Artists That Begin With Y

Chris Young

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:26:00 GMT

When an artist looks back on his or her own career, there are always moments he or she can point to where there was a shift to another level. Those defining moments tend to be easy to spot with the benefit of hindsight but more difficult to see without the passage of time. Yet Chris Young has a sense that something is happening.

"I really do believe in timing," says Young. "Everybody has a different point in their career when things start to come together and click, when it's your time."

With the release of his third studio album, NEON, Chris Young leaves no doubt. Now is his time.

fast_factsHow's this for everything clicking - NEON's first single, "Tomorrow," one of an impressive seven songs on the album co-written by Young, is the fastest-rising hit of his career. The cut raced to the top of the charts and is certified Digital Gold by the RIAA for sales exceeding 500,000 downloads.

And as far as timing - Young's career is ticking like a Swiss watch. The last four singles Chris Young has released have all hit #1 on the charts, including "Tomorrow" and the smash hit "Gettin' You Home," a song that earned him his first-ever Grammy nomination. All signs are pointing skyward as NEON debuted at #4 on the all genre Billboard Top 200 chart with more than 72,000 first week fans declaring their devotion to Young. He's also been f�ted by the media with glowing review in USA Today, People, Associated Press and Billboard in addition to high profile TV appearances on Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Fox & Friends.

While all the sales numbers, accolades and awards are certainly appreciated, what Young values most about this time in his life is that he can make a living doing what he loves most.

"Music is why I'm here and it's something I can't live without," says Young. "It's what I'm built to do."

That thrill of entertaining took hold of Young at an early age. His first moments on a stage involved acting in school plays, but it wasn't long before he realized he wanted to showcase a different talent in the spotlight. "I love to sing," admits Young. "I was the kid in high school who lived and breathed music every moment of every day."

Totally focused on making his passion a career, Young was playing 150 dates a year by the time he went off to college to major in music. While dead serious about the subject of his studies, he soon felt the need to get a different kind of higher education.

"I did the thing all parents love to hear," says Young with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "I dropped out of school and started making music full time. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that music is what drives me and it was what I had to do."

The honky tonk school of hard knocks -- including a PhD-level class fronting a seven-piece band on a run through Texas -- and countless hours honing his craft at writers nights in Nashville paid off with a record deal and debut on RCA. The self-titled album would go on to earn Young the title of best-selling new country male vocalist for 2006 and a nod for the Academy of Country Music's Top New Male Vocalist award.

Young doubled-down on the success of his first record with the release of his second CD, The Man I Want To Be. Any concern over maintaining momentum vanished when the album powered right through the dreaded sophomore slump with three back-to-back #1 singles.

The impressive streak started with "Gettin' You Home" and picked up steam with the release of the title track. "The Man I Want To Be" was then followed by a song that would earn Chris Young a place in the history books. "Voices" was originally the first single released from Man. It made its initial run up the chart in late 2008 but stalled just inside the Top 40. When the label made the decision to give it a second go two years later, it soared all the way to #1.

"The last time (that) happened was 25 years ago with ‘On The Other Hand' for Randy Travis," beams Young, thrilled to have that connection with one of his musical heroes.

All the chart success quickly earned Young the attention of his peers. He was tapped as an opening act for Alan Jackson and Rascal Flatts, where he learned a few tricks of the trade from two very successful entertainers with very different styles. "It's such a great opportunity as an artist," says Young. "To hang with those guys and watch them perform every night and see how they engage their fans." Chris is getting the chance to learn a few more tricks and earn several thousand more admirers as he joins Jason Aldean on his My Kinda Party Tour.

Young's all-around accomplishments as an entertainer also earned him one of the industry's highest honors: his first-ever Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Gettin' You Home."

"It was so cool and humbling to receive a Grammy nomination," remembers Young. "It's one of those moments I'll never forget. It's exciting to have your name in the hat. Win or not, it confirms that you're doing something right."

