In the music industry, Nashville has once again become a fresh hot-bed for rising talent, which makes new music more difficult to stand out. Artists are having to find new and creative ways to promote and brand themselves in the ever changing city.
Born and raised in Nashville, country singer Mitchell Tenpenny is working on becoming a success in this booming industry.
“I think I stand out by trying to have a different sound and approach to how I present my music,” Tenpenny said. “I want every song to feel authentic and real.”
Tenpenny started playing music when he was in the 7th grade. He went to a friend’s house to play a round of golf but found several instruments to play instead. The next day, he picked up a guitar.
Growing up in Nashville influenced Tenpenny to strive for excellence – to make himself stand out.
Country singer Mitchell Tenpenny. Photo Credit: Mitchell Tenpenny/ Facebook
“The music scene has changed a lot. I’ve seen what’s worked and what hasn’t. Everyone is trying new ways and techniques to make a living in this industry with streaming,” Tenpenny said. “It didn’t exist when I grew up watching songwriters have hits.”
He has seen some of his favorite songwriters and artists break through from the beginning and he said that it is one of his favorite feelings.
“I’m not trying to write music for a lunch time,” Tenpenny said. “I’m trying to write music for a life-time.”
One of his favorite aspects of the experiences the city has to offer is how it is ever changing. The moments all lead to other adventures like hearing his songs, or ones he’s written on the radio or being performed by someone, and getting to write with such talented musicians. Nothing can top those moments for him he said.
His best advice to anyone trying to “make it” in Nashville is to “be there.” Be a part of the city and the culture that is there. It is one of the “tried and true” ways to gain acceptance.
Paying your dues is also just as important. With long hours, hard work, and heartbreak, Tenpenny said a big break will come. You just have to earn it.
“I’m not trying to write music for a lunch time,” Tenpenny said. “I’m trying to write music for a life-time.”
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Amber Heard, Yet Another Case Of Victim Blaming In The Media
Recently actress Amber Heard has faced a lot of harshness and criticism after filing for divorce against her soon-to-be ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
Heard was granted a restraining order against Depp after a fight the two had on May 21st in which Depp threw his cellphone at Heard, allegedly hitting her in the face with it.
She filed for divorce on May 23rd and appeared in court a few days later with a bruise on her right cheek.
More evidence of prior abuse has been released. Photos of Heard surfaced from a dispute back in December of last year in which Heard has bruises on her face and what appears to be a cut lip, all of which she says were from Depp.
But, many people are all too quick to discredit Heard’s accusations towards Depp because in the divorce she is seeking a spousal settlement from Depp.
They claim she is making it all up simply to get money out of him.
Heard’s lawyers, Samantha Spector and Joseph Koeing responded to these accusations:
“Amber Heard is simply a victim of domestic violence, and none of her actions are motivated by money. Amber is a brave and financially independent woman who is showing the courage of her convictions by doing the right thing against Johnny’s relentless army of lawyers and surrogates.”
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Her lawyers also say that her waiting until now to speak out is really no different than any victim of domestic abuse “(they) think first of the harm that might come to the abuser, rather than they abuse they have already suffered.”
Unfortunately, domestic abuse and violence against women have always been a far too common occurrence in our society.
These situations were once considered “personal matters” to be handled privately behind closed doors, but have recently been gaining more and more attention as victims of these acts began to stand up and speak out against their abusers and demand justice.
However, these courageous women are rarely met with the support they need when speaking out against their abusers.
Often women who do so are immediately discredited as liars, as women who would make up such accusations to get attention, money from the abuser, or even for the sheer pleasure of slandering their name.
This recently happened to pop-star Kesha, whose attempt to pull from her Sony contract with Dr. Luke, a man who see claims who sexually and physically abused her for years, was denied in court because the judge claimed her accusations against were not enough.
Similar things were also said to the dozens of different women who came out and said Bill Cosby had sexually assaulted them.
