LeeAnn, Jimmy, & Rob

My next three artists are deftly diverse in genre: LeeAnn Anderson, Rob Lewis, and Jimmy Marsh.

LeeAnn Anderson was introduced to our radio station, NKAirplay, by way of our listeners. One of her friends tweeted us on the day her single came out and asked if we would play it. As we had already set a precedent of playing New Kids' fans' music, we said okay, and LeeAnn got us the single. Her musical background involves dance, drama, and singing in her church choir. Her song, "No Words Left" is the first single from this small-town woman who describes this song as "inspiration and vision" from a real-life experience. I can't wait to play more of her music on her station. To listen to "No Words Left", check out her myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/leeannmanderson. You can also follow her on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/leeannanderson. As an additional note, when I was first trying to learn more about this artist, I discovered there is another named LeeAnn Anderson who sings children songs. Having said that, make sure you don't forget this LeeAnn's middle initial, "m".

I was introduced to Rob Lewis through the New Kids on the Block, but this was a bit different. Rob was the musical director and keyboardist during all of the New Kids' tours throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Previously, he had worked with Christina Aguilera, Brian McKnight, The Pussycat Dolls, Leona Lewis, Toni Braxton, Jessica Simpson, Eric Benet, Deborah Cox, Fantasia, Patti LaBelle, and Babyface. He is a talented keyboardist as well as composer, producer, arranger, and songwriter. And now, it is his time to step out into the spotlight. As mentioned before, the New Kids on the Block made sure that their fans knew their backing band members. So while I did meet Rob Lewis at my concerts, I really learned more about him through his interaction on Twitter and was ecstatic to learn of his releasing his own music. "Brokenhearted" was his first single, released on itunes, and it will be on his upcoming album, Orchestrator of a Rennaissance. You can learn more about Rob through his myspace page, http://www.myspace.com/blacktrak. While he has been on twitter in the past, he is currently taking a break to focus more on his music. When he does return to twitter, please follow him at http://www.twitter.com/youngq

And finally, Jimmy Marsh... Donnie said in an interview in the early 90s that his goal once he reached a certain level of fame was to go back to Boston and help his friends. He made true on that promise with Jimmy Marsh. Of course Jimmy had some experience already in the entertainment industry. In the New Kids on the Block Providence PayPerView video from before the break up in 1994, Jimmy Marsh performed with a group called the Northside Boys. Both Donnie and Danny helped them with songwriting and producing, but the album the group created was never released. I should also say that early in the New Kids' initial career, Donnie started his own label called Donnie D productions. The first artist on that label was Donnie's brother, Mark and his group "Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch". While Donnie was busy acting after the break up the band, the label was still there, but it was laying latent until Donnie decided to revive his singing career and helping out his friends with similar endeavors. Jimmy Marsh, then, became that new artist under the label. Donnie did an amazing job marketing his friend. There was a CD release party in Boston which many were able to attend, and of course, Jimmy was on twitter. He let us know when songs were posted on his myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/jimmymarsh08), and gradually he developed a street team of supporters and a ning site complete with an occasional chat. The first song I heard of his was "Excuse Me", but he put together other songs until he had a full album called "Friendly Extortion". He later released a CD entitled "Keys to the City" and then "Feel My Passion". You can follow Jimmy on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jimmymarsh617