Centerville

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Local musicians to open for country superstars

Danielle Arndt
Daily News intern

GREENVILLE - What started as a small-town duo - just two friends making music - is growing in size and audience.

The new Centerville, which tripled in size over the winter, will open for country superstars Jason Aldean and Jamey Johnson at 6 p.m. Monday at the Muskegon Summer Celebration.

"We are really excited and really honored," said lead vocalist Emily Cradit. "It's an amazing opportunity."

Greenville High School graduates Cradit and Lauren Guilfoyle began performing together as Centerville about 11/2 years ago, Cradit said.

In September, the duo won the Michigan State Finals of the 2008 Colgate Country Showdown - a national competition designed to find promising country music talent and to give performers a chance at launching a professional singing career, according to the Web site.

In January, Cradit and Guilfoyle were approached by the band Cryin' Wolf and asked to be the vocalists of their group, which they eagerly accepted. Cryin' Wolf has been the house band for the Colgate Country Showdown at the state level in Detroit for the past six years.

"(Cradit and Guilfoyle) put on an extraordinary show," said manager Matthew Corrette. "The ladies have an amazing talent in song-writing and vocals."

Cryin' Wolf originally had six members but two moved on to pursue individual opportunities prior to the merger.

Also around January, Anna Hansen, another Greenville High School graduate, climbed on board to sing back-up vocals and play the fiddle. She recently graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in music education. Her primary training is in classical music.

"I love using my talent at the violin in this way," she said. "Fiddling is more freeing, it's something a little more fun."

Hansen said she is thrilled to be able to perform for so many people at the Muskegon Summer Celebration.

"I think we'll all be getting nervous soon," she added. "We know we have a lot of work to do."

Centerville was given the opportunity to open for Aldean and Johnson after winning the Muskegon Summer Celebration Battle of the Bands. They were also awarded four hours of recording time in a studio.

Centerville will perform a 45-minute set. The set will contain some original music but will mostly consist of cover songs, such as "Last Name" by Carrie Underwood, "Gunpowder and Lead" by Miranda Lambert and "All I Wanna Do" by Sugarland.

Hansen said they also do a country style version of Journey's "Open Arms" that is "really neat."

She added that practicing has been crazy lately. The men from Cryin' Wolf are from the Lansing area, Hansen is getting married three days before the show and Guilfoyle competed in the annual Miss Michigan Scholarship Pageant last week in Muskegon.

Corrette said the band's short term goals consist of winning the 2009 National Colgate Country Showdown, releasing their debut album and opening for future fairs and festivals.

"I think we are all just really hoping and waiting to see how far we can get," Hansen said.

The band will keep the Centerville name after the merger. It's a combination of Greenville, the town the women are from, and Central Michigan University, where all three women attended college, Corrette added.

"We contemplated changing the name of the group after the merge, but felt the foundation of success the name Centerville had begun was in the best interest of the band," he said.
- Greenville Daily News