Scotty McCreery

Clear As Day is the perfect title for Scotty McCreery’s debut country album because this impressive collection of songs clearly and vividly captures who Scotty is as an artist and a young man.

America fell in love with Scotty in 2011 when he appeared on American Idol and immediately made a name for himself with his deep and undeniably country voice, strong sense of self, small-town roots, and unwavering integrity and conviction. In May, he won Season Ten of American Idol when a record-breaking 122.4 million votes were cast for the finale and nearly 39 million people tuned in to see the winner’s name announced.

The album’s debut single, “I Love You This Big,” became a Top 15 hit and enjoyed the highest-charting debut for a new artist since at least 1984, while the video for the song hit No. 1 in just a week after its release. He recorded his debut album while starring in the American Idols Live! Tour, which Pollstar ranked as one of the nation’s Top 15 tours.

Scotty is pleased that he was able to accomplish the goals he had set for his debut album. “I wanted to make sure people could hear me through the songs they were listening to,” he says. “On American Idol, I always told them, ‘What you see is what you get. Scotty on the show is Scotty off the show. I’m the same guy onstage and offstage.’

“On this album, I wanted them to make sure they really got who I am, how I grew up in Garner, N.C., and what I am all about,” he says. “It was also really important to me to keep some of the traditional elements of country music in it, to remember where country came from, and I think we did that. I hope that the people who listen to this record will see that and appreciate it and really see exactly who I am.”

And who he is, says the album’s producer, Mark Bright, is an amazing singer with tremendous vocal control and depth. “His voice is shockingly great,” he says. “Everybody knows Scotty has a deep voice, but what a lot of people don’t know is that he has a pretty high range. His listeners will get to hear the nuances, emotions and actual range of his voice.”

While recording the album, Scotty was driven by the desire to blend the best of both musical worlds – classic and contemporary – to create a fresh sound that is simultaneously new and timeless. “It’s got some true country songs that have a contemporary feel, like ‘The Trouble With Girls,’” he says. “But there are some songs, like ‘Clear As Day’ or ‘That Old King James,’ that have that old country feel to it, that country that I grew up idolizing and listening to, like Hank Williams and Conway Twitty and Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. I think this album has a good mix.”


Clear As Day explores the big philosophies and small details that define life in America, especially the small towns that can sometimes feel confining to teens with a powerful wanderlust for places unseen. With songs such as “Out of Summertime,” “Write My Number On Your Hand” and “You Make That Look Good,” the album depicts the intoxicating excitement of the coming-of-age years, such as the anticipation of Friday nights, the intrigue of meeting a pretty girl and the thrill of exchanging class rings.

The album is a collection of appealing songs with universal themes, whether they’re exploring topics such as girls, family dinners or the Bible. “I chose these songs because they mean a lot to me, but I think everybody can also relate to them,” Scotty says.

For instance, “Water Tower Town” talks about working hard and living right in a place where word travels fast and wheels turn slow. The chorus says, “Friday night football is king/ Sweet tea goes good with anything/ Nobody eats ‘til you say amen/ And everybody knows your mom and them/ You can see who loves who for miles around/ In a water tower town.” Says Scotty, “It reminds me so much of my hometown, where growing up meant Friday night football games,” he says. “Everything in that song screams my hometown of Garner.”

The vivid title track is a cautionary tale about the dangers of teenage driving.

“The town next to Garner, N.C., had a lot of teenage driving deaths in the last few years, and ‘Clear As Day’ talks about that in a powerful way,” he says. “It has a great message and a great feel, and I could really relate to it. It tells the story of a guy waiting on his girl after a Friday night football game and they go to a party and it’s raining. After the party, he walks her to his brother’s Silverado and she says she’ll call him the next day, but it’s a call she never got to make.”

The album’s second single, “The Trouble With Girls,” describes the knee-buckling power women have over men as, “they bat those eyes/they steal you with hello/ they kill you with goodbye.” “It’s a really sweet song that talks about all of the great things about girls, like how pretty they are and how they have wonderful smiles,” he says. “It talks about things girls like to hear.”

Scotty decided to record “Dirty Dishes’ in part because it passed what he calls “the Mama crying test.” “She was crying when she heard it,” he says of his mother. “It talks about a mom and a family sitting down at a table eating dinner. The mother sits down for prayer and starts saying thanks for noisy children and slamming doors, because slamming doors means they live in a good home and noisy kids mean happy kids. The mother has a cool way of looking at things.”

Scotty developed his unique way of looking at things while growing up with older sister Ashley in a musical household in Garner, N.C. By age 3, he was singing “The Muffin Man” to anyone who would listen, and a few years later he was repeating the words of those around him in a song. His father, a senior manufacturing systems analyst, and his mother, a real estate agent and teacher, sang in the church choir, as did their children.

His grandmother gave Scotty a book on Elvis Presley when he was in pre-school, so Scotty began walking and talking like The King. His mother listened to artists such as Conway Twitty while driving, and Scotty quickly fell in love with those sounds. He still vividly remembers his first country concert, a show featuring George Strait, Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack.

He began guitar lessons at age 10 and was so hooked that he started sleeping with the instrument. “I would wake up and have my guitar and my friends would be sleeping,” he says. “They would give me a look and I’d be like, ‘All right,’ and put the guitar down so they could go back to sleep. But they were really accepting of it. They would say, ‘Learn this song,’ and I would play it for them. When we became teenagers, we would drive around listening to ‘Your Cheating Heart’ and ‘Okie From Muskogee.’”

Scotty sang in his school choirs since elementary school, including the high school group that travels nationally and consistently wins competitions. His voice dropped dramatically when he was about 13. “I didn’t notice a difference, but my mom said it fell off a cliff,” he says. “There was no real cracking.”

