Autumn Rose
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Music
Press
"I’ve had the pleasure of watching Autumn Rose grow their artistry. The girls have tight harmonies like those of siblings, yet they are not genetically connected. They have a keen ear for hearing songs that resonate with their generation but also hold up in content for an older audience. Autumn Rose has youth on their side but vocally they are old souls. Producer and friend, Garth Fundis, nailed it sonically and vocally in the studio with Autumn Rose" - Melanie Howard, Harlan Howard Songs, Inc.
"Every once in a while you find a diamond in the rough. The first time I heard Autumn Rose, I knew I had found a gem. Vocally, Autumn Rose is superb. With the first lyric line of "Whispers His Name," which says, "The Wheat Fields Were Still Green," you know these ladies are seasoned and ripe for harvest. They're song choices highlight their talents. You could pour out your soul in a 6/8 waltz, and the Autumn Rose EP has two; each song is soulful and meaningful, and they all sound GREAT in a high-quality pair of headphones or on the speakers of your iPhone." - Rick Marino, 95.5 The Wolf, Nashville, TN
While “Boston Strong” was everywhere for Saturday’s St. Jude Country Music Marathon in Nashville -- the first major race in the U.S. since the Boston Marathon was curtailed following the bombing -- there’s nothing like American flags and lots of live music to spur on 30,000 runners in Tennessee (of all places). Over the past decade, organizer Competitor Group has turned a hardcore sport for a few into a party for many -- by placing live bands at every mile of every race.
"Rock ‘n' Roll Marathons" are now held in more than 25 cities; Nashville's Country Music Marathon is one of the oldest in the series. For 26 miles, the Nashville race hosted 28 stages with 50 acts booked (that's nearly 300 musicians); live music lined the entirety of the full- and half-marathon courses.
“It’s like putting on a 26-mile music festival, nearly 30 times a year,” said Josh Furlow, SVP of Event Operations. “It’s entertainment for some, and motivation for others.”
A participant shows his support of Boston during the Country Music Marathon
After a moment of silence for the Boston victims before the starting horn, with extra security present, nothing unusual happened Saturday, except a little extreme weather, with an unfortunate morning-long downpour and severe lightning forcing some bands to stay unplugged and others to abandon ship.
For Autumn Rose, a duo made up of vocalists Alicia Beale and Rachael Schleicher, the rain killed the band’s live performance. “Our violinist has an extremely expensive instrument that just couldn’t get wet, and there was the electricity issue,” said Beale. But the whole band stood in the wind-driven rain anyway, spending several hours holding up a large Autumn Rose sign at their designated performance spot on the course between miles two and three, singing along to their EP.
Country music duo Autumn Rose, doing their best to cheer on runners and make a few fans
Course-wide, no stage was dead. At the very least, recorded music blared from plastic-covered speakers. For artists, the hard part is adjusting to playing live for an arena-sized crowd at 7am.
“Years ago when we first started the Rock 'N' Roll marathon in San Diego, the bands told us, ‘Are you kidding me?’” said Tracy Sundlun, Competitor Group’s SVP of its Events Division. “We had to drive some of them straight from their gigs the night before to the marathon course," -- set-up is routinely as early as 5am --"but, once they were on-stage with an audience of thousands, it was like, high-fives in the street.”
These days, artists clamor to be booked along the race route, and some of Nashville’s biggest names have played the Country Music Marathon. “Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Martina McBride, Big & Rich, so many,” said Sundlun. “Lady Antebellum played the marathon before many people had ever heard of them.” Other artists who’ve played the Nashville race include Sara Evans, Phil Vassar, Lee Roy Parnell, and Jo Dee Messina, who is a marathoner herself, finishing the Boston Marathon in 2006. Sheryl Crow, with a single now climbing the Billboard Country chart, ran Nashville last year. Runners in Rock ‘n’Roll Marathon races in other cities have heard artists ranging from Pitbull and Flo Rida, to Atlas Genius and Brett Michaels.
For Nashville, it’s a tourist boon with a multi-million dollar economic impact.
Runners come in from all over the U.S. and other countries; often days ahead of time; just to hit the clubs and honky-tonks on Broadway for live music. “We like to go up and down the street and in and out of the bars to hear who’s playing,” said Lori Watson, a non-runner from Chicago who came in with her sister, who is registered for the race. “It’s a total party.”
