From Illinois to Tennessee — to Can You Duet and CMT

11 Aug 09

I met Joshua Scott Jones the summer of 2003. I was an aspiring journalist interning for the local television station in Charleston, Ill., and he was a hopeful musician and singer-songwriter. I saw him in passing several times in college, but we soon lost touch over the years. Unbeknownst to the other, in 2006, we both left that small town and headed south to Nashville. Josh moved here to perform country music. I moved here to write about it. Three years later, our paths would cross again.

This morning (Aug. 10), I sat across from Josh and his girlfriend, Meghan Linsey. As the duo Steel Magnolia, the two of them won CMT’s Can You Duet during the second season finale that aired over the weekend. We chatted about their music, and Josh and I talked about back home and even Charleston’s town square. As we sat there talking, it made me think about how much has changed in these last three years. This young man, who once gave my friends and me CDs in college, is now signed to Big Machine Records, the Nashville label that’s home to artists like Taylor Swift and Trisha Yearwood. And I’m no longer working for WEIU-TV in Charleston. Though I miss it and the people greatly, I am happy to now call CMT home.

Without sounding too cliché, I have to say, it puts a smile on my face to think we achieved what we set out to do. Congratulations, Steel Magnolia, on your new record deal, new single and, ultimately, proving you can du-et.

See their winning performance of “Keep on Loving You” on CMT.com.

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