Jim Witter (born November 2, 1964) is a Canadian award-winning

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, ...

and

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

singer/songwriter. Ten of Witter's songs reached the top 10 on Canadian country radio.

Biography

Jim Witter grew up playing music. In 1982, he performed four songs on the "Music for Safe Water" compilation by 1280 CHAM radio. As a teenager, while still in high school, Jim honed his musical talents by playing evenings at a piano bar and restaurant called Snuggles, in Hamilton Ont. In 1990, one of Witter's demos caught the attention of a

Sony Music Canada Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

executive. Within three years, Witter was signed to FRE Records. His debut album, ''Jim Witter'', was released in 1993. The first single, "Everything and More," entered the National Country Chart at No. 40, at the time a first for a debut Canadian single. Every single released from the album reached the top 10 on the Canadian country singles chart, including "Distant Drum," "Stolen Moments," "Sweet Sweet Poison" and "Chevy Coupe." Witter received a

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

Juno nomination for Best New Solo Artist, an award that covered all genres of music, as well as a nomination for Best Country Male Vocalist. Witter signed a songwriting deal with Curb Records in 1999. That resulted in a record deal and the release of his second album, ''All My Life'', in both Canada and the United States. He continued his string of hits in Canada with songs like "All My Life," "Jumpin' Right In," "Tough As A Pickup Truck," "One Beat at a Time" and "One Hundred Years." Unfortunately, none of his singles reached '' Billboard's'' Hot Country Songs chart in the U.S. When it came time to go back into the studio, Witter was encouraged by Mike Curb to record a Christian record. The result was his third album, 2003's ''Forgiveness''. The album received a nomination at the 2004

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

for Album of the Year. Witter is currently performing in The Piano Men, a tribute to the music of the 1970s, performing the songs of Billy Joel and Elton John.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and recognition

;

Canadian Country Music Awards The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The groundwork for the association began on June 3rd, 1973 when a g ...

* 1994 Video of the Year: "Stolen Moments" * 1995 Vocal Collaboration Of The Year * 1996 Vocal Collaboration Of The Year ;

* 2004 nominee, Inspirational Album of the Year: ''Forgiveness'' ;

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

* 1994 nominee, Country Male Vocalist of the Year * 1994 nominee, Best New Solo Artist * 1995 nominee, Country Male Vocalist of the Year * 2000 nominee, Best Country Male Artist * 2004 nominee, Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year: ''Forgiveness''

References

External links

The Piano Men Starring Jim Witter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witter, Jim 1964 births Living people Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singers Canadian performers of Christian music Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian male singer-songwriters