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 Ewing with two additional minor
hits with 'Your memory wins again' & the title track.
Ricky Van Shelton recorded Skip Ewing's 'Let me
live with love (and die with you)' (co-written with Red Lane) & included the
track on 'Loving You' (Columbia Records, 1988)
Conway Twitty recorded Skip Ewing's 'Pieces of you'
(co-written with Max D. Barnes) & included the track on 'House On Old
Lonesome Road' (MCA Records, 1989)
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:
George Strait recorded Skip Ewing's 'Don't mind if
I do' (co-written with Don Sampson & included the track on 'If You Ain't
Lovin', You Ain't Livin' (MCA Records, 1988)
Collin Raye
recorded Skip Ewing's 'Love, me' & included the track on 'All I Can Be' (Epic Records, 1991)
Lorrie Morgan recorded Skip Ewing's 'Autumn's not that cold' &
included the track on 'Something in Red' (RCA Records,
1991)
Reba McEntire recorded Skip Ewing's 'Lighter shade of blue' (co-written with
Troy Seals & Max D. Barnes) & included the track on 'It's Your Call' (MCA
Records, 1992)
Clinton Gregory recorded Skip Ewing's 'If I were a painting' (co-written
with Don Sampson) & included the
track on 'Master of Illusion' (Step One Records, 1993)
Diamond Rio recorded Skip Ewing's 'Just
another heart' (co-written with Tim Johnson) & included the track on 'Four'
(Arista Records, 1996)
Mark Wills recorded Skip Ewing's 'Leavin' comin' on' (co-written with Jerry
Kilgore) & included the track on 'Mark Wills' (Mercury Records, 1996)
Tim McGraw recorded Skip Ewing's 'Ain't that the
way it always ends' (co-written with Don Sampson) & included the track on
'Everywhere' (Curb Records, 1997)
Suzy Bogguss recorded Skip Ewing's 'When I run' & included the track on
'Nobody Love, Nobody Gets Hurt' (Liberty Records, 1998)
Randy Travis
recorded
Skip Ewing's 'The hole' (co-written
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
Mark Wills recorded Skip Ewing's 'Wish you were here' (co-written with Bill
Anderson & Debbie Moore)
& included the track on 'Wish You Were Here' (Mercury Records, 1998)
Mark Wills recorded Skip Ewing's 'Help me fall' (co-written with Donny Kees)
&
included the track on 'Wish You Were Here' (Mercury Records, 1998)
Suzy Bogguss
recorded Skip Ewing's 'When I run' & included the track on 'Nobody Love, Nobody Get Hurt' (Liberty Records,
1998)
Clint Black recorded Skip Ewing's 'Love she can't live without'
& included the track on 'D'lectrified' (RCA Records,
1999)
Mark Chesnutt
recorded Skip Ewing's 'Jolie' (co-written with
Paul Overstreet & Paul Davis) & included the track on 'I Don't Want to
Miss a Thing' (Decca Records, 1999)
Mark Chesnutt
recorded Skip Ewing's 'Jolie' (co-written with
Paul Overstreet & Paul Davis) & included
the track on 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' (Decca Records, 1999)
Gene Watson recorded Skip Ewing's 'The truth is I lied' (co-written with Bill Anderson) & included the track on 'From
the Heart' (RMG Records, 2001)
Diamond Rio recorded Skip Ewing's 'I believe' & included the track
on 'Completely' (Arista Records, 2002)
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)
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.
Visit Skip Ewing's Official Site
