Belk Announces Southern Musician Showcase Semi-Finalists
Musicians to perform in regional auditions
CHARLOTTE, N.C., February 13, 2014 – Belk today announced the semi-finalists for the company’s 2014 Southern Musician Showcase. Chosen from more than 2,000 submissions, the 33 semi-finalists will now perform at live auditions in Live Nation venues in Atlanta, Nashville, Austin and New Orleans. Winners of those auditions will move on to a final competition in Charlotte at the end of March.
“We were very pleased with the response we received from musicians from across the country,” says Jon Pollack, Belk’s executive vice president of marketing, sales promotion and eCommerce. “We’re looking forward to seeing all the semi-finalists perform. The Showcase is giving Belk the opportunity to highlight musicians from the South or influenced by the South, and to give them the opportunity of a lifetime.”
The Showcase winners will receive a cash prize as well as an opportunity to perform at a Belk sponsored/Live Nation amphitheater in Dallas, Birmingham, Raleigh, Atlanta or Charlotte. Other prizes include a performance wardrobe and stylist provided by Belk, and an opportunity for the artist’s song(s) to be featured in a Belk television commercial.
Southern Musician Showcase Semi-Finalists
Genre: Pop Country
Courtney Dickinson: Acworth, GA
Savanna Smallwood: Florence, AL
Megan Fowler: Butler, GA
Emily Lynch: Greer, SC
Shannon Selig: Nashville, TN
Kaylee Rutland: Dallas, TX
Casey Weston: Nashville, TN
2Steel Girls: Nashville, TN
Rachel Hale: Nashville, TN
The Charlie Rogers Band: Nashville, TN
Brandon Chase: Arlington, TX
The Gillis Silo: Baton Rouge, LA
Blane Howard: Nashville, TN
Misty Rae Carson: Franklin, TN
Dixie Still: Bessemer City, NC
Genre: Americana
Stuart McNair: Asheville, NC
India Ramey: Birmingham, AL
Surviving Allison: Corinth, MS
Dallas Wesley: Greenville, SC
Lindsey Williams: Henderson, KY
The Colton and Zara Band: Independence, KS
The Christian Lopez Band: Martinsburg, WV
Emily Hackett: Nashville, TN
Tenasie: Nashville, TN
Dannica Lowery: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Genre: Bluegrass
Steph Stewart and the Boyfriends: Carrboro, NC
Laney Jones: Mount Dora, FL
Sara Beth: Spring Hill, TN
Genre: Blues
Jackie Venson: Austin, TX
Silas Feemster: Beaumont, TX
The Blues Buckets: Fredericksburg, VA
Genre: Jazz
Gabbie McGee: Atlanta, GA
Eugenie Jones: Bremerton, WA (originally Morgantown, WV)
The Southern Musician Showcase was open to solo artists and bands in the Americana, Pop Country, Jazz, Blues and Bluegrass genres. Contestants were asked to submit three original songs, a brief biography that details their affiliation to the South, head shots, a full length photo, and a video.
About Belk, Inc.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, Inc. (www.belk.com) is the nation’s largest family owned and operated department store company with more than 300 Belk stores located in 16 Southern states and a growing digital presence. Founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, N.C., the company is in the third generation of Belk family leadership and has been committed to community involvement since its inception. Each year, Belk gives 2.5 percent of its pretax income back to the communities it serves. In the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2013, the company and its associates, customers and vendors, donated more than $19 million to those communities.
SOURCE: Belk, Inc.