He performed locally at Christmas events and at Bullfeathers Restaurant. His rendition of label mate Jamey Johnson’s hit “In Color” helped him win Clayton Idol and gave him the confidence to perform more frequently in public.

His parents, as well as his chorus teacher, believe something else gave Scotty the confidence to perform in public – pitching baseball. Following in the footsteps of his father, who was also a baseball pitcher, Scotty learned to pitch at an early age. “When you are a pitcher, all eyes are on you,” says his mother, Judy. “You have to be focused and able to handle pressure.” It turns out that Scotty is as pitch-perfect on the mound as he is onstage: in his last varsity high school game, he pitched a complete shut-out and struck out nine batters.

He continued that winning streak on the stage of American Idol, where he became the youngest male winner and the only country male winner in the show’s history. He’s now eager to take the next step of his country music career with the release of his debut album, which comes the same week as his 18^th birthday. But it turns out that he’s already received the best birthday present possible: the support of people across the nation who’ve made it clear as day that they love both the music and the young man.

“I am so grateful to all of the fans out there because we’ve been on this journey together,” he says. “They are the reason I am where I am; they voted me through. Hopefully with this album we can continue this journey and see where it takes us.

“Performing on tour has really taught me a lot,” he says. “We have different crowds and different responses that always keep it fresh. It’s showing me that this is what I want to do forever. I thrive on this and I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully I can do this for the rest of my life.”

Hunter Hayes

Among the many extraordinary things about Hunter Hayes, the nineteen-year-old singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, perhaps what is most astonishing is that in truth, he’s just getting started. And it is that fact which holds the promise of Hunter Hayes becoming one of the most significant musical talents to emerge, not just from Nashville, but from anywhere, in a long, long time.
Already, he has accomplishments beyond most musicians wildest dreams: Singing “Jambalaya” with Hank Williams Jr. in front of 200,000 people (11 million YouTube views) at the age of four; appearing with Robert Duvall (who gave Hunter his first guitar) in “The Apostle” at the age of six; playing with Johnny and June Cash, and Charlie Daniels at a BBQ; performing for President Clinton and many more. You might say that he’s lived a charmed life. But those experiences are simply the natural result of Hunter’s prodigal talent, one that’s been there from the beginning as though a gift from God, and one that he’s always conscious to be in service to. Having moved to Nashville two years ago, Hayes was quickly signed to Universal Music Publishing Group where he has co-written songs for Rascal Flatts and Montgomery Gentry. At the same time, he was introduced to Atlantic Records’ Chairman/CEO and music visionary Craig Kallman, who he signed with at Atlantic Records. “I’m blessed to be surrounded by people who appreciate music and support what I do.”
Born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana in 1991, Hunter has been making music since about the time he learned to walk. As he recounts, “By the time I was almost two, I was picking up everything and making an instrument out of it. My grandmother gave me a toy accordion for my second birthday and I immediately began picking up Cajun songs by ear from the radio.” While both of Hunter’s parents are music lovers, neither are musicians, so as he says, “The way I picked up music was out of left field, but, I suppose, a pleasant surprise for them.”
For the Hayes’, most Friday nights in the early part of Hunter’s childhood were spent at a Cajun restaurant a couple of blocks from their home that featured live music, and it was there where Hunter joined his first band at the age of four, first as the accordionist, and then as the front man at the age of five.

Taking up guitar at the age of 6, Hunter’s ability to pick up instruments (including bass guitar, drums, keyboards, and more) became evident. He says, “I’ve never had the patience to sit down and learn from anyone. So with the guitar, and with every subsequent instrument and piece of studio equipment, it’s been a process of experimentation – pressing every button I can.” Songwriting, too, has been a constant undertaking of Hunter’s. “I wrote my first song at 6,” he recalls, “I spent every day with the guitar and I just made up songs.” Hunter’s songwriting has been informed by an eclectic grouping of influences. “When I was really young, Garth Brooks was enormous, and I was a huge fan. I always loved LeAnn Rimes and especially Clint Black for his soulfulness. As I’ve gotten older, my influences have broadened – John Mayer, Michael Buble, Stevie Wonder, Keith Urban, Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Beatles – all of these artists have somehow been a part of my development as a songwriter.”
Like playing and songwriting, performing has become almost second nature to Hunter who, in just his short life, has shared the stage with the likes of Hank Williams, Jr, Brad Paisley, Trace Adkins, Leann Rimes, and Lady Antebellum . “I’ve been doing at least thirty dates a year for the past fifteen years. I’ve done a lot of the festivals several times and built up relationships with the people that go every year.

Now Hunter, in the producer’s chair with Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins) is in the studio preparing to record what he calls his debut album. “I’ve released independent records before, but this feels like the first real record I’m making – with the high stakes,” he says excitedly. For Hunter, even with those high stakes, he’s committed to doing it his way. With plans on “playing everything on the album, having fun and experimenting,” he stops, and then says with a smile, “I plan on literally living in the studio.”
The expectations may be high, but no one has set higher expectations and ambitions for his music than Hunter himself. He declares, “I want people twice as young as me and twice as old as me listening to my music – I want it to live forever and for my audience to feel like they have a friend in my music.” He continues, “Music is a spirit. It heals. It’s an amazing thing to be loved and appreciated, and sometimes, music has not just been my best friend, it’s been my only friend.”

