Nashville Music Association 1996 Country Music Challenge

The Nashville Entertainment Association (NeA) is preparing to kick off a three-month-long nationwide talent search to find the best country music performers in the United States. The NeA Country Challenge, which premiers for the first time in 1996, will showcase the top five developing acts in the country at a prominent Nashville venue on Thursday, September 19. The winner of the event, which will be attended by leading record industry executives, will receive an all-expenses-paid professional demo recording session from Columbia Records.
"A committee of Music Row professionals is already hard at work putting together one of the most important projects in the NeA's 16-year history," said Ted Hacker, co-chair of the Country Challenge and president of the Nashville-based International Artist Management (Diamond Rio). "The competition is designed to present the nation's top unsigned country acts to members of Nashville's recording community. We're expecting hundreds of performers to compete for the opportunity to come to Music City U.S.A. this fall."
The 2,000-member music and visual arts organization will distribute applications to potential participants in late May. Top record company executives will evaluate the materials and attend auditions across the nation in June, July and August. The top five finalists (showcasees) will be announced on Monday, August 26. The showcase will be emceed by noted TV personality Katie Haas, a host of TNN: The Nashville Network's Prime Country and co-host of the Nashville Record Review, a nationally syndicated radio show. "All of the competing acts will be evaluated by the leading decision makers in the field," noted Margie Hunt, director of film and television music for Sony Records. "It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to show their stuff." A portion of the proceeds from the NeA Country Challenge will be used to benefit music and visual arts education programs in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
Aspiring country performers have until Friday, July 12 to enter the NeA Country Challenge. To be eligible, artists or groups must be unsigned (no major record label affiliations) and be able to assemble a strong supporting musical cast. They are required to submit an application form, a $25 entry fee, an audio cassette tape containing original performances of three songs, a lyric sheet for each song, a one- to two-page biography, three black and white photos, and a color slide. The fee is waived for NeA members. To invite potential participants, the NeA is launching extensive direct mail and media campaigns aimed at independent record labels, music publishers, performing rights organizations, key market radio stations, and specialized music attorneys.
For more information or to request an application for the Country Challenge, contact the NeA office by phone (615.327.4308), by e-mail (nea@isdn.net), via the World Wide Web (http://nea.net), or by mail at:
NeA Country Challenge
Nashville Entertainment Association
P.O. Box 121948
Nashville, Tennessee 37212-1948

The NeA was founded in 1980 to further growth and recognition of Nashville as a total entertainment center throughout the United States and the entire world. Other major annual events staged by the organization include the rock and pop-laced Extravaganza, the NeA/Middle Tennessee State University/Belmont University Scholarship Invitational golf tournament, and the NeA Singer/Songwriter Series.

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