Atlanta-based Covenant House Along With Brides Against Breast Cancer produce a Night of Music and Comedy Event Featuring Comedian Ron White Along With 6-time Billboard Charting Singer-Songwriter Margo Rey

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Event proceeds benefit Covenant House International

ATLANTA, GA – August 22, 2013 – Atlanta-based charity organization Covenant House along with Brides Against Breast Cancer will present a special night of music and comedy featuring 6-time Billboard Top 40 Singer-Songwriter Margo Rey and a special guest performance by Comedian Ron White to benefit local homeless children in the Atlanta area on Tuesday September 17 at the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, GA. The show starts at 7:30 with doors opening at 7:00pm to the general public.  Ron White will do a short performance to be followed by a performance by Margo Rey who currently has a top 20 Billboard hit with “Tempted.”

Singer-Songwriter Margo Rey is the National Ambassador for Brides Against Breast Cancer, an organization aimed at raising funds for education, information and outreach services to cancer patients and their families. One of her song hits, “Let The Rain,” a top 20 Billboard charting song, is the official theme song for the Brides Against Breast Cancer nationwide campaign that is currently underway. "From my perspective as a breast cancer warrior now undergoing chemotherapy, I believe that education and personal support are just as critical as prompt medical treatment," said Margo Rey. "It is my pleasure to join Brides Against Breast Cancer to raise awareness and help ensure that no one ever has to face cancer alone."

Event tickets are now available for $50 and there are a limited amount of VIP tickets available that include a meet and greet with Margo Rey and Ron White for $200. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

ABOUT MARGO REY

Margo Rey’s alternative pop songs have captured a worldwide audience with her unforgettable melodies, groove oriented arrangements and enduring, socially conscious lyrics. Her Christmas song “This Holiday Night” was the only original Christmas song to chart last year and topped out at #4. Her biggest hit, “Let the Rain,” co-written with the legendary John Oates, remained on the charts for 21 weeks.  Rey’s newest single, “Tempted,” is presently on the Top 20 charts and currently being played on radio stations across the United States.  For more information about Margo Rey:  http://www.margorey.com

ABOUT RON WHITE:

Comedian Ron “Tater Salad” White, best known as the cigar smoking, scotch drinking funnyman from the “Blue Collar Comedy” phenomenon comes home to Atlanta to lend his name and time in support of these two worthy causes. White will make a special guest appearance at this show benefiting Covenant House and Brides Against Breast Cancer.  White has achieved two Grammy nominations, a Gold Record, two of the top rated one-hour specials in Comedy Central history, a book that appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List, and CD and DVD sales of over 10 million units.  For more information about Ron White:  http://www.tatersalad.com

  

ABOUT BRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER: 

Brides Against Breast Cancer, a Sarasota, Florida-based charity organization that offers nationwide free information, programs and services to cancer patients, caregivers and family members, while connecting them with others who are undergoing a similar experience. 

Brides Against Breast Cancer (BABC) is a wholly owned affiliate of the Center for Building Hope, headquartered in Sarasota, FL. The Center offers free information, programs and services to cancer patients, caregivers and family members, while connecting them with others who are undergoing a similar experience.  Our goal in the coming year is to make free CBH programs and services available to anyone, anywhere through a nationwide online network of more than 100 affiliates called the Network for Building Hope. To help achieve that goal, we have just announced the "Say I DO" campaign, led by our national ambassador Singer/Songwriter Margo Rey, a breast cancer survivor, and her fiancé, Comedian Ron White.

For more information, please visit Brides Against Breast Cancer’s official website at

http://www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org

ABOUT COVENANT HOUSE:  

Covenant House opened its doors in 2000 to provide shelter and services to Atlanta’s homeless and runaway youth.  For over a decade, the organization has dedicated their services to helping young people suffering from homelessness, sexual exploitation, involved in drug-dealing, theft and other anti-social activities.  More than 15,000 youth have received support from CHGA since 2000.  Currently, more than 1300 homeless and at-risk youth are given support and help every year.  The waiting list, at times, is dishearteningly long.  Covenant House Georgia is a full partner of Covenant House International, the largest privately funded agency in the United States providing shelter and services to homeless and at-risk youth.

Covenant House Georgia is the only program of its kind in Georgia serving homeless kids every night between midnight and 8:00 AM. Five nights a week, our Outreach Van visits some of the most distressed neighborhoods of Atlanta, seeking out sexually exploited youth, drug dealers, and gang members in the hopes of saving a life.  Since opening the Center on Broad Street in 2006, more than 10,000 young people have walked through the doors looking for assistance with shelter, food, clothing, education, and employment. Every day young men and women have come here in search of crisis counseling, employment, a GED diploma, or a safe place to sleep.

