A pair of students from Rutherford County Schools — Addison Evans and Kenneth Owens — performed during the recent 39th annual Words & Music Night at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.

Evans will be a fifth-grader at Christiana Elementary, while Owens will be a senior at Blackman High School.

Evans was the third performer of the evening and she sang "Miss You Every Hour." Owens was the final performer of the night. He sang "Crab Mentality."

They were two of 17 performers that night and each student performed along with a professional musician.

Students from across the United States submitted songs.

Christiana music teacher Tara Polson previously attended a training session last summer.

"That opened up the opportunity for our school to participate in the Words & Music event," said Donna Damron, an English Language Arts teacher at Christiana. "More than 70 schools in Tennessee and Alabama submitted songs."

Blackman Principal Dr. Leisa Justus is impressed with how talented Owens is "and wants to make sure our students and faculty know about him."

Christiana had multiple songs selected for the first round. Ultimately Evans and Owens made it through to the final round and were rewarded with an opportunity to perform at the Hall of Fame event.

Damron, who attended the event, described it as "amazing."

"It was a very exciting event and an honor for these students to be chosen," added Christiana Principal Angie Baker-Templeton.

By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT, Rutherford County Schools