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Sunday, 8 July, 2007 11:18 AM
CMA New Artist Spotlight: Bucky
Covington
PHOTO
BY KRISTIN BARLOWE
Lyric
Street recording artist Bucky Covington.
| By
Kristin Sherer |
| ©
2007 CMA Close Up News Service |
With Bucky Covington's
arrival in Nashville, sightings of "American Idol" veterans
along Music Row have become almost routine.
Thankfully, Covington's
Country credentials are as real as they come and his singing is
anything but routine. Growing up with his identical twin brother
Rocky in Laurinburg, N.C., Covington was still a kid when he started
listening to and imitating Tim McGraw, George Strait and Travis
Tritt on the family's karaoke machine.
At 19, he heard guitarist
Jeff Healey's "Angel Eyes," and his fate was sealed.
"The minute I heard
it, I pictured myself on the stage playing guitar and singing,"
Covington said. "It was the best, warmest feeling I've ever
had. So I bought an electric guitar."
Obsessed, it wasn't long
before he had mastered the basics and was looking for a band. His
first groups were decidedly rock oriented, but over the course of
the next few formative years, the singer gravitated more and more
to Country, finally hooking up with regional favorites Southern
Thunder, where he would learn the ropes on the road and find himself
musically.
Covington's first "American
Idol" season five audition - a thousand miles away in Memphis,
Tenn., - coincided with Hurricane Katrina and was canceled. Following
a subsequent audition in nearby Greenville, N.C., he made it to
Hollywood and into the finals. Among the many post-competition calls
he received was one from fellow contest winner Mark Miller, whose
band, Sawyer Brown, launched their hit career after winning the
top prize on "Idol" predecessor "Star Search."
Covington and Miller
immediately hit it off, and, with Miller and Dale Oliver producing,
Covington was soon in the studio recording his self-titled Lyric
Street Records debut, released on April 17.
His debut single, "A
Different World," was written by Jennifer Hanson, Tony Martin
and Mark Nesler.
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
WHO IS YOUR MUSICAL HERO?
"Elvis Presley. His showmanship was second to none and he had
such wide appeal because his music crossed into every genre."
WHICH SONG WOULD YOU
SECRETLY LIKE TO COVER?
"Elvis' 'Suspicious Minds.' That's the song that got me listening
to Elvis."
WHAT BOOK IS ON YOUR
NIGHTSTAND?
"The Bible."
On The Web:
www.buckycovingtonmusic.com;
www.myspace.com/buckycovington
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