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2 It really has become Music City. I; “Things are going well," laughed i Rivers. “It's been a lot of fun the last â€"few years. g “I've been opening up for some big 2 acts such as Trace Adkins, Eli Young 3 Band, Frankie Ballard, Eric Paslay, .: and Gregg Allman." .9 In fact, he’ ll join Adkins at the lonia E Country Jam August 29, with pro- iceeds from that show benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project and the Michigan Law Enforcement Of- ficers Memorial Monument. g -a lot of people come from 2,0 other places and there's always new “. exciting things happening here." ‘° uOver the last three years, he lived 5 in Michigan where his wife Is from, lâ€" and then moved back to Tennessee -â€" last September. 3 Some may consider his hike to E Nashville as chasing a dream, but E Rivers wouldn’t change a thing. : 0"As far as the music business 2 goes here, country is still the 3 main draw, but there’s so many g different musicians here too... 3 lots of really cool pockets. Country music artist’s album features toe-tapping tunes 3 He said he's been focusing more on i broadening his fan base of late. 1 ”I kind of knew what I was doing was catching fire,” said Rivers. who . packed up his bags to head for ‘ Nashville after graduating from Fan- shawe College’s Music Industry Arts ‘ program in 2009.”There’s been a lot of positive feedback." ‘ On No Boundaries, he wrote six out of the seven tracks. Track four, Where There's Smoke There’s Whis- key, was pitched to him by some big ‘ writers in Nashville, so he decided to record it and, he says, he’s glad he did. . He calls the album a compelling collection of high-energy, toe-tap- ping and thought-provoking songs about real life, bar life, love life and being on the road. The first track, Born for the High- way, is more rock than anything. ”l come out hitting the guitars pretty : hard,” he laughed. He said it’s about I a chance hello at a gas station at 1 am. on a drive back to Nashville. ! He met a trucker who held the door i for him at the truck stop, and Rivers said thanks 'and asked how he was doing. ”Born for the highway," said the trucker to Rivers, who immediately snapped that into his memory bank as a future song. As a songwriter, his work has been picked up by several artists, includ- ing Drew Gregory’s chart-hitting Truck. Beer. Girl. Meanwhile, he still manages to get back home to see his family in Campbellville, as often as possible, but as a small-town boy, he’s still doing small-town things. Most recently, he was planning on taking his wife to the Tomato Festi- val in Nashville. "I try to take her out to explore the town. Nashville has a lot to do on the weekends and there‘s always things to do at the park." His CD can be ordered on iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/album/ id1024187894?ls=1&app=itunes. For more go to www.steverivers.com. Julie Slack can be reached at jslack@ miltoncanadianchampion.com or on Twitter @miltonmusing MILTON RIBF EST Steve Rivers, who lives in Nashville with his wife, returns home to Campbell» ville as often as possible. EricMJEIIis/Speclaltomcmmpion mishaponammessagehasbeeanthoyouby theseconcemed commity minded businesses and fut-Sn» SKROU: 12:00 pm Rm Boogie: 1:30 pm me Groovy Brannon: 3:00 pm New: Collafllo: 4:30 pm Selective Soul: 5:45 pm The W oi Book Show: 6:45 pm Coda (Led Zeppelin much): 6:45 pm “WWW: 6:30pm Mum’s MIN: 12:00 pm 1m m 1:30 pm W 3:00 pm m than bound: 4:30 pm (AC/Dc TM): 8:15 pm Sonic Boom (KISS M): 9:45 pm ARISMJFE u 6:00 pm I: 7:30 pm :: 9:30 pm it: 5:30 pm Sunday