Tony Ramey is an

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and

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 and songwriter. During his career, he has recorded eleven albums and EPs and had dozens of songs recorded by other country music artists. His repertoire of songs reaches over 3,400 in number and his songwriting career spans twenty-four years as a professional. Ramey wrote and performed the title song for the movie, ''The Last Ride'' a fact-based drama about the final days of troubled country-music legend

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

. His music can also be heard on the soundtrack for Pure Country 2: The Gift. He has performed a duet with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

on his ''Soul Survivor'' album, which brought some acclaim to his status as a troubadour. His songs have appeared in television as well on daytime drama series “

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

” and on outdoor television shows such as “Canada in the Rough”.

Early life

(Tony) Anthony Ramey was born on April 17, 1974, in

Kenova Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers. Located near a tristate border, the city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va). Founded in ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He grew up in Kenova where his father was a journeyman for Owens-Illinois Glass Company and his mother was a law department assistant. Tony has one older brother, Aca Ramey, a federal park ranger in

Huntington, WV Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A ...

for the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. Tony began earning

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

from his songs when he was only seventeen years old—garnering song credits on Nashville independent artists and acts working out of Branson Missouri. After graduating from

Ceredo-Kenova High School Spring Valley High School is a high school located in an unincorporated portion of Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, with a postal address in the nearby city of Huntington. It is part of the Wayne County Board of Education system. Mis ...

, Tony earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

. While in college, Tony formed the Dixie Flyer Band, a country music

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

who also played Tony's original songs he had begun writing at the age of 11. After winning the True-Value Country Showdown, Dixie Flyer toured extensively throughout

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

, performing at fairs, festivals, and other music venues. Tony 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 ...

and later worked on a PhD in English Literature with Concentrations in

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

, Romanticism, and American Literature. His scholarship and work in

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...

garnered
Wolfe Award
from MTSU's graduate school for excellence in critical writing and research.

Music career

Ramey's frequent performances included opening for

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

Dan Seals Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009) was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who charted ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

, and other

artists. Ramey was offered a deal on Polydor Polygram/

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, but shortly thereafter the Polygram division was bought by A&M of California and the Nashville office was closed. Ramey began working with

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...

, a producer and publisher on Nashville's

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...

. Ramey's first gold record as a songwriter, "I Don't Want This Song to End, was recorded by

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Montgomery began singing with his brother Eddie, who would later become known as one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, before beginning his major-label solo ca ...

. Several years later, Tony and Tom Collins amicably parted ways. Not long after, Ramey was invited to do a songwriting round at the

Bluebird Café The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club features acoustic music performed by both established singer-songwriters, and cover artists. The Bluebird receives over 70,000 visitors annually. T ...

. While performing at Bluebird, Ramey was seen by the creative director of Muy Bueno Music, owned by country music artist

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

. While at Muy Bueno, Ramey amassed a catalog of more than 900 songs and several country Top Forty, international Top Forty, and

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

and

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

hits. In 2007, Tony left Muy Bueno to sign with Cherry Lane Music of New York, which began by publishing songs from the iconic

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. Ramey's songs were performed on television and in film, and by Canadian, Australian, and European musicians. While at Cherry Lane, Ramey produced and released his self-titled fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. When BMG Germany acquired Cherry Lane in 2010, Ramey joined Davis Music Group in Nashville as creative director/songwriter for the company's publishing division. His stint there would only last a year and the road would call him out again to begin touring as a troubadour. In the spring of 2011, Tony moved to

Greenville, Texas Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estimated population was 28,827. ...

, where he is continuing to write music, and has undertaken a concert tour throughout the US. After moving to Texas, he recorded CDs ''Throwback'', ''Soul Survivor'' (which features Willie Nelson), and ''The'' ''Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean''. He is the recipient of th
Country Music Association of Texas
Independent Artist of the Year Award in 2016. In 2015, Country Music icon Ray Price recorded a song Tony co-wrote calle
"No More Songs to Sing"
for his ''Beauty Is: The Last Sessions'' Album. Most recently (2015-16),

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

recorded Tony Ramey's song "Oughta Miss Me By Now" and Marcus Lindsey of The Marcus Lindsey Band recorded "Too Much Ain't Enough" in 2015 for his self-titled debut album ''Marcus Lindsey''. His song credits on current releases include the 2018 Spotify and Texas Country Radio hit "Any Night in Texas," the title song from

Jon Wolfe Jon Wolfe is an American country music singer-songwriter. Career Jon Wolfe was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Miami, Oklahoma. He grew up singing in church and was first interested in classic pop music. His stepfather, a bass player in a ...

's 2018 album release, and "A Country Boy's Life Well Lived from the same collection."

Career and awards

Gold records *I Don’t Want This Song To End by

(Album: Leave A Mark) *Second Chance by

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

(Album: Inside Out) *Hot Grease and Zydeco by

(Album: Twang) *Something To Write Home About by

Craig Morgan Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. A veteran of the United States Army as a forward observer, Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for that ...

(Album: Craig Morgan) Awards *“American Idol Underground” - Winner, Country music genre (March 2006) *"Country Music Association of Texas" - Winner, Independent Artist of the Year Award (2016) *"Broadcast Music Incorporated" - Winner, BMI Award for "Make Up in Love" as one of the most played songs of 2000.

Songwriter's credits

Discography

*Tony Ramey and the Dixie Flyer Band (Copper Creek Records, 1994) *True Calling (Copper’s Creek Records, 1997) *Places (Music Mill/Copper Creek Records, 2004) *Tony Ramey (Airastar/Copper Creek Records, 2006) *Is It Worth My Broken Heart (EverSong Records, 2008) *Once Again (Dig It Deep Records, 2010) *Throwback (Dig It Deep Records, 2012)CD Review: Tony Ramey, “Throwback” : Scene in Town
/ref> *Soul Survivor (Dig It Deep Records, 2014) *Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean (Rhyme Heart Records, 2016) *I've Aways Had a Song (Rhyme Heart Records, 2019) Re-mastered Releases * Places (Rhyme Heart Records 2018) * Soul Survivor (Rhyme Heart Records 2018) Singles * "Into the Sun (Rhyme Heart Records 2018)

References

Music Review: George Strait- Twang [MCA Nashville] , Twang Nation - The Best In Americana Music

News Archive , RoughStock

News Archive , RoughStock

Tony Ramey at Dallas Songwriters Association : Scene in Town

Texas Singer/Songwriter Tony Ramey On KTEN News Midday - Vancouver Star

External links

* * http://www.thelastridefile.com/ * http://www.countrymusicassociationoftexas.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramey, Tony 1970 births Living people American country singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters People from Kenova, West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia Singer-songwriters from West Virginia Marshall University alumni