Southwest Airlines

Katie Pruitt

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Katie Pruitt

Katie Pruitt participated and rose to the top in Southwest: On The Rise to Luck Reunion 2019.

The forthcoming debut album from Katie Pruitt, Expectations, is a glowingly detailed collection of real-life stories, a courageous document of coming of age in a sometimes-unwelcoming world. With a narrative voice at turns poetic and unaffected, the Georgia-bred singer/songwriter/guitarist treads endlessly complex emotional ground: mental illness, toxic relationships, the frustration and shame of growing up gay in the Christian South. But by speaking her truth with sensitivity and grit, Pruitt ultimately arrives at a self-acceptance that’s both hard-won and happily defiant.

“I called the album Expectations because I liked that it was ironic,” says the 25-year-old artist, now based in Nashville. “This record’s really about letting go of what other people expect from you, and being free to be to just finally be yourself.”

Co-produced by Pruitt and her close friend Michael Robinson at the home studio of Rounder Records’ Gary Paczosa, Expectations gracefully showcases her captivating voice—an instrument that alternately soars and howls and softens to a near-whisper. And while the album unfolds in a guitar-fueled sound steeped in folk and country and rock-and-roll, each track stays centered on the lucid songwriting that recently landed Pruitt on a “20 Artists To Watch In 2019” from NPR.

Katie Pruitt’s album Expectations is due out February 21, 2020, on Rounder Records.

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Download Katie’s new single, “Expectations” now

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The Bluebird Cafe

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The Bluebird Cafe

The Bluebird Cafe is one of the country’s most historic and iconic music venues. Since opening its doors in 1982, Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe has been a venue where up-and-coming songwriters and artists rise to fame and build their careers. From the novice to the star, all levels of songwriters are welcomed and supported—sounds a little like our very own airline!

Musicians and songwriters such as Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, and numerous others have had career-defining moments in the intimate, 90-seat listening room, and chart-topping songs are heard side-by-side with soon-to-be hits. Tune in to Bluebird The Movie, which was released in 2019, to learn more about The Bluebird Cafe.

The Bluebird Cafe is owned by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the world’s largest not-for-profit songwriters trade association. Established in 1967, the membership of more than 5,000 active and professional members spans the United States and foreign countries. NSAI is dedicated to protecting the rights of and serving aspiring and professional songwriters in all genres of music.

Southwest supports local passion points of the communities we serve. Since 2015, we’ve been the Official Airline of the Nashville Songwriters Association International and The Bluebird Cafe, as a way of supporting artists, songwriters, and fans, furthering the connection of our world-famous Hospitality with the world-famous music community that is so fostered in Nashville.

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Striking a Chord with Musicians On Call

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Striking a Chord with Musicians On Call

Since 2007, Southwest® has proudly provided complimentary air travel to benefit medical patients and their families that must travel for life-saving or life-changing medical care through Southwest Airlines Medical Transportation Grant Program (MTGP). We have been honored to work with a network of nonprofit hospitals and medical organizations nationwide that support this mission.

Southwest extends a healing hand through a partnership with Musicians On Call (MOC), which is a nonprofit that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. Through our partnership with MOC, musicians will have the opportunity to connect with patients through the healing power of music—truly medicine for the soul. As part of the celebration of our partnership announcement in 2017, we hosted in-airport concerts at three locations: Kenli Mattus and Maggie Szabo in Los Angeles (LAX), Aubrey Wollett in Nashville (BNA), and Tim Campbell and Steven Derrick in Atlanta (ATL).

“Thanks to the support of Southwest Airlines, Musicians On Call has been able to deliver the healing power of music to more people. Music can connect us all and plays an impactful role in the healing process. We’re proud that our volunteers have performed for over 675,000 patients, families and caregivers,” said Pete Griffin, Musicians On Call President.

The first performance of 2017 was at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a special music performance from Broken Bow Recording Artist Brooke Eden. Next, Judah and the Lion played for patients at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., and the final visit of the year took place at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where patients enjoyed a performance from Nils Lofgren, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band in 2014.

We’re continued our support of Musicians On Call in 2018 by bringing three live performances to hospitals throughout the year. Our first performance took place at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Singer Brandon Ray performed for children in the hospital’s Ryan Seacrest Studio, as well as, in their hospital rooms, bringing the healing power of music to their bedsides. For our second visit, we hosted a visit with Barry Zito, a former professional baseball pitcher, who just released his first EP, “NO SECRETS,” at USCF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco.

In 2019, we brought our partnership to new heights – literally! We welcomed country music artist and MOC volunteer Filmore to perform both Live at 35 on his way to California and in patients’ rooms at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, California, where MOC just set up a new volunteer musician program.

To learn more, visit www.musiciansoncall.org.

Video Credit: Dusty Barker

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