feminist movement with the poten-tial for global impact.

The Song Suffragettes have, to date, helped thirty artists obtain publishing deals and seven land record deals. By providing a weekly platform that helps them reach the attention of enthusiastic fans and the eager listening ear of A&R scouts in the audience, the Suffragettes writers round has served as an undeniably benefi-cial outlet for women in country music.

On an average Monday night, you can find the women of the

Suffragettes per-forming in groups of five at the Listening Room Café. These artists are some of Nashville’s best and brightest up-and-coming songwriters.

Each week, the Suffragettes, known by their iconic tagline and hashtag “Let The Girls Play,” put on an especially immersive, intimate, and laidback show, with on-stage banter that makes them feel as authentic as their classic country lyrics sug-gest.

Tickets sell out on a weekly basis, and new singer-songwriters are auditioning all the time, meaning that you never know exactly what you’re going to get on any given Monday night.

The group recently celebrated their fourth anniversary with a special show at one of Nash-

ville’s coolest and most intimate lounges, the Analog at Hutton Hotel, which drew a large and enthusiastic crowd.

Some members, like co-founder Kalie Shorr, known for her debut single “Fight Like a Girl”, walked in right off the bus from their hometown with nothing but a guitar and a dream. Kalie met founders Todd Cassetty and Helena Capps soon af-ter relocating from her hometown in Maine, and became involved with the project in its very early stages.

Others are industry veterans, riled up by the realization that the clock seemed to be turning backwards. The country music scene that existed twenty-five years ago is now gone. To many singer-songwriters who have

“I was 18. I dIdn’t know anybody. I was lucky enough to meet thIs record company who had thIs crazy Idea to start an all-female roundtable and gIve gIrls a place to play at

a tIme when there weren’t any.”

kalIe shorr NKDMAG.COM

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“I hadn’t had the chance to connect wIth women In musIc In such a powerful way. the group has become a safe haven for me.”

candI carpenter been around for a while, the ‘90s look positively utopian in comparison to the present day— in those days, fe-male artists were climbing the charts on a consistent basis, and no one would have dared vocalize their beliefs that women’s music was worth less than men’s. Con-trast that to 2018, where sexism is given a platform on major radio stations—and the state of the music world for women appears downright dismal.

This is a reference, of course, to the “Tomatogate” controversy, well-known to female country artists. In 2015, after a high-profile radio consultant stated matter-of-factly that women are the “tomatoes” and not the lettuce in the salad of country music, the Song Suffragettes 52

grew increasingly insistent on making their voices heard. (The group’s name in itself alludes to a certain tenacity and courage, a bla-tant reference to the very first feminists who risked their reputations, careers, and lives in the frontlines of the battle for equality.)

Not long after came #MeToo. The most widely discussed sociopolitical issue of 2017, the recognition of a broken system in the entertainment industry left the world disillusioned.

Feminists were revitalized and determined to rise up.

In response, the Suffragettes fought back with a haunting song entitled “Time’s Up”, and an accompanying music video filmed in the backwoods of Tennessee af-ter an ice storm. The

visuals, coupled with chill-inducing lyrics such as “Time’s up for the shadows / About to meet the light”, are strikingly evocative.

For many of the Suffragettes, the video was their first unapologetically political statement against gender inequality.

Some were afraid. Some felt it was definitely something they needed to do, despite the potential backlash. Nevertheless, every-one, deep in their hearts, knew it was a risk worth taking after discovering the un-pleasant shock that sexism was rampant in country music.

All of the Suffragettes, regardless of age and experience level, are in agreement that there is still quite a long road ahead of them in regards to gender equal-

“It’s the easIest and the hardest thIng to be yourself.”

kalIe shorr “If one of us wIns, we all wIn.”

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“at the end of the day, we’re all doIng what we love. we’re all doIng the same thIng—men and women.”

tegan marIe “my favorIte thIng we’ve done was the ‘tIme’s up’ vIdeo. that was really cool to be a part of. It was so specIal because I was always kInd of shy about talkIng about women’s Issues and empowerment, and doIng that vIdeo was just my personal fIrst step Into beIng more vocal, and

It felt really lIberatIng and freeIng.”