For more information, please visit Covenant House’s official website at http://www.covenanthousega.org

MISSING THE MAGIC OF THE CLASSIC POP/ROCK VIBE YOU GREW UP WITH? LAS VEGAS EXTENDS A STANDING INVITATION TO OPEN THE FORGOTTEN DOOR

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For Immediate Release

Filling a Long Vacant Niche in Pop Music, Performing

Songs With Stories, Substance and Multi-Layer Harmonies,

The Popular Six-Piece Band Launches ‘Unlocked,’ Its Upcoming Debut

Album of ‘New Classic Rock’ With A Highly Anticipated

Weekend Residency in the Wolf Theatre at the Clarion Hotel & Casino

            This summer, hundreds of thousands of music fanatics will flock again to Las Vegas to see legends and those impersonating legends satisfy their thirst for the way pop music used to be. From “Jersey Boys” and “Rock of Ages” to Elton John, Rod Stewart, even Donny and Marie, everyone wants to experience what we’ve all been missing on pop radio for far too long: songs with stories, lyrics of substance, strong lead vocals and soul-stirring, multi-layer harmonies.

            But why settle for nostalgia when a Vegas-based band that’s in love with the classic pop/rock of the ‘70s and ‘80s is right up the road, performing songs so fresh and new yet so familiar in style that a whole new phrase (“New Classic Rock”) had to be coined to capture the way they work their magic on the fans?

            Johndale Stanley, co-founder, keyboardist and one of the lead vocalists of the six-piece Forgotten Door (www.officialforgottendoor.com), explains the origins of their unique name: “We want to communicate that there is still good music out there that has heart and soul like the great pop/rock we grew up with. The ‘forgotten door’ is a passage back into the things people loved and got excited about then. Our fans tell us they love songs like ‘Hotel California,’ ‘Long Train Runnin’ and ‘Rhiannon,’ but they’ve heard them a million times. They want new music created in that vein that they can feel passionate about. They’re emotionally thirsty to hear something fresh.”
 

            Unlike most groups that long to tour the U.S. and world, Forgotten Door is excited about staying in town, performing for residents, tourists, conventioneers, etc. Celebrating the upcoming release of their highly anticipated, appropriately titled debut album Unlocked, the eclectic band—whose lineup includes co-founder, vocalist and guitarist Lonnie Danley, lead vocalist Melody Ritz, lead and slide guitarist, and vocalist Michael Seal, bassist Karl Gottmann and drummer Kevin Brennan—is starting an unprecedented six month weekend residency in July in the Wolf Theatre at the Clarion Hotel & Casino (305 Convention Circle Drive, Las Vegas 89109).

            Prior to the official opening night of Friday, August 16, the group will do open to the public previews the weekends of July 26-28, August 2-4, and August 9-11. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. for the 7 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays– a slot that is perfect for fans to launch a night of fun on the town (and the nearby Strip). On Sundays, the show will start at 9 p.m. Ticket prices are $47.97 General Admission - $57.97 VIP, and booths for four are available for $195. Tickets can her purchased here: https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&e=936b095b8f218e4a1fe6119ab747767a.

Forgotten Door, whose members are all veteran musicians and entertainers, have created a powerful audio-visual experience complete with dramatic lighting designed to bring out the textures and nuance of each song. Many fans and critics have compared the male-female and creative dynamics of the band to that of what Fleetwood Mac became after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined in the mid-‘70s. The nine songs on Unlocked showcase the group’s depth, anchored by the versatile songwriting and production skills of Stanley and Danley, the band’s creative core. Michael is also a contributing songwriter and Melody is a lead vocalist on several tracks, including the first single to be released, the mid-tempo pop rocker “Masquerade.” When Johndale is singing lead, Lonnie, Melody and Michael do harmony vocals. When Melody is out front, Johndale, Lonnie and Michael take the harmonies.

Stanley sees his overriding task as “taking all the songs the members bring to the table and forging them into a collective Forgotten Door sound. In essence, what we are doing is drawing from our great array of classic influences and creating music that has our own unique signature on it. We’re working hard on bringing something genuine and that moves people to the contemporary musical landscape.”

Earlier versions of songs on Unlocked have already made a happy commotion on Vradio.com, a popular internet radio station with some four million listeners, owned and operated by Big Poppa G. “Masquerade” spent 27 weeks on his chart and “Puerto Penasco” went 24, hitting #1—meaning that it snagged 40,000 requests by internet and phone. In all, four Forgotten Door songs charted on the station as part of a test marketing effort—an achievement all the more remarkable since the website’s main consumers are R&B and rap fans. 

