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Young singer makes the TV cut

A student at Indian Rocks Christian School could be headed for fame, but she doesn't want to be idolized - that's for someone else.

Hoping to go the way of Fantasia Barrino and Kelly Clarkson, but in a more spiritual way, Largo's Erin Boone heads to North Carolina next month to compete in the Christian Artist Talent Search, or CATS.

The contest, hosted by the Inspiration Network of Charlotte, N.C., is one of many new TV shows in the Christian world patterning themselves after the Fox show American Idol. Now in its second season, the competition drew more than 1,700 entries from around the United States, including Erin, who submitted her first CD, Come Back to Reality.

The 17-year-old was one of 64 finalists selected to appear on the televised program. The 24-episode series will start airing next January, with the winner receiving a $200,000 national recording contract with the Butterfly Group, a Christian music company.

After that contest, Erin will perform at a similar competition called Exalting Him on July 31 in Orlando.

In August, she will travel to Nashville, where she will be a guest on a TV show called Where God Leads and sing two Southern gospel songs.

This kind of nonstop traveling fits in with Erin's wish to "go on the road and be on tour. But it depends on the Lord Jesus."

Born in Clearwater, Erin will be a senior this fall at Indian Rocks Christian School.

Her parents, Cindy and Robert Boone, became aware their child had vocal talent when she played the lead role of an orphan in a kindergarten Christmas musical.

"She sounded great," said Cindy Boone. "When she was asked to sing, she was always good."

Erin attends Seminole Assembly of God Church and is a member of its praise team.

In her spare time she writes and sings Christian contemporary music, some with a bluegrass feel. Other songs in her repertoire have a Southern gospel or country flair, but the message is always about the Lord.

"I got really close in my walk with God when I started writing," she said.

About a year ago, she started laying tracks at Paradise Acres Recording Studios in Seminole, where her aunt works.

"She blew me away," said studio president and producer Rick Flippin. "She was nervous. She had never been in a studio before. After we got her to put her track down, we wanted her to do a scratch demo. We went, "Whoa!' She had a great feel for what she was doing.

"I think she can go as far as she likes to go," he continued. "I think she's got more than enough ability and talent to be the next big thing."

Under Flippin's guidance, she recorded Come Back to Reality and her new CD Superhero, which will be released July 24 at a party at Smiley's, 12626 Ulmerton Road in Largo, one of the Christian venues in Pinellas County where Erin performs.

She has also performed at the Royalty Theatre, St. Paul's Methodist Church, Countryside Baptist Church and the New Hope Cafe.

Flippin said Erin has an edge over some other emerging artists because she not only plays guitar but she writes most of her music.

And "she has a sound that's not like everybody else," Flippin said. "That's going to have a great impact on her career. That's why a lot of people enjoy her."

Hear songs from Come Back to Reality at www.thespiritradio.net/artisthome.asp?id=496