Gene Watson's Peers: Hugh Prestwood
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 2004 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
Hugh Prestwood, which he
submitted to this site on Tuesday 21 September 2004.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Hugh Prestwood who has made a
special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone
Star Hero'.
Hugh Prestwood
This quote was submitted on Tuesday 21 September 2004
'Not living in Nashville, I have not had the pleasure
of meeting Gene, but I've been an admirer of his for many years.
He is the 'real thing' and has, it seems to me, managed to hold on to his
authenticity and integrity in an age where 'selling out' has become pretty
routine.
Gene has recorded two songs of mine, for which I am very proud. And, what's
even better, I love the cuts'.
Thank you, Hugh Prestwood, for
your support of Gene Watson.
Gene Watson has recorded two Hugh
Prestwood compositions:
Gene Watson recorded
'You can't get arrested in Nashville' & 'This country's bigger than Texas'
& included the tracks on 'At Last' (Warner
Bros. Records, 1991).
About Hugh Prestwood...
Hugh Prestwood was discovered in
1978 by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit ('Hard times for lovers') &
subsequently recorded five more of his songs.
A staff songwriter for BMG Music, Hugh has penned No.1 hits for
Randy Travis ('Hard rock bottom of
your heart'), Trisha Yearwood ('The song remembers when'), Michael Johnson
('The moon is still over her shoulder' & 'That's that'), Shenandoah ('Ghost
in this house'), Crystal Gayle ('The sound of goodbye') &
Collin Raye ('On
the verge').
Hugh has also composed hits for Highway 101 ('Bing bang boom'), Anne Murray
('Feed this fire'), Ty England ('Smoke in her eyes') &
Kathy Mattea ('Asking
us to dance').
Other artists who have recorded Hugh's songs include Conway Twitty, Lee
Greenwood, Don Williams, Jackie De Shannon,
Vern Gosdin, Maura O'Connell,
Tanya Tucker & The Judds.
In 1991, Hugh Prestwood was honored at the annual BMI Awards with the 23rd Robert J.
Burton Song of the Year award for 'Hard rock bottom of your heart' (recorded
by Randy Travis). Hugh was also selected by Billboard Magazine as the No.2
country songwriter of that year. Billboard currently lists 'Hard rock bottom of
your heart' as the 5th biggest country hit of the 1990s.
Hugh Prestwood made his recording debut on RCA records in 1993 with the
album 'Signatures 3', which featured five of Nashville's top writers doing
their own songs.
In 1994, Hugh won a Prime Time Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual
Achievement in Music & Lyrics' for his composition 'The song remembers
when', which was featured in the Disney special 'Trisha Yearwood -
The Song Remembers When'. The song was also nominated for a Cable ACE Award
for Best Original Song & was voted Song of the Year by members of the
Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI).
In 1997, Hugh's song 'On the Verge' was listed by Billboard magazine as the
4th biggest country hit of the year. Three of Hugh Prestwood's songs have
been nominated for Grammy Awards in the 'Best Performance' Category: 'Sound
of goodbye' (performed by Crystal Gayle), 'Hard rock bottom of your
heart'
(performed by Randy Travis) &
'Ghost in this house' (performed by Shenandoah).
Born & raised in El Paso, Texas & a graduate of the University of Texas at
El Paso, Hugh Prestwood currently resides on Long Island, New York. Since
1982, he has taught advanced song-writing at The New School in Manhattan.
Additionally, each year, Hugh teaches song-writing workshops for the NSAI in
various locations throughout the United States.
Visit Hugh Prestwood's Official Site