September 10, 2008

My assistant Liesl guest blogs, see what she has to say!

My assistant, Liesl Menning, is engaged to a very talented musician by the name of Kevin Haynie. Kevin plays guitar, banjo, and sings with country music star, Josh Turner. Josh and his band were guests on my TV show last autumn and that’s when Kevin and Liesl first laid eyes on each other. Kevin is also a songwriter, working to gain notoriety of his own and Liesl is proud to say that he’s written 3 romantic songs about her! You can hear Kevin’s music  HERE! VISIT THE ITUNES STORE!

Their wedding is scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee this September. Interestingly, the event is being filmed for a 1-hour special to be aired on the Style Network in December, and will also be featured in the upcoming winter edition of Martha Stewart Weddings. Liesl is planning a lovely, sophisticated country wedding for about 100 guests and is working hard in keeping it as ‘green’ as possible. Because it’s being held in Nashville, which is all about music, there will be several performers, including Kevin and Billy Dean. Our Chairman, Charles Koppelman, actually signed Billy Dean for his record deal – a small world! Perhaps Josh Turner will also pick up his guitar at the wedding – we all hope!!

As you can imagine, Kevin is on the road quite a bit with Josh and the other band members, and Liesl was so happy that they flew into New York City this past Monday. On Tuesday, they had 2 performances associated with the Country Music Association. They played at Le Bernardin, the acclaimed 4-star seafood restaurant, for guests of BRANDWEEK. Later, they moved venues, down town, to Joe’s Pub and were the featured performers for a sold-out songwriters’ series show, along with some legendary songwriters. Sadly, for Liesl, the band flew out on Wednesday morning, on to their next gig.

Apologies! This image gallery is no longer available.