Ask Troy Olsen how he's doing and he quickly ticks off a list of adjectives: frazzled, excited, exhilarated, anxious, crazy-stressed.
The Marana High School alum's world has taken a happy 180 since the day after a record-label showcase in early November. Every major label in Nashville turned out. Most of them had turned him down two, three times in the dozen years he has been pounding on their doors. But there their reps were, raptly listening as Olsen sang song after song from a repertoire that has gotten stronger with every new entry.
The next day, the phone calls started coming in. Then the offers.
Before Olsen could entertain a bidding war, Capitol Records President and CEO Mike Dungan came to the table with a tantalizing offer: join Capitol as the first - and so far only - artist on upstart imprint EMI Nashville. You can produce your own record and have your own dedicated team of handlers.
"There wasn't any 'Come into the office and play; do another showcase.' They gave me the deal the next day," Olsen said. "This was a dream come true."
The dream for Olsen, who'll open Saturday's KIIM FM Freedom Festival for headliner Clay Walker, is still unfolding. Scenes thus far:
• He just got off the road after six weeks on the Country Throwdown Tour (Montgomery Gentry, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram).
• His debut single, "Summer Thing," is gaining steam on the radio.
• Sales of his eponymous four-song digital EP (www.apple.com/itunes) are going strong.
• AOL (music.aol.com) is showing his first nationally released video for "Summer Thing," shot in May at Apache Lake.
• He wrote a song that will be the theme for the Gwyneth Paltrow-Tim McGraw film "Love Don't Let Me Down," set to be released in the fall. Patty Loveless and Chris Young are expected to record the song, Olsen said during a phone interview from Nashville last week.
In October, EMI will release Olsen's debut album, which he produced. In addition to "Summer Thing," there are six or seven songs that could be singles, he said, including "Ghost Town Train," which Tim McGraw cut on his 2009 album "Southern Voice."
You can hear a handful of those songs on Saturday, when Olsen comes home for his first Tucson concert since the 2005 KIIM-FM Freedom Fest.
"There hasn't been any real reason to play (live)," said Olsen, who turns 37 this month. "Basically, I stopped playing and focused on the writing."
That concentration has paid off, with McGraw cutting "Ghost Town Train" and Blake Shelton taking Olsen's "I'll Just Hold On" to No. 6 on the Billboard country charts.
"It's taken me a long time to do this, but there wasn't any way to do it any faster," said Olsen, who fronted the Maverick Country Night Club -formerly Maverick King of Clubs - house band in the late 1990s before moving to Nashville in the early 2000s.
"I wanted this record deal. That was the goal the whole time, to have a major-label deal and have a song on the radio. Since I got the major-label deal in November, it's been crazy ever since."
If you go
• What: 2010 KIIM-FM Freedom Fest.
• Featuring: Clay Walker, Troy Olsen, Blaine Larsen and Lee Anne Savage.
• When: 4 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: Tucson Electric Park practice field, 2500 E. Ajo Way.
• Tickets: $15 through Friday; $25 at the gate. Kids 10 and younger are free. Red Zone reserved seats are $35 through Friday, $50 at the gate.
• Et cetera: Fireworks display at 10:05 p.m.
• Do's and don'ts: Folding chairs, blankets and cameras are allowed; outside food and drinks, fireworks, skateboards, weapons, drugs, video cameras, tents and non-service animals banned. For details, go online to www.kiimfm.com
Summertime songs
'Tis the season to be singing about pretty girls in Daisy Dukes, guys flexing in white sand and everyone enjoying a cold one on a hot one.
Three of the artists on Saturday's KIIM-FM Freedom Fest lineup are singing summer's praises in their current singles. Here are our favorite sentiments from those songs:
• Troy Olsen, "Summer Thing" - "The days are getting longer, and them shorts are getting shorter / You won't hear me complain."
• Clay Walker, "Summertime Song" - "I might pierce my ear and bleach my hair and get a tattoo on my derrière."
• Blaine Larsen, "Chillin' " - "Got my thinking cap hanging on a scarecrow / Got my I-don't-care ducks in a row / And ain't no crime to kill a little time / Just chillin'. "
