By Judy Shields
Los Angeles, California (The Hollywood Times) 10/03/2023
Hit songwriter and Nashville Hall of Fame member, Kent Blazy is pleased to announce the release of his highly-anticipated new album, From The Beatles to The Bluebird. The new music is available everywhere now.
This record was born from Kent Blazy’s visit to Liverpool and visiting all the Beatles’ sites. It brought it all home to him about how the Beatles changed the world starting February 9, 1964, and the impact they still have. The record is a celebration of them, of life and living.
“The songs honor lots of people who have inspired me through the years,” shared Kent Blazy, “and as the Beatles said, ‘Some are dead and some are living.’ I had a great band and engineers and it was a joy to make this record.”
Co-writer and vocalist on the album, Steve Allen expressed, “Kent Blazy’s new album, From The Beatles to The Bluebird, is a musical journey from the 60s English invasion, winding through decades up till today. From first inspirations to endless gigs in bars to writing hit songs in Nashville, Tennessee on Music Row, it’s all in there. Kent Blazy wrote all the songs except two co-writes with me. We rehearsed with the band once with Lee Francis on bass and Kevin Murphy on drums, and then we went into one of Nashville’s coolest old school studios, Sound Emporium. We recorded all the basic tracks live in one day, feeling optimistic! Next day a few vocal and guitar overdubs were included, with a bit of keys added later by Dennis Matkosky. It was recorded and mixed by local hero Chris Utley. All this makes a record that sounds both immediate and alive in the moment, and I believe it rocks and rolls and tells its stories with an energy you can’t help but feel. It’s an honest album about music and love. Optimism still rules. You can hear it in the sounds and the grooves of the songs. Hope you dig it!”
“It was such a pleasure being the “home” for long time studio family member Kent Blazy’s new recording project,” said Sound Emporium Studios President/COO/GM Juanita Copeland. She went on to say, “As with other projects Kent has done here over the years, you have a collection of some of the most well-written songs that are the kind that have made Nashville the amazing recording mecca that it is today. Kent is truly an Icon and treasure and we are so proud to call him family.”
The Hollywood Times had the opportunity to speak with Kent via the phone about each of the 11 songs on his latest album.
Enjoy our conversation here:
From The Beatles to The Bluebird Tracklist
- February 9th, 1964 (Kent Blazy, Steve Allen) 3:23
- Beatles to the Bluebird Cafe (Kent Blazy) 3:30
- Just Writing Songs (Kent Blazy) 3:56
- Die Young (Kent Blazy) 3:30
- Birds on a High Line (Kent Blazy) 4:20
- Stay Wild (Kent Blazy) 5:08
- Young Man Living In An Old Man’s Town (Kent Blazy) 3:33
- Not Really Living (Kent Blazy) 4:38
- Love to Love You (Kent Blazy) 3:41
- The Gift She Is (Kent Blazy) 5:03
- Deeper Into You (Kent Blazy, Steve Allen) 3:30 Recorded at The Church Studio, Tulsa, OK
From The Beatles to The Bluebird was mixed and engineered by Chris Utley. Mastering was done by John Mayfield of Mayfield Mastering. Cover photo is credited to Tom Robben. Graphic art is credited to Nancy Terzian. Studio musicians included Lee Francis (bass), Kevin Murphy (drums), Steve Allen (vocals on tracks 1 and 11), Kent Blazy (guitars, vocals) and Dennis Matkosky (keys).
Stay current with Kent Blazy on his website www.kentblazy.com. Follow him on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and watch videos on the official artist YouTube.
Music can be found on all digital music platforms for streaming and download at CD Baby, iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and Pandora.
About Kent Blazy:
Kent Blazy is an American country music songwriter from Lexington, KY who now calls Nashville, TN home. Kent Blazy was inducted into the class of 2020 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame during the Golden Anniversary, plus one during the special 50th and 51st Gala. The Kentucky native songwriter’s credits include, “If Tomorrow Never Comes” (Garth Brooks), “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til The Sun Comes Up)” (Garth Brooks) and “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” (Chris Young). Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Garth Brooks took the stage to present inductee Kent Blazy and also perform their hit “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” Blazy and Brooks met in 1987 and began writing together. His credits include several singles for Garth Brooks, as well as singles by Gary Morris, Diamond Rio, Patty Loveless and Chris Young. Blazy has a total of seven number one hits to his credit. Kent Blazy was raised in Lexington, Kentucky. At an early age, he played rhythm guitar and sang in various local bands, citing The Byrds, Rodney Crowell and Joe Ely as influences. He later played for Canadian singer Ian Tyson. Later on, Blazy met former Exile member Mark Gray, who suggested that Blazy move to Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually, he signed to a publishing contract, but the publishing company closed; despite the loss of contract, Gary Morris sent Blazy’s “Headed for a Heartache” into the top 5 on the country charts. By the late 1980s, Blazy met with a then-unknown Garth Brooks, who gave him the idea for a song entitled “If Tomorrow Never Comes.”
He and Brooks co-wrote the song, which went on to become Brooks’ first number one hit. Brooks continued to record Blazy’s material throughout the 1990s, including the singles “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up),” “It’s Midnight Cinderella,” “She’s Gonna Make It,” “Somewhere Other Than the Night” and the George Jones duet “Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?).” He also co-wrote “That’s What I Get for Lovin’ You” by Diamond Rio and “Can’t Get Enough” by Patty Loveless in the late 1990s. Blazy, along with songwriters Pat Alger, Tony Arata and Kim Williams, recorded an album entitled A Songwriters’ Tribute to Garth Brooks, which included their renditions of songs that they had written for Brooks. This album was released in 2001 via VFR Records. Other songs that Blazy has co-written include, “You Can Let Go” by Crystal Shawanda and “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” by Chris Young from 2008 and 2009 respectively, as well as American Idol season 8 finalist Danny Gokey’s debut single “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me.”
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