Sammy Kershaw

Infobox musical artist


Name = Sammy Kershaw
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Samuel Paul Kershaw
Born = birth date and age|1958|02|24cite web |url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kifyxqr5ldte~T1 |title=Sammy Kershaw biography |accessdate=2008-10-03 |last=Huey |first=Steve |work=Allmusic]
Origin = Kaplan, Louisiana, USA
Instrument = Vocals
Rhythm guitar
Genre = Country
Years_active = 1991-present
Label = Mercury
Audium
Category 5
Associated_acts = Doug Kershaw
Lorrie Morgan
URL = http://www.sammykershaw.com/

Samuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw (born February 24, 1958 in Kaplan, Louisiana) is an American country music artist. A third cousin of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw and ex-husband of Lorrie Morgan, Sammy Kershaw has been active in country music since 1991. He has released ten studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than twenty-five singles have entered Top 40 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts, including the Number One hit "She Don't Know She's Beautiful" and ten additional Top Ten hits: "Cadillac Style", "Anywhere but Here", "Haunted Heart", "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", "I Can't Reach Her Anymore", "National Working Woman's Holiday", "Third Rate Romance", "Meant to Be", "Vidalia", and "Love of My Life".

Early life and career

Sammy Kershaw was born February 24, 1958 in Kaplan, Louisiana. At the age of eleven, Sammy got his first guitar, a gift from his grandfather. However, his father died that same year. Thereafter young Kershaw worked a variety of jobs by day while playing roadhouses at night to support his family.

He began performing in Acadiana with Louisiana legend J.B. Pere. Subsequently, he opened shows for Ray Price, Merle Haggard and George Jones while barely into his teens. When the pressures of growing up fast took their toll in the form of a serious drug and alcohol problem, he quit his bad habits in 1988 and took a break from music to work as a remodeling supervisor at Wal-Mart.

Musical career

One of Kershaw's demonstration tapes made its way to Mercury Records, which released his debut album "Don't Go Near the Water" in 1991. This album was certified platinum by the RIAA, and it produced four hit singles. The lead-off, "Cadillac Style", went to #3 in late 1991-early 1992, followed by the #12 title track, "Yard Sale" at #17, and finally "Anywhere but Here" at #10. Kershaw was initially reluctant to release "Cadillac Style" because he felt that it was not suitable for his style; however, his co-producer, Buddy Cannon, convinced him to give the song a chance.cite album-notes |title=The Definitive Collection |albumlink=The Definitive Collection (Sammy Kershaw album) |bandname=Sammy Kershaw |year=2004 |first=Robin |last=Flans |format=CD |publisher=Mercury Records |publisherid=B0002330-02] Kershaw's often honky-tonk material and singing voice led to critical comparisons to George Jones, and one of Jones's singles, "What Am I Worth", was covered on his debut as well. [cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfqxqwgldae |title="Don't Go Near the Water" review |accessdate=2008-10-02 |last=Mansfield |first=Brian |work=Allmusic]

Kershaw's second album, "Haunted Heart", followed in 1993. Its lead-off single, "She Don't Know She's Beautiful", became his first and only Number One hit in April of that year. Following it were the title track, "Queen of My Double-Wide Trailer", and "I Can't Reach Her Anymore", all of which hit the Top Ten as well. Although Kershaw had been told by others that radio audiences might not identify with the subject matter, Kershaw had wanted to release the song because he had an experience similar to its story line. Like his debut, "Haunted Heart" was also a platinum album.

"Feelin' Good Train" was the title of Kershaw's third album. This album also produced four more hits, including two consecutive #2's in "National Working Woman's Holiday" and "Third Rate Romance", the latter a cover of the Amazing Rhythm Aces hit from 1975. The album also included a duet with George Jones on "Never Bit a Bullet Like This", which had previously been released from Jones's 1993 album "High-Tech Redneck". "Feelin' Good Train", which was certified gold, was followed by a Christmas album and his first greatest-hits package, "Greatest Hits, Volume 1", both in 1995. The latter produced a #47-peaking single in "Your Tattoo", the first single of his career not to reach Top 40.

