Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Artscene Oakville Beaver
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2005 33
By Krissie Rutherford
OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF
She was crowned Miss Toronto Universe 2001,
has been singing professionally for a decade in genres
like R&B, rock, pop and even German dance
music – and now Tara Sales has her sights set on
becoming the next Nashville Star.
An advertising representative at The Oakville
Beaver, Sales is part-way through the audition
process for season four of Nashville Star, the USA
Network reality-music show that searches for the
next country music superstar.
“I’m so excited – this has been my dream forever,”
she said. “Being on stage, being on tour is so
much fun – it’s not like work, it’s something that
you love.”
Last month, the 28-year-old Burlington resident
and her younger sister drove down to
Pennsylvania, one of 20 cities hosting auditions.
“I’ve been checking the Nashville Star website
since last year to find out when the auditions were,
and I’ve had people on-call checking for me,” she
said, smiling. “I saw auditions were on and I said,
‘That’s it. We’re going.’”
She was among 300 to audition in
Pennsylvania, where contestants had to perform
one country song from a list of 50 in front of a
panel of judges.
Sales sang Something More by Sugarland.
“I felt really good about it,” she said. “We were
just having so much fun.” After the first day, judges
cut 300 contestants down to 63 – and Sales was
still standing.
“They said my name and my sister and I were
both screaming,” she said. “I think we were the
only ones there who screamed.”
Sales was also the only Canadian at the
Pennsylvania audition.
“After we found out I had to audition again the
next day, we had a lot to do – we had to go shopping
because I needed another outfit,” she said.
“We didn’t even have a hotel room booked for the
second night.”
The Sales sisters almost had to sleep in the car
that night because there were no vacancies at the
hotel, but luckily, competitors who didn’t make it
past the first day cancelled their rooms.
The next day, Sales did an encore performance
of Something More and Gretchen Wilson’s When I
think about Cheating, clad in her brand new outfit,
including gold cowboy boots.
“It went really well,” she said, smiling. “I rocked
the audition.”
She was one of 20 selected to continue, and is
now waiting to find out if she’ll be one of five from
the Pennsylvania auditions chosen to compete at
the regional final in either Nashville or Houston.
“I’m going to have a heart attack if they choose
me,” she said. “I’ll be ecstatic.”
At regional finals, 100 singers will be narrowed
down to 10, who will compete on the reality TV
series until only the 2006 Nashville Star is left
standing.
“:Honestly, that would be amazing,” Sales said.
“It would be the best job ever.”
A Milton native, Sales uses words like ‘gal’ and
‘darlin’ – she seems like a natural fit for country
music.
“My voice has always sort of lent itself to country,”
she said. “It’s a lot of fun and I think what
they’re doing with country now is really exciting.”
She admits that country music didn’t interest
her until Shania Twain hit the scene.
“She kind of convinced me that it was cool,”
Sales said. “I think Shania’s awesome.”
She’s also a fan of Patsy Cline, Faith Hill, “and
of course,” she said smiling, “Dierks Bently, who I’d
like to marry.”
Sales is close to completing her first country
record, which features all material she’s written
herself, and Jeff Healey on the guitar in three of the
songs.
She wasn’t able to sing her own songs at the
Nashville Star auditions, so she recently sent a
home video to the show, featuring two of her original
songs, as well as comments from family,
friends and co-workers.
“I want this really bad, which means I have to
hit them from whatever angle I can," she said. "I’m
going all out.”
For more on Tara Sales, visit www.tarasales.com.
The next Nashville Star?
Tara Sales waits with crossed fingers for telephone call
NASHVILLE HOPEFUL: Oakville Beaver advertising representative Tara Sales,
who made the top 20 cut at the Pennsylvania Nashville Star audition, now waits to
see if she is called back to compete at the next level.
