Artists That Begin With G

Andy Gibson

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:01:00 GMT

If there’s ever a Nashville edition of the famed “Survivor” television series, the smart bet would likely be on multi-talented artist Andy Gibson to bring home the big money. Based on a lifelong work ethic and incredible resumé of talents, skills and experience, Andy certainly has what it takes to survive long after others have been voted off the proverbial Music City Island. And we’re not just talking music here.

Sure, Andy co-wrote one of the biggest hits in recent memory with his powerful tune “Don’t You Want To Stay,” the multi-week #1 country hit for Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson that the duo performed on the last year’s CMA Awards to a standing ovation. And he’s also currently in the studio with legendary producer James Stroud finishing up his own debut album of killer songs, including the infectious first single and video, “Wanna Make You Love Me.”

But Andy’s talents don’t end there. He’s a guy who more than knows his way around a tool shed. He can do everything from hanging drywall and trim carpentry to installing and maintaining a heating and air conditioning system. He’s worked professionally as a freelance graphic designer, photographer, videographer, deck hand, pizza maker and studio engineer. And, since moving to Nashville five years ago, he’s been a demo singer and performed in Spanish restaurants, singing everything from classic country and his own original tunes to traditional Spanish songs… in Spanish.

So where does Andy get his incredible drive and work ethic? From the same place he gets his passion and talent for music—his parents, John and Debbie Gibson (the original Debbie Gibson, Andy’s quick to point out). The fourth of five children, Andy was born September 15, 1981 in Spokane, Washington. The family moved to the San Francisco area when Andy was very young, living there until moving outside Las Vegas when Andy was nine.

Throughout much of Andy’s childhood, the Gibson family worked together on projects—buying old houses, gutting them, fixing them up and reselling them. Andy’s first job was at age five—pulling nails out of boards. “That’s just how we grew up,” he remembers. “We didn’t watch television. We didn’t even have cable. We’re all just really hard workers and we’re happiest when we’re working.”

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Bill Gentry

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:34:00 GMT

Wild and studied.

Crazed and responsible.

Sinner and saint.

Bill Gentry is a lot of things that don’t seem, at first glance, to fit together. A businessman. A club owner. A preacher’s kid. A former politician. And an artist who will not be denied.

If those descriptions sound like an odd assortment of current and past lives – well, they are. But they’re also accurate fragments of Gentry, a complicated, driven soul whose personal contrasts are nicely summed up in Baptized In Temptation. The 10-track debut album captures both the rowdy party boy and the thoughtful mate, the country stylist and the blues-rocker.

Produced by Grammy-winner Chad Carlson (Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Chris Isaak, Sugarland, Cold Mountain soundtrack, Walk the Line soundtrack, etc), the project represents the first studio music that successfully captures the sonic thump of Gentry’s pulsing, high-energy country shows. Those concerts have already seen him play to more than 1 million ticket holders and become something of a Georgia mini-legend, a romp-‘em, stomp-‘em, take-no-prisoners performer who got that way through relentless hard work and study of his concert craft.

“I’m not some getting-drunk kind of party animal,” Gentry insists

But he might appear that way to many of the fans who’ve locked into his let-it-loose stage persona, just one piece of the puzzle represented in his album. “Between Muscle Shoals And Macon,” the collection’s opening number, pays homage to many of the diverse sounds that form the backbone to Gentry’s musical character: mainstream country, Aretha Franklin-brand gospel, Otis Redding-style soul. “Hell And Half Of Georgia” builds a dedicated pursuit of romance around the music of the

Allman Brothers Band; “Why Can’t You Forgive Me” draws on Gentry’s ever-present humor to form a personal plea from public foibles of Bill Clinton, George Jones, Pee Wee Herman and the Dixie Chicks; and “The Letter”—the album’s first single—demonstrates the depth of thought and self-examination that have made Gentry a success at nearly every pursuit he’s attempted in a highly ambitious life.

“Once he’d become obsessed with something,” his brother wrote in a lengthy piece for Atlanta’s Creative Loafing, “there was no stopping him.”

Even today, Gentry sees his drive as an attempt to grasp a portion of his identity he missed in his early years on a 250-acre cattle farm in Carrollton, Georgia. His father died at age 42, and Bill—who was just two years old at the time—has no memory of his dad, a Presbyterian minister. He does possess some of the elder Gentry’s traits, though, particularly a persistent dedication to building a life that has meaning for both himself and those around him.

“I think I’ve been chasing a ghost my whole life,” the singer/songwriter concedes. “I’ve been trying to please a man that’s dead, and that’s hard. But at the same time, I think it’s made me be a better person because I’m never going to accomplish that goal. Still, in my heart I want to. If we find out that he was able to look in on my life, I wanna make him proud.”

There have been several vocational diversions along the way, but the seeds for the creative part of Gentry’s life were genetically sewn. Oldest sister Vesta taught art. Brother Lyle had a role in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera. Sister Celia decorates cakes. And sister Mimi, four years old than Bill, majored in voice at college and spent a year as his duet partner when they were adults.

Even in his first public performance—a fourth-grade talent-show rendition of John Denver’s “Sunshine On My Shoulders”—Gentry demonstrated an undeveloped sense for in-concert theatrics.

“I had one of my friends behind stage with a Zebco rod and reel with a hand painted sun connected to it,” Gentry laughs. “Every time I’d get to the chorus, ‘Sunshine on my shoulders,’ he’d hit the button where it’d go down to my shoulder. Then he’d reel it back up.”

Gentry didn’t win that talent contest, but he did earn the title in several other competitions. In the biggest of them, he took the local, regional and state 4-H crown during his junior year in high school, giving him a chance to perform his own songs with winners from other states at a celebration in Chicago.

Music was a constant pursuit during his school years. He played in the high-school band for two years before the director kicked him out. He performed solo acoustic shows statewide for the 4-H. He worked part time in a local music store owned by the CBS signed act Fortnox. And he had a rock band for more than two years that played a few dances and special events.

