The WDVX Blue Plate Special — 8/22 — Mason Cole / Stefani Morton
August 22 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Born and raised in Shelby, North Carolina, Mason Cole’s musical journey began at age eleven with a Christmas guitar and a head full of curiosity. He spent his early days glued to YouTube, teaching himself the riffs that lit his imagination on fire. By twelve, he’d enrolled in a junior high guitar class—mostly, as he puts it, “an excuse to play guitar during school hours.” Already ahead of the curve, Mason quickly found himself drawn to something deeper: songwriting.
“I grew up riding shotgun with my dad, listening to Willie Nelson, George Jones, and Keith Whitley everywhere we went. Those were my heroes before I even knew what that meant. Later on, I discovered Americana and Red Dirt—Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers—and it was like finding a new branch of the same family tree.”
Grounded, determined, and unafraid of hard work, Mason spends his days with Simmons Structural Movers, helping his father relocate houses and mobile homes. That work ethic carried naturally into his music. At fifteen, he began crafting his first project, Lonesome Again, recorded entirely in a makeshift “poor man’s studio” he and his father built from carpet padding and insulation behind their home. Mason recorded, mixed, and mastered all fifteen original tracks himself—a testament to his drive and resourcefulness.
As his career gained momentum, Mason began sharing festival stages with artists he once looked up to from afar, including Shenandoah, Lainey Wilson, Corey Smith, and more. In 2023—during the final week of his high school career—he performed a 10-show residency at the MGM in Las Vegas, a defining showcase that highlighted his fast-rising trajectory. Later that same year, at just eighteen, he signed his first record deal with Santa Anna/Sony Music, marking a major milestone and solidifying his emergence as a standout voice in modern country and Americana.
With his band The Hellbenders, Mason Cole steps into a louder, more rock-driven chapter. The new album brings grit, energy, and a fresh edge while staying true to his roots.
Stefani Morton is a singer-songwriter, visual artist, actor, and former educator from South Carolina. Now residing in Nashville, Stefani is an active member of ASCAP, NSAI, ISSA and AMA. Her recent song releases, ‘Hey Boy’ and ‘Man Crush,’ were featured in the March/April 2024 issues of Lazie Indie Magazine. Stefani has also been featured in Canvas Rebel Magazine and Nashville Voyager. She was recently nominated for the Marquis 2024 Who’s Who Directory and has appeared in music videos for emerging pop/country artists Shaboozey and Dax. Following a near-fatal bout with sepsis in August 2023, Stefani relocated to Nashville just eight weeks later. Despite overcoming significant health challenges, including a year on crutches and canes, she performed over 100 shows in Nashville in 2024. Stefani recently underwent successful hip replacement surgery at Vanderbilt, where the infection had spread. She is fully recovered and enjoys creating art and calling Nashville home. Notably, she is a distant cousin of Patsy Cline, and her great-grandfather, Bradley, was a fiddler in the Buffalo Bill Cody Show.
Since moving to Nashville, Stefani has made notable accomplishments in the acting world. She has appeared in music videos with well-known entertainers such as Shaboozey and Dax. Her role as a widow in Dax’s Lonely Dirt Road Alonehas reached over 40 million views.
She has also been featured in films directed by Ricky Burkell, including The Freak Off and Dating My Past, now streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV, and YouTube.
In addition, Stefani has worked in commercials for companies such as Bentley Pontoons and Brookdale Senior Living Community Centers, among others.
