Lonestar
Lonestar
THE LONESTAR CHRONICLES
1999
Lonely Grill is issued as the third Lonestar album.1998
"Say When" becomes Lonestar's first hit ballad. "Everything's Changed",
co-written by Richie McDonald, hits No. 1. Guitarist Dann Huff is recruited as the band's new producer.
1997
"Heartbroke Every Day" becomes a top-10 hit. The Academy of Country
Music nominates Lonestar as Top Vocal Group of 1997. "Come Cryin' To Me"
becomes a No.1 hit. Crazy Nights is issued as the act's second album.
"You Walked In," a rocker written by Mutt Lange and Bryan Adams, becomes
a top-10 hit.
1996
"No News" goes to #1 and remains there for three weeks. The Lonestar
album hits the top-10 and becomes a Gold Record. Lonestar wins the Top
New Vocal Group award at the Academy of Country Music ceremonies.
"Runnin' Away With My Heart", co-written by Michael Britt, becomes a
top-10 hit. Music Row gives "No News" its breakthrough video award.
Country Weekly gives Lonestar a Golden Pick award as its top new group
of the year. Billboard honors the band with its top new country
duo/group award.
1995
The band promotes itself with a six-song live CD. Nashville showcase
performances result in a recording contract with BNA Records. "Tequila
Talkin'," Lonestar's debut single, becomes a top-5 hit.
1994
Massive road work continues, with 213 concert dates. Lonestar attracts
attention in Nashville when it performs at the grand opening of the
Wildhorse Saloon.
1993
Billed as Texassee, the group commits itself to massive road work,
performing 267 shows.
1992
Dean Sams assembles the band with Keech Rainwater and Michael Britt,
formerly of Canyon, and Richie McDonald, a singer he'd met in Texas.
The best is yet to come.
The musicians who make up country music's lively band Lonestar have
already won award statuettes, earned a Gold Record and have enjoyed a string of chart-topping songs. But with Lonely Grill, Lonestar's third BNA Records album, they're experiencing something even more intense and
fulfilling."For the first time in our career we're feeling what it's like to have creative control," says keyboardist Dean Sams.Adds drummer Keech Rainwater, "The great thing about this album is that
we had the freedom to really get in there and have everybody in this band contribute to the sound, to the direction we were going."This whole experience has brought new energy to this band, and an excitement we haven't had in the past," says lead singer Richie McDonald.
"It's all about music... about creativity," offers guitarist Michael Britt. "Every song on this album has something really clever going on musically to accompany the vocals and lyrics."
Lonely Grill is a wonderfully diverse demonstration of how sophisticated and skilled this band has become during its four short years as a hit-making outfit. Peppy, "young country" romps like "Don't Let's Talk About Lisa," "Saturday Night" and "Simple As That" show that Lonestar still has the flare that propelled "No News" to the top of the charts. Heart-piercing ballads such as "Smile" and "I've Gotta Find You" enrich
the reputation for emotion and depth that the band earned recently with
"Everything's Changed."
There's more... Even loyal fans will be startled by the new vocal finesse the group displays on the lushly melodic "Amazed" and "All The Way." The stark, powerful production on "You Don't Know What Love Is" also charts a new direction for the band. Blue-collar rock doesn't come any more exuberant than on the band's recording of "What About Now." And Lonestar has seldom performed lyrics as perfectly crafted as "Lonely Grill" and "Tell Her."
"You go from one emotion to another from song to song," explains Dean.
"You go from really happy 'Saturday Night' to really sad, like 'Smile,' and it's an emotional roller coaster. When you finish listening to Lonely Grill, you'll feel like you've been to a Lonestar concert. And that's the first time this has happened since we got a record deal. I never thought our true sound transferred to a record, until now."
The journey to Lonely Grill began last summer when "Everything's Changed" was at the top of the charts for Lonestar. The group had been performing "unplugged" shows when it stopped at various radio stations. So in gratitude, the members decided to record an acoustic version of the ballad as a gift to the broadcasters.
All of its previous recordings had been done with Nashville's superb session musicians. This time the band worked up its own arrangement of "Everything's Changed." The result was a stunning reawakening of the song's poignant lyric. Listener response has been so enthusiastic that the performance is included as the 12th track on Lonely Grill. The band found that experience so invigorating that it decided to "reinvent" itself. Dean, Richie, Michael, and Keech went in search of a producer who would let them continue to pursue Lonestar's individuality. They
found him in Dann Huff.
