'Nashville Star' performer coming to Bigfork

“Nashville Star’s” sixth-season performer Ashlee Hewitt and her five-piece band will be the featured artist for the fourth annual Valentine’s Event at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts.

In 2008 Hewitt made it to the final five out of 75,000 auditioners for the show. Her career as a musician exploded from there and Bigfork is on her touring list for this winter.

Primarily known for her talent as a country western singer, Hewitt also played a starring role as Elle Daniels in the 2010 feature film, “Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale,” a movie geared toward children and young teens.

“(She) has that scope of talent, can sing and act, and she is wholesome but sexy at the same time,” Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation event chair Anastasia Hoeft said. “So I thought why not approach them and ask if they were interested in coming to Bigfork, and they were.”

Hewitt’s musical prowess as a national performer and songwriter garnered attention following her time competing on “Nashville Star,” as she will be a featured performer in the upcoming season of “The Voice.”

This 24-year-old musician is currently living in Nashville where she is in hot pursuit of a professional music career. But prior to her career taking off, the BCPAF contacted Hewitt about performing during their annual Valentine’s Event.

“I was lucky with timing,” Hoeft said. “We caught her before this happened, in a few years we would be out-priced with the budget.”

This will be a one-time only performance for an audience of about 420 and Hewitt’s husband Keith Whitley will also perform. Whitley is the son of Nashville performers Jesse Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan.

Amy Deaton of the BCPAF said the Valentine’s Event is a collective effort with the performing arts center and downtown Bigfork to let people know Bigfork is more than just a summer destination. Their goal is to continue bringing in musicians, comedians and authors to make the performing arts center the driving force behind Bigfork’s local economy.

“Part of what we’re working on for the next years will be to be the center of downtown, an economic engine for downtown,” Deaton said. “Definitely with the summer playhouse it’s a huge economic engine and we want to keep that going all year long.”

Hewitt will perform at BCPA on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.big forktheater.org or at Merry Gems in Bigfork.