ABOUT JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY:

"I never have and never will cut songs I don't believe in. I know I can always sing those songs - whether I do it for 20,000 or my family. Those songs can't be taken away from me, so I try to choose songs that will last." - John Michael Montgomery   

John Michael Montgomery has turned an uncanny ability to relate to fans into one of country music's most storied careers. Behind the string of hit records, the roomful of awards and the critical and fan accolades that have defined his phenomenal success lies a connection that goes beyond his undeniable talent and his proven knack for picking hits. Since the days when "Life's A Dance" turned him from an unknown quantity into a national star, John Michael's rich baritone has carried that most important of assets--believability. Few artists in any genre sing with more heart than this handsome Kentucky-born artist.

It is readily apparent in love songs that have helped set the standard for a generation. Songs like "I Swear," "I Love the Way You Love Me" and "I Can Love You Like That" still resonate across the landscape--pop icon and country newcomer Jessica Simpson cited "I Love The Way You Love Me" as an influence in a recent interview. It is apparent in the 2004 hit "Letters From Home," one of the most moving tributes to the connection between soldiers and their families ever recorded, and in "The Little Girl," a tale of redemption that plumbs both the harrowing and the uplifting. It is apparent even in the pure fun that has always found its way into John Michael's repertoire--songs like "Be My Baby Tonight" and "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)," where John Michael's vocal earnestness takes musical whimsy to another level.

Now, with the release of Time Flies, which he co-produced with Byron Gallimore, John Michael takes another big step forward, strengthening his position as one of the most versatile and compelling vocalists on the country scene. With songs like "Forever" and "If You Ever Went Away," he proves he is still the master of the power ballad, a man capable of bringing honest emotion to life in song. He brings his ever-present sense of humor to bear on "With My Shirt On" and "Mad Cowboy Disease," songs with wickedly skewed sensibilities. With songs like "Drunkard's Prayer" and "All In A Day" he explores two dramatic facets of human existence, and with "Brothers Till The End," John Michael celebrates the family background that led both him and his brother Eddie, of Montgomery Gentry, from a small-time family band to the top of the charts. The emotional centerpiece for John Michael is "All In A Day," the song that contains the lyric that gave the album its name.

"That song talks about how time flies," he says, "and I got to thinking that it seems like yesterday that 'Life's A Dance' was out and people were asking me, 'Where would you like to be in 10 or 15 years?' 'Still here!' was my answer and, thankfully, I am still here. Longevity was more important to me than anything else, and to still be able to do something I love so much is wonderful. Still, it's gone by so quickly that I thought, 'I'm going to build an album around that.' That's where the shape of this album comes from."

Each song, he says, reminds him of an era in his life and an artist or style of music. "What Did I Do" is reminiscent of "the gritty Hank Jr. stuff we played in our honky-tonk days," while "Loving And Letting Go" "reminds me a bit of Lionel Ritchie and the Eagles, artists that helped mold me into the artist I am today."

Beyond that, he maintains, he selected material the way he always has. "When I go after songs," he says, "it's almost like we're looking for each other. It's like digging for rocks until now and then I find the shape I'm looking for, and one by one I see how they fit together and where it's all going."

It is never, he adds, a matter of second-guessing his fans.

"I always told myself that if I ever figured out what made the fans tick and what it was about me that they liked, I'd bottle it up and I'd own the most successful record label in the world."

The irony surrounding that tongue-in-cheek assessment is that John Michael has indeed founded his own label--Stringtown Records, named for a hamlet near his Kentucky home. He is one of a handful of long-established stars able to take the next step and become label executives as well as artists. John Michael launched Stringtown after parting company with his last label, at a time when major and larger independent record companies in Nashville were retrenching and consolidating.

"I didn't know where those labels were going," he says with a grin, "but I knew where I wanted to go. I felt like it was time to branch out on my own. I had learned the executive side of this business enough to start my own label, and I knew that there were going to be a lot of great executives looking for work as the labels downsized."

Now that he has launched Time Flies, he is looking to expand Stringtown's reach.

