Long-time friends, Shayne Morrison and Richard Raines, formed Perfect Stranger in 1986 in East Texas. They formed what would become one of the hottest road bands in the Texas-Oklahoma-Louisiana region. With the addition of lead singer Steve Murray, Perfect Stranger was on its way into the honky-tonk hall of fame.
From 1986 to 1992 the band built a following of fans playing clubs and rodeos across the South. In 1992, Perfect Stranger soon experienced their first trip to the recording studio and began tracking their first album in Nashville. The group’s first album was recorded and released by Pacific Records. By December of 1994, Pacific Records had made the decision to release a single written by Vince Gill and Kostas titled, “Ridin’ the Rodeo”. Markets across the country gave the single airplay, which led to the making of the band’s first video. Amazingly enough, CMT picked up the video immediately, along with Club Dance, The Wildhorse Saloon Show, and video outlets from all across the country. Following this airplay, the band made the first of several appearances on Music City Tonight, hosted by Crook and Chase.
In February of 1995 came the second release by Pacific Records to country radio, called “You Have the Right to Remain Silent”. It immediately received adds to major markets like KBEQ in Kansas City, KYGO in Denver, KKBQ in Houston. It later went on to pick up adds within the first weeks on WESC in Greenville, SC, WIVK in Knoxville, and WXTU in Philadelphia. The single soon jumped on the Billboard charts. With this caliber of radio stations adding this independent single, it fueled the fire for several major record labels to begin calling and soliciting the group to sign a record deal. During this time, album sales took off in Kansas City and Denver, while in Houston the group was savoring sales of the #1 selling album in the market.
Curb Records made the final offer in April 1995. Within four days of signing with Curb, they picked up promotion of “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” and they had the group in the studio recording two additional songs and shooting a video. “You Have the Right…” was on the Billboard charts under the Pacific label approximately 6-7 weeks and continued under the Curb label for another 26 weeks when it finally peaked at the top of all major charts. In the following year, “You Have the Right…” consistently was found in the Top 20 for single sales. The group’s follow up singles, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” and “Remember the Ride”, both continued to sell in the Top 40 single sales charts. This gave Perfect Stranger three singles on the Country singles sales charts at the same time.
1998 saw the addition of drummer, Marty Arbter, to the band. The band continued to tour and by 2000 had recorded their second album. Curb records released this album in the summer of 2001, entitled “The Hits”. The album boasts excellent up-tempo songs like “Fire When Ready”, as well as strong ballads that include “Miracle” and the title track, “The Hits”. The first single, “The Hits”, shot up the Texas charts. The band shot a video for the follow up single, “Miracle”, which was featured on GAC. Both songs received a generous amount of airplay. This album also includes the mega-hit “You Have The Right to Remain Silent” as a bonus track for all of the fans. According to consultants, “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” and “Ridin’ the Rodeo” videos are still receiving airplay on GAC, CMT, and several other video outlets nationally.
In the summer of 2002, Perfect Stranger started working on their third album. The self-titled album is scheduled for release in early 2003.
Perfect Stranger has toured all over the world including performances in Switzerland at the Gstaad Festival and Japan at the Country Gold Festival in Kumamoto. They continue to play at fairs, festivals, rodeos and honky tonks all across the United States. Perfect Stranger remains one of the hardest working acts in country music.
Management / Bookings: Pacific Music Group Tony Tuthill PH: (405) 222-2446 FX: (405) 222-2991 www.perfectstrangeronline.com
