Savannah Outen & David Lipscomb High School

I am pretty much clueless on who this is or the extent of her talent and or fame, but here you go...

YouTube Star Launches Legitimate Career

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Students at Nashville’s David Lipscomb High School got a sneak peak of a music video today shot at their school in which many played extras. The young artist is one using her online popularity to launch a more traditional music career.

16-year-old Savannah Outen [oo-tin] is a bit out of her element. Her previous videos were made in her bedroom, in front of a webcam. She sent a demo of her work to Nashville producer Keith Thomas, who is now trying to create a teen star.

Thomas says this may be the way artists are found from now on – through first building an online following.

“I think we’re all trying to find our way while the industry, it’s going through growing pains as everyone knows, but we’re just trying to find the new way, the new model.”

Thomas says that the eight-million hits on Outen’s YouTube channel validate her potential for success.

Bob Baker, author of Guerrilla Music Marketing, says YouTube is doing the test marketing that formerly took up millions of dollars from record label budgets.

“Until someone connects with an audience, it’s really just kind of a crapshoot. And so here, they’re finding people who are there on their own generating an organic buzz, one that wasn’t manufactured by a corporation. This was just a natural thing that people saw and wanted to share with their friends, which is what you really want.”

Baker says not every Music Row executive is trolling YouTube looking for talent, but maybe they should be.

By Blake Farmer

High school students star as extras in music video: Premiere set for March 26

While most people were still digesting their turkey from the 2007 Thanksgiving holidays, 35 David Lipscomb high school students were volunteering as "extras" on the set of a music video shoot at David Lipscomb Campus School. Renowned music producer Keith Thomas of Levosia Entertainment in Franklin, Tenn. produced the video featuring rising teen pop artist Savannah Outen and her original song "Goodbyes." Outen will travel to Nashville from her home in Portland, Ore. next week to debut her song and video at David Lipscomb, March 26 at 9:30 a.m. Outen will perform the song and offer David Lipscomb’s students an exclusive preview of the video before its launch on iTunes and other digital media sites in April.

"Savannah has what it takes to go the distance…she's got star power," Thomas said. "She currently has had over nine million hits on You Tube. It's fun to see all this come together for her."

Savannah Outen isn’t the first young pop singer to be promoted by the talents of Thomas. Disney songstress Jordan Pruitt, who was the opening act for “High School Musical,” “The Concert” and The Cheetah Girls while promoting her debut CD “No Ordinary Girl,” is a product of Levosia Entertainment.

Thomas has also produced or co-produced artists like Mandy Moore, Nick Lachey, Whitney Houston and Amy Grant over his 27-year career (for Keith Thomas’s full discography, go to www.levosia.com).

In addition to filming Outen’s debut video “Goodbyes” in Nashville, Thomas produced and recorded her song at the Levosia studios in Franklin. Outen wrote the original single, which chronicles her bittersweet journey through the last day of school as her friends prepare to go their separate ways.













David Lipscomb students were featured in scenes in the library, a classroom and running out the front doors of the school. Senior Kevin Davis, who was cast to play Savannah's love interest, "Calvin," said the experience was a memorable one.

"I thought it was an interesting experience, a little awkward at times, but overall pretty good," Davis said. "Everybody enjoyed making fun of me!"

According to Lisa Stuart, project/talent coordinator for Levosia Entertainment, Savannah and her family enjoyed the hospitality at David Lipscomb and Nashville so much, they are ready to "pack up and move to Nashville" from their home near Portland, Ore.

"David Lipscomb is the most amazing school I've ever visited,” Thomas said. "The students were so accommodating and so nice, you could tell a difference. The facilities were so impressive and with how much you have to offer here, it's rare."