Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ ABC Music) - Australian country singer Jasmine Rae is making her first trip to Nashville after winning the 2008 Telstra Road to Tamworth talent competition. As winner of the Grand Final, Rae earned a recording deal with ABC
Music and a trip to the U.S., where she is completing her debut album with producers Richard Landis and Mark Moffatt. She will also appear at this year's CMA Festival, including appearances on the River Stages and at the CMA Global Artist Showcase on June 2.
"Winning the Telstra Road to Tamworth is an incredible dream," Rae says. "I'm now working with some of the best people in the business as both a performer and songwriter."
The first single, "Country Girl," was recorded in March in Sydney, Australia with veteran producer Landis (Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers, Neil Diamond). Rae will enter the studio in Nashville after her CMA performances to finish up the project with Moffatt.
A self-professed Country Music Channel junkie, the diminutive Rae started singing professionally at age sixteen. As lead singer of alternative-country band Jazz Lazzo in 2007, Rae began writing songs, several of which appear on her debut album. Included is "Country Girl," which she performed at the Telstra Road to Tamworth Grand Final performance in January.
"No genres stay the same," Rae says. "People need to see that country is moving forward, just like every other genre. You've got rock, pop, country rock and country pop."
The Telstra Road to Tamworth is a talent competition and music festival held in the city of Tamworth, New South Wales in Australia. It is one of the largest country music festivals in the Southern hemisphere, welcoming over 50,000 visitors each January and offering more than 2,000 events in a huge 10-day celebration of country music.
"The Telstra Road to Tamworth competition is a unique partnership between the CMA and Australia's largest telco, Telstra," says Greg Swain, National Sponsorship Manager for Telstra. "It gives people across Australia the opportunity to realize their aspirations and supports and guides them in their professional music development. It clearly demonstrates the global footprint of the CMA."
Rae joins a formidable crop of Australian talent at this year's Global Events. Fellow twenty-year-old Shea Fisher and Australian Country Music Award winner Troy Cassar-Daley will perform at the Global Artist Party, while Adam Harvey, Jetty Road, Tracy Lee Killeen, Felicity Urquhart and Mark Wells will represent Australia at AristoMedia's Global Showcase, which kicks off this year's CMA Festival in Nashville.