Considering how their last names rhyme, perhaps it was musical destiny when bride and groom called Stanley and Danley, respectively, to sing for a wedding back in 1994. Their perfect blend of lead and vocal harmonies led to a long lasting musical partnership, which skyrocketed when melody Ritz joined the group. The three enjoyed performing as a popular local cover band for a handful of years, but in time they decided the only way to move forward was to write and perform original material.

“When Lonnie first told me he wanted to write originals, I was skeptical, but then I heard his song ‘Far Far Away’ and I realized this was no joke, that we could actually do this,” says Stanley. “We started retooling in 2007-8 and within a year of that song being written, I had also penned my first tune, a personal and emotional song called ‘Gypsy Woman.’ As our vibe developed and people started responding to it, we realized people really wanted to hear something fresh, that sounds familiar even when they’re hearing it for the first time. That’s what the Forgotten Door aesthetic is all about.”

Over the years, when they were a cover band, they performed gigs and corporate events at numerous venues in Las Vegas, including the Hard Rock, Stratosphere, Las Vegas Hilton, Club Madrid (at Sunset Station) to name a few. A few years ago, classic rock station 96.3 KKLZ held a battle of the bands at South Point hotel as part of the annual Junefest. Forgotten Door won the showroom event, which gave them the opportunity to open for Terri Nunn and Berlin, Steppenwolf and Sly and the Family Stone. Justin Chase from the radio station later hooked them up to perform in the Neon Garage at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Truck Series event in 2010.

Like every great emerging band, Forgotten Door has a colorful back story that involves haggles with outside producers and what Stanley calls “raging storms during the making of this album.” The band has endured many trying times that have solidified their creative and personal relationship and given rise to a fierce member to member loyalty and a rich authenticity that translates to a powerhouse recording debut and a dynamic stage show.

“We’re most looking forward to showing the world that there’s a band out there that’s filling the gap and playing new music in that classic vein,” Stanley adds. “I’ve heard it said that music is emotion hung on a note, and our goal is always to move people in such a way that they are motivated to buy our album as a souvenir of our live musical experience, which has also given them joyful memories they can take with them. Looking forward to our residency at the Clarion, we want longtime fans to be excited about our new venture and hope that newcomers who decide to take a chance and check us out will leave thinking that something very cool and exciting is going on here.”

             

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SINGER-SONGWRITER SHEILA SWIFT TO RELEASE HER MUCH ANTICIPATED EP "THE STRIVING IS OVER"

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AVAILABLE ON ITUNES AUGUST 13

August 9, 2013 (Los Angeles, CA) - Six years after her highly praised album, "The Shape of Things", the release of two singles, and a recent 5-week tour in Europe, Sheila Swift is ready to release her much anticipated EP, "The Striving is Over". In this new EP, Sheila proves that she is not just a one trick pony coming from "Daisy", but a well-rounded, all natural musical artist.

 

 "The Striving is Over", is Sheila Swift's most personal album yet.  The EP presents three original tracks by Swift, written throughout her life that have been long waiting to be released. The musically talented songwriter uncovers herself in this album, presenting songs inspired during personal life experiences. In her EP, each track delivers its own uplifting positive message.

This album holds themes revolving around life. The songs in the album cover themes such as tension in marital life, letting go of the past and moving forward, while remembering about the good in life and reconnecting to one's own roots.  Sheila Swift proves her artistic creativity by adding a natural flow in the order of tracks in "The Striving is Over". Track after track, the three song EP tells a story. From the first track to the last, the emotional and powerful lyrics, that Sheila's vocals give life to, depict defining moments for her.

 In "Stay", the beautiful, acoustic guitar solos build while harmonizing with Swift's powerful vocals. There is no doubt her southern roots are portrayed in this EP. Swift intertwines a touch of arousing country with rock into both other tracks, "Let Go" and "Home". It is in both tracks where Swift releases positive and inspiring messages to her listeners. Lyrics such as, "you got to let it go", speaking of the past, Sheila encourages moving forward in life. Sheila depicts fond memories of the south in "Home”, a reminiscence of her life growing up in the south, Sheila sings, "take me home".  Each track with its very own personal touch and artistic expression, Sheila portrays her love for music and life.

Following "The Striving is Over", Sheila Swift has more musical endeavors up her sleeve with a vinyl album release by the end of the year.

Sheila Swift has evolved into a fully-fledged rock singer, largely leaving behind the pop-rock leanings of her previous work in favor of a more pure rock sound which shines through on the new material. Sheila played at the South By Southwest Music Festival, in Austin, Texas, as well as a showcase at House of Blues Houston and has finished a 5 week European tour in Germany and the Netherlands, with guitarist Ben Jarrad, where ecstatic fans described her as a mix of Gwen Stefani and Neil Young. A multi-talented artist, Sheila also incorporates her passion for the arts in her music.

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Sheila Swift links: Website - Facebook - Twitter - YouTube

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