Black River Entertainment held an event last week that mixed the worlds of country music and professional hockey. The event was co-hosted by Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of Black River Entertainment and the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, along with Kim Pegula’s brother and Black River CEO Gordon Kerr. The night was a chance for country music industry tastemakers to mix and mingle with players from the Buffalo Sabres and Black River Entertainment recording artists Kellie Pickler, Craig Morgan and Kelsea Ballerini.
Black River Entertainment and its studios at Sound Stage set the stage for the event as the entire property was transformed to give attendees an authentic Nashville VIP experience. Upon entry in Sound Stage Studios, guests were greeted with catering from Edley’s Bar-B-Que and Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant. Guest were then encouraged to venture upstairs to Black River Entertainment’s publishing wing and try their hand a being a recording artist by laying down a track in the writer’s studio. After guests made their rounds in Sound Stage, the next stop was Ronnie’s Place legendary recording studio were able to sample Tennessee Whiskey, in the Jack Daniel’s room.
The night wrapped in a pickin’ party, complete with bonfire, s’mores and music provided by Black River Entertainment recording artist Kelsea Ballerini, Passport Records’ Brassfield Aly, Black River Publishing’s Josh Kerr and even a few Sabres players jumped in. The evening’s integration of music and sports reiterated the “We Are Entertainment” theme presented at the 2014 Black River Entertainment CRS luncheon.
The Sabres players and coaches in attendance are no strangers to country music. The team, in Nashville last week for a game with the Nashville Predators, last month hosted “UnPucked,” a night of music and hockey at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. The charitable event, with all proceeds going to the Buffalo Sabres Foundation, featured a writers’ round with hit songwriters David Lee Murphy (singer/songwriter who has written multiple top 40 hits by artists such as Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean and Jake Owen), Black River’s Doug Johnson (Lee Brice), Tony Arata (Garth Brooks) and Jim Peterik. Sabres players also entertained the crowd as they joined Black River Entertainment’s John King on stage during his performance.
(Photo Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
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