Nate Kenyon - Florida winner.

The big day is almost here for Baxley, Ga. resident and Country Showdown Florida and SE Regional winner Nate Kenyon. Nate, 23, won both contests at The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park & Campground (SOSMPC) in Live Oak in 2014. 

Nate arrived in the mother city of country music late Sunday evening in preparation for a round of events leading up to the 32^nd Annual Country Showdown finals in the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday, Jan. 21, beginning at 7 p.m. Country Music superstar LeAnn Rimes will host the event on the revered Grand Ole Opry stage. This is America’s largest country music talent show with more than 450 local contests sponsored by local radio across the US.

If you would like to wish Nate well, go to the Country Showdown Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CountryShowdown and post well wishes there. You may also go to natekenyonlive.com or his Twitter handle is @nkofficial. You may also post well wishes for Nate at www.Facebook.com/musicliveshere. Let’s all encourage our own Nate Kenyon to bring home the national title!

Always a laid back, quiet, confident guitarist, songwriter and singer, Nate said he’s calm as can be and ready to compete with his own music he’s written. A dedicated full-time artist, Nate said he’s going to do just as he always does at a performance. “I’m going to take it easy, do what I always do and whatever it is, is meant to be,” he said quietly during a phone interview Sunday evening from Nashville. “I’m just going to be myself.”

The 100 or so family, friends and supporters who are traveling to Nashville this week to support Nate already know they can expect Nate to be himself. That’s how he won his way to the Grand Ole Opry stage and the mother church of country music where every country artist in America wants to stand and perform. Nate will get that chance Wednesday evening before these supporters and a house full of Opry guests. “I think I’ve got about 100 coming with my girlfriend, her family, my family and friends to cheer me on.” Among those supporters will be Kells Rivers Faulkner, general manager of WAAC FM in Valdosta, Ga. which sponsored the Valdosta contest that started Nate’s journey to the Grand Ole Opry Stage. Also there to support Nate will be national TV star Dave Stone, aka The Kraken, the diver with the DreadKnots on the History Channel’s Ax Men TV series. Dave has spent many hours supporting Nate and can’t wait for this performance!

Regardless of what happens on the Opry Stage Jan. 21, Nate Kenyon already knows where his home will be by February…Nashville! “I don’t want to miss out on anything, so my plans are to move to Nashville by next month,” Nate said.

Tickets for this event are free, but you must call 615-889-3060 (Ryman Auditorium) in advance to get your ticket reserved. Doors open at 6 p.m., show begins at 7 p.m. It will be filmed for TV, but will not be shown for several months. A buffet dinner Tuesday night in Nashville is $50 and you get to mingle with the five winning artists from all over the US and who knows who else during this event. To check on those tickets, go to www.facebook.com/CountryShowdown.

The SOSMPC is located 4.5 miles south of Interstate 75 and 4.5 miles north of Interstate 10 at the beautiful Suwannee River off US 129 at 3076 95^th Drive, Live Oak. Music festivals such as AURA, SpringFest, Wanee, Suwannee River Jam, Purple Hatters Ball, Magnolia Fest, Hulaween, Bear Creek Music and Art Fest and more are held here each year. The SOSMPC also hosts the Suwannee River Jam (SRJ) Auditions with winners performing at the SRJ, one of the largest country music jams in the South. The SOSMPC also hosts the North Florida Country Showdown sponsored by WQHL 98.1 FM Today’s Best Country annually.