Editorial written by Allen Coefield of AtlantaCountryMusic.com, August 2006.

Just my thoughts.........

The following is a true story that happened on Saturday August 5th at the Flying Machine Restaurant during the talent auditions for the GCGMA event. During the auditions, experienced performers like Duke and Dawn, Hank Brake, Chelsey Bellnier, and Destiny Cravey sang their hearts out and entertained the small crowd. You could tell these and the other dozen or so performers had been on stage and knew what they were doing. The majority of the crowd were in attendance to see the performances, but there were a few others in the restaurant and adjoining lounge who listened a little but continued with their conversations with each other. Around 3 pm something happened. That something was little 11 year old Somer Willard. Somer had never been on a stage to perform before. When she took the stage she had the look of a cute, adorable young girl but also had a look that little girls get when they are shy and uncertain of their surroundings. Her eyes met those seated around the stage and then would shift to the security of her parents off in the distance. After she was introduced, she took a deep breath and began singing Amazing Grace. She was stiff. She was shy and it was obvious she had never been in this type of setting before......but what happened will be something I will never forget. With her child like voice, she made the entire room come to a complete halt. People stopped talking, waitresses stopped taking orders, customers stopped looking at menus, lounge customers put down their drinks and got up to see what was taking place. What had been a busy restaurant and venue became so quiet you could hear an ant breathe. She continued to sing. Was it Faith Hill? No. Was it going to win any awards? No. Would she place well in the audition? No one cared.....what mattered was this little girl took one of the most meaningful songs ever written or sung and applied it to the hearts, minds, souls and every person within hearing range. Somer and her message owned the people in that room. Just before she finished singing she reminded us that she was a little girl. Holding the mic with both hands and focusing on every word, she let her eyes go up to her parents and for the first time since she took the stage a little girl's grin came forth. Hearts melted. When she left the stage the entire building applauded. There were cheers in a room in an event that had not seen or heard cheers all day. Somer walked to her parents, picket up her stuffed animal, hugged it and sat down with her parents. How many times do we in the music, media and entertainment industry think about contracts, agreements, marketing, promotions, and business as it relates to music? How many times do we watch shows like American Idol or Nashville Star and look at the performances as though we are the educated judges? How many times do artists have to pay years and years of dues to get one small chance of making it big in music? We think of all the "business" of music then it takes an 11 year old girl to remind us that before there were contracts and attorneys and marketing and agents and media and ratings and all these other things........there was music...and music in it's purest form. One person and a voice. Almighty God used Somer that saturday. He used her to remind us that music is something created by God and shared with mankind for fun and expression. He used Somer to remind us that He is always with us and watching over us. Sometimes he takes us places in the midst of our busy schedules and grabs our attention with something as innocent as a small child with a song like Amazing Grace. Is this turning into a sermon? You better believe it. Somer was a messenger to everyone in that room that day. She was used to remind us of God's love thru song. What a better calling that for God to use you through music? Trust me...everyone in that room got the message. Thank you Somer. That may be just one song in an entire music career for you....but it will be one song I doubt anyone there that day will ever forget.

Allen

Editorial written by Allen Coefield of AtlantaCountryMusic.com, October 2006.

JUST MY THOUGHTS...

So the Atlanta Country Music.com Georgia Country Music Festival is over. The bands and the fans are gone and the venue is now quiet. Everything is quiet now, but trust me, a statement was made. A loud, thunderous statement was was shouted across the nation and the world....all from the stage.
Somer Willard was her amazing self in her singing of the national anthem and Georgia on My Mind. All the teens impressed the larger than expected morning crowd with vocals that are still ringing in the Georgia skies. The bluegrass bands laid the traditional foundation of America's music.

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