Aiming for Nashville
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on October 20, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Casey Sutton, Country Showdown contestant, was recently invited back home to perform as the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair emcee at the fair queen contest.
Whenever Casey Sutton is asked what she wants to do with her life, her comeback is quick -- be a rock star.
Until that happens, the 2006 graduate of Charles B. Aycock High School and then East Carolina University has paid the bills by being a teacher and is currently an account manager at Lenova. She enjoys her day job, she admits.
"But still not as a good as a rock star," she says with a laugh.
Now living in Raleigh, she also fronts a band, 50 Shades of Blues, and has released her first EP (extended play album) of four original songs she wrote. She was recently invited home to perform at Wayne Regional Agriculture Fair and also emcee the fair queen contest.
The 27-year-old daughter of Rick and Karen Sutton from Pikeville had her own forays in the pageant world, which included being second runner-up to queen of the fair in 2005. She was crowned Miss Durham in 2010, advancing to Top 10 to Miss North Carolina that year.
Her latest energies are focused on Country Showdown, a national country music talent search that offers a $100,000 prize and title of "Best New Artist in Country Music."
This is the 34th year for the competition, which has included such singers as Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley participating before they were stars. In the 1983 national final, Martina McBride and Neal McCoy competed but lost to the Jim Arnold Band. Other well-known acts who did not win but went on to achieve fame have included Miranda Lambert, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jason Aldean and Toby Keith.
Casey Sutton would not mind having her name on such an illustrious list, but is willing to pay her dues. In fact, this is not her first time vying for the top spot.
"I have done the competition before and I made it to the Ryman in 2014," she said. "I made the finals and got to sing at the Ryman. It was the craziest, most scariest/awesome thing ever."
In the previous contest, she made it to the Top 5.
The competition begins in the spring with 450 local contests sponsored by country music radio stations across the country. Winners compete for the $1,000 state title and advance to the regional and then state levels.
North and South Carolina are combined, with Miss Sutton winning the 2014 state preliminary before advancing and winning the regional round, pitting her against winners from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York and states in New England.
There are five regions, with the final five squaring off for the finale, which is televised.
Singing at the illustrious Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, where so many legendary country musicians have performed, had been a pipe dream until last year, she said.
"It's the holy church of country music," she said of the venue. "I love Nashville. I have been to Nashville several times but this was my first time I set foot in the Ryman.
"It was nothing like I expected. I expected, I guess, something that was really grand."
The first thing she noticed was all the memorabilia. It was when the group was taken to their dressing rooms that the reality began to sink in.
"It was the Johnny Cash dressing room," she said. "It was like, oh my gosh -- Johnny and June (Carter) were here. I grew up on (country music). My parents were in a country music band when I was growing up.
"I can't believe I'm here -- the most awestruck I have probably ever been was the walk out on the stage -- just the fact that so many incredible artists have shared that stage."
She has a powerhouse voice, but really did not start singing in public until about 12 or 13, she said.
"In true Southern fashion -- beauty pageants," she said of the impetus that spurred her to perform at her mother's prompting. "One of the first songs where I ever felt like, 'I like doing this,' was Junior Miss Goldsboro and I sang 'When the Lights Go Down' by Faith Hill. That was one of the first songs it felt like it had a meaning and a purpose."
She is faring well again in this year's Country Showdown. Her profile has steadily been in the Top 10 of those viewed on the website, countryshowdown.com, and she is readying for the next round of competition, in South Carolina on Oct. 24. Being a songwriter is in her favor, as the contest gives extra points for performing an original song.
She said she has already chosen the two songs she will perform.
"For the state round I'm going to do 'Something in the Water' by Carrie Underwood and 'One Horse Town,' (written by Miss Sutton)," she said. "I love to write but it's a singing competition and I need to make sure I'm showing off as much of my vocal range and technique as I can.
"If I were to make it to the next round I would probably do two originals to try to pick up some extra points."
Miss Sutton has her eye on the finale and knows exactly what she would do with the winnings.
"In a perfect world, there's a $100,000 prize. If I won, a large chunk would go to recording my EP -- put the money behind it and have a very professional product, hire a band," she said.
Like many other aspiring performers, the reason she is drawn to such competitions is very basic.
"So we can get experience to open other doors," she said, adding. "If it's not this year, maybe next year. I just hope it's not a long journey."