Tens of thousands of singers and songwriters call
Nashville home, but very few actually have what it
takes to succeed in a big way. But one Nashville
country act is proving that she does indeed have the
right stuff, and is making an international name for
herself without the benefit of a record deal of any
kind. Unsigned and unrepresented, singer/songwriter
Van Preston has used hard work and grassroots
promotion to distribute her music to the world,
resulting in a strong fan base in Europe and a
significant and growing amount of airplay on U.S.
Radio stations, an unheard-of feat for an artist who
doesn't even have a record deal.

Van Preston grew up in a small Arkansas town,
discovering her love and talent for songwriting at the
age of nine. The valedictorian of her class in a small
Arkansas town, Preston earned a marketing and
management Bachelor's degree in Minnesota before
heading to Music City in 2004. Her music can best be
described as rootsy country, with strong influences of
Americana, rock, pop and folk. In the tradition of
Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Kelly Willis and Shania
Twain, Van has crossed genre lines to create her
signature style of hook-driven country music, kicked
up by a strong-woman perspective and infectious
energy.

Arriving in Nashville in July 2004, she set out to
make a name for herself and has since made big strides
toward achieving that goal: Van has had four top-20
hits in Europe since mid-2006, and three songs that
have charted in the U.S. since December of 2006.

Her self-titled debut album, produced by Nashville hit
writer Greg Crowe, was nominated for 2007 Country
Album of the Year in Europe by the European CMA.

Van's song, "Bought Myself a Toy," was selected by
Universal Records-Europe for inclusion on a
country-music compilation CD scheduled for Europe-wide
release in January of 2008. The music video is
currently playing on Sprint VIDEO Mobile Voltage
phones in London, Dublin, New York City, Miami and Los
Angeles.

Van's current Radio single, "Forever Ago," is at 31 on
the U.S. Country chart (newmusicweekly.com) as of
January, 2008, and has had airplay in major cities
including Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati,
Raleigh-Durham and many others.

Her single "Tougher Than That" went to 25 on the US
Country charts (newmusicweekly.com) in October of
2007, with frequent airplay on large metro-area
stations. It appeared in the Top 100 Country Hits of
2007ˇ chart, with almost 18,000 radio spins in major
U.S. markets.

Two of Van's songs, "Bought Myself A Toy" and "Someone
Who Ain't Me", were among the top nine Country songs
in the prestigious 2007 John Lennon Songwriting
Competition. Van was also one was one of two writers
chosen by the JLSC to perform at the Summer 2005 NAMM
show.

As of August 2007, Van was ranked as the Top Unsigned
Artist in Americana Musicˇ on myspace.com, one of the
Internet's most-visited sites.

As of May 2007, Van was ranked as the 4 Independent
Artist in Europe by more than 800 radio stations.

Van's song, "Someone Who Ain't Me," won an Honorable
Mention in the 2007 CMT/NSAI Song Contest. In 2006,
Van's song "What Goes Around" placed in the top 15 in
the 2006 CMT/NSAI Song Contest, and was featured on
cmt.com during March and April of that year. Van was a
finalist in the 2005 UK Songwriting Contest.

Van has performed at Midwest Music Summit, Atlantis,
the world-famous rock bar CBGB's, the Colgate Country
Showdown, and at countless other venues and events.
She will be touring Europe and Australia in 2008, in
addition to her shows across the U.S.