Published: May 05, 2008 10:51 am            

Singing from the heart

Katie Sanders of Cleburne

Katie Sanders will always remember her spring break from college this year. She was among more than 20,000 who auditioned in Austin for county music’s answer to “American Idol,” “Nashville Star.”

She and 119 others received a call back.

“It was the national finals — I jumped in and took my chances,” she said. “They contacted me the very next day that I had made the cut. Now I’m waiting to see if I’ll be going to Nashville for the show that will be on NBC beginning June 9. Billy Ray Cyrus will be the host.

“Of course, I hope I make it! They’ve already interviewed me. We made videos about welcoming people to Nashville. When I sang I got good reviews from the judges, but you never know.

“I’m not nervous when I sing. Singing is as natural for me as breathing. My earliest remembrances are those of making up songs.”



Musical upbringing

Katie graduated from Cleburne High School in 2007. She attends Weatherford Junior College and works at Teskey’s Western Store in Weatherford.

“Teskey’s is the Cabella’s of Western stores,” she said. “We have customers from Australia, Germany, South America. Many people don’t realize that Weatherford is the Cutting Horse Capitol of the World.”

When Katie sings, she is a show-stopper.

“I’ve taught vocal training for country music at my voice studio since 1994,” said Jack Burnham of Granbury, Katie’s voice instructor. “Of all my students, no one is better than Katie Sanders. She knows how to communicate the story in a song.

“Katie feels the words. She has strengths of equal values: a good, quality voice, a good range, a good performer, and a good actress. She has stage presence. She has no weaknesses.”

Burnham trained in classical music and opera at LSU, but based on his Mississippi gospel music roots, he beleives country music has the strongest message.

Burnham said Katie received an earlier invitation to be a part of the Nashville scene.

“I was singing in Granbury on the square and noticed a man listening to me sing and holding up his cell phone so a person on the other line could hear,” she said. “He then approached me when I was finished and asked me if I had ever thought of being a professional singer.

“I told him I had, but I was just along for the ride. I would love to be one if I got the chance but I was going to live my life until then.

“He proceeded to give me his friend’s telephone number, and he took down my number. He told me his friend was in the music business, and he thought I had great potential.

“Three days later I got a phone call. He introduced himself as Randy from Alabama. We talked a long while about my passion for music and how I wanted to finish high school — I was a senior at the time — before I really pursued my music. He told me he was going to talk to his people and call me back, or I could give him a call after I graduated.

“I was excited that someone in the industry took an interest in me, but I never put the pieces together of who he was.

“I told my parents I couldn’t remember his last name, but it was Randy from Alabama, and they immediately knew it was Randy Owens. We got a good laugh for a while over that.”

She never heard back from Owens, and the telephone number he gave her quit working.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen then, but it will make a funny story if I ever do make it big and get to talk to him.”

She was also approached by one of the staff of Granbury Live! who wanted her to come try out, but it was impossible with her schedule because of weekend work.

“I sang on the square recently again at Granbury, and several people asked if I had CDs for sale. That will probably be my next move, to get some songs recorded and find original material or write some. I would love to start a band.”

She especially enjoys singing at the Grapevine Opry.

Katie’s mother, Lisa Sanders, recalls that Katie sang as soon as she could talk.

“She loved to perform for anyone who would give her a minute of their time. We have precious videos of her performances from age 2 years on.

“She began voice lessons when she was 9, singing at church and at chapel at school. Tara Douglas was a teenager then, and she babysat Katie and our younger daughter, Carrie. Tara was taking voice at TCU, so we paid her extra to teach the girls. Katie loved her and loved to sing, so it was the best day of the week when Tara picked them up from school to teach voice.”

Lisa recalled that at age 10, Katie became a devoted fan of Leann Rimes.

“We even had her bedroom redone in a horse/Western theme. We bought her first performance tape of Leann’s songs and she began to practice them. That year, in fourth grade, she sang, ‘Don’t Ever Lose That Love in Your Eyes,’ at a school talent show.

“Our younger daughter, Carrie, was obsessed with the cowboy yodel song on that tape and really had it down at age 6! That led to our girls singing several times for school events.”

At age 13, Katie began lessons with Shannon Loose (a Carnegie Players regular.)

“She learned so much from Shannon,” Lisa said. “Katie chose country over classical, however. At age 14, when she was in the eighth grade, she tried out for the Johnnie High Show and performed there twice during her freshman year. That was all it took. She became addicted to the stage!”



Finding instruction

Lisa is a dental hygienist, and a patient recommended Jack Burnham’s instruction.

“Jack was a godsend. Since he had sung classical and opera, he taught Katie so much about acting, feeling the story, facials and technique. She would do anything he said and grew tremendously in her singing.”

Katie’s father, Blake, plays guitar and comes from a musical family.

