28/06/06 - Dreams Come True For Aussies In Nashville

By Tim Holland
Published in The Music Network, Cover date 03/07/06 #596

Observing first-hand the opportunities that Telstra Countrywide and Commercial Radio Australia presented to Nick Kingswell and Jake Nickolai by proving them with the opportunity to travel to Nashville during CMA festival time was a wonderful thrill. That, along with the opportunities that the likes of ex-pats Jeff Walker and Mark Moffatt go out their way to find for our local artists, these initiatives are helping make dreams come true for the artists on so many levels and it’s really helping get noticed and established in the biggest country market there is.

After performing at the CMA Global Artist Showcase, the festival itself and being invited to perform with Montgomery Gentry, Nick Kingswell then went into the studio to record his debut single Hope For Me Yet with producer Mark Moffatt. It was written by Radney Foster, who also wrote the Keith Urban smash, Raining On A Sunday, which appeared on his Golden Road album. Nick also performed for SONY Nashville President A&R Mark Wright and the SONY Nashville A&R department. Vice President, A&R Clay Bradley was particularly impressed with Nick saying afterwards, “Nick is a real talent with a natural ability to connect with an audience. One of the hardest things to do for a young artist is the ‘office performance’ and I thought Nick handled himself beautifully in this atmosphere. I can't wait to hear more from him.”

Nickolai was no sloach either, taking the opportunity to perform shows with the likes of Catherine Britt and Kyle Whiley before taking part in a number of media engagements and writing sessions with many of Nashville’s most talented writers.

Jake Nickolai is interviewed by Great American Country's (GAC) Kylie Harris

Managers Doug Trevor and Gil Robert actively encouraged the boys to get out there and play with as many different artists and writers as possible. I would argue that there is simply no better education for a budding artist than doing just that in a city filled with incredibly talented musicians. Both boys will come back to Australia as significantly improved musicians and that’s what a trip like that is all about. You don’t have to go to Nashville and be Keith Urban straight away (remember how long it took for him to crack it!) but if you go over there, demonstrate that you’re really serious about your career and take the opportunity to learn and discover as much as possible while you are there, the experience is a truly valuable one.

Natalie Howard, who also performed at the CMA festival, is also doing just that as she looks forward to releasing an album in the US later this year. Telstra Road To Tamworth songwriting scholarship winner, Kirsty Lee Akers didn’t hold back either, taking the opportunity to perform at the Aristomedia Showcase at Legends and anywhere else she could get a gig.

The hard work has also paid off for Melinda Schneider, who was invited to perform at the prestigious Grand Old Opry for the first time just recently.

Of course, my trip to Nashville also gave me the opportunity to see some of the region’s newest talent. I was particularly impressed with a young woman called Megan Mullins. This 18 year old redhead plays a mean fiddle and has just released her first track in the US titled, Ain’t What It Used To Be. I hope Stan Moress brings her to Australia one day because she totally rocked on the CMA Festival Riverstages. Mullins is on the Broken Bow label in the US, which is still negotiating with several bidders for a distributor locally. Ex-pat Sherrie Austin has also signed with the label, which is also the home of recent Academy of Country Music Awards’ Top New Male Talent winner Jason Aldean and Craig Morgan. I hope that the deal is done sooner rather than later so that Australian music fans can starting buying their music.

Emerson Drive were another band that really caught my attention. They have been around for quite some time in the US and seem to appeal to a very young demographic in the same way Rascal Flatts do. I guess that like the Flatts, they could be classified as the closest thing there is to a “country boy band”. But in saying that, they are by no means a manufactured act.

Shortly after the festival concluded on June 11, the CMA announced that a new attendance record of 161,590 had been set for the event. "It was an amazing event on many different levels - from the calibre of the artists and our surprise guests to our incredibly enthusiastic fans who travelled from around the globe to be here and the growing support from Nashville and our surrounding communities," said Tammy Genovese, CMA’s Chief Operating Officer. "Each year we say it and it is true again in 2006. This was the best CMA Music festival ever."