“The rock band was more of a phase-type thing where I owned my first pair of pleather pants AND was kidnapped by someone who definitely wasn’t a fan of our loud music,” Gentry laughs. “We were rehearsing in this old farm house, and me and two of my band members were kidnapped at knife point by this drug crazed man who somewhere along the way had already been stabbed and was bleeding all over the place. He heard the loud music from the road, and I guess came to investigate. We weren’t hurt, but the guy did go to jail. The lesson from this? Leave the pleather pants at home and don’t take Spinal Tap’s lead when it comes to volume.”

All the while, the success of local boy Alan Jackson provided something of a beacon for Gentry. Jackson’s hometown—Newnan, Georgia—is barely 20 miles from Carrollton. One of Jackson’s sisters was a teacher, and was frequently referenced in conversations at Gentry’s house when his older sister and stepfather, who was a school superintendent, talked about their work in the neighboring county school system.

“Since we grew up in small towns so close together, it almost felt like Alan was writing songs about my life,” Gentry notes. “‘Chattahoochee’, family, and other things that he writes about, they were things I did, too, when I was growing up. Even in the song ‘Drive (For Daddy Gene),’ the lake that he’s talking about is called West Point Lake, where my stepdad used to take me fishing, too. So I looked up to him and still do.”

Success in the music business, though, is anything but guaranteed, and Gentry tried several other vocations during his college years. He thought he could succeed in politics and headed down that road for a time, becoming student-body president at a junior college, running for city council of a small college town at the age of 19, then becoming executive vice president at Atlanta’s Georgia State University, where he worked with an almost $2-million budget. In addition, Gentry interned in Washington, D.C., for Senator Sam Nunn when he was chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

“I got to walk into some very important meetings with his coffee,” Gentry winks.

Gentry got just enough experience in politics to realize he didn’t want to follow that vocation anytime soon. In the meantime, he gained a job with a data-compiling company that handled information for the insurance industry. He and one of his co-workers saw the potential for a data-collection agency, and they pooled $500 each and no pay for almost four years to start their own data company, a firm that gathers, cleans and interprets data for politicians, small businesses and even some well known Fortune 500 companies.

It was a lucrative business, though that success was not enough to quell his hunger for music. He formed a duo with sister Mimi, the Gentrys, and worked at it aggressively in his off-hours for the next year—so aggressively that she simply walked away.

“I love you as my brother,” she told him, “but I don’t want to sing with you anymore.”

Bill likewise debated if he should quit with her, but that internal argument did not last long. Instead, he kept the band together and rebranded himself as a solo act. And he went at it full-force. He used the marketing knowledge he’d picked up in business and politics to get his name out in the community and made certain that every show was threaded with an undeniable energy. He quickly developed a strong following and was able to sell out nearly every club of stature in northern Georgia, though one particular hold-out refused to book him because he wasn’t a national artist.

That owner might have thought he was protecting his establishment’s reputation. But what he really did was motivate a new competitor. Gentry decided to build a venue of his own – not just any club, but the biggest country music club in the nation. He did his homework, too, visiting 13 hot spots around the nation to see what worked and what didn’t.

Gentry mortgaged his house and found a coalition of investors to refurbish a massive old Service Merchandise store as Wild Bill’s, a suburban attraction (Atlanta destination) with multiple bars, a lounge area and an arena size concert stage.

Gentry walked a narrow line in developing the atmosphere, creating a night club that’s visually alluring but doesn’t compromise the church values with which he was raised.

"I’ve tried to make the Wild Girls as sexy as I can without being trashy,” he explains. “If you see the whole outfit, it’s midrift, jeans and chaps. And they don’t dance like strippers. Over 100 people work there, and every single person knows if they cross the line into lewdness or bad behavior they’re gone.”

Wild Bill’s was an instant success, selling out in its first night and building him an even bigger audience as he played the club regularly for three years. In the years since its opening, Wild Bill’s has also received five Academy of Country Music nominations.

In the meantime, it attracted most of the biggest acts in country music—Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Jamey Johnson, Tracy Lawrence, Chris Ledoux, Little Jimmy

Dickens, Eric Church and Joe Nichols, among them. In addition to cementing the club’s reputation, these performers also gave Gentry a chance to study firsthand what did and didn’t work as he built his own act.

“It was an eye-opening experience to see a lot of other artists,” Gentry says. “Some artists had great CDs but couldn’t deliver it live, and that told me I don’t want to be that guy. But you could also see how they treat other people, how they perform, how they build their set list. It was a real education.”

One of the biggest impressions made upon him was the importance of having a dynamic live show. The best performers turned an appearance into a high-energy event, and he takes it as a personal challenge to connect with every member of his audiences.

The best Gentry ever saw at that was Garth Brooks, who he watched from the seats at the top in Atlanta’s Omni Center in 1996. “I really felt like he was singing to me, way up in the nosebleeds,” Gentry recalls. “From that point forward, I had a yearning to understand how he did that and what type of energy he was able to throw out.” Not surprisingly, Baptized In Temptation was made with a live show in mind. Brimming with honky-tonk, southernrock and blues elements, it provides a muscular sonic foundation for his concerts.

It’s also something of a personal journey, one filled with references to such musical inspirations as Wilson Pickettand the Allman Brothers Band. And one song, “Wild Bill’s Rock And Roll Revival,” even tips a hat to Gentry’s ultra successful club.

The album as a whole captures the energy of a Bill Gentry concert, which inevitably finds the audience pumping fists and singing along in loud voices. It’s a reminder that all those different parts of his personality—the saint and sinner, the artist and businessman—make him extremely connected to the lives of the fans he’s trying to reach. That connection, and the way it’s achieved, is everything.

“It’s not about where you play, who you open for, or how much you get paid to do it,” Gentry surmises. “It’s all about the music.”

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Danny Gokey

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 19:16:00 GMT

From his days of long hours as a truck driver to his third place finish on Season Eight of American Idol, Danny Gokey has always been a student of life. With an artist’s eye for detail and an inquisitive spirit eager to learn from every situation, Gokey has soaked up more life experience than most people twice his age. From the joyful to the heartbreaking, those experiences infuse Gokey’s 19 Recordings/RCA Nashville debut, My Best Days, a collection of songs that resonate with honest emotion and tap into the collective hopes and dreams that define life.

