Hosted by Reese Witherspoon, the 2015 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony featured performances from Fall Out Boy, Andra Day, Tori Kelly, Kelsea Ballerini, and more.
Aloe Blacc released his major-label debut album Lift Your Spirit on March 11, 2014 on XIX Recordings/Interscope Records, where it debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The set followed up Blacc’s collaboration as vocalist and co-writer on well-known DJ/producer Avicii’s track “Wake Me Up,” a song that hit the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on its Hot Dance Club Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs charts, as well as topping charts in more than 100 countries. Blacc’s single “The Man” topped the charts with more than 2.7 million singles sold and Lift Your Spirit received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album. To learn more about Aloe Blacc, visit www.aloeblacc.com and follow him on Twitter (@aloeblacc).
With a vintage flair and voice for the ages, Andra Day has perfected her “retro-pop-soul” sound and is ready to share it with the world. In stores now, her debut album Cheers To The Fall is “a biography in the form of soul music,” a candid 13-song tale about truth, fearlessness, vulnerability, forgiveness, and love. Her alluring, powerful alto is inspired by artists such as Nina Simone, Etta James, Lauren Hill, and Janis Joplin, and has resonated with audiences across the spectrum as evidenced in the resounding single “Rise Up.”
Bellamy Young stars on the hit Shonda Rhimes/ABC series SCANDAL, for which she won the Critics’ Choice TV Award as Best Supporting Actress for her breakout role as the scene stealing ‘First Lady Mellie Grant.’ Young most recently wrapped work on three film projects that include THE NIGHT STALKER based on the story of serial killer Richard Ramirez, OFFER AND COMPROMISE and Zoe Cassevetes’ DAY OUT OF DAYS and her other film credits include THE FREEBIE, J.J. Abrams’ MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: III, Randall Wallace’s WE WERE SOLDIERS, and SIMPLE THINGS, which Young also served as associate producer. Young has had an extensive career in television by her multiple recurring and guest-starring roles in series that cross all genres. Bellamy’s first love is singing and she is thrilled to have completed her debut album, FAR AWAY SO CLOSE, featuring contemporary covers by such diverse artists as Ray LaMontagne, Pink, Tom Waits, The Psychedelic Furs and Ryan Adams.
More than four decades since CSN first harmonized in Laurel Canyon, and played their first-ever concert as a trio at the legendary Woodstock festival, its members continue a creative partnership that is one of the most influential and enduring in music. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash have each been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two times – once with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a second time with The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Hollies, respectively. They have also been inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, with the honor recognizing both CSN as a group, and each member as individual solo artists. CSN’s music first became a cornerstone of rock ‘n roll with the self-titled 1969 debut LP, one of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” Ever since – through changing times, various configurations, and acclaimed solo careers – Crosby, Stills & Nash have continued to tour and record as “three together.”
Fall Out Boy have cemented their position as one of rock music’s biggest-selling bands. Their sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and peaked at #1 on iTunes in more than 22 countries upon its 2015 release. American Beauty/American Psycho is the follow-up album to the Grammy-nominated band’s gold-certified album Save Rock and Roll, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and #1 on iTunes in 27 countries upon its 2012 release. Platinum selling Infinity On High topped the chart in 2007 which followed multi-platinum breakthrough album From Under The Cork Tree released in 2005. Fall Out Boy has also written the song “Immortals,” featured in the Oscar®-nominated Disney hit movie Big Hero 6. Hailing from Chicago, Fall Out Boy—Patrick Stump (vocals/guitar), Pete Wentz (bass), Joe Trohman (guitar) and Andy Hurley (drums) – has appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and other prestigious publications. More information can be found at www.falloutboy.com.
Joyous String Quartet was launched in 2010. At the outset, the quartet comprised four 5-year-old string players, making it a string quartet with the youngest performers in history. Justin Yu, who is 9 years old this year, has been the key personality of the quartet. In addition to Justin, the other three players of the quartet are also equipped with superior skills. The 9-year-old violinists Mickayla Jia and Tyler Lau are now first and second violinist respectively in New York International Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. The 11-year-old bass player Brendon is proficient in both the double bass and the piano. Julian Yu, director of the orchestra and SONY-BMG Musician employs creative teaching methods and various forms of music to enhance Joyous String Quartet’s power of expression and their level of performance. He has composed and arranged for the Quartet a series of very unique performance pieces that impart a whole new experience and sensation for the audience.
