There’s a short history of junior high school-age singers becoming successful country artists – Billy Gilman, Leann Rimes, and of course the inimitable Tanya Tucker, who’s killing it on the road as much as anybody these days. After being nominated for Junior Artist of the Year at last month’s 10th Annual Josie Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House, opening for artists like for Aaron Tippin and Riley Green, and co-writing her latest single, “Country Gold,” seventh grader Josie Sal (Salvitti) may well be on her way to joining that group.
Just a couple weeks shy of her 13th birthday, Josie Sal is enjoying the success of “Country Gold,” written in Nashville with Noah West, Presley Tennant, and her producer Noah Henson. She’s been performing the song, along with other originals and covers, at venues in Nashville, Florida, and her native Pennsylvania. Sal spends a substantial amount of time in Music City, co-writing songs and attending events like CMA Fest and the Josie Awards, where she didn’t win but felt like a winner anyway. “It was my first time at the Opry House,” she said, “so fun, it was a really cool experience.”
She said she’s been singing for years, but never in front of people until her father finally challenged her to get up in front of a crowd and perform. “I didn’t know I could really sing, l kinda just sang all the time, until Dad dared me,” she said. “And then I was like, Ohh, wait, I kind of can sing. After that I caught the bug and wanted to do this.”
Salvitti isn’t from a musical family and, being so young, can’t really claim any substantial influences besides more recent artists. “My favorite artist, or that has influenced me the most, is probably Lainey Wilson,” she said, “because I just love everything about her, how she’s so humble. I love her personality and I love her music and I think she’s just so fun on stage.”
“I also love Zach Bryan,” she continued, “mainly because he really tells a story with his songwriting. If you read his songs without any music, if you don’t sing it, it’s like a story or like a poem so I really like that. And then the other one is Jelly Roll, because of how sweet he is to all his fans and how he’s just so nice and down to earth, he’s the sweetest person I’ve ever met. And whenever he talks to his fans he just makes them feel like they’re the only one in the room, he’s just so focused on you.”
And when it comes to Jelly Roll, she should know, having spent time on stage with him at a show near Pittsburgh last year, finagling her way onstage by holding up a sign offering to sing Lainey Wilson’s part of his hit “Save Me.” Jelly Roll saw the sign and took a chance and called her to the stage to sing with him.
“It was so fun and so scary at the same time,” she said. “I didn’t have any in-ear monitors, so it was definitely hard. It was the echo…definitely not the easiest thing ever. His whole team is so nice, they brought us back to the after party. and there was a whole line waiting for Jelly Roll. And he walked straight to me and I felt like the most special person there. It was so much fun.”
You can follow Josie Sal at josiesal.com.
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