Sweet Mischief, winner of the 2017 KHTS Country Showdown, came up just shy of a shot at the grand championships in Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday.

While it was tough to come up short of the goal, the band felt “empowered” by the experience, said Micah Justice, a member of Sweet Mischief. (Click here for the band’s website.)

“We got to work with all the people from the radio station,” Justice said, “And the fact that we heard our voices on the radio was incredible — it was a really great learning opportunity.”

Country Showdown officials have yet to announce the formal results of Saturday’s contest.

The winner of the national competition receives $100,000 in prize money and the title of “Best New Act in Country Music” for 2017. The winner also has a chance to record an EP in a professional studio session.

Related story: 2017 KHTS Country Showdown Winner Sweet Mischief To Play In Semifinals

While they didn’t advance, the competitive experience was definitely a confidence builder, as well, Justice said, making the band realize that — based on the feedback they received — they certainly belonged in the competition.

“The feedback we got from the audience…” Justice added. “Strangers were coming up to us all night and saying, ‘We loved you guys,’ ‘you had our vote’ and ‘where can we get your music’ — they really liked our original song.”

This is the sixth year that KHTS AM-1220 competed in the contest.

Related story: Sweet Mischief To Represent KHTS In Country Showdown Regional Competition

Sweet Mischief won the KHTS local competition, and then won the SBVC Battle of the Bands, a regional competition, earlier this month.

Over the past five years, KHTS has competed against 450 other radio stations, and sent four contestants to the finals in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2012, the first KHTS contestant, Poor Man’s Poison, made it to the final competition. KHTS’ 2014 entry, Marie Wise-Hawkins, also made it to the national finals in her year. And in both 2013 and 2015, Suzanne Harper made it to the finals, taking second place in 2015.

Last year, Santa Clarita’s Savannah Burrows competed up to the regional competition.

“The showdown has brought incredible talent to Santa Clarita,” Goldman said. “And we’re just the first stage of the national contest.”

For Sweet Mischief, band members sounded like Saturday’s setback looks to be a minor speed bump on what they know is a long road to the top.

“I think the biggest takeaway for me personally, is we’re gonna have to make sacrifices and you’re going to have to win some to lose some,” Justice said, mentioning the long ride back to Southern California from Raton, New Mexico, where the semifinals were held. “But this is just the beginning.”

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