What happens when two people who swore not to date each other start a band? T...

What happens when two people who swore not to date each other start a band? They get married, move into a van, and hit the road with their dog and newborn kitten, of course! After meeting in a honkey-tonk (as all good Christian couples do), Jordan Eastman and Laurel lane did just that; forming Fort Defiance in attempt to branch out their solo careers, the pair began performing on street corners and dive bar stages around the south east and their native Nashville, TN. Within a year, the two were playing over 250 shows a year and gradually expanding their reach across the US. Although only a duo, Fort Defiance is far from the quiet singer/songwriter pair that's typically expected. Offsetting their guitar and banjo dynamic with punk-rooted energy, booming stomp boxes, home made instrumentation and often playing numerous instruments at once; the duo creates what The Listening Room (Mobile, AL) described as “an incredible, unbelievably, enormously-huge sound for two people.” Whether it’s a heartfelt song about battling cancer that’s played on a tiny, pink piano, or an up-beat banjo tune about friends bonding over love for a wildly specific regional sausage, Fort Defiance shows passion and conviction with every line. Their timeless harmonies, unparalleled stage performances, and endearing marital chemistry leaves crowds enthralled and critics calling them “breathtakingly seductive” (That Music Magazine – Philadelphia, PA), “a MUST SEE band” (I Love KC Music - Kansas City, MO), and "one of the most beautifully harrowing sounds I've ever heard" (A&R Factory, UK). Visit www.fortdefiance.com to see where they'll be and follow their ever developing story.

Jamaar Smiley is a Spoken Word Artist, Performance Poet and Author of a book ...

Jamaar Smiley is a Spoken Word Artist, Performance Poet and Author of a book that chronicles the growth of black and underprivileged men in America, titled The Epilogue. After leaving a career in non-profit education, he began creating motivational and educational content to promote Consciousness, Community and Liberation for all people. "Through Creativity and Direction, I want to motivate people to become independent thinkers inspired to achieve their own individual happiness."

Born an hour drive outside of Denver, Colorado in the shadow of the Rocky Mou...

Born an hour drive outside of Denver, Colorado in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, AJ Smith has taken a rather unconventional path for an Indie/Pop singer-songwriter. After all, not many can claim to have served as a Young Associate Violinist to the National Symphony Orchestra while simultaneously serving as an Engineer and Infrared Systems Developer for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory...in high school. But Smith's dual passions for organic music and technology started early and with a reckless abandon that led him to run away from home at the age of 3 for the sole purpose of listening to piano lessons down the street. And shortly after that, despite having limited music knowledge, Smith was stealing both of his parents' tape players, figuring out how to effectively multitrack & record early compositions (while haphazardly recording over some of his parents' favorite cassette tapes in the process). With scholarships from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Carole Bayer Sager Foundation, Smith was able to pursue a degree in songwriting and it was there where he found life-changing mentors in the late Glenn Frey and hit songwriter Phil Galdston, self-released his first EP “Dragons in the Sky”, had a #3 hit in Australia with “Summertime”, opened for The Eagles at the Beacon Theatre, performed in the off-Broadway and West End hit Close to You: Burt Bacharach Reimagined, learned some more instruments (he plays 10 now), and graduated with one of America’s first Masters Degrees in Songwriting. Now nearly 2,000 miles away from where his musical journey began, Smith makes his home in a city with a different sort of breathtaking view - New York. And all of his experiences are apparent in his unique Pop sound: an orchestrated blend of acoustic and electronic instruments, informed by Classical, Rock, Folk, Theatre and more.