Blackwell enlists EHS for NASH Next Competition
Stephen Blackwell performed his own song, “Small Town Livin’ Life”, as well as Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” for the faculty and students of Edgewood High School Oct. 5. Blackwell’s wife Robin was also on hand, taking pictures of the crowd and her husband.
Stephen Blackwell, currently a semifinalist in NASH Next, an artist development competition with a stated goal of “discovering and releasing music from prominent and talented newcomers," returned to his roots earlier this week by enlisting the faculty and staff of Edgewood High School to help with a video shoot for a performance of an original song entitled “Small Town Livin’ Life.”
Blackwell, who graduated from EHS and currently resides in Wills Point, entered the NASH Next competition back in June.
In an interview shortly after being selected as a semifinalist back in August, Blackwell explained how he became part of the competition. “As I was planning a trip to Nashville and booking gigs, I found the NASH Next competition. I signed up and honestly, didn't do any of the promotion in the first round, only because I saw that many signed up already have huge following, and tour fulltime in the USA and Europe. I thought it was a long shot for a teacher from East Texas. But, then about two weeks ago I received an email that, after the judges’ votes, I had made the Top 100! It has been a blast so far and I'm excited to see how far we can go!”
Over the course of the past several weeks, a series of challenges and fan votes has gradually whittled down the field of 100 semifinalists down to its current pool of 54 competitors.
“Each round has stretched me as an artist; making someone else's song sound like mine, writing jingles, taking 15 seconds to tell a story, and as each challenge has come, I've had a lot of fun in the experience. Each round, I have moved up further and further on the list, which has definitely built my confidence, but as I see 15 contestants drop each time, I would be lying if I said it didn't make me a little nervous!,” said Blackwell. “Many of the talented contestants already do music full time and tour, so that is a bit intimidating to someone that does it part time; but I'm loving every second of it! Getting my music heard has been amazing.”
