NACMAI’s<\/a>, from March 11-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe two up-and-coming performers from Lower Sackville are going to be representing Nova Scotia and Canada at a Country Week singing competition in Music City USA, Nashville, Tenn. It will be held at Pigeon Forge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlee, whose favourite music artists are Zac Brown, Morgan Wallen, and Dolly Parton, is looking forward to Nashville. She has also been asked to be part of the opening ceremony, where she will represent Canada and sing O Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m very grateful that I got invited to go to this competition because it is a big deal,\u201d said Charlee, 12. \u201cI\u2019m just excited if I can meet some people there, and you never know who might be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to see where it takes me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mack, who likes old time singers like Hank Williams Jr., is also excited for the singing opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it will be a lot of fun to perform down there,\u201d said Mack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Charlee said her family has music vibes running through it, so for her having music part of her life came easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy granddad had a lot of family from Cape Breton, and they all play music and instruments,\u201d said Charlee, a Leslie Thomas Junior High student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I have always loved to sing since I was little, from the moment I could right through to now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWriting a song and being an artist has always been a big dream of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mack, who attends Sackville High, said he learned to play the guitar a couple of years ago after his parents bought him one. He has gotten rather good since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just happy to be able to perform with Charlee and get to go to Nashville for the competition,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two have been playing together for close to a year, said Charlee as Mack nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They even played on the stage during the Kraft Hockeyville rally held at the Sackville Arena parking lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Charlee said Mack is a good guitar player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe just loves it,\u201d said Charlee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two started playing together at the Beaver Bank Station just to start to build a following and for fun and exposure, said Charlee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said she likes using her body language when she\u2019s singing and moving around and having fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy favourite part of performing is having people relate or enjoy listening to my singing,\u201d said Charlee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mack plays a song by hearing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can usually just figure songs out, like I have with some of Charlee\u2019s,\u201d said Mack. \u201cWhen I\u2019m up before people playing, I feel nervous sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The two have had great support from the local business community and individuals – some as silent auction items, others as cash donations or gift certificates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the two youngsters\u2019 friends were nothing but supportive as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur friends have been really good in giving us confidence and pats on the back,\u201d said Mack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlee has written a song called Awkward Silence, but she\u2019s fine tuning on it with a record producer friend. It will be available on all music platforms when it is released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mack and Charlee are nervously excited to get to Nashville and perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited and happy as I\u2019ve always wanted to make singing my thing,\u201d said Charlee. \u201cI was shocked when mom told me I was getting this chance at a music competition with older people then me, and my cousin Mack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so happy we get to do this together. Being able to share this experience with Mack makes me really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to make a donation to help with expenses while they are in Nashville, donations can be made to: nashvillebound2025@gmail.com .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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[adrotate banner=”148″] [adrotate banner=”127″] MAIN PHOTO: Cousins Charlee Backer-Stone and Mack Belfield are off to Nashville form March 11-16 for a music week competition. Charlee and Mack were invited to attend. (Healey photo) LOWER SACKVILLE: Charlee Backer-Stone has been singing since the time she could talk. Now Charlee and Cousin Mack Belfield are preparing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[7881,50,121,13,5033],"class_list":["post-52762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-charlee-backer-stone","tag-halifax","tag-hrm","tag-lower-sackville","tag-nashville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}