Mid-late 1990s

Kershaw's fourth studio album, "Politics, Religion and Her", was issued in 1996. It produced Top Ten hits in "Meant to Be" and "Vidalia", the latter of which Kershaw also considered a risky song, saying "If radio will play this one more than twice—so people can get the story and learn what a Vidalia onion is—it'll be a smash." Also included on "Politics, Religion and Her" were covers of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee" and Sammy Johns' "Chevy Van". This album also earned a gold certification. In early 1997, Kershaw released an album of cover songs entitled "Sammy Kershaw Covers the Hits", on which "Chevy Van" and "Memphis, Tennessee" were also included. The same year, Kershaw briefly took ownership of a NASCAR Busch series team (now Nationwide Series), with driver Randy Porter and UniFirst uniforms as the primary sponsor.

"Labor of Love" was issued later in 1997 as his fifth album. Unlike his previous albums, this one was predominantly composed of ballads. It produced a #2 in "Love of My Life", and although none of the other three singles ("Matches", "Honky Tonk America" and "One Day Left to Live") reached Top 20, the album was nonetheless certified platinum as well. His next album, "Maybe Not Tonight", brought a Top 20 duet with Lorrie Morgan. Kershaw stated that he enjoyed working with Morgan on the song, telling "Country Weekly" magazine, "I knew our vocals would match up… Plus, we have fun together. We're friends and we have been friends for a long time." "Maybe Not Tonight" was commercially less successful than its predecessors, however, and it became the first album of Kershaw's career not to achieve an RIAA certification. Its fourth single, "Louisiana Hot Sauce", was also the first single of his career not to enter the charts.

2000s

By 2001, Kershaw and Morgan had married. The two recorded a vocal duet album in 2001 entitled "I Finally Found Someone" (the title track being a cover of the Bryan Adams/Barbra Streisand duet). This album was even less successful commercially, with its only Top 40 hit being the #39 "He Drinks Tequila". Morgan and Kershaw also started a restaurant and website called HotChickens.com. Shortly afterward, a second Greatest Hits package was released, and Kershaw left Mercury's roster.

In 2003, Kershaw signed to Audium Entertainment to release the album "I Want My Money Back". This album produced a #33-peaking in its title track, but the second single fell short of the Top 40. The third and final single, "Beer, Bait & Ammo" (which failed to chart), was previously recorded by Kevin Fowler on his 2000 debut album of the same name, and would later be recorded by Mark Chesnutt on his 2004 album "Savin' the Honky Tonk".

After Audium closed its Nashville division, Kershaw signed to Category 5 Records, then a newly-established independent label, in 2006. His first release for the label and first chart single in three years, "Tennessee Girl", fell three spaces short of the Top 40 that year. It was the first release from his 2006 album "Honky Tonk Boots". The album's only other single, a cover of Mel McDaniel's Number One hit "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On", failed to chart, and financial difficulties caused the label to close in 2007. In October of the same year, he divorced Morgan, citing irreconcilable differences.

On June 13, 2007, Kershaw announced that he intended to be a candidate for lieutenant governor of Louisiana in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. The position was held by the incumbent Democrat, Mitch Landrieu. Kershaw also faced a second Republican candidate, State Representative Gary Beard of Baton Rouge, an engineer first elected to the state House in a 2001 special election. Kershaw finished second with 30 percent of the vote, but Landrieu won re-election with a majority on the first ballot.

Discography

References

External links

* [http://www.sammykershaw.com/ The Official Sammy Kershaw website]
* [http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/2/8/90s_country_star_files_bankruptcy "NashvillePost.com" story on bankruptcy filing, Feb. 2007]
* [http://www.kershaw2007.com/ Sammy Kershaw candidate website]