From Walmart to Success via Youtube

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We’re spending a lot of time down in Nashville these days

A LOT of time.

And one of the main things to do while in Nashville is to go the Grand Ole Opry.

Now, to be perfectly honest, before I came to Nashville, I knew nothing about Country Western music (and to continue on this thread of honesty, I still don’t).  However, what we saw at The Grand Ole Opry was astonishing.  Five thousand crazed fans who just love it. I am sure there are millions (so I am told).  And an appearance at The Grand Ole Opry is, well, it’s like playing at Carnegie Hall if you are a classical musician.

Do you know the old joke where a guy stops someone on the streets of NY and asks ‘How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” and the answer is “Practice, practice, practice”.  (I said it was an old joke. But it has a point).

Now, there’s a new way to get to The Grand Ole Opry (and probably soon Carnegie Hall – Youtube.

Kayla Sloan was literally a coal miner’s daughter.

And she worked in her local Walmart in Logan, W. Virginia.

One of the things she did in the Walmart (besides selling stuff, I assume) was to sing country western songs in the aisles.

If you worked in Bloomingdales in NYC and you started singing heavy metal in the aisles, my guess is that you would soon find yourself in Bellevue wrapped in wet sheets.  But not, apparently, in Logan, W. Virginia.

At any rate, one of Kayla’s friends decided to videotape (and isn’t that an archaic term there days) her performance with her iPhone (next time, turn the phone lengthwise), and put it on Youtube.

The next thing you know, she’s ‘discovered’ and asked to perform at The Grand Ole Opry.

Apparently, she also was on Anderson Cooper 360 (but I didn’t see it).

In any event, to say this is a rocket of a climb for a music career is probably an understatement.

So mazel tov Kayla, (as we say down here in Nashville).

and for the rest of you, who needs American Idol when you have Walmart?

And you don’t even have to audition to get in.

(But you should probably buy something).

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Copyright Michael Rosenblum 2013