I was born in McAlester, Oklahoma in 1968 and raised on the banks of the South Canadian River outside the tiny town of Indianola, OK through the 8th grade. I moved to Hildebran, NC where I lived until September of 1989. That year I moved to Nashville, TN to work toward my dream of being a professional Songwriter. It's hard to believe I've been at it for over twenty years now. I've been fortunate to work with some of the top music professionals in the Business. My first cut was a song called "For Pete's Sake" written with Kenny Beard. It was recorded by Tim McGraw. Unfortunatley it didn't make the album. My lip drug the ground for a month. I shared my first number one song "Can't Break It To My Heart" recorded by Tracy Lawrence with co-writers, Tracy Lawrence, Earl Clark and Elbert West back in 1993. I'm proud to say it was the second most played song that year and was elected by ASCAP as one of the most performed songs of the 1990's with well over one million radio spins. Thank God for that song, and God Bless Tracy Lawrence. I had another song I co-wrote with Paul Nelson titled "The Cards" On Tracy's "I See It Now Album". I've since had songs recorded by: The Legendary Hank Cochran, Willie Nelson, Charlie Louvin, Bobby Bare, Jeff Bates, Jason Meadows, Eighth Day and numerous independant artists.
I have two cuts on Jeff Bates new self-titled album. The first titled "Riverbank" This song was no doubt a gift. In a sense it seems as though it was always there just waiting for Jeff, Robert Arthur and me to capture it. "Riverbank" for me is about my late Dad Edward Joseph Roth. This song grabs me by the heart each time I hear it. My second cut on the album, also co-written with Jeff and Robert is called "Dead or Alive" which sounds like a radio smash to me. It was inspired by the heartbreaking inspiration of a dear friend of ours who was going trough a rough break up at the time. I always think of him when I hear this song.
NEW CUT: I have a new cut on Southern Gospel Group "Eighth Day" The song is titled "Trust His Heart" it was released as a single in October. Co-writers Jeff Bates and Robert Arthur
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