Chris_YoungTo insure that he continued doing "something right" with the new record, Young made sure a trusted friend and seasoned pro was with him in the studio. James Stroud, the veteran producer who worked with Young on Man, was back again for NEON. "Until it stops working, I honestly don't want anyone else to produce my albums. It's so inspiring to be able to work with someone who you have that much admiration for and that much respect for in the studio."

When fans listen to NEON, that strong familiarity between Young and Stroud pays off in the very first track. "I Can Take It From There" is a song that has Young revisiting the romantic vibe of "Gettin' You Home." Expect similar, swoon-worthy results with female fans.

"It's a great way to kick off the record," says Young. "When you pop the CD in, there's no way you'll be confused about what you're listening to. Immediately it's the low end of my voice, some cool guitar tones, steel and a kind of cool, sexy vibe. This was kind of a kindred spirit to the last album."

With the upbeat "Lost," a song celebrating broken GPSs, long country drives and looking deep into someone's eyes, country music fans have found their soundtrack for summer. "There are so many people who are going to be able to connect with this," says Young. "Put that song on repeat and roll the windows down."

Young follows the debut single "Tomorrow" with the tongue-in-cheek public service announcement/party anthem "Save Water, Drink Beer." And then there's the title track.

"When I first heard ‘Neon,' I thought to myself, "Man, I've got to cut this before George Strait finds it," laughs Young. "If anybody's looking for classic country music, it's that track. I knew immediately that it was going to be the title of the album."

"I wanted to write with Brett James and Tim Nichols who wrote ‘The Man I Want To Be,'" recalls Young. "So I had this title, ‘Old Love Feels New.' Immediately Brett picks up a guitar and sings, ‘Granddaddy always said.' I wanted to know why he started with Granddaddy, and he said, ‘I don't know. It just sounds kind of cool.' Well, my grandparents are that song - they met, fell in love and that was it. We finished it in under an hour."

With "You," Chris Young realized one of his guiltiest pleasures just might be listening to his own music. "That was honestly one of my favorites to put on and listen to on the record," tells Young. "I know I shouldn't be rocking out to my own album, but it's just a great feeling song."

Writing "Flashlight," a surprisingly sweet song about a boy who holds the light as his father works on the car, required a quick co-write with Chris's own dad. "I actually called him and said, ‘Hey, when we were working on that Camaro, what size tool did we use?'" recalls Young. "And he immediately answered, ‘Nine-sixteenths.' So we put that right in the song."

By including the song "When She's On," Chris gives a helping hand to tongue-tied fellas everywhere. "Every guy wants to find the way to say what that song says to the girl he's dating," Young says with a smile. "And that song is exactly what they all want to hear. So anytime I hear a song like that I want to cut it...because I can never manage to say it correctly."

For the final track of NEON, "She's Got This Thing About Her," it's Chris Young like you've never heard him before. Showcasing one of country music's most striking voices accompanied only by piano and a string section, the song reveals just how much Young has grown as an artist and a wordsmith...and gives us a glimpse on just how far his talent can take him. It's a fitting finale for a country album made for the modern age but delivered by a classic performer with total confidence in his craft.

"I get to do exactly what I love, which is write and create and put it in permanent ink," Young says with a grin. "We didn't put it in pencil."

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Trisha Yearwood

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:20:00 GMT

Talent, dreams and determination are an intoxicating little cocktail. It's a recipe that has served to propel a lithesome Georgia blonde from local honky tonks to the world's most prestigious stages. For Trisha Yearwood, there was never any other path but music.

Sitting in a Nashville studio listening to mixes of her Big Machine Records debut, "Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love," it is obvious Yearwood is living the dream and loving every minute of it. With three Grammys, three Country Music Association honors, and 19 top ten singles to her credit, including such career-defining hits as "She's in Love With the Boy," "Perfect Love," and "How Do I Live," it might be tempting to rest on her considerable laurels, but that's not in Yearwood's nature.

