Courtesy of: LexGo!
It's like the Voice, American Idol and Nashville Star with a twist. State and regional officials joined with Kentucky Country stars Tom T. Hall and Montgomery Gentry Wednesday morning to reveal the locations for the first round of the Country Music Highway Road to Fame Competition.
The contest aims to identify the next country music star to come out of the area around U.S. 23, which has produced stars such as Loretta Lynn, The Judds and Dwight Yoakam. That legacy earned the road the designation of theCountry Music Highwayby the Kentucky State Legislature in 1994.
In a video greeting, Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, whose current hit is Where I Come From, lamented that opportunities for aspiring artists to sharpen their skills in area clubs and other venues weren’t as prevalent as they once were.
“A lot of those clubs moved to line dancing which pushed a lot of those musicians and entertainers and bands out,” Gentry said. “We support the Country Music Highway Road to Fame, and you should too.”
The American Idol-style competition will begin with four preliminary rounds in the middle of March. The locations are:
1 p.m. March 15:ExpoCenterballroom,126 Main St., Pikeville
1 p.m. March. 16:MountainArtsCenterband room,50 Hal Rogers Drive, Prestonsburg
10 a.m. March 17:ParamountArtsCenter,1300 Winchester Avenue,Ashland
1 p.m March 18: Sipp Theater,336 Main Street, Paintsville
The competition is open to people ages 13-35 who grew up in the 15 counties surrounding U.S. 23 (Letcher, Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Lawrence, Boyd, Greenup, Harlan, Perry, Knott, Magoffin, Morgan, Elliott, Carter and Lewis counties). Registration for each of the preliminary rounds will begin two hours prior to the start time.
Posted: 7:50am on Feb 17, 2012; Modified: 7:53am on Feb 17, 2012
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