|
|
Alumna sings her way to $100,000, prestigious title |
|
|
|
Thursday, 08 February 2007 |
 Active Image | Peeler
|
by LINDSAY CRAVEN
Lifestyles Editor
An Appalachian State University alumna is now ranked with country legends such as Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks and Martina McBride.
Megan Peeler, a 2005 graduate, walked away with the title “Best New Act in Country Music” at the 25th Annual Colgate Country Showdown Jan. 25.
“They said I stood back a little bit and had to catch my breath. It was such a wonderful, wonderful feeling,” Peeler said.
Peeler graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor of music in music
therapy. Peeler is classically trained in piano, guitar and voice.
“I started taking piano lessons when I was 7,” Peeler said. “Mama kind
of suggested that I take lessons, and I hated it. And when she told me
I could quit, I decided I wanted to stick with it and finally grew to
love it.
 Active Image | Special to The Appalachian
Appalachian
alumna Megan Peeler(l), is presented a $100,000 check and trophy by
LeAnn Rimes for winning the Colgate Country Showdown Jan. 25. |
“At Appalachian, I learned a lot of techniques about song writing – a
lot more about how to make the music to accompany lyrics. The music
therapy helped me to learn how to connect with people when you are
performing,” Peeler said.
Since graduating, Peeler has worked at various hospitals, assisted
living facilities and skilled nursing homes in North Carolina and Ohio.
“I actually declared my major without fully knowing what it was. I just
knew it was something I had to do, and the more I stayed in the
program, the more I loved it,” Peeler said.
She’s also found free time to perform at Cheeseburger in Paradise in
Asheville, Howl At The Moon Piano Improvisation Bar in Cleveland, Ohio
and currently performs with the band Out of the Blue at Coyote Joe’s in
Charlotte.
“We play every week [at Coyote Joe’s], and we get to open for a lot of
big names that play there like Tracy Lawrence and Little Big Town,”
Peeler said. “It’s an amazing learning experience for me, and it’s fun.”
We were really impressed with the contestants this year, Erin Burr,
Colgate Country Showdown publicist, said. Megan did a great job with
her performance on vocals, guitar and songwriting, and I think the
audience really noticed that”, Burr said.
This year’s Colgate Country Showdown took place at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
The event was hosted by LeAnn Rimes. There were five contestants including Peeler.
Peeler won the competition with her performance of the classic hit
“Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want to Get Over You),” as made famous by
Waylon Jennings as well as an original song titled “Damsel in Distress.”
“[The song] is a true story about a man that made me feel like a damsel
in distress,” Peeler said. “He started out nice and turned out mean,
and I wrote it in hopes that people could relate to it and go back to
similar experiences in their own mind.”
All of the contestants were judged on the following criteria:
vocal/instrumental ability, originality of performance, stage
presence/charisma and talent. The judges for the event were Fletcher
Foster (senior vice president and general manager of Universal South),
Brian Mansfield (USA Today Nashville correspondent), Tracy Gershon (VP
of A&R Warner Bros. Nashville), Rod Essig (Creative Artist Agency)
and Beverly Keel (Tennessean).
“I was so honored, and it’s kind of intimidating. These were people who
really knew the business backwards and inside out so it really made me
feel good that they picked me and gave me hope for the future,” Peeler
said.
The competition begins each spring with over 450 radio stations that
suggest the best new talent in their market. These winners advance
through state and regional competitions throughout the summer and fall.
Peeler was representing WKSK 580 AM from West Jefferson.
“[Our judges] chose her for her music writing ability and her natural
talent,” Graham Caddell, operations manager at WKSK, said. “She did an
outstanding job and we were very proud of her. She was a real good
girl. She represented us well.”
The performance will be televised as a one-hour special nationwide in
April. Broadcast information will be updated as it becomes available at
www.countryshowdown.com.
The Colgate Showdown is hosted by Colgate and Palmolive.
Trackback(0)
 |
|
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments