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CHARLOTTE — Since recording his first CD, Lancer Entertainment and RedHen Record’s Bruce Hedrick said doors have just kept opening for him.
“It’s been a very prosperous and exciting year and it all started with the CD,” Hedrick said. “I really am hoping to continue with the momentum we have. I went to Nashville and recorded five songs with two on the radio. (The song) ‘Roses From God’ is climbing the charts and the music video is on TV on the Great American Gospel channel.”
The Mooresville native spent time in Nashville at the start of the year, recording his five-song country gospel album with other professional musicians. Getting to Nashville was a leap of faith in itself, considering it took his family’s support and a lot of their money to make it happen.
Since that time he’s been invited to perform several different places, including opening for Nashville recording artist Chris Janson for the Denver Fourth of July fireworks event and playing at the Green Room in Newton in October.
“That was the first place I could set a table with my own merchandise and bring my own CD,” he said of why it meant so much to him.
Most recently, Hendrick sang for the Charlotte Touchdown Club awards banquet Dec. 8. The event had several sports figures in attendance, including Steve Beulein and the University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, he said. There, he sang the national anthem for the first time and his hit song “A Better Man.”
Hedrick said it was great to be invited to an event where he recognized people he’d seen on television and to talk and take pictures with them.
Another pivotal moment this year was when he watched his music video for the first time with his manager Ronnie Caldwell.
“To be on national television with 40 million viewers. We didn’t have that last year,” he said. “It was an emotional time and deep down our chins were quivering.”
Hedrick also credits Caldwell for all of his help and the networking that has enabled him to get his name out.
“He has really put the right people around me to be successful,” Hedrick said.
Regardless of where his music career takes him, Hedrick doesn’t foresee himself not performing at area churches and nursing homes. He always wants to remember his roots.
Hedrick’s father preached and his mother sang. They bought Hedrick his first guitar at age 8 and he also learned piano from his mom, who died when he was 13. At the pressing of his wife, in 2007 Hedrick returned to church where he was inspired to sing country gospel throughout the community.
“Whether I’m using my talents on stage with the NFL or in a nursing home, I don’t see myself forgetting where I came from,” he said.
“I want to stay true to who I am,” he added. “They say I bless them, but they are a blessing to me. …When I play, the songs help them come alive and for a few moments they are not in a wheelchair, they are not sick. It blesses me.”
In the coming year he hopes to add more songs to his CD, continue to get his message out and make more music videos.
“I’m excited about 2015,” he said.