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Ogallala, NE August 2008
Moul Is A Crowd Pleaser Ogallalan opens for nationally recognized band By MARY PIERCE News Editor An amazingly calm Lexi Moul took a big step Friday toward her goal of being a country western singer when she performed as the opening act during the Keith County Fair grandstand show. Moul, 17, entertained an audience of between 1,500 and 1,700 for an hour before the headlining act, Emerson Drive, took the stage. Prior to the show, the daughter of Mick and Davanne Moul of Ogallala said she was “pretty calm” and was just enjoying every moment of the big day. After having her nails done in the morning and going to lunch with her manager, Moul said she tried to relax after sound checks in the afternoon. “I just tried to chill,” she said. While trying to relax in the family’s fifth-wheel trailer, which was parked alongside Emerson Drive’s bus on the arena floor, Moul was visited by a steady stream of friends and family members. “All of my cousins are here,” she said. Moul said, while she was the one to perform, her family also was involved. “Gatlin (Moul’s brother) got to help Emerson Drive out. My dad helped put up the stage and my mom is keeping me calm, or I’m helping to keep her calm,” she said. And, just like the big timers, Moul’s trailer door was decorated with a large gold star with her name written in glitter, a token from her grandmother, Judy. “It is a big day,” Moul said, as she posed by the star for another of the countless photos taken that day. After an evening meet-and-greet session, where fans had their pictures taken with Moul, a check of her makeup, and quick hugs for her dog, “Soda Pop,” and from her mother and dad, Moul took the stage. “My heart was pounding and I thought, ‘This is really happening,’” she said. “Then, I realized I felt that feeling I love so much.” While no stranger to the stage, when Moul stood in front of the Keith County Fair audience Friday, it was the largest for which she has performed. “I had big tears in my eyes when they screamed. It was awesome,” she said. Moul said she felt it was an advantage to perform before a hometown crowd. “I know these people,” she said. Despite the bright lights, from her vantage point, Moul said she could see many familiar faces. “All my best friends were right there in the middle. I could see them. And, my family was beside my friends,” she said. For an hour, Moul, who was accompanied by the McKenzie River Band of Omaha, sang numerous songs, including two that have never been released by other artists. “It was awesome,” Moul said. “It was the best feeling ever.” With a CD released last summer, two songs being played on local and area radio stations and, now, a major concert to her credit, next week, Moul will begin her senior year at Ogallala High School. Upon graduating, Moul plans to spend one final summer at home before moving to Nashville, Tenn., in August 2009. When Moul moves, she will pursue her dream of becoming a singing star, a dream she has had for many years. If enthusiasm is an indication of success yet to come, Moul should be a star. “She’s got the ingredients and the drive,” McKenzie River Band leader John Mendenhall said. Band member Tim Quance agreed. “She’s got that sparkle in her eye and God-given talent in her voice. Lexi’s got what it takes if she keeps the drive,” drummer and lead singer Quance said. Davanne Moul said she was thrilled her daughter got the opportunity to open for a leading country group. “I couldn’t be more happy,” she said. Davanne Moul said her daughter has worked hard to be where she is and is dedicated to her career. For many years, she trained with local voice coaches. Since November 2005, Moul has been training once a month with voice coach Renee Grant Williams at Nashville. The OHS senior also devotes two to three hours daily, three to four days a week, to practice. Those hours paid off on Friday, Davanne Moul said. What thrilled Davanne Moul most was her daugh-ter’s chance to have the experience of singing with a full band, undergoing a complete dress rehearsal and then performing a concert in front of a hometown crowd. “She got to see the complete aspect of the business,” Davanne Moul said. “As a parent, I’m hoping she gets a clear vision of what being in the music business is about.” Moul’s hour-long concert also was videotaped. “As her biggest fan, I’m hoping we get a good video that we can take to record labels and that someone offers her a deal,” she said. For her dad, Mick Moul, watching his daughter prepare for her concert and then walk out onto the stage is bittersweet, yet, fills him with pride. “It gets to me,” Mick Moul said. Lexi Moul on the Radio!! Radio stations are airing "Cool Drink of Water" and "I Just Do" new releases off the CD "I Just Do". You can hear these songs on Hot Country 106.5 and KOGA June 8, 2007 - Nashville TN Lexi Moul's CD, "I Just Do" goes to production in Nashville, TN. With a scheduled release date of July 1, 2007. The CD will go on sale to the public at this time. Ogallala, NE August 2, 2006 - Moul pursuing country western singing career By MARY PIERCE Keith County News Editor It is almost 11 p.m. on a Friday night and 15-year-old Lexi Moul of Ogallala is singing a lively, country song to a small audience of participants at a local charity event. When the song ends, a man in the audience yells for an encore. And in the beam of a workshop spotlight on a plywood stage on the edge of a high school football field, Lexi pleases her audience by performing another song. For several years now, the young singer has impressed audiences – from a handful to hundreds – with her talent. It’s a talent, she agrees, that is getting better with the time, effort and dedication not only from herself but from her parents, Mick and Davanne Moul, who too realize the young woman’s dream of becoming a country music star. And Lexi’s dream is right on track. “I want to be a country music star,” the 15-year-old Ogallala High School sophomore said. “I want to be able to tour and be on a big stage.” From as far back as she can remember, Lexi has wanted to become a country singer. “I remember riding in my car seat and Dolly Parton would be on the radio,” Lexi said. “I knew every word and I’d sing along.” During the time from toddler to teen, the dream turned into a passion, and was often fueled by young country music stars such as Jessica Andrews. “I remember listening to her music and crying, telling my mom, ‘I’m going to go to