Twenty-year-old Meghan Gallagher’s Facebook page says a lot about the aspiring country singer: she likes to take selfies with her parents and she is a class clown, posing with a goofy, cross-eyed grin in several photos.
“Before I knew it, we were scheduling a photo shoot and producing my EP a few months later in a recording studio in Nashville,” says Meghan, adding that artists like Rascal Flatts, Florida Georgia Line, and Kenny Chesney recorded at the same studio, County Q Productions. Gallagher’s stage name is Meghan Nicole and she is an artist for Muddy Records, in Harrisburg, Ill., co-owned by her manager, Tim Ash. Gallagher’s mom and dad have been very supportive of her potential singing career since she was a young girl, enrolling her in voice classes when she was 9 years old.
“She’s been singing since she was 3 years old. She would sing (music from the movie) ‘Beauty and the Beast’ all the time, it was her favorite,” says Rita, picturing Meghan dancing around in front of the television. Meghan has participated in several singing competitions, including the Indiana State School Music Association Annual State Solo and Ensemble Championships where she’s won the gold award five times (with a perfect score in 2012) and silver once.
When Meghan finished her last song in front of the 713 students in the Memorial High School auditorium, one student stood up and asked her to sing “Light the Fire,” seen as a Memorial tradition, for old-time’s sake. “Light the Fire” is the song performed by the school choir at the end of Mass each week. Meghan then gave an emotional performance. Meghan ended with some advice to her peers: don’t ever give up on your dream, even if it seems unreachable. Look for that one opportunity to make it happen, and go for it, don’t let your fears hold you back.
For more information on Meghan Gallagher, visit the Meghan Nicole Facebook page.