Erika Jo - 7128

✅ This product is in New/Sealed Condition.

About the Artist In the course of just a few weeks this spring, new Universal South recording artist Erika Jo put the finishing touches on her debut album, filmed her first video, released her first single, made her Grand Ole Opry debut and sat for dozens of interviews, including the "Today" show, following her April 26 win of the USA Network’s "Nashville Star" talent-competition series. She also managed to squeeze in her senior prom and her high school graduation. With her debut single, the spunky, country-rockin’ "I Break Things", already creating a buzz at radio, this petite 18-year-old, class of 2005 graduate of Wilson County High School (just east of downtown Nashville) now prepares to whip up the whirlwind even more by hitting the road in support of her brand-new self-titled Universal South album. She’ll be headlining the 2005 Nashville Star Tour with three of her former co-finalists, Jody Evans, Jason Meadows and Jayron Weaver. Erika Jo is the first female to ever win the top "Nashville Star" prize in the history of the show and its youngest contestant ever. In its third season, the show featuring Erika Jo’s big win enjoyed the highest ratings to date. Her prize package included a recording deal with Universal South, plus several other impressive stocking stuffers--like a supercharged Chevy Silverado pickup that had a bit too much muscle for an 18-year-old to handle! "I didn’t get the one they showed on the show, the black one, because I’m actually uninsurable on it," she explains. "I’ve never gotten a ticket or had a traffic accident. It had a Corvette engine, plus it was a four-by-four"– two powerhouse components frowned on by Erika Jo’s insurance company. So she worked out a trade for another Silverado that swapped some of the hoss under the hood for a few more goodies inside the crew cab. "XM satellite radio with a Bose speaker system – I’m all over that – Onstar navigation, sunroof, leather upholstery with seat warmers...," she says enthusiastically, reeling off the details. "It’s loaded!" Loaded – just like her calendar for the coming months. But Erika Jo is no stranger to a full schedule. She’s been performing for over a decade. Born Erika Jo Heriges on November 2, 1986, in Angleton, Texas, she moved to the Nashville area with dad, Bo, and mom, Paige, when she was only 18-months-old. At age four she started singing with her father’s country cover band and she was soon juggling homework with weekend performances all over the South, Midwest and East. It didn’t take long before the solo spotlight gravitated to Erika Jo and her amazing vocal abilities. By the time she auditioned for "Nashville Star" in November of 2004, five days after her 18th birthday, she already had thousands of road miles and countless hours of performance experience under her belt. But still, she says, she tried out in one of the initial 25 cattle-call "Nashville Star" auditions without a thought of actually winning. She never imagined she’d eventually be the one contestant standing after thousands of hopefuls had been eliminated, including the last rounds of ten "survivor" finalists, winnowed down one-by-one each week by TV-audience voting. "I went there thinking, ‘I just really want to hear what these people have to say,’" she says. She was hungry for the feedback from the live-audition judges, receptive to any constructive criticism they might have had to offer. "If I made the show or not, I really just wanted someone’s professional opinion." Even after she advanced to the regional "Nashville Star" competition, she continued to make plans for high school graduation and college. She even applied for admission to the prestigious school of music at Nashville’s Belmont University. Just a few weeks before she was named as one of the finalists for the televised portion of the competition, she found out she’d been accepted. "I honestly didn’t think I’d ever win the show, or that anything, really, would come out of it," she says. "College was alway
ASIN: B0009NCPT2
VSKU: COV.B0009NCPT2.N
Condition: New
Author/Artist:Erika Jo
Binding: Audio cd