Talent and a will to succeed drive local trio Temecula Road

If sheer will were enough to propel a musical act to achieve success, Temecula Road would be topping the charts right now. With the Disney brand solidly behind them, new music soon to be released and high-profile bookings throughout the summer, the locally-grown country band is poised for just that.

We asked the young trio about balancing career and life, and working together.

Q: Who is your favorite musical artist and why?

Emma Salute: Dan + Shay. I love their harmonies.

Dawson Anderson: Dan + Shay have such a great sound and writing style. John Mayer’s musical ability is out of this world and is actually what inspired me to want to play guitar.

Maddie Salute: Carrie Underwood — her vocal range, songs, personality, I love it all.

Q: How would you describe your music?

Dawson: Our music is country but has influences from pop and R&B as well. All of our songs are filled with tight harmonies, making us feel like one voice.

Q: Tell me about Disney.

Dawson: Radio Disney has played a huge role in our careers! They were the first radio station to play our music and support us. We were so excited to be named a Radio Disney “Next Big Thing” artist and to be nominated for a Radio Disney Music Award last year.

Q: Are you working on new songs?

Dawson: We are working on new music right now. It’s a slightly different sound than what we’ve released in the past.

Emma: It’s definitely more mature.

Q: What do you see as your strengths or weaknesses?

Maddie: My vocal range is a strength.

Dawson: I don’t like to think of things as weaknesses, just things I can improve on, and I feel like as humans, our potential is endless and there’s always room for improvement on anything we do.

Emma: I see our harmonies and our connection as friends as our strengths.

Q: You played Stagecoach this year. What was that like?

Emma: This was our second year performing. It was fun to see some of our favorite artists perform, and catch up with some of our Nashville friends as well.

Q: You’ve been included in the lineup for Nashville’s CMA Fest. Do you know what you’re going to play?

Maddie: We’re excited to be playing CMA Fest for the third time. We usually like to play our more upbeat songs for that festival and will have some new ones to share this year.

Q: Do you have back-up plans in case a career in music doesn’t work out?

Emma: No, we will work until our dreams come true!

Dawson: Honestly my backup plan is music. I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. Even if I have to spend my whole life trying, I will.

Q: Where do you see yourselves two years from now? Twenty?

Maddie: Headlining an arena tour. Number 1 album.

Dawson: Twenty years is a very long time, hopefully we’ll have number 1’s, Grammys, families, and we’ll still be able to perform and be artists.

Emma: Two years from now, I’d love to be headlining stadiums and finding opening artists for our shows. We’ve had so many great opportunities as openers and it would be so special to give other people those opportunities as well. In twenty years, I’d like to continue doing that and inspiring other artists to follow their dreams just like we did.

temecula@sduniontribune.com