Country fans will mix with interested residents and those supporting local businesses when the Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity (SHOP) presents Connecticut's own country singer, songwriter and band leader Tat Holler - who is making his return to headline the next Celebrate Sandy Hook concert.The Newtown Bee are "hundreds of original songs" that he has been stockpiling for years.The Bee, Tat said he would be mixing a few of his own originals in with a selection drawing from the most popular top country tunes of all time. The Middletown native picked up the guitar at age 15 and immersed himself into a mix of artists that ranged from The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix to The Doors.To learn out more about Tat Holler and to listen to his music go to his page on Facebooktathollermusic.com or visit . For details on the May 14 concert and all other SHOP activities, visit the group's page on Facebook.

Tat (née Jon Wagner) will welcome Michelle Tenenbaum, Reed Intermediate School chorus and concert choir music director and a group of singers from the local music program, as both the concert's opening support, and as guests during the finale of the headline set. The show is scheduled to happen at The Village Green, 5 Glen Road in Sandy Hook, on Saturday, May 14, from 7 to 9 pm.

The event is happening rain or shine with underwriting support from signature sponsor Live Nation, 92.5 Radio, Frontier Communications, PennGlobe, and Andy Sachs - Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

According to an advance, Tat travels frequently to Nashville to write with some of the top musicians, writers, and producers in the business.

He has kept his music front and center with a growing fanbase, performing what he told

"I've been singing and playing guitar since I was old enough to stand," he stated.

Tat put a band together in 2013 to bring his music to larger venues and crowds all over the East Coast, and has happily watched his audience grow larger and larger with every show. He said he has also been working with the national concert promotions company Live Nation at Hartford's Xfinity Theater, starting in 2013 as a Hospitality/VIP Tent headliner for Luke Bryant's Dirt Road Diaries Tour. By last summer he was back to play for every show on Live Nation's Country Megaticket series.

Tat has also recorded a few of his own original songs, including "Sweet Lil' Tennessee," "Let Me See That Tattoo," "I Do," "Overdrive," "What About Us," "Let's Truck," and many more. He also completed a commercial quality music video for the hit single "Sweet Lil' Tennessee," which was created by Blackhole Films in October 2013.

In a recent interview with

"But I was also listening to southern and country acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Willie Nelson," he recounted. "Great singer-songwriters, lyric-driven classic rock - stuff that's still popular today."

Five years after taking up guitar, Tat said he began writing his own music.

"I write primarily on guitar, but sometimes I'll write a guitar riff and other times I'll just write lyrics," he said. "A lot of time it's coming up with melody lines in my head, which I'll hum into a recording app on my phone. Then when I get a chance to grab a guitar, I'll work up that riff or those lyrics into a finished song, or a piece of one."

Of the hundreds of songs he's written, Tat admits that some are good and some are bad.

"It's like a numbers game - you have to keep working and working and working," he said. "You may have to come up with a thousand bad ideas before you come up with a hit."

Until now, Tat has opted to avoid the effort and expense of creating an EP or full album, taking the virtual route of offering any published originals on download music services.

"I'd love to get a physical CD done in the near future - and right now it's tough to market yourself that way," he said. "The group Tat Holler is based around me as a singer, so I'm the sole proprietor, and the owner of the company - and all expenses fall on me. When you have a band, everyone is invested in it. This outfit is solely owned and operated by me - Jon Wagner."

Tat Holler has spent the past few summers traveling around the Northeast, but this year he's staying closer to home, venturing to an odd show in New Jersey or other markets as demand requires.

"I don't think a lot of people realize it, but Connecticut has a huge country music fan base," Tat said. "It's reflected in how often the top artists come back to play here."

Tat does travel to Nashville at least once a year to collaborate with songwriters who are immersed in the country scene, and scripted his last new tune with a member of Jason Aldean's band. He has also networked with many of the musicians supporting the major country artists out on tour, so whenever one of the acts hits Connecticut, Tat is always invited backstage to hang out, or to socialize on various tour busses bringing artists to and from local venues.

"It's great to hang out - catch up - and to talk about what I'm doing music-wise," he said. "And that way I get to catch up with a lot of my Nashville friends that I otherwise would only see once a year or so."

And he never knows when one of those contacts will expose Tat to one of the major headliners, when they hear a Tat Holler song that sounds like a good fit for someone else on the country music scene. He's also excited to be coming back to Sandy Hook, where he played a Sunday afternoon show in 2015.

"This time we have an evening show on a Saturday, so we think it will cater to a lot more fans and residents," he said. "We're just trying to build awareness of Sandy Hook, and to show them how beautiful the village area really is."

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