Notre Dame graduate Jessie Ritter awarded recording contract

Southeast Missouri native and musician Jessie Ritter was crowned champion Thursday during the fourth annual Nash Next competition at Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, Tennessee.

�I am officially a recording artist for Big Machine Label Group,� Ritter said in a telephone interview Friday. �I signed the contract last night.�

The competition was made up of �many levels,� she said, and is put on by a partnership with Big Machine Label Group and Cumulous Media.

The group�s �artist roster,� Ritter said, includes Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Rascall Flatts, Sugarland, �and the list goes on.�

Ritter said she became involved with the contest when she applied in Florida.

�Fans voted in the first round and I had enough votes that I performed in the live, regional finals there,� she said. �I won that competition against three other local competitors.�

Winners from country radio stations across the country were narrowed down from 50 to the final 10 who performed Thursday night, Ritter said.

Ritter said a panel of four judges � Terri Clark, Cindy Watts, Dann Huff and Jimmy Harnen � judged the contestants.

Clark hosts talk radio show Country Gold; Watts writes for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville; Huff is a country music producer; and Harnen is vice president of Big Machine Label Group.

�We all performed one song and they chose me as the winner,� she said. �Everyone who was there was so talented. They called my name at the end, and I was just a little shocked, a little stunned and so excited.�

Ritter said she was chosen because she was told the judges liked her song �Meet Your Mother,� and thought it was relatable.

She also performed �Young� as the encore, Ritter said. Both selections were from her album �Coffee Every Morning.�

�They said they liked my soul and could tell I was a happy person and they wanted a part of that joy,� Ritter said.

Ritter graduated from Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau and returned home in July for a release party at Keller�s in honor of her first full-length album, �Coffee Every Morning.�

�I think there were over 300 people at Keller�s,� she said. �The place was packed.�

Ritter said it was �insane� to visit and see so many people at Keller�s. She also was �so honored� her hometown would show up and support her.

As for what her immediate future holds, Ritter is hoping her latest accolade helps her current album �gain traction and even more recognition than we have already.�

�Other than that, I�m not sure what the year looks like, but I know we will release a single to radio and the label will back that and help me get it out there,� she said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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