Nashville and I’m going to be famous.’” With Lexi’s parents’ support – from her mother helping her make a goal poster, to her father building a stage for her when the Mouls remodeled their home, to transporting her to singing lessons, engagements or talent contests – Lexi has taken the first giant step in her career, a step right into the country music capital of Nashville, Tenn. “I wanted to be in Nashville when I was 14,” Lexi said. “I missed my goal by a week.” The road to Nashville, while fun for the young woman, has been paved with appearances at talent shows, county fairs, community events and business and civic organizations’ conventions since she was of school age. Basically, if there was a chance to sing publicly, Lexi was there. Her first public performance was singing a duet of the national anthem with a rodeo queen during the local rodeo when she was 6 years old. At 7, she performed solo for the first time, at the Ogallala Indian Summer Rendezvous, a local town celebration of the coming of fall. Since then, she has performed in a variety of venues, to audiences young and old, small and large. Lexi also has performed at numerous talent contests during the years, and has been successful. At ages 11, 13 and 14, she was a finalist in the Colgate Country Showdown, a national talent search conducted through local, state and national contests. Recently, she won the Grand Island Colgate Country Showdown and on Aug. 7 at Bloomfield, will compete for the state title. This summer, she also was a division winner during the Galaxy of Stars talent contest at North Platte. Lexi will compete against other regional winners Sept. 3 during the Nebraska State Fair at Lincoln. While the talent contests pit her against other hopeful singers, Lexi’s big break actually came last fall while singing at a local community event, the Ogallala Indian Summer Rendezvous. An audience member called her brother-in-law, who is a talent producer at Nashville. The Mouls sent a video of Lexi performing and, shortly after, the Mouls received a phone call that would catapult Lexi’s career. “He said I was good but I needed work,” Lexi said. One week after turning 15, Lexi arrived at Nashville. She and her mom stayed in the Opryland Hotel, and Lexi said she just started crying as she realized her dream was coming true. “I just started bawling and couldn’t stop,” she said. Lexi said her emotions also overcame her on a visit to the Grand Ole’ Opry, and when she and her family toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, Lexi said everyone was ready to leave except her. “I was just reading everything,” she said. Yet, the reality of being in Nashville sunk even deeper when Lexi was introduced to vocal coach Renee Grant William, who has been a voice teacher to country music sensations Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Martina McBride. “I just thought, ‘This lady’s going to rip me apart,’” Lexi said. Instead, the two have formed not only a working relationship but a friendship, Lexi said. Since November 2005, Lexi travels to Nashville once a month for lessons. “My voice has totally changed,” Lexi said. Nashville has also introduced Lexi to songwriters and artists with not-yet-recorded music she now performs in addition to many popular country songs she loves to sing. In addition to working on her singing, Lexi is learning to play the guitar. She is also starting to write her own songs. “I write down my experiences. Me and my mom do it a lot,” she said. The mother-daughter duo has already written one song, “Inside Every Girl.” “We wrote it while we were at a baseball game waiting for Gatlin to play,” Lexi said. Gatlin is Lexi’s younger brother. The lyrics have been sent to a recording artist, who is putting it to music. While Lexi works hard on her singing voice, she is also concentrating on her performance skills. She said that learning how to talk to her audience is one of the most difficult things she has had to learn. “Speech class was hard for me,” Lexi said, adding she had told her teacher she’d sing her speech if allowed. “But I’m learning to overcome it.” Learning to move and be comfortable on stage is something Lexi also works at for hours on her own stage. “I’m always afraid I’m going to trip. I want to wear tennis shoes but my mom says heels,” she said. Lexi said when she is alone downstairs she can really perform. “But I always watch the door. I’m getting better now. I’ll let them watch,” she says of her family. In October, she will go to Texarkana, Texas, for the recording of the instrumental tracts for her first CD. In November, Lexi will go to Nashville to record the lyrics. Once the CD is complete, it will be distributed to radio stations and sent to music producers around the country. While music is a priority now, so are her high school years. It is a challenge sometimes to balance a teenage girl’s life with the beginning of a serious music career, Lexi said, but one she is willing to tackle. “I love high school,” Lexi, who is in choir and a member of the dance and volleyball teams, said. “But this is my job.” On average, Lexi said, she spends three to five hours a day during the summer and one to two hours daily during the school year practicing her craft. To gain even more performance experience, during the summer, Lexi performs with the Crystal Palace Review, a local summer stock presentation at Front Street that presents nightly shows during the tourist season. While the music of contemporary country stars Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Martina McBride, to the classic country singers including Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline have helped to inspire her, Lexi credits many people in her life for helping her to achieve her dream, including her parents, her dance coach April Cheyney, and singing coaches Kristi Hilliard and Ogallala High School choir teacher Clayton Moyer. Yet, it is her parents’ love and dedication that is allowing Lexi to pursue the passion. “I know I’m lucky. I say my prayers. I have parents who care about what I want to be when I grow up,” Lexi said. As Lexi continues to take steps toward stardom, she is content to move slowly and savor her high school years while learning and practicing more on her skill. “I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. I want to be there for a while,” she said. You can see Lexi perform at these and other events! Check out the "Events" page to see when and where!! |
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