Best known as one of Music City's hottest guitar players, Dann has been earning a reputation as a sympathetic and caring record maker in recent years.
"I don't think anybody had any idea of what we were going to do, what direction we were going," says Dean. "One person did; and that was Dann Huff," adds Michael.
"We sat with him and he said he wanted all of us to be involved," Michael remembers. "He wanted to find out what our vision was and help us achieve it."
"When I heard that I thought, 'That is exactly what we need,'" says Keech. "Dann brought us completely in the creative process."
"That's why we moved to this town, to be creative forces," says Dean.
"And now we've finally arrived. I can't tell you how much this record means to all of us."
If any band has earned its place in the sun it is surely Lonestar.
As the name implies, all of its members drifted into Music City from Texas. Dean Sams was working at the Country Music USA show at the Opryland theme park (as were future recording artists Ken Mellons, Chely Wright and James Bonamy) when Dean began rounding up personnel for a band. By late 1992, he'd recruited singer/songwriter Richie McDonald and two former members of the band Canyon, Michael Britt and Keech Rainwater.
From the get-go they shared a tremendous work ethic. Lonestar hit the
road and performed more than 500 shows in 1993-94. Traveling in a Jeep
Cherokee pulling an equipment trailer, the guys did four or five sets a night in town after town. One of the performances was as the "house band" at the grand opening of The Wildhorse Saloon dancehall in downtown Nashville.
Lonestar promoted itself with a six-song live CD and a string of label showcases. After some near-misses, the band was offered a recording contract on BNA Records and their debut single, "Tequila Talkin'," became a top-5 hit in 1995.
The band continued to work like mad, visiting radio stations, doing showcase performances and taking advantage of every promotional opportunity. The Jeep became a van, then a tour bus. "We still have the same drive we did then," says Richie. "The only way to get our music out there is to hit the road hard and heavy. We're still doing 130-150 dates a year."
"You get out of it what you put into it," adds Keech. "We're responsible for our own success. We know it is our job and no one else's."
The hard work paid off in 1996. The endless string of shows had polished Lonestar into a superb performing unit. When "No News" became a disc sensation, the band was ready. The single hit No. 1 and remained there for three weeks. The Academy of Country Music named Lonestar its Top New Group of the Year. "Runnin' Away With My Heart", co-written by Michael Britt, hit the top-10. Billboard, Music Row, and Country Weekly all gave year-end awards to the band. The Lonestar album became a Gold Record (it is now nearing Platinum sales levels).
Crazy Nights was issued as the second Lonestar collection in 1997. "Come
Cryin' To Me" became the act's second No. 1 single. Bryan Adams and Mutt
Lange provided yet another rhythmic hit, "You Walked In."
In 1998 Lonestar revealed a new dimension. Previously noted for its catchy uptempo performances, the band issued "Say When" as its first ballad single. That was followed by the touching "Everything's Changed", co-written by Richie McDonald, which became yet another No. 1 hit.
That set the stage for the recording of Lonely Grill. In typical fashion, the band threw itself into the creation of its third album with gusto. Song searches became eight-hours-a-day, five-days-a-week listening marathons at BNA. Recording sessions became long, stimulating studio experiences where guitar sounds, percussion touches, keyboard techniques and vocal harmonies were developed and shared.
"The work is worth it," says Dean. "This album is about song quality. We're in this for longevity, not for the quick buck."
"I think we are still learning, every day, to be better at what we do," contributes Richie. "The fans can count on us. They know how much we appreciate them. It's not like we are separate from the people. We are the People."
"We feel like we have been given so much, because we get to do what we
love to do," says Keech. "We are four grateful guys, I can tell you. That's why we give it everything we've got."
"We just like to jam," says Michael. "That's Lonestar."
by Robert K. Oermann
CUT BY CUT
"Saturday Night"
(Chuck Cannon/Jimmy Stewart)
Richie - We picked every song on this album for the potential it would
have on our live performances. This one really gets the audience
involved when we do it live. They spell it out with us and really get
into the spirit of things. You always have to have one or two songs on
an album that are there just for fun. Keech - I think the thing I like
best about it is that has kind of a rock sound, yet it's about a country
boy.
