There’s something very disarming about Cal Poly student Logan Tavelli’s smile. Perhaps that’s why it was plastered across commercials for NBC’s “Nashville Star.” Maybe you’ve seen him. He looks earnestly at the judges and says, “to make my dreams come true.”
Unfortunately, this communication studies freshman didn’t make it on the show as part of the top 20 contestants. He did, however, make it to 32nd place and was told he would be flown to Nashville for the show only to have the promise retracted a few hours later, he said.
“The hardest part was they told me I was flying there,” Tavelli said. “I’m not gonna watch (the show) even though I might be on it. It’s just too painful.”
The young songwriter and guitar player said he stood in line for six hours, in scorching temperatures, with thousands of other country singing hopefuls winding across several Los Angeles blocks. Once inside, Tavelli wowed the judges with his singing, guitar playing and his own original song while other songwriters were rejected early on and cover songs often struck a better chord with producers.
The song, “Love’s Lullaby,” was written after Tavelli suffered a painful breakup with his high school sweetheart.
“I think the reason I sang so well (at the auditions) is because it was still so fresh,” Tavelli said.
Producers had Tavelli sing his song several times, with and without his guitar, before giving him a belt buckle to signify his high position among other contenders. After producers promised to call him to tell him if he’d be on the show, Tavelli went home to Santa Rosa to wait.
At first, producers allegedly told him that as part of the top 40 contestants, he’d be going to Nashville to compete; he even received a call from flight coordinators to plan the trip. Then Tavelli’s dream-come-true came crashing down when another producer called him to tell him only the top 30 were going to Nashville and that NBC had determined Tavelli was too “young” and “green” for the music world.
“I was really bummed after I got rejected, so I got really motivated, and I think I got a really good shot for next year,” Tavelli said.
In fact, Tavelli has been working on even more of his own songs and been trying to improve his voice, citing Garth Brooks as an inspiration.
“I had a dream last night were I was performing with Garth Brooks and he left the stage so I kind of had to fill his place,” Tavelli said.
As far as the criticism involving his greenness, Tavelli admits his life has been free from calamity, that is, until now. Since his audition, Tavelli has endured getting over his high school sweetheart, having his car impounded and being kicked out of the dorms for a small infraction.
Despite this, even Tavelli’s mother expects big things from him, recalling as a baby how she knew he was destined for music when he began tapping to the beat of a song while in the grocery store.
“I think it was unbelievably amazing to get where he did in the line up,” Jill Tavelli said. “I’m very supportive (of him pursuing music) and along with that career I hope he also gets a college degree.”
Tavelli is also optimistic, insisting all these hardships will only add to his country music star skills. If asked what he’d do if country music doesn’t pan out, he was quick to answer, “I honestly think it will. When I was little I always said I’d be a country singer.”