Rhonda Funk Signs with Pure Music Nashville

    NASHVILLE, TN, January 07, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Pure Music Nashville's managing partner, John L. Heithaus has announced that Rhonda Funk has been signed to the label for a two-year deal effective January 1, 2020.

Upon first encounter with this triple-threat singer/songwriter/performer, it's fairly easy to surmise that she's not your typical Nashville songstress. And while she's often been favorably compared to several of her musical idols like Janis Joplin, Melissa Etheridge, Stevie Nicks, and Brandi Carlisle, Funk's warm and raspy Americana-flavored tones and empathetic along with her heartfelt human storytelling come directly from her life experiences, which make her songs so identifiable and compelling. Add to that an unstoppable stage energy and genuine fan engagement, Funk is easily set apart from the crowd. Just in 2019, she's written or co-written 100 songs, performed at 90 dates in six states - and she's just getting started.

Funk's initial foray to songwriting came at age 15 and since, her song catalog has grown to include songs from three well-received Christian-oriented albums: a self-titled release in 1999, "The Waiting" in 2003, and "Refined" 2009, and a country/pop album "Someday", self-funded and recorded in Nashville along with some studio heavyweights in 2017. Funk, who thankfully survived brain surgery for an aneurysm in 2016, literally followed her dreams to Nashville in 2018.

She is a very active songwriter with a large Rolodex and a strong social media following in the Nashville community and beyond. Funk's most recent successes include a newly co-written Christmas song, "Holiday With You", cut by country music great T. Graham Brown and Claudette King, the daughter of blues legend BB King. Further, her song "Too Close to Home" was just featured nationally on PRX's This American Life from radio station WBEZ in Chicago.

Heithaus said: "The well-worn saying: "she had us at hello" truly applied here. I was invited to attend a songwriter's round produced by Nashville's indy songwriter station Radio Sobro's Kyle Creamer at the Tin Roof downtown. Rhonda was one of nine excellent songwriters and performers that night, and from the second she took the stage, we knew she was something special."

The A&R team at PMN and Rhonda are already hard at work on developing her next release. They've engaged a team of Nashville label collaborators to lend their talents to the project: the bassist and owner of White Rock Studios, David Santos (Melissa Etheridge, Crosby Stills & Nash, Billy Joel, John Fogerty, The Neville Brothers); drummer/engineer Pete Young (The Flying Burrito Brothers, Loretta Lynn and The Brothers Brown); newly-arrived to Nashville from Cali, the versatile guitarist Gary Gladson; and, B3 master Brother Paul Brown most recently touring with the Waterboys.

Funk said: "I have struggled to make ends meet, and literally lived on air, but have kept focused because I have felt God asking me to keep in the game. Stay positive. Draw closer. Dig deeper. And joining an artist-centric label like Pure Music is the best way I can kick off 2020. A huge thank you to my family, fellow musicians, and songwriters in town, as well as Pure Music Nashville, for this incredible opportunity. Stay tuned for more soon!"

Founded in 2016, Pure Music | Nashville is a multimedia production, marketing and distribution company dedicated to Bluegrass and Americana music, the artists who love to perform and produce content for audiences around the globe. We work with both well-established and emerging artists from concept to launch on their musical, entertainment and educational endeavors. Pure Music Nashville is proud to be members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the Grammy Foundation, Americana Music Association, NSAI, ASCAP and various local/regional/national/global charitable initiatives.

Rhonda Funk
Rhonda Funk is a member of BMI, Global Songwriters Association, Tennessee Songwriters Association International, among others. She has been writing and performing professionally in Nashville, TN since 2017. She has been regularly featured on country radio in the Pacific NW after her appearance at the Oregon Jamboree and LRS Fest.

Radio Sobro
Radio Sobro is an all-streaming radio platform that exclusively features original music from Nashville's singer-songwriter community. Stream our free app or listen online at radiosobro.com for 24/7 worldwide access to music that is uniquely curated and crafted in Nashville.

# # #