Gene Watson's Peers: Ken Mellons
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 2005 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 Ken Mellons, which he submitted to this site on
Tuesday 10 May 2005.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Ken Mellons who has
made a special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of
a Lone Star Hero'.
Ken Mellons
This quote was submitted on Tuesday 10 May 2005
'Gene Watson, in my opinion, is just one of the many great country singers
of our time that is so under rated.
Gene’s voice and songs have been a big influence on me and I’m proud to call
him my friend'.
Thank you, Ken Mellons, for your support of Gene Watson
About Ken Mellons...
Ken Mellons was born Kenneth Edward
Mellons in Kingsport, Tennessee
on Saturday 10 July 1965. Ken's parents, Rita & Charles, unknowingly
groomed their son to have an appreciation for soulful harmonies & raw
acoustic sounds.
From the age of three, Ken was raised in the country
music heartland of Nashville, where he grew up on the standard honky-tonk
heroes of
Merle Haggard,
George Jones & Lefty Frizzell.
Ken played guitar & sang at school talent shows & moved on to the clubs
after high school graduation. Impressed by one of his performances,
the general manager of the Grand Ole Opry invited Ken to make a guest
appearance. He was invited back several times; in fact, Ken's Opry
residence lasted from 1989 until 1992.
While most kids his age were
studying in college, Ken Mellons was honing his craft alongside future
country stars such as Chely Wright & Lonestar's Dean Sams.
As a result of his appearances on the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry,
Ken Mellons secured a recording contract with Sony/Epic Records in 1993.
Producer Jerry Cupit produced Ken's Mellons' self-titled debut album
'Ken Mellons' (Epic Records, 1994). The single 'Jukebox junkie'
was a hit, reaching No.8 on the Billboard country music singles chart in
1994 & continued to receive airplay for the rest of the decade; the song
also received ASCAP & BMI Awards for surpassing one million plays on country
music radio in the United States.
Subsequent singles from 'Ken Mellons' (Epic Records, 1994), 'I can bring her
back' (written by Ken Mellons, Dale Dodson &
Gene Simmons) & 'Workin' for the weekend' reached No.42 & No.40 respectively
on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1994.
In November 1995, Ken Mellons saw the release of his second album.
'Where Forever Begins' (Epic Records, 1995), however, only produced two
singles; 'Rub-a-dubbin' reached No.39 on the Billboard country music
singles chart, while 'Stranger in your eyes'
(written by Max D. Barnes, Larry Jenkins & Joe
Chambers) reached No.55, both in 1996.
'Where Forever Begins' (Epic Records, 1995) also included Keith Whitley's 'I
went crazy for a while', along with 'He'll never be a lawyer' which featured
vocals from George Jones & John Anderson.
Following the release of singles from 'Where Forever Begins' (Epic Records,
1995), Ken Mellons parted company with Epic Records.
Shortly after leaving Epic Records, Ken signed with Curb Records in 1997.
Although he
spent six years on the label (1997-2003), Ken Mellons released only two non-charting singles
('Mr. DJ' in 1997 & 'Ladies night' in 1998) &
one album 'The Best of Ken Mellons' (Curb Records, 2001).
'The Best of Ken Mellons' (Curb Records, 2001) was released in 2001 and,
despite its title, it is not a compilation album, but rather a studio album
composed of nine new tracks & a dance mix of Ken's 1994 hit 'Jukebox
Junkie'.
Ken Mellons later became frustrated with Curb Records & asked that he be
released from his record deal with them in 2003.
In late July 2004, Ken Mellons saw the release of the album 'Sweet'
on Home Records, a small independent
record label, with guest contributions from fellow country music artists
George
Jones, Vince Gill, Rebecca Lynn Howard & Earl Scruggs.
'Sweet' (Home Records, 2004) included the track 'Paint me a Birmingham',
which reached No.7 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 2004;
Tracy Lawrence later included the track on 'Strong' (DreamWorks Records,
2004)
Ken Mellons' song-writing credits include cuts by George Strait, Hank
Williams Junior, Dierks Bentley & Mark Chesnutt.
George Strait recorded Ken Mellons' 'Honk if you
honky tonk' (co-written with Dean Dillon &
John Northrup) & included the track on 'Honkytonkville' (MCA Records, 2003)
Dierks Bentley recorded Ken Mellons' 'I bought the
shoes that just walked out on me' (co-written with Jimmy Melton &
Dale Dodson) & included the track on 'Dierks
Bentley' (Capitol Nashville Records, 2003)
Mark Chesnutt recorded Ken Mellons' 'Since you ain't home' (co-written with
Shawn Camp & Dale
Dodson) & included the track on 'Savin' The Honky Tonks' (Vivaton
Records, 2004)
In late 2006, Ken Mellons began recording his bluegrass album 'Rural Route',
featuring an
amazing bluegrass line-up which included the talents of, amongst others, Sonya Isaacs,
Rhonda Vincent, Larry Cordle, Darrin Vincent
& Don Rigsby, to name a few.
'Rural Route' was released in 2010 & includes 'Still they call me love'
(written by Harley Allen & John Wiggins);
this track was recorded by Gene Watson & included on his 'A
Taste of the Truth' album for
Shanachie Records in 2009.
Visit Ken Mellons' Official Site
Visit
Ken Mellons' Official MySpace Site
