Published: November 20, 2009 08:54 am      

13-year-old girl to headline benefit concert

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Thirteen-year-old Savannah Faith will be headlining a concert Saturday benefiting Kentucky Harvest Southeast. She’ll be performing with an Elvis impersonator and a comedy act at the Falls Center in Corbin.

Admission to the concert is one or more canned good. Items collected will be split between the Christian Life Fellowship Food Pantry in Barbourville and the Grace on the Hill Food Pantry in Corbin.

The Whitley County Middle School eighth grader has been singing publicly since she was 5, when she performed “The Way You Love Me” at a school talent contest and placed third.

Since then, she’s performed country and gospel music at Nibroc, the Daniel Boone Festival, for WKYT-TV in Lexington, and at the state capitol before the legislature. She also placed second in the Coca-Cola Talent Classic at the last Kentucky State Fair, and was named the female new country vocalist and female new country entertainer of 2009 by the Tennessee Country Music Association.

Her CD, “Nashville Bound,” contains three original songs written by friends specifically for Savannah, including “Saving in for Sunday” about US troops.

Savannah says she lives near Four Plum in Whitley County, which she describes as being “four miles out and plum up the holler.”

Her biggest goal is “to at least perform once at the Grand Ole Opry.”

Savannah said she tries to dedicate an hour and a half to singing every day, but she has to get her school work finished before she can practice.

“For all the kids that are still trying to chase their dreams, never give up... just keep on and don’t listen to what other people say. Live your life for yourself because if you don’t, you’ve got no color; it’s just all black and white,” Savannah said.

The concert starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Falls Center Hall & Bingo Center at 2709 Cumberland Falls Highway. The facility is owned by Women Helping Others, and the organization will be selling concessions during the event. The show is expected to last about two and a half hours.

When Kentucky Harvest finally settled on a date for the concert, Savannah had to cancel singing in a Christmas show in Nashville that same day.

“I’ve been to Nashville and I know it’s a great place to go but I would be more honored to help somebody in need for Thanksgiving because they are not as fortunate as I am to have food.”

To learn more about Kentucky Harvest Southeast, visit kyharvestsoutheast.org.

Savannah said she is planning another fundraising event in Williamsburg to benefit St. Jude’s Hospital, with a date to be announced. Learn more about her at www.savannahfaith.com.