Nashville-based singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith has written songs for artists such as Jason Aldean, Meghan Trainor, Lady Antebellum, Garth Brooks, John Legend, and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. More recently, Smith's own 2018 album Starfire is taking her on tour, and the latest single off the album, "Contact High," is getting spins on The Current.

But a pivotal moment in Smith's trajectory as an artist happened at the Minnesota State Fair. Smith, who grew up in Cannon Falls, Minn., won the State Fair's amateur talent contest in 2001.

"I was 15 years old — brace face, braces all over my mouth!" Smith says, laughing. "It was such a wild experience. It was the largest audience that I had ever played for up to that point."

Much like kids who go to camp or participate in team sports, Smith's summertime activity, starting at about age nine, was to enter the Minnesota State Fair's amateur talent contest, which auditions participants ahead of the opening day. "The first couple years, I didn't make it in as a kid," Smith recalls, "but then I started making it in. … and so I would advance a couple different years, and then finally in 2001, I went on to actually play the Grandstand and won the whole thing with an original song, which was so, so crazy!"

The format of the State Fair's Amateur Talent contest — a tradition for 46 years and counting — hasn't altered much since the year Smith took home the prize: each day of the Fair, the Leinie Lodge Bandshell hosts a series of shows in which different waves of participants are evaluated; some qualify for the next round. Finals are held at the State Fair Grandstand on the second Sunday of the Fair; this year, the talent show finals takes place Sunday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 p.m., before an expected audience of 10,000 or more.

"It's a bit of a blur," Smith says, thinking back to her 2001 performance at the Grandstand. "I remember I had all my friends and family there. It was super exciting to step on such a large stage in front of such a gigantic audience! The song that I performed was called 'I Found You,' and it was just me and my little black acoustic guitar. I had a blue, sparkly dress and big, beautiful braces on my teeth — I just remember that!

"The moment goes by so quickly," Smith continues. "You practice a thousand times and then you get up there, you plug in your guitar and you just let 'er rip. And I just remember the audience going crazy, and it felt like fireworks were already happening, but they happened after the show!"

Smith says that when the time came to receive her trophy, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. She describes the event as "such a fun, big-time moment for a little 15-year-old girl."

Young though she was, the moment set Smith's career in motion. "I would actually say it kind of kick-started things into gear," Smith says. "My parents thought at that point that I had had such dedication to this passion, and there were a lot of people at the State Fair that were asking for a copy of my song and asking for my music. So it was really winning the State Fair that pushed my parents into the direction of deciding to take my college fund and lend it to me to make my first record [Learning to Be]."

Performers in the State Fair's talent contest are not limited to musicians; the lineup includes dancers, magicians and other types of talents. For this year's and future State Fair talent contest participants, Smith shares what she learned during her years in the program: "Just putting everything that you have into your performance, doing the best job with what you do, and giving it everything that you have," she says. "At the end of the day, it is a talent show, and it's not necessarily going to change whether or not you are going to be the best in your field if you win or lose; you have to keep that in mind, too. But just taking the opportunity to get in front of people and show your best self would be my advice."

Now, Smith is looking ahead to a another series of tour dates as she continues supporting her Starfire album. "I'm looking forward to hopping on the road with Mr. Amos Lee. He is really an astounding singer-songwriter, and I'm so, so excited to be watching his show every night and being able to share with his audience a little bit of what I do," Smith says. "And I'm really pumped about Pilgrimage Festival down here in Franklin, Tennessee [Sept. 22 and 23]. Chris Stapleton and Jack White and some of my other favorite artists are playing this festival, so I'm excited to play, but I'm also excited to just go for the weekend and be a fan and listen to some music as well, so it's going to be a good fall."

Album tours and massive music festivals are a long way from the Minnesota State Fair's amateur talent contest, but Smith remains grateful for the experience. "It really gave me a great opportunity to really launch a career out of music," Smith says. "It's just a fantastic platform to get in front of people."

Videos

External Links

Caitlyn Smith - official site

Minnesota State Fair Amateur Talent Contest - official site

Related

• Talking guitars and songwriting with Caitlyn Smith
• Newly minted star Caitlyn Smith comes home to Cannon Falls
• Caitlyn Smith is making her dreams come true