ArkLaTex Musician nominated for TCMA's young artist of the year award

He began playing in his early teens after hearing his Grandpa Billy Roberts, a Texarkana-based Musician, play during a Knights of Columbus benefit. 

"That's when I was introduced to classic country music: Merle Haggard, George Strait, Johnny Bush, guys like that. And man, I fell in love with it. By 14, kind of pieced together a little band and started playing some small venues around here, little small dance halls and stuff."

He originally didn't know how to make his dreams come true. Then a chance encounter with the Texas Country Music Association's President at a gig in Marshall, Texas, helped him discover the local music scene. Things took off from there.

"You always hear, oh, you got to go to Nashville or anything like that. You got to go here to here and here, here to to do anything. So you're you hear that, and it's kind of you start thinking, man, I wonder if I'm ever get to do anything because you know that that takes a lot to go to those places. Well, when she told us, we did a lot of research and it's like, wow, there's like whole scene in Texas."

Since then, he's been traveling around Texas and the ArkLaTex playing original songs and country classics. Price says he now performs 2-3 times per weekend and spends the rest of his time writing songs and booking future dates. 

"Everything kind of falls on me, which I love it, and it's a job. You know, people sometimes think, you know, what they see on the weekends on Friday, that's it. They don't get what all goes into it during the week. I can't tell you how many I reach out during, you know, reach out to during the week, and some you get no response, some you get no's, some you get no thank you, and then you get two or three yeses, and it's like this makes it all worth it."

His hard work isn't going unnoticed, with the TCMA recently choosing him as one of the top five nominees for this year's Young Artist of the Year award.

This is the second time Price has been nominated for the award. He did not win last time, but says he's happy to be nominated again.

He also wants to thank his family and followers, saying he would not be where he is today without their unwavering support.

"You know, they never ever question questioned me about it. They just knew I loved to do it, and they supported me, and they still do. You know, when I was playing these small little dance halls when I was 14, I was sounding like a cat squealing, singing, and then people were still out there dancing, and you know that's this kind of stuff I look back on. And so, yeah, I just want to say thank you to all the people that have done anything to help me or support me. It means a whole lot, and I'm very blessed. I don't want anyone to ever think I take that for granted."

You can vote for Anthony on the TCMA's website here. 

For Anthony's music catalogue and future performance dates, check out his website. 

Price tells us he has a few new tracks coming out later this year, so stay tuned.