We're happy to introduce our latest Center Stage artist, Hannah Bethel.
The talented Country singer and songwriter has been making quite the impact among our listeners. Get to know Hannah and what's in store for her promising career in our latest feature here.
Hannah Bethel is fresh off the release of her fourth studio project, “Never Ending Sky”. She teamed up with Brennin Hunt to co-produce the record, which features an all star cast of musicians including Adam Ollendorff on steel guitar (Kacey Musgraves) and Tim Horsley on drums (Keith Urban, Gary Allen and more). The first single, “You Wanna Be My Man”, is playing on country radio now! The music video for the single was directed by Hannah and can be viewed at www.hannahbethel.com. Renowned music industry critic Robert Oermann said “[You Wanna Be My Man is] pert and perky, with a girlish sweetness…Well sung and well produced.”
Hannah’s previous release, “The Freedom EP”, produced with Andy Sheridan (Hunter Hayes) gained worldwide acclaim with a #11 song in Belgium and music videos featured on ZUUS Country, GACtv.com, CMT.com and hundreds of other retail outlets throughout the US and Europe.
Hannah has spent the last year touring the United States, performing shows from Alaska to New Jersey and everywhere in between. She has shared the stage with such artists as Joe Nichols, Rodney Atkins, Trisha Yearwood, Charlie Worsham, Buddy Jewell, Frankie Ballard, Canaan Smith, Nine Days and Leigh Nash. Hannah was named one of CMA Close Up’s Who New to Watch in 2014.
Describe your sound in one ramble-on sentence..
Do you have any recent or upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? Tell us about it.
I just released the first single from my new record, “Never Ending Sky”! The single is called “You Wanna Be My Man”, you can watch the music video for it here.
What is your ideal or target audience?
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process..
My songwriting process takes on many different forms. I am constantly getting ideas for song hooks, rhyme schemes and melodies throughout my day. I TRY to keep them somewhat organized so that when I walk into a co-writing session or sit down to write by myself, I have a bunch of ideas to pull from. Sometimes an idea will hit me and it will be so powerful that I need to stop whatever else I am doing and write the song. These are usually some of my favorites.
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
Vintage country meets quirky pop.
What inspires you to make music?
Everything! Morning air, cross country driving, cooking, other people's music, dreams. I have so many dreams where I write a song and it’s a hit and I wake up trying to write it down or record the melody. It’s usually something that makes no sense like Time Travel Love or Snoring Turtles.
What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
There is nothing quite so thrilling as walking into a room with a loose idea for a song, or no idea at all, and then walking out a few hours later with something that has never been created before. The songwriting process is endlessly exciting for me.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a musician?
What inspires you to make music?
Everything! Morning air, cross country driving, cooking, other people's music, dreams. I have so many dreams where I write a song and it’s a hit and I wake up trying to write it down or record the melody. It’s usually something that makes no sense like Time Travel Love or Snoring Turtles.
What aspect of making music excites you the most right now?
There is nothing quite so thrilling as walking into a room with a loose idea for a song, or no idea at all, and then walking out a few hours later with something that has never been created before. The songwriting process is endlessly exciting for me.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a musician?
There are many challenges to being a musician haha. The hardest thing is trying to create a consistency in income. I am basically self employed and MUCH of the work that I do doesn’t include a financial gain. That’s the nature of this business. But somehow I manage to survive every month. Most of the time though, I am so excited and inspired and intensely focused on the music that all of the logistics become background noise.
What's one of your all-time favorite recordings?
What's one of your all-time favorite recordings?
This is such a hard question! This changes daily, so today would have to be “The Last Thing I Needed” by Willie Nelson.
Name three people who have influenced your music, and tell us why- Living or dead.
My parents (being one person). They have always encouraged me to build a life for myself that revolves around doing what I love. They taught me that if you fearlessly pursue your dream and are not afraid to work, anything is possible. Patty Griffin. Everything she writes is so spirit driven. It seems like she doesn’t let anything inhibit the way she channels her creativity. Fleetwood Mac (being one person). “Rumors" is the soundtrack to my childhood!
Name three people who have influenced your music, and tell us why- Living or dead.
My parents (being one person). They have always encouraged me to build a life for myself that revolves around doing what I love. They taught me that if you fearlessly pursue your dream and are not afraid to work, anything is possible. Patty Griffin. Everything she writes is so spirit driven. It seems like she doesn’t let anything inhibit the way she channels her creativity. Fleetwood Mac (being one person). “Rumors" is the soundtrack to my childhood!
Do you have any recent or upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? Tell us about it.
I just released the first single from my new record, “Never Ending Sky”! The single is called “You Wanna Be My Man”, you can watch the music video for it here.
What is your ideal or target audience?
Free spirited country music, classic rock and americana lovers! Hippie-redneck-gypsy-cowboys (and girls).
Do you write/compose your own songs? Briefly describe your songwriting process..
My songwriting process takes on many different forms. I am constantly getting ideas for song hooks, rhyme schemes and melodies throughout my day. I TRY to keep them somewhat organized so that when I walk into a co-writing session or sit down to write by myself, I have a bunch of ideas to pull from. Sometimes an idea will hit me and it will be so powerful that I need to stop whatever else I am doing and write the song. These are usually some of my favorites.
What do you like the most about Radio Airplay?
The opportunity to share my music with a specific group of people who dig my style!
You Wanna Be My Man