Local skeet champ to open for Travis Tritt

Hunter Price of Barnesville can usually be found on weekends sitting around a campfire in his overalls and snake boots covered in mud from fourwheeling. The weekend after next, however, he will be sharing a stage with country music legend Travis Tritt.He has always had a passion for singing, especially country music, but only did it in the shower, in his room or in the car, said his mother Marilyn Price. ‘I was always telling him he was good.’ When she heard about a karaoke contest at the Ponderosa Sports Bar in Thomaston she told him the winner would get to open for Travis Tritt at Bickley’s Lake in The Rock April 17, get to do two demos with Ruff Records in Nashville and ride to the concert in a limo and meet Travis Tritt.’That was enough to make him finally give in and give it a try,’ Price said. ‘He didn’t make it into that set of finals but the audience seemed to love him. He went back and made it to the finals. It was exciting when he won the 12 week long contest. The competition was fantastic and lots of them have their own bands and have been performing for years.’’Now he has caught the Nashville bug and will continue singing and is learning the guitar to help with his music career,’ she said. ‘That’s not bad for a 17year-old who had never performed in front of an audience before.’ Hunter is scheduled to sing at 3 p.m. along with other local talent including Triple Threat of Thomaston. Hunter was born in Savannah on Aug. 1, 1992, and attends Tattnall Square Academy in Macon on academic scholarship. He will graduate in May. He is on the tennis team and has played since ninth grade.One of his passions is skeet shooting. He joined the Scholastic Clay Target Program when he was in seventh grade. He tried out for the team at the Griffin Gun Club and hit the first six targets out of seven. He has won numerous Georgia State Skeet Championships and has over five belt buckles for class winner and other medals.One of his most memorable achievements was in October 2007 when he had just turned 15 years old. The family saved up money and went to the World Skeet Championship in San Antonio, Texas, with over 800 shooters attending worldwide.Using a borrowed gun, he won the Class D World Championship. He shot the 12, 20, 28 and 410 gauges, taking the HOA title with a score of 522 out of 550.