Gene Watson's Peers: Skip Ewing
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
Skip Ewing, which he submitted to
this site on Thursday 13 September 2007.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Skip Ewing who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Skip Ewing
This quote was submitted on Thursday 13 September 2007
'Gene Watson is the real thing & a true talent. His
voice immediately evokes the very heart & tradition of country music to me.
I am honoured that he would record some of my songs'.
Thank you, Skip Ewing, for your
support of Gene Watson.
About Skip Ewing...
Skip Ewing was born (Donald Ralph
Ewing) in Redlands, California on 6 March 1964 & grew up in a military family & moved around
often as a child. Skip discovered country music through listening to
Merle
Haggard & Lefty Frizzell & took up the guitar at a young age.
Skip began writing songs as a teenager; he also learned to play the banjo,
which he played at bluegrass festivals. He took a job performing in a
country show at the Busch Gardens theme park in Virginia. From there he
moved to Nashville at the age of nineteen where he took a similar job at the
Opryland theme park.
Now that he was now in Nashville, Skip branched out into demo & commercial
singing. He worked diligently at his song-writing, so much so that he landed
a staff job with the famous Acuff-Rose music publishing house.
It was soon evident that Skip Ewing was an accomplished songwriter & he
began to supply material to some of country music biggest artists including
George Jones, George Strait & Charley Pride.
In 1987, Skip Ewing landed a recording deal of his own with MCA Records; he
recorded his debut album 'The Coast of Colorado' (MCA Records, 1988); the
album yielded two Top 10 hits 'I don't have far to fall' & 'Burnin' a hole
in my heart' (No.3, 1988).
'The Coast of Colorado' album also provided Skip with two additional minor
hits with 'Your memory wins again' & the title track.
In 1989, 'The Will to Love' album produced the Top 5 hit 'It's you again' &
a Top 10 hit with 'The gospel according to Luke'.
The album 'Naturally' which was released in 1991 failed to keep his momentum
going & he then returned to song-writing as his primary career.
By the end of the 1990s, Skip Ewing compositions graced the albums of
a number of high profile country music artists, including the following:
Collin Raye: 'Love, me'
'All I Can Be' (Epic Records, 1991)
Lorrie Morgan: 'Autumn's not that cold'
'Something in Red' (RCA Records,
1991)
Randy Travis
recorded 'The hole' (co-written
Skip Ewing with James Dean Hicks) &
included the track on
'You & You Alone' (DreamWorks Nashville Records, 1998);
the track reached No.9 on the Billboard country music
singles chart in 1998.
Suzy Bogguss: 'When I run'
'Nobody Love, Nobody Get Hurt' (Liberty Records,
1998)
Clint Black: 'Love she can't live without'
'D'lectrified' (RCA Records,
1999)
Diamond Rio: 'I believe'
'Completely' (Arista Records, 2002)
Skip Ewing also worked occasionally as a session guitarist & made sporadic
recordings such as the 'Until I Found You' album for Word Records in 1997.
Gene Watson recorded Skip Ewing's 'The truth is I lied' (which was
co-written with Bill Anderson) & included the track on 'From
the Heart' (RMG Records, 2001).
Gene Watson also recorded Skip Ewing's 'What was I thinking' (which was
co-written with James Dean Hicks) & included the track on 'In
a Perfect World' (Shanachie Records,
2007).
Visit Skip Ewing's Official Site