Singer Adrianna Freeman to Perform at Loretta Lynn's Ranch, 5/25-26

When rising country recording artist Adrianna Freeman performs at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, over Memorial Day weekend, it will be a dream-come-true for Freeman, who grew up listening to Lynn and other classic country singers.

"Loretta Lynn has always been one of my favorites," Freeman said. "I love the stories she tells in her songs, and she is one of a handful of female artists who influenced my own songwriting."

The Ranch, which is Lynn's home as well as a popular tourist attraction, includes shops, live entertainment and a museum dedicated to the singer's career. Other artists are scheduled to perform there over the Memorial Day weekend, including Joe Nichols, Joey + Rorey, and Loretta Lynn herself. But for Freeman, one of the few African American female singers in country music, the opportunity is more personal than most, because of certain similarities between Lynn's early life and her own.

"Loretta Lynn's father was a coal miner who struggled to support his family in rural Kentucky; my dad was a sharecropper in the South," Freeman said. "Ms. Lynn had a hard time getting radio stations to listen to her music, and so did I. I am not comparing my singing to hers; she will always be the Queen of Country Music. But she has been such an inspiration, the way she kept going when times were hard."

Like many country artists, Freeman bounced around Nashville for years, before she was discovered by Teddy Gentry. The co-founder of the country super-group Alabama invited Freeman to record a song for "Teddy Gentry's Best New Nashville," a CD featuring up-and-coming artists that he was producing at the time for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. The CD received excellent reviews, and Cracker Barrel customers voted Freeman "favorite artist" on album. Gentry later produced Freeman's debut album "Either You Do or You Don't" in 2012.

Freeman is currently working on an EP which is scheduled for release later this year. The first single from that project, "Just A Girl," was recently released and is receiving air play on a growing number of radio stations. It is available on iTunes.

Freeman will be accompanied at Loretta Lynn's Ranch by guitarists Tyler Reese and Zach Torres, members of her new band, who study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. The entire Adrianna Freeman Band, including drummer Austin DeVries, keyboard player Wes Yee and bass player Theo Hartlett, will join Freeman at other upcoming Nashville performances, at The Mansion at the Fontanel (June 3, from 5:00-6:00 p.m.) and Tootsies Orchid Lounge (June 7 from 2:00-3:00 p.m.).

Adrianna Freeman will perform at Loretta Lynn's Ranch, 8000 Highway 13 South, Hurricane Mills, TN 37078, on Saturday, May 25 at 1:30 p.m. in the Western Town area, and on Sunday, May 26 as part of the Next Generation Campfire Show on Stagecoach Hill, starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. Details are available at www.LorettaLynchRanch.com. Information about Adrianna Freeman is available at www.AdriannaFreeman.com.

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