Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Tristan Nichols entered the Country Showdown at the Linn County Fair five times before he won.
For the Sweet Home singer, this year was the year to do it. Nichols, 28, will open Saturday’s performances at the Oregon Jamboree in front of the biggest crowd he’s ever sung for.
He’s scheduled to sing at 11:55 a.m., Jamboree officials said, right before Confederate Railroad takes the stage.
“It worked out for me,” Nichols said last week, chuckling. “Whoever got first got to sing at the Jamboree. I get to sing in front of my hometown crowd.”
Nichols grew up in Sweet Home and graduated in 1998 from Sweet Home High School. His family has always been into country music, he said, and his older brother Shannon Stover plays the guitar and sings “really well.”
“I was just kind of brought up in it,” he said.
Nichols said he doesn’t do much singing in public but he’s not shy in front of a crowd.
“I’ll sing in front of whoever – camping, whatever,” he said. “I’m not too afraid to sing in front of anybody. But as far as singing on stage or anything, the Showdown I the only thing I ever do.”
Problem was, he couldn’t win that competition, placing second three years running to Derek Cate of Corvallis.
“I couldn’t get that one guy,” Nichols said. “I lost to him by one point last year. This year I was gonna get him.”
Nichols sang two songs at the Showdown, both of which he wrote himself: “I Do What I Want” and “Sweet Breath of a Baby.”
He noted that the first title “is not true whatsoever – the rest of the song goes ‘I do whatever I’m told.'” “Sweet Breath of a Baby” was inspired by his own children. He and his wife. Alicia, who are about to celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary, have three sons: Gavin, 6, Brady, 3, and Bode, 10 months. His real job is in maintenance for the city of Lebanon.
Nichols said he also is planning to sing at a benefit for Cooper Miller, a local 5-year-old diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Details for that concert, tentatively scheduled for late August, are still being finalized, he said.
For the Jamboree he plans to sing “I Do What I Want” by himself with his guitar.
“That’s really why I wanted to win,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to sing in front of their home crowd with Confederate Railroad directly behind you?”