It says a lot about the talent residing in Blount County that there’s such a wealth of terrific singer/songwriters, artists that not only make great music, but create original songs of their own. It’s a distinctive combination, one which helps set our environs apart.
Here is a list of eight great artists who have helped put Blount County on the national music map.
Raised in Madisonville, EmiSunshine got her major breakthrough when her performance of Jimmie Rodger’s classic “Blue Yodel No. 6” was posted on YouTube and received over a million views, garnering an invitation to appear on “The Today Show” and attention from Music Row.
That was in 2014. She was 10 years old at the time, and her subsequent YouTube series Americana Corner earned a feature story in Rolling Stone Country. Now 21, she’s released 10 albums — her latest, Miss Demeanor, was released last year and marked her continuing maturity as a versatile artist who combines the sound of Americana, bluegrass, country, and popular music to explore themes as varied and meaningful as poverty, politics, autism, and family dysfunction.
It’s little wonder that in 2017, Rolling Stone revisited her with added kudos, naming her among “10 new country artists you need to know.”
Now residing in Maryville, Cruz Contreras originally gained fame as co-founder of Robinella and the CC String Band, and later became the leader of the Black Lillies, a nationally known outfit whose recognition extends from coast to coast.
In 2023, during the band’s hiatus, he released his debut solo album Cosmico, which found him taking his music into a decidedly new direction, one infused with ethereal tones, textures and melodies that immediately pry open the inner doors to one’s consciousness and linger there in a perpetual haze.
Now on tour with a revamped incarnation of the Black Lillies, Cruz remains steadfastly at the helm while bringing his imaginative yet rock-solid melodies to audiences both here at home and to audiences throughout the U.S. Notably, music runs in the family; his brother Billy Contreras is a renowned championship fiddler. Their parents were surely proud.
One could refer to Wyatt Ellis as a prodigy, given the fact that he started playing music at age 10 and released his debut album, Happy Valley, at the tender age of 14.
“Growing up and hearing ‘Rocky Top’ was what made me want to get a mandolin,” Wyatt once explained.
Since then, he’s had the distinction of becoming one of the youngest musicians to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, while also making appearances at such prestigious gatherings as Merlefest and the Newport Folk Festival.
He’s also won the admiration and appreciation of a remarkable number of bluegrass icons, including Marty Stuart, Sierra Hull, Michael Cleveland, Peter Rowan, and the late Bobby Osborne. Named the 2024 IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year and twice nominated for IBMA’s New Artist of the Year Award, Wyatt’s clearly appreciative of the recognition and support he’s received.
“The tradition of this music is to hand it down to the next generation, and I’m very thankful to be a part of that circle.”
A longtime East Tennessee mainstay, Maryville’s Robinella first attracted national attention as co-founder of Robinella and the CC Stringband. She’s released eight albums to date, both with the CC Stringband and on her own, and after taking a brief hiatus to focus on parenthood, she returned to the live arena while become a major presence on the East Tennessee music scene and her in Blount County in particular.
“What can I say about my music but that it is intertwined with my life,” she writes on her website. “The songs I have written, the songs I will write. . . . These words I know because I have either lived them or seen them or felt them over and over, over and over, over and over again. I’ve seen many things. Some people would say I was naive. Maybe naive is a choice. I believe in beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Can you see it?”
Clearly, by now, her fans and followers obviously have.
Born in New Orleans, and now a proud Maryville resident, Perry Bonck has infused an array of naturally acquired influence into his eclectic musical repertoire. It’s pure Americana, a sound that reflects the sounds of traditional country, gospel, jazz, Cajun and Bourbon Street blues.
However, it was a guitar playing uncle that left the biggest impression on Perry’s young life, courtesy of covers that included Eddie Arnold, Hank Williams, Sr., and the essence of country music tradition. Early on, Perry began performing with Christian-based bands before absorbing the influence of contemporary artists ranging from James Taylor to the Beatles. Those encounters quickly made him realize he wanted to sing and write songs that said something.
With a vocal sound that’s found him compared to Ronnie Dunn, Tim McGraw and Randy Travis, Perry’s found himself performing at a variety of local venues while gaining an expansive following in the process. He’s released two CD’s to date — Just An Old Guitar and Heart of a Cowboy — and hopes to get back in the studio soon.
Born in Helena Arkansas along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi River, a place that helped birthed the blues and traditional American music, Doug Wilhite first picked up the guitar at age 12 and began writing songs at age 15.
“My early environs had a profound impact on me,” Wilhite recalls. Absorbing the such seminal influences as Hank Williams, Steve Earle, Tom Petty and The Allman Brothers, his early experience was gained in the hard-scrabble clubs and honkytonks of Arkansas and Mississippi while still in his mid-teens.
“Steal A Heart,” a song he co-wrote with Canadian artist Tenille Arts has now been streamed over a million times. His debut album, Home No More, shares sounds that span several different genres, including traditional country, Americana, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and Southern gospel.
Relocating to Blount County in 2017, he’s now become a fixture at any number of venues throughout the area.
“I didn’t realize what a vibrant music scene it was,” he says. “I couldn’t ask for a better place to live and play out this dream of mine that I’ve had since I was a child.”
Jay Clark has been a staple in the East Tennessee music scene for more than 20 years. During his college years, Jay conducted research on black bears in the Smokies, and played in various local bluegrass bands, including a duo with Keith Garrett and later in The Stringbeans, with Robinella and Cruz Contreras.
Since releasing his first record in 2004 (Pen to Paper), Jay has supplemented his career as a scientist with performing his songs across the Southeast & southern Appalachia. His band, Jay Clark & the Tennessee Tree Beavers, features Greg Horne on lead guitar and Daniel Kimbro on upright bass.
Although Jay Clark has a PhD in wildlife ecology, he opted to strike a balance between music and science. He wrote his first song in 1990, but didn’t know how to play guitar, so he taught himself to play in order to put music to his first song, which became the first of many.
An adjunct professor in the biology department at Maryville College, Jay resides in the foothills of the Smokies on 31.5 acres in Rockford and recently initiated his once a month, Tuesday night “Shindig” at Tri-Hop Brewery in Maryville.
Maryville resident Will Kruger’s music recalls his earliest folk music influences, among them Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver and James Taylor. He’s performed that sound on the national circuit, sharing his “Folk Legend’s Tribute Show” at house concerts, libraries, coffee houses, corporate functions and listening rooms.
Four of his songs were featured in the films, “God Where Are You” and “Grace Of The Father.” In addition, for several years, he played the role of Noel Paul Stookey in the nationally touring Las Vegas tribute group, “Peter Paul & Mary Alive.”
Kruger, who currently performs regularly in East Tennessee at Smoky Mountain Brewery, The Listening Room Cafe, Calhoun’s, and The Abbey, has been playing music more than 50 years.
“Music can convey emotion on so many levels,” he said. “Music does that for me.” His new album, Life In Tennessee, is a case in point, a beautiful, heartfelt set of songs that offer tribute to the place he proudly calls home.
