By Danny Bay
After taking first place in Colorado, hometown musician Carin Mari Lechner brought back with her to Buena Vista three prominent awards from the 2009 North American Country Music Association International Competition.
In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, judges awarded her with, “2009 Female Entertainer,” “Most Promising Album of the Year” for Follow the Trail, which she recorded with her two brothers Colin and Evan, and “2009 Song Writer of the Year.”
“It was a bit more nerve-wracking,” Lechner said about her performance at the competition compared to past performances. “The County Tonight Theater was probably one of the finest theaters I’ve played on,” she said.
Lechner also said it was difficult without her brothers on stage with whom she usually performs as Carin Mari and Pony Express. But rules of the competition stipulated that contestants performed unaccompanied without any interaction on stage, which Lechner said is an important part of her presentation.
“It was just me all alone. You think about it more. But it’s what I love so it comes out easier,” she said.
Contestants at the competition ranged in age from four years to 60 years. Lechner attributed some of her success over other impressive acts to sticking true to her type of country music which she called “Western Americana,” a style of singing about the land and family values.
While others at the competition were singing well-known songs by Dolly Parton and LeAan Rimes, Lechner chose to cover Ian Tyson.
“Everybody was telling me, ‘you picked things that we’ve never heard before, it was very refreshing.’ That’s what western music is; it’s very obscure. It’s a real story,” Lechner said.
The award with the most meaning for Lechner came with “Song Writer of the Year” for the song “Always a Road,” which she wrote for her best friend of eight years who recently graduated.
“Everything I write is detailed from my life. The best songs come from what you know,” said Lechner who gave credit to friend and influence Michael Martin Murphy who long ago gave her the John Dylan custom-made 1978 acoustic guitar that she used at the competition.
“Carin has a voice as addictive as the mythological Siren, the enthusiasm of the Energizer Bunny and the stage presence of a Shakespearian thespian all rolled up in a beautiful young lady,” said Andy Nelson, cowboy poet and humorist.
Nelson first heard Lechner perform after award winning poet and writer Yvonne Hollenbeck suggested that he hear her. The two have performed and been colleagues on stage ever since.
“I was not surprised to hear of her CMAIC awards because of two things: her dedication to excellence and the family surrounding her,” Nelson said.
Though her brothers weren’t at the competition in Tennessee, Lechner said they called routinely for updates and nearly flipped out when they heard she had gotten first place.
Golden Eagle Recordings, the recording company started by Lechner’s brother, Colin, produced all of Follow the Trail on the day that he returned from recording school in Iowa.
“It meant so much to him because it was his first project,” Lechner said about the award for “Most Promising Album of the Year.”
Lechner continues practicing and performing with her brothers while attending college. She said she hopes to continue her music career and would like to be a country music artist someday.
“When I put a cowboy hat on and get on stage I feel on top of the world,” Lechner said, “I’d love to go wherever the road takes us. You never know whose going to walk on your path.”
(Originally published in The Chaffee County Times)
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