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Wishing on a Nashville Star
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| By: Andrea Pantelic, Staff Writer |
July 24, 2007 |
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Angela Hacker says it best when she describes herself and the other Nashville Star contestants as "all real."
The 29-year-old single mom sang and played guitar in smoky, hole-in-the-wall Alabama bars, and for years she hoped these gigs would get her respect and recognition from fans in her hometown and beyond.
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As she played and sang her heart out on the talent show and advanced every week, people in LaGrange, Ala., took notice. So did the rest of the nation. And when she ultimately won the title and a recording contract, she was pretty stoked to have auditioned in Atlanta on a whim six months earlier.
"I was really thankful I made the decision to go," she says. "So many people have negative things to say about the shows like American Idol and Nashville Star, people that are in the business anyway, because they feel it's a shortcut. But in this day and age, any shortcuts you can take to get the exposure, I say go for it."
Now that she's working on a second album and on tour with the three runners-up - the tour hits Fayetteville's Crown Coliseum Friday, Aug. 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. - she's grateful for time away from the tour bus, and says it's good to be home, hanging out with the family and her 8-year-old son, Bay.
And hanging with one of her tour mates, who followed her home. Brother Zac Hacker never imagined his audition in Nashville would land him on tour all over the country with his big sister and make hometown celebrities out of them both.
But both Hackers put their time playing the bar-and-nightclub circuit long before they considered trying out for Nashville Star and even now, Hacker said she doesn't feel like much has changed.
"I've finally got recognition for what I have done and that makes me feel good," she says. "It doesn't make me feel better than anybody, it doesn't make me feel like I've conquered the world because there's still a lot I have left to do, but there's a reason I did this show in the first place. I haven't finished what I've set out to do."
Hacker says as she got older, she was more aware of her age and how it gets harder and harder for industry executives to pay attention to up-and-coming artists and says she's glad she took what amounted to a shortcut to stardom.
"Winning a major record deal is a huge thing but anybody who's anybody in the business knows getting a record deal does not put you in any kind of position," she says. "There are a lot of people who do record deals and the record never makes it to radio or the record never gets released. There are lots of things that take place between that point and getting out there on the radio so it's not a shortcut by any means. It's just one way, one of many, many ways. If there was a formula for the right way, then everybody would be successful. It's all up to the person, their drive and how bad they want it."
During one of the final stages of the show, Hacker did a rendition of Shania Twain's "If You're Not In It For Love" that she thought would rock the stage - and the judges. Instead, she got one negative comment after another and while she says she took the judges remarks into consideration, she says in the end, it didn't really matter what they thought.
"I won't lie and say it bothered me so much. I wanted to do something fun and the audience dug it."
During episodes, many segments are devoted to video footage of contestants behind-the-scenes, hanging out with their families and talking about their personal lives. Her son was often shown wearing a "Vote for my mom" T-shirt and sometimes he looked rather nervous in his seat among the audience.
Naturally, Hacker said she couldn't have won, let alone competed, without the support of her family, friends, ex-husband and his new wife. But now that fans know the singer is a single-mother herself, she has a new appreciation for her support system and parenting in general.
Hacker says Bay didn't miss a day of school and says she thinks he handled the experience really well. Although he would get frustrated at times, her job on stage isn't much different than the time she sold cars and worked 60 hours a week.
"I was gone a lot then and there's sacrifices with everything," she says. "Now, the time we have is solely together. When I'm working, I'm working, and when I'm home, I'm home."
Hacker spoke candidly with Up & Coming Weekly on a variety of topics.
ON SHARING HER STORY:
"The only thing I regret of my story being out there is I don't think a lot of people realized how long I'd been making money at what I do. It's not just a hobby. It was more than a hobby, it was my life. I wish more people would see that the people that are doing it are just trying to get ahead in the business just like anybody that's pounding the pavement in Nashville."
ON BEING A ROLE MODEL:
"The biggest thing that's wild to me and it's kind of scary in a way is when a parent brings up their little girl and they say, 'She sings and she wants to be a singer', and I think, 'Oh my gosh, it's not easy. It's not just about singing.' And you see these little people and you were once that hopeful and that starry-eyed and you realize they really do look up to you. It's kind of scary in that aspect because I'm not perfect and haven't made all the right decisions. The other thing is when they say, 'You're an inspiration because you're a single mom', and I don't really feel like I've done anything on my own because I haven't."
This may sound arrogant, but it hasnt been hard to keep grounded at all. The only thing that has changed in my life is the only people that know who we are are the people coming to the shows. We dont get mobbed we can go out and go wherever we want to. We dont have that mega-mega stardom. Were not to that point yet so I dont know how that would affect me. In my hometown everybody knows who I am now. In my hometown Ive experienced what that might could be like because Ive spent so many years begging for acknowledgment and for people to pay attention and Ive finally got people who are saying Hey, you really represented this area well and we voted our fingers off. ON HOW HER BEING ON THE SHOW AFFECTED HER SON, BAY:
We definitely have a lot more time together. With this job its better for me because Im not so worn out that I dont want to do anything. And with these last few days, we can go play mini-golf or go bowling or whatever we do were hanging out together which for me is really, really cool. And at times he gets frustrated. He doesnt like the crowd. He doesnt like loud stuff it makes him nervous. He signs autographs every now and then and he likes that pretty good, and (fans) recognize him before they do me because I dont have all that fake hair.
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©Up & Coming Magazine 2010
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