Three finalists from the 2015 Country Showdown KHTS AM-1220 local competition will be performing as the opening act to Marie Wise-Hawkins at the Santa Clarita Concerts in the Park on Saturday, July 18.

Kylie Mac, Suzanne Harper and Jarett James were chosen out of nine contestants who competed Saturday, June 27 at the KHTS AM-1220 local competition held at the Keyboard Galleria Music Center in Santa Clarita.

Santa Clarita Concerts in the Park starts at 7:00 p.m. and runs from July 11 – Aug. 29, 2015.

One of the three will be chosen at the Santa Clarita Concerts in the Park on July 18 to compete at the National level competition at Knott’s Berry Farm on Saturday, August 8.

National winners will then go to the Western Regional finals in Oregon later in the fall.

The winner from the Western Regional finals will then go to the national championship at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

Contestants will be one of five national finalists competing for the grand prize of $100,000 and the title “Best New Act in Country Music.”

About Suzanne Harper

Suzanne Harper competed in the Country Showdown two years ago and made it all the way to the finals in Nashville, Tennessee where she came in second place.

Harper is from San Diego and was born and raised there as well. San Diego is about two and a half hours south of Santa Clarita.

Other than the Country Showdown, Harper also performed with Sugarland in front of about 15,000 people.

Suzanne Harper plays guitar and sings and also has a full band which include her husband, Ross Harper who plays the banjo and the mandolin, her brother-in-law John Harper who is the drummer, her son Eric Bird who plays the electric guitar and Marsha Staub who is the bass player.

Harper is “super excited” to play at the Santa Clarita Concerts in Park as the opening act to Marie Wise-Hawkins. The two met the first year Harper competed and have been distant friends ever since.

About Jarett James

Jarett James has been performing for about five years and this is his first time competing in the Country Showdown.

He is not from Santa Clarita, he was born and raised in Wrightwood and still lives there. Wrightwood is about an hour east of Santa Clarita.

James is also an auctioneer on the side and travels across California, which is how he found out about the KHTS AM-1220 local competition.

He performed his original song “Country Lovin’” at the local competition as well as a cover of “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.”

James is very excited to be playing at the Santa Clarita Concerts in the Park, but is also a little nervous. His band has been together for about three months and they have never done a show together.

James is the singer of the band, Mark Eshelman is the bass player and Gabe Beadel is the drummer.

About Kylie Mac

Kylie Mac is only 17 and this is her first time competing in the Country Showdown.

Kylie isn’t a resident of Santa Clarita, her dad is in the Air Force and her family is currently stationed Vandenberg, which is about two and half hours north of Santa Clarita.

Kylie’s band members are active in the Air Force and were called away prior to the Country Showdown so they are not able to compete with her. “I was worried that not having a band would hurt my chances,” said Kylie.

She performed her first original song “Lonely Over You” at the local competition as well as a cover of “One Hell of an Amen.”

This is not the first time Kylie has sang in front of thousands of people. She sang the national anthem at a Daughtry concert about two years ago in front of about 10,000 people

She also sang at the Elks Rodeo in front of about 10,000 people as well.

Kylie said she was “really, really excited” and “ecstatic” to perform at the Santa Clarita Concerts in the Park.

Past participants include Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, Billy Ray Cyrus, LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson & hundreds more. The Country Showdown helped jumpstart their dreams.

The 2015 KHTS Country Showdown local competition is sponsored by Reeves Complete Auto Service andKeyboard Galleria Music Center.