You are invited to an exclusive dinner featuring stories behind the men in uniform, followed by a Nashville Writers’ Round.
Live Music Entertainment
Jo Smith
Writers’ Round will feature hit songs performed by the original songwriters
Brice Long
Greg Bates
Phillip White
Honored Speaker
CW5 (Ret.) Douglas M. Englen
Chief Warrant Officer Five (Ret.) Douglas M. Englen served for over 33 years as a leader within the United States Army Special Operations Command. He first enlisted in military service in 1986 and would go on to deploy in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, eventually becoming a Warrant Officer and instructor pilot. Several years of his service were spent with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, including serving as the 160th SOAR (A) MH-47 and overall regiment standardization officer, later to become the 3rd Command Chief Warrant Officer for the United States Army Special Operations Aviation Command. CW5 Englen has logged over 7000 hours of Fixed and Rotary Wing flight time with 34 combat tours, executing over 2500 missions in support of the global war on terrorism. After retirement, he was a political candidate for State Senate in Tennessee, and now works for Bell (Textron) as a regional representative at Ft. Campbell. He also serves on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce, Crimestoppers, Aviation Maintenance schools, and Executive Committeeman for Tennessee. He’s been married to his wife, Christina, for nearly 35 years and has four children and four grandchildren. A highly decorated officer with a distinguished service medal, two Siler stars and three distinguished flying cross. His distinguished service has made invaluable contributions to the United States Army Special Operations community.
For sponsorship opportunities, please contact renee@honor.org.
Live Entertainment:
Jo Smith:
“Named one of Rolling Stone’s 10 New Artists You Need To Know in 2017 and CMT’s Next Women of Country 2018— is a soulful and gritty songwriter from south Georgia, and she makes music that is an extension of herself. A passionate storyteller, Jo remains inspired by the countless hours she spent spinning her dad’s vast collection of vinyl records as a child growing up on her family’s cattle farm.”
Writers’ Round: Biographies
Brice Long:
Brice Long, a Hopkinsville native now singing and songwriting in Nashville, is also a philanthropist himself! His Back2Back concert series helps provide the essentials to those in need in the community he was raised in. His music portfolio includes cuts with Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, Jon Pardi, Hank Williams Jr, George Strait, Randy Houser, Josh Turner, Reba McEntire, Gary Allan, Chris Young, Tracy Byrd, Randy Travis, Cody Johnson, Gretchen Wilson, John Michael Montgomery and more.
Greg Bates:
Greg Bates is a rare find these days in the music business. A Nashville native, Greg is a multi-talented songwriter, producer, singer, and guitarist with a resumé that includes songs cut by Chase Rice, Justin Moore, Montgomery Gentry, Tyler Booth, and William Michael Morgan. His time as an artist on Republic Nashville, highlighted by his Top 5 hit “Did It For the Girl”, gives Greg a perspective that few writers possess. His deep roots in traditional country music, as well as his love of hit, contemporary radio has led to amazing collaborations with some of the best young talent in Nashville today.
Phillip White:
Phillip White is a Academy of Country Music award winning and Grammy nominated songwriter and producer that has spent the last 20 plus years writing songs for some of the biggest artists in the business. George Strait, Luke Bryan, Chris Ledoux, Vince Gill,Darius Rucker, Reba, Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts, and Jake Owenare some of the artists that have recorded Phillip’s work.
Among these include the 2003 ACM Song of the Year “I’m Movin’ On”, The Theme song for Reba’s self titled hit TV show “I’m A Survivor” and Blake Shelton’s “Nobody But Me.”
Over the past couple decades he’s been published by some of music row’s most respected publishers including stops at Murrah Music, Disney, Universal, Sea Gayle, and Spirit Music.
As a performer, White has played some of the most legendary venues in the nation, including the Ryman Auditorium,The Grand Ol Opry House, The Station Inn, The Louisiana Hayride, The Bluebird Cafe, The Disney Theater, and The Florida Theater just to name a few.
Phillip has just recently signed a Publishing deal with Thrive Music Publishing and agreed to serve the company as Vice President of Creative.