Van Preston
Alt Country / Country / Rock
Nashville, TN
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About
Tens of thousands of singers and songwriters call Nashville home, but very few actually have what it takes to succeed in a big way. But one Nashville country act is proving that she does indeed have the right stuff, and is making an international name for herself without the benefit of a record deal of any kind. Unsigned, singer/songwriter Van Preston has used hard work and grassroots promotion to distribute her music to the world, resulting in a strong fan base in Europe and a significant and growing amount of airplay on U.S. Radio stations, an unheard-of feat for an artist who doesn't even have a record deal.
Van Preston grew up in a small Arkansas town, discovering her love and talent for songwriting at the age of nine. The valedictorian of her class in a small Arkansas town, Preston earned a marketing and management Bachelor's degree in Minnesota before heading to Music City in 2004. Her music can best be described as rootsy country, with strong influences of Americana, rock, pop and folk. In the tradition of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Kelly Willis and Shania Twain, Van has crossed genre lines to create her signature style of hook-driven country music, kicked up by a strong-woman perspective and infectious energy.
Arriving in Nashville in July 2004, she set out to make a name for herself and has since made big strides toward achieving that goal: Van has had four top-20 hits in Europe since mid-2006, and three songs that have charted in the U.S. since December of 2006.
Her self-titled debut album, produced by Nashville hit writer Greg Crowe, was nominated for 2007 Country Album of the Year in Europe by the European CMA.
Van's song, "Bought Myself a Toy," was selected by Universal Records-Europe for inclusion on a country-music compilation CD scheduled for Europe-wide release in February of 2008. The music video is currently playing on Sprint VIDEO Mobile Voltage phones in London, Dublin, New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. Also in February 2008, a Swedish Record Label has licensed two of Van's songs, 'Heartbroke For The Last Time" and 'What Goes Around, Comes Around" and is distributing the album with Van's tracks throughout Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.
Van's current Radio single, "Forever Ago," is at 24 on the U.S. Country chart (newmusicweekly.com) as of February 1, 2008, and has had airplay in major cities including Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Raleigh-Durham and many others.
Her single "Tougher Than That" went to 25 on the US Country charts (newmusicweekly.com) in October of 2007, with frequent airplay on large metro-area stations. It appeared in the Top 100 Country Hits of 2007 chart, with almost 18,000 radio spins in major U.S. markets.
Two of Van's songs, "Bought Myself A Toy" and "Someone Who Ain't Me", were among the top nine Country songs in the prestigious 2007 John Lennon Songwriting Competition. Van was also one was one of two writers chosen by the JLSC to perform at the Summer 2005 NAMM show.
As of August 2007, Van was ranked as the Top Unsigned Artist in Americana Music on myspace.com, one of the Internet's most-visited sites.
As of May 2007, Van was ranked as the 4 Independent Artist in Europe by more than 800 radio stations. Her single "HeartBroke For The Last Time" went to 4 in Europe in Fall 2006. Her other European singles did well also. "What Goes Around, Comes Around" went to 16, "Toy" to 19, "Forever Ago" to 21, and "Tougher Than That" to 9.
Van's song, "Someone Who Ain't Me," won an Honorable Mention in the 2007 CMT/NSAI Song Contest. In 2006, Van's song "What Goes Around" placed in the top 15 in the 2006 CMT/NSAI Song Contest, and was featured on cmt.com during March and April of that year. Van was a finalist in the 2005 UK Songwriting Contest.
Van has performed at Midwest Music Summit, Atlantis, the world-famous rock bar CBGB's, the Colgate Country Showdown, and at countless other venues and events. She will be touring Europe and Australia in 2008, in addition to her shows across the U.S.
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