Interview with Tracy Lawrence (October 26, 2004)
By M. MacPherson, Editor
Tracy Lawrence is only 36 years old, but he already has some 20 years in
the music industry. With the recent release of his new CD, “Strong”, he has recorded 10 albums, several of which have gone platinum and double-platinum, garnered a number of awards and still had time for a family. What’s left? In a recent phone interview from his home in Nashville,
Lawrence made it clear there was plenty left to do!
Lawrence was born in Atlanta, Texas but raised in Foreman, Arkansas. He was drawn to music at an early age. “My mother tells me I started listening to Glenn Campbell when I was 2 years old. I even have pictures with me parting my hair same as him,” Lawrence laughs. “I also liked Merle Haggard and George Strait. When I got serious, about age 12, Strait would have been just starting in Texas. I liked his songs; they were simple 3 chord numbers within my vocal range.”
Lawrence did not come from a musical family, but found it on his own. “We weren’t the kind of family that gathered round a piano and sang. I think I might have had an uncle in music on my father’s side, but my parents were divorced when I was young and I had no contact with that side growing up.”
At around 15, Lawrence did his first talent show, playing guitar and singing. While he didn’t win, he did make an important contact at the show. “At that time there was these jamborees on Sundays that had 2 or 3 young acts in the beginning, an intermission and then a bigger act. At the first one, I met this deputy sheriff and his wife. He played piano and she had a great voice. I traveled around with them doing talent shows in Arkansas and Texas. Never won anything, but got to know a lot of singers and musicians.”
Eventually Lawrence formed a band and they did regular gigs in a number of local clubs, building a loyal following. But after a few years, he decided to return to school and finish the degree he had started after high school.
Registered at a college in Louisiana, Lawrence awoke one morning with a change of heart. “I registered for class, got my Pell grants, everything. Then one week before classes started, I woke up and knew that I had to go to Nashville now. There would be time for college in Nashville
later if I wanted. I cancelled everything but a Friday night gig. That night the crowd that knew me raised $700 for the trip (I’d already sold everything I owned). Next day I went home to visit my family. Went to church on Sunday morning and left for Nashville that afternoon. I’ve
never looked back.”
Arriving in Nashville in September 1991 with an old car, $700 in his pocket, no demos, and knowing no one in town, Lawrence began writing songs and singing wherever he could. “I was meeting all kinds of people – for the first time I was surrounded by people with the same ambition and drive. It was great.”
In November, friends got him a chance to perform on a live radio show just outside Nashville, “Live at Libby’s.” In December, a record executive showed up at the performance to see a female singer, but like Lawrence better. “They developed a showcase for me, including places like the Blue Bird and that spring I signed with Atlantic.”
Lawrence recorded 9 albums with Atlantic (Atlantic was folded into the Warners label and his 9th CD came out under this label). He was named Top Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1992. He finally left the company in 2003 and signed with Dreamworks.
“It was time. Warners had gotten too big – with all the companies folding into it, they had about 40 artists to manage.” Now with Dreamworks, Lawrence was reunited with record producer James Stroud who has produced his early CDs. He is happy with the new CD and sees it as a much needed lift for his career.
“Paint Me a Birmingham is the first hit I’ve had in 5 years. Nashville is a hard town – it’s a young man’s town. So much touring! I had to work hard going to lots of radio stations and touring, it’s really hard to be away from your family for 210 to 240 days a year.”
Lawrence has strong feelings about radio station deregulation and how difficult it is to get playtime. “They rate music as top 40 or top 100, but the truth is most stations are playing the charts game. Their play list has only 19-20 slots and they are always getting beat up by their promotion people to play certain songs. In the early 1990’s it was less corporate. Now the small stations have been taken up by 2 or 3 large companies (like Infinity and Clear Channel) and they are all about the advertising dollars!”
The new CD is getting critical attention. It’s a very good collection of the type of songs Lawrence likes best – stories that people can easily identify with. “Country music has been evolving – in my heart I know we will never go back to the roots. But it reflects the times of our country – the heartaches, the feelings about the war, what’s going on – it has become a true American art form. It grows and changes all the time.”
It’s clear that Lawrence still loves what he’s doing. “The best thing about touring is the instant gratification – having the audience sing with you is awesome. The downside is being away from the family so much.” Lawrence and his wife, have two young girls. “I’d like to hit touring hard for the next few years and then cut back some. I’d like to carve out school vacations and summers with my kids.”
“Retire, no. I can’t ever see me stopping what I’m doing. I’m doing exactly what I was put on earth to do. How many people can say that?”
See Tracy Lawrence's official website.
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