Top 10 New England Country Artists

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts with Boots and Whiskey Entertainment!

Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this new blog endeavor we are on. This is the portion of Boots & Whisky Entertainment where you’re going to get a better idea of my thoughts and opinions on the world that is country music and the things that are associated with it. You’re going to get lists, breakdowns, reviews, opinions, and best of all straight forward honesty. I may piss you off along the way, but I promise it’s not intentional. I tend to be a bit crass and lack a certain bedside manner when it comes to things I am passionate about and country music and whiskey is no exception.

I wanted to start our first blog here kind of light. This show started as something that was supposed to highlight the local country scene here in New England. As I did more and more research about the local scene I quickly realized that a full on podcast just about what was happening around here wasn’t going to last very long. Don’t get me wrong, I love the local scene, but it’s also littered with cover bands and bands and artists that play the same bars and venues week after week. How is that going to appeal to a wider audience outside of New England? In my opinion….it’s not.

I get it, you have to start somewhere, you have to play the circuit, you have to cut your teeth sort of speak. That’s great! We have absolutely incredible talent around here that deserve more than what we have to offer here. I also understand that to tour costs money and so on and so on. I get it all trust me I totally understand, I don’t fault any of you for that, maybe I just want more for you all! I guess that’s not a bad thing.

Today I am going to give you my Top 10 New England Country Acts that I have either had the pleasure meeting and talking with or working with etc. Now if you’re on this list and don’t like where you’ve been positioned, sorry? If you’re a local and not positioned at all…ask yourself well why am I not on this list and how do I get Jim to care about me! The answer is simple….reach out, say hello, share your stuff with me and hopefully I can see you live soon. But anyway I digress.

This list is based on a few factors – one, how well do I know you. Two, how do you carry yourself on social media and more importantly in person. Three, how well or bad have you treated me in the last year and fourth and to me the least important; quality of music. I say that this is the least important because not everyone is going to have the same sound taste as I do so the other three factors to me are more important. So here we go!

Number 10 – Nick Bosse ; this dude’s out of Connecticut and an absolute powerhouse of a singer; songwriter and performer. He is the first on this list that actually makes country music at a local level. He would be higher, but he seems to be almost impossible to get ahold to get on the show or do something with. I get it we’re all busy, but this is a cat I really want a better relationship with.

Number 9 – Back Rhodes; Another Rhode Island based band; these guys have that back porch Deliverance sound that I absolutely love. I say that with absolutely NO disrespect. The banjo picking sound and raspy voice of Jesse Desorcy, legit should make the ladies drop their pants. Sorry Jesse’s girlfriend but it’s true. This band is the epitome of that country music sound, at least the Appalachian Mountain sound. I don’t know either way they’re great and oh yeah Jesse was on The Voice. Not gonna lie former The Voice contestants love us here…I see you Rick Duran.

Number 8 – Shanna Jackman; Shanna is our first solo female artist on this list. Her episode will be out soon, so stay tuned for that. She’s one of the OG’s of this country music world in New England and I honestly would put her against some of the Big Names in the genre including Carrie, Shania, and Reba. This girl can sing! She deserves to be higher on this list, but our relationship is still new. Next year I bet she cracks the top 4.

Number 7 – Houston Bernard; Houston is my homeboy…like legit. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know him. He’s such a down to earth guy and I hope we get to do more and more together soon. He came down to Country Jam in Blackstone with my help and it meant the world to have him and his team and his band there with us. He has been charting on Texas Country Radio. Shit’s insane man!

Number 6 – Jake & Jenny; this hurts me in so many ways to put them here, but there’s only one reason they aren’t in the top 5 …. Not a full band, and I have told them this several times so it’s not a shock. But something in my bones tells me that’s going to change. Maybe? I hope! I love Jake and Jenny they have seriously become my absolutely best friends here in this area of local music and Jenny has talked me off of many of ledges in the last year. Thank you so much guys, I love you both deeply!

Number 5 – Annie Brobst; easily top 5, she kills the marketing game, she kills the female vocalist game, her bands perfect for her sound. Maybe … just maybe one day I will be invited for dinner at her and Ryan’s house …. Maybe, I mean she has been on the show twice now, least she could do 😛

Number 4 – Nick Casey; this cat is the most talented male singer on this list. No bones about it. Kid absolutely kills. He sounds like your grandfather’s country music gods and just rocks a crowd from start to finish. I have had the pleasure of booking shows for this cat and hopefully we’ll be doing more in the near future together along those lines.

Number 3 – April Cushman; New Hampshire’s Sweet Heart. She is by far the most talented female on this list male or female and honestly that’s the main reason she’s so high on this list. We don’t have the relationship unfortunately to have her this high, but my god that talent. The thing that kills her the most is her location. She needs to be in Nashville or somewhere with more human beings. Not that Swanzye NH isn’t nice, but it’s too damn far away from anything and this girl deserves EVERYTHING!

Number 2 – Scarlett Drive; this one and number one are interchangeable to say the least. Russell James has become my best friend and big brother in this industry and honestly, I don’t know if I would have the insight, I have without him. This whole band is incredible. The music’s great, the digs are even better, and they were nice enough to write a song about my deck.

Number 1 – Dalton & the Sheriffs; this is one of those; if you know you know moments. I could go on for days about these guys. The sweetest most welcoming group we have had the pleasure knowing. Again Numbers 1 and 2 are legit the same band to me. I couldn’t ask for better supporters here. Their last 2 albums are absolutely fire and ‘Luckier by Half’ is legit the soundtrack to my life.

Thank you all for reading along and listening to the show. Check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter all of the above. And check out our website at www.bootsandwhiskeyentertainment.com