[img width=608]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1715805743628x322766186819870800/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [h2]Calgary girl eyes the same route for musical fame and fortune[/h2] When she graduates from high school in just two years time, Carleen June Belick will be looking down the same, long stretch of road that Marie Bottrell now faces. A Calgary girl, Belick caught the eye and ear of a Nashville talent scout last year, and she's since recorded four singles, the first in Nashville and the last three for Caprice Records here in Calgary. The 16-year-old Belick, who will begin Grade 11 in September, is determined to get her high school diploma, but her long-range plans are to become a performing and recording artist. Obviously she's too young to be playing in bars just yet, but she's prepared to keep practising and wait. Belick is not a country music singer in the strictest sense of the word. She said in an interview this week that she sings material by Tanya Tucker and Linda Rondstadt, both cross-over artists. Like her friends, she also listens to pop and rock music, but she prefers to sing country. "I have a country voice not too raunchy." If your radio dial is tuned to CFAC, you might have heard a couple of her songs, Rodeo Rider, or It's Already Gone. Her next release is going to be an old Hank Williams tune, Cold, Cold Heart. Belick plays guitar, and often learns the words to the tunes she sings by simply listening to recordings of them. She's backed by a local band called Free Ride when she performs, and recently began writing her first song. "I haven't finished it yet though." she admitted. The Nashville trip in which she was given a catalogue and asked to pick two songs she liked that were in her key and then record them two days later after practicing in her hotel room - gave her a head start with some all-important American radio exposure. She's hoping to release an album next fall, but is in no hurry. In the meantime, "when something comes up, I'll do it," Belick says.
