Country newcomer Buddy Jewell, 42, spent the past 10 years working in Nashville as a much-in-demand demo singer. While pitching songwriters' material to other artists, he dreamed of his own career in Country music. That dream was recently realized when he won the USA Network's talent search competition, Nashville Star.
Buddy Jewell's recording of I Wanna Thank Everyone describes the rejection he faced in Nashville during the past decade, and the determination it gave him to keep trying for a recording career. During that time, he was turned away by every record company and publishing house in Music City because they felt his music was "too country."
Buddy earned his big break earlier this year, when he was chosen to appear on the televised talent competition Nashville Star. American viewers phoned in votes for their favorite contestant, and in May, Buddy was named the winner. His prize was a recording deal with Sony Music Group. Country star Clint Black served as creative advisor on the reality television series, and also accepted the responsibility of producing the winner's first album. With a release date of July 1, Buddy and Clint had just 10 days to record the collection.
Buddy's major label debut features many award-winning Nashville musicians, including Stuart Duncan, Eddie Bayers, Brent Mason, Matt Rollings and Paul Franklin. Other guests include Nashville Star finalists Jamey Garner and Miranda Lambert, who joins Buddy on a duet version of the Merle Haggard classic, Today I Started Loving You Again.
Since 2001, Buddy Jewell has released two independent albums. Although they're no longer available, some copies have shown up on the Internet's eBay auction site.
Buddy's spending the next two months performing a U.S. concert tour to promote his self-titled album. Concerts are scheduled to wrap up in September. In October, he'll join Tammy Cochran, Billy Dean and Trick Pony on a Caribbean cruise, sponsored by cable music channel Great American Country.
Buddy wrote three of the songs on his new album, including its debut single, Help Pour Out The Rain. The track was inspired by a conversation he had with his young daughter, Lacey. It became the highest charting entry on Billboard's Country Singles chart by a new solo artist since 1992. He also set a record by entering the Country Albums chart at Number One. A newcomer hasn't accomplished that feat in seven years.