"I'll continue making records for myself," he says, "but I'd also love to find other artists to produce, hoping I can open some doors and make some dreams come true like mine did. I love finding hit records and producing them, and I see that down the road for myself."

It is a vision whose origins lie in deceptively modest beginnings. John Michael Montgomery was born in Danville, Kentucky, to parents who imparted a lifelong love of music.

"Where most people have chairs and sofas in their living rooms," laughs John Michael, "we had amplifiers and drum kits."

The family band played on weekends throughout the area, and John Michael and his brother Eddie eagerly soaked up everything about it.

"To a certain extent," he says, "my dad always had a natural ability to draw fans and entertain people; I don't care if it was on the front porch, the living room, or on a stage. I think that transitioned to me and my brother being able to do that on stage."

John Michael took over lead singing chores after his parents divorced, and he performed for a while in a band called Early Tymz with Eddie and their friend Troy Gentry. Nashville talent scouts began hearing about and then seeing John Michael perform and by the early '90s he had a record deal.

The hits followed steadily, with songs like "Rope The Moon," "If You've Got Love," "No Man's Land," "Cowboy Love," "As Long As I Live," "Friends" and "How Was I To Know" establishing him as one of the elite acts of the era. He received the CMA Horizon award and was named the ACM's Top New Vocalist, setting off a long series of awards that included the CMA's Single and Song of the Year, Billboard's Top Country Artist, and a Grammy nomination. Heavy touring meant he kept the close touch with fans he had begun in the clubs back home.

"You get to know your fans and what they like more and more through the years," he says, "and you kind of gravitate towards one another."

Indeed, he has always had an extraordinarily close relationship with his fans, and they have stayed with him through good and bad times.

Just before launching Time Flies, John Michael let them know that he was entering treatment to deal with an addiction that was an outgrowth of anxiety and insomnia.

"Luckily, I woke up one day and said, 'I've had enough. I need some help with this thing.' The hardest thing for most people to do is ask for help. I had felt claustrophobic on the bus to the point where I didn't want to get on it, and now I enjoy getting on the bus a lot more."

That, of course, is great news for both John Michael and his fans, and he is back out continuing the legacy of performance that has kept him going since he was a boy.

"We were weekend players at the beginning, and then it turned into five nights a week," he says.

"Then we got record deals, and we were still 'weekend superstars,' only now it was on much bigger stages."

Asked what he thinks gave him the edge in a career that calls millions but gives stardom to just a few, he pauses, then thinks back to the legacy of his parents.

"I reckon it was good genes and good blood," he says with a smile. Few who know the depth and breadth of his own growing legacy would disagree.

www.myspace.com/johnmichaelmontgomery
www.stringtownrecords.com

Discography

Time Flies  --  Stringtown Records  --  Sept 2008
Letters From Home  --  Warner Bros.  --  April 2004
Mr. Snowman  --  Warner Bros.  --  October 2003
Very Best of John Michael Montgomery  --  Warner Bros.  --  August 2003
Pictures  --  Warner Bros.  --  October 2002
Love Songs  --  Atlantic  --  February 2000
Home To You  --  Atlantic  --  May 1999
Leave A Mark  --  Atlantic  --  May 1998
Greatest Hits  --  Atlantic  --  October 1997
What I Do the Best  --  Atlantic  --  Sept 1996
 John Michael Montgomery  --  Atlantic  --  March 1995
Kickin' It Up  --  Atlantic  --  January 1994
Life's A Dance  --  Atlantic  --  January 1992  
 
Awards

1996:

Grammy Nominee for Best Country Album (John Michael Montgomery) and Best Male Vocal   ("I Can Love You Like That")
1996 ACM Nomination for Video Of The Year - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction   Incident)"
1996 TNN/Music City News Nomination for Video of  the Year - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"

1995:

