Today we turn our focus to an artist that fell just a little short on season 12 of American Idol, finishing that year as the program's runner-up, falling to champion Candice Glover in the finals. An artist, that by the time she took the Idol stage was already a seasoned professional.

Kree Harrison
photo courtesy of kreeharrisonofficial.com/
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Kree Harrison showed at an early age that she had a special gift. The Woodland, TX native began singing in her church at age 3, when she asked her pastor if she could sing. But instead of singing "Jesus Loves Me" as the church goers expected, she gave them a rendition of Amy Grant's "El Shaddai".

Over the next few years, Harrison performed at local rodeos, churches, wedding and competitions. At age 8, she got the local opening spot for R&B singer Percy Sledge. By age 9 she was competing strongly in competitions, including a second-place finish in the Houston stop in the New York Apollo competition. The same year she was named "Artist of the Year" by the Kirbyville Play House, which would lead to her national debut on The Rosie O'Donnell Show; she would return to the show 3 more times.

In 2000, at age 10, Kree landed a developmental deal with Lyric Street Records, and her family would relocate to Nashville to pursue her music. The deal lasted 2 years, but because of creative differences between the label and Harrison's management, nothing came out of the it. Harrison then began writing her own material, often finding herself in writing session with established Nashville songwriters. She continued to perform around the Nashville area, signing with Chrysalis Publishing at age 16.

photo courtesy facebook.com/OfficialKreeHarrison/
photo courtesy facebook.com/OfficialKreeHarrison/
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Harrison has continued to perform steadily around Nashville, both live events and as a background singer for hire. She appeared on Kasey Musgraves' award winning Same Trailer, Different Park album, as well as on the Eli Young Band's Life At Best album. When she traveled to Oklahoma City to audition for American Idol, she became one of very few artist who did so with an original song, using a song she wrote for her mother, who tragically passed away in an automobile accident in 2009.

She had been working on her debut album in 2009 when her mother passed away, a project that went uncompleted. In July of this year, Harrison finally released her debut album, This Old Thing. The title track was released earlier this year and failed to chart, but today, we have the second single from the album in our spotlight. Kree Harrison and "Dean Man's House" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

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