The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — Hymera native Cain Hall and his band, TelluRide, are contenders for the Country Music Television Music City Madness 2 national talent search.

Sixty-four artists will go head-to-head on the first round of the competition. Votes will decide who makes it to the next level.

CMT Loaded’s Music City Madness 2 announced that TelluRide had made it to Round Two as one of the video contestants who will vote their way to stardom in CMT’s user-generated talent search. The national contest offers unsigned music artists a chance to showcase their talent.

CMT developed a custom interactive site utilizing embedded video, where fans can view head-to-head matches onscreen simultaneously and share videos with their friends. People can watch TelluRide’s music video and vote for their song titled "Phone Song" on the CMT.com Loaded’s music contest site. There is no limit to how many times a person can vote and the winner of this second round will be announced on Tuesday.

The lead singer for TelluRide, Adam Craig, got the idea for the song from a friend of his whom had broken up with a girl and then a few days later decided it was a mistake. When his friend tried to call her up, she wouldn’t answer or return his phone calls, so he took out an ad that said, "Dear [girlfriend] I screwed up. Please call me back, P.S. I still love you."

TelluRide consists of Adam Craig (lead guitar, lead vocals), Hall (acoustic guitar, electric guitar and harmony vocals), Brian Smith (drums), Jimi Hendrix (bass, harmony vocals), and Ryan Jones (piano, electric guitar and harmony vocals).

Hall graduated from North Central High School in Farmersburg in 1996. He was senior class president and president of the National Honor Society. His book smarts paid off as he followed his dream of playing music and moved to Nashville, Tenn., in 1999. His work with TelluRide has included opening up for LeAnn Rimes and a reincarnation of Credence Clearwater Revival.

Contestants are posted on CMT Loaded where viewers can vote and narrow down the number of finalists. The winner of the talent search will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to CMT’s Nashville studio to appear and perform in an episode of Unplugged at Studio 330, CMT Loaded’s original online performances, as well as a showcase for Sony/BMG Nashville A&R executives. The winner will be announced on Dec. 12.

To watch and cast a vote for Cain Hall of TelluRide, visit madness.cmt.com.