Published: October 11, 2008 10:12 pm            

Country musician Jackie Lawson to give free concert

Country musician Jackie Lawson will give a free concert Tuesday at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College.

Lawson, who has opened for such acts as Sugarland and Shenandoah, will perform from 9 to 10:30 p.m. in the campus Lodge, which is behind Providence Center at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.

“If I was to sum up my music, I’d say it’s one crazy blonde with a high-energy rock show dumped in a country bucket,” Lawson said on her Web site.

At age 17, the Charleston, Ill., native, flew to Argentina for a year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student and returned home fluent in Spanish and singing up a storm. It was during this time Lawson unknowingly began nurturing and creating her own individual style of singing.

In October 2002, she drove to Detroit for her first audition, for the second season of “American Idol.” She passed two auditions before meeting Simon, Paula and Randy in the third audition. Unanimously, they told her that she had a good voice, but wasn’t quite what they were looking for on the show at that time.

Lawson has since opened for Buddy Jewel, Josh Gracin, Sugarland, Craig Morgan, Restless Heart, Shenandoah and Danielle Peck. She’s a member of the Illinois Country Music Association, Country Music Association, American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, Nashville Songwriters Association International, and a graduate from Eastern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in business accounting. She has competed in numerous Colgate Country Showdowns from Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois, and has competed at the state level for Illinois and Indiana.

In August 2005, a locally successful dance rock and blues band, “Black N Blues,” asked Lawson to join as lead vocalist. She accepted on the condition that they would back up her country shows when spring rolled around. Black N Blue dropped the “s” and focused on popular rock tunes of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and today. When the time came for country music, an alias band was created under the name “Hillbilly Rockstars.” Both bands skyrocketed in popularity and are constantly touring the Midwest.

In September 2005, Lawson released her debut CD singles, “A Little Hope” and “Waiting,” both original works. “A Little Hope” was released independently and helped to raise more than $300 for the American Cancer Society.

Lawson is promoting her first full album, “Crazy Blonde,” which she released in March 2007. The album, produced by Mike Jones and Jackie, consists of 10 previously unreleased tracks. Four of these — “Don’t Let Me Love You,” “Stranger,” “When You’re Here,” and “Give Me a Break (Busy, Busy, Busy)” — were written by Lawson. She continues to tour and writes music everywhere she goes.

For more information about Lawson’s performance, contact Jeff Malloy, SMWC director of campus life, at (812) 535-5219 or jmalloy@smwc.edu. More information on Lawson can be found at www.jackielawsonmusic.com.

        

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