Upton Displays Her Passion For Music In National Anthem Performance

Photo and Story by Kailee Means / UC Sports Nation

This past Saturday, The Bulldogs of Clay County won the first State Championship in program history, leading to thunderous applause from all around Murphy Center when the buzzer sounded. 

A similar reaction could be heard before the game started, as Clay County Junior and Lady Bulldog Cherokee Upton delivered an excellent performance of the National Anthem.

Upton was asked to perform the National Anthem the week of the girls state tournament, but she turned the offer down. She says her grandfather always told her to not do something until she feels like she is ready, so when she was approached about doing the Anthem for the boys tournament, she accepted.

Upton felt some nerves prior to singing due to being a little stopped up, and her voice had not fully recovered from cheering on her teammates the week before.

Once her performance was over however, Upton was taken by surprise by all of the support from everyone in the Glass House. 

“It was overwhelming, it was pretty cool to see how many people were taking the time to come up to me and tell me that I did good,” Upton said. “I thought I did alright because I got through it, but I got some pretty awesome compliments and it made me feel pretty good.”

Upton has been singing for 17 years, and she has always been surrounded by music. Her mom and dad always played music when she was younger, and her grandfather is a bluegrass musician. Her talent and all of the influences around her fueled the love that she has for music today.

The junior is also no stranger to live performances, as she has been front-and-center at events such as the North Springs Music Festival, 4-H Congress, Fall Fun Fest, and she and her grandfather recently put out a CD. 

Upton says she likes performing live because she isn’t simply performing for herself, as the feeling she gets from the crowd is her reward.

“I do it because I like the way it makes other people feel, and not necessarily because it makes me feel good,” Upton said. “I’m scared to death sometimes, but as long as I know somebody else is liking it, it helps me get through (performances) a lot better.”

Some of Upton’s musical inspirations consist of Melanie Safka, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. She says she loves the first era of Woodstock and tries to incorporate it into her singing whenever she can. Upton even wishes she would have been able to live in the Woodstock era, as she views it as a more peaceful and fun time. 

Upton also writes her own songs and likes to perform covers of old songs. If given the opportunity to make a career out of singing, she says she would do it in a heartbeat, though instead of sticking with the bluegrass style that her grandfather performs, she would like to pursue country.

“110%….I think I’d be stupid if I didn’t do country,” Upton said. “I mean ,I love listening to other things but I’m pretty country.”