KAREN NEWMAN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER - Oakville Beaver
Artscene Oakville Beaver
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2005 33
By Krissie Rutherford
OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF
She was crowned Miss Toronto Universe 2001,
has been singing professionally for a decade in genres
like R&B, rock, pop and even German dance
music – and now Tara Sales has her sights set on
becoming the next Nashville Star.
An advertising representative at The Oakville
Beaver, Sales is part-way through the audition
process for season four of Nashville Star, the USA
Network reality-music show that searches for the
next country music superstar.
“I’m so excited – this has been my dream forever,”
she said. “Being on stage, being on tour is so
much fun – it’s not like work, it’s something that
you love.”
Last month, the 28-year-old Burlington resident
and her younger sister drove down to
Pennsylvania, one of 20 cities hosting auditions.
“I’ve been checking the Nashville Star website
since last year to find out when the auditions were,
and I’ve had people on-call checking for me,” she
said, smiling. “I saw auditions were on and I said,
‘That’s it. We’re going.’”
She was among 300 to audition in
Pennsylvania, where contestants had to perform
one country song from a list of 50 in front of a
panel of judges.
Sales sang Something More by Sugarland.
“I felt really good about it,” she said. “We were
just having so much fun.” After the first day, judges
cut 300 contestants down to 63 – and Sales was
still standing.
“They said my name and my sister and I were
both screaming,” she said. “I think we were the
only ones there who screamed.”
Sales was also the only Canadian at the
Pennsylvania audition.
“After we found out I had to audition again the
next day, we had a lot to do – we had to go shopping
because I needed another outfit,” she said.
“We didn’t even have a hotel room booked for the
second night.”
The Sales sisters almost had to sleep in the car
that night because there were no vacancies at the
hotel, but luckily, competitors who didn’t make it
past the first day cancelled their rooms.
The next day, Sales did an encore performance
of Something More and Gretchen Wilson’s When I
think about Cheating, clad in her brand new outfit,
including gold cowboy boots.
“It went really well,” she said, smiling. “I rocked
the audition.”
She was one of 20 selected to continue, and is
now waiting to find out if she’ll be one of five from
the Pennsylvania auditions chosen to compete at
the regional final in either Nashville or Houston.
“I’m going to have a heart attack if they choose
me,” she said. “I’ll be ecstatic.”
At regional finals, 100 singers will be narrowed
down to 10, who will compete on the reality TV
series until only the 2006 Nashville Star is left
standing.
“:Honestly, that would be amazing,” Sales said.
“It would be the best job ever.”
A Milton native, Sales uses words like ‘gal’ and
‘darlin’ – she seems like a natural fit for country
music.
“My voice has always sort of lent itself to country,”
she said. “It’s a lot of fun and I think what
they’re doing with country now is really exciting.”
She admits that country music didn’t interest
her until Shania Twain hit the scene.
“She kind of convinced me that it was cool,”
Sales said. “I think Shania’s awesome.”
She’s also a fan of Patsy Cline, Faith Hill, “and
of course,” she said smiling, “Dierks Bently, who I’d
like to marry.”
Sales is close to completing her first country
record, which features all material she’s written
herself, and Jeff Healey on the guitar in three of the
songs.
She wasn’t able to sing her own songs at the
Nashville Star auditions, so she recently sent a
home video to the show, featuring two of her original
songs, as well as comments from family,
friends and co-workers.
“I want this really bad, which means I have to
hit them from whatever angle I can," she said. "I’m
going all out.”
For more on Tara Sales, visit www.tarasales.com.
The next Nashville Star?
Tara Sales waits with crossed fingers for telephone call
NASHVILLE HOPEFUL: Oakville Beaver advertising representative Tara Sales,
who made the top 20 cut at the Pennsylvania Nashville Star audition, now waits to
see if she is called back to compete at the next level.
KAREN NEWMAN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER - Oakville Beaver
The Bracebridge Examiner
August 16, 2006
Country girl makes a melodic debut
By Matt Driscoll
It’s a world of broken hearts and pickup trucks, but Bracebridge’s Tara Sales is determined to make a name for herself on the country music scene.