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“we joked about the ‘token woman,’ but It’s pretty messed up when we’re 51% of the populatIon.”

kellIegh bannen “I’ve been hangIng out wIth the gIrls, reIntegratIng myself Into the communIty. song suffragettes has been a pretty bIg part of that for me.”

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“theIr InItIal goal was to let females be heard, and that’s really what It has been. If we keep sayIng It and keep puttIng It out there, people are gonna lIsten up.”

janelle arthur “growIng up I was such a tomboy, I dIdn’t have a lot of gIrl frIends, and It wasn’t untIl the last three years of my lIfe that I feel lIke I’ve opened my eyes to that and realIzed how much I need gIrl frIends In my lIfe.

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“I dIdn’t really know what was goIng on wIth women In country, that they weren’t beIng played as much on radIo and all that, and I thInk what I love about song suffragettes Is they’re not afraId to talk about that kInd of stuff and brIng It to lIght.”

aprIl kry “I would watch a lot of artIsts, especIally taylor swIft and mIranda lambert, when I was younger, and I dIdn’t really see a lot of them speakIng out about the problem. It was kInd of behInd the scenes.”

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“It’s been cool to see what songs have come out of It — and the frIendshIp, and the support.”

kelsey k “It kInd of changed my outlook, knowIng that I am the mInorIty, and somethIng dIfferent just because of that, and how specIal that It Is. I thInk It taught me to use that and to celebrate that, Instead of just beIng told It was a negatIve and somethIng that’s goIng to hold me back.”

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“there’s a lot of us, and we’re all here… so It was kInd of cool to get to see and hear all these women’s storIes — and to get to tell mIne.”

tara thompson “I’ve met a lot of really strong women who have become bIg Influences In my lIfe, and formed wonderful frIendshIps. we just kInd of raIse each other up. It’s all about beIng posItIve, and not comparIng ourselves to each other, and just honestly wantIng the best for everyone on our IndIvIdual journeys.”

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“It’s not just a show that happens every week. they’re talkIng about stuff that needs to be talked about.”

jordyn mallory “It’s nIce to have people who understand that It’s all a process. we’re all here for each other.

It’s nIce to have mentorshIp.”

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lexI lauren

“we’re all doIng the same thIng, so we know what e ach other are goIng through.”

tIera ity in country music. Nevertheless, they speak with confidence, self-assurance, and boldness.

They are determined to press on against the considerable odds.

Having worked on the “Time’s Up” video, many of the Suffragettes state that they are now much less nervous to call out abuse, harassment, and condescension when they see it. After all, even if male industry executives are offended by their re-sistance and attempt to blacklist them, the community they have found through the Suffragettes will still always be there.

And it is this that makes the Suffragettes so unique. They are not solely a profes-sional collaborative group. While they provide artists with a space to share their art, set up co-writes,

and perform to a guaranteed audience on a weekly basis, the girls and women are quick to emphasize that the sincere friendships they have made through the group are the most important part.

Many struck up impossibly close friendships within a few days of joining. They speak candidly of getting drunk, sharing stories about exes, crying together, and stealing each other’s guitar picks. Their banter onstage feels so relaxed because they are real friends. This is clearly a true sisterhood, a place where love and heal-ing are allowed to take place unrestricted, and talent is encouraged to bloom.

The youngest members of the Suffragettes are 14- and

15-years-old. They consid-er themselves lucky to have been raised in an empowering environment and to be a part of a songwriting collective that promotes genuine support and friendship between women rather than competition. They are acutely aware that they are coming of age at a turning point in history, but find solace in their songwriting community, where stereotypes about ruthless and catty mean girls do not apply.

For the 20- and 30-something Suffragettes who were raised in a time when mi-sogyny was endured in passive silence rather than actively discouraged, the resili-ence and strength of the younger girls is an encouragement and an inspiration. NKD NKDMAG.COM

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