Heard and many of these other women had what the public always demands out of a women claiming to be abused: photographic or video evidence, police reports filed, eye-witnesses to back-up their stories.
And yet people in our society are still hesitant to believe them, but quick to call them liars.
This practice of almost never believing the victim is what causes women to stay in dangerous situations with their abusers for years.
We as a society need to step up and listen to them when they gain the courage to speak up, and not shame them for it.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: GabboT/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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FIU Sororities Blacklist Frat After Disturbing Group Chat Allegedly Emerges
<<<BREAKING: Police Are Investigating Suspended FIU Frat At Center Of Growing Scandal>>>
Read Original Story:
The group that represents sororities at Florida International University has decided to blacklist a fraternity at FIU due to the discovery of an explosive email that allegedly contained a series of inappropriate screenshots from a group chat between members of Tau Kappa Epsilon.
The FIU Panhellenic Council made the claims in a letter released Friday.
The letter, which was first reported by HerCampus claims that a “disgusting and obscene email” containing screenshots of a group chat from members of FIU’s Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity was sent on September 28, to FIU administrators and Greek life leaders.
From Her Campus:
“The email contained over 20 attachments of a Tau Kappa Epsilon group chat in which members shared images of nude women, mocked a deceased member of the Panhellenic community, sent photos of hazing, messages about sexual assault, pedophilia and drug distribution.”
Tau Kappa Epsilon is the second oldest fraternity on the FIU campus and boasts over 90 active members.
In response to the allegations made in the email, five of the seven Panhellenic Council sororities decided to blacklist TKE.
They say that they will not interact with TKE in any way through the end of Fall 2018.
“Although we normally encourage members to become involved in philanthropy, we will not allow for members of TKE to assume roles in our philanthropic programming, to congregate at such events, nor will they be allowed to attend in TKE paraphernalia”, The letter from the Panhellenic Council said. “Our organizations refuse to support any event hosted by the chapter.”
Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Mu and Sigma Kappa all signed the letter.
<<<BREAKING: Police Are Investigating Suspended FIU Frat At Center Of Growing Scandal>>>
FIU did not respond to RISE NEWS when asked for comment, however the official university Facebook page did comment on the HerCampus story.
“FIU is aware of the images described in the story and has no tolerance for this type of behavior,” the official FIU Facebook page wrote in the comments of the HerCampus article. “We are unable to comment further pending the conclusion of an investigation.”
RISE NEWS also has reached out to the leadership of the Panhellenic Council. We will update this story with additional information.
UPDATE: Tau Kappa Epsilon has responded to our request for comment:
“Tau Kappa Epsilon and our Sigma-Alpha chapter at FIU are fully cooperating with university officials on their investigation.”
<<<BREAKING: Police Are Investigating Suspended FIU Frat At Center Of Growing Scandal>>>
READ: The full letter sent from the FIU Panhellenic Council regarding their blacklisting of Tau Kappa Epsilon
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Here’s What Valentine’s Day Is Like For A Person In A Polyamorous Relationship
By Julia Fox
Still believe that exclusivity is necessary for deep, committed, long-term and loving relationships? The modern divorce rate of 50% says otherwise.
As traditional Valentine’s Day-themed pink and red greeting cards replace the tired Christmas & New Year colors on the stands of stores, most of us are anticipating (or dreading) the invasion of our social networks and television with the typical romantic scenarios of exchanging gifts, kisses and love messages between two lovers of the opposite or the same sex. Very few of us ever imagine the holiday routine in relationships where there are more than two lovers involved.
The images of cheating two-timers running between the deceived spouse and the scheming mistress aside, we are hardly bombarded nowadays by pictures of non-traditional family unions, such as polyamorous families, where the conventional Valentine’s day gift exchange is a little bit more complicated.
Polyamorous unions where ethical and responsible non-monogamy… are estimated to have around 1.2 to 2.4 million followers in the United States alone.
Polyamorous unions where ethical and responsible non-monogamy is practiced with knowledge and consent of everyone involved are estimated to have around 1.2 to 2.4 million followers in the United States alone.
