Two months after he had originally planned to do so, Shawn Wilder will kick off a Nashville tour this weekend.
Wilder and his backing band, The River's End, will play in the Expo Room at the Chautauqua Suites in Mayville on Saturday night. It will be the start of a busy week for Wilder, who will take songs from his recently released CD, The Beginning, on the road with him to Tennessee in the effort to start making more connections in Music City.
It's all part of the big-time dream for the 23-year-old Westfield native, who was the 2009 Chautauqua Lake Idol winner. And though the trip was moved back from its originally scheduled January, Wilder said the decision to hold off was the correct one.
"I feel a lot more prepared, and I really feel like the trip is going to be put to good use,'' he said. "We're not just going to be Joe Schmo going down there - we're really going to be working on this and it's going to be a good thing.''
Caleb Pangborn is Wilder's manager and producer and will be joining him on the trip. He and Wilder have arranged meetings with many influential people in the music industry who are interested in Wilder's music, he said.
"It's going to be a fun time, and it's going to give us a lot more contacts as we try to get our foot in the door down there,'' Pangborn said, adding that he and Wilder are planning to return to Nashville for a second trip in June. "We want to see what we can create, contact-wise and getting more awareness of Shawn's album to the higher-ups.''
Depending on whether a performance in Lexington, Ky., on Sunday night can be booked, Wilder and Pangborn will either leave immediately following the Chautauqua Suites show or first thing Sunday morning. They will then begin hot-footing it across Nashville, with two official shows - both of which will be streamed live over the Internet via links on Wilder's MySpace page, myspace.com/swwilder - and as many impromptu performances as Wilder can give as he tries to sell his wares, his manager said.
"We're staying with a singer/songwriter from Nashville, so we're going to be running around with him and he's going to be taking us around to events where (Wilder) can perform,'' Pangborn said. "It's going to be basically Shawn walking down the street with his guitar, and anywhere he can play, we're going to do it.''
While Wilder tries to make a name for himself in Nashville, his name is already spreading regionally. He has recently been named the featured artist for Warren-based Kwik Fill's 2010 Driving America Tour and Sweepstakes - and with the distinction, Wilder will be tagged to perform at major outdoor community-based events throughout the region such as the Taste of Buffalo, the Taste of Syracuse, Rochester's Lilac Festival and Kwik Fill Night at Lake Erie Speedway.
In addition, Pangborn said, Kwik Fill stores are waiting for approval to order albums - perhaps as many as 10,000 - to sell in their more than 300 stores throughout New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio as part of the promotion.
Wilder said receiving the honor is "phenomenal'' and hopes it provides him with the break he needs to make his name more widely known.
"I never thought that I would be able to do something like that so quick off in my career, but I have a lot of good people behind me and they are backing me 110 percent,'' he said. "It's really going to help, and I really think it's going to be good for me.''
The doors will open at the Chautauqua Suites for the performance by Shawn Wilder and The River's End on Saturday night at 8:30. Tickets will be $10 at the door, and admission price includes a free glass of wine courtesy of Noble Winery. Wilder's guitar and hat from the cover of The Beginning CD, signed by Wilder and the band members, will be auctioned during the night. The opening act will be Amanda Barton, Teal Weatherly and Steve Davis of The Steve Johnson Band, with Wilder and the band expected to take the stage at about 10:15.