The Spotlight Sessions

I, for one, am ready to fall in platonic love for this artist again. Let’s be left speechless together tomorrow night? Hang out after his set for @itsalisonogden and @priyamanimusic. What a lineup.

Anybody else completely sold on @cayleehammack? Check out her new single “Redhead” with @reba. Really solid collab.

Throwback to The Secret Sessions in West Hollywood with @bodytalk.official. Miss these nights!

5 Pop songs, 5 country songs. Here’s my take.

Coming to you from Nashville with quarantine hair. 5 Country songs, 5 Pop songs. Let me know whatcha think. ⬇️

Artists are typically introverts. Even if you see them interacting on stage with their fans in a bright, outgoing manner, there’s usually a battle being fought inside their brains. I can’t tell you for sure if Tina Mathieu is an introvert or not but I can tell you that you wouldn’t know it if you met her at a show. One of the first things I noticed about Tina was how completely down to earth and transparent she is. She became one of the easiest people for me to talk to in the artist community. She’s incredibly confident about her art and rightfully so. It’s a good trait to be able to display transparency with your peers but it’s a gift to be able to display it through your art. Tina has developed a special way of doing just that. I met Tina at a songwriter showcase in the valley a few years ago. She had me sold almost immediately through her music but also her kindness and compassion that she showed for everyone in her circle. One of the more notable displays of empathy was after a mass shooting occurred at her former high school in Florida. I followed her story and her campaign to stop gun violence in the United States and to pay respect to the kids that lost their lives that day. It was so comforting to see a single person show so much drive and determination in order to make our world a safer place to live. Every artist community needs a Tina Mathieu. People like her are the glue that keeps this whole thing together. I’m so grateful for her presence in our music scene. In this video, Tina talks about her favorite Spotlight memory at Songbird Cafe and plays her single “Lady Bug”. Check it out and give her a follow.

I met Nino in 2012. I was auditioning drummers for my platinum selling electro pop band at the time and Nino slid in the DMs. You can find the rest of that on E! True Hollywood Story somewhere. Nino and I will always have a special friendship through music. We started as young, bright eyed kids in our late teens scaling Hollywood Blvd. for gigs and opportunities in music. When we met, Nino was drumming for maybe 11 bands at the time. I was an intern at Atlantic Records and working on piecing together 2 projects for my own songwriting endeavors. Between the 2 of us, he was always the real artist, though. It’s so rare that you see someone not just play multiple instruments, but experience a high level of proficiency in each trade as well. I always loved and admired that about him. Nino found success which did not come as a shock to just about anyone. He is now the drummer for Epitaph Records rock group Teenage Wrist and has been working on his solo project, Iron Point for several years now. Nino will always play such an important role with the Spotlight Sessions. We really came up together in this business and being able to share this journey with him is something I’ll cherish forever. Thank you, Nino! Here’s a quick take of his song “Fixed”. Y’all go give him a follow. Tell him Jared sent ya. 🤘🏻