By Carla Jean Whitley

carlaw@cullmantimes.com

Cullman native Kassie Miller’s talent is no surprise to grandmother Charlotte Wood.

Like so many before her, Miller sang at church as a child and in choir as she grew.

“We could kind of see the potential there,” Wood said.

But it wasn’t until college that Miller, who moved from Cullman for Somerville as a child, seemed headed for the stage. After graduating from Brewer High School, Miller spent a year at Judson College in Marion.

“I think that’s where she made her decision to really go into singing,” Wood said. “When she went to Judson, I believe there was somebody there … who told her, ‘You have got something going for you.’”

After a semester at Calhoun Community College, that ‘something’ led Miller to Nashville at age 19. Now 23, Miller is chasing her dreams and building a resume that includes commercials, music videos and reality shows — including Country Music Television’s “The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search,” airing at 7 p.m. on Fridays this month.

After Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, only six employees returned to work at Coyote Ugly Saloon, one of a franchise of bars founded by Liliana Lovell. The franchise, whose original New York City bar was the basis of the 2000 movie “Coyote Ugly,” boasts tough-talking female bartenders that dance and sing on the bar between serving drinks.

In “The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search,” Lovell, choreographer Jacqui and a couple of “Coyotes” travel the country by bus, searching for the “Ultimate Coyote” for the New Orleans bar’s reopening. The team stops at several cities to hold auditions, and two women from each are brought on board.

Miller was one of those women.



Making it in Nashville

It’s another step toward Miller’s goal of making a career in music. When she first moved to Nashville, Miller didn’t know anyone in the city. But she transferred her job as assistant manager at a clothing store and got busy looking for music work. And she didn’t let her youth hold her back.

“As soon as I got here, I started sneaking in the back of bars so I could sing,” she said.

Within months, she landed a singing gig in Nashville’s historic Printers Alley.

“I got on it right away. No waiting around,” Miller said.

But the singing success didn’t last. She got sick and underwent a vocal surgery, which prevented her from singing for a year.

“I had to figure out what I could do to make as much money as I was singing,” Miller said. “I went to bartending school. It’s funny how everything works out.”

Those skills gave her a foundation to build on as she contended on “The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search.” The women learned to sing, dance and flair bartend, a showy style of bartending.

“We’re so busy in Nashville, you don’t have time to show off and flip bottles. That was really hard for me,” Miller said. “But at the same time, I really enjoyed learning how to do it.”

Her experience as a high school cheerleader and dance team member also helped on the show.

“I cheered for, Lord, I don’t even know how many years. Six or seven years,” Miller said. “Through cheerleading, you have to have a lot of facials and you have to be happy, and basically you have to entertain. It crossed right over to being able to entertain in the bar, singing, dancing.”

But because she never took dance lessons, some of the dancing required on the show proved challenging.

“I’ve never clogged before. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life,” Miller said. “I was practicing 24/7, cameras on, cameras off. I could be eating and I’d be clogging.”



‘The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search’

Miller’s time on the show was a whirlwind. Auditions were in March, and Miller left Nashville the morning after she was picked to go on the bus. The entire show was filmed over a month’s time.

“Everything was so fast-forward, which I totally loved. It was crazy how fast everything happened,” she said. “You could blink and you missed it.”

That quick turn-around meant basically leaving her bartending job with a day’s notice.

“They knew that it was coming,” Miller said. “I told them if I did make the show, I let them know in advance.

“They were like, OK, but they did not give me my job back. So, oh well. … It was absolutely worth it.”

Miller isn’t permitted to share the end result of the show, which concludes later this month.

“I tell everybody, ‘Don’t bug her,’” Wood said. “Everybody was here at home for my husband’s birthday here about a month ago. I told everbody ahead of time, ‘Do not nag her, because you’re putting her on the spot and she doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable. You’ll find out.’”

What the family does know is that Miller is back in Nashville, still working toward a music career.

“Currently, I’m writing consistently,” said Miller, who will also begin work at the Nashville Coyote Ugly Saloon in coming weeks. “I’m doing a lot of songwriting and I’m working on my demo to shop to labels.”

And in the weeks since the show finished, she’s also had time to visit family in Cullman. Wood said Miller was recognized when she was in town last weekend, and several people requested her autograph.

“She enjoys coming home because all her aunts, they make a big fuss over her,” Wood said. “We always tease her and say, ‘One of these days, the papparazi is going to be after you.’”

For now, they’re enjoying Miller’s visits home, celebrating with chocolate cake and doing their best to be together when the show airs each Friday night.

Miller, who also appeared on reality TV show “Forever: Eden,” will be one of many reality TV stars to appear at the Reality TV Convention. The convention will be held 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 3 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 4 at the Nashville Airport Marriott. Miller will appear on June 4 only.

Tickets are $25 for both days, or $15 per day. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.realitytvconnection.com.



THE DETAILS

‰ Who: Cullman native Kassie Miller

‰ What: The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search

‰ Where: Country Music Television

‰ When: 7 p.m. on Fridays

‰ For more information: Visit CMT’s Web site at www.cmt.com