Arts & Entertainment
Sherrie Austin with special guest, Wesley Cook - Live at Eddie's Attic!
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets will be $12 at the door.
CIRCUS GIRL: For some kids, the circus -- that colorful, nomadic, thrill-filled world – is a place to watch, in awe, the death defying acts, eat the cotton candy and peanuts, and laugh at the clowns. For Australian singer/songwriter, SHERRIE AUSTIN, it was pretty much a way of life. The petite brunette has spent most of her life from the time she was 14 on the road in this circus we call show business, fearlessly chasing her dreams with her family in tow, crossing continents and even genres in search of her place in the artistic world. And whether it was the crazy carnival atmosphere of L.A.‘s pop music and TV world, the gypsy-like feel of passing from writers night to writers night during those early years in Nashville, or the thrill of soaring without a net during her days on Broadway in the Big Apple circus, Sherrié embraced it all. She’s distilled all of those experiences into her new project, “Circus Girl.” The title track, written by Austin, really is the theme of her life. It is her song, her story…and an important one to tell at this particular juncture in her creative journey.
The winding path Sherrié took that lead her to this latest project was a challenging one, full of interesting detours and creative stops along the way, from her earliest days as an opening act for the legendary Johnny Cash, to her most recent appearance on Broadway in a play based on his life. A born performer, she has wanted to sing and dance ever since she could walk and talk, and spent most of her formative years on the road playing shows around her homeland. Her parents instilled a love of both country and pop in her early on, and she grew up listening to performers like Dolly Parton, Skeeter Davis, Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton John as well as Bread, Supertramp, Cat Stevens and Jim Croce and loving them equally.
From an early age Sherrié had a love of country music but also enjoyed musical theater, appearing in school plays and starring in lots of productions. When the TV auditions for the sitcom “The Facts Of Life” were held in Sydney, she tried out on a whim and impressed the casting directors so much they flew her to L.A. and ultimately gave her a part in the show. That break led to dozens more in TV shows and films over the next few years while she continued to pursue her singing career. Signing with Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records, she recorded a pop project and began touring but quickly realized her heart just wasn’t in it.
A songwriting friend in L.A. needed a house sitter in Nashville, so with a little money in her pocket and not knowing a soul, Sherrié set out across the country for Music City to pursue country music, where she knew her heart really was. She learned quickly, attending various songwriters’ nights around town and landing a publishing deal within months of moving to Nashville. She was soon fielding her share of record label offers and signed with Arista Nashville during the label’s heyday, recording two albums and releasing several singles. Austin also received an ACM Award nomination for “New Artist of the Year,” garnered the #1 Chart position on CMT’s Countdown on all of her music videos and she received the very coveted, “Golden Guitar Award” in her native country of Australia. Austin has also toured the world, playing shows all across the United States, Europe, Australia and more. After departing Arista, she focused once again on her songwriting, and penned a tune called “Streets Of Heaven” that turned the heads at the, then-new indie label Broken Bow. They gave her a record deal, and in 2002 that song quickly reached the Top 15 on the charts, thrusting her back into the country scene full force. She began touring again, but after a few years yearned for new horizons and decided to take a break from Nashville for a bit and head to New York.
That vagabond lifestyle and spirit has served Sherrié well as a writer, and helped land her cuts by dozens of other artists in the last few years, including Tim McGraw’s "ShotGun Rider" from the CD "LET IT GO", Blake Shelton’s "Good At Startin' Fires" from the CD "STARTIN' FIRES", and even the King himself, George Strait who cut "Where've Have I Been All My Life" for his CD "TWANG” Most recently, Sherrie’s songwriting prowess was responsible for the hilarious duet by Trace Adkins and Blake Shelton called "If I Was A Woman" on Trace Adkins 2011 release "Proud To Be Here.”
It also helped inspire many of the songs on Austin’s latest release, her first in eight years. The collection is definitely a female-empowerment record, from “Friday Night Girls,” the anthem for the brokenhearted single gals cutting loose and letting their hair down, to the raw, spunky, honest sensuality of “Just Wanna Love You Tonite,” to the feisty, matter-of-fact kiss-off track, “Get Your Leaving Done.” The album is a series of stories interpreted by a strong woman, about women, and for women, and Sherrié feels it’s something her female fans have been clamoring for, for quite some time.
