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2014 KHTS Country Showdown Winner Marie Wise-Hawkins Releases New Single
Photos by Jeb Wilson, courtesy of Marie Wise-Hawkins.

2014 KHTS Country Showdown Winner Marie Wise-Hawkins Releases New Single

Marie Wise-Hawkins, a Santa Clarita native and local winner of the 2014 KHTS Country Showdown, announced the release of a brand new single from her debut self-titled EP on Friday.


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See the full collection of KHTS Feature Stories and Videos on hometownstation.com here.

“Pickup Truck,” now available on Apple Music and Spotify, is a modern country-rock song with powerhouse vocals, and aims to give listeners a message of hope during dark times.

2014 KHTS Country Showdown Winner Marie Wise-Hawkins Releases New Single

Photo by Jeb Wilson, courtesy of Marie Wise-Hawkins.

“This song reflects a point in my life where I experienced such heartache and hope was all I had,” Wise-Hawkins recalled. “I had to remind myself daily that it’s all in God’s hands.”

Written by Wise-Hawkins and Michelle Pereira, several notable musicians took part in the recording of the track at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tenn., including guitarist Derek Wells.

Related: KHTS Goes Behind The Music With Up-And-Coming SCV Artist Nathan Lindsay (VIDEO)

Wells was named Guitar Player of the Year by the Country Music Association and has worked with artists like Blake Shelton and Maren Morris.

A fast-rising star in the country music industry, Wise-Hawkins got her start in music studying classical opera at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, shocking the judges of the Macaroni Grill National Opera Sing competition when she told them she wanted to pursue a career in country music.

Wise-Hawkins took home first place in the competition and went on to become one of the top five national finalists in the 2014 Country Showdown, which landed her the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

It was during that performance that Wise-Hawkins noted she truly “found herself” as a country musician, and made the monumental decision to make the move to Nashville.

“Never settle for anything less than what you deserve,” Wise-Hawkins told her fans before the release of “Pickup Truck.” “Always have hope of much better things ahead, as you deserve all the love and happiness in the world.”

See the full collection of KHTS Feature Stories and Videos on hometownstation.com here.

KHTS Features

2014 KHTS Country Showdown Winner Marie Wise-Hawkins Releases New Single

One comment

  1. So proud of Marie!! Thank you K-Hits!

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About Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch

Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch has been writing for KHTS since Feb. 2014. She currently writes “Community Spotlight” and feature stories, and coordinates all aspects of both the”KHTS Adopt a Pet” video feature series and “Top Things to Do in Santa Clarita.” She is the creator of “KHTS Adopt a Pet” and acted as News Editor from 2019-2020, as well as Features Director and Newsroom Manager from 2016-2018. A former Valley Publications Staff Writer, Melissa was a contributor to the Santa Clarita Gazette and Canyon Country Magazine from 2015-2016. She has published feature stories with Pet Me Magazine, The Pet Press, The Signal, COC's Cougar News, and KJAMS Radio.