Kelsea Ballerini launched to stardom with the release of her #1, GOLD-certified debut “Love Me Like You Mean It” and current chart-rising single “Dibs.” Abuzz with shout-outs from superstars Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Little Big Town, she is the first solo female artist in nine years to hit #1 with her debut country single. Racking up her first CMA and AMA award nominations this year, she has been named “The Country Sweetheart” by People Magazine, touted by Billboard Magazine as “Country’s Next Queen,” praised by Rolling Stone as the “Nashville It Girl” and selected as one of CMT’s Next Women of Country. The talented singer/songwriter wrote or co-wrote all 12 songs on her debut album THE FIRST TIME (Black River Entertainment) that landed Top 5 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. Ballerini spent the summer opening select shows for Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban, and will continue touring across the country this fall.
Miss Piggy is an international television and film star, best-selling author and fashion icon. She began her career in the chorus of The Muppet Show, but halfway through her first number, she thrust herself into the spotlight, and never left.
Over the years, Miss Piggy has appeared on GMA,The Voice, The Tonight Show, The View and SNL among hundreds of others. She is the author of four books, including national bestseller, Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life.
Film credits include The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted.
Currently, she has her own talk show, Up Late with Miss Piggy as seen on the hit ABC TV series, the muppets. As host, she works closely with executive producer and ex-boyfriend Kermit the Frog. Who said show business was easy?
Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon has starred in critically and commercially successful films including LEGALLY BLONDE, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, SWEET HOME ALABAMA, ELECTION, and THE MAN IN THE MOON, among many others. In 2006, her extraordinary performance as June Carter Cash in WALK THE LINE earned her the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, as well as the BAFTA, Golden Globe Award, and SAG Award, among many others. In 2012, she partnered with producer Bruna Papandrea to launch Pacific Standard Films, which produced the critically and commercially successful films GONE GIRL and WILD, the latter for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance as Cheryl Strayed. She recently cofounded Draper James, a retail brand focused on fashion, accessories, and home décor inspired by the American South, which launched online this May and opened its first brick and mortar store in Nashville in October.
The United States Coast Guard Band is the premier band representing the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. The 55-member ensemble is based at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. In addition to performing concert tours around the nation, the Band has also played in the former Soviet Union, Canada, England, Japan, and Taiwan. In 2008, the Coast Guard Band became the first premier American military band to perform a concert tour of Japan. Concerts are free and open to the public and include a broad spectrum of music, from wind ensemble classics to swinging jazz charts.
Tori Kelly’s rise to success has been ten plus year’s in the making, from posting covers to YouTube in her bedroom, to writing, producing and releasing her own EP’s, she is the definition of DIY. To date, Kelly’s YouTube channel boasts over 1 million subscribers with over 110 million views, her album Unbreakable Smile debuted at No. 2, and she delivered knockout performances at this year’s VMA’s, Billboard Music Awards, and BET Awards. “Her voice carries promise in its ache and its fortitude” hails USA Today, while New York Magazine claims “…it’s as if she has an entire gospel choir living in her throat.”
Kelly’s latest single “Hollow” is available worldwide now.
Part Jimi Hendrix, part James Brown and all New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews is the bandleader and frontman of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, a hard-edged funk band that employs hip-hop beats, rock dynamics, and improvisation in a jazz tradition. A 2011 Grammy Award nominee, his virtuosity and high energy live shows have drawn unanimous raves worldwide. In 2014, Andrews was appointed as a ‘Turnaround Artist’ with President Obama’s Turnaround Arts Initiative, a program that helps low-performing schools improve through intensive arts programs. He is also passing down his knowledge and keeping the New Orleans brass band tradition alive through his own Trombone Shorty Foundation. In November 2015, he made his feature film debut using his trombone to voice the iconic sound of the adult characters in the animated “The Peanuts Movie.”