How do polyamorous relationships come about? I am sure it is rarely a case of waking up one morning with your partner snoring by your side and deciding ‘why not add to the duo.’ The stories of people entering into the polyamorous unions are as many and varied as those embarking on conventional ones.
The beginning of my polyamorous relationship was a case of almost choking on toast one morning after my husband of 10 years admitted to having a homosexual relationship back in his college years with a Ukrainian man named Sasha.
Skipping through the finding Sasha story and straight into the reality of maintaining a household and a life with two partners and, yes, surviving a Valentine’s day together, the polyamorous relationship with a bi-sexual partner and a homosexual one who spent all of his life in the closet became an adventure for me worth sharing.
Almost all of us enter into a romantic union with the desire to be happy and to make our partners happy. Unfortunately, helping Sasha “come out of the closet” and leave the Ukraine was a huge struggle due to the severe psychological repercussions of concealing his sexuality since he was a young teen.
Photo Credit: Roy Blumenthal/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Dreading being ostracized by the community, fearing shame, physical torture and even imprisonment, creating a heterosexual family and dissociating himself from the gay community altogether made Sasha (and many thousands of his compatriots) the broken man that he was when he joined our family. Thus, welcoming Sasha into our union and expecting a ‘happy-ever-after’ was just as irrational as anticipating an unclouded happiness in any relationship once the wedding bells quiet down.
Each person comes into a relationship, whether it is a traditional one or less then so, with one’s own baggage of expectations based on childhood memories, literature, social media and a load of personal traumatic experiences and their consequences, and thus Sasha joined us with the full baggage of his own.
Being forced into a traditional marriage by his parents and living his life as a heterosexual man affected Sasha’s mental health and contributed to the development of a whole range of mental issues, such as dissociation, depression, internalized homophobia, self-disgust, self-hatred and denial of one’s sexual orientation to oneself and others. There conditions are commonplace in persons with repressed sexual orientation, according to many prominent psychiatrists.
Sasha exhibited all kinds of issues, such as low self-esteem, negative body image and contempt for the more open LGBT members who decided to come out years before. More importantly, Sasha had a tendency to deny that homophobia was a serious social problem altogether. Remaining in a heterosexual relationship for most of his life in an attempt to pass as ‘normal’ and to gain social approval, Sasha became chronically depressed and took to heavy drinking. His fear of intimacy and his suicidal thoughts presented a bigger challenge and a threat to our union.
My brief relationship with Sasha opened my eyes to the many aspects of homosexuality and the life paths that LGBT men and women choose in the parts of the world where homosexuality is still considered an abnormality.
My brief relationship with Sasha opened my eyes to the many aspects of homosexuality and the life paths that LGBT men and women choose in the parts of the world where homosexuality is still considered an abnormality.
The freedoms that sexual minorities are enjoying in the majority of democratic countries today are precious and unheard of in such places as Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia, Azerbaijan and other post-Soviet territories. Giving American LGBT members a glimpse into the lives of those who are less fortunate and still struggle for their rights might be an eye-opening experience this Valentine’s day.
Sasha’s arrival in our life, the life of a typical monogamous heterosexual couple, meant re-imagining our relationship, challenging traditional marriage, sexuality and love itself. All three of us had to learn to navigate and explore the challenges and complexities of a polyamorous reality together against a backdrop of cultural and societal expectations and judgments.
Examining and questioning the dynamic and often challenging elements of marriage, relationships and acceptance, are just a few issues that polyamorous unions might bring out into the discussion.
Julia Fox immigrated from Russia in her late teens, settling in the United States in the early 90s. She published two books of poetry before leaving her home country, both in Russian, and published two more in English language after immigrating. And Then There Were Three: Sixty Seven Letters to Sasha is her first autobiographical memoir.
For more information about And Then There Were Three: Sixty-Seven Letters to Sasha, please visit Julia Fox’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
Cover Photo Credit: Roy Blumenthal/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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