Lauderdale, Jim

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Jim Lauderdale

Singer, songwriter

Jim Lauderdale has made a name for himself as one of Nashville's leading singer-songwriters. In addition to cutting his own critically acclaimed albums, he has written songs for such established stars as George Strait, Vince Gill, Kathy Mattea, and Kelly Willis, among others. Country singer Mark Chesnutt scored a number one hit with Lauderdale's "Gonna Get a Life," co-written with frequent partner and Nashville veteran Frank Dycus, while Patty Loveless notched two chart-topping songs with "Halfway Down" and the Grammy-nominated "You Don't Seem to Miss Me."

Unfortunately, the same popular success Lauderdale enjoyed behind the scenes didn't quite carry over into his pursuits as a recording artist, despite press raves for his albums, soulful voice, and confessional songs about life. As an explanation, many point to the fact that the artist's most admirable virtue as a solo performer may also be his curse—his ability to mine from a wide range of musical influences. Known for his eclectic tastes, the singer has seemed too restlessly creative for mass marketing. "His literate style of country," commented Mark Schone for a profile in the Encyclopedia of Country Music, "applies the progressive mind-set of Gram Parsons to the musical legacies of Memphis [Tennessee] and Bakersfield [California]."

Southern Musical Heritage

Born on April 11, 1957, in Troutman, North Carolina, James Russell Lauderdale, the precocious son of a minister and choir director, was influenced by the musical heritage of the South from an early age. Raised on the songs pouring from his father's scratchy radio and the music performed at regional bluegrass festivals, Lauderdale as a teen studied the vocal turns of George Jones, admired and understood the oaky baritone of Johnny Cash, embraced the emotional appeal of Buck Owens, and took in the subtle confessionals of Merle Haggard. After college Lauderdale became a journeyman, singing, writing, and accruing life experience as he moved from New York to Texas to Tennessee—where he stopped in Nashville long enough to record an unreleased album with bluegrass great Roland White—before settling down in Los Angeles.

All the while, Lauderdale carried with him the true country music that defined his childhood. Because of this open-mindedness, the songwriter was able to expand the definition of country music without compromising his roots. "Great music—whether it's George Jones, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, or Bob Dylan—is great music because it's so real," Lauderdale once noted on his website, adding, "And part of being real is being true to who you are. Maybe you pick up some new influences, but you can never become something else."

After recording a second unreleased album for Columbia Records in 1987—both unreleased albums were eventually released during the 1990s/early 2000s—Lauderdale finally made his way into record stores in 1991 with a cut on the second Town South of Bakersfield compilation, an anthology of the Southern California alternative country music scene produced by Dwight Yoakam guitarist/producer Pete Anderson. After that, all of Lauderdale's solo efforts, while they did not earn a solid place in mainstream country, garnered favorable critical response, including his debut outing, Planet of Love. The album, exhibiting Lauderdale's vocal and compositional gifts, was co-produced by Rodney Crowell and John Leventhal and arrived on the Warner Brothers label in 1991.

Western Beat Star

Lauderdale, a favorite within the Los Angeles area country music scene, was often linked to artists from a seemingly dissimilar genre, such as Lucinda Williams (with whom he later toured in 1999), Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores, and Chris Gaffney, under the label "Western beat."

Next, Lauderdale moved to Atlantic Records to release a pair of equally impressive, though more roots-oriented, efforts: 1994's Pretty Close to the Truth and 1995's Every Second Counts. The first Atlantic album was hailed by several reviewers as one of the best country-rock efforts of the decade. Of the latter album, Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Between the chiming guitars and from-the-gut vocals you can hear traces of everyone from Cream to Van Morrison to Al Green. It took Lauderdale to make eclecticism this seamless." Likewise, Tony Scherman in People concluded, "Few singer-songwriters have Lauderdale's talent, curiosity and spine. He remains one of pop's best-kept secrets."

In 1996 Lauderdale returned with Persimmons, considered his rawest-sounding album to date. Like his previous releases, the album built upon styles from across the musical spectrum: from straight country, "Some Things Are Too Good to Last" sung with Emmylou Harris; to mid-1960s garage-band rock, "Tears So Strong"; to blues, "Optimistic Messenger"; to near metal-rock, "Jupiter's Rising." The album was released by Upstart, a subsidiary of Rounder Records, just before Lauderdale signed with RCA Records.

For the Record …

Born James Russell Lauderdale on April 11, 1957, in Troutman, NC; father a minister from South Carolina; mother, Barbara, a high school chorus teacher and church choir director; attended the North Carolina School of Arts.

Released debut Planet of Love, 1991; for Atlantic, released Pretty Close to the Truth (1994) and Every Second Counts (1995); released Persimmons (1996); released mainstream country albums Whisper (1998) and Onward Through It All (1999); penned songs covered by George Strait, Mark Chesnutt, Patty Loveless, and many others. Wrote and performed songs for the soundtracks of such films as Rosalie Goes Shopping, Galaxies are Colliding, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Pure Country, Sunshine State, Transamerica, and Daltry Calhoun, 1989-2005; narrated Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp, 2006.

