LEAVIN THIS TOWN

   I have always loved country music.....well.....I have always loved music. My mom made sure that I was exposed to many different kinds of music. Rock, Pop, Blues, Country, and RAP....ok rap was me putting 2 Live crew into my tape collection without her knowledge! When I started writing music I realized that all of those were blending together into what I was writing. I had no idea what to do with some of the songs since I couldn't play them in church but I was about to find out.

   I moved to Nashville to see if my local fame was short lived and a fluke. I figured that I would just blend in or be covered up by the massive amount of talent that thrives in the city and quickly come back home with my tail between my legs. I saw men playing guitar on the street that were better than I will ever be. Bands playing in bars every night for free in hopes that someone will see them. I remember seeing several artists in STARBUCKS and feeling automatically inferior. As short as Tim McGraw is, running into him (literally) at smoothie king was intimidating. He was in line, turned around, and his nose ran into my left pec! I finally felt like I was in the land of the giants......no way I was going to quickly move forward like I did back in North Carolina right???

   Less than a year after moving to Nashville, I signed my first record deal. I was a now a country music artist. I played at the Country Radio Seminar with Zac Brown Band and Darius Rucker. I was at Country Music Association dinners with Rascal Flatts and Jamey Johnson. I was playing shows at the House of Blues in New Orleans with Edwin McCain (Not country but my favorite singer/songwriter). I was traveling the country to radio stations and taking them my new single that was set to be released that year. Sometimes we would go to 3 different states in a day. I was singing autographs for people in Salt Lake City, Reno, Seattle, and Dallas. I was recording radio spots for stations all over the country "This is Benton Blount and you are listening to WFRE"!

I would have never imagined that in less than a couple years, I would be on the edge of my big break! I remember when my single was getting ready to be released at radio...... In my head I was saying "Next week, it's all going to be different". If I had known how different, I may have stopped the whole process right there................