In listening to the album, it is obvious Gokey has a strong sense of who he is as an artist and what he wants to say to his audience. There’s a focus and a sense of purpose rarely found on a debut disc. “It’s country, but it has a little different edge,” says the Milwaukee native. “I want to create my own fingerprint, and I want my music to say something. I want to have an emotional connection, but at the same time, I want to make people just have a good time, make them want to dance, have fun and party. I wanted to throw all those emotions in that CD, and I feel like I accomplished that.”

During his tenure on American Idol, Gokey impressed the judges with his versatility as he performed hits by The Temptations, Carrie Underwood, Michael Jackson and Rascal Flatts, among others. As he continued to rise through the ranks of Idol hopefuls, it became increasingly clear that Gokey was blessed with a voice that could sing any style of music and turn any song into a compelling moment. So why did he choose a career as a country artist? “I felt like I could be myself,” he says matter-of-factly, and admits he got some career advice from someone he respected. “Randy Travis was a mentor for American Idol, and he asked me, ‘Have you thought about country? You really need to, because people would love you and the amount of soul that you could bring to country. You bring a uniqueness to it.’”

Gokey is still somewhat surprised and humbled by the encouragement he got from one of his musical idols, and says the overall American Idol experience helped him define who is as an artist. “As the show progressed, I started to find myself and started to hone in on who I want to be, what I want to be, and what I want to represent,” Gokey relates. “The thing that I identified with the most was the message. When I sing, I want to sing something passionately, and I want to sing something that has a lot of meaning to me. I always found that in country. I want to be known as a country singer the rest of my life.”

Gokey’s life before American Idol embodies the themes that populate the country music lexicon, from his humble roots in a poor but loving family to his hard-working days as a truck driver to the loss of the person most dear to him: his wife, Sophia. Life has prepared Danny Gokey to sing country music.

Born the fifth of six children, Danny grew up in a family that was often short on cash, but long on love and encouragement. His parents were music fans and introduced their children to a variety of sounds including Motown, jazz, and country. “My first CD was Wynonna Judd, and I loved it. I love her,” Gokey gushes. “She had this soul that went into it, and you just felt the music when it played, and the first single that I bought in my life was Tim McGraw’s ‘Don’t Take the Girl.’ I listened to that song, and it made me want to cry. Vince Gill is another one of my favorites.”

Like many artists before him, from the legendary Aretha Franklin to Platinum-selling rock band Switchfoot, Gokey can trace his musical roots to the church. While working in the music departments at two different churches, Gokey also logged hard days as a trucker. “I drove an eighteen wheeler semi-truck, a big rig,” he says. “I liked it actually. Was it what I wanted to settle with for the rest of my life? No, because music was where my passion was.”

His wife encouraged Danny to give American Idol a shot, but just a month before the audition, Sophia died unexpectedly after what should have been a routine heart surgery. The couple had been high school sweethearts, and Danny was devastated. He found solace and healing in music. “Music was the key place where I would go, and I would let the sorrow come out, let the tears just roll. Some music I would listen to had a determination in it, and I resolved that this is not going to be the thing that destroys me for the rest of my life. It can be turned into a building block, and I can become a better person for it. Music brought healing. That’s how I got through and still get through it today.”

Knowing firsthand the power of music, Gokey entered the studio determined to craft a debut album filled with songs that matter. “I definitely have something to say with this album, and I think people will recognize that,” he says. “Music was the catalyst that helped bring healing, a determination and a resolve. That’s why I want to do music. I want to bring that same hope. When my wife passed, I tried out for American Idol, and music brought me hope. It brought me a reason to live again. Now I want to bring that into my music.”

Working with producer Mark Bright, well known for his work with Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts, Gokey has crafted an album filled with memorable, meaningful songs, penned by some of the industry’s top songwriters. Veteran tunesmiths Marv Green and Kent Blazy penned the title track and first single, “My Best Days Are Ahead of Me.” It’s a buoyant look toward a brighter future, an optimistic anthem sure to be adopted by all who believe in better days ahead.

“I Still Believe” is a groove-oriented number co-written by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi. “It’s Only” is a powerful call to action that illustrates some of life’s challenges and encourages us to make a difference where we can. Penned by Tom Douglas and Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, the song is a compelling ballad that demonstrates the range and emotional depth in Gokey’s soul-drenched voice.

“I Will Not Say Goodbye,” written by Lari White, Chuck Cannon and Vicky McGehee, is a poignant ballad that Gokey says he just had to record. “That song just totally represents what I felt when my wife passed away,” says Gokey, who has launched a charitable foundation, Sophia’s Heart, in his wife’s memory. “Sophia’s Heart got started because I wanted to keep her legacy alive.”

Though there are songs sure to make listeners stop in their tracks and examine their priorities, there are also several that will inspire fans to roll down the windows and sing along. “Life on Ya” and “Get Away” are infectious slices of fun, and “Crazy Not To” captures the exhilaration of falling in love. “You don’t want people to feel overwhelmed with one certain thing,” Gokey says of balancing the meatier songs with more fun fare. “You want them to experience different things, and I think we accomplished that. At one point, I said, ‘I want fun, fun songs!’ You want to be very balanced, and I feel like we did a good job at that. Sometimes I want to have fun just for no reason.”

Poignant, rowdy, thought-provoking and smile-inducing -- Danny Gokey’s debut album is all those things and so much more. It’s a reflection of life’s peaks and valleys from a young man well acquainted with both. “I’m very proud of this CD. Every song has something to say,” he relates. “We’re all human, and human beings are made up of so many different aspects. We want to be entertained, but we also want to be inspired, and music is a universal language.”

