Gene Watson's Peers: Lee Ann Womack
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 2007 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
Lee Ann Womack, which she
submitted to this site on Wednesday 18 July 2007.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Lee Ann Womack who has made a
special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone
Star Hero'.
Sean Brady would also like to express a heartfelt 'thank you' to Sarah Brosmer at Lytle
Management in Nashville without whose assistance this quote would not
have been possible.
Lee Ann Womack
This quote was submitted on Wednesday 18 July 2007
'In my dad's eyes, I hadn't really made it in the music
business until now. I've sung with Gene Watson'.
Thank you, Lee Ann Womack, for
your support of Gene Watson.
About Lee Ann Womack...
Lee Ann Womack was born on 19
August 1966 in
Jacksonville, Texas & is best-known for her old fashioned-styled country
music songs.
From an early age, Lee Ann was interested in country music; her father, who
was a radio disc jockey, often took his daughter to work with him to help
choose records to play on the air.
Lee Ann was the second of two daughters, born to Anne & Aubrey Womack; her
mother was a schoolteacher & her father was also a high school principal.
As a child, Lee Ann studied the piano & later graduated from Jacksonville
High School in 1984. After graduating, she attended South Plains
Junior College in Levelland, Texas. The college was one of the first
in the nation to offer country music degrees & soon she became a member of
the college band, Country Caravan.
A year later, in 1985, Lee Ann left the college and, after an agreement with
her parents, she enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville, where she
studied the commercial ways of the music business. In Nashville, Lee
Ann interned at the A&R department of MCA Records. She studied at the
college until 1990, leaving the school a year before graduation.
It was while she was attending Belmont University that she met fellow
musician/singer/song-writer Jason Sellers. They married in 1990 &
together they had daughter Aubrie Lee Sellers, who was born in 1991; Lee Ann
& Jason divorced in 1996. (In January 1999, Lee Ann's daughter Anna
Lise Liddell was born & in November 1999 she married record producer Frank
Liddell).
Lee Ann Womack spent a few years raising her daughter before re-entering the
music business in the mid 1990s. In 1995, she began performing her
music in song-writing demos & at showcase concerts. At one of these
showcase concerts, she was spotted by Tree Publishing, who signed her after
listening to one of her original demo recordings.
Lee Ann Womack wrote songs with some popular Nashville songwriters,
including Bill Anderson & Ricky Skaggs; it was Ricky Skaggs who recorded her
composition 'I don't remember forgetting' & included it on 'Life is a
Journey' (Atlantic Records, 1997).
Lee Ann Womack then decided to pursue a career as a country music artist.
She auditioned for MCA chairman, Bruce Hinton, who praised her talents.
Shortly afterward, she accepted a contract from MCA Records' sister record
company, Decca Nashville, in 1996.
Lee Ann Womack's self-titled debut album ('Lee Ann Womack'),
which was produced by Mark Wright, was released on Decca
Records in 1997 & was a superior set of neo-traditional country music,
including the hit singles 'Never again, again', 'The fool' & 'You've got to
talk to me'. The album also included 'Make memories with me', a
glorious duet with fellow Texan Mark Chesnutt.
It was also in 1997 that Lee Ann Womack won major awards from the country
music community; 'Top New Female Vocalist' Award from the Academy of Country
Music (ACM) & 'Top Artist of the Year' from Billboard Magazine; she was also
nominated for the 'Horizon Award' by the Country Music Association.
Decca Nashville decided to close its doors in 1998; as a consequence, Lee
Ann moved to MCA Nashville Records that year.
In 1998, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her second album; 'Some Things I
Know' (MCA Nashville, 1998) was also produced by Mark Wright. The
album's first two singles, 'A little past Little Rock' & 'I'll think of a
reason later' both went to No.2 on the Billboard country music singles
chart. Two additional singles, 'Now you see me (now you don't)' &
'Don't tell me' were released in 1999 & the album was certified Gold by the
RIAA soon after.
It was also in 1999 that Lee Ann Womack won 'Favourite New Country Artist'
from the American Music Awards.
In 2000 single, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her third album, 'I Hope
you Dance' (MCA Nashville, 2000). The album had a totally different
sound to her previous releases; it used pop music elements instead of
traditional country music.
