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Hadleyville Showdown prides itself on organic, soulful American music that "warms the heart and soothes the mind", and of course, never losing its connection to its roots or its values. With basic, simplistic arrangements and heartfelt personal lyrics, this is no-bull, no-frills country with a hint of island heritage. It's music you can touch, and it touches you right back. So sit back, and count it off.

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Artist Profile – Michael Allen Magliulo

‘Oahu born in 1984 but Big Island raised, Michael Allen Magliulo spent most of his young life in the small town of Hilo. His family bounced around quite a bit, from a corner house on Kilauea Avenue to an apartment on Banyan Drive, but they finally settled down in Puna, in Hawaiian Acres, in 1991. The move was tough for him, because he had to leave the friends he made while attending Waiakeawaena Elementary School behind and move to a new school district. However, while spending three years between Mountain View Elementary and Keaau Middle School, he met some of his best friends, and began to grow as a young man. Sports and Boy Scouts taught him respect, honor, pride and discipline as well as leadership and teamwork. His time with the scouts also imbued him with a deep love for community, nature and the outdoors. He began to truly appreciate the unique Hawaiian social and natural landscape in which he had lived all his life. He lived out a sample of country boy clichés: Riding horses, tending to chickens, walking miles up and down dirt roads, catching crawfish in the front yard, cutting through the tall grass to find a football, driving for miles with no destination with good friends along for the ride. It was during these crucial years that he found his love for and fascination with music. By the eighth grade, music had become an obsession with him, and he especially identified with country music. The prevalent themes in country music tied into how he grew up, where he lived, and the values with which he was raised. Oddly, that particular type of music was not exactly popular during the time that he began listening to it; in fact, neither Hilo nor anywhere else on the Big Island had a dedicated country station broadcasting during those years. Sometimes, if he tuned it just right, he could get his radio to pick up a stray signal from Maui, but for the most part he had to search for ways to discover new music: at the library, on television, online. He also began to take a strong interest in songwriting and learning how to play the guitar.

By the time he began his freshman year at Waiakea High School, Michael felt as if he had already begun to find himself. Being back in the Waiakea district, he also reunited with good friends from his years at Waiakeawaena. He had only just acquired his first guitar from a family friend in the fall of 1998, but he took his learning of the instrument to heart. His musical identity began to flourish. By his senior year, Michael had developed his songwriting, joined the Waiakea High Chorus, performed on various stages and at school functions, and picked up a vested interest in learning other instruments. His time with the chorus allowed him to develop vocally and musically and got him to showcase his talents on stage. His friends in the chorus band also taught him how to play the piano, drums and bass, and a year in the high school band program made him a beginner on the alto saxophone. The time he spent in his band Midknight Thunder helped him to pick up experience playing with others and expand his musical horizons into rock. During his stint in this band, he also began to develop his chops as a lead guitarist. On a writer’s retreat, he began to play with some new friends who he would eventually learn a lot from – the premier band at Waiakea High, Hawaiian Sunrise. Their Hawaiian reggae-infused sound would not only pique his interest in that musical style, it also pushed him to reintroduce himself to the ‘ukulele. In the school’s faith organization, Heart & Soul, he got the chance to learn from some talented rhythm guitarists, who eventually took him with them to choral practice. His years with the Waiakea High Chorus led him to some unforgettable experiences, such as the Big Island Choral Festival and the ACDA Western Division Honor Choir in Honolulu in 2002, but most importantly it allowed him to find his footing on a stage and sing in harmony. Performing briefly at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Theater didn’t hurt, either, as Michael hit the stage as part of the sound crew in a parodical production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Amidst all this, Michael had to deal with moving once again, to Hawaiian Paradise Park, and leaving the childhood home he had lived in for ten years. But perhaps the most important and life-altering event of his high school years that impacted him as a songwriter and artist was the discovery of love, and alternately, of heartbreak – two of the most powerful human emotions. They poured into his songwriting of this period themes of desire and longing, sweetness and anger. It was not until the end of his senior year at Waiakea High that Michael truly realized his identity: Small-town country boy, creative writer, well-rounded musician, avid performer, lover of nature, hopeless romantic. His decision to leave Hawaii and move to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California did not come lightly, but the university had a stellar reputation in the arts, as well as for being a well-known destination for students out of the 50th state. Five of his Waiakea High friends and classmates would become USC students as well.

Entering the university as a Civil Engineering major proved to be a terrible decision for Michael. After suffering in the engineering program for a year amidst poor grades and waning interest, Michael was accepted upon first application into what was then known as the USC School of Cinema-Television, with a concentration in Film & Television Critical Studies. In his last year at Waiakea High, Michael had started to show a growing interest in filmmaking, especially in the field of music videos, and the selection of USC for his undergraduate studies had in large part to do with the presence of the film school. The school turned out to be a perfect fit, as he went on to develop his chops in various positions on the Trojan Vision crew while steadily raising his grades in classes. He selected a film education that combined for an eclectic mix of styles, and Michael graduated – on time – as a member of the class of 2006. Meanwhile, he quietly honed his skills as a songwriter and a guitarist, in classes at the Thornton School of Music. He was able to continue a limited role as a performer while attending classes, with a brief stint in the a cappella group USC Seven and at talent showcases. So strong was his desire to be around music, Michael even spent a year in the Spirit of Troy, University of Southern California Marching Band, as a member of the prop crew. As he grew more in touch with himself through the experience of life, he opened his eyes and heart to a clearer understanding of life, love, God, Country, community and the world; tiring of the big city life he still finds difficult to get used to, he made some very important decisions as to how he would live his life: With a strong moral foundation, a clean lifestyle and a family-first attitude. It was a turning point; Michael's themes became infused with sentimentality and nostalgia. He dreams every day of the ocean breeze off the Puna coast and going back to live in the islands, and thanks God for some good friends who keep his spirit in Hawaii. However, he wouldn’t give up the experiences or friendships that USC and life in Los Angeles gave him for the world.

After graduating, Michael moved away from the big city and into Alhambra, a much more “Main Street” community. This is where he resides now, pursuing a dual career in film and music. Los Angeles is a tough city for a young country artist, but he has been fiercely determined to find the opportunities to grow. Finally given the chance to do so freely, Michael got to work on recording some of the original songs that he had composed over the past ten years and assembling tracks, discs and demos. As a freelance film lighting tech out of USC, he also had the chance to work on several independent music video and film shoots throughout Southern California. It would eventually prepare him for an intense undertaking in the fall of 2008, an entry into the nationwide video-based music competition, CMT’s Music City Madness 3.

CMT's third annual singer/songwriter competition, Music City Madness 3 was a nationwide search for country's next potential star. Sponsored by Chevrolet and Warner Bros. Records, the competition was comprised of an initial submission in the form of a performance or music video, followed by several rounds of tournament-style voting. The competition began with approximately 60,000 videos submitted to CMT, and was narrowed to 60 by a panel of judges before voting was opened up; the numbers are a testament to Michael’s talent and hard work. Michael made it up to Round Four (of six) with his original song and video, "American Dream," but was eliminated as part of the final eight. He is grateful for the experience, and has been surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of support he has received from fans back home in Hawaii, and across the nation. He will be continuing to record and perform in anticipation of next year’s Music City Madness 4, and opening himself up to other opportunities.