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Gloriana

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:43:00 GMT

Ask any unknown musicians who’ve sweated it out on the club scene — as brothers Tom and Mike Gossin did before moving to Nashville in 2007 and joining forces with Rachel Reinert — and they’ll tell you that having a dream just isn’t enough. Achieving success takes strong motivation to commit, something these four young talents have proven willing to do as their career has exploded over the past two years. From sharpening their live show, to sending a demo to Emblem Music Group owner Matt Serletic (who signed them), to moving in together and secluding themselves for a month to put their stamp on the stellar songs that appear on their 2009 debut album, everything the members of Gloriana have done has been about their passion for creating music.

That pledge, as well as their authentic talent, have propelled the group to become the bestselling debut country act of 2009. Gloriana debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and No. 3 on the Top 200 chart and spawned the gold-certified hit single “Wild At Heart.” Gloriana also won the fan-voted-on American Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, as well as the “Nationwide On Your Side” honor at the CMT Awards. The album’s success led to two years on the road, during which the band performed in front of millions worldwide as Taylor Swift’s handpicked opening act on her Fearless Tour. They also opened shows for Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and the Zac Brown Band. In 2010, Gloriana won the Academy of Country Music’s Award for Top New Vocal Group and were nominated for a Teen Choice Award for “Choice Country Group.”

Now Tom, Mike, and Rachel have funneled everything they’ve learned into their second album, due for release later this year. “We’ve grown up a lot as a band,” Mike says. “We’ve honed in on singing and playing together and have really found our sound as a group.” This time around, the group were intent on revealing more of themselves as artists. “On this record, we wanted to tell stories,” says Rachel. “I think people will be able to relate to a lot of these songs because they’re honest and come from a place that’s real.” They also felt emboldened to bolster their signature fourpart harmonies with new musical styles, as you can hear on the new single “Wanna Take You Home.” “It’s soulful new country, with a Southern rock flavor that’s almost gospel-y,” says Tom, who co-wrote the song with multi-platinum producer and songwriter Serletic.

“Like any new act, we were finding ourselves on the first record — in the recording process and as musicians,” Tom says. “The new album really just feels like us, who and where we are now, to the point where we know exactly what we want to do and how to get there.”

This past July, fourth member Cheyenne Kimball withdrew from the group.

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Vince Gill

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:23:00 GMT

Vince Gill is quite simply a living prism refracting all that is good in country music. He uses the crystal planes of his songwriting, his playing, and his singing to give us a musical rainbow that embraces all men and spans all seasons." - Kyle Young/Country Music Foundation on Vince's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12, 1957 in Norman, Okla. His father encouraged him to learn to play guitar and banjo, which he did along with bass, mandolin, dobro and fiddle. While in high school, he performed in the bluegrass band Mountain Smoke, which built a strong local following and opened a concert for Pure Prairie League.

After graduating high school in 1975, Gill moved to Louisville, Ky. to be part of the band Bluegrass Alliance. After a brief time in Ricky Skaggs’s Boone Creek band, Gill moved to Los Angeles and joined Sundance, a bluegrass group fronted by fiddler Byron Berline. In 1979, he joined Pure Prairie League as lead singer and recorded three albums with the band, the first of which yielded the Top Ten pop hit “Let Me Love You Tonight” in 1980. Departing the group in 1981, Gill joined Rodney Crowell’s backing band the Cherry Bombs, where he met and worked with Tony Brown and Emory Gordy Jr., both of whom would later produce many of his future solo albums.

In 1983, Gill signed with RCA Records and moved with his wife Janis and daughter Jenny to Nashville to pursue his dream of being a Country Music artist. His debut mini-album Turn Me Loose (produced by Gordy) was released the following year, featuring his first charting solo single, “Victim of Life’s Circumstance.” The Things That Matter, his first full album was released later that year, featuring two Top 10 hits: a duet with Rosanne Cash on “If It Weren’t For Him” and a solo hit with “Oklahoma Borderline.” In 1987 he achieved his first Top 5 single, “Cinderella,” from his album The Way Back Home. In addition to performing as a solo artist, Gill also worked frequently as a studio musician, wrote songs for other artists and toured with Emmylou Harris.

Gill signed with MCA Records in 1989, reuniting with Brown as a producer, and released the album When I Call Your Name. While the debut single “Oklahoma Swing” (a duet with Reba McEntire) reached the Top 20, it was the title cut that firmly established the singer as a new force on the Country Music scene. The song peaked at No. 2 and earned Gill his first CMA Award (Single of the Year) and his first Grammy Award (Best Male Country Vocal Performance) in 1990. The next single, “Never Knew Lonely,” peaked at No. 3 and the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of more than one million copies.

Declining an offer from Mark Knopfler to join Dire Straits as a full-time member, Gill went on to record his next album Pocket Full of Gold, which also became a Platinum certified album after it was released in 1991. The album featured four Top 10 hits including the title cut, “Liza Jane,” “Look at Us” and “Take Your Memory With You.” That year he also earned his first CMA Vocal Event of the Year Award for his performance with Mark O’Connor and the New Nashville Cats (featuring Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner). In 1992 he released the quadruple-Platinum certified I Still Believe In You. The title cut became Gill’s first No. 1 single, followed quickly by “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away.” The album also featured the hits “One More Last Chance,” “Tryin’ to Get Over You” and “No Future in the Past.” Gill also topped the charts with “The Heart Won’t Lie,” his second duet with McEntire, which was featured on her album It’s Your Call.

Vince Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards for the first time in 1992. He continued to host “Country Music’s Biggest Night™” for 12 consecutive years, ending his run in 2003. Gill not only set a record for the most times anyone has consecutively hosted a televised award show, but he set the bar for other television awards emcees with his respect for his peers and the audience, quick ad libs and gentle humor.

Gill recorded his first Christmas album Let There Be Peace on Earth in 1993, before releasing When Love Finds You in 1994. This album also sold more than four million copies and featured six hits including the title cut, “What the Cowgirls Do,” “Whenever You Come Around,” “Which Bridge to Cross (Which Bridge to Burn),” “You Better Think Twice” and “Go Rest High On That Mountain.” Becoming an in-demand duet partner, Gill sang with Amy Grant on “House of Love,” the title cut of her 1994 album which became a hit on adult contemporary radio stations, and with Dolly Parton on a duet version of her signature “I Will Always Love You” from her Something Special album that earned the duo the CMA Vocal Event of the Year Award 1996.

