Safe Sounds at Firefly Music Series powered by REV Federal Credit Union & Ear For Music presents Jimmie Allen
with special guest Chase Martin

Signed to BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records, platinum-selling recording artist and songwriter Jimmie Allen has already made history as the first Black artist to launch a career with two consecutive No. 1 hits on country radio – the first being his debut single “Best Shot” – which claimed the No. 1 spot for three weeks – and second being his latest single “Make Me Want To” off his debut album Mercury Lane, released fall 2018. 

Named in tribute to the street he grew up on and the origin of his incredible journey, Mercury Lane features a cutting-edge mix of country, rock, R&B and pop that draws upon the influence of his family and small-town upbringing of the critically acclaimed rising star. Rolling Stone raved Allen’s debut “challenges the narrowly defined model of what constitutes a next big thing in country music in 2018” and The New York Times dubbed it one of 2018’s strongest, calling it “a conventional country album, filled with songs about the small details.” 

His latest project Bettie James, released in July 2020, is a star-studded collaboration EP featuring Brad Paisley, Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, Mickey Guyton, Nelly, Cyrus, The Oak Ridge Boys, Rita Wilson, Tauren Wells & Tim McGraw. Wanting to weave his late father and late grandmother’s legacies into his music, Allen named the project after them, with each featured artist on the project having touched their respective lives through their own music. The result is a musical composition of love, heartbreak, perseverance, hope and faith. Bettie James has garnered 110+ million streams since release, along with critical acclaim for the music, the historic nature of various collaborations, and its subsequent place in country music history. NPR calls the project an “announcement of [Allen’s] arrival” and a “huge step for country” while Billboard hails it “a powerful statement from a developing voice.” Rolling Stone describes “Why Things Happen” – which brings together three generations of Black country artists in Allen, Darius Rucker and Charley Pride – as “part polemic, part proclamation, and part prayer… opening up space for the artists to bear witness.” 

Allen was most recently nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 54th Annual CMA Awards – his first ever CMA nomination. On July 13, 2021, Allen will publish his debut picture book, My Voice Is a Trumpet, with Flamingo Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. Illustrated by veteran illustrator Cathy Ann Johnson, the book is a powerful story about speaking up for what you believe in, at any age.