Page 33 - ION Indie Magazine JanFeb 2022

Saturday, December 6, 2021, was a beautiful, balmy evening at AK-Chin Pavilion, a
gorgeous 20K seat venue in Phoenix, Arizona. I was in attendance for a concert that paid
tribute to our courageous U.S. Armed Forces. Admittedly, I was multi-tasking, serving
double duty, wearing both a publicist’s and a journalist’s hat (lots of “hat head” there), which
I don’t mind saying that I was sporting a magnificent jaunty chapeau of the cowboy variety.
For this auspicious event, I dusted off my favorite Bullhide hat, that I corralled (see what I
did there?) from my western wear wardrobe. The occasion was titled “A Salute to American
Veterans,” and the incredible musical lineup boasted Aaron Lewis, Eddie Montgomery of
Montgomery Gentry, Ashley Wineland (full disclosure: my long-time PR client), and local
country rock band, Million Dollar Highway, who served as the opening act.

ION Indie Magazine Managing Editor and Senior Photojournalist Marty Haviik made the trip
from Tucson to be on hand to capture this event through his lens…which for him, was a
reunion of sorts with the Ashley Wineland team, as he also serves as her personal
photographer and previously reported on her for ION when she opened for Josh Turner at
the Tucson Expo Center in 2018. It’s a rare privilege that I get to team up with a member of
my esteemed ION team, thus, I jumped at the chance to work with Marty in this capacity.
Of course, adhering to my ethics and dedicated journalistic standards, I was mindful that
although I was Ashley’s publicist, I had to maintain a dignified, professional, non-biased
stance in my reporting. Oh, who are we kidding? Ashley killed it! But I digress, y’all.

First, I’d like to talk about some of the incredible people who worked so hard to bring this
show to the stupendous stage of the AK-Chin Pavilion. I’d like to send a personal shout of
gratitude to Dr. Bob Branch and Emjaye Coffmann of The Power of Fives
(https://www.thepoweroffives.com/) and the entire crew at Select Artists Associates
(https://selectartists.com/), Mr. Charles Johnston and Lisa Rockelmann (hey, girl, hey!), and
the exceptional production team onsite, which included Matt Kunz and Tom
Gruetzemacher, who went out of their way to warmly welcome us and provide us
comfortable accommodations. I arrived early with Ashley and her band for soundcheck,
which besides Ashley included Nick Sanderson (drums/vocals), Lane Whalin (guitar,
vocals), Kevin Ramos (bass, vocals), Jonathan Scott Candler (steel guitar), and Kathy King
Habeeb (fiddle). After a greeting from Tom with Select Artists Associates, we were escorted
to Ashley’s dressing room where we also met up with Ashley’s wonderful producer, Bryan
Kuban of Kube Music.

Aaron Lewis’ sound check was underway, and Ashley was up next. Eddie Montgomery had
an early morning sound check, so his levels were already locked in. We put our belongings
down, secure in the dressing area, and headed to the stage to stand in the wings and watch
the very talented Aaron Lewis as he conducted his sound check. Although ION has
photographed Mr. Lewis many times (recently featured in our Nov/Dec 2021 edition with
his band Staind), I’ve never had the pleasure to meet and talk with him. Tonight, that would
definitely change!

Aaron came off the stage and quickly extended his hand to us as he greeted each of us
individually. It was now Ashley’s sound check time. Meanwhile, the opening act Million
Dollar Highway arrived and were in the wings awaiting their soundcheck as Ashley finished
hers. As a side note, I want to mention how superb the sound was…stunning! It was such
a pleasure to work with these skilled sound professionals. Everything was flawlessly
executed by the most capable stage personnel and organizers. Meanwhile, we all headed
back to our dressing room, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch from food services, and
soon, Marty arrived. Sound checks completed…on with the show!

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