"Simple As That"
(Richie McDonald/Frank J. Myers/Gary Baker)
Richie - I co-wrote this with Baker & Myers. Their huge song is "I
Swear." When the three of us get together, we all just start pulling out
ideas. All we knew that day was that we wanted to write something
up-tempo, but we didn't have any idea what that might be. I remember
Frank saying, 'Why don't we write, simple as that?' By the end of the
day we had that groove in the verse and another groove in the chorus. It
just fell into place. This is another one that works really well live.
"Amazed"
(Marv Green/Aimee Mayo/Chris Lindsey)
Dean - We're proud of our first albums and what they've done for us. But
it's this album that shows what a great voice Richie has. He's a great,
great singer and a lot of people don't know how wide his range is.
Richie can sing right up there with the best of 'em. This song, in
particular, shows it. It is so powerful and when the harmony kicks in
we're delivering the sound that we've always felt we had."
"What About Now"
(Anthony Smith/Aaron Barker/Ron Harbin)
Michael - The first time I heard this I said, 'Now that's a hit.' To me,
it bridges the gap between how we sounded on our Crazy Nights album and
how we sound now. It's 'Come Cryin' To Me' on steroids. It has such a
great 'road' vibe -- so much energy and enthusiasm.
"Tell Her"
(Craig Wiseman/Kwesi B.)
Dean - What an awesome song this is. It sets the mood right from the
very beginning and as you start listening to the story, it evolves and
then just gets bigger and bigger. Basically, it's a preaching song, but
not in a preachy way. Richie - It's the facts of life. You better tell a
woman how you feel.
"Don't Let's Talk About Lisa"
(Don Henry/Benmont Tench)
Keech - At first, I couldn't get past the grammar. It makes more sense
to say 'Don't let us talk about Lisa.' But the thing is so catchy I
loved it anyway. Benmont Tench is one of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers. Dean
- I love funny songs and the demo on this was very humorous. I love the
rapid-fire names of girls. You can't help but smile when you listen to
it. How can you not record something that is so fun?
"I've Gotta Find You"
(Richie McDonald/Marty Dodson/Ron Harbin)
Richie - Some of the songs we write, we live. Some we don't. In this
case we were just trying to come up with the right story. We started
writing it about a year ago, but we put it aside. That octave jump in
the chorus got me thinking, 'I don't know about this.' I was wondering
if I could do that every single night. It's high. Ron was arguing, 'No,
I think it sounds good.' Anyway, we didn't finish it. About three months
later we were out on the road and Ron said, 'We need to finish that
song.' It would have stayed on a shelf somewhere, but luckily he
believed in it all along.
"You Don't Even Know What Love Is"
(Steve Bogard/Marv Green)
Michael - This song is for Dann Huff, our producer. I don't think any of
us 'got' it. The whole song was originally a 15-second verse and then a
chorus. Dann really liked it. We asked for it to be sent back to the
songwriters to have the first verse extended. So they rewrote it. Then
we sent it back to them again. It was better than Burger King -- we got
it our way. Now it's one of our favorite songs to perform.
"All the Way"
(Stephony Smith/Shelly Sterling)
Dean - This was one of the earliest tapes that was sent to us and it was
one that stayed in the pile of 'keepers' all the way through. It is a
really pretty song. We got it right after Stephony Smith had written
'It's Your Love' for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Michael - The thing I
liked about it was the 12-string electric guitar. I've always wanted to
do something like that.
"Smile"
(Chris Lindsey/Keith Follese)
Richie - That's probably my favorite on the album. I was so glad I was
able to do that falsetto part and make it sound believable. I love the
sad songs and I have been a huge fan of ballads all my life.
"Lonely Grill"
(Bob DiPiero/Tony Mullins)
Keech - We are all big fans of The Eagles. In fact, 'Best of My Love'
was one of the first songs that Lonestar ever played together. 'Lonely
Grill' kind of sums up the way we feel about The Eagles. You can hear it
in the melody in the chorus.
"Everything's Changed" (acoustic version)
(Richie McDonald/Paul Nelson/Larry Boone)
Michael - Right after 'Everything's Changed' went to No.1, we wanted to
give something to the radio stations to thank them. We had done a lot of
acoustic shows, so we went into the studio on our own and arranged this
new version among ourselves. We had a great time recording it. The label sent it out to radio stations as a single. We got such a good response to it that we wanted people to be able to buy it. Including it on this
album seemed like a good idea, since this is the record that really
showcases us as a band for the first time.
