A Hometown Christmas (Dinner and Show)

After the Portland Christmas Parade, the Occasions Event Center and the Temple Theatre are offering A Hometown Christmas, dinner and show featuring Portland-area musicians.

Menu includes
Ham or Turkey, Dressing, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Sauce, Rolls, Drink & Dessert

Dinner 6:00pm at Occasions Event Center, show starts 7:30pm at the Temple Theatre. Featuring Christmas songs from:

Bitty James

Bitty hails from Portland, Tennessee, and he is an independent country music artist. For his entire life he has wanted to make people smile, and playing music and having a good time is something that means a lot to him. Bitty cannot image a world without music. He says it’s good for the soul, good for the people, and it guarantees a good time. His grandfather was a musician and had a great influence over Bitty. One of his fans says this about Bitty- “This guy is one you will eventually be listening to on mainstream Country radio.”

Jessi McKinnon

Jessi McKinnon, born & raised in beautiful southern Maine, moved to middle Tennessee just three short years ago. She has been performing professionally now for 30+ years and still enjoys meeting new faces and sharing her gifts with others. She spent many of her earliest years sitting on the edge of an antique tub in her childhood home…just playing her guitar, writing songs, and enjoying the natural and lovely acoustics of a common bathroom. Once a teenager, she noticed her garage also had nice acoustics. (The neighbors noticed, too!) After graduating to a PA system in the cellar, Jessi moved out into the bigger world of coffee houses, churches, fairs, and Nashville recording studios…and has been on her way ever since! Influenced by many artists and musical genres, Jessi has developed a unique sound of her own.

The Restless

The Restless is a female duo consisting of sisters Rachal and Emily Schmieder. It was within the walls of their childhood home in Portland, Tennessee that the sisters first began writing and singing together. Music became a way for the siblings to connect, eventually strengthening their relationship as adults. Friends first, and collaborators second, the sisters became “The Restless,” inspired by their heart and passion for writing and sharing music together. The Restless performed their first show as a duo at the Roxy Theater in Franklin, Kentucky, and have performed live over 150 times throughout the southeastern United States region since collaboration. Now based in Nashville, the twenty-something sisters are in the process of recording their most honest music yet. After years of sound experimentation and live performances, the duo is producing an EP centered around themes of love, sisterhood, coming of age, and what it means to be restless. 

Mattie Taylor

Mattie Taylor is a Country-Pop Singer-Songwriter reaching for her goals in the music industry. Starting vocal lessons with the late Renee Grant Williams in Nashville TN, who has worked with artists such as Carrie Underwood & Miley Cyrus, at 8 years old and getting into vocal competitions soon after led to performing at local farmers markets, writing and recording original music. Taylor has gotten the opportunity to be taught by and share the stage with, Grammy Nominated Award Winner on “Does He Love You” with Reba McEntire, Linda Davis. A love for art and creating has always been a part of Taylor’s persona, which started with YouTube videos/vlogs of her life and vacations with her family. Currently with 5 singles out on all streaming platforms, four of which she has written, she plans to continue sharing her heart through her words in her songs and hopefully inspire some in doing so.

Jada Vance

Jada Vance is a Nashville, TN native who has deep West Virginia roots. Jada began her interest in music at the early age of eight years old, testing her talents by singing publicly in church and at family get-togethers. She has been influenced by many different artists and genres through the years but her main influence comes from the late 90’s and early to mid 2000’s country music and additionally inspired from genres like bluegrass/gospel, the early 2000’s hip-hop/R&B, along with little bits of southern and classic rock. Vance describes her talents in a metaphoric description, “If you take a big cooking pot and add all my musical influences in that same pot, mix it up real good….that’s where you find Jada Vance the singer/songwriter and artist/performer!” Vance began her professional music career in 2013 on the hit entertainment and reality TV show, American Idol, making it to the second round in Hollywood, CA at only sixteen years old. In 2015, Jada won the Taste Of Country USA songwriting competition and has since had the privilege of working with many influential people in the country
music industry, such as : Teddy Gentry of the group Alabama, Linda Davis, Chris Cagle, Little Texas, Chase Rice, and many more.

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