In 2011, Hunter Hayes will be releasing his debut album and the world at large will finally have an opportunity to see this prodigiously talented artist, a young man who respects the gift his talent is, and has already learned how to give it the honor it commands. He says, “I’ve been lucky as a kid. I’ve met some of the greats, and whether it’s Johnny and June (Cash), Charlie Daniels or Brad Paisley, you could sense they were in it for the love of the music. That was the thing I took away from every single one of those people.”
“I don’t know if I’m worthy of being considered of ‘carrying the torch,’ but I would love to be told that by somebody someday. A lot of the decisions I make are from answering the question ‘are we doing it for the right reasons?’ I want people to say about me, ‘I know he’s making music because he loves it.’”

Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Carolyn Dawn Johnson has never doubted the power of music. "I remember asking my mother when I was young how anyone could live without music," recalls the Canadian-born singer-songwriter. "Music made me happy, made me cry; it soothed me. It did then and it does now. Music still takes me to places nothing else can." It is this perspective on music, combined with Carolyn's exposed lyrical candor and crystal vocal brilliance, that provide the soul and passion behind Room With A View, her debut album on Arista Nashville. Carolyn's career is not only a testament to the power music has had upon her, but it is also a personal assertion of what goal setting and remaining true to one's self can bring about. Raised on a farm in Deadwood, Alberta, Carolyn's dreams of music continually colored her emotional landscape. She was surrounded by music from a young age ? listening to her parents' Jim Reeves and Don Williams' records; singing at church functions and school plays, playing piano and continually singing around the house. As she got older, Carolyn found herself drawn to a wide range of artists from Charley Pride and Marty Stuart to Fleetwood Mac, Jann Arden, Abba and Matraca Berg. She would write songs, make her own recordings at home and attend every concert she could. In college she studied non-music courses, but continued to sit-in with hometown bands at night. Finally, the encouragement from local musicians began to make her think, "Maybe I can really do this. Maybe I am good enough." When she was 20, her "maybe" turned into the first tentative steps toward the musical career she'd dreamed of - but had always feared was out of reach. "I began to see the merit in positive thinking and I did a lot of goal-setting," she says. "I'd ask myself, ?what are the little steps that can get me where I want to go?' and then I'd try to do something every single day to achieve a step or two. I'd write things down and make them come true." Carolyn Dawn Johnson's incredible work ethic, coupled with natural talent has carried her in a few short years to places she only dared to dream about as a young girl. The release of her first album to the U.S. caps a year in which her success as a songwriter merited a number one hit ("Single White Female" for Chely Wright), an upcoming single for JoDee Messina ("Down Time") and the highly-coveted Music Row magazine's "Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year" award for 2000. Just six months after the Canadian release of Room With A View, she is celebrating two number one singles & videos in Canada for "Georgia" and "Complicated." This spring, the Academy of Country Music honored her with a nomination for Top New Female Vocalist 2000 and the summer will bring even more fun when she steps out on the "Girls' Night Out" Tour with Reba McEntire and Martina McBride. Comprised entirely of Carolyn Dawn Johnson's writings, Room With A View is obviously the work of someone able to bring the highly personal into play while making art. "Georgia," "Complicated, "Room With A View," "Masterpiece," "Complicated," and "One Day Closer" ? in fact, her entire song list ? are clearly proof that Carolyn is a master at transforming simple stories into richly detailed pictorials. Her songs create an ear-taunting soundtrack of modern day life and love: soaring harmonies, compelling vocals and searing emotional honesty. "I put everything about me out there," Carolyn says. "That's the way I live my life. Maybe I show too much, but I didn't really have a choice when it came to making the record. My favorite things on the record are the really personal parts. Someone said, ?How do you feel about exposing your innermost self like that?' and I said, ?I just don't think there's any other way to do it. I don't think it could have been anything else. That would have been lying to my listeners and lying to myself." Room With A View is also a vivid display of Carolyn's impressive reputation within the Nashville music community. Notable guests on the album include Martina McBride, Marty Stuart, Kim Carnes, Matraca Berg, Al Anderson, Mary Ann Kennedy and other artists whose respect for Carolyn's music led them to lend their singing and playing talents. "It was unbelievable to be standing there next to someone that I've looked up to for all these years - and realize that they were there to sing or play on my album." All of these elements were assembled in a first-time collaboration between Carolyn and producer Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks, Martina McBride). "Paul and I met almost a year before I was signed to Arista. He offered then to produce my record ? and of course I was honored to get to work with him.Sharing a production credit is beyond anything I ever imagined. It has been a wonderful learning experience." Carolyn's path to recording success began in 1992 when she made the decision to make music her life career goal. "I knew I had to be in city where there was a music community, so I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and began attending recording engineering school. Once there, I continued to set small goals and worked to meet them." Learning the technical aspects of the business by day and continuing to write songs and waitress at night, she studied Billboard and Music Row Magazine each week to learn who was who in the business. Intrigued by a TV commercial on the Nashville Network, she sent away for a songwriting video featuring hit Nashville writers to learn more about her craft. Through the video she joined the Nashville Songwriters Association International and traveled to Nashville for the first time in 1994 to participate in one of its workshops. The positive feedback she received added further legitimacy to her quest. For three years, she commuted the 3000 miles between Vancouver and Nashville until she was able to obtain a work visa and move to her dream town permanently in 1997. Her talent, drive and practical, goal-setting approach opened more and more doors. She began singing demos for other writers, and began writing with some of them. Late in 1997, she signed a publishing deal with Patrick Joseph Music, home to one of her heroes, Matraca Berg, among others. In between gigs, she waited tables and tended bar at Phil Vassar's Hard Day's Nightclub. Late night jam sessions at Phil's club and songwriting demos featuring her unmistakable voice began getting attention from label execs. Next, Carolyn Dawn Johnson credits began appearing as a studio vocalist on album releases for Patty Loveless, Martina McBride, Mindy McCready, Loretta Lynn and Kenny Rogers. Writing "cuts" followed for Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, Linda Davis and more. Then in 1999 it snowballed: a record deal, a hit single on radio with Chely Wright and an opportunity to tour as backup singer and guitarist for long time idol, Martina McBride. "My plan was to focus on writing, and then, in a year or two, aim for a record deal," Carolyn remembers. "That happened alright, that and more! I feel like I got a few bonuses to my dream." Reflecting on the professionals that she aligned with when she moved to Nashville, Carolyn states, "I have had a great team of people around me and a record company that didn't try to change me. I am very lucky," she says. "I hope Room With A View can show listeners what I've always believed about music ? it's powerful, it can reach into our souls, it's important. I don't know what I'd do without it." It is this philosophy that makes Room With A View such a compelling opening salvo from singer-songwriter-producer Carolyn Dawn Johnson.