Billboard's Top Country Artist · Billboard's Top Country Male Artist
Billboard's Top Country Single- "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"
CMT #2 Video Of The Year - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"
TNN/Music City News Nomination for Single Of The Year - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"
ACM Single Record of the Year/Song of the Year: "I Swear"
Billboard Music Awards: Country Artist - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"
CMA Nomination for Album Of The Year - John Michael Montgomery
CMA Song Of The Year - "SOLD! (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"
1995 Reba Fan Mailing List Awards: Oct-Jan Male Vocalist, Male Single: "I Swear" and Male Album: John Michael Montgomery

1994:

Country Radio Awards - Single Of The Year - "I Swear"
TNN/Music City News-Star of Tomorrow
TNN/Music City News-Single Of The Year Nominee
CMA Horizon Award
CMA Single of The Year: "I Swear"
ACM Song of the Year: "I Love The Way You Love Me"
ACM Top New Male Vocalist
American Songwriter magazine's Country Artist of the Year
Billboard magazine's Single of the Year: "I Swear"
Radio and Records magazine's Single of the Year: "I Swear"
American Music Award, Best New Country Artist
CMT #1 Video Of The Year - "I Swear"
 
1993:

Jukebox Rising Star Award (Male)
CMT #8 Video Of The Year - "I Love the Way You Love Me"
 
 
STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS FOR "TIME FLIES"

WHAT DID I DO--That song is just cool as hell. It has real personality. There've been many times I've walked around on my bad days when I think, "How did I get myself into this or out of that, and how did I get here in the first place?" Sometimes it's hard to believe I have what I have, and this is just a cool song that deals with that. 

LET'S GET LOST--That's just a romantic love song that I think was very well written. It just makes me feel like going out and getting a blanket and taking my wife and kids out on a picnic. It's a very sensitive yet to-the-point love song, the kind I always seem to find a place for on my albums.

IF YOU EVER WENT AWAY--I think that's just John Michael from one end of the spectrum to the other. It's got a good story line and it definitely hits home with me. It was something we cut on the last session and I knew it had to be a single.

FOREVER--I would have to say that is pure power ballad, pure John Michael. It chases both sides--the sensitive side and that rock side. I think the thing just rocks, and I expect that one to be a single as well.

WITH MY SHIRT ON--I think this song has huge potential. I'm doing it in my show right now and people are loving it. It's different than anything I've heard. I mean, who would have a song about a guy worrying about his belly showing while having sex? It's a real sleeper, a song that could really catch people off-guard and wind up in a lot of people's iPods.

MAD COWBOY DISEASE--That's my little strange sense of humor going on. This takes me back to those long nights of partying in the night clubs. I just thought it was funny, especially the Mel Tillis part, and I like a little humor on every album.

LOVING AND LETTING GO--This has got that kind of Lionel Ritchie feel. There's nothing really deep about it--I guess it's just my "groovy" song of the album.

FLY ON--I almost cut this a couple of albums ago, and when it came across my desk again I called the publishing company and said, "I want to do this. I've loved this song for years." There's a very epic, movie kind of feel about this thign that just pulls you in.

DRUNKARD'S PRAYER--My brother and I were riding in the back of a vehicle in Nashville and the guy driving said, "You've got to check this out." He played us this song and Eddie put it on hold for Montgomery Gentry, but they never did cut it. I was doing my vocals for this album in Eddie's studio and I asked him about it, and wound up calling the publisher and cutting it myself. I always reserve a spot on every album for a very traditional country song, and this is the one this time.

ALL IN A DAY--This song just blew me away. I remember listening to the demo and it put this big clock in my head. I was sitting there watching the hands go around as this guy sang, and I thought, "I can rewind this song and start it over but I can't do that with life. What's gone by has gone by." It was the most significant pitch of the album for me and it got the album going in the direction I wanted it to go.

BROTHERS TIL THE END--I had been writing for the album but I wasn't coming up with anything I was really happy with. Then Gary Hannan introduced me to Phil O'Donnell, who grew up like I did in a family band. I had always wanted to start a song with a line about my mom playing drums in our band, which she did, and as the song came together I talked about Eddie and me growing up a year and a half apart in this life we're in now. In fact, I wanted to bring Eddie in as a writer, but we could never get our schedules to work out.