Lionel Burke Cartwright (born February 10, 1960) 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, ...

artist. Between 1988 and 1992, Cartwright charted twelve singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts, including a 1 single in 1991's "

Leap of Faith A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason. Overview The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he never used the term, as he ...

". He also charted in the Top 10 on the same chart with "Give Me His Last Chance", "I Watched It All (On My Radio)" and "My Heart is Set on You". Cartwright has also released three studio albums, all on

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

Biography

Cartwright was born in

Gallipolis, Ohio Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of Chillicothe and 44 miles northwest of Charlesto ...

, but was raised in

Glen Dale, West Virginia Glen Dale is a city in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,514 at the 2020 census. Glen Dale was incorporated in 1924 ...

. Cartwright was interested in music from an early age. He first took piano lessons as a child, before going on to master guitar and eight other instruments. Lionel first performed publicly at age ten in community gatherings. allmusic ((( Lionel Cartwright > Biography )))/ref> He also went on to serve as performer, arranger and musical director on

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On Septembe ...

's musical

sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...

'' I 40 Paradise'' and ''Pickin' at the Paradise''. Later on, Cartwright moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and worked as a demo singer. He was eventually spotted by Tony Brown, a producer at

, while performing in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. Brown thought that Cartwright needed more experience before being signed to a record deal, and by 1986, Cartwright was signed to MCA. Cartwright's

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 was released in 1989 under the production of Tony Brown. Lead-off single "You're Gonna Make Her Mine" charted at No. 45 on the country charts, followed by three straight Top 20 hits: "Like Father, Like Son" at No. 14, "Give Me His Last Chance" at No. 3 and "In My Eyes" at No. 12. Cartwright wrote nine of the album's ten songs, and played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

on it. His next album, ''

I Watched It on the Radio I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

'', followed in 1990. It was led off by the No. 8 "I Watched It All (On My Radio)", which he co-wrote with

Don Schlitz Donald Alan Schlitz Jr. (born August 29, 1952) is an American country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammy Awards, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards. In 1993, he was inducted int ...

. After it came the No. 7 "My Heart Is Set on You" and No. 31 "Say It's Not True". The album was also his highest peak on

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

, at No. 21. Brown produced this album as well. '' Chasin' the Sun'' was the title of his third and final MCA release, which was issued in 1991. Unlike with his first two albums, Cartwright worked with several producers and studio musicians. Although the album produced his only No. 1 country hit in its lead-off single "Leap of Faith", the other two singles were not as successful: "What Kind of Fool" reached No. 24 and "Family Tree" missed the Top 40, with a No. 62 peak. After the latter, he charted two more singles ("Be My Angel" and "Standing on the Promises") which were never included on an album, and left MCA in 1992. He wrote "If That's What You Call Love" on

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that re ...

's 1997 album '' Love Travels'', a song which also featured him on piano and background vocals. Since exiting MCA, Cartwright has composed themes for television series, including '' 30 Minute Meals''. By 2013, he had become worship pastor at HopePark Church in Nashville.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Lionel American country singer-songwriters 1960 births Living people Country musicians from Ohio People from Gallipolis, Ohio MCA Records artists People from Glen Dale, West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia Singer-songwriters from Ohio Wheeling University alumni Singer-songwriters from West Virginia