Faith Hill

Born: September 21, 1967

One of the biggest female country stars of the '90s and 2000s, Faith Hill also took advantage of the inroads Shania Twain made into pop territory, becoming an enormous crossover success by the end of the millennium. Of course, Hill's movie star good looks certainly helped her cause, and her much-celebrated marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw gave her career an extra kick of glamour and mystique. Hill may not have appealed to country purists, but she had the star power of a diva even before her pop success.

Faith Hill was born Audrey Faith Perry on September 21, 1967, in Jackson, MS, and grew up in the nearby small town of Star. She was singing for her family as young as age three and first performed publicly at a 4-H luncheon when she was seven. Hill spent much of her childhood singing wherever the opportunity arose, influenced primarily by Reba McEntire, and at age 17 formed a band that played local rodeos. At 19, she quit college and moved to Nashville to make it as a singer, first finding work selling T-shirts. During this time, she was married briefly to music executive Dan Hill. Eventually she was hired as a secretary at a music publishing firm, where she was discovered by accident while singing to herself one day. Encouraged by company head Gary Morris, Hill became a demo singer for the firm and also performed professionally as a harmony vocalist behind singer/songwriter/producer Gary Burr, who produced Hill's own demo tape. A Warner Brothers executive caught Burr and Hill's act at a Nashville club, and wound up signing Hill to a solo deal.

Hill released her debut album, Take Me as I Am, in late 1993, with producer Scott Hendricks at the helm. Success wasn't long in coming; the lead single "Wild One" raced up the country charts en route to a four-week run at number one early the next year, making her the first female country singer in 30 years to top the charts for that long with her debut single. The follow-up, a countrified cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart," also hit number one, as did the album's title track, and Take Me as I Am wound up selling over three million copies. Hill was set to build on her success right away, but had to undergo surgery on her vocal cords, which delayed the recording of her next album. Nevertheless, the wait wasn't unreasonable, and It Matters to Me appeared in the summer of 1995. The title track became her fourth number one country single, and it was accompanied by a string of Top Ten hits that helped push initial sales of the album past the three million mark. Hill was by now a firmly established country hitmaker, and she continued her active touring schedule by teaming up with Tim McGraw in 1996 for the Spontaneous Combustion Tour. It was an apt name, as Hill married McGraw that October. The couple's first child, daughter Gracie, was born in May of 1997, and not long after, their duet "It's Your Love" -- recorded for McGraw's Everywhere album -- was burning up the country charts, staying at number one for six weeks.

Hill returned in the spring of 1998 with Faith, which provided the first signs that she was interested in crossing over to pop audiences, even if the still-countrified music often straddled the fence instead of making her ambitions explicit. The single "This Kiss" proved the savvy of her approach; not only did it top the country charts for three weeks, but it also became her first pop hit, climbing to number seven. By the time "This Kiss" had run its course on the charts, Hill had given birth to her second daughter with McGraw, Maggie. If Hill had been a star in the country world, she was now rapidly becoming a superstar, known not just for her music but also her pure celebrity; she also signed an endorsement deal with Cover Girl makeup. Her next two singles, "Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me" (another duet with McGraw) and "Let Me Let Go," hit number one country, though they didn't duplicate the pop success of "This Kiss."

Faith, released in 1998, became Hill's biggest-selling album yet, eventually moving over six million copies and reaching the Top Ten on the LP charts; plus, it became crystal clear that Hill held major crossover appeal. Accordingly, she re-entered the studio immediately after her supporting tour and cut Breathe, a full-fledged bid for pop and adult contemporary success. Breathe entered the charts at number one upon its release in late 1999, and its title track became Hill's biggest hit yet; it spent six weeks on top of the country charts and was an even bigger hit on the adult contemporary charts. While it only climbed to number two pop, the single had such staying power that it wound up the biggest hit of the year 2000. The follow-ups were pretty successful in their own right: "The Way You Love Me" and "There You'll Be" both hit the pop Top Ten, with the former topping the country charts and the latter hitting number one AC. Hill also scored a Top Ten country hit with "Let's Make Love," a third duet with McGraw, and the two teamed up for another tour in 2000. Breathe was a bona fide blockbuster, selling over seven million copies in the U.S. and earning her a slew of award nominations. Hill spent much of 2001 taking a break and spending time with Audrey, her third daughter with McGraw.

Miranda Lambert

Born: November 10, 1983

Before becoming one of country music's most popular females, songwriter Miranda Lambert grew up in Lindale, TX, a small town 80 miles east of Dallas. The daughter of a country guitarist (Rick Lambert) and a detective agency owner, she was raised in a house dedicated to country music. Lambert began entering country talent contests when she was 16, including an appearance with the Johnny High Country Music Review in Arlington, TX. She learned to play guitar and began writing her own songs while continuing to enter various competitions, one of which earned her an appearance in a potato chip advertisement and the 2001 teen comedy Slap Her She's French. At 17 years old, she formed the Texas Pride Band and began gigging professionally, and later in 2001 -- with financial help from her father -- she showcased her songwriting skills by releasing an independent CD, Miranda Lambert. Two of the album's tracks, "Texas Pride" and "Somebody Else," even entered the Texas music charts.

