Nashville Scene

More than 35 years ago, George Jones recorded “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes,” a song that wondered aloud whether newcomers would come along that could possibly walk in the footsteps of the progenitors and giants of country music. All this time later, it’s not a question we’ve had to seriously consider: Jones himself is still around to step into those shoes of sublimity. They just happen to be exactly his size.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

During Charlie Daniels 50-year career, he has scored hits on the rock, country, pop and Christian charts and counts his awards from the Country Music Association (CMA), Academy of Country Music (ACM), TNN/Music City News Awards, and the Gospel Music Association (GMA) among his many accolades. Born in Wilmington, NC, he was raised on a musical diet that included Pentecostal gospel, local bluegrass bands, rhythm & blues, and country music from the radio, including Nashville's 650 WSM. His signature song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," topped both country and pop charts, bringing him international acclaim.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

Loretta Lynn "Lorrie" Morgan (born on June 27, 1959 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer. The daughter of singer George Morgan, she made her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry at age thirteen, performing Marie Osmond's "Paper Roses." Her father died when she was sixteen. When her father died in 1975, she took over his band and began leading the group through various club gigs.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

Country superstar Randy Travis is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his award-studded career with a stellar cast of collaborators.

Joining him on his Anniversary Celebration CD are such members of the Country Music Hall of Fame as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, George Jones and Ray Price. Current Nashville hit makers Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Josh Turner and Brad Paisley are also singing with him on the collection. Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame member Don Henley is on board, as are such up-and-comers as country’s James Otto and Jamey Johnson, pop’s Kristin Chenoweth and Irish tenor Eamonn McCrystal.

Randy’s fellow country superstar Alan Jackson has written several songs with him, so his presence is a natural. Revered vocal stylists such as Shelby Lynne, John Anderson, Gene Watson and Joe Stampley participate, as do Randy’s fellow Grand Ole Opry cast members Lorrie Morgan and Connie Smith.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson has been showered with plaques, trophies and award statuettes, but they aren't the answer to his dreams.

"My dream already came true," says the Alabama native who has rocketed to Nashville stardom. "All I ever wanted was to get to just ride around and sing country music. It"s cool when things happen along the way, because those are things I never thought I could achieve. But whatever happens, I'll just keep on doing what I do. I wake up every day and go play some more country music."

The things that have happened along the way include songwriter awards for 2005's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," which Jamey co-wrote for Trace Adkins. In the spring of 2007, the Academy of Country Music gave Jamey a Song of the Year award for co-writing the George Strait hit "It Away," and the Country Music Association did the same later that year.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

It is difficult to imagine the world of country music without the vast contribution that Gene Watson has made to it. Between his major label debut on Capitol Records in 1975 and the present day, Gene Watson has excelled with his traditional slant within country music.

Gene Watson is a singer in country music's grand tradition & has the skill to give powerful vocal performances and draw all the emotion from his selected material effortlessly. Gene has remained true to his Texas music roots for the best part of 30 years & is a standard bearer for honest, traditional country music.

Following years of honing his country music craft around Texas, Gene emerged on the American country music scene in July 1975. He immediately earned himself a reputation as one of the best of the new 'real country' singers to emerge on the scene and for adhering to a traditional country sound, characterised by prominent steel guitar and swirling fiddle.

Gary Gene Watson never intended becoming a professional singer within the country music genre. Apparently, he didn't go searching for music - music found him. For those of us who love traditional country music, we have a lot to be thankful to Gene Watson for.

When you consider the vast catalogue of classic country songs that he has recorded since the late 1960s, his absence from the country music world would have left a gaping hole. Of course, other artists could have recorded these tracks, but not with the same passion, emotion & genuine feeling that Gene Watson has brought to them.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media

Tanya Tucker was born Oct. 10, 1958, in Seminole, Texas. Her father, Beau, a construction worker, and her mother, Juanita, encouraged her fledgling musical talents. Her early years were spent in Wilcox, Ariz., before moving to Phoenix in 1967. Her father booked her to perform with visiting country stars on stage at local fairs. Never one to consider that some songs might be too old for her, she was singing Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough” before she was 13. The family moved to St. George, Utah, and her mother impressed the producer of the Robert Redford movie Jeremiah Johnson, which led to Tucker (and her horse) being featured.

To further their daughter’s career, they moved to Las Vegas, where Beau financed a demo tape. In 1972, producer Billy Sherrill signed Tucker to Columbia Records in Nashville although she disliked his choice of song — “The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.,” later a hit for Donna Fargo. Subsequently, she first reached the Top 10 with “Delta Dawn,” followed by the double-sided “Jamestown Ferry”/”Love’s the Answer” and the No. 1 hit, “What’s Your Mama’s Name?” Though it referred to a Georgia sunset, “Blood Red and Goin’ Down” was about a daughter watching her father kill her cheating mother, while “Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)” was an adult love song, written by David Allen Coe for his brother’s wedding.

The young Tucker quickly became a country star, was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone and through 200 appearances a year, developed a powerful, if precocious, stage presence. Moving to MCA on her 16th birthday, she was determined to make records that were in keeping with the sophisticated country rock of the Eagles, and she topped the country charts with “Lizzie and the Rainman,” “San Antonio Stroll” and “Here’s Some Love.” In 1978, she wrote and recorded “Save Me,” an ecologically inspired single about seal culls on Canada’s Magdalen Islands.

The provocative cover picture of 1978′s TNT album caused controversy because it certainly represented a different approach for a country star. She was booed on the Grand Ole Opry for performing raucous rock ’n’ roll. Tear Me Apart was made with the producer-of-the-moment, Mike Chapman, and included a hoarse segue of “San Francisco” with “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.” Neither album sold as well as expected, but Tucker found herself in gossip columns as a result of her stormy relationship with Glen Campbell. She commented: “Men are supposed to slow down after 40, but it’s the opposite with Glen.” Their duets included a low-charting revival of Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover,” but the dream was over amidst allegations of physical abuse.

As fate would have it, Tucker and Campbell were to find themselves on the same label, Capitol Records, and Tucker’s career was revitalized with 1986′s Girls Like Me, an album that spawned four Top 10 country singles. In 1988, she had three No. 1 country singles: “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love” (with Paul Davis and Paul Overstreet), “If It Don’t Come Easy” and “Strong Enough to Bend.” It was also the year in which she entered the Betty Ford clinic for cocaine and alcohol addiction.

After many years in country music, her contributions were finally rewarded when the Country Music Association voted her the female vocalist in 1991, though she missed the event, having just given birth to her second child. Eight consecutive singles reached the Top 10 in the early 1990s, including “Down to My Last Teardrop,” “(Without You) What Do I Do With Me” and “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane.” She published the autobiography Nickel Dreams in 1996 and released the album Complicated in 1997. After parting with Capitol Records, she issued the album Tanya on her own label in 2002.

[Show More]

Artist info obtained from public profile, artist website or social media