It has been a busy week for Radville singer-songwriter Lexie Tytlandsvik. In the past seven days, the 15-year-old has learned of her two nominations at the Saskatchewan Country Music Association Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year and the Rising Star Award.
The awards are scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 21 in Prince Albert. Tytlandsvik also returned from Nashville were she performed at the Country Radio Seminar in the label showcase. The two events crossed over, as Tytlandsvik learned about her nominations on the road back from the Music City.
"It was pretty cool (to learn about the nominations). I've never been nominated for anything before. It was kind of awesome," Tytlandsvik said.
The Radville resident has been going to SCMA awards for the last four years as a spectator, but this will be her first time going with a prize on the line. For this reason, Tytlandsvik thinks that she will be "more excited than everybody else" at the show. The young performer also hopes to take advantage of the festival's songwriting events in addition to the big show.
In addition to the big news about the SCMA awards, Tytlandsvik was also in Nashville last week to take part in the Country Radio Seminar's label showcase. The event allowed Tytlandsvik to perform in front of "11 or 12 record labels." For Tytlandsvik, performing in front of some of the major players in the country music industry was "kind of nerve-wracking."
"The record labels were front row-centre, so you could see them and they could see you all the time," explained Tytlandsvik.
During her performances, Tytlandsvik was singing with "10 or 11 other people." As she sang in front of the record label representatives and fellow singers she told herself "not to mess up and to keep moving so that I didn't get that nervous."
Tytlandsvik did receive a good reaction from the panel of industry insiders.
"The guy who signed Taylor Swift (Scott Borchetta) showed some interest in me. People from Gateway Entertainment also took some interest," Tytlandsvik said.
The largest label that showed interest in Tytlandsvik was Curb records. The Nashville-based label boasts a roster that includes Tim McGraw and LeAnn Rimes.
Aside from her time spent at the label showcase, Tytlandsvik also performed at a variety of open-mic nights around the city. She performed at venues such as Richard's Cafe, the Nashville Palace, and the Commodore Grill. At these events Tytlandsvik had the opportunity to meet with her fellow songwriters.
"Some people want to song-write with me, but I never have before. I hope to one of these days," Tytlandsvik said.
Now she has had the experience performing in front of record label executives, the singer-songwriter's goal is "to get signed (to a record contract) and to move down to Nashville."
In the meantime, Tytlandsvik will focus on building her burgeoning country music career in Saskatchewan. Her next concert is on Sunday, March 18 in Hazlet, Sask. As well, her song "That One" reached number 52 on the USA charts in February.