In 2003, Lambert successfully auditioned for Nashville Star, a reality TV series modeled after the American Idol format. She decamped to Nashville in order to appear on the show and eventually finished third in the competition, which led to a recording contract with Sony. Still only 21 years old, she released her first major-label single, "Me and Charlie Talking," in 2004, with the full-length Kerosene following in 2005. Lambert wrote or co-wrote ten of the album's 11 tracks, several of which became popular singles on country radio, and Kerosene eventually went platinum.

Reba Mcentire

Born: March 28, 1955

Reba McEntire was the most successful female recording artist in country music in the 1980s and 1990s, during which time she scored 22 number one hits and released five gold albums, six platinum albums, two double-platinum albums, four triple-platinum albums, a quadruple-platinum album, and a quintuple-platinum album, for certified album sales of 33.5 million over the 20-year period. While she continued to sell records in healthy numbers into the 21st century, she expanded her activities as an actress in film and on the legitimate stage, and particularly on television, where she starred in a long-running situation comedy. Such diversification made her the greatest crossover star to emerge from country music since Dolly Parton.

Reba Nell McEntire was born March 28, 1955, in McAlester, OK, the second daughter and third of four children of Clark Vincent McEntire, a professional steer roper, and Jacqueline (Smith) McEntire, a former school teacher. Her older brother Del Stanley ("Pake") McEntire also became a country singer, while her younger sister Martha Susan ("Susie") McEntire Luchsinger became a gospel singer. McEntire was raised on the 7,000-acre family ranch in Chockie, OK, traveling with her parents and siblings to the rodeos at which her father competed. Clark McEntire was named World Champion Steer Roper three times, in 1957, 1958, and 1961. (McEntire's grandfather, John McEntire, had won the same title in 1934.) McEntire's mother had aspired to a career in music but never pursued it. She encouraged her children to sing and taught them songs and harmony during the long car trips between rodeos. Alice McEntire, the oldest child, did not actively seek a musical career, but the other three were members of a country group, the Kiowa High School Cowboy Band, as early as 1969, when McEntire began attending Kiowa High School in Kiowa, OK. She also entered local talent contests on her own. In 1971, the Kiowa High School Cowboy Band recorded a single, "The Ballad of John McEntire," for the tiny Boss Records label, which pressed 1,000 copies. As the early '70s went on, the band gave way to a trio, the Singing McEntires, consisting of the three siblings, which performed at rodeos. McEntire also followed in the family tradition of competing, becoming a barrel racer, the only rodeo event open to women.

McEntire graduated from high school in June 1973 and enrolled at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. While attending the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City on December 10, 1974, she sang the national anthem on network television. Also present at the rodeo was country star Red Steagall, who was impressed by her voice and asked her to go to Nashville to record some demos for his song publishing company. After she did so in March 1975 during her spring break from college, he took the tapes around town trying to get her a record deal and succeeded with Mercury Records, which signed her to a contract on November 11, 1975, that called for her to record two singles for the label. On January 22, 1976, she entered a Nashville recording studio and cut the first of those singles, "I Don't Want to Be a One Night Stand," which, upon its release, climbed to number 88 in the Billboard country singles chart in May. On June 21, 1976, she married Charlie Battles, a champion steer wrestler she had met at a rodeo. Battles later became her business manager.

On September 16, 1976, McEntire did her second Mercury recording session, which produced her second single, "(There's Nothing Like the Love) Between a Woman and a Man." It peaked at number 86 in March 1977. In the meantime, on December 16, 1976, she graduated from college on an accelerated three-and-a-half-year program with a major in elementary education and a minor in music, freeing her to pursue her career full-time. Her record label, however, seemed in no particular hurry, although it picked up her option for further recordings. Her third single, "Glad I Waited Just for You," recorded on April 13, 1977, peaked at number 88 in August, the same month Mercury released her debut album, Reba McEntire, which did not chart. On September 17, 1977, she made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry.

Two and a half years into her recording career, with very little to show for it, McEntire was paired with labelmate Jacky Ward for the two-sided single "Three Sheets in the Wind"/"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" (the B-side a cover of the pop hit by England Dan & John Ford Coley), which reached number 20 in July 1978. That and her touring as an opening act for Steagall, Ward, and others increased her exposure, and her next solo single, "Last Night, Ev'ry Night," reached number 28 in October, beginning a string of singles that made it at least into the country Top 40. She first got into the Top 20 with her cover of the Patsy Cline hit "Sweet Dreams," which peaked at number 19 in November 1979. She still wasn't selling any albums, however; her second LP, Out of a Dream, released in September 1979, did not chart.

McEntire continued to make strides on the singles chart, reaching the Top Ten for the first time with "(You Lift Me) Up to Heaven," which peaked at number eight in August 1980. Feel the Fire, her third album, released in October 1980, was another failure, but after a couple more Top 20 singles she reached the Top Five with "Today All Over Again" in October 1981. The song was featured on her fourth album, Heart to Heart, released in September, which helped it become her first to chart, reaching number 42 in the country LP list. She achieved a new high on the singles chart in August 1982 when "I'm Not That Lonely Yet" reached number three. It was included on her fifth album, Unlimited, released in June 1982, which hit number 22. But that was only the beginning. The LP also spawned "Can't Even Get the Blues" and "You're the First Time I've Thought About Leaving," which became back-to-back number one hits in January and April 1983. By then, she had moved up from playing nightclubs and honky tonks to being the regular opening act for the Statler Brothers. She went on to work in the same capacity with Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Mickey Gilley, and others.

