Charla Corn

A red dirt roostertail, slack-jawed crowds and more than a few broken hearts lie in the wake of Charla Corn’s ragged cruiser as she zigzags her way through her home state of Texas. After a year of supporting some of the region’s biggest acts such as Pat Green, Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, the Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Aaron Watson, and the Josh Abbott Band to name a few, she has hit the pavement with her own band, The Trainwrecks, taking her her “Take It Off! Tour” to as many lone-star honky-tonks and dancehalls as will let her through their swinging doors.

This west Texas map-dot beauty queen grew up in a raucous musical household. “I remember playing Dad’s Buddy Holly records over and over every Saturday when Mom did laundry, and my big brother banging on the piano keys to old Jerry Lee Lewis tunes. I just started to sing along and from then on, I knew music was it for me.”

And so it was. She loaded up her car and was eastbound I-40 to Nashville before her feet had a chance to settle too firmly into her native farmland. Nashville welcomed her and her infectious, dynamic personality with open arms.

As a performer she made it to Hollywood in season 2 of Fox’s American Idol and was a finalist in season 6 of NBC’s Nashville Star. She has worked as an on-air personality for CMT, hosting CMT Insider, Wide Open Country and Karaoke Dokie. She was also a regular correspondent for CMT during radio broadcasts and red carpet premieres. She’s a frequent MC for various charities, including, among others, Minnie Pearl’s Cancer Foundation. She currently hosts a bi-weekly radio show called ‘Charla Chat,’ personally reporting national and regional entertainment industry news to local radio stations throughout Texas. As a songwriter she has penned works with some of the industry’s most notable talents such as Jim Lauderdale, Clay Mills and Blair Daly.

But a time came when she couldn’t breathe in the musical smog that sometimes hangs low over Nashville. Understanding the fundamental tenet of Business 101: Supply and Demand, Charla decided the best place to build her audience would be her native Texas. So in 2007, while maintaining her close ties to Tennessee, she took her show back out west. It’s working.

Perhaps by force of sheer will or her relentless work ethic, Charla’s debut single, ‘Break My Heart Tonight’, released in April, 2009, made it all the way to #12 on the Texas Music Chart (www.texasmusicchart.com), at one point garnering more than 750 spins per week without the benefit of independent radio promotion. Her current single, ‘She Ain’t Always Been an Angel’, this time with the help of Winding Road Music, is climbing the chart at a pace rarely seen from a female artist in this boys-club scene. Both can be found on her first full-length album, ‘More Than I Should’, released in June of 2009.

“I’ve never met anyone who works as hard as Charla”, gushes Roger Creager over her post-show ritual of, like a peanut peddler at a Rangers game, plowing out into the crowd with CDs in hand ready to vend to whoever will buy. It’s this tenacity tempered with humility and world-class talent which fuels the ambition that carries her from one stepping stone to the next.

Lewis Bogach, CMT’s VP of Production puts it best. “Don’t let her good looks fool you. She’s hip, with brains, boots and bring-it-on. Her crack the whip attitude and infectious energy will take her very far in this industry.”…and that’s her plan.

Charla sums it up: “I have no idea how or when this ends. I don’t want to know, but it’s gonna be a hell of a ride…”

Saddle up!