After all, a career in music has been Yearwood's goal since she was five-years-old. "Most little kids ask Santa Claus for a doll or a bike for Christmas. I was asking for a tape recorder because I wanted to hear my voice on tape. I have tapes of me singing when I was five or six. When I die I'm sure somebody will find them, but not until then," she says with a laugh.

Yearwood remembers getting a copy of Carole King's classic "Tapestry" album as a Christmas gift and recalls that vividly as a defining moment. Somewhere she began summoning the courage to pursue her dream. "When you are that age, especially in a small town where nobody does this for a living, people sort of say, 'Oh that's cute,'" the Monticello, Georgia native says.

In her small community, declaring she wanted to be a country singer was tantamount to wanting to become the president of the United States. It seemed a lofty dream with little chance of reality, but Yearwood remained undaunted. "Some people at five or six-yeas-old already know what they want to be, and I did. That was the beginning and the desire to do it just got stronger and stronger."

Like most hopeful young artists, Yearwood began singing around her hometown, and though she became a big fish in that small pond, deep inside she wondered if she really had the goods to succeed. She found her validation in a little bar in Macon, Georgia. "It was a talent night and I was 16 and not old enough to go into a bar," she recalls, "but if you won, you got $50 and you got to come back on Friday night and sing with the house band. I talked to my parents and I said, 'You guys go with me and we'll do it.' I won! I got to go in and sing that Friday night with the band and that $50 check is still hanging on my bulletin board in Georgia."

Still in her teens, Yearwood talked her parents into a vacation in Nashville and a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. Driving down Music Row her dream became palpable. "Just seeing those buildings and knowing there were people making records in there and writing songs, it was exciting," she says. "I knew I just had to get back here. I remember praying about it and just asking God 'If this is not the path, if I'm supposed to do something else, then just please take this desire away,' because there was this painful desire to do it. I had no clue how to go about it, but that strong desire never went away, so I just felt like it was what I was supposed to do."

After graduating from Belmont University, and serving a stint as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Yearwood landed a job as the receptionist for Mary Tyler Moore's MTM Records. It was there she first met Big Machine Records president Scott Borchetta, who was working in promotion. "Watching people on a daily basis live your dream, I thought I really have to get off my behind here and make something happen or I'm going answer the phones for the rest of my life," she recalls.

She started singing demos, and earned a reputation for her solid work ethic, engaging personality and phenomenal voice. Songwriter Kent Blazy frequently used Yearwood on his demos and it was in his attic studio that she first met Garth Brooks. "He booked us to sing a duet demo," she recalls. "We were singing on one mic and it felt like we'd sung together forever. That day Garth called Bob Doyle, his manager, and said 'I've heard her. I just heard the best singer.' But it wasn't like he was Garth Brooks. He was this guy who had just signed with Capitol Records and had finished his first album, but hadn't had a single out yet."

Brooks introduced her to his producer, Allen Reynolds, who introduced her to producer Garth Fundis. Soon after, Yearwood did a showcase and landed a deal with MCA Records. "My first showcase we did was the night that Tony Brown said, 'Let's make a record,'" she remembers. "I'd been in Nashville for five years at that point, but when it happened, it happened fast. Fundis had a song called 'She's In Love With The Boy' sitting in his drawer in his office. He had it in that drawer for several years and just hadn't found the right place for it and it ended up being for me."

"She's in Love with the Boy" topped the Billboard country singles chart in August 1991. Her self-titled debut album has been certified double platinum and of the 10 albums that followed, all have been certified gold and six have been certified platinum. "Songbook: A Collection of Hits" has achieved quadruple platinum status. Yearwood has won three Grammy Awards; including best country female vocal performance for "How Do I Live." She's a two-time winner of the Country Music Association's female vocalist award, and has also netted the Academy of Country Music's top female vocalist honor. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1999, Yearwood has won kudos for her recurring role on the TV series JAG as a Navy forensic specialist.

