Gene Watson Peer's Quote from Rivers Rutherford: October 2006
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 Watson's Peers who were contacted during 2006 were most gracious with their time and words. It is here, within this special part of the Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Rivers Rutherford, which he submitted to this site on Thursday 12 October 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to Rivers Rutherford who has made a special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Rivers Rutherford
This quote was submitted on Thursday 12 October 2006.
'Gene Watson is an amazing singer who delivers anybody's song as if it's his own.
He is a true gentleman towards his peers in the music industry and a dedicated entertainer who obviously loves his fans and shares the deep well of his talent with them passionately'.
Thank you, Rivers Rutherford, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Rivers Rutherford...
Rivers Rutherford was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee and began his musical education at the age of seven, when he took up the piano and guitar. The childhood home was four blocks from Graceland, Elvis Presley's estate. As a result, 'The King' became one of his strongest childhood influences, as did Memphis' renowned Beale Street musicians.
River's greatest influence was his father, who encouraged him from a young age. By the time he was fifteen, Rivers was performing on the Memphis Queen Riverboat and learning R&B classics from Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Booker T. He graduated to the clubs on Beale Street and then attended the University of Mississippi on a music scholarship and studied piano and English.
Rivers then became acquainted with producer Chips Moman, who was working with The Highwaymen on their second album. Chips enjoyed River's playing and eventually signed Rivers to a song-writing deal, which led to his first cut.
Chips invited Rivers to Nashville where he met The Highwaymen: Johnny Cash (Friday 26 February 1932 - Friday 12 September 2003), Waylon Jennings (Tuesday 15 June 1937 - Wednesday 13 February 2002), Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. The four superstars recorded Rivers' composition 'American Remains' and included the track on 'Highwaymen 2' (Columbia Records, 1990).
After a brief stint in law school in 1991 and a move to Nashville in 1993, Rivers Rutherford began to make a name for himself as an entertainer, studio guitar player and songwriter.
When Rivers and his wife began a family, Rivers took on more and more studio work. He played guitar on albums by Tracy Byrd, Mark Chesnutt, Amy Grant, Point of Grace and Ringo Starr, among others.
Rivers Rutherford signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group in 1996 and, at the time of the acquisition of this Gene Watson 'Peer's Quote' in October 2006, he was still working for the company.
Chely Wright recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Shut Up And Drive' (co-written with Annie Tate and Sam Tate) and included the track on 'Let Me In' (MCA Records, 1997).
Gary Allan recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Smoke Rings In The Dark' (co-written with Houston Roberts) and included the track on 'Smoke Rings in the Dark' (MCA Nashville, 1999); the track reached No.12 on the Billboard Hot Country Tracks and Singles Chart in February 2000.
Clay Davidson recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Unconditional' (co-written with Deanna Bryant and Liz Hengber) and included the track on 'Unconditional' (Virgin Records, 2000).
Gary Allan recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Man Of Me' (co-written with George Teren) and included the track on 'Alright Guy' (MCA Records, 2001); the track reached No.18 on the Billboard Hot Country Tracks and Singles Chart in 2001.
Gary Allan recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'I'm Doing My Best' (co-written with Sam Tate and Annie Tate) and included the track on 'Alright Guy' (MCA Records, 2001).
Mark Wills recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'In My Heaven' (co-written with Bobby Pinson) and included the track on 'Loving Every Minute' (Mercury Nashville Records, 2001).
Tracy Byrd recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'A Good Way To Get On My Bad Side' (co-written with George Teren) and included the track on 'Ten Rounds' (RCA Records, 2001); the track was a duet with Mark Chesnutt.
In 2002, Rivers Rutherford earned honours for the ASCAP 'Song Of The Year' Award for the track 'Ain't Nothing 'Bout You'. Brooks and Dunn (Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn) recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Ain't Nothing 'Bout You' and included the track on 'Steers And Stripes' (Arista Records, 2001); the track was No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart for six weeks in 2002.
Randy Travis recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Raise Him Up' and included the track on 'Rise And Shine' (Warner Bros. Records, 2002).
Andy Griggs recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man' and included the track on 'Freedom' (RCA Records, 2002).
Faith Hill recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'When The Lights Go Down' and included the track on 'Cry' (Warner Bros. Records, 2002).
Tim McGraw recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Real Good Man' and included the track on 'Tim McGraw And The Dancehall Doctors' (Curb Records, 2002).
Clay Walker recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Jesus Was A Country Boy' (co-written with Clay Walker) and included the track on 'A Few Questions' (RCA Records, 2003).
Clay Walker recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'I'm In The Mood For You' and included the track on 'A Few Questions' (RCA Records, 2003).
Clay Walker recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'When She's Good, She's Good' (co-written with Robert Boyd) and included the track on 'A Few Questions' (RCA Records, 2003).
