Gene Watson's Peers: Shawn Hammonds
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 2009 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
Shawn Hammonds, which
he submitted to this site on Friday 12 June 2009.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Shawn Hammonds who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online
'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Shawn Hammonds
This quote was submitted on Friday 12 June 2009
'Gene Watson has one of the smoothest and wide range voices
I
have ever heard and is one of the most influential country singers of our
time'.
Thank you, Shawn Hammonds for your support of Gene Watson.
About Shawn Hammonds...
Shawn
Hammonds was born to be a country singer.
Shawn's father was a drummer who performed at the Grand Ole Opry in
Nashville & toured behind stars like Barbara
Fairchild, Connie Smith &
Jeannie Seely before finding regional
success as a singer.
Shawn's grandfather was a bluegrass musician who played on package shows
with the legendary Hawkshaw Hawkins (22 December 1921 - 5 March 1963); he
was indoctrinated practically from birth with the sounds of
Merle Haggard,
George Jones, Wynn Stewart & Faron Young.
Shawn Hammonds is very much a hardcore country music artist.
Cincinnati-born Shawn wasted no time in taking his musical obsession to the
stage; by the time he was five years old, he was sitting atop a stack of
phone books to play drums behind his dad Frank in nightclubs & by the time
he was eight, he had won a talent show by singing the somewhat
age-inappropriate James Pastell song 'Hell yes, I cheated'.
When Shawn was fifteen years old, he was writing songs & playing drums for
his dad Frank on a regular basis & by eighteen years of age he had stepped
out as a lead singer himself.
When Shawn reached twenty-one, he moved to Nashville. He made his
living there as a personal trainer & by teaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which
he has studied for more than a decade (Shawn earned his black belt in
February 2007 & has won several major titles).
Shawn Hammonds eventually got a regular gig playing on Sunday nights at
local songwriters’ mecca The Broken Spoke. As it happened, the house
singer on Monday nights was the fellow who would become Hammonds’ roommate
for two years, a young unknown named Daryle Singletary.
Shawn Hammonds’ luck with roommates continued. After Daryle Singletary
moved out, steel-guitarist Jay Andrews moved in & got Hammonds a job
body-guarding, and occasionally singing with, his boss, the legendary Johnny
Paycheck.
Shawn Hammonds later found (in 1997) further approval from country music
royalty when the great Gene Watson recorded one of
his songs, 'Just in case', which was written with Rick Tiger.
As he began to find success as a songwriter, Shawn Hammonds continued
pursuing his singing career - only to see one promising opportunity after
another appear, then vanish.
Shawn almost gave up hope of a country music career until he & a close
friend, another young hopeful named Keith Burns, made a deal: whoever became
a star first would give the other a hand up.
When Burns’ group Trick Pony became a national success, they introduced
Hammonds to their music publisher, who in turn recommended him to the
upstart record label Country Thunder, home to the chart-topping group
Heartland.
Shortly afterwards, Shawn Hammonds signed with the company & began work on
his debut album which was released in 2008; the album drew comparisons with
Randy Travis’ landmark debut album
'Storms of Life' which was released on Warner Bros. Records in 1986.
Gene Watson recorded Shawn Hammonds' 'Just in case' (co-written with Rick
Tiger) & included the track on 'A Way to Survive'
(Step One Records, 1997).
Visit Shawn Hammonds'
Official MySpace Site