Local Finals Of The Texaco Country Showdown Held At Concerts In The Park

Posted by: KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 in Santa Clarita News July 17, 2013 - 1:34 pm 0 190 Views

The Texaco Country Showdown local finals took place this past weekend at Concerts in the Park.

The Texaco Country Showdown is the largest and longest running country music talent search in America. Each year thousands of artists compete across the country to become the next country music star. Bands are sponsored by local radio stations and advance to State and Regional finals before advancing to the National Finals at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. The artist who wins at the National Finals will take home $100,000 and the title “Best New Act in Country Music.”

Poor Man’s Poison headlined at Concerts in the Park this past Saturday. They were the winners of last year’s Texaco Country Showdown after starting in Santa Clarita with KHTS as their sponsor.

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Suzanne Harper, Bourbon County, and Marie Wise-Hawkins and Band performed as this year’s Texaco Country Showdown contestants from the Santa Clarita Valley. They competed to be the local finalist at the City of Santa Clarita’s Concerts in the Park series this past Saturday. T.Katz, Dennis Weber, and Dustin Medeiros of Poor Man’s Poison judged the finalists.

Suzanne Harper won the local round and will be advancing to the State Finals at Knott’s Berry Farm on Saturday, August 17 at 7 P.M.

Harper is a San Diego native and has grown up playing the guitar and singing, finding her niche in country music. However, she does have a wide range of songs in multiple different genres including pop, country, and rock.

She has been a fan of the Texaco Country Showdown and said, “I can’t believe I get to advance in this competition, I’ve always wanted to enter it and now I’m kind of pinching myself that I get to. It means a lot, it’s a chance for me to continue my career.”

Bourbon County performed second and is known for their rock and roll style of country. With several of the band members having rockstars for fathers, the boys grew up on the road, knowing that music was what they wanted to get into.

“Our attempt at country seems pretty rocking,” claims Tyler Kershaw who also explained how they became a country band as they “stumbled across it on accident, tried it, and loved it.”

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Marie Wise-Hawkins and Band are from the Santa Clarita Valley and continue to give back to the community by performing for non-profit organizations. She has performed at many locations and received awards from across the country.

Wise-Hawkins said that the band is “thankful for what we have and being able to give our love of music back to others is very meaningful.

All performers seemed to rock the stage and were excited to perform and compete in the local finals.

To continue showing support for Suzanne Harper, be sure to come out to Knott’s Berry Farm on Saturday, August 17 and watch her compete at the California State Finals.