Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 15, 1994 TAG: 9410170025
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Singer-songwriter Kevin Dellinger of Christiansburg and vocalists Joey Trail of Hiwassee and Tabby Snider of Radford were picked from more than 70 finalists at one of the company's latest talent competitions, in Nashville in late September.
For a chance at a ten-song recording contract, each now must record two "demo" songs in the studio. A panel of judges selects the winners from the six male, six female and three singer-songwriter finalists.
The three winners also get to return to Nashville to appear on the "Rainey after Dark" cablecast with host Rainey Steele, one of the company's principals.
Dellinger and Snider reached the finals after a talent competition at the Huckleberry Inn in August. Trail got a personal audition during a performance at his church, Allisonia Pentecostal Holiness. Two other New River Valley performers who didn't make the top six - Kristina Jarrett and Cristy Bowman, both of Radford - also will get a shot on Rainey's show.
The three finalists hope for a future in music. "I've been waiting a long time for something to happen," said Dellinger, 21, who's been writing and performing for five years and describes his music as "alternative."
"It's good exposure," he said of his trip to Nashville. As a finalist in both the male vocalist and singer-songwriter categories, Dellinger has earned a couple of chances to win.
Trail - already known locally as a performer in high school and community theater productions - more recently has focused on contemporary Christian music. The 17-year-old Southwest Virginia Governor's School and Pulaski County High School student said he's concerned Silver Wing won't provide audition material he's willing to sing.
"First off, it has to be gospel or I won't do it at all. I've been blessed by God with a talent," he said, adding he "won't switch to secular [music] because it's the comfortable thing to do." Trail said he raised the hefty $500 entry fee from his church and other local sponsors.
Snider, 23, has been singing since she was a youngster. "It's all I've ever wanted to do," said Snider, who sings country and gospel. She also plays the piano and has done "a little" songwriting.
John Edman - Silver Wing's former East Coast talent scout and now one of its four directors - said his company is "one of the very few still conducting talent searches" and was country music star Joe Diffey's first label. Edman, a retired consulting engineer who worked for Federal Mogul in Blacksburg during the early 1980s, said he convinced Silver Wing to comb the rural landscape for aspiring artists. "I think we've proved there was a lot of talent out in the hills," he said recently from his home in Fairmont, W.Va.
Edman was complimentary of the New River Valley talent, too. "Each of these people has their own distinctive style," he said.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***