Katrina Ruth Elam (born December 12, 1983) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer and songwriter. Signed to

Universal South Records Show Dog Nashville is an American independent record label specializing in country music artists. It was founded in 2005 by singer Toby Keith. It was later merged with Universal South Records into Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009 until ...

in 2004, she released her self-titled debut album that year, charting in the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) with the No. 29 "No End in Sight" and the No. 59 "I Want a Cowboy". A third single, "Love Is", peaked at No. 47 from an unreleased second album ''Turn Me Up''. Elam left the label in 2008.

Early life

Elam was born in Bray, Oklahoma, population 1,035. She performed in a 4-H talent show at the age of 9. In 1998, she was named female vocalist of the year by the Oklahoma Country Music Association and the Oklahoma Opry now the Rodeo Opry. Elam received a publishing contract at the age of 16. In her senior year of high school, her mother

home schooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

her because of her busy writing and recording schedule.

Career

After completing high school, Katrina Elam moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, where she secured a contract with

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the p ...

produced her first self-titled album, released on October 5, 2004. The album reached No. 42 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and No. 33 on Top Heatseekers chart. The first single, "No End in Sight", reached No. 29 on the

chart. The follow-up single "I Want a Cowboy" reached No. 59 on the same chart. Elam also toured in 2004 with

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

. Elam later toured with

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

to promote her unreleased second album, ''Turn Me Up''. "Love Is," the first single released from the album, peaked at No. 47 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2006. Another single from the album, "Flat on the Floor," eventually peaked at No. 52. Later in the year,

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

includes a version of the track on her 2007 album ''

Carnival Ride ''Carnival Ride'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on October 23, 2007, by Arista Nashville. On this album, Underwood was more involved in the songwriting process ...

''. Elam exited Universal South in 2008. Elam also co-wrote the track "Change" on Underwood's 2009 album '' Play On''. Reba McEntire covered "I Want a Cowboy" on her 2009 album '' Keep on Loving You''. Elam also co-wrote

' 2011 single " Easy", which features

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

, and

Eli Young Band Eli Young Band is an American country music band composed of members who met while students at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas: Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drum ...

's 2012 single "

Say Goodnight "Say Goodnight" is a song recorded by American country music group the Eli Young Band. It was released in August 2012 as the third single from their album '' Life at Best''. The song was written by Katrina Elam, Melissa Peirce and John Paul Whit ...

", co-written by

John Paul White John Paul White (born August 4, 1972) is an American singer-songwriter, and was a member of the Grammy Award-winning duo The Civil Wars. He restarted his solo career with his 2016 release, ''Beulah''. Early life White was born in Muscle Shoals ...

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars were an American musical duo composed of Joy Williams (singer), Joy Williams and John Paul White. Formed in 2008, The Civil Wars won four Grammy Awards prior to their 2014 breakup. History 2008–2010 Both Williams and White h ...

. In 2014,

Hunter Hayes Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments. Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...

co-wrote his single "

Invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light in ...

" with Elam. In late 2010, Elam was cast in a sequel to the 1992 film ''

Pure Country ''Pure Country'' is a 1992 American drama musical western film directed by Christopher Cain and starring George Strait in his acting debut, with Lesley Ann Warren, Isabel Glasser and Kyle Chandler. The film, while profitable with box office rece ...

'', titled '' Pure Country 2: The Gift'' Elam's "Dream Big" was released to radio in late 2010 and served as the lead single for the movie's soundtrack, which was released on February 8, 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elam, Katrina 1983 births Living people People from Stephens County, Oklahoma Country musicians from Oklahoma American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Show Dog-Universal Music artists Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers