Sunday 7:30 p.m. EST Beginning January 1, 2012 Repeats Thursday 6:30 p.m. EST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - NASHVILLE, Tenn. - (December 16, 2011) – The country-music television show “Virginia Dreams Center Stage” features a mix of local Virginia performers and a host of Nashville stars. The weekly 30-minute television show on RFD-TV includes performances spanning a wide variety of music: country, gospel, bluegrass and original music inspired by positive, upbeat rhythms.

Founders Nelson and Rose Swartz wanted to bring Nashville’s local radio and live music performances to living rooms across the country so they began a televised journey in 2008, featuring a mix of performers such as Larry Stephenson, Ronnie Reno, Buddy Jewell, Janie Fricke, T. Graham Brown, Linda Davis, Helen Cornelius, Ricochet and many regional stars such as Tim Spears and Lisa Meadows.
Virginia Dreams Center Stage 2012 series includes a variety of Nashville performers and a host of stars along with the show’s regular cast, which includes Lisa Meadows, Tim Spears and Emma Leigh.

Meadows’ music consists of classic country, including covers of Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Connie Smith hits. Her last two CDs showcase her talents in both classic country and gospel.

Spears, the male vocalist on the show, has been performing since the age of 12. He writes, produces and sings all original music. He has worked with underprivileged children at Christmas for the last 30-years and the “Tim Spears Christmas Fund” has raised more than $300,000 to provide Christmas gifts for local children.
Leigh’s voice is beyond her years. She is a 14-year-old country performer who has traveled the world building a career as big as any teenager could imagine.

Tim Spears and Lisa Meadows both co-host the program and will be introducing 2012 guest performers such as Collin Raye, Ronnie McDowell and Michael Twitty.

“Nelson and I are proud to sponsor this program in order to bring Nashville music to everyone,” said Rose Swartz, co-founder of Virginia Dreams Center Stage. Nelson and Rose Swartz, owners of the Harrisonburg, VA. Auto Mall, are not new to the country-music scene. Nelson’s mother, Naomi McDorman Swartz, played guitar and harmonica throughout Nelson’s life and Nelson admits, she was one of his greatest influences in his life. Rose grew up with a father who was a lead guitarist for many bands and later directed country-music bands in the Shenandoah Valley for years.

Media Contact:
Deb Hermann, RFD-TV, Corporate Communications Director
deb@rfdtv.com (402.779.8111)
Tim Spears, Virginia Dreams Center Stage
spears@timspears.com (540.910.9976)



Launched in December 2000 and now in its 10th year of broadcasting, RFD-TV is the nation’s first 24-hour television channel dedicated to servicing the needs and interests of rural America with programming focused on agriculture, equine and rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment. The channel is now distributed into more than 41 million homes worldwide by DBS and cable systems including DISH Network (231), DIRECTV® (345), Comcastie on TeeJay, Verizon FiOS TV (247), Mediacom, Charter, Optimum, Brighthouse, Suddenlink, Time Warner, Cox, and more than 600 independent rural cable systems. Production originates in studios located in Nashville, Tennessee, for RFD-TV, RFD HD, and RURAL TV, the company’s new international channel. RFD-TV The Magazine now has more than 180,000 paid subscribers for its bi-monthly publication, and the company continues to operate “RFD-TV The Theatre” in Branson, Missouri. For more information, visit www.rfdtv.com.