Katrina Elam

Unlike most pretty girls who move to Nashville, Katrina Elam didn't intentionally aspire to be a country singer. She was actually more interested in writing songs than singing them at first, although she did fall in love with music by singing at a very young age. When she was nine years old, she moved her mother to tears at a 4-H variety show where she took the stage and sang to the Oklahoma audience. After that moment, her path was laid out for her like the yellow brick road. Six years later, Elam was awarded Female Singer of the Year by the Oklahoma Opry and the Oklahoma Country Music Association. She got her first big break opening for Reba McEntire and Vince Gill. But at a young age she was already starting to feel more inspired by the folks behind the scenes than the songwriters. She had already been writing her own songs back home and at the age of 16 she landed a publishing contract with Warner-Chappell Music. This of course gave her the gumption to pack up and head out to Music City a year later. It didn't take long for her to decide that she would be the best person to sing her own songs and this is where she inked a recording deal with Universal South.