It might be argued that Mercury Records had taken a 20-year-old neophyte singing the national anthem at a rodeo and, over a period of more than seven years, groomed her until she became a chart-topping country star. McEntire appears not to have viewed things that way, however. On the contrary, she seems to have been unhappy with the songs the label gave her to sing and the musical approach taken on her records, feeling that she was being pushed too much in a country-pop direction. She also has criticized Mercury's promotional efforts on her behalf. And, despite her recent success, the long years of development meant she was nowhere near repaying the investment Mercury had made in her, which, of course, was charged against her potential royalties on the company books. (Although she received yearly advances from the label, she later said that she did not see her first royalties from Mercury until 1988.) So, she sought a release from her contract and, after cutting one more album for Mercury, her sixth LP, Behind the Scene, released in September 1983, she signed to MCA Records, her new contract taking effect on October 1, 1983. The first fruits of the switchover suggested that not much had changed. Her debut MCA single, "Just a Little Love," was a Top Five hit in June 1984, shortly after the release of an album of the same name, but that LP was actually less successful than Unlimited.

McEntire took strong action. Set to have Harold Shedd (Alabama's producer, and thus a hot commercial property) produce her next album, she rejected his suggestions for songs and the sweetened arrangements he imposed on them and appealed to Jimmy Bowen, the newly installed president of MCA's country division. Bowen allowed her to pick her own material and to eliminate the strings and other pop touches used on Just a Little Love and her Mercury releases. The result was the pointedly titled My Kind of Country, released in November 1984, which was dominated by covers of old country songs previously performed by Ray Price, Carl Smith, Connie Smith, and Faron Young. Even before the album's release, however, and before its advance single, "How Blue," hit number one, McEntire was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA) on October 8, 1984. It was a surprising win; Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, and Charly McClain had all arguably been more successful during the previous 12 months. But it was a forward-looking recognition for a performer who was wisely aligning herself with such artists as Ricky Skaggs and George Strait as a "new traditionalist," moving country music back to its roots after the decline of the pop-country Urban Cowboy phenomenon of the early '80s.

"How Blue" hit number one in January 1985, followed by the second single from My Kind of Country, "Somebody Should Leave," which topped the chart in May as the album reached number 13. (Eventually, it was certified gold.) With such success, McEntire was able to start headlining her own concerts. For her next album, Have I Got a Deal for You, released in July 1985, she worked directly with Bowen, the two billed as co-producers. Another new traditionalist collection, it included her own composition "Only in My Mind," a Top Five hit, as well as a Top Ten hit in the title song; though the LP was not as successful as its predecessor, it too went gold over time, and it helped McEntire earn her second consecutive CMA award as Female Vocalist of the Year. Another important accolade came on January 14, 1986, when she became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Perhaps even more important than McEntire's decision to perform music in a more traditional country style was her search for material that she felt women would respond to. Just as Loretta Lynn had spoken for pre-feminist women in the 1960s, McEntire had begun to address the emotional and empowering concerns of women in the 1980s. "Whoever's in New England," her next single, released in January 1986 just ahead of an album of the same name, was a case in point. Kendal Franceschi and Quentin Powers' song was written in the voice of a Southern woman who believes her husband is having an affair during his business trips up north, but pledges that she will remain available to him when "whoever's in New England's through with you." It was a career-making song for McEntire, not least because it was promoted by her first music video. Reaching number one in May 1986, it marked a major breakthrough for her, beginning a string of chart-topping hits that didn't begin to slow down for the next three years. "Little Rock," the follow-up single, also hit number one, as did the Whoever's in New England album, her first LP to be certified gold. (It later went platinum.)

Her career in high gear, McEntire released her next album, What Am I Gonna Do About You, in September 1986, prefaced by a single of the same name that hit number one, as did the gold-selling LP, which also featured the chart-topping single "One Promise Too Late." On October 13, 1986, McEntire not only won her third consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year Award from the CMA, but also was named Entertainer of the Year. On February 24, 1987, she won her first Grammy Award for Country Female Vocal for "Whoever's in New England." She released Reba McEntire's Greatest Hits in April; it became her first platinum album and eventually sold over three million copies. (It also became her first album ever to cross over to the pop charts.) On June 25, 1987, she filed for divorce from Charlie Battles, her husband of 11 years. After her divorce was settled and Battles was awarded the couple's ranch in Oklahoma, she moved to Nashville.

McEntire's string of hits continued with the release of The Last One to Know in September 1987, prefaced by a single of the same name that reached number one in December. The album, also featuring the number one hit "Love Will Find Its Way to You," reached number three and eventually went platinum. McEntire won an unprecedented fourth straight CMA award as Female Vocalist of the Year in October. In November, she released a holiday album, Merry Christmas to You, which, over the years, sold more than two million copies. She engendered controversy with her next album release, Reba, which appeared in May 1988. Here, an artist who had jumped on the new traditionalist bandwagon in 1984 abruptly jumped off, returning to more of a pop-oriented style, without a fiddle or a steel guitar anywhere. The album's leadoff single was "Sunday Kind of Love," a cover of the 1947 Jo Stafford pop hit. It peaked at number five in July, actually the worst showing for a McEntire single in nearly three years. But the album had already begun a run of eight weeks at number one by then, and it was supported by the subsequent chart-topping singles "I Know How He Feels" and "New Fool at an Old Game." It eventually went platinum. Also in 1988, McEntire founded Starstruck Entertainment, a company that handled management, booking, publishing, and other aspects of her career and, eventually, represented other artists as well.