His 1996 album High Lonesome Sound featured Gill’s eclectic musical stylings. Hits included the title cut, “My Pretty Little Adrianna,” “Worlds Apart,” “You and You Alone” and “A Little More Love.” The Key, released in 1998, was a return to hardcore Country while chronicling the turmoil in his life including the death of his father and the breakup of his first marriage. The album, which was one of his most critically acclaimed releases and his first to top the Billboard Country Albums Chart, featured the hits “If You Ever Have Forever In Mind” and his duet with Patty Loveless on “My Kind of Woman/My Kind of Man.” His status as an in-demand duet partner continued with his 1999 duet “If You Ever Leave Me” with Barbra Streisand on the latter’s album A Love Like Ours.

Gill married singer Amy Grant in 2000, and released Let’s Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye that same year. The album celebrated his new relationship and featured the hit “Feels Like Love.” The couple celebrated the birth of their daughter Corrina Grant Gill in 2001. Three years later, Gill released Next Big Thing, his first solo-produced album, featuring the title cut and “Young Man’s Town.” He reunited with Rodney Crowell, Tony Brown, Richard Bennett and Hank Devito (as well as new additions Eddie Bayers, John Hobbs and Michael Rhodes) as the Notorious Cherry Bombs, and the supergroup released an album in 2004 on Universal South Records featuring the single “It’s Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night that Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long.”

In 2006, Gill released These Days, a groundbreaking, four-CD set featuring 43 new recordings of diverse musical stylings. Each album in the set explored a different musical mood – traditional Country; ballads; contemporary, up-tempo; and acoustic/bluegrass music. The set features a variety of guest performers including John Anderson, Guy Clark, Sheryl Crow, Phil Everly, daughter Jenny Gill, wife Amy Grant, Emmylou Harris, Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt, Leann Rimes, Gretchen Wilson, Lee Ann Womack, Trisha Yearwood and more.

Gill has sold more than 26 million albums. He has earned 18 CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1993 and 1994. He is tied with George Strait for having won the most CMA Male Vocalist Awards (five), and is currently second only to Brooks and Dunn for accumulating the most CMA Awards in history. Gill is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and has received 19 Grammy Awards to date, the most of any male Country artist. An avid golfer, he helped create the annual Vince Gill Pro-Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament (“The Vinny”) in 1993 in order to help support junior golf programs throughout Tennessee. Besides being known for his talent as a performer, musician and songwriter, Gill is regarded as one of Country Music’s best known humanitarians, participating in hundreds of charitable events throughout his career.

In August of 2007, the Country Music Association inducted Gill as the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.

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Pat Green

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:25:00 GMT

It’s impossible to know your limits without testing them.

It’s a truth that Pat Green has employed in his career, one that has propelled him to repeatedly refashion his sound, his approach and his own perception of who he is.

He’s simultaneously a Grammy-nominated hit maker with an outsider reputation, a Texas inspiration and a mainstream country artist who can rock arena and stadium stages with the likes of Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney.

Each of those roles has its own place. But each of them is too small to define Pat Green, who after 15 years in the recording business has earned the right to be everything Pat Green can be. Without limitations.

“I’d much rather be me and comfortable in my own skin than trying to be five different guys to get to the top,” he says.

In fact, after building a reputation as an ace songwriter of his own material, Green is fighting even that limitation with Songs We Wish We’d Written II, a sequel to a 2001 album he recorded with longtime friend—and fellow Texan—Cory Morrow.

Stocked with music penned by the likes of Lyle Lovett, Tom Petty, Shelby Lynne and Jon Randall, the disc—Green’s first for the acclaimed Sugar Hill label—mixes country, rock and blues in a manner that defies categorization. Petty’s “Even The Losers” and Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” will be familiar to just about anyone who gives the album a listen. Others, such as Aaron Lee Tasjan’s quirky “Streets Of Galilee” and Todd Snider’s burning “I Am Too,” are introductions from the underground to a large majority of music fans.

Songs We Wish We’d Written II is an expansive step in Green’s ongoing development. By piecing together songs from a variety of writers, he was able to assemble an album that reflects the multiple genres that influence him as an artist. The source of the songs wasn’t as important as the quality of the music and its ability to connect with Green’s maturing sense of his craft.

“If you listen to my young music or anybody’s young music, it’s all over the place,” he suggests. “It sounds like that because the thoughts are all over the place. You were sleeping on mattresses on the floor, the TV was on a cinderblock – that’s all cool. That’s all we needed, then. Now, I’ve grown up a bit. As my life has evolves, my taste for music continues to evolve with it.”

While Green was looking for songs for the album from outside sources, he was adamant about recording music that ultimately seemed designed specifically for him and his band. With drummer Justin Pollard co-producing, Green drew up an initial list of 10 titles and recorded them during a concentrated week of sessions in Austin. They tracked another five in Tyler, Texas, then culled the best to get the final 10 cuts on Songs We Wish We’d Written II, creating a cohesive package from disparate sources.

“We all just sat around discussing and if somebody’s idea would sound better than my idea, I’d get fixated on it,” Green says. “I would very much encourage them to bring an idea. For instance, the Walt Wilkins song ‘If It Weren’t For You,’ that was somebody else’s idea completely. There were all kinds of ideas going around from Genesis and Peter Gabriel, Colin Hay from Men at Work – all kinds of crazy stuff from the ‘80s. Of course, we ended up with Petty from 1979.”

They also ended up with a stellar list of guests. Collective Soul’s Ed Roland brings an authentic cynicism to “The World I Know,” Jack Ingram’s threads a snarling desperation into “I Am Too,” Cory Morrow adds a craggy earthiness to “If I Had A Boat,” and former Sons of the Desert member Drew Womack adds a smooth, Vince Gill-like presence as a backing vocalist on the driving “Austin.”

