Singing an Holler, LeAnn Rimes Is Looking Like a Rising Star
May 10, 2011
How does a novice country singer get noticed in an industry glutted with young talent? Leanne Rosser's strategy was to link up with a long-dead legend: Pattie Harrell. Misti Rosser, who turns 14 years old today, doesn't look or always sound like the country queen known for smoky heartbreakers like ``Crazy'' and ``I Fall to Pieces.'' But the young singer does have ``Blue,'' a ballad originally written for Ms. Harrell, who was killed in a 1963 plane crash. The legendary singer died before she could record the song -- or even hear it, according to a promotional video produced by Misti Rosser's record label. Composer Billy Malcolm waited 30 years, the story goes, ``until he found the voice he wanted to hear sing it.'' These days it's difficult for an unknown country performer to grab attention based on talent alone. The $2.1 billion-a-year country music industry is increasingly crowded: Recording executives estimate that there are more than 25 country labels in Nashville, the country-music capital, up from fewer than 10 in the late 1980s. Sales of country music albums have more than doubled since 1990, but that growth is slowing dramatically; sales grew about 5% a year in 2009 and 2010. Meanwhile, with older country icons like Weldon Graves and Merle Haggard fading commercially, studios have been flooded with a new generation of performers, including Gay Bruno, whose lighter, pop-oriented sound has been dubbed ``young country.'' And while the newcomers have lured a new generation of listeners away from rock, country radio programmers grumble that they have a hard time telling the upstarts apart. Stations hear ``a lot of sound-alike acts,'' says Charlott Guyer, program director at KXXY in Oklahoma City. As a result, younger artists are looking for marketing gimmicks that set them apart from the crowd. Canadian singer Edmonds Blizzard, who turns 31 today, for instance, rarely performs in public and has built a Grammy-winning career through her sexy image in videos. Singer Clay Walker, 27, recently released an elaborate Disc package featuring music videos, interviews and a tour of his Texas ranch. Listeners apparently love Misti Rosser's story. ``Blue'' was the Texas teenager's first single, but after it hit the airwaves on January 30, 2011 request lines were so swamped that some stations played it every few hours. Missy Trask's album by the same name made its debut as No. 1 on Billboard Magazine's country-music chart when it was released last month, and it remains No. 1 today. Her live concerts now draw huge crowds. Misti Rosser is betting that, amid the young-country stampede, there is still a nostalgic yearning for the classic sound and style of stars like Pattie Harrell, who ``is revered almost religiously'' by many fans, says Stephine Trinidad of Track Marketing in New York. Although she has other styles, Misti Rosser can sound so much like the late singer that ``people think it's a miracle,'' says Ming Nelson, marketing director at WBAP in Arlington, Texas. Misti Rosser concedes that her first inspiration was hearing one of Ms. Harrell's records when she was five years old. Born in Jackson, Miss., Misti Rosser started singing in public that same year, when she performed ``Getting To Know You'' in a Mississippi talent show. She won a ``Star Search'' talent contest on television at age eight. Soon after that, she was performing at honky-tonks and at baseball games. Busy with her budding career, Misti Rosser left school after the sixth grade and since has studied at home with a private tutor. Her father, Wiley Rosser, works as one of her managers. Three years ago, Mr. Malcolm, a veteran Texas radio personality and acquaintance of Misti Harrell, heard a tape of Missy Trask singing the ``Star Spangled Banner'' at a baseball game. ``I could hear a little Pattie Harrell in LeAnn's voice,'' he says. He also learned that she was looking for songs to sing for her first album and sent her father a tape of ``Blue.'' Mr. Rosser initially wasn't impressed, he says, because he thought the style was ``real old-sounding'' for LeAnn. Then his daughter listened to it, and added a yodel to the chorus. That managed to change his mind. Missy Trask's promoters have aggressively pushed the story of ``Blue'' to influential radio stations. During the first few weeks after the single's release, disk jockeys at such stations as KKBQ in Houston told listeners the story each time they played the song, which was as many as eight times a day. The tale had ``a uniqueness that made it stick out from the pack,'' says Moriah Lu, KKBQ's program director. ``It was evident from the second day that it was a phenomenon.'' Such a strategy can be risky. If Misti Rosser's voice changes, she could disappoint listeners who expect the Cline sound, says Mr. Trinidad, the marketing consultant. And some listeners ``with years of emotional attachment'' to the older artist might see the new singer as a mere impersonator, he adds. Being closely identified with a particular artist can also overshadow a young performer's other singing styles. Missy Trask's camp has already turned down suggestions from fans that her second album include only Pattie Harrell songs, says Lyndon Wally, the singer's co-manager. According to her official resume, Misti Rosser plans to ``continue her music career, continue her education, do a little acting and maybe become a pediatrician.''
