About Me
I grew up in Ashland, Kentucky, in the northeast corner where the Bluegrass State touches West Virginia and Ohio. Passing through Ashland is U.S. 23, which is known as the "Country Music Highway" because of the country stars who have grown up along or near it: Loretta Lynn, Crystal Gayle, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, the Judds, Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, Gary Stewart, Billy Ray Cyrus.A lover of words and music my entire life, I learned to read before I started school and developed an early fascination with the little record player and the box of 45 RPM records that my mom collected during her teen years. From Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis the Platters and the Hilltoppers to Perry Como and Eddie Fisher, I listened to them all, over and over, with fascination. Then there were Dad’s country LPs -- Hank, Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Jim Reeves and collections of the day’s country hits that you’d get at the gas station. Later on, I discovered my "own" music, progressing from Elton John to Kiss and Aerosmith to Skynyrd, Zeppelin, the Stones, the Beatles, CCR and Dylan to the old blues guys like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon. (Funny how one’s musical "progress" often means going back in time, discovering the roots of your current heroes.) I went through my head-bangin’ phase -- Sabbath, solo Ozzy and the like -- while good, honest "heartland" rock like Springsteen, Seger and Petty remained a constant.My grandparents bought us an upright piano when I was a teen, and I started taking lessons. The day I discovered I could combine my loves of words and music, I guess I was "doomed." It was more fun to make up my own songs than to practice the Bach, Beethoven and Chopin that my piano teacher assigned. Maybe that explains my limitations today as a piano player!I decided to go into journalism after realizing that I wasn’t big enough or talented enough at sports -- my OTHER love -- to pursue that as a career. OK, but I can write about sports, I thought. So I became a sports writer for a while, then a copy editor. During my adult life, I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with the newspaper business. My abilities with words have allowed me to write everything from newspaper columns to books to advertising and p.r. copy to audio and video scripts.And, of course, songs. I wasn’t listening to much country music in 1987, which was when I first heard Steve Earle and was blown away. Wow! I thought. If THAT’s the type of music that’s coming out of Nashville these days ... At that time, Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam were also new to the scene, and while these young artists had little in common musically, I was impressed by the honesty and passion in their work. I became a country music fan, which led me to rediscover the music from my dad’s collection that I’d heard as a child. (Johnny Cash knocked me for a loop all over again!) It also put me on the path that would lead me to Music City, USA.I began visiting Nashville in about 1994, became a part-time resident in 1996 (commuting two or three days a week from my then-home of Lexington, Kentucky), and made the full-time move with my wife and son in 1998. The following year I started a small publishing company called Jack and Jenny Music. It’s still a small company, but it’s growing as I continue to write songs and pick up a select group of others from talented writers in Nashville and beyond. Along the way, I’ve had songs recorded by a growing number of independent artists getting "holds" -- by some major-label artists. A recording of "These Golden Fields," which I wrote with my wonderful friend and co-writer Nelda Sisk, was released in July 2006 by the talented and award-winning bluegrass artist Don Rigsby, on Rebel Records. Other recent cuts, as a writer and a songplugger, include recordings by Emma Mae Jacob, Ed Pettersen, Margaret Moore, James Kilbane, JR & the Roadkill Choir, Sonny Marshall and Jimmy Dale.[TO BE CONTINUED]
