by Ashlyn Gerbaz

How did you become interested in music?

“I’ve been interested in music since I was a little girl. I started singing the National Anthem at rodeos when I was little cause I was a farm kid… so it started from singing the National Anthem really.”

Did you ever take any lessons to help your singing? Were you in choir?

“I did take voice lessons as a kid off and on for years, and then I was in my church choir but I never did choir in school or anything. It just didn’t fit me well.”

When did you start performing? How did you find venues?

“I started performing when I was about 12 years old. And then my mom found this guy that was putting together a benefit concert for our local hospice center… he came out to watch me sing and was really interested in what he heard. He helped a lot both with writing me songs and booking me places. Now I’ve started doing it myself and trying to book places myself.”

What has been your favorite venue?

“The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee.”

Have you written your own music?

“Yes, I started from the time my dad died when I was 6. I wrote poetry to help and I’d put music to it in my head… and then my songwriting really took off when I started playing guitar. My guitar playing helped my songwriting, and my songwriting helped my guitar playing.”

How did you learn about the National Anthem contest?

“A friend of mine who is a member of the cattle industry convention sent it to me, they knew about the contest through their magazine. They suggested that I do it and we got my entry in last minute.”

What was your reaction to the support you received throughout the competition?

“I was amazed, I’m really shy and feel bad asking people to vote. But when I did ask people to share it was amazing to see me sorority sisters, family, friends, and people I don’t know sharing it. Then I went out to the mall and asked random people to vote for me, and there was a couple of times when I didn’t know the person and they’d say ‘oh yeah I’m already voting!’ It’s really cool it spread so much more than I could ever expected it to.”

Is there anything you learned from doing the National Anthem contest?

“I’ve been doing contests for a long time so I’ve trained myself to hope for the best and accept not winning. It was really cool, just the experience and getting the exposure from getting people vote. It wasn’t really great and it’s just another learning experience.”

What’s your next step with your music?

“Of course, I’m playing all the time around town, but I have a bunch of concerts coming up. One next spring where I’m going to be doing a tribute to classic country music with a fully acoustic choir behind me. And hopefully getting my album done by next year.”