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Home , Connie Smith, Darrell McCall, Johnny Bush

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2013

Contact: Kimber Patterson, Venue Manager 903-457-2994 [email protected]

COUNTRY LEGEND TO APPEAR AT THE GMA. TICKETS GO ON SALE JULY 1, 2013.

The GMA (Greenville Municipal Auditorium) and United Way of Hunt County are pleased to present Legend Ronnie Milsap, featuring Amber Digby, in concert on Friday, August 23, 2013, at 7 p.m. at the GMA, 2821 Washington Street, Greenville, .

Born in the mountain town of Robbinsville, NC, Milsap was raised by his bluegrass-loving father and by his grandparents in the unincorporated Meadow Branch community in western North Carolina. Each weekend, the struggling family gathered around a battery powered radio and tuned in to the on WSM, listening to , and other greats. He attended a school for the blind in Raleigh, enduring abusive treatment from some staff members and emerging with enhanced musical knowledge and a love of rock, pop and other non-Appalachian forms of music.

When Milsap arrived in Nashville in the early , he was best known in Tennessee for the blues and rock music he'd been playing in Memphis clubs. He and Jack Johnson recorded a three-song demo and showed it to Jerry Bradley at RCA Records. "We know all about Milsap: He's a blues singer, a rock 'n' roll singer, not a counry singer," Bradley said, before hearing the songs. After hearing the recordings, he reversed his assessment, saying, "That son of a (gun) can sing country."

Indeed, he can. And he has, famously and satisfyingly and profitably, for much of the past forty years. And now he's Country Again. With one of modern music's most remarkable careers already under his belt, Milsap could relax, stay out of the studio, stay off the road and wait for someone to fashion the inevitable bronze plaque that will one day hang with his heroes in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Instead, he's driven to wake each day and do what others would call work and what he considers sustenance. "This life is such a wonderful journey, and I want the chance to live every bit of it," he says. "And music is a huge part of that. I live and breathe it every day."

Texas claims Amber Digby, but her roots (both musically and geographically) lie in Nashville, TN. Born and raised in the birthplace of Country Music, Amber comes from a long line of Classic Country Music Royalty. Amber's father is Dennis Digby, longtime bass player in the Coal Miners, 's road band. Amber's mother, Dee, was a backup singer for artists such as Connie Smith. Amber's stepfather, Dicky Overbey, is a steel legend who recorded and performed with , Connie Smith, , Jr., Ronnie Milsap, and . And Amber is the niece of Darrell McCall, who garnered a #1 hit when he wrote "Eleven Roses", on top of his own solo top 40 hits.

Although Amber is certainly in the family business, she is breaking ground in modern country music. In December, 2009, she released her 4th CD, "Another Way to Live", with Heart of Texas Records.

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Following on the heels of 3 critically successful releases, the most recent CD showcases Amber's newest venture into songwriting. In addition to the songs on this new CD, Amber is writing with some of the best songwriters in Nashville including Grammy nominee Odie Blackmon, hitmaker Dale Dodson, and Grammy Award winning, Country Music Hall of Famer, .

This concert is almost sure to be a sell-out. Tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 1, 2013, online at www.ShowtimeAtTheGMA.com and at the GMA, 2821 Washington Street. Ticket prices range from $40 to $75. For more information call 903-457-2994 or visit the GMA website, www.ShowtimeAtTheGMA.com.

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