Awards: Music Row Award, Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year, 1996; BMI Country Award, Popularity as Measured by Broadcast Performances, for "We Shouldn't Really Be Doing This" and "You Don't Seem to Miss Me," 1999; BMI One Million Performances Award for "Gonna Get a Life" and "Halfway Down," 2000; Americana Music Awards, Song of the Year, for "She's Looking at Me" (with Ralph Stanley), 2002; Americana Music Awards, Artist of the Year, 2002; Sesac Americana Music Awards, National Performance Activity Award, for Headed for the Hill, 2004; Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, for Lost in the Lonesome Pines (with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys), 2003.

Addresses: Record company—Yep Roc Records, P.O. Box 4821, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-4821, website: http://www.yeproc.com, phone: 877-733-3931, ext. 28. Booking—Mary Brabec, Billions Corporation, 833 W. Chicago Ave., Ste. 101, Chicago, Il 60622-5497, website: http://www.billions.com, phone: 312-997-9999, ext. 8235.

Mainstream Country

With RCA, Lauderdale released a more mainstream country album in 1998 titled Whispers, with the help of some of country music's finest songwriters: Nashville heavyweights Dycus, Harlan Howard, Melba Montgomery, and John Scott, as well as California friend Buddy Miller. In 1999 the singer/songwriter released two more records, another straight-country album for RCA, titled Onward Through It All, and a Grammy-nominated bluegrass duet album, I Feel Like Singing Today, with Ralph Stanley on the independent Rebel label. Lauderdale also guested on Stanley's ClinchMountain Country, and Stanley sang as a guest on Lauderdale's Whisper. "I've been wanting to do a bluegrass thing for years and years," Lauderdale told Jim Bessman of Billboard, "and to finally have one with Ralph Stanley is mind-blowing."

Again, Lauderdale raked in stellar reviews, but lacked substantive popular sales support. However, the musician felt satisfied and fortunate for what he had accomplished. "As day jobs go, [songwriting] isn't so bad. Realistically, all an artist can hope for is to get a chance to release a record and have support behind him. The rest is really gravy," he told David Sprague of Billboard. "There seems to be a growing crossover [appeal]," Lauderdale continued. "But I don't worry about making a niche for myself. It may be someone's job to do that, but it's not mine."

A Respected Independent Label Star

When RCA allowed Lauderdale's option to expire, the singer-songwriter found a welcome home at the independent DualTone label, which encouraged his eclectic nature. Teaming with 60s Nashville star Melba Montgomery, he released an album full of traditional country, The Other Sessions, which he had originally planned to record for RCA. He told Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time, "I felt a need to get some traditional country out there because in some ways it's kind of fading away."

The deal with DualTone signaled the most prolific recording era of Lauderdale's career. In addition to dabbling in acting—he portrayed George Jones in a Ryman Auditorium staged version of Tammy Wynette's life—the singer-songwriter astonished fans and critics alike by releasing a steady flow of high quality work.

The year 2002 proved a highwater mark creatively. In addition to releasing the genre-bending The Hummingbirds, Lauderdale re-teamed with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley to record Lost in the Lonesome Pines. "It was actually a pretty high pressure situation for me," Lauderdale told Jon Weisberger of Country Standard Time. "Luckily I'd listened to so much of Ralph's stuff that I kind of understand the parameters of what he can and can't do. And the co-writers I had on those songs—Candace Randolph, Shawn Camp, and Robert Hunter—they really understood bluegrass too." After Lost in the Lonesome Pines won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, Lauderdale became that rarest of all things, an independent label star who was in demand. He began touring with established stars like Mary Chapin Carpenter, and his songs began popping up on film soundtracks. This newfound clout allowed him to blur the lines between country, jazz, and rock even more. On 2003's Wait Til Spring, he concentrated heavily on extended musical jams with the band Donna the Buffalo. The following year he composed Headed for the Hills with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Full of creative surprises, Lauderdale left DualTone to sign with the North Carolina-based Yep Roc label in 2006. Immediately he re-established his art with lovers of traditional country with the Buck Owens-inspired, ironically titled Country Super Hits, Vol. 1 and the Buddy Miller co-produced Bluegrass.

By 2007 Lauderdale seemed hellbent on playing out his creative hot streak. During the spring, Pinecastle released an album he produced for Clinch Mountain boy Jack Cooke, Sittin' On Top of the World, and issued another roots masterpiece, Bluegrass Diaries. "It's been a particularly great period for me," Lauderdale proclaimed on his website. "Thanks to the records, I'm performing more and more, which I love. And I love that I can play the Opry one weekend, a jam-band festival the next and a bluegrass festival the following week. … I think there's a real thread there. The roots are all the same for all of them and that's the music I'm interested in."