Sales has just completed her first full length album and the lead single, Champagne to Beer, was recently released to radio across Canada.
Growing up in a home where the dial was always tuned to country music, Sales said it was only a matter of time before her love of singing and country combined.
I’ve been singing since I was a little girl. About six years ago, I really started to get into country and my voice lends itself to that style of music”, said Sales from her home in Toronto. “I came down here in 2001 and the doors have been opening up. For the past year I’ve really been getting serious about it”.
Sales has secured the perfect line of work for an aspiring musician, as she spent time managing a music studio and now works for Eye weekly, a Toronto publication with emphasis on music and the arts.
Those positions, she said, have helped her to secure many valuable contacts in the Toronto music scene. Sales admitted that the area isn’t exactly synonymous with country music, so she’s been promoting her music somewhere that is.
“I’ve taken quite a few trips to Nashville, and I’ll be going back there next week”, she said. “The city is just awesome. The people down there are so friendly and it’s a really fun place.”
Sales could be making a big splash in music city if all goes according to plan during this year’s edition of Nashville Star.
The American reality television show pits up-and-coming country music hopefuls against one another for the chance to win a recording deal with RCA.
Sales went to one of the show’s auditions in November last year and made it to the second callback before being released. The chanteuse said she’s ready for another try at the program, and called the first season a great experience.
Winner of the Miss Toronto Universe 2001 pageant, Sales has no problem with stepping into the spotlight.
Sales has recently been sharpening her skills with shows in both the United States and Canada, including the Calgary Stampede.
Her debut CD will be available September 7th at www.tarasales.com , with 50 cents from each purchase going to The Hospital for Sick Children.
- The Bracebridge Examiner
Discography
"Champagne to Beer" the 1st release single is currently on 39 Cross Canada Country Music Stations. Has also been featured on 3 National Features.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Tara Sales is and always will be one of the best entertainers in the Biz!
Tara Sales is a talented singer/songwriter with a lovable personality and dazzling looks. It's this combination that won her the prestigious title of Miss Toronto in 2001. Since handing her crown back in 2002, Tara has used her music skills and business knowledge to manage one of the biggest studios in Canada, Umbrella Sound. When the owners of Umbrella Sound split, Tara was asked to help establish and manage the world class Joao Carvalho Mastering Studio. During these years in music biz's upper management, Tara still found time to win second place in the 2003 Star Quest Songwriting Competition hosted by KICX 104.5 in Kitchener with the song "Still Dreamin'". “Still Dreamin” also won 2nd place in a www.tonos.com songwriting competition held by Carole Bayer Sager and Babyface.
Performing at the Calgary Stampede doing 31 shows in 10 days - playing on a daily basis for 3,000 and 25,000 at the Grandstand, opening up for such acts as – Aaron Lines, Amanda Wilkinson, Johnny Reid, Carolyn Dawn Johnson.
After numerous demos and EP's, Tara full length album is ready for release and available online at www.tarasales.com the CD Release party is set for Thursday September 21st, 2006
Two of the album tracks feature guitar hero Jeff Healey. The album will include songs co-written and produced by Peter Linseman of Music Mentor Productions. Two songs on the album were co-written and produced by Joao Carvalho, owner of Joao Carvalho Mastering Corp. Joao has worked with Olivia Newton John, Sam Roberts, The Tragically Hip, Pilate and many others.
Tara has enjoyed making people happy with her music, dance and dramatics since the ripe old age of two. She has always worked hard towards her goal of becoming a well-known Canadian
Singer/Songwriter. Tara is also an Actress & Jingle Singer not to mention being a member of ACTRA Toronto. Other Tara Sales credits include; former Miss Toronto, voice commercials for Sears and their recent national campaign, as well as work on the set of "The Tuxedo" starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt, “Ice Princess” starring Kim Cattrall.
You won't find it hard to keep an eye out for this beautiful and talented artist.
Please also visit Tara at www.myspace.com/tarasales
Links