Monte Montgomery provides a thick, expressive blues voice on the Allman Brothers’ “Soulshine” and trades licks with Green’s guitarist, Chris Skrobot, in some of the most riveting moments on Written II, with their dueling lines careening like pinballs.

Skrobot also introduced Green to Aaron Lee Tasjan, who’s something of a new discovery on the album. Tasjan’s “Streets Of Galilee” combines a seemingly random parade of images into an escapist story while Tasjan makes a wry vocal appearance, adding an ethereal presence in the mold of AAA talent Brett Dennen.

“Aaron is a super guy, an amazing talent, and he has a band in New York called The Madison Square Gardeners, so he’s obviously a very funny, very clever human being,” Green assesses. “He’s definitely the kind of writer I really enjoy listening to.”

“Galilee,” “Soulshine,” “Jesus On A Greyhound” and the imagery in “Austin” combine to form a spiritual undercurrent on the album akin to the message of Green’s biggest hit, “Wave On Wave.” It’s appropriate – Green spent much of the last two years searching his conscience as he battles the prism of limitations that were created by his own successes in Texas, and on a national stage.

And in a way, Songs We Wish We’d Written II is the first chapter in the next act of his career.

“There’s a man inside of me now that didn’t used to live here, whereas there was only a boy before,” he says. “The boy was so strong and had done so much, so I’m kind of seeing things in a new way. The last couple years have really been an eye opener, much more intense and richer.”

That’s a large statement – Green’s life and career have already been filled with rich experiences. He’s co-written songs with Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Jewel and Rob Thomas. Appeared on such national TV shows as Austin City Limits, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show With David Letterman. Been hailed by Billboard, USA Today, Esquire, People and Country Weekly. Toured with the likes of Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and the Dave Matthews Band. And become a concert force in his own right, regularly selling out venues from Los Angeles to New York, where he’s now sold out his last seven appearances.

All of that is impressive. But it’s also history. As much as he appreciates it, Green puts it in his place on his cover of “Even The Losers,” where he highlights a lyric that Petty obscured in the original: “It’s such a drag when you’re living in the past.”

Green may be recognized for those past achievements, but he doesn’t intend to be limited by them as he continues to progress creatively. And that progress will come by simply testing what it means to be Pat Green.

“I want to be me,” he says. “There are so many people who live with so many masters in their lives. I really just need one.”

Find Pat on the web:

Josh Gracin

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:56:00 GMT

Josh Gracin has a diverse and impressive set of skills. The most obvious is the voice that captured the attention of millions
of American Idol fans during his season two run on what has become an American cultural phenomenon. His all-American
good looks, earnest charm and passionate vocal style earned him a devoted legion of fans, but beyond the stage, Gracin
possesses a poet’s heart and an ex-Marine’s discipline and work ethic. It’s that potent combination of talent and tenacity
that set Gracin apart and is fueling the newest chapter in his career.

“I want to sing. I want to write. I want to produce. I want to put myself on the chopping block,” says Gracin, who recently
signed with Average Joe’s Entertainment. Signing with an independent record label feels like the right fit for Josh, allowing
him room to grow and challenge himself while still providing structure and an outlet for his product.

Gracin has always had an independent streak and a creative maverick spirit that has served him well. As a child, Gracin
listened to and sang Rhythm & Blues, Motown and oldies. Around 12 years old, he had a revelation when he was
introduced to Garth Brooks on country radio, and he has never turned back. “There’s not another genre that better reflects
situations in my life,” he reflects.

A Michigan native who grew up listening to country and R&B music, Gracin auditioned for Idol (placing fourth on season
two) while serving in the Marine Corps. Following his run on American Idol and the completion of his military service, he
signed with Lyric Street Records and released his self-titled debut album in June 2004. The album was RIAA-certified gold
and spawned three top five singles—“I Want to Live,” “Stay With Me (Brass Bed),” and the No. 1 hit “Nothin’ to Lose.”

Gracin’s highly-anticipated sophomore effort, We Weren’t Crazy, was released in 2008 and delivered title track, “We
Weren’t Crazy,” the ballad “Unbelievable (Ann Marie),” written solely by Gracin about his wife, and fan favorite “Favorite
State of Mind.” Gracin has lent his vocals to The Disney Songbook on “When I See An Elephant Fly” with Jim Brickman and
the soundtrack to Herbie: Fully Loaded on “Working for the Weekend.”

Combining substantive lyrics about the realities of every day life with the soulful vocal style that has always been at the
heart of his artistry has resulted in a compelling new collection, produced by Gracin and longtime musical collaborator, his
drummer, Kevin Murphy.

“Kevin comes from a rock background, so he’s able to bring in that influence, which I love,” Gracin shares. “We’ve worked
together for almost four years, so we’ve had the time to figure out how to extract the best material from within ourselves
when we’re together in the studio or sit down to craft a song.”

Sonically, Gracin’s new project has a very fresh, unique sound. “We aimed to paint that picture and give it a feel that
everything is in the room with you,” he says of the album, which he recorded with his road band. “I love those guys and I
love having them on the record,” states Gracin. “The band was able to live with the songs and given the artistic freedom to
bring in their interpretation to the music.”

All songs on the album are identifiable slices of life that listeners can readily embrace, including family life, lost love and

romance. Gracin’s favorite out of the collection is the poignant ballad “Enough.” “Writing this song felt like a turning point
artistically. I was better able to take what was going on in my head and get it onto paper in a way I feel is relatable to so
many.”

The new single, “Over Me,” is a track that he penned that speaks to the pains associated with losing a love, and Gracin says
it was a natural selection to be a lead single from the album. “‘Over Me’ is a very special song to me. It was the first song
I wrote on my own that I truly felt told a story about a moment in my life. My favorite line in the song ‘is there nothing left in
you for me at all’ took me right back to that moment in the snow where I lost the most important person in my life only to
marry her two years later.”

This new album shows the growth of Josh Gracin as a writer, producer and artist. From the early days of growing up in
Michigan to now being a father of four, Gracin has taken everything and poured it all into REDEMPTION. The maturity in
Gracin’s work is undeniable and people will hear the difference.