Jacob Steifel and The Truth, performing along the Country Music Marathon route in Nashville, Tennessee
On marathon-eve, in the Nashville tradition, the St. Jude’s pasta party becomes an old-fashioned guitar pull -- a Great Depression term for a group of players sharing a single instrument. Tony Arata (Garth Brooks’ “The Dance"), Dave Turnbull (Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall"), and Don Poythress (Easton Corbin’s “A Little More Country Than That”) took turns singing the hits each wrote, while telling the stories behind the songs. The “songwriter round” was hosted by Thad Beaty, the guitarist for country super-duo Sugarland. He’s also behind “Music that Moves,” a drive to get musicians to take care of their personal health by getting more active, and more involved in the communities they visit while touring. “Instead of sitting on our duffs all day waiting for soundcheck, we can get group runs together -- or figure out a service aspect to what we do,” said Beaty. “Maybe it’s just picking a local charity and using our time to help out someone while we’re in town.”
After the marathon, runners were treated to the Saturday night post-race headliner concert -- thankfully indoors -- - Billboard
Country music duo, Autumn Rose, discovered their perfect harmony on the campus of Belmont University, in the Nashville area. It’s a campus known for its musically talented student population. Best friends before ever sharing the stage, Alicia Beale and Rachael Schleicher quickly realized the strength of their combined musical roots and so have country audiences. They are currently working on an EP with one of country music’s most respected producers, Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood, Don Williams, Alabama, Keith Whitley, Sugarland).
Autumn Rose performs “Baby, Don’t Let Go”…
The two have successfully used Kickstarter as a means to fund their debut album. As of this writing, they have reached 95% of their ultimate goal. They have until June 27th to raise the additional 5%, so it looks highly likely that they will soon be in the recording studio watching their artistic dream come true. To visit Autumn Rose’s Kickstarter page, click here.
Why not donate a buck or two? It’ll earn you the right to say you helped these naturally gifted (and very appealing) musicians produce their debut album. In the meantime, just remember you heard about them here first… - Parc Bench
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Firmly planted in the sounds of traditional country music, Nashville duo, Autumn Rose, began cultivating their powerful sound on the campus of Belmont University. Best friends before ever sharing the stage, Alicia Beale and Rachael Schleicher quickly realized the strength of their combined musical roots and so have country audiences. They just released their self titled EP, produced by one of country musics most respected producers, Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood, Don Williams, Alabama, Keith Whitley, Sugarland).
Born in the same hospital as Port Arthur native, Janis Joplin, Alicia was raised by four generations of women in the nearby, small town of Batson, Texas. Her exposure to music was an eclectic mix, ranging from the early 1900s to then present-day. For as long as I can remember music has played an important role in my family life. she says. Her childhood was filled with the Cajun sounds of Zydeco in her grandmother, Maw Maws kitchen, straight through to Alicias own after-supper performances of her moms favorite Lorrie Morgan and Tammy Wynette songs.
I felt comfort and found strength in the music of my childhood. It carried me through some tough moments. One of the toughest was the battle and untimely loss of her mother to cancer when Alicia was just fourteen. My Dad always told me that what happened in my life would only make me stronger, she says with a smile. Without that strength I may have never found the courage to move to Nashville. This is where Alicia met her best friend and singing partner Rachael while both attended Belmont University.
We had so much in common, its no wonder we became so close, says Rachael, who was raised in a music loving family from Detroit, Michigan. Her mother sang and taught piano while her father loved to play guitar after getting home from a long day at work. My Mom loved old Gershwin Broadway tunes and Dad was a bluegrass and classic rock guy. In fact, her very first album, Alison Krauss & Union Stations Every Time You Say Goodbye, was a gift from her father.
Not only did Alicia and Rachael share a mutual love for music, but they also discovered an unlikely bond in cancer. My mother is a cancer survivor, says Rachael, and in my early teens I was forced to deal with a lot of very real and difficult emotions as our whole family struggled to battle the disease. Today, her mother is her biggest fan. She is my rock and has always believed in me says Rachael.
Although both of these young women have experienced some dramatic transitions early in their lives, those events, they say, have only deepened the creative well from which they draw their performances. A promising new duo, Autumn Rose, has faith that a winning attitude and message of strength and resilience will inspire others the same way theyve been inspired by the music and the people who have come before them.
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