Nashville recording artist and former CMT reality star Mike Short Jr. was named one of 13 finalists in American Country Star Season Two international singing competition. Short beat out more than 1,000 entries to compete for the Grand Champion World Title in ACS’s World Finals Shoot Out on Sunday, Oct. 28th at Wild Wing Cafe in Franklin, Tennessee.
The 26-week, summer-long American Country Start competition included weekly auditions that showcased 10 to 12 contestants, all vying for a semi-finals invitation. The field was narrowed to 20 to perform for a three-week semi-finals competition. The Finals Competition field was narrowed to (13) artists who will perform live songs. The best of the 13 is narrowed to a final two, who perform one final song for the title, American Country Star-Grand Champion-Nashville 2012.
A versatile singer and songwriter, Mike Short Jr., 21, is a rising country music recording artist with a soulful, edgy country rock sound and a southern twang popular among big-named artists. Music critics have called him an “extremely well-polished Country artist”. Short’s second music video “Drive By” recently earned five stars – the highest possible – from Country Music Entertainment magazine.
Short and his band Statewide recently completed a four-month, 25-city summer tour to promote the band’s second CD "Stirrin' Things Up”. The CD includes original hit singles such as “Drive Bye”, "Stirrin' Things Up", “It’s All Good”, among others. The Mike Short Jr. and StateWide “Stirrin’ Things Up” summer tour began May 24th in Atlanta and concluded on September 16th in Essex, Maryland. It included stops in Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Short’s home state of Pennsylvania.
Last year, Short toured 18 cities in the mid-Atlantic region to promote his debut album, was a southern bachelor contestant on season one of CMT's hit reality show "Sweet Home Alabama", and released his second CD "Stirrin' Things Up". This past January, he was named “Country Boy of the Year” by voting customers of Country Girl/Country Boy apparel.
“This is a tough competition, and there are a lot of really talented singers and performers here,” said Short. “I have my work cut out for me, but I am going to do my best and pray that the judges like what they hear.”
Short currently attends Middle Tennessee State University and is majoring in Agricultural Business with a minor in Music. He moved from his hometown of Ottsville to Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 2009 to follow his music career. Shortly after, he recorded his 12-song debut CD “Blame it on Me”.
American Country Star received entries from nearly every state in the Union, as well as Great Britain, Europe, and Texas. Finals judges include Lori and Herb of the Carter-Cash Family, Johnny Frizzell of the legendary Frizzell family, singer/songwriter and TV star Wynn Varble, Woody Woodard, along with a few special celebrity guests.
American Country Star is hosted by Founder and Executive Producer Woody Woodard. The competition is designed to provide an opportunity for anyone with a desire to make it in country music, with a chance to make it. Season One winner Richie Law, has gone on to compete in this year's American Idol show, where he made top 13. Law has performed with Darius Rucker, Montgomery Gentry, George Strait's band, Jewel, Simon Cowell's X Factor, and more. Woodard is a Tennessee native, and lives in the Nashville area.
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