Learn this name, parents: Riley Biederer. We predict your kids will be talking about her before long. The 15-year-old from Cumming has just been signed by Elton John's management company after someone from Team Elton spotted her on YouTube.
"We're probably going to start recording soon," Riley told us Tuesday night at the party for Georgia Grammy Award nominees, held at the downtown W hotel. The 54th annual Grammy Awards will air at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 on CBS.
Nominated artists with Georgia ties this year include B.o.B, Cee Lo Green, Jason Aldean, André 3000 and Gregg Allman, none of whom was able to make it. We did visit with Kristian Bush, half of contemporary country duo Sugarland, a past Grammy winner.
"We are going to go on tour mid to late spring," he said, giving us a preview of his and Jennifer Nettles' plans this year. "We're going to source our fans for our set list."
Bush e and Chuck Leavell, a keyboardist who has worked with acts including the Rolling Stones and the Allman Brothers, both visited the Georgia Dome Tuesday afternoon. They'd love a little legislative love, in the form of tax breaks like the legislature enacted a few years ago to entice movie productions.
"We're getting the attention of our lawmakers," said Leavell, now an environmentalist who lives outside Macon and co-founded the Mother Nature Network web site.
Also strolling the red carpet were Collective Soul's Dean Roland and Will Turpin, the latter who has released a solo project called "The Lighthouse." Meanwhile Roland has teamed up with artist Ryan Potesta; that collaboration goes by the name Magnets and Ghosts.
"We took time to explore ourselves outside Collective Soul," Turpin said. "We hope all these side projects will eventually help Collective Soul."
Zac Brown Band members Coy Bowles and John Hopkins stopped by and said although the band has racked up a slew of accolades (the group is a past "best new artist" Grammy winner), they still enjoy slipping into small venues around town. "There's a different kind of honesty in a small room," Hopkins said.
Jan Smith, the vocal coach who's worked with artists including Usher, Rob Thomas and Justin Bieber, said she remains tough on her clients, no matter how famous they get.
"When we work with people in the studio, it's really about being honest with them and telling them the truth," she said.
And just when we thought the red carpet was about to be retired for the night, "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast member Phaedra Parks and husband, Apollo Nida, arrived. Parks wasn't able to drop any details about future shows, but did talk a little bit about why she joined the Bravo crew. "The show came at a good time," she said. "It was a great opportunity."
She had previously enjoyed success as an entertainment lawyer and said most people who knew her privately knew the more serious, businesslike side of her.
"I never consider myself funny," said Parks, who humors viewers with comments like the one she made regarding the funeral home business. ("I love the dead. They're so quiet.") "I just think of myself as down home," Parks said. "I'm just being me."
As always, Michele Caplinger, head of the Atlanta Grammy chapter, presided with elan. "Huge records are being made here," she said. "Atlanta is a creative community. Every year it just gets more exciting."
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