FROM LOCAL STAGES TO THE OPEN ROAD
Country Road Entertainment is an independent Country Music and lifestyle media brand built around artists, live Music , original storytelling and the road between them.
What began as a grassroots effort to help Arizona Country Music fans find local shows grew into artist interviews, photography, video production, live coverage, original programming, travel stories, Country Music news and independent artist discovery.
AN IDEA BORN FROM THE LOCAL Music SCENE
The idea that would become Country Road Entertainment began taking shape in 2016 while founder Eddie Smith was living in Chandler, Arizona.
The problem was simple: talented country artists were performing throughout the Phoenix area, but information about who was playing, where they were playing and when they were taking the stage was scattered across social media, venue pages and individual artist accounts.
Eddie began organizing that information for local fans. The concept quickly grew beyond show listings as cameras started going into the venues and the artists themselves became the story.
In 2017, Country Road Entertainment officially emerged as an independent media brand focused on the local Country Music community.
THE CAMERA CHANGED EVERYTHING
CRE began visiting country venues around the Valley, capturing performances, photographing artists and sharing stories from the local scene.
Early coverage included artists and performances at places such as Bourbon Jacks Bar & Grill in Chandler, while the growing platform created new opportunities to promote musicians beyond a simple event listing.
The mission was already becoming clear: help artists get seen and give Country Music fans another place to discover them.
MORE THAN PROMOTION
CRE's early years were rooted in the Country Music community itself.
On October 7, 2017, Country Road Entertainment organized a Route 91 benefit event in Chandler following the Las Vegas shooting. The event brought artists, venues and fans together in support of those affected by the tragedy.
It became one of the earliest examples of CRE using its platform for something larger than promotion and also brought the organization outside media attention.
Founder Eddie Smith appeared on Phoenix television station 12 News / KPNX in connection with the Route 91 benefit, helping bring wider attention to the Chandler Country Music community's response.
During this period, CRE also became involved with larger entertainment and lifestyle events, including work connected with Cowboy Lifestyle Network and Coors Light during NASCAR weekend in Arizona.
INSIDE STUDIO CRE
As artist coverage expanded, CRE began moving beyond performance footage and promotional clips.
Inside Studio CRE created a space for longer conversations where musicians could talk about their careers, their Music , the realities of the industry and the stories that audiences rarely hear from the stage.
Guests over the years have included Scott Haggard, Nathan Dean & The Damn Band , Kayla Boston and numerous independent artists from the regional Country Music community.
The program became one of CRE's signature original productions, alongside live streams, artist features and an expanding video archive.
FROM COVERAGE TO STORYTELLING
By 2018, the style of Country Road Entertainment was changing.
CRE began moving away from strictly promotional coverage and toward a more personal vlog-style approach. The cameras stayed on before and after the show. Behind-the-scenes moments became part of the story. Viewers were invited to come along rather than simply watch from a distance.
That evolution expanded what CRE could cover and laid the groundwork for the travel and road content that would follow.
CRE & 94.1 KRDE THE RIDE
In May 2020, Country Road Entertainment announced a partnership with Arizona country radio station 94.1 KRDE The Ride.
The relationship brought together CRE's digital and on-the-ground artist coverage with KRDE's established country radio presence and a shared support for Arizona's local live Music community.
The partnership was created to broaden the reach of both organizations within the regional Country Music scene and became another milestone in CRE's growth from a grassroots local resource into a broader independent media brand.
ARIZONA, TEXAS AND THE ROAD BETWEEN
Country Music remained at the center of CRE, but the world around the Music became part of the coverage too.
Road trips, small towns, western culture, regional landmarks, independent artists, restaurants, festivals and life between destinations became natural extensions of the brand.
In August 2022, Eddie officially became a Texan, opening another chapter in both his life and the story of Country Road Entertainment . Texas strengthened an already deep connection to Country Music , western culture and life on the road while giving CRE another place to call home alongside Arizona.
Later in 2022, CRE entered its most literal road chapter as Eddie began traveling by RV while continuing to work, create videos and promote Country Music . The operation became increasingly mobile, with the journey itself becoming part of the content.
