All-American Texan takes stage
PAGE 2 n MARCH 23, 2017 n THE VINDICATOR
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THE VINDICATOR n MARCH 23, 2017 n PAGE 3
Tracy Byrd ‘Holdin’ Heaven’ after hiatus After break to renew focus on family, country star hits Liberty Jubilee stage
T
racy Byrd sat out the late 2000s. More than a decade removed from career-making hit “Holdin’ Heaven” and a few years after his second wind that produced a number of hits like “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo,” Byrd went 10 years before releasing his latest album, All American Texan. ““These days my life has great balance, with my music being a part of it, not all of it,” he said. “I can honestly say I have never enjoyed it more.” The country star and son of Southeast Texas will headline the festivities of the Liberty Jubilee Friday
night, hosting the free street dance at the intersection of Trinity and Travis streets at 8 p.m. Byrd, a Vidor native, returned to the stage after a hiatus to focus on “his most precious thing: His family.” In Byrd’s official biography, he admits that wife Michelle, daughter Evee, and sons Logan and Jared took a backseat to his music career for years. But with a newfound sobriety, family purpose and a connection to music, Byrd stepped back in the spotlight in 2014 and has toured ever since. Earlier this year, Byrd even sat in with the Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont for the group’s second “Pops Concert” at the Julie Rogers theater. In a profile by the Beaumont Enterprise, Byrd said, “well, music is music when you get down to it. “Notes are notes and tempos are tempos. It is just a matter of finding the right feel between my band and the symphony. They will be reading music that was scored by Gary Parks, and my band will be p l ay i n g by ear and memory the way we always do. I believe after a good rehearsal we will be ready to deliver a great show.” Byrd became a household name on the country music scene in 1993 when his third single, called “Holdin’ Heaven”, off his MCA Records, self-titled debut album, hit the top of the Billboard country charts. The album also included the remake
hit of Johnny Paycheck’s “Someone to Give my Love to” cementing Byrd as a traditional country troubadour. The debut album went on to be certified gold, a reward signifying sales of more than 500,000 copies. Byrd’s second project, “No Ordinary Man”, kept building on the momentum. The first radio single from it, “Lifestyles of the Not-so Rich and Famous,” reached number four, followed by another top five hit, “The First Step”, then with the release of the smash, chart-topping hit “Watermelon Crawl” the second album crossed the half million sales mark and certified gold. The release of the fourth and last single on this project moved Byrd to the top of both the Billboard album and singles charts. The song was called “The Keeper of the Stars” and it shot to number one on the singles charts and pushed the album to double platinum status, which certifies sales of more than two million copies. “The Keeper of the Stars” won Academy of Country Music’s “Song of the Year” award in 1995. His third studio album, “Love Lesson” is one of Tracy’s favorites. It included the title track, another top five hit single for Byrd, also included were the top 15 singles, “Walking to Jerusalem” and “Heaven in My Woman’s Eyes”, Byrd’s personal favorite A fourth top-15 single was released called “4 to 1 in Atlanta” which Byrd performed live on the David Letterman Show. The “Love Lesson’s” album also reached sales of 500,000 copies certifying gold. “Big Love” became Byrd’s fourth studio album with its release in the fall of 1996. It spawned two more top five singles with the release of the title track and “Don’t Take Her She’s All I’ve Got.” The videos of both songs reached the top of CMT’s Video Chart and also earned Byrd his first TNN television special titled “Tracy Byrd’s Big Love” on which Byrd invited guest’s Johnny Paycheck, Mark Chesnutt, and Asleep at the Wheel. The album “Big Love” became Tracy’s fourth consecutive studio album to be certified gold, an almost unheard of feat. Tracy said that this meant more to him than anything because he knew fans weren’t just listening to his hit songs on the radio, they were laying down their hard-earned money to own a copy of their own, and that was flattering. The fifth project on MCA, titled “I’m From the Country,” contained the party song title track stating what most fans already knew: Tracy Byrd was from the country and sang country music. The CD also contained the ballad called “I Wanna Feel That Way Again.” Both songs reached the top five on the charts. It was at
PAGE 4 n MARCH 23, 2017 n THE VINDICATOR ly with the single “Put Your Hand In Mine.” Byrd has said that this album is the most traditional album he ever released and therefore his favorite. Byrd crossed into the new millennium with the release of his album “10 Rounds” It took off on the release of a duet with his longtime hometown buddy and hero Mark Chesnutt. The song was called “A Good Way to get on my Bad Side” and was a milestone for Byrd to finally get to record with his good friend. Then came the release of the party song of the year, “10 Rounds with Jose Cuervo,” which shot to the top of the Billboard Charts to notch Byrd’s third #1 single. He also hit the top 10 with his Spanish guitar flared “Just Let Me be in Love”. Next came “The Truth About Men”, which first released the title track which was a comedic look at what men are really like, it was a team effort with Tracy’s buddies Blake Shelton, Andy Griggs, and Troy and Eddie of Montgomery Gentry lending their talents to the song and the video. This album also released the top five smash “The Drinkin’ Bone,” which became a crowd favorite sing-along song. Byrd was then moved to BNA Records, the sister label of RCA, to release his second greatest hits project, which debuted in the top five of the album charts and became Byrd’s sixth gold album, and sent him to over six million records sold. Byrd then left the major label and released an album on his own, appropriately titled, “Different Things.” Although this project was not commercially successful, it garnered Byrd his highest critical acclaim of his career with Billboard magazine choosing it as one of their Top 10 Country Albums of the Year. Through the years, Byrd became a promoter favorite on the road, performing more than 4,000 exciting shows across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia from 1992 until 2009.
this same time that TNN Outdoors recruited Byrd as the TV host of their Weekend Outdoor Broadcast. Tracy, a wellknown outdoorsman, was perfect for the job and continued his hosting responsibilities for three years. At this point in his career, Byrd was looking for a change in labels, but still was under contract with MCA Records who were preparing a release of “Keepers: Greatest Hits”
containing all the hits from Byrd’s catalog of songs. The album quickly earned another gold record award for Byrd, but he was trying to persuade MCA to let him out of his contract so he could pursue a different direction. MCA finally allowed Byrd out of his contract and he quickly signed with RCA Records to work on “It’s About Time”, released in November 1999. That album also reached the top 10 quick-
Special guest
The Timothy Wayne band will open for guitarist Jon Kirkham teamed up to form Tracy Byrd on the Liberty Jubilee’s main the Texas-based band, which plays counstage Friday night. Timothy Wayne and try, southern rock and blues.
THE VINDICATOR n MARCH 23, 2017 n PAGE 5
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PAGE 6 n MARCH 23, 2017 n THE VINDICATOR
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Liberty’s hometown paper since 1887
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