Gene Watson's Peers: Corey Frizzell
Gene Watson's peers within the country
music industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east
Texas, so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's
singer' - and rightly so!
All of Gene's Peers who were contacted in 2006 were most gracious with their
time & words. It is here, within this special part of gene-watson.com, that
you have an opportunity to read a quote from
Corey Frizzell, which he
submitted to this site on Wednesday 16 August 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Corey Frizzell who has made a
special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone
Star Hero'.
Corey Frizzell
This quote was submitted on Wednesday 16 August 2006
'Being a part of a legendary country music family, I
have had the opportunity to be around many great country artists in my life.
Gene Watson has always been one of my favourite singers; definitely in my
top five most vocal talents.
This year Gene was so gracious to be a part of my first solo art exhibition
'Roots', a tribute to my musical heritage in portraiture and I will always
be thankful and a fan'.
Thank you, Corey Frizzell, for
your support of Gene Watson.
About Corey Frizzell...
Corey Frizzell grew up as a
member of a very important & influential family within the country music
genre.
When you hear the name Frizzell, you don’t think of art, you think of
country music, you think of Lefty Frizzell. The Frizzell family’s music
roots run very deep, with legendary family members such as
Lefty Frizzell, David Frizzell &
Allen Frizzell, all having great
hits of their own. Although these roots are part of Corey’s heritage, he
took a very different path, one not filled with music but with boxing and
art.
Over the years, drawing became a hobby for Corey, taking a back seat to his
boxing career. Though Corey’s passion for boxing kept him in & out of the
ring for eight years, his love for drawing has always been there. Still this
former Golden Gloves Champion has perfected his craft, starting with
cartoons & later moving on to comic book art.
Corey spent most of his early years drawing murals of comic book heroes for
friends. It would be years before Corey would draw his first portrait
inspired by one drawn by his aunt Betty, a former artist, which hung in his
dad’s office. Corey has fallen in love with portrait artwork in pencil & has
developed his own technique and style, creating portraits since 1998.
Corey’s portraits have become a new focus in his life; he is not just
drawing portraits for family & friends anymore. For the last few years,
Corey has been commissioned by the public to create his custom portraits.
Corey has also had the opportunity to create custom portraits for collectors
of his work in the entertainment fields such as movie, music and sports.
In 2006, Corey spent the majority of his time creating portraits of the
stars for the stars. For the first time, you would see the name Frizzell,
which is so strongly associated with country music, on portraits of other
great artists in the country music field; artists such as
George Jones,
Mark Chesnutt, Brad Paisley & Alan Jackson to name a few.
In June 2006, Corey had his first solo art exhibition at The Renaissance
Center in Dickson, Tennessee. This show was aptly named 'Roots' since it was
a tribute to Corey’s musical heritage in portraiture.
Not only did Corey create custom portraits of Lefty, David & his dad Allen
from personal family photographs, but he also met with several other great
country music artists who picked out their own photos & had custom portraits
created of them for this show.
One of these selected artists was Gene Watson & you can view Corey's
portraits of Gene above.
'Roots' ran six weeks & had a great opening night reception with some of the
artists on this show singing live for the reception. All the portraits from
this went to the artists, except the portrait of Lefty, which sold to a
collector in Texas the first week after the show ended.
Corey was also asked by Billy Yates (writer of
hits like 'I don’t need your rocking chair', 'Choices' & 'Alcohol') to
exhibit some of his portraits of country artists at Billy’s 'Countriest of
the Country' fan club party concert during Fan Fair 2006. Corey created
portraits of Lefty, Keith Whitley (RIP) & Billy
Yates from personal photographs.
Since these shows, Corey has stayed busy creating custom portraits for the
public & working on a new line of portraits to be sold in galleries; Corey
has even been commissioned by George Jones to
create portraits of his grandchildren.
There’s no telling what is in store for this artist. Corey currently resides
in middle Tennessee, where he works out of his home & continues to expand
his portfolio. Corey Frizzell is blazing a trail of his own while carrying
on the family name. Now because of Corey, when you hear the name Frizzell,
you will think of art.
Corey's dad Allen Frizzell saw
the release of a highly acclaimed album; 'A Piece of My Heart' was released
on The Netherlands-based CMS Records in 1992.
Visit Corey Frizzell's Official Site
