 Contemporary country singer/songwriter
Brad Paisley was born October 28, 1972, in Glen Dale,
WV; given his first guitar at age eight, he delivered his
first public performance
at church two years later. With his 50-something guitar
teacher Clarence "Hank" Goddard and two of the older man's
seasoned musician buddies, the teenaged
Brad Paisley formed his first band, the C-Notes, and at age
12 began writing his own material. After performing in front
of the local Rotary Club, he was invited to appear on
Wheeling station WWVA's famed Saturday night broadcast
Jamboree USA.
Brad Paisley's debut was so well-received that he was invited
to join the program full-time, and in the years to follow he
opened for the likes of
the Judds,
Roy Clark, and
Little Jimmy Dickens. He later attended Nashville's
Belmont University, serving an internship with ASCAP; the
contacts
Brad Paisley made there helped him land a songwriting deal
with EMI, and he also appeared on countless demos.
Signing
to Arista,
Brad Paisley issued his debut solo album, Who Needs
Pictures, in 1999. The record produced two chart-topping
singles in "He Didn't Have to Be," an ode to loving
stepfathers, and "We Danced" and also earned generally
positive reviews for its diversity of country styles. In the
meantime,
Brad Paisley recorded a duet with
Chely Wright, "Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife,"
for the Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry compilation; the two
later collaborated on several songs for
Wright's Never Love You Enough album. The sequel to
Brad Paisley's debut, Part II, was released in 2001 and
promptly returned him to the Top Five with "Two People Fell
in Love." "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)" gave
Brad Paisley his third chart-topper, and "Wrapped Around"
fell one spot short of becoming his fourth. "I Wish You'd
Stay" became the fourth Top Ten hit from the record in early
2003.
At the beginning of August 2005,
Brad Paisley put together a short "Director's Commentary"
preview of his next album for his fan base to download. The
full album, Time Well Wasted, appeared two weeks later and
narrowly missed the top of the album charts. ~ Steve Huey,
All Music Guide
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