Sweet Sixteen, released in May 1989, was actually McEntire's 14th regular studio album, but her 16th counting her authorized MCA hits compilation and Christmas album. The leadoff single was a cover of the Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" that hit number one in July, and it was followed by three Top Ten hits, "'Til Love Comes Again," "Little Girl," and "Walk On," as the LP spent 13 weeks at the top of the charts, with sales eventually crossing the million mark. It also reached the pop Top 100. McEntire had already recorded her next album, Live, the previous April for release in September and, though it took more than a decade, another platinum certification. That gave her some breathing space. On June 3, 1989, she married Narvel Blackstock, her manager, who had been part of her organization since joining her band as its steel guitar player in 1980. On February 23, 1990, she bore him a son, Shelby Steven McEntire Blackstock. A month earlier, she had made her feature film acting debut in the comic horror film Tremors, which had been shot the previous spring.

McEntire was back on tour by May 1990, and she returned to record making in September with her 15th regular studio album, Rumor Has It, which was prefaced by the single "You Lie," a number one hit. Three other songs from the LP placed in the country Top Ten: the title song, a revival of Bobbie Gentry's 1969 hit "Fancy," and "Fallin' Out of Love." The album eventually sold three million copies. McEntire was on tour promoting it when, on March 16, 1991, seven members of her band and her road manager were killed in a plane crash after a show in San Diego. She dedicated her next album, For My Broken Heart, to them when it was released in October. The disc was another massive hit, going gold and platinum simultaneously shortly after its release and eventually selling four million copies, its singles including the chart-topping title song and another number one, "Is There Life Out There." Also in 1991, McEntire co-starred in the TV mini-series The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. Her 17th album, It's Your Call, was released in December 1992, and, like Rumor Has It, it was an immediate million seller, eventually going triple platinum. (It was also her first Top Ten pop album.) Its biggest single was "The Heart Won't Lie," a duet with Vince Gill that hit number one in April 1993. McEntire's next chart-topper was also a duet, "Does He Love You," sung with Linda Davis; it hit number one in November 1993 and was included on her September release Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, an album that sold two million copies practically out of the box and another three million over the next five years. "Does He Love You" won McEntire her second Grammy, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, and a CMA award for Vocal Event. She also appeared in the TV movie The Man from Left Field in 1993.

By 1994, while continuing to reign as country's most successful female singer, McEntire was increasingly turning her attention to other concerns. Her 18th regular studio album, Read My Mind, appeared in April. Another instant million-seller that went on to go triple platinum, it threw off five country chart singles, among them the chart-topping "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" and, controversially, "She Thinks His Name Was John," a song about a woman who contracts AIDS from a one-night stand. Even McEntire's star power could propel such an atypical country subject only as high as number 15 in the charts. Meanwhile, she had parts in two feature films released during the summer, a speaking role in the drama North and a cameo in the children's comedy The Little Rascals. (She also made an uncredited appearance in the Western film Maverick and was heard on the soundtrack album.) She executive produced and starred in the TV movie Is There Life Out There? (based on her song), and she published her autobiography, Reba: My Story, which became a best-seller.

McEntire's 19th album was called Starting Over, released in October 1995. Intended to mark the 20th anniversary of her recording career, it was a collection of covers of well-known songs. It not only topped the country charts but hit number five in the pop charts, selling a million copies out of the box. But, boasting only one Top Ten hit, a revival of Lee Greenwood's "Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands," among three chart singles, and not achieving a multi-platinum certification, it suggested that McEntire finally had peaked commercially as far as country music was concerned. (In a considerable departure for a country singer, MCA released a dance remix of McEntire's revival of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" from the album that reached number two on Billboard's dance chart.) That didn't keep her from starring in another TV mini-series, Buffalo Gals, playing famed Western sharpshooter Annie Oakley, a part her rodeo background suited her to perfectly. She bounced back on the country charts somewhat with her 20th album, What If It's You, released in November 1996. The album spawned four Top 20 hits, with "How Was I to Know" reaching number one and "The Fear of Being Alone" and "I'd Rather Ride Around with You" each getting to number two. Simultaneously certified gold and platinum, the album eventually topped two million copies.

The singles drawn from What If It's You kept McEntire's name in the country charts throughout 1997, as did the holiday benefit record "What If," the proceeds from which were donated to the Salvation Army. But for the first time since 1978, she did not release a new album, even a compilation, during the calendar year. Aiming for a splash, she teamed up with the popular country duo Brooks & Dunn in the spring of 1998 for a single called "If You See Him/If You See Her." It hit number one in June, helping to set up the release of her 21st album, If You See Him, which also brought her three additional Top Ten hits on its way to selling a million copies. She appeared in the TV movie Forever Love (the title of one of those Top Ten hits) during the year and made several guest-star appearances on TV series.

After publishing her second book of memoirs, Comfort from a Country Quilt, in May 1999, McEntire had two new albums ready for the fall. Secret of Giving: A Christmas Collection, a September release, was her second holiday CD, which she accompanied with a TV movie, Secret of Giving. The disc eventually went gold. So Good Together, issued in November, was her 22nd regular studio album, prefaced by the Top Five single "What Do You Say." Although none of the songs from the album topped the country charts, it did feature a second Top Five hit, "I'll Be," and a Top 20 hit in "We're So Good Together," and it went platinum before the end of 2000.

