JONES COUNTY, Miss. ( WHLT ) – A graduating Jones College student is about to become a Country music recording artist with a song he recorded and mixed at the college.

Eli Carter’s single, “These White Lines,” will release this month on Free State Records, which is the Jones College music label.

“It’s very exciting. It’s very nerve-wracking going from having nothing to having something. It’s a strange experience, but I’m very excited,” Carter said.

This song is personal to the singer.

“It’s kind of a cry for help. It’s just about a helpless situation. Like the main line in the song is, ‘God, if you can hear me now, I’m not begging for a miracle.’ So, it’s just a it’s a cry for desperation,” he explained.

With the help of his friends and professors, Carter recorded, mixed and tracked the song on campus.

“He’s the first student that has actually tracked their own release. With recording, you have tracking, basically getting all your recordings together, guitars, vocals, then mixing and mastering to keep it in short there. And so, he is the first student that has ever went in and did all of his own tracking live in the chapel and then brought it over to me to finish off the project,” said Matt McGuffie, a professor of Music Industry.

Carter, who graduated on Friday, May 3 with an associate degree in Music Industry and Recording Arts, said he’s off to Nashville to further pursue a career in music.

“I’m hoping to get in with some writing and publishing companies and just focus on writing and but also explore performance and do whatever else I can like to utilize all my options while I’m there,” said Carter.

He will be performing at the Okatoma Festival in Collins on Saturday, May 4 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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