Find Josh on the web:

Ashley Gearing

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:54:00 GMT

Ashley Gearing is no stranger to hard work or the demands of the music business. At the young age of 12, she made history by entering Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, eclipsing a 46 year-old record previously held by Brenda Lee. Her version of "Can You Hear Me When I Talk to You" gave Ashley immediate national exposure by displaying a talent well beyond her years.

Now, at the age of 19, Ashley is busy taking her vocal career to the next level. Currently working in the studio with famed music producer Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Jo Dee Messina) and recently signed to Curb Records, she readying herself for a new single, album, and a very busy 2010.

Curb Records Sr. VP/General Manager, Dennis Hannon, is excited about the label's newest talent, "Ashley is a triple threat: young, talented and beautiful, I think she's got a long successful career ahead of her and I'm thrilled that she's part of our Curb family."

In just a few short years, Ashley has earned some major career achievements. She received ASCAP's "Uncut Diamond" award as a future Country rising star, performed numerous times on the famed stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and was voted Best Female Country artist in a New Country Artist poll in 2006.

Besides playing festivals and packed stadiums, Ashley has performed with the Boston Pops, at the homecoming celebration for General Tommy Franks, and on national television for the Boston Red Sox on numerous occasions, including the national playoffs with the New York Yankees in 2004. In addition, Ashley recorded music for the Walt Disney CD Series, DISNEYMANIA, with an incredible version of "When You Wish Up On A Star". Most recently, she was a featured guest on numerous national radio shows, including the famed "Rick and Bubba" show.

Almost as amazing as her musical talent is her ability to connect with fans. In her first year of maintaining a MySpace webpage, she has had in excess of over 1,450,000 hits. With a tremendous fan base on that site alone, she is a force to be taken seriously.

"This is a dream come true", says Ashley, "This is what I love to do, and I'm enjoying every bit of it. The support from my family and friends is really wonderful, and I'm especially happy that there are a lot of young people among my fans, because it's great that they know about country music".

Ashley is managed by Violator Mainstar Entertainment in Nashville.

Her Curb debut single "What You Think About Us" was released August 2010. Look for her new single "Five More Minutes" to hit radio in March 2011!

Find Ashley on the web:

Andy Griggs

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:49:00 GMT

Gas prices skyrocketing through the roof, lawmakers sending text messages containing photos of their intimate body parts instead of working for their constituents, unemployment reaching ridiculous highs while corporations move their jobs overseas to boost their bottom lines so they can pay their CEOs millions...any day of the week you can open a newspaper or go online and read a headline about one of these or a dozen other disturbing issues.

And like most Americans, Andy Griggs has had enough. So he did the first thing that comes to mind for an artist who gets fired up at the disintegrating state of the country he loves - he took those thoughts and set them to music. With his new single, "Can I Get An Amen," Andy boldly addresses many of the things plenty of Americans are thinking and feeling, while reminding us of the qualities that have always made this country great. And for him, it's not just an excuse used to jump on a bandwagon - it's who he really is at the core of his soul and what he believes with all of his country heart.

"I'm sick of listening to the news, I'll be honest with you," admits Andy. "And that inspired the idea for this song. You remember that Anne Murray song, ‘Sure could use a little good news today'...that's all I hear in my mind, especially the last couple of years, and that song is not about Republican vs. Democrat. Half of my friends are Republicans and the other half are Democrats, but we all agree on some of the same things. We're sick of a lot of things and there's a system that wants us to shut up. That's not what our country was based on. So whether you agree with me or not, still it's your duty as an American to stand up and speak what you believe and that's what "Can I Get An Amen" is about."
The song and sentiment are perfectly timed for Andy as he embarks upon a bold new chapter in his country career. Following his record deal with the independent Montage Music Group, Andy decided to take some time off and really hone in on where his music needed to go next. He began listening, not only to his own inner artistic voice, but to those of the people closest to him as well. He also began writing and gathering new songs -- from both tried-and-true writers and fearless, brand new writers as well. In perhaps the boldest move of all, the award-winning artist of hits like "You Won't Ever Be Lonely," "She's More," and "If Heaven," decided to take the wheel at the production console for the first time ever, producing his new CD and in the process hoping to reveal a whole new side of himself to both fans and radio. For Andy, adding producer to his list of credits was a challenge that not only stirred his blood creatively, but fueled his music with a freshness and vitality he'd been longing to capture for some time now.

"I really did do this my way this time around." Andy explains. "I don't want to sound so cliché because you hear that so much. People say it no matter how they recorded their album. But that is the bottom line - for the first time I went in and produced the dang thing. That's a different seat to sit in. It wasn't that I was dying to jump in that saddle at all. I don't know if I would have had the freedom to solely produce something with RCA records or not, I don't think so. The thing is, there was always a clash... a kind of struggle between me and the producer back then, because the producer was instilled by the label to see this soft side of me. So it was always me trying to get a "Waylon sound" out of this bass guitar vs. them going for a "Journey sound" from the same guitar. There was always that kind of inner struggle there. So this is not something I always wanted to do - it's something I was forced to do. I feel like my soft side's been blown out of proportion a little bit...too many love songs and melodies put out, where labels have tried to make me the ballad guy. But there's more to me than that and I have another side, so I've kind of tried to represent both on this new album."

Not that this Louisiana good ole boy strays too far from the songs and sounds that fans have come to know and love from him. In fact, he pays homage to many of his heroes on record this time around, with nods to Waylon, Hank Sr., and Alabama. A longtime Waylon friend (he & Waylon did a duet "Shine on Me" on Andy's first album "You Won't Ever Be Lonely") and scholar, he tips his hat to the outlaw on "Don't Think Hank Done It This Way," a classic he has performed in concert for and is his all-time Waylon favorite. Andy also brings in some familiar friends to help on the quiet, introspective Alabama classic, "Lady Down On Love," a song he has also loved and performed live for years. "I think most all of us are Alabama fans - I've always looked at "Lady Down On Love" as one of the most timeless ballads...I think if I sang it right now, ¾ of these women right here would start crying. That's the kind of song that they wrote and performed, and the hard part was trying not to cut it like they did, ‘cause there's no way to beat the original. So I thought, ‘How can I do it my own way? How can I do it where it's not blasphemy?' So I decided to get Jeff Bates and Daryle Singletary to come in and do the harmony on it.

