Singer/songwriter
Jim Lauderdale helped lay out the blueprint for the
Americana movement of the '90s, earning high critical marks for an eclectic series of albums that spanned hard
country, slick pop, rootsy
rock & roll,
blues,
folk,
R&B, and
bluegrass. He never sold that many records on his own, but his compositions were recorded -- often with considerable success -- by a number of
contemporary country stars, including
George Strait,
Patty Loveless,
Vince Gill,
Mark Chesnutt,
Kathy Mattea, and
George Jones, among others.
Lauderdale was born in Statesville, NC, in 1957 and grew up loving
country music; however, he was also drawn to the theater and later moved to New York, where he landed roles in two national touring productions.
He subsequently settled in Los Angeles, where he began playing the now-legendary alt-country hot spot the Palomino Club. With
Dwight Yoakam producer Pete Anderson behind the boards, he recorded a track for the seminal compilation A Town South of Bakersfield, which helped him -- briefly -- land a record deal with CBS. He completed an album in 1989, but the label declined to release it; it finally appeared over ten years later on an overseas label as
Point of No Return.
Undaunted,
Lauderdale signed with the Bluewater music publishing firm in Nashville, where his compositions found immediate success in the
contemporary country world. Additionally, he sang backup on records by
Yoakam,
Lucinda Williams, and
Rosie Flores and toured with everyone from
Freedy Johnston,
Nick Lowe, and
Hootie & the Blowfish to
Johnny Cash and
Merle Haggard. He earned another shot with Reprise and issued his debut album, Planet of Love, in 1991, with production from
Rodney Crowell and John Leventhal. The album was greeted with strong reviews by many critics, who hailed
Lauderdale as a major new talent. Still, it would be three years before he would release another record; he returned in 1994, now on Atlantic, and issued two acclaimed albums over the next two years in Pretty Close to the Truth and Every Second Counts. In 1996, he moved over to roots label Rounder's Upstart subsidiary for
Persimmons, yet another critical success.
Hopping to BNA,
Lauderdale released Whisper in 1998, then returned to the majors on RCA, issuing the somewhat slicker-sounding, more commercial Onward Through It All in 1999. That same year,
Lauderdale also took a detour into
traditional bluegrass, recording the collaborative album I Feel Like Singing Today with the legendary
Ralph Stanley for Rebel.
Lauderdale finally found a more permanent home on Dualtone and debuted with 2000's
The Other Sessions, a return to hardcore
country. 2002 brought two projects: another album with
Stanley, called Lost in the Lonesome Pines, and a
country record called
The Hummingbirds. Ever prolific,
Lauderdale released Wait Til Spring in 2003, Headed for the Hills in 2004, Bluegrass in 2006, and The Bluegrass Diaries in 2007. Honey Songs, credited to Jim Lauderdale & the Dream Players, was issued in 2008. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
(
collapse)
