New Rain 

New Rain 

Gary and Jane Morris met right here in Gatlinburg, TN in 1994, sang a song together the first night they met and they have been harmonizing ever since. They married in October 1995 in Gatlinburg's Mynatt Park.  New Rain has been performing here and all over the Southeast and even in Europe for 17 years now.  Gary's soulful, smoky voice and locomotive style on the 12-string guitar are the perfect blend with Jane's pure and powerful vocals. When you listen to one of their five CDs you can't help but be amazed by the variation in genres from bluegrass to blues to folk to rock to country and even a little 40's style swing!  But it's the magic in their harmonizing that everyone is drawn to. As they say about their songwriting, "The music comes through you and you just have to get it out".  That's why their style has been labeled, "eclectic acoustic".

Martha Christian 

Martha Christian 

East Tennessee singer/songwriter Martha Christian sifts questions of faith through the toe-tappin’ vehicle of rock-n-roll to uplift and encourage her fellow sojourners on this dusty path called “life”.  Her infectious joy for life and her humble honesty make her not only endearing to her audience but also a welcomed voice of hope in the midst of the wounds and uncertainties we all share.  In 2011, Martha competed for and won the Hard Rock Café Gatlinburg’s Cabin Fever Acoustic Songwriter Title which resulted in, among other prizes, a spot at the Bluebird Café’s Open Mic night and a spot on the Nashville Songwriters Festival’s main stage. She continues to co-write, sing and lead worship all over the country.  Martha and her husband, Joel, along with their four kiddos, live in Sevierville, TN where they continue to serve at Evergreen Church.

Heather Maples 

Heather Maples 

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant’s lyrics describe a girl from Rocky Top as being “Wild as a Mink,” and “Sweet as Soda Pop,” and nothing could be more true about Heather Lee’s personality on stage. She is a performing, singer-songwriter with both experience and heritage. A careful blend of her art and her ability to entertain, Heather’s performances are toe-tapping fun! As an eighth generation descendant of Martha Jayne Huskey Ogle, Gatlinburg’s first settler, Heather’s musical roots run deep.  Reflected in her guitar style, the hint of bluegrass is found on the frets of her soulful, but energetic songs. Heather’s songs are crafted with subtle intricacies and sometimes haunting lyrics. “Beautiful” and “One Out of Two” are songs that contain stories she shares from her life experiences. Heather says, “I’ve always written songs of the heart and the human being.”  Her lyrics are not so much about hard times on the farm, but more of the human condition that the era has brought about.  In the music industry it’s easy to become jaded, but I am a romantic, and still believe love makes the world go ‘round.’  Her ancestors William and Martha Jane Huskey Ogle rightly named Gatlinburg, at that time White Oaks Flats, the “land of paradise”.  Heather believes that the Smoky Mountains and the people who live here are the most beautiful on earth and says she wouldn’t want to be from any other place in the world.  “God has truly has blessed us in these beautiful Mountains!”

www.heathermaples.com

The Pea Pickin' Hearts 

The Pea Pickin' Hearts 

The Pea Pickin’ Hearts are an Appalachian country music duo based in Gatlinburg, TN.  Happily married, Jon Ives and Rachel Gibson live and work in Gatlinburg, TN while raising their only child Oscar.  They are part of Gatlinburg’s own Tunes and Tales.  Jon loves the musicianship, the harmonies, the “gut” of country music.  “It is the sound I want to produce: simple, happy and well-crafted.  We’ve always sung together in our home and in a previous band to our child.  Rachel is a great writer and does a mean Patsy Cline Impression.  Rachel says Dolly Parton makes her heart sing.  “I still get ‘Jolene’ stuck in my head from time to time.  Rachel wants to sing country because it is what she knows.