Blake Shelton recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Heavy Lifting' (co-written with Boyd Houston Robert and George Teren) and included the track on 'The Dreamer' (Warner Bros. Records, 2003).
Blake Shelton recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'In My Heaven' (co-written with Bobby Pinson) and included the track on 'The Dreamer' (Warner Bros. Records, 2003).
Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Here I Am' and included the track on 'Country Music' (Columbia Records, 2003).
Mark Wills recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'That's A Woman' (co-written with Steven Dale Jones) and included the track on 'And The Crowd Goes Wild' (Mercury Records, 2003); the track reached No.40 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks Chart in 2003.
Josh Gracin recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'I Want To Live' and included the track on 'Josh Gracin' (Lyric Street Records, 2004).
Montgomery Gentry recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'If You Ever Stop Loving Me' and included the track on 'Do Your Own Thing' (Columbia Records, 2004).
Tracy Lawrence recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'It's All How You Look At It' and included the track on 'Strong' (Dreamworks Records, 2004).
Performing is an integral part of Rivers Rutherford's identity. He spent time on the road in 2005 opening for Josh Gracin, Pat Green and Keith Urban and saw the release of his own album, 'Just Another Coaster'.
Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'When I Get Where I'm Going' (co-written with George Teren) and included the track on 'Time Well Wasted' (Arista Records, 2005); the track was No.1 on the Billboard Hot Country Tracks and Singles Chart in 2005.
Faith Hill recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'I Want You' (co-written with Bobby Tomberlin) and included the track on (the North American release only) of 'Fireflies' (Warner Bros. Records, 2005).
Julie Roberts recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Mama Don't Cry' (co-written with Hillary Lindsey) and included the track on 'Men And Mascara' (Mercury Records, 2006).
Ronnie Milsap recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Local Girls' (co-written with Bob DiPiero) and included the track on 'My Life' (RCA Nashville Records, 2006), which was produced by Keith Stegall; the track reached No.54 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart in 2006.
Tim McGraw recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Comin' Home' (co-written with Steve McEwan) and included the track on 'Let It Go' (Curb Records, 2007).
Daniel Lee Martin recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Stark Ravin' Crazy In Love' (co-written with Tom Shapiro) and included the track on 'On My Way To You' (Chin Music Records, 2007).
Daniel Lee Martin recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'It's All How You Look At It' and included the track on 'On My Way To You' (Chin Music Records, 2007).
Daniel Lee Martin recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'On My Way To You' and included the track on 'On My Way To You' (Chin Music Records, 2007).
Daniel Lee Martin recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'You Can't Be Everything To Everybody' and included the track on 'On My Way To You' (Chin Music Records, 2007).
Joe Nichols recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Ain't Nobody Gonna Take That From Me' (co-written with Sam Tate and Annie Tate) and included the track on 'Real Things' (Universal South Records, 2007).
Cole Deggs and The Lonesome recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'The One That Got Away' and included the track on 'Cole Deggs And The Lonesome' (Columbia Records, 2007); Rivers Rutherford's co-produced 'Cole Deggs And The Lonesome' (Columbia Records, 2007) with Mark Wright.
Cole Deggs and The Lonesome recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Everybody's Beautiful To Someone' and included the track on 'Cole Deggs And The Lonesome' (Columbia Records, 2007); Rivers Rutherford's co-produced 'Cole Deggs And The Lonesome' (Columbia Records, 2007) with Mark Wright.
Clay Walker recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'I'd Love To Be Your Last' (co-written with Annie Tate and Sam Tate) and included the track on 'Fall' (Asylum-Curb Records, 2007).
Mark Wills recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Panama City' (co-written with Aimee Mayo and Troy Verges) and included the track on 'Familiar Stranger' (Tenacity Records, 2008).
Sierra Hull recorded Rivers Rutherford's's 'The Hard Way' (co-written with Gordie Sampson) and included the track on 'Secrets' (Rounder Records, 2008).
Rodney Atkins recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Simple Things' (co-written with Rodney Atkins and Dave Berg) and included the track on 'It's America' (Curb Records, 2009).
Jimmy Wayne recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Belongs To You' (co-written with Dave Berg and Tom Shapiro) and included the track on 'Sara Smile' (Valory Music Group Records, 2009).
Jamey Johnson recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Heartache' (co-written with Jamey Johnson) and included the track on 'The Guitar Song' (Mercury Records, 2010); this track features Rivers Rutherford on acoustic guitar.
Jamey Johnson recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Even The Skies Are Blue' (co-written with Jamey Johnson) and included the track on 'The Guitar Song' (Mercury Records, 2010); this track features Rivers Rutherford on acoustic guitar.
Neal McCoy recorded Rivers Rutherford's 'Crazy Women' (co-written with George Teren) and included the track on 'XII' (Blaster Records, 2012).
Visit Rivers Rutherford's Official Site