NashVegas presents The Hitmakers with Jon Stone & Kristy O

NashVegas presents The Hitmakers with Jon Stone & Kristy O

Jon Stone’s Nashville 101
Any young hopeful struggling to break into Nashville ’s music scene would do well to have a long sit down with SESAC songwriter Jon Stone. These days the Eugene, Oregon native is sitting pretty at the top of the country charts, but chronicling his climb to that lofty and coveted position is like following a winding triptych through the ins, outs, ups and downs of Nashville’s music business.
“I went through the whole machine, no doubt about it,” Stone says. “After you’ve tried everything, then it becomes ‘I’m gonna do exactly what I want to do and I don’t care, because I have nothing to lose.’ It’s almost like it needs to get to that point.”
Through countless writing sessions and several publishing deals, Stone spent the next few years writing his way to the top, with hitmakers including Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and Rascal Flatts cutting his songs. Meanwhile, old running buddies Church, Niemann and Lee Brice began to have hits of their own. In fact, “A Woman Like You,” Brice’s recent No. 1 smash, was co-written and produced by Stone.
Ironically, all of his songwriting success caught the attention of Curb Records and led him right back to a major label recording deal. Along with former Bomshel member Kristy Osmunson, Stone is now officially half of a hot new country duo known as American Young.
Jon Stone & Kristy O otherwise known as – American Young
American Young is the country singer/songwriter duo of Kristy Osmunson and Jon Stone, both of whom had some success as Nashville songwriters before joining forces in 2013. Osmunson, a fiddle player, had been a member of the group Bomshel and had her songs recorded by Jory + Rory, among others, while Stone was an in-demand producer who had written songs recorded by Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, and others. Initially the pair were looking to write some songs together, but their chemistry when they sang made it obvious they had to give the performing end a try. Their debut self-titled EP appeared in 2014 from Curb Records, led by the singles “Love Is War” and “Wasn’t Gonna Drink Tonight.” ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi