Buddy Jewell Jr. (born April 2, 1961) is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer who was the first winner on the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
talent show ''
Nashville Star
''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the l ...
''. Signed to
Columbia Records in 2003, Jewell made his debut on the American country music scene with the release of his
self-titled album, which produced the singles "
Help Pour Out the Rain" and "
Sweet Southern Comfort". Another album, ''
Times Like These'', followed in 2005.
Biography
Buddy Jewell was born in
Lepanto, Arkansas on April 2, 1961.
He began playing guitar after buying one from a schoolmate during childhood, and saved the money that he earned bagging groceries to buy guitar lesson books. Jewell also listened to the music that his father, also named Buddy, played for him, and was taught by his uncle Clyde how to play "
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
"What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously, a ...
".
By age fifteen, Jewell had also taught himself how to play
Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone."
After graduating from
Osceola High School, he attended
Arkansas State University
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...
where he was a member of
Pi Kappa Alpha. Jewell majored in television and radio in college, although he left in his junior year to marry, despite the marriage only lasting two-and-a-half years.
Jewell later moved to
Camden, Arkansas at age 21 in pursuit of a musical career. There, he discovered a band called White Oak, which was seeking a new lead singer.
This band was sponsored by a booking agency whose roster also included
Canyon and a band founded by a then-unknown
Trace Adkins
Trace may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995
* ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993
* Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band
* ''The Trace'' (album)
Other uses in arts and entertainment
* ''Trace' ...
.
After touring with White Oak for four years, he moved to
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas, where he took a role in a gunfighing show at
Six Flags over Texas
Six Flags Over Texas is a 212-acre (86 ha) amusement park, in Arlington, Texas, east of Fort Worth and west of Dallas. It is the first amusement park in the Six Flags chain, and features themed areas and attractions. The park opened on August 5, ...
. He later entered a singing competition that was sponsored by the band
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
, whose music was also an inspiration to him.
He won the competition's top prize, which was an opening slot for the band.
After winning the competition, he competed on ''
Star Search
''Star Search'' was an American television show that was produced by T.P.E./Rysher Entertainment from 1983 to 1995, hosted by Ed McMahon, and created by Al Masini. A relaunch was produced by 2929 Productions from 2003 to 2004. On both versio ...
'' where he won Male Vocalist on several episodes.
He later decided to move to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
in 1993, and found work two years later as a demo singer. As a demo singer, he recorded more than 5000 demos. Among the songs that Jewell recorded demos for were "
Write This Down" for
George Strait, "
A Little Past Little Rock
"A Little Past Little Rock" is a song written by Brett Jones, Tony Lane and Jess Brown, and recorded by American country music artist Lee Ann Womack. It was released in June 1998 as the first single from her album ''Some Things I Know''. The son ...
" for
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack Liddell (; born August 19, 1966) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Her 2000 single, " I Hope You Dance" was a major crossover music hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart and the Top 15 ...
, "
The One
The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung g ...
" for
Gary Allan
Gary Allan Herzberg (born December 5, 1967) is an American country music singer. Signed to Decca Records in 1996, Allan made his country music debut with the release of his single " Her Man", the lead-off to his gold-certified debut album '' U ...
and "
You're Beginning to Get to Me" for
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You", which reached Number One on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Song ...
.
Jewell also self-released albums entitled ''One in a Row'' and ''Far Enough Away'' in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
''Nashville Star'' and major-label music career
In 2003, Jewell competed in the first season of the television singing competition ''
Nashville Star
''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the l ...
''. He became the show's first winner that season, and was soon signed to a recording contract with
Columbia Records Nashville.
2003–2004: ''Buddy Jewell''
On May 5, 2003, two days after his win, Jewell's debut single "
Help Pour Out the Rain" was shipped to radio. It became the highest-debuting single by a new country artist since the singles charts were first tabulated via
Nielsen SoundScan in 1990. This song reached number three on the country charts and 29 on the pop charts. It was the first single from his
self-titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
debut album, which was produced by former
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
artist
Clint Black
Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on the ...
and was recorded in ten days.
''Buddy Jewell'' sold 500,000 copies and earned a gold certification from the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), in addition to producing a second number three country hit in "
Sweet Southern Comfort", which also reached number 40 on the pop charts. This song was followed by the number 38 country single "One Step at a Time".
2004–2005: ''Times Like These''
Jewell's second album for Columbia, ''
Times Like These'', was released in 2005. This album did not perform as well at radio, with its first single ("If She Were Any Other Woman") reaching number 27 on the charts, and the second single ("So Gone") failing to chart entirely.
By the end of the year, Jewell was dropped from Columbia's roster.
2005–2011: ''Country Enough''
He did not release another single until "This Ain't Mexico" in 2008, a self-released single. This was included on an album entitled ''Country Enough'', which was released on Diamond Dust Records in 2008. In May 2011 Jewell released a new album "I Surrender All". He released two songs from this album "Jesus, Elvis, And Me" which was a country dance hit and "Somebody Who Would Die For You" which went up to No. 1 on the Christian Charts.
2015: ''My Father's Country''
In 2015, Jewell signed with
Lamon Records
Lamon Records is an indie record label that was established in North Carolina before moving to Nashville, Tennessee. Lamon Records concentrates its efforts in country, bluegrass, alternative and Americana music, as well as all forms of Christi ...
in Nashville and recorded an album produced with
Grammy nominated artist-producer
Dave Moody. The album ''My Father's Country'' featured a collection of classic country songs, including
Abilene,
Behind Closed Doors,
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...
and other songs Jewell grew up listening to his father sing. Buddy Jewell was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame on Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at the Noah's Event Center in Little Rock, AR.
2017–2019
In 2017 Jewell recorded an EP album "Reloaded". His single from the album is "I'm There" and it went to number one on the Power Source Christian Country charts.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Music videos
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewell, Buddy
1961 births
Living people
People from Lepanto, Arkansas
American country singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Country musicians from Arkansas
Nashville Star contestants
Nashville Star winners
Columbia Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Arkansas