April Rucker. Moi Studio Designs.
When many people think of Music City, they think of country music. We also have a really strong singer/songwriter scene. And of course, many Christian musicians record here. But few people think of Nashville when they think of R&B.
However, The Nashville Music Awards (handed out earlier this month) did include an award for Urban Recording of the Year. The CD Here I Stand, by Nashville-born songstress April Rucker, won that honor.
Rucker was born and raised here in Nashville, and attended the Nashville School of the Arts. It may not have been an obvious choice to stay here to pursue a career in R&B, but it was a choice that was made easier by the fact that her family is here.
While still a teenager, she joined a gospel group, and continued to be a part of various girl groups over the course of the next 10 years. She started writing her own music, and in 2004 she began work on her first solo album. She would occasionally perform solo shows, but many people in the Nashville area were more used to seeing her as a background vocalist for other local urban acts.
It took her until early 2009 to finally release that first solo album, Here I Stand. She wrote every song herself, and arranged all the vocals and music with help from the album's co-producers Jonathan Winstead and Stephen Jackson. The CD was released in April, on Rucker's birthday, at a CD release party held by Lovenoise. Since then, the title track has been featured on Nashville's 92Q, and has been played on several online radio stations.
Lovenoise director Eric Holt called Rucker to tell her of her Nashville Music Awards nomination. She said that seeing her name next to Taylor Swift's and Tim McGraw's was amazing, and she had no expectations of who would win the Urban Recording of the Year award.
What's next for April Rucker? She's going to keep improving her live show during 2010, and would like to record a live album someday. But for now she's happy to be promoting Here I Stand, and hopes it continues to find new fans.
If you'd like to check out the album yourself, take a listen at www.aprilrucker.com.
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