'I Hope You Dance' was met with major success. The title track, which
was released as the lead single, reached No.1 on the Billboard country music
singles chart where it stayed for five weeks; the song also crossed over to
the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major crossover pop music hit, reaching
No.14.
Towards the end of 2000, 'I hope you dance' won the Country Music
Association's 'Song of the Year' & 'Single of the Year' Awards. With
the pop music success of 'I hope you dance', Lee Ann Womack drew the
attention of the magazines 'People' & 'Time', both of which praised the
single. The song later won awards in 2001 from the Grammy & Academy of
Country Music Awards.
'I Hope You Dance' (the album) went on to sell three million copies in the
United States; the album's follow-up single, a cover of Rodney Crowell's
'Ashes by now' peaked at No.4 on the Billboard country music singles chart,
while the third single, 'Why they call it falling', was also successful,
reaching the country Top 15.
In 2002, Lee Ann Womack's fourth album, 'Something Worth Leaving Behind'
(MCA Nashville, 2002) was released; the album made a stronger attempt at a
pop-flavoured style. However, reaction to the album was negative,
which lead to poor record sales & only one major hit. Following its
release, Lee Ann Womack's career stalled.
In the latter half of 2002, Lee Ann saw the release of a Christmas album,
'The Season for Romance' (MCA Nashville, 2002). She also collaborated
with Willie Nelson on his single, 'Mendocino county line', which won a
Grammy & Country Music Award in 2002; the track was included on Willie
Nelson's 'Songs' (Lost Highway Records, 2005).
'Mendocino county line' was later included on Lee Ann Womack's 'Greatest
Hits' (MCA Nashville, 2004), which also included two new songs, 'The wrong
girl' & 'Time for me to go'.
In early 2003, Lee Ann Womack got a small recurring role on 'The District',
a popular television police drama which aired on CBS (in the United States)
from 7 October 2000 to 1 May 2004.
In 2005, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her fifth album, 'There's More Where That Came From'
(MCA Nashville, 2005); many people within the
country music industry hailed the album as 'a return to tradition' as it featured songs
about drinking & cheating with a distinctive older country twang. The album won the Country Music Association's
'Album of the Year' Award in 2005.
The lead single, 'I may
hate myself in the morning', was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard country music
singles chart in 2005 & it also won 'Single
of the Year' at the CMA Awards later that year. Two additional singles
were released from the album in 2005 that became minor hits namely 'He oughta
know
that by now' & 'Twenty years & two husbands ago'.
In 2005, Lee Ann Womack was heard as a guest vocalist on 'Good news, bad
news' (a track that she had co-written with Dean Dillon &
Dale Dodson) which
was included on George Strait's 'Somewhere Down in Texas' (MCA Nashville,
2005).
In 2006, Lee Ann Womack announced plans for the release of her sixth album
for MCA Nashville; the lead single, 'Finding my way back home' was released
in the late summer of 2006 & debuted at No.46 on the Billboard country music
singles chart. The single later peaked at No.37.
As a consequence, the album release date was pushed back to 2007 as Lee Ann
had found more songs that she wanted to record.
In 2007, Lee Ann Womack was heard as a guest vocalist on the Merle Haggard
track 'If I could only fly' which was included on
Joe Nichols' 'Real Things' (Universal South Records, 2007).
Lee Ann Womack contributed a beautiful harmony vocal to 'Today I started
loving you again', a classic Merle
Haggard track which graces Gene Watson's 'In
a Perfect World' (Shanachie Records,
2007); the album was officially released on Tuesday 25 September 2007 & was
considered to be one of the more important country music album releases of
2007.
In 2008, Lee Ann Womack announced plans for a new single for the first time in three
years, once again on MCA Nashville. 'Last call' was released on 30 June 2008
& served as the lead-off single to Womack's seventh album,
'Call Me Crazy' (MCA Nashville), which was released on 21 October 2008.
'Call Me Crazy' was issued as a vinyl LP at the time of its release, as well
as on CD.
'Call Me Crazy', which was produced by Tony Brown, features a duet with
George Strait titled 'Everything but quits'; the set also features a re-make
of the George Strait classic, 'The king of broken hearts' (written by Jim
Lauderdale), which first appeared on the 'Pure Country' soundtrack album in
1992.
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