A malfunctioning generator and three overhanging power lines couldn't stop up-and-coming country artist Jillian Cardarelli from celebrating the release of her third album, "little BIG Sky," last Wednesday at Pub 97 in Groveland.
The band's set had them mounted on a massive mound of sod complete with large bales of hay to add to the country theme, while family and friends sat to Cardarelli's left.
The Haverhill teen began her love affair with music the first time she heard a fairly well-known country singer crooning from her family's stereo: The King.
"I'm a big Elvis fan," Cardarelli said. "I grew up listening to him."
Though she grew up on songs like Elvis' "Are You Lonesome Tonight," Cardarelli began her free performance last week with a song by a newer artist. The band launched into Carrie Underwood's "Flat on the Floor," knowing full well that they hadn't corrected many of the electrical issues that had plagued the sound check.
"I need more vocals," Cardarelli said after the rendition. "Like, tons."
But no technical difficulty was stopping Cardarelli from getting through her set. After the sound crew worked through the kinks, the six-piece band stormed through a three-set, 24-song performance that included some Cardarelli originals as well as some well-known cover songs, including the super-hit "Need You Now," by Lady Antebellum.
"You probably all will recognize this one," Cardarelli said before she started singing. "This one always gets me."
"little BIG Sky," the first album on which Cardarelli performs original material, has two singles on it, said Marty Walsh, who produced the album and has worked with some of the biggest names in country music, such as LeAnn Rimes, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
Both songs were written or co-written by Cardarelli.
""Lights of Graceland" and "little BIG Sky" are the two singles on this album," Walsh said. "The lyric content is fantastic."
Don Campbell, a well-known singer-songwriter from Nashville, co-wrote and recorded "Daddy's Little Country Girl" and "Lights of Graceland," a song about Elvis, with Cardarelli.
"("Lights of Graceland") alone could put her on the map," said Walsh, a Haverhill resident and professor of music at Berklee. "What Elvis fan wouldn't want that?"
Walsh also worked with Cardarelli on her first two albums — the first, a holiday album titled "Christmas 2006," was released when the singer was 12 years old, and featured traditional and modern holiday tunes, while her second release, "Black Velvet," was released in March 2008 and included a wide variety of musical genres and cover songs.
And now, three albums in and about to make the jaunt down Interstate 93 to Suffolk University to join the Class of 2014, Cardarelli seems to be just getting started.
"In five years, I want to be in Nashville," she said. "That's my plan."
Cardarelli loves listening to Martina McBride and considers her to be a role model and a strong musical influence.
"She's so down to earth and so, so talented," Cardarelli said. "Such a strong voice."
But the one artist she'd love to be on stage with is Kenny Chesney.
"Hands down, KC," she said. "I would just die. He's so electric when he's on stage."
When the Governor's Academy graduate isn't making music, however, she enjoys playing tennis and golf, and, not surprisingly, attending English class.
"I like getting my thoughts on paper," she said. "There are no right or wrong answers in it. Writing is about how you feel."
The next step for Cardarelli, Walsh says, is continuing to promote herself to the country music community and to get noticed enough to tour in the summer of 2011.
"I think she should do six weeks on the road as the opening act for some bigger star," her producer said.
With that, Walsh said, Cardarelli has what it takes to make a career.
"This girl has the "it" factor," he said. "There's something about her. To me, she's a young Faith Hill."
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