Music Highway: The Guest List

Since first broadcasting the pilot show for Music Highway we have been very fortunate to have a great list of guests that have appeared on the show each week. Though we air on the leading rock station in the Jackson, TN market our guests represent quite an eclectic variety of music styles, types, and genres.

The very first show, that became our pilot show, featured Jackson native John Kilzer. John, a former Geffen Records artist, toured internationally with a number of major acts and released two albums on that label. He has influenced many artists over the course of his career and is a prolific songwriter, powerful singer/guitarist, and all around great guy.

Our first "official" road trip with the show took us to Nashville to interview one of today's most popular record producers, Kyle Lehning. Kyle has produced every hit country artist Randy Travis ever had and has worked as producer or engineer on countless major releases over the past several years that had made him one of the industry's most in-demand producers.
Kyle graciously welcomed us into his home studio complex located in a Nashville suburb on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in late 2005 where Wes & I interviewed him and learned about his tremendous success in the music industry working with artists such as Kenny Rogers, Waylon Jennings, and tons of other music legends. Country band Restless Heart's "comeback" album, "Still Restless" released in early 2005 was co-produced by Kyle and legendary songwriter/artist Mac McNally.

Kyle is also an accomplished jazz musician in his own right and performs with his band known as the Leonard Small Situation.

One of the highlights of producing Music Highway these past several months came when we were invited to travel to Tunica, Ms to the Gold Strike Casino to interview the members of Restless Heart. These guys have had numerous hit records over the course of their stellar career and treated the Music Highway crew to a live, impromptu performance during the actual interview that day. The management of the Gold Strike Hotel & Casino were kind enough to provide us with a private suite to use for the interview as well as guest passes to hear the band that night in concert. Restless Heart is a classy act in every way and the thunderous response by the huge audience that night proved this great band can still "rock the house".


In my opinion, one of the most talented, and remarkable musicians to come out of our local area over the past many years is a young man who grew up in Brownsville, TN (just 25 miles southwest of Jackson toward Memphis). Jimmy D. Taylor did not even learn to play an instrument until the age of 30 (just 12 short years ago) and today is one of the most in-demand harmonica players in Nashville. Jimmy regularly tours and appears with the likes of Big & Rich, Hank Williams Jr., Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson and other popular artists.

Jimmy D. is one of the finest blues harmonica players to come out of this area ever, and that's saying a lot considering West Tennessee was home to some major artists including the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson, Hammie Nixon and Sleepy John Estes and others.

The night Jimmy appeared on Music Highway he and Wes performed a "live" version of the old Chambers Brothers hit, "People Get Ready" that was, in my opinion, one of the most soulful versions I have ever heard. You know, one of those performances that send thrill bumps up and down your back for days.

Thanks, Jimmy D. for stopping by. It was a show to remember, to say the least. I have been a Jimmy D. Taylor fan since the first time I ever heard some of his tracks that were in progress for his first album, "Little Boys Blue" (that was recorded, by the way, at Wes' Highland House Studio around 1994).

Having the chance to meet Jimmy D. for the first time the night he was our guest on Music Highway was a personal thrill for me especially upon learning what a gracious and humble young man this harmonica wizard truly is. I think it is safe to say Jimmy D. Taylor will be a return guest at some point if I have anything to do with it.

Over the years Wes and I have had the chance to play with some very fine musicians in many genres of music. Wes traveled and played guitar for the legendary Father of Rock-A-Billy, Carl Perkins for many years and toured internationally during those years on many occasions. Early in the first couple of months of producing Music Highway one of Wes' old band mates from the past stopped by the show and what a thrill it was meeting and spending time with artist/singer Diana DeWitt. Diana attended Lambuth University here in Jackson many years ago where she met Wes in a local music store. The two of them, along with some other friends, went on to form a band called, "Snowblind" that played regionally for a while.

Diana went on to bigger and better things as time went by and has had quite a career as a backup vocalist on several major artist's records as well as releasing a number of projects of her own from time to time. More recently Diana was contacted by Neil Young to sing backup along with Neil's wife and Emmy Lou Harris on his latest album, "Prairie Wind" that was deemed Album of the Year by TIME magazine.

After the project, that was recorded in Nashville (Diana's home these days), Neil asked Diana to make some tour dates for the album's promotion as well. Some of these dates included national television appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Saturday Night Live for Diana.

Truly a versatile singer/artist, to say the least, Diana is a class act all the way and can belt out a powerful rock anthem with the best of them then turn around and soothe an audience with her soulful vocals equally as well. No doubt, we will all be hearing much more from Diana DeWitt as the years go by so watch for her. You will be glad you took the time to listen.

One of the main focuses of Music Highway is to be a source of information and encouragement for musicians and songwriters out there who are actively involved with pursuing their music careers. Though our region is rich with talent it is not always easy to know what direction to take when desiring to advance in one's music career. Resources, while certainly abundant, are not always close at hand it seems. One of the areas of music where people can feel somewhat alone when it comes to building a career is the area of songwriting.

There are numerous songwriters in the West Tennessee/Mid-South region and we try to provide solid information via our show to those writers from time to time. Recently we had the privilege to have Jim Whitehead and Joe Hunter of Jim & Joe Music in Nashville as guests on Music Highway. Jim and Joe are professional song pluggers and provide a service to songwriters where their main objective is to get writer's songs before artists, publishers and producers who are in the market for material.

The guys have owned their own song plugging business for six years and have worked together as songwriters for ten years. They have been successful in placing numerous songs with major artists and a part of the success of songs such as, "I Swear", the biggest single recording in history, and Jim Weatherly's classic, "Midnight Train To Georgia" recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips. Other artists the guys work with include Michael McDonald, Dobie Gray, Jimmy Griffin (of the band Bread), and numerous others including songwriter Dennis Morgan, who has written some of the biggest songs around today such as Ronnie Milsap's, "Smoky Mountain Rain" and Barbara Mandrell's, "Sleeping Single In A Double Bed.

Jim & Joe provide a much needed service for aspiring songwriters and help keep quality music before the powers that be in the recording industry. Thanks guys for visiting with us here at Music Highway. We definitely want to have you back as soon as possible.

It is easy to see that the doors at Music Highway have been busy letting in some very cool guests each week and it doesn't stop there. We have some tremendously exciting shows coming up over the next several weeks with some major surprises in store as well. But for now, we will just have to tell you to keep listening each Sunday night at 9:00pm to Rock 92.3FM (WYNU) throughout West Tennessee cause you never know who will be on board with us when you do.