By By LYDIA GRIMES – Features writer
Tiffany Turner is chasing her dream. She is well on her way to making a name for herself in the country music business and couldn't be happier.
She was born into a family that was gifted with musical talent, and although she began singing at an early age, she never thought about making it a career.
It was through her mother that her love for country music was encouraged. The two of them attended several concerts and it was at a Reba McIntyre concert that she realized that this was what she wanted to do.
Her father, Gary Turner, has been a minister of music in several local churches. He also played bass guitar and sang with a couple of groups. He was part of the group &#8220Fandango” who performed at a local motel. He also was a part of a southern gospel group called &#8220Midnight Cry.”
Turner was allowed to come up and sing while her father was minister of music.
While she was contemplating the thought of attending college, she took a job at a car dealership answering phones.
Much to her surprise, she was one of four that were selected to perform at Dollywood's new country show, &#8220Back Stage Pass” and also at &#8220Christmas in the Smokies.”
After working there about a year, she took a step that would lead to the next level of her career. She called Frank Auman Jr., who is the executive producer and owner of Classic Country Theater (now known as the American Jukebox Theater). She asked him if she could audition for him. He agreed, even though there were no openings at the time.
She became a member of the cast of &#8220Classic Country Show” and &#8220Back to the 50's Rock &Roll Show.” She worked there for the next three years, tuning her voice and improving her presence on the stage.
It was through Auman that she was introduced to Stan Hitchcock, who was part of the founding group and head of the Nashville operations of the CMT (1983-1991) until its sale to Gaylord Entertainment and Group W. Auman and Hitchcock teamed up to offer her a management contract to further her singing career as a country music artist.
Since 2003 she has continued to work at American Jukebox Theater and has appeared on several TV shows. She has even debuted a couple of her new songs.
In January of 2006, she made the move to Nashville. She has four years of experience under her belt and is ready to make the next step. The time has come to produce a &#8220demo” and use her own musical interpretations of her music. She also plans some more recordings to get her ready for her first album.
It was through the help of Auman and Hitchcock that she met another legend in the business, Ronnie Reno. Reno has been in country and bluegrass music for over 40 years, as an artist, producer and publisher.
Reno, who is a director with the BlueHighways Television Network, agreed to help, along with Hitchcock, to get her demo done. She was scheduled to make her demo at Hilltop Recording Studio and met Carl Jackson, who wrote one of the songs she recorded. He even consented to sing backup along with bluegrass artist, Alecia Nugent. BlueHighways TV was there for the recording and videoed the session for broadcast.
In February she will perform at the Country Radio Seminar where new artists are heard. She also attended the Country Music Awards and hopes to have her album ready sometime this summer or fall.
Turner was born in Brewton and grew up here. She attended the Brewton schools and graduated from T.R. Miller in 1996. She didn't participate in many extra-curricular activities, although she was in the color guard.
After graduation from high school, she attended JDCC for a while and then went to the University of Alabama. She was soon back at JDCC, but that just didn't seem the place to be for her.
It was when she had just about decided to go back to the University of Alabama that she auditioned for the first time.