BY MERLE MONAHAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
merlemonah@aol.com

COURTLAND—Country music fans will get their money’s worth when Buddy Jewell performs at Southampton High School at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 4.

Sponsored by the Franklin-Southampton Concert Association, the program will be held in the auditorium

“We’re so pleased to have Buddy Jewell with us this season,” said association President Nancy Rowe. “He has risen rapidly in the country music world and is very much in demand.”

An Arkansas native, Jewell won the televised “Nashville Star” competition in 2003, after which he rapidly made a name for himself. His hit song “Sweet Southern Comfort,” a heartwarming testimonial of what it’s like to grow up in the Deep South, gained him millions of fans nationwide.

He went on to earn multiple award nominations, including the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Artist, the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award and a Grammy nomination for his participation on the country gospel compilation album “Amazing Grace III.”

Jewell will bring a combo of Nashville’s finest musicians, along with his own brand of sweet southern hospitality to the program.

“I think we’re in for a real treat,” Rowe said.

Tickets at the door are $30 for adults and $10 for students. For more information, call Beth Ellington at 562-2881.