Many Nashville music insiders attended
This past Saturday night, they came from Los Angeles, Dallas and Austin, Texas; Nashville, Columbus, Ohio; Pennsylvania, New York, Oklahoma, and from all over Mississippi to see Clevelander Peyton Aldridge perform at the Bologna Performing Arts Center on the Campus of Delta State University. Local musicians John Andy Bowen, William Nevels, Chris Parks, Bryan Schilling, and John Balducci provided musical support for Aldridge during his performance.
Aldridge has appeared on American Idol and most recently on The Voice where he caught the admiration of John Legend, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani. All of this national exposure has attracted the attention of Nashville insiders. Aldridge’s show several months ago at the famous Bluebird Cafe venue in Nashville also took things to another level which led to him recording new songs in some of Nashville’s top recording studios.
However, during this past weekend, Cleveland turned into a mini-Nashville as Nashville-based music business executives and others were in town. Several musicians who appeared on The Voice also came to Cleveland to attend and support Aldridge’s performance.
Opening the show at the BPAC was singer and performer Morgan Myles who dazzled the BPAC crowd with her five octave singing range. Myles also appeared on The Voice and has just made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.
Longtime singer and entertainer Mark Collie performed after Myles.
Collie is a well-known country music singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His singing career has included five major-label albums: four for MCA Nashville and one for Giant Records. Sixteen of his singles have charted on Hot Country Songs, including the top ten hits “Even the Man in the Moon Is Cryin’” and “Born to Love You”. Collie has also written songs for Aaron Tippin, Alabama, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and JT Hodges. His acting career includes roles in Fire Down Below, The Punisher, and Kill Switch and as a regular character on the ABC series, Nashville.
In February 2001, Collie delivered the eulogy for race car legend Dale Earnhardt at a memorial service that included performances by Vince Gill and Steve Wariner at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville.
Collie began his career in the Memphis area.
“Back then I played all over the Delta,” he said. “We often played at the old Junction in Marks and we even played here in Cleveland at the old Sharpe Street Station.”
After Collie’s performance, the lights dimmed and Aldridge walked on the stage to a thundering of applause from the hometown crowd. And, he did not disappoint as each song he performed flowed flawlessly into the next. At one point, Aldridge brought his young daughter and nephew to the stage where they did their best to help him sing one song.
After the show, an aftermath party was held in Aldridge’s honor at The Pickled Okra. Several of his friends from The Voice took turns performing songs on the stage there.
Aldridge is on the cusp of “making it” in the music business and that was evident not only by his performance at the BPAC, but by the Nashville music insiders who flew and drove to Cleveland this past weekend to attend his concert.