As in 1997, McEntire went without an album release in 2000, and in this case, it turned out that she definitely was positioning herself for a career beyond country music, as events in 2001 showed. In February of that year, she stepped in as a replacement star in the Broadway revival of Irving Berlin's musical Annie Get Your Gun that had begun performances in 1999 with Bernadette Peters in the title role of Annie Oakley. Barry and Fran Weissler, the producers of the revival, were known on Broadway for making money by keeping production costs down and by the extensive use of what was derisively called "stunt casting": bringing in a well-known personality, often one without much of a theater background, as a replacement to extend the run of a show, as a means of exciting the tourist crowd who would recognize the name of a prominent TV star, for example. McEntire had been preceded as a replacement in Annie Get Your Gun by soap opera star Susan Lucci and TV actress Cheryl Ladd, both of whom kept the show going while being largely ignored or derided by theater insiders.

McEntire turned out to be an entirely different proposition. First, although she lacked legitimate theater experience, she had by now done plenty of acting on television and even a little in film. Second, she had long since brought unusually high production values to her concerts that included choreography and costume changes, good preparation for similar demands in the theater. Third, she could, of course, sing. And fourth, with her rodeo background and Oklahoma accent, she was an ideal Annie Oakley, just as she had been in her previous TV portrayal. (Never mind that the real Annie Oakley was from Ohio; in everybody's mind, this female sharpshooter and star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, the precursor to the modern rodeo, was a Westerner.) The result was a triumph for McEntire. Reviews were ecstatic, and tickets sold out. The Tony Awards did not have a category for replacements (one has since been added), but she was given special awards for her performance by the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World. She stayed in the show until June 22, 2001. Unfortunately, there was no new cast album recorded to immortalize her appearance.

During the run of Annie Get Your Gun, McEntire was seen in a small part in the film One Night a McCool's, released in April 2001. Her most extensive filmed acting role began on October 5, 2001, however, when the half-hour situation comedy Reba premiered on the WB TV network (later renamed the CW network). The show became the primary focus of McEntire's activities, and she moved to Los Angeles to accommodate it. She had not, however, given up country music entirely. In the summer of 2001, she released a single, "I'm a Survivor," that peaked in the country Top Five and prefaced a new compilation, Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: I'm a Survivor, released in October. It topped the country charts and went gold.

McEntire was occupied primarily with her TV series during 2002 and 2003. After two years, she finally returned to record-making in the summer of 2003 with a new single, "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain," which peaked in the country Top 20. Room to Breathe, her 23rd regular studio album and first in three years, followed in November and went platinum over the next nine months. The disc's second single, "Somebody," hit number one, and it was followed by another Top Ten hit, "He Gets That from Me," and the Top 20 "My Sister." Reba continued on into 2004 and 2005. McEntire found time in the spring of 2005 to return to the musical theater, if only for one night. In another piece of inspired casting, she portrayed the "cock-eyed optimist" from Arkansas, Ensign Nellie Forbush, in a special concert version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific performed at Carnegie Hall. The all-star production, also featuring Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell and actor Alec Baldwin, was filmed for a PBS special on the network's Great Performances series and recorded for an album, both of which appeared in 2006.

By 2005, the catalogs of Mercury and MCA had been combined in the major label Universal, and in November MCA released McEntire's first combined hits collection, the double-CD set Reba: 1's, with two newly recorded tracks. It went gold and platinum simultaneously. In 2006, as she began the sixth season of Reba, McEntire also voiced a character in the holiday film release Charlotte's Web. The sixth season of Reba proved to be the last, as the show signed off the air on February 18, 2007. Not one to sit idle, McEntire toured the U.S. from May 25 through August. On September 18, 2007, she released a new album, Reba Duets, featuring such guests as Justin Timberlake, Don Henley, Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney, Carole King, Faith Hill, Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes, and Trisha Yearwood. It was prefaced by the single "Because of You," a duet with Clarkson. For the week ending October 6, 2007, Reba Duets became McEntire's first album ever to enter the pop charts at number one.

Chad Brownlee

VANCOUVER CANUCKS LOSS IS COUNTRY MUSIC’S GAIN

Born: Kelowna BC

Education: Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Interesting Facts: 6^th Round Draft Pick by the Vancouver Canucks in 2003

Country artist Chad Brownlee has a new goal


With a Best New Artist Showcase Award from the Canadian Country Music Conference and a 2010 CCMA Rising Star nomination under his belt, Chad Brownlee is quickly earning accolades across Canada’s country music scene.  Now up for a Canadian Radio Industry Award and an Indie Award for Country Group/Artist of the year at this year’s Canadian Music Week, Brownlee will also take part in a performance on Friday, March 11^th in Toronto at the Cadillac Lounge.  The B.C. native who was a Vancouver Canucks sixth round draft pick, has long had a dual passion for both music and hockey.  A career in music was something he never imagined he could pursue, but after a year of injuries, Brownlee found himself at a career crossroads.  Driven to follow his musical ambitions the singer officially gave up his jersey and has never looked back.
Brownlee’s self-titled debut album was released earlier this year.  Currently, his single “Day After You” has reached number 12 on the Chevy Cross Canada Countdown and has reached Top 20 on Canadian Country radio. The album’s first hit single “The Best That I Can (Superhero)”, a song Brownlee co-wrote, reached the top 20 and “Hood Of My Car” peaked at number 11 and was chosen as the iTunes pick of the week during the Canadian Country Music Awards week. From self-taught musician to up and coming star, Brownlee recently filmed a TV Special for CMT titled ‘CMT 4 Tracks.’  The 30 minute primetime show highlights Brownlee’s strong vocals and skills as a songwriter.
Brownlee’s song writing skills were first acknowledged in his fourth year at Minnesota State University when he was nominated for the NCAA Hockey Humanitarian award for his song ‘The Hero I See.’  The song, written in memory of a boy who lost his battle with leukemia, raised thousands of dollars for the Anthony Ford Foundation, which helps underprivileged kids play hockey.