 <p align="justify">Born in New Zealand,
Keith Urban learned to play guitar as a six-year-old in Australia, after a
young woman asked to place an ad in his dad's shop window offering guitar
lessons. His parents made a deal with her that they would advertise in return
for lessons for their young son. The boy had natural ability. By the time he was
eight,
Keith Urban was winning talent shows. He also was involved in a youth acting
company which required him to sing, dance, and memorize lines, all of which led
to the ease on-stage, which would serve him well in his music career. </P>
<p align="justify">With his father deeply interested in American culture and country music, it
was also natural that
Keith Urban would gravitate toward country music early on, when he was influenced
by the singing of
Glen Campbell,
Dolly Parton, and
Don Williams, and the songwriting of
Jimmy Webb ("Galveston").
Keith Urban added his own dimension to those influences when he discovered
Dire Straits, and became interested in the guitar playing of
Mark Knopfler and
Fleetwood Mac's
Lindsey Buckingham, embarking on in-depth study and endless practice of
their techniques.</p>
<p align="justify">At the start of the '90s, Australian country music was primed for a
revolution.
Keith Urban -- young, brash, blonde, rock-ish -- was part of that
revolution. His first album saw him win several major awards. Throughout his
rise
Keith Urban always had his eye on Nashville in the U.S.A. That's where the music
in his heart was born and still lived. Almost from the beginning he made
periodical pilgrimages to Nashville, forging valuable career bridges. In 1997
Keith Urban decided to base himself in Nashville. With his Australian bandmate,
drummer
Peter Clarke, he formed the three-piece band
the Ranch. Their original bass player soon returned to Australia, but West
Virginian Jerry Flowers quickly fit in. </p>
<p align="justify">Their live shows, featuring
Keith Urban's standout lead guitar playing, led to a record deal with Capitol
Nashville and a management contract with I.R.S. Records founder/Police
manager
Miles Copeland. The group's debut album, The Ranch, was released to critical
acclaim in 1997. Critics raved about the album's unique take on country music
and
Keith Urban's guitar playing. Other artists also took notice, and when
the Ranch disbanded, other artists called on
Keith Urban to add some of his fleet-fingered magic to their records.
Garth Brooks asked
Keith Urban to play on Double Live.
The Dixie Chicks invited him to play on their second album.
Matt Rollings, one of Nashville's top musicians, hired
Keith Urban as a session player on an album he was producing and the two
immediately clicked. </p>
<p align="justify">Impressed by
Rollings' knowledge of Nashville's session players,
Keith Urban asked him to produce his next record, another solo album. His tour in
support of that album included opening for such major acts as
Dwight Yoakam,
Faith Hill, and
Tim McGraw, as well as headlining his own shows. Ten years on he was doing
to Nashville what he'd done to Tamworth, Australia's country music capital, with
a string of successful records that included Golden Road, In the Ranch, and Be
Here. The result was American country hits for "It's a Love Thing" and "Your
Everything" and a Grammy award nomination for Best Country Instrumental
Performance for "Rollercoaster." In 2005 he released an anthology (Days Go By)
as well as a live DVD (Livin' Right Now) ~ Ed Nimmervoll, All Music Guide</p>
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