MITCH ROSSELL BRINGING NEW MUSIC TO SONGBIRDS

Although former Chattanoogan Mitch Rossell has played Riverbend, he’s only now making his Songbirds debut when the singer-songwriter returns home Saturday, Feb. 1, with his band for a show at the Southside venue.

“I’ve presented Mitch Rossell three times at Rhythm and Brews and one other time when it was Revelry Room. So, it’s a first for Songbirds. Mitch always draws well, selling out or close to it. The area is very proud of his work with Garth Brooks,” says Mike Dougher, Songbirds entertainment coordinator.

Rossell’s collaborations with Brooks began when the country superstar invited (then) unknown Rossell to open shows on Brooks’ record-setting world tour. Sitting in the spotlight with just his guitar, Rossell won thousands of new fans in his opening act with his own material. Then, in 2017, Brooks recorded “Ask Me How I Know,” which was written by Rossell. The single reached No. 1, becoming Brooks’ first single to top the charts since 2007.

Since then Brooks has released a Rossell-penned song each year. In 2018, Rossell co-wrote “All Day Long.” It reached No. 11 on

Mitch Rossell’s newest single is “All I Need to See.”

Billboard’s Country Airplay chart.

Last year, Rossell co-wrote “Dive Bar” with Brooks and Bryan Kennedy. Brooks and Blake Shelton recorded the single, which reached No. 14

on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. “Dive Bar” was the inspiration for Brooks’ Dive Bar Tour, which played seven dive bars around the country.

Now Rossell is focusing more on his own career with new songs “All I Need to See,” “Slow as I Could” and “Two Weeks.” Although he isn’t currently working with Brooks, he hopes there may be an opportunity again down the road.

“The latest single we’ve released that we’ve been pushing since May is ‘All I Need to See,’” says the singer in an email interview.

“It’s racked up over 4 million streams and the feedback has been really great. Probably won’t be an album (released soon), but we definitely will be releasing songs. I just want them to show all the sides of who I am and what I love — from my family, to country music, to storytelling, to God, to America and everything in between that defines me.”

Rossell says he and his band are going to rock Songbirds with their high-energy show.

“I’m gonna play several new unreleased songs. It’s gonna be a good time.”

PHOTO BY ROBBY KLEIN