“Katie has always loved to sing,” he said. “I remember in AWANAS [a children’s program in church] she would recite her Bible verses in this twangy little voice.”

Katie said, “My dad is a super songwriter. He has always played the guitar for me to sing, growing up. He has inspired me musically and given me the tools and ideas to perform.”

She grew up watching her dad make all kinds of things, spending time in his shop, creating iron pieces to make extra money to keep his daughters in Christian school.

“Katie’s creativity really took off her freshman year,” Lisa said. “She would stay home more than she went out with her friends, making things and playing her guitar. One day she came home from school and said everything she was wearing that day was something she had made or altered, right down to her shoes.”

Blake said, “Whenever we have vacation time we always go to our family’s LRH Ranch [Little Red House] near Bowie, Texas, where the whole family gets together. There’s always lots of music.”

Katie added, “Both sides of the family come there to spend time together. Sometimes I forget which side is my mother’s and which is my dad’s. So many of us are into music. My sister, Carrie, a CHS freshman, has an awesome talent. She can hear something and then pick up her guitar and play it. She plays guitar at our church’s off-site worship, Oasis.

Blake, local manager of Premier Ag and Lawn, is also an accomplished amateur photographer. Katie has won awards through art photography competitions at CHS. She also placed first with a floral wreath at a local fair.

Her room at home is unique. The concrete is decoupaged with fashion magazine covers. Her furniture, which she painted, has artsy swirls and bright colors. A good cook, Katie has a mixer she requested for her graduation displayed on a shelf. She paints wine glasses, prepares gift baskets and does custom gift decorating.

Katie planned a special senior party for her friends last year.

“Everybody had to dress as their favorite movie star or celebrity. I was Marilyn Monroe. My family and good family friends worked so hard, preparing the backdrops and decorating the back yard. We all worked together on it for days and days. It was so wonderful!

“My mother has always taken me wherever I needed to be — to voice lessons, to perform and to audition for ‘Nashville Star.’” Our family is very close.”

Blake said that Lisa nervously called him before Katie auditioned and said, “I don’t know if I can do this or not!’

“I remember laughing and telling her that she didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Lisa said, “Blake and I have tried to keep Katie’s singing low-keyed to just let her grow up enjoying it and really making it more of a lifetime love.

“‘Nashville Star’ is not a means to an end but another experience along the way for Katie as she hopefully walks the path God had designed for her. We will all be disappointed if it is a ‘no’, but we asked God for protection and guidance, so we have to trust the outcome and believe the best.”

Katie’s choice of musical artists appears to be eclectic — from Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra to George Strait, Bonnie Raitt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Martina McBride, Merle Haggard and LeAnn Womack.

She considered a degree in fashion merchandising but now leans towards hotel hospitality and event managing with public relations/art. She plans to attend the University of North Texas.

“I’ve always liked school,” she said. “I appreciated every teacher, coach, principal or staff member who said, ‘Hi, Katie! How are you today?’ I first noticed how important that was to me when I was in the third grade. My teacher, Mrs. Tammy Nichols, at Cleburne Community School, related so well to every student in the class. She knew every single thing about each child.

“I loved horses. She knew that. She talked about what I was interested in. She did that with everybody.”

Katie was chosen CHS Golden Girl in 2006, Miss CHS in 2007, and she served on the Student Council. Her favorite subject was English.

Teacher Sherri Bell remembers Katie well.

“Oh, Katie is one of the most delightful young women I know! She is kind-hearted and just finds joy in life. She has a smile that can light up a room. I never cease to marvel that her tiny body can house such a bigger-than-life voice.

“I truly hope she is successful and makes her singing dreams come true. She is a completely grounded, mature young woman. I can see her using any fame she has in the future for something positive for those less fortunate.”

One night Katie told her parents she wanted to paint some words on her bedroom wall. When I read them, I better understood how relaxed she had been when she sang for me-how her rich, strong and uninhibited voice made me feel the words.

“Music is to me like breathing,

I have to have it.

It is a part of me just like my heart.

It is a part of me.”

She grinned. “I got those words from Ray Charles and changed them a little.

“Music is my passion. Singing is, for me, a God-given gift. If a professional singing career is how God wants to use the talent he has given me, that will be great.

“If not, that is still okay.”

She has strong convictions that will not change, she said.

“I must be true to myself. I have seen young women who say that at the beginning of their careers and then they dress in risqué clothing. I’m me. I want to keep on improving. I won’t give up my morals for anyone else.

“I want to be a Christian witness. I remember looking up to girls at the Cleburne Bible Church where my family and I are members, and I want to be the same.

“I am extremely stubborn. I know that can be annoying to others. It’s just that I can’t change for the wrong reason.”



This story was suggested by Joni Hundley.



Larue Barnes may be reached at laruebarnes@yahoo.com.

        

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