2 N.C. Kids on National Stage
By Marti Maguire, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Jan. 6–One bows a mean fiddle, the other hits high notes. One dreams of the opera, the other of the Grand Ole Opry.
But musical styles aside, Samantha Casey and Madeline Edwards have a lot in common. Both are accomplished musicians at a young age. They live only a few miles apart.
And both beat incredibly long odds to end up on the same national television talent show.
Samantha, a 10-year-old who lives near Pine Level in Johnston County, will be featured Monday on CBS’ “The Early Show.” She will play “Beaumont Rag” on her fiddle in traditional bluegrass style, competing for online votes against two other youngsters.
Madeline, an 11-year-old who lives across the county line in Goldsboro, beat out her two competitors last month in the same contest, “Living Room … Live! Kids’ Edition.” She’ll find out Monday whether she advances.
If Samantha emerges a winner, it is possible the two Down East girls could compete against each other for a chance to play live on the TV show in New York.
Both girls already know the feel of a smaller spotlight.
Samantha’s father, Daniel Casey, plays banjo in a local band, and Samantha started standing on stage with him, keeping time with taps on her fiddle, when she was 2.
She was playing by the age of 5, and at 7 she dubbed her own band with her father, Samantha Casey and the Bluegrass Jam. He plays banjo or guitar, and they take turns singing lead or a tenor accompaniment.
They mainly play churches and civic clubs, but she has played to bigger audiences — most recently the annual County Music Showcase at Johnston Community College. But she said this exposure is more exciting. “I’ve never been on national TV before,” Samantha said.
Her mother, Judy Casey, said friends and neighbors started telling her to send a video of Samantha after seeing Madeline on television. The video they sent has Samantha playing what her mom called “a fun, bouncy fiddle tune,” while her father plays background guitar.
The family has campaigned for votes in phone calls and e-mail messages since they found out she was picked to compete. They’re hoping for support from friends and neighbors, as well as bluegrass fans from near and far.
“We’re getting the word out to everybody we know,” Judy Casey said. “Hopefully, the bluegrass community will support it.”
Madeline got a taste for classical singing at age 4 or 5 after hearing contemporary classical singer Charlotte Church. A CD she made when she was 7 to benefit research on juvenile diabetes, from which she suffers, sold 6,000 copies, her father said.
In the video she submitted for the contest, her slight figure in a polka-dotted dress doesn’t seem capable of producing a voice that should belong to a full-sized soprano. Her face is a mask of sorrow as she sings “O Mio Babbino Caro,” a song about unrequited love, in Italian.
She easily beat her first round of competitors, and the show’s online message board lit up with praise for her unusual talent.
But her father said the experience is more important than the prize, even if the competition ends up being between neighbors.
“It’s really not a heated competition,” Michael Edwards said of the two girls. “It’s a chance for both girls to get exposure for their talents.”
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