A Songwriter’s Christmas is an annual Christmas concert celebrating Nashville’s songwriter community with original and classic holiday songs.  After years of successful charity concerts in Nashville, A Songwriter’s Christmas is bringing an intimate version of the show on the road in select cities this December.

Hosted by Nashville recording artist and New England native Jay Bragg, the concert will also feature performances by fellow Nashville songwriters Bryan Ruby and Bronte Fall as well as a special performance by legendary Maine outlaw country duo North of Nashville.

The concert will also help support the effort to bring the inspiration and instruction of musical instruments to children from low income families and hospice patients through Gift of Music Project.

ABOUT JAY BRAGG

Jay Bragg has been on the stage interpreting his life through music his entire life.  A third generation professional musician, Bragg’s first gig was at age 4 and since then has recorded 12 studio records and performed over 3500 live shows all over America.

Having absorbed music of all genres and eras through his musical family literally from infancy, Jay’s ability to weave influences from 100 years of popular music into his songs have always set his work apart from his contemporaries.  Heavily versed in blues, jazz, country and rock ’n’ roll, Jay unapologetically favors timeless over trendy in his writing and taste.

Jay rose to success in his native New England as half of the outlaw country duo North of Nashville who performed with artist like Chris Stapleton, Dierks Bentley and Gary Allan and won New England Music Awards 2015 Country Act of the Year.  Just 5 months after that award, Jay packed up his life, quit the band and moved to Nashville to try his hand in the big leagues as a solo act.

Not long after moving to Nashville, Jay found a home at the Alan Jackson owned AJs’ Good Time Bar on Lower Broadway, performing a super charged cocktail of classic country and home spun originals 3-4 times a week.  The success of his live performances caught the attention of Alan Jackson himself who invited Jay to open up for him on his 2019 arena tour exposing his music to the biggest audience yet.

Since the launch of his solo career in Nashville, Jay has written and recorded 4 full-length albums, an EP and several singles and toured extensively from coast to coast always making a point to return home to play shows in the Northeast a few times a year.

In 2020, Jay launched a charity concert series called A Songwriter’s Christmas with talent buyer Ashley Evans with the mission of celebrating the Nashville songwriter community’s original holiday music while raising resources for music education for children from low income families.  Aside from the annual Nashville concert, A Songwriter’s Christmas now tours throughout the country in December.

In 2022, Jay founded his own charity fund called Gift of Music Project to help provide musical instruments, lessons and creative inspiration to disadvantaged communities including children living in poverty and hospice patients.

On November 1, 2023, Jay will release “Light It Up” - a full length Christmas album which features 13 songs - 8 of which he wrote himself and 5 classics.

ABOUT BRONTE FALL

Teri Bracken — the singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visionary force behind Brontë Fall's mix of indie-pop and rootsy Americana — was preparing to release 2020's Finishing School when the world shifted. A tornado ripped through her adopted hometown of East Nashville, sending two trees crashing onto her roof. A pandemic brought her world to a standstill. A messy breakup left her heartbroken, and her father's ongoing battle with cancer found her making regular trips to a hospital in Ohio.

Throughout it all, Bracken continued to create music. This was something more than songwriting — it was therapy. A battle cry from a front-woman who had always found empowerment in her own music. A reminder that difficult seasons are only temporary, with weary winters soon giving way to brighter summers.

Winter, Brontë Fall's follow-up to 2020's Finishing School, was created during those months of dark struggles and silver linings. It's a seven-song EP that doubles down on Bracken's pop roots, trading the Americana influences of her previous recordings for a mix of synthesizers, punchy percussion, and other electronic elements. The record also strongly nods to Emily Brontë's "Fall, Leaves, Fall," a poem about finding the warmth in nature's cold spells.

"It felt therapeutic, even healing, to make music in 2020," Bracken says. "I didn't stop writing. I didn't stop creating. Winter is the product of my perseverance and will to make it through a trying year."

Bracken recorded Winter in Nashville, joined by a small group of instrumentalists — electric guitarist Lars Thorson, keyboardist Dylan Jones, harmony singer Hadley Kennary — and producer Jake Finch. She'd already introduced her combination of pop and folk influences with her 2017 debut, Silhouette Dances, then revisited that sonic hybrid with Finishing School. This time, things felt different. Bracken embraced her own eclectic version of pop music, creating a bright sound for gloomy times. "I wasn't worried about making the album sound a certain way, or ensuring that it fell into the Americana category," she says. "I just let go of those concerns, and focused on getting back to the core of what artists are supposed to do: making music."

Winter's highlights stretch from "Burning Out" — where Bracken compares the arc of a failing relationship to the fall of a shooting star, knowing its flame will soon be extinguished — to the minor-key "Beyond the Rain," which contrasts its story about a weather-ravaged town with optimistic pop hooks and a percussive pulse. "Every (Damn) Time" is a tribute to self-dignity, while the atmospheric "Indiana" contrasts the simple joys of childhoods with the complexities that come with growing older. Winter doesn't shy away from its sad undertones, but this is ultimately a record about survival and rebirth. It's about making your own warm weather during a cold spell, regardless of the chill that lingers outside.

"I resonated with Emily Brontë's 'Fall Leaves Fall' while writing these songs," Bracken says. "Her poem is about embracing the darker seasons of our lives, and this record has a similar focus. Winter is about finding the beauty in a year like 2020 and making way for what's ahead."

ABOUT BRYAN RUBY

Bryan Ruby is a rising country music artist and trailblazing professional baseball player based in Nashville, Tennessee. As a songwriter, Bryan has penned songs that have appeared on the Texas Country Top 50 chart and the iTunes Country Top 25 (#16), and songs he has written have been featured on both Huffington Post and People Magazine. As an artist, Bryan won Season 7 of the talent-search competition Nashville Rising Song, and released his debut single “Left Field” in June 2022. The song was featured on The TODAY Show and added to rotation on SiriusXM’s Country Pride, as well as the Academy of Country Music's Ultimate Pride Playlist.

With rich vocals and authentic storytelling on follow-up singles “Two For The Road” (August ‘22),  “The Standouts (October ‘22), “Christmas With You” (November ‘22), “Baseball Country” (March ‘23), and “The Standouts (Heroes Version)” feat. Ty Herndon (June ‘23), “Bryan’s introspective and relatable storytelling‘ (The Nash News) and “expressive baritone” (Music Row Magazine) give him a unique calling card in the up-and-coming Nashville country scene.

21+

Doors @ 6pm

Show @ 7pm

$20

ticket required for event

no refunds or exchanges

Ticket presale ends at 10am day of show - additional tickets available at the door, bring cash!