Marcus Spencer Hummon (born December 28, 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. He is the father of country singer

Levi Hummon Levi Hummon is an American country music, country musician. Hummon is the son of fellow country musician Marcus Hummon. Levi Hummon released his first self-titled EP in 2016. In 2018, he released his second EP titled ''Patient''. Hummon has opened ...

Early life

Hummon was born in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

Career

After several years of playing in various bands, he moved to

Nashville 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 the ...

where he was signed to a songwriting contract. A record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

soon followed. His debut album ''All in Good Time'' in 1995 produced a No. 73 single on the

Hot Country Songs 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 with "God's Country." From 1999-2001, Hummon was a member of the

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

band

The Raphaels The Raphaels were an alternative country music band, fronted by Scottish guitarist Stuart Adamson, formerly of Skids and Big Country. The duo also featured Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon. The duo only toured briefly playing various dates ...

along with former

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...

lyricist and guitarist

Stuart Adamson William Stuart Adamson (11 April 1958 – 16 December 2001) was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he ...

only release was 1998's Supernatural on

Track Records Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most succe ...

. Hummon also released several studio albums on his own label, Velvet Armadillo. In 2006, his composition "

Bless the Broken Road "Bless the Broken Road" is a song that has been recorded by several American country music artists. Co-written by Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, and Jeff Hanna in 1994, it tells how the journey through relationship heartbreak and disappointment was ...

" co-written with

Jeff Hanna Jeffrey R. Hanna (born July 11, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter and performance musician, best known for his association with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. His professional music career has spanned six decades. Early life Hanna was born in ...

and Bobby Boyd in 1994, won a

Grammy Award for Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter. There ha ...

. Hanna's

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

recorded the song. Later Hummon recorded his own version followed by

Melodie Crittenden Melodie Crittenden (born 1968) is an American country and Christian music artist. Her first album was recorded at the age of nine in Norman, Oklahoma, and was titled ''Melodie Sings''. She traveled around Oklahoma with her family band "The Crit ...

, the Grammy-winning version by

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

, and

Selah (; hbo, סֶלָה, selā) is a word used 74 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, though various interpretations are given. It is probably either a liturgical-musical mark or an instruction on the reading ...

in a version with Melodie Crittenden. Hummon has also co-written songs for many country music artists, including Top 40 singles for

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

Wynonna Judd Wynonna Ellen Judd or simply Wynonna ( ; born Christina Claire Ciminella; May 30, 1964) is an American country music singer. She is one of the most widely recognized and awarded female country singers. In all, she has had 19 No. 1 singles, incl ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

as well as three Number One country hits: "

Cowboy Take Me Away "Cowboy Take Me Away" is a song by recorded American country music group Dixie Chicks, written by Martie Maguire and Marcus Hummon. It was released in November 1999 as the second single from their album ''Fly''. The song's title is derived from ...

" by the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

, "

Born to Fly ''Born to Fly'' is the third studio album by American country music artist Sara Evans. It was released in October 2000 via RCA Records Nashville. The album produced four singles with its title track, "I Could Not Ask for More" (a cover of an Edw ...

" by

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the '' Billboard'' country songs ch ...

, and the

version of "

". Hummon co-produced '' Last of the Good Guys'', the debut album for the country group

One Flew South One Flew South was an American country music group composed of Eddie Bush, Chris Roberts, and Royal Reed, all three of whom sing lead vocals and play acoustic guitar. The group's first recording was a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 Disney anim ...

in addition to co-writing several of the songs on it.

List of singles composed by Marcus Hummon

*Alabama – "The Cheap Seats" *

Suzy Bogguss Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

– "No Way Out" *Dixie Chicks – " Ready to Run", "

" *Sara Evans – "

" *

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point of ...

– "Every Little Word" *Wynonna Judd – " Only Love" *

Lauren Lucas Lauren Lucas (born in Columbia, South Carolina, United States) is an American country music artist. She is now with the band Farewell Angelina, being one singer out of four signed with a record label. In her career, she has been signed to a dev ...

– "What You Ain't Gonna Get" *Tim McGraw – " One of These Days" *One Flew South – "My Kind of Beautiful" *

(first of five artists) – "

" *

SHeDAISY SHeDAISY () was an American country music vocal group from Magna, Utah. The group consisted of sisters Kristyn Robyn Osborn (born August 24, 1970), Kelsi Marie Osborn (born November 21, 1974), and Kassidy Lorraine Osborn (born October 30, 1976). ...

– "Get Over Yourself" *

Steve Wariner Steven Noel Wariner (born December 25, 1954) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late 1 ...

– "Road Trippin'" *

Western Flyer Western Flyer was an American country music band founded in 1992 by Danny Myrick (lead vocals, bass guitar), Chris Marion (keyboards, vocals), T. J. Klay (harmonica, mandolin, vocals), Bruce Gust (drums, vocals), Steve Charles (lead guitar, vocal ...

– "Friday Night Stampede" *

Bryan White Bryan Shelton White (born February 17, 1974) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's '' Between Now ...

– "Love Is the Right Place" *

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit ...

– "Jezebel" Hummon previously recorded "Bless the Broken Road" and "One of These Days" on his 1995 debut album ''All in Good Time''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hummon, Marcus 1960 births American country harmonica players American country singer-songwriters Grammy Award winners Living people Williams College alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Singer-songwriters from Washington, D.C.