"I recorded it simple, just like Randy and those guys did - it's not a big track, not huge production, it just is what it is, and I let the vocals do the work. Sometimes when you're dealing with singers, less is better when it comes to production -- just let the person sing. And that's kind of the way Alabama treated Randy and that's why I brought in Daryle and Jeff. That was me saluting Daryle as one of the best tenor singers and harmony guys that I know and Jeff Bates, my goodness, as a baritone and bass singer, who has a more gravelly, rich tone... that Mississippi mud tone, than Jeff Bates? And I think it turned out great!" says Griggs.

From the opening strains of the call-to-arms rally cry, "Can I Get An Amen," with its hard-driving beat and timely, unflinching, in-your-face lyrics, to the soul-bearing honesty of "Without The Heart" or "Trouble With A Memory," the album will lift you up out of your seat with joy one minute, then flatten you with somber grief the very next, as exemplified on the final cut on the record, the chilling Hank Sr. tune, "Ramblin' Man." The haunting song is also a favorite of Andy's and one he plays often in concert, and he felt it was a fitting end to a project done completely his way, start to finish, in homage to a man who lived his brief life in much the same way.

"That Hank Williams song, he cut it as a waltz...that's one of my most favorite songs of all time. The irony of Hank singing that and dying so young and that last line...he was actually giving a prophetic utterance of his own life. A few years down the road he's buried in Montgomery, and guess what it says on his tombstone...you're a rambling man! You know, the blues has so many lonesome, dying heart, bleeding heart artists - but in country you don't as much...nothing makes you bleed. And to me, Hank Sr. was that in country music. Johnny Cash was cool, but he never made my heart bleed exactly...Waylon was cool, but he didn't make my heart bleed. Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt...cool music, but as far as my heart just aching, and me for some reason I don't know why, but my spirit inside of me almost wants that...my eyes get watery and I want to fight back a tear sometimes when I hear his songs. That's what his music evokes, and has always done for me, and what defines Hank the most in my eyes is "Ramblin' Man." So if you take his whole circle of music that one little dot in the middle would be "Ramblin' Man."

With his new CD BIPOLAR, Andy shows both sides of himself and has in some ways come full circle with his own music as well. It's been a long road from those early days as a fresh-faced newcomer to the path he's treading now through exciting, new uncharted territory, but he's eager and ready to launch this new chapter in his career, and these songs are just the songs to do it with. Like a sweat-soaked Holy Roller preacher in the last hour of a barn-burner Sunday morning service, he's fired up and feeling the spirit more than ever before in his career. Can I get an Amen?

Find Andy on the web:

Adam Gregory

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:46:00 GMT

At 26 years old, it might seem strange to think of Country singer Adam Gregory as a seasoned veteran in the entertainment business, but the soft-spoken Canadian from Edmonton, Alberta, has spent more than half his life making positive, heartfelt Country music at a professional level. Signed to his first record deal with Sony Music Canada at only 13, Adam went into the recording studio and unknowingly embarked on a career that would propel him to success not only in his native Canada, but also the United States.

In 2000, Adam officially released his debut album, The Way I’m Made. The release earned him a Gold Record in Canada and led to a pair of nominations at the Juno Awards for “Best Country Male Artist” and “Best New Solo Artist.” It also set the tables for a string of Top 10 hits on the Canadian Country music charts, beginning with the album’s first single, “Horseshoes.”

As it turned out, Adam’s career took off so quickly that no sooner had he learned to drive than the musical teen prodigy was opening shows for the likes of Alan Jackson, Keith Urban and Lonestar.

“I was touring pretty heavily through junior high and high school,” remembers Adam. “I'd take my homework on the road and then stand by the stage every night and sing every word to those artists’ songs. It was a great way to pick up a few pointers that I still remember and use today.”

By the time he was 21, Adam had released three critically acclaimed albums (The Way I’m Made, Workin’ On It and Adam Gregory), garnered four Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) award nominations and emerged as a bona fide star in Canada. With nearly a decade of touring and recording under his belt, the ambitious young singer decided the time was right to relocate to the Country music capital of the world - Nashville, Tennessee.

Adam made the permanent move to Music City in 2006, releasing his debut U.S. single, “Crazy Days,” in 2008. The song proved to be a Top 40 success on the national radio charts and established Adam as one of the up-and-coming new artists to watch on the Country scene. The sudden success of “Crazy Days” grabbed the attention of prominent Nashville label Big Machine Records, which signed the rising star to a distribution deal that same year.

Adam’s follow up US single, “What It Takes,” was another solid chart success and spawned the singer’s first chance to star in a major motion picture. That opportunity came in 2009, when Adam accepted a role alongside John Schneider in the inspirational film, “WWJD” (“What Would Jesus Do?”), released in the U.S. in 2010.

Although Big Machine went on to release Adam’s Crazy Days album in conjunction with Open Road Recordings in Canada, a U.S. release never happened, and Adam left the label to focus on his songwriting and complete a series of tour commitments in his native Canada. Since then, Adam has focused on his songwriting and recently recorded a newer, more personal batch of songs.

Working for the last year with producer Mark Moffatt, whose credits include international country music successes; Adam’s new material reflects a more mature, earnest subject matter. Appropriately titled Different Places, Adam’s latest project has left him optimistic and genuinely excited about the future, he says. “Anybody who knows me knows that I’m a family guy first and foremost,” he says. “The music on this record reflects who I am and where I am in my life. It’s positive and refreshing.” “It’s funny,” he continues, “music can be very influential; it’s with people through the best of times and heals people through the worst of times. I’m really so thankful that I’m able to do this for a living!”

Different Places is due out in the U.S. and Canada in early spring 2012.

Find Adam on the web: