The North American Country Music Association’s “Rising Star Song Writer of 2016” is none other than Morrow County’s own, Bec Silveous, also known as Rebecca Kiernan.
A former member of the “Morrow County Potholes” band, the songwriter, performer, guitar player and author is prolific in her performances and writing ambitions.
“After the band (Morrow County Potholes) broke up, I started doing karaoke, singing along to popular songs at the Cactus Club which is where I started my singing career,” she says. “That started with a contest in Centerburg in the summer of 2013. I didn’t make the grade, but that didn’t stop me from following my dream of a singing career. I followed that with a run in a contest at the Big Walnut Grill in 2015 where I decided karaoke wasn’t my bag, and I started to write and perform my own work.”
Regularly performing in her black cowboy hat and pearl necklace at several venues in Morrow County, Westerville and the greater Columbus area, Silveous made a name for herself locally before stepping into the national spotlight.
The Morrow County native, recently won the NACMA’s title of “Rising Star” for her presentation of her original song “When the Leaves Fall,” as well as “Most Promising Female Entertainer of the Year” in March 2016.
To qualify to compete in the NACMA, she first had to earn a high score in the Buckeye Country Music Organization competition in 2015.
“I have been singing and playing since I was 15 years old,” she explains. “I am now 67. I entered the contest against 500 others.”
She notes that many others only sang along with prerecorded tracks.
“I can sing karaoke, but I choose to perform with my guitar and my original songs. My expertise is in songwriting.”
Although her guitar playing days started at the tender age of 12, her singing career didn’t begin until the early 2000s, and has proceeded to blossom into her now single performance act.
Now, the wife to husband William, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother shares her talents not only in song but also in print, with her self-illustrated books “Grasserhops” and other short works of poetry. She says she also enjoys discovering old poems that she then sets to music.
Silveous entered seven of her own original songs into several categories in the John Lennon songwriting contest, an international songwriting competition comprised of 12 categories, ranging from country to rock. The winners in each category are expected to be announced Sept. 11.
