FLORENCE - On a day when country music's past - Sawyer Brown - shook hands with its present - Kellie Pickler - the genre's future was playing an acoustic show in a tent reserved for VIPs backstage.
Armed with a guitar and a handful of self-penned neo-traditional songs, Texas native Morgan Frazier entertained a small gathering of country singers and executives on the second day of Country Thunder here. Only a few of those folks were paying close attention as Frazier, 19, put a convincing twangy spin on her cover of Pistol Annies' "Hell on Heels."
But Frazier's voice, twangy and crisp, was full of the same enthusiasm we heard from Pickler moments earlier on the main stage. It cut through the stillness of the late afternoon and dared you not to stop and listen. As fans passed along the fenced-off trail separating the backstage area from the sprawling campgrounds, they stopped and listened.
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"I'm used to playing with a band so getting up there with a guitar is a lot harder," Frazier said after her hourlong VIP set.
Frazier, who will be performing today and Sunday on Country Thunder's side stage, has been performing live since she was a kid growing up in Texas. She recorded her first CD when she was 9 and sold 30,000 copies door-to-door around the region, she said.
By 13, she had a manager - who was sitting in Friday's tent show along with her big brother, Bo. At 16, She was signed to a development deal with Nashville label Curb Records that brought her to Music City. She spends her days writing songs and her weekends playing with a band at the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.
Frazier has eight songs ready to record and several others she is pitching to other singers. She goes out on the road next weekend for a series of shows with her band that will put her in front of a wider audience. And she is hoping to get into the studio soon to record her first album.
During her Country Thunder shows, she sneaks her original songs into the mix of covers. Her music leans more on country's traditional side, including her midtempo song "Hallelujah Instead," which was a highlight of Friday's VIP tent show.
Among those in the audience was Big Kenny Alphin, half of the genre-bending duo Big & Rich, which headlined Friday's festival. Big & Rich, with their posse of Muzik Mafia regulars including hick-hopper Cowboy Troy, inherited a stage well-warmed by a host of energetic crowd-pleasing artists starting with Sawyer Brown. The veteran country party band is celebrating 30 years in music, but you would never guess that based on frontman Mark Miller's performance. The man renowned for his jerky, spastic dance moves sported a smooth baritone that didn't sound the slightest bit worn with age.
Pickler, a fiercely devoted neo-traditionalist who is picking up steam on her six-year-old career, bravely marched out new material from her just-released third album "100 Proof," including the twangy "Where's Tammy Wynette" and the rollicking "Unlock That Honky Tonk."
More than 18,000 turned out for Country Thunder Friday. The festival continues today with superstar Blake Shelton.
On StarNet: Find the review of Big & Rich at Caliente's Tuned in Blog at azstarnet.com/entertainment/blogs/caliente-tuned-in/
Review
Country Thunder Friday with Big & Rich. Festival continues through Sunday in Florence. Today's headliner: Blake Shelton.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
