Steve Wariner

Steven Noel Wariner (born December 25, 1954) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Steven Noel Wariner was born on December 25, 1954, in Noblesville, Indiana, but grew up in Russell Springs, Kentucky.

As a teenager, Wariner taught himself how to play several instruments, including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, drums, banjo, and steel guitar.

Wariner performed locally in his father Roy Wariner's band, drawing influence from musical acts his father listened to such as George Jones and Chet Atkins.

When Wariner was 17, country singer Dottie West heard him performing at the Nashville Country Club in Indianapolis and recruited him to play bass guitar in her road band.

Initially a backing musician for Dottie West, he also worked with Bob Luman and Chet Atkins before beginning a solo career in the late 1970s.

He has released eighteen studio albums and over fifty singles for several different record labels.

Wariner completed his education through a correspondence course with his local high school, and went on to play in West's band for three years; he also played on her 1973 single "Country Sunshine".

Wariner also began writing songs at this point, and West attempted to secure him a record label contract by submitting demos of his work, but was unsuccessful.

He then left West's road band to put a greater focus on songwriting, and began touring with Bob Luman after he cut some of Wariner's songs.

While in recording sessions with Luman, Wariner encountered guitarist Paul Yandell, who was also working for Atkins at the time.

Yandell submitted some of Wariner's demos to Atkins, who was also vice-president of RCA Records Nashville at the time and was thus able to sign Wariner to a contract in 1976.

His first single release for RCA was "I'm Already Taken", a song that Wariner co-wrote.

It peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 1978.

This was followed by five more chart singles, none of which appeared on an album at the time due to their limited success.

These singles were primarily covers of songs by other artists, including Charley Pride's "The Easy Part's Over".

Record World magazine published a positive review of this cover, which stated that it was a "slow, sad ballad" in which "Wariner continues to show a whole lotta vocal talent."

Atkins also hired Wariner to be a bassist in his road band, which led to a nomination by the Academy of Country Music for Bassist of the Year in 1979.

Also, Atkins served as his record producer on his first single releases, but later encouraged him to find a different one.

As a result, "The Easy Part's Over" was instead produced by Tom Collins, known for also producing Ronnie Milsap and Sylvia.

Wariner experienced his greatest chart successes in the 1980s, recording first for RCA Records Nashville and then MCA Nashville.

While on these labels he sent a number of singles into the top ten of the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and received favorable critical reception for the amount of creative control he held over his body of work.

His first major chart hit came in 1980 when "Your Memory" ascended to the number seven position on the country charts.

Due to the song's success, Atkins fired Wariner from his band.

"Your Memory" was the first of six singles from his self-titled debut album, which was also produced by Collins.

In 1980, the Academy of Country Music nominated Wariner for Top New Male Vocalist.

After it came his first number-one single, 1981's "All Roads Lead to You", followed by the top 15 hit "Kansas City Lights".

Both of these songs were written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan.

The album's last two singles, "Don't It Break Your Heart" and "Don't Plan on Sleeping Tonight", fared less successfully on the charts.

Al Campbell of AllMusic stated that Wariner's "sophisticated country-pop sound was already perfected, and it showed by the quality of the material."

RCA released his second studio album Midnight Fire in 1983.

After a period of commercial downfall, he experienced a second wave of success in the late 1990s which was spurred by co-writing the number-one singles "Longneck Bottle" by Garth Brooks and "Nothin' but the Taillights" by Clint Black.

These songs led to him signing with Capitol Records Nashville and achieving two more gold albums with Burnin' the Roadhouse Down and Two Teardrops by decade's end.

While his commercial success once again dwindled after these albums, he has continued to record independently on his own SelecTone label.

Ten of Wariner's singles have reached the number-one position on the Hot Country Songs charts: "All Roads Lead to You", "Some Fools Never Learn", "You Can Dream of Me", "Life's Highway", "Small Town Girl", "The Weekend", "Lynda", "Where Did I Go Wrong", "I Got Dreams", and "What If I Said" (a duet with Anita Cochran).

Wariner holds several writing credits for both himself and other artists, and has collaborated with Nicolette Larson, Glen Campbell, Diamond Rio, Brad Paisley, Asleep at the Wheel, and Mark O'Connor among others.

He has also won four Grammy Awards: one for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, and three for Best Country Instrumental.

In addition to these he has won three Country Music Association awards and one Academy of Country Music award, and is a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Wariner's musical style is defined by his lead guitar work, lyrical content, and stylistic diversity.

Upon moving to Arista Nashville in 1991 he had his most commercially successful album I Am Ready, his first to be certified gold, but followups were less successful.