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Local band looks to jolt music scene
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James Clark
Updated: Feb 7, 2015, 6:40 PM
Published: Feb 7, 2015, 7:44 PM

The hard-rocking band Sleep Nation has caught the attention of at least one executive in the music industry.
Tropic Heat Studios CEO Gigi de Lugo is working with the McMinnville-based group on a West Coast tour as Sleep Nation looks to perform outside Tennessee.
“I haven’t heard a new band like this in a while,” said de Lugo, who was in McMinnville on Saturday night to hear Sleep Nation perform at Collins River BBQ. “I’ve waited my whole life and 25 years in the music industry to discover a band this good.”
Sleep Nation includes founding members Bran Merritt on vocals and guitar, and Justin Swingler on drums. They first started playing together in 2010. Guitarist Seth Bouldin and bass player Garrett Roper were added last year.
Sleep Nation has a five-song EP it sells at shows and the band recently produced a music video for its original song “I Want You Back,” which can be seen on YouTube. The song has gotten considerable radio play on 102.9 FM on its “Local Buzz” program and made the Nashville station’s top 25 list of Tennessee songs for 2014.
“The video is online and it’s really gotten a lot of feedback,” said Merritt. “We worked with the Nashville Film Institute and used a Western setting. Parts of it were filmed at Warren County Fairgrounds.”
De Lugo said it was during a late-night music search when she first heard Sleep Nation.
“It was midnight and I was online from my Nashville farm and this music came pouring out of my speakers igniting my soul,” said de Lugo. “I immediately searched for every bit of Sleep Nation music I could find online and just kept it all looping for four non-stop hours. It absolutely blew me away. The following morning I was on a mission determined to get in touch with the band and start sharing their music.”
Merritt said the band’s performance schedule will pick up once the weather starts to get warmer. He says Sleep Nation will play four or five times a month in the summer and is looking to expand outside of Tennessee with the help de Lugo.
“A West Coast tour is something we’re looking at later this year,” said Merritt. “We take our music very seriously and if something more comes from this we’ll be happy if it happens.”
Sleep Nation members have a variety of musical influences. Merritt says he’s a big Phil Collins fan, while Bouldin likes Queen. Swingler likes Blink 182, while Roper likes the band Bush.
“It’s funny how we can agree on things,” said Merritt, who first picked up a guitar at 14 and taught himself to play.
Among the band’s fans are actor Santiago Cirilo, who plays Julio in the TV show “The Walking Dead.” Cirilo was in McMinnville on Saturday to see the Sleep Nation show.
I never thought an actor of this caliber would be rocking out to Sleep Nation,” said Merritt.
De Lugo believes Sleep Nation has what it takes to succeed in the highly competitive music industry.
 “These days it's more challenging than ever to impress music industry professionals,” she said. “There's a lot of white noise, not a lot of substance out there. These guys are writing and developing all their own songs and dedicated them-selves to the art of that, not the five minutes of fame. I want to hear music by a new band I can imagine will still be tour-ing 25 years from now like some of my generation's legends, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, The Eagles, Aerosmith. Those are artists."
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community