Hi ~
~ ~ I moved to Nashville in 1979 just before graduating high school. I had been offered a position playing pedal steel guitar at Opryland~ I have been in the professional music business in some capacity ever since. Though I still play on recordings, I am much more in my ’element’ producing~ ~’Creating’ music has always taken my spirit soaring into the clouds!!! So being involved in a music recording or an entertainment project from the very early stages is usually where I thrive most~
The song (message) and the vocal (musical tone) is where it’s at for me~ Joining the perfect song with the vocalist is always a most enjoyable phase. There can never be too many good songs ...or too many good vocalists in my opinion, ...I am always looking for those I feel stand out among the rest. Above everything though I have the greatest regard for God who is my ultimate leader, ...and everything living ~
~ ~ From very early on in my childhood, and all through my life and various occupations, I’ve had an incredibly unbelievable life!! I’ve been blessed to witness and partake in some of the most awesome events, experiences, and miracles that that are nearly unimaginable. In this bio section I will not go there~ ...but rather list some things that are easy to believe, and pertaining solely to my music/production career... Nonetheless, I consider these too as blessings, ... for which I am truly grateful for having lived through (;-) and experienced -with some very Awesome individuals! ~
~ ~ Through my career as a professional musician/producer, I’ve had the good fortune to have either worked on stage, in bands with or in recording studios with many wonderful people~ Mostly recording artists, including Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, Jimmy C Newman (Grand Ole Opry), Carl Perkins, Mac Wiseman, Wanda Jackson, The Glaser Brothers, Johnny Lee, Tanya Tucker, Paul Gregg and Greg Jennings (members of Restless Heart), Becky Hobbs, Randy Barlow, Merle Haggard, Brent Mason, Jeanne Pruitt (Grand Ole Opry), Jeannie C Riley, Jimmy Olander and Dana Williams (members of Diamond Rio), The Lynns, Becky Hobbs, Wade Hayes, Ken Mellons, Ty Hearndon, Jo Dee Messina, and even Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw a time or two. I literally grew up playing music professionally, for which I thank God, my mom and my dad~ In 1993 I was hired by Shania Twain to work as her first band leader, steel guitar player and road manager within only a few weeks after she arrived in Nashville.
~ ~ I left Shania later on in 1993 due to a fabulous opportunity arising to produce a couple of talented twins (Peggy and Patsy Lynn), the daughters of Country Music Legend Loretta Lynn. (Shania kept all of my band members and touring personnel on with her to continue for the next couple of years with the only exception being the filling of my previous positions.) Several months after finishing up recording The Lynns and taking them into Martha Sharp at Warner Bros., they signed their first recording deal with Warner Brothers Records here in Nashville.
~ ~ I’ve continued to produce artists and recordings here in Nashville since that time (including a project with my brother called The Wendt Brothers-internationally released on WMI Records). In 1995, while finishing up the final mix on The Wendt Brothers first single release, I met up with and had the good fortune of working with multi Platinum selling, Grammy Award winning Producer/Engineer -Kevin Beamish (REO, Kenny Chesney, Reba McIntyre, Buddy Jewel, Brian White, Clint Black, and many others). Within a very short amount of time we had the mix we thought was the winner (Choppin’ Wood With A Chicken Feather) and started pitching it around to record labels and the country music dance halls here in Nashville. Everyone, and I mean everyone who heard Choppin Wood With a Chicken Feather was hollering "HIT!!" My brother and I were ecstatic!~ But, ...with the reluctance of any major label to offer anything other than a development style deal, and only offering a wait of two to three years before any certain ’release date to radio’ stations, ...we started our own record label (WMI) to internationally release the first two singles on The Wendt Brothers.
~ ~ A whole lot of water has passed under the bridge since our first 1995 radio release, ...and several successful national single song radio release promotion campaigns too~ At times ...life is nearly unbelievable! Through the years God has continuously blessed my music career with appearances on national television/music shows like ’Hee Haw’, ’Back Stage at The Grand Ole Opry’, ’On Stage’, ’Pop Goes The Country’- Ralph Emery, and others/GAC and CMT (’Shania Twain’s Video Biography’- on CMT/Tangible Vision Ent.), etc. ~it’s really all been too very cool~
~ ~ Most recently either recording, producing or performing, I’ve worked with the following artists: (Shane Owens, Megan Mullins, Chace Roberts, Joe Nichols, Steve Holy, Bliss Bujard, Andy Griggs, Billy Ryan, John Michael Montgomery, Kara Clark, Phillip Glynn, Mark Collie, Ray Scott, Trent Tomlinson- and probably a few others I’m forgetting.) These days I am most always producing recordings in our studio!!
------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------
~~ Work Samples & Friends ~~
------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------