From Arizona to Texas and across the highways in between, Music , travel, behind-the-scenes moments and everyday life began coming together under one evolving CRE story.
ONE BRAND. MORE WAYS TO TELL THE STORY.
Artist Coverage
Photography, interviews, performances, artist spotlights and stories centered on the people making the music.
Original Video
Live music, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, long-form video and archived CRE productions.
Country Music News
News, artist updates, history, conversation starters and original editorial content for country music fans.
The Road
Travel stories, western culture, road trips, destinations and the places discovered between the shows.
CRE RISING 25
CRE Rising 25 continues one of the ideas that has been part of Country Road Entertainment from the beginning: discovering artists before everyone else does.
The weekly feature highlights emerging U.S. country artists using signals from streaming, social media, audience growth, live performance activity and momentum around their music.
Artists can graduate from the Rising 25 as their careers move beyond the emerging stage, making room for the next group of musicians beginning to break through.
FROM THE CRE VAULT
Years of interviews, performances, road footage and behind-the-scenes moments have created an archive that documents multiple eras of Country Road Entertainment and the artists who crossed its path.
From the CRE Vault brings those stories back into view, preserving moments that might otherwise disappear into old social feeds and video libraries.
EDDIE SMITH
Eddie Smith is the founder of Country Road Entertainment.
Born in New Jersey and raised largely in rural Holland Township, Eddie's connection to country music began long before CRE. Some of his earliest memories of the genre came from riding with his father, a Marine veteran and longtime truck driver, while listening to artists including George Strait, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, The Oak Ridge Boys and Waylon Jennings.
His family moved to Arizona in 1992, and the Southwest would eventually become the place where Country Road Entertainment was created.
Eddie brought a long background in technology together with photography, video, web publishing and a growing involvement in Arizona's country music community.
In August 2022, Eddie officially became a Texan, beginning another chapter shaped by country music, western culture and life on the road.
What started as an attempt to answer a simple question — Who's playing tonight? — became years of documenting artists, preserving stories and building an independent country music media brand.
THE STORY BEYOND CRE
As Country Road Entertainment grew, the story also began appearing outside CRE's own platforms through television, radio partnerships, interviews, publications and third-party media coverage.
VoyagePhoenix
VoyagePhoenix featured Eddie Smith in an in-depth interview exploring his background, the beginnings of Country Road Entertainment and the evolution of CRE from a local Arizona country music resource into artist interviews, video, promotion and original media.
12 News / KPNX
Eddie appeared on Phoenix television station 12 News / KPNX in connection with the October 2017 Route 91 benefit organized in Chandler, during one of the earliest major community events associated with Country Road Entertainment.
94.1 KRDE The Ride
In May 2020, CRE announced a partnership with 94.1 KRDE The Ride, connecting the brand's digital, artist and live-music coverage with an established Arizona country radio presence.
Country Road Entertainment is continuing to document and preserve additional television appearances, radio partnerships, magazine features, interviews, news stories and third-party coverage from throughout its history.
CRE THROUGH THE YEARS
A grassroots effort begins to organize local country music shows around the Phoenix area.
CRE officially launches and expands into photography, artist coverage and live music video.
CRE organizes a Chandler benefit following the Route 91 tragedy, drawing community participation and local media attention.
Behind-the-scenes storytelling and a more personal video format become part of the brand.
Long-form artist conversations become one of CRE's signature original productions.
CRE announces a partnership with Arizona country radio station 94.1 KRDE The Ride, expanding its connection to the regional live-music and country radio community.
Eddie officially becomes a Texan as Texas joins Arizona as another important chapter in the continuing CRE story.
RV travel expands the brand beyond a single region, combining country music, travel, small-town stories and behind-the-scenes life on the road.
Country music news, original video, artist discovery, CRE Rising 25, archived programming and the road come together under one evolving brand.
Country Road Entertainment is an independent media brand and is not affiliated with the television network Country Road TV.
HELPING ARTISTS GET SEEN.
HELPING FANS DISCOVER WHAT'S NEXT.
The platforms have changed. The cameras have changed. The road has gotten longer. The reason for doing it has stayed remarkably close to where it started.
Find the music. Tell the story. Bring people along for the ride.
