Bless Is More

I'm so blessed to have been able to work with this girl for almost a decade on acting, voice, songwriting, recording, life—you name it! She is precisely why I opened Hickory Arts—to forge personal relationships and nurture a productive, collaborative, mentoring experience throughout an artist's career. When a student turned friend turned family believes in ...

Artist Development

Artist Development for Multi-Talented Creatives at Hickory Arts Artist Development at Hickory Arts empowers "Everything Artists" — individuals who showcase a diverse range of talents and creative interests. These artists manage multiple skills and excel across various artistic fields. For example, you might be a singer who writes songs, an actor who composes music, or ...

Carri’d Away

October 4, 2016 Hey, Jeff! I wanted to say thank you so much for all that you have done to get me where I am now. I really appreciated the fact that you came to play for me. I was on the news and I had about 50 people come up to me after and …

Maybe Far Away

May 18, 2016 Briana Anderson Thank you so much, Jeff, for everything you’ve done for me. You are so nice and it was fun to work with you. I have improved on my singing so much. I always look forward to having my vocal lessons every week because I enjoyed it so much. I have …

Princess Underwood

I can now officially announce I’m going to be moving to Orlando and working for a company that I’ve always wanted to work for. When I was a little girl and you asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up I would say, “A Princess.” To this day, when you ask me, …

State of Grace

March 31, 2016 Sooo… It was just your birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!) and I feel really mushy gushy and have to tell you that I miss you. A ton. I miss laughing and creating with you… But working with you was better for me than I ever could have imagined. I got the courage to explore …

We Are Sydney Cline

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.E.F. Schumacher I was given a tremendous gift, this past Saturday. Let me begin by sharing and paraphrasing the email I received. On Oct 7, 2015, at 11:24 pm, …

Regally Fond

This is the oldest picture of Shannon Underwood and me together I could find; from “The Producers” in September 2008. The first time I met her was earlier that year at an audition. She sang “So Much Better” from Legally Blonde! There wasn’t a person in the room that could touch her talent and not …

Everything Artist Night 2015

Please join us Thursday, August 20th from 6 to 9 pm, under the sails on Union Square in Hickory for “Everything Artist Night” featuring Stone’s Throw, Andrea Barklage, John Wepner, Clowee Younce, Shannon Underwood, Kaylyn Hall, Christian Jackson, Meredith Mull, Savannah Spencer, Charlotte Dick and Madison Phelps accompanied and followed by Hartman, including Brian Burton …

The Wisdom of Aaron Lewis

All I really need to know about how to be and what to do and how to live I learned from Aaron Lewis. Wisdom was not written in schoolbooks, but was scattered amongst the nails and screws of the sets.As Recorded by Lea Hepler, August 1995 Start every day with a coffee break and a …