After more than 15 years on the MCA roster, Yearwood exited to sign with Big Machine Records. "Signing with Scott seemed really natural for me," she says of reuniting with Borchetta, a friend since the MTM days who also played a major role in her success at MCA. "They are very, very focused and they are very excited about what I'm doing. A lot of the people on this staff are people that I've worked with during the years. Scott and I have really worked together for 20 years. He was the head of promotion when 'She's In Love With The Boy' came out on MCA."

Having found her new label home, Yearwood entered the studio with longtime friend and producer Garth Fundis to record her 12th album. She says the word that immediately springs to mind when she's thinking of the new project is energy. "It's usually really easy to find ballads, but when it comes to up tempos, I'm really lucky if I find two or three that I really like. This time, we cut eight songs in two days and I think we had two ballads out of all of that. I'm really excited because it's like a live show to me. I love ballads and that's my bread and butter, but I'm really enjoying the energy of this record."

Such gems have always bee a staple of Yearwood's artistry. "I always thought my biggest hits have been happy accidents. I didn't know 'She's In Love With The Boy' was going to be that big. I didn't know 'How Do I Live' was going to be that big and those allow me to do some of the other songs that are maybe a little more left-of-center," she says. "I always called it the Emmylou factor. I was always checking my integrity level and saying, 'Okay would Emmy sing this? Could I pass her on the street if I sang this song?'

"I think I was actually a lot more serious in the beginning and finally Garth Fundis said, 'You have to lighten up a little bit. Everything doesn't have to be so deep. You can have some fun and nobody's going to think you've lost your artistic integrity.' I think we've had more fun on the later albums because I have lightened up a little bit. I can sing the gut-wrenching stuff, but I can have fun too. I think I'm able to sing some happier songs with sincerity in a way that I never did, not that I wasn't happy before, just not this level of happy. I can actually put a little more into those kind of songs."

Yes, Trisha Yearwood is happy these days. There's a light in her smile and buoyancy in her tone that's undeniable and absolutely infectious. "It still amazes me that I make a living doing what I love to do," she says. "I don't ever feel like it is work. I feel really grateful and blessed to get to do what I love. I love, love, love to sing."

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Dwight Yoakam

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:17:00 GMT

Dwight Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Ky., on Oct. 23, 1956, but spent a sizable portion of his youth in Ohio. Inspired by the Beatles and the Byrds, as well as the honky-tonk music of the area, he moved to Los Angeles in 1978 after years of rejection in Nashville. He realized he might need to find an alternate highway for his music, so he brought his music to an unlikely audience -- the roots rock fans of Los Angeles who had already embraced local bands such as Los Lobos, the Blasters and Lone Justice.
Yoakam teamed with producer Pete Anderson for the 1984 EP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. A few years later, Nashville was again eager for unconventional artists (such as Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith and Lyle Lovett), and Reprise Records reissued the six-song EP with four additional tracks (and an extra Etc. in the title). Through the end of the 1980s, he had notched nine Top 10 hits, including the No. 1 hit "Streets of Bakersfield," a duet with pioneer California-country pioneer Buck Owens.

In 1993, with his twang intact, Yoakam delivered a commercial smash with the album This Time. Three of its singles peaked at No. 2, and "Ain't That Lonely Yet" won a Grammy. (Yoakam has yet to win a CMA award.) Future albums on Warner Bros./Reprise failed to yield a Top 10 hit, and he seemed determined to fulfill his contract with a hits album, a live album, a covers album, a soundtrack, an acoustic album and a Christmas album. (He also offered studio albums in 1995, 1998 and 2001.) Following an impressive box set in 2002, he released Population: Me in 2003 on Audium/Koch Records. In 2004 he released Dwight's Used Records, an anthology of duets from other artists' albums, unreleased covers and cuts he contributed to various tribute compilations. He moved to New West Records in 2005 for Blame the Vain, which he produced himself after a professional split from Anderson.

Watching his innovative videos, it's not surprising that Yoakam has also found work in Hollywood. He earned rave reviews for his villainous roles in Sling Blade (1996) and Panic Room (2002). He also lends his name to a line of frozen biscuits and sausage.

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