Jon Randall Stewart (born February 17, 1969 in Dallas, Texas) is an American country music artist. Signed to RCA Records in 1995, he debuted that year with the album What You Don't Know. A second album for RCA, 1996's Great Day to Be Alive, was recorded but never released. That same year, Randall entered Top 40 on the country charts as a duet partner on then-wife Lorrie Morgan's song "By My Side". A third album (and second to be released), 1998's Cold Coffee Morning, was issued on Asylum Records, followed by 1999's Willin′ on the independent Eminent label. Finally, in 2005, he issued Walking Among the Living on Epic Records.
In addition to the four studio albums that he has released, and the three songs he has charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, Randall co-wrote the song "Whiskey Lullaby", which became a Top 5 hit when Brad Paisley recorded it as a duet with Alison Krauss on his 2003 album Mud on the Tires.Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 2000s 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 2.3 Guest singles 3 Music videos 4 References
[edit] Biography
Jon Randall Stewart was born on February 17, 1969 in Dallas, Texas.[1] In his teenage years, he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he found work as a guitarist in Emmylou Harris's band The Nash Ramblers.
In 1992, Randall won a Grammy award under the winner name 'Emmylou Harris & Nash Ramblers (Larry Altamanuik, Sam Bush, Roy Huskey, Jr., Al Perkins, Jon Randall Stewart), artists.' for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. The award was for the album "Live at the Ryman".[2]
Randall also participated in the Grammy winning project 'Carl Jackson and John Starling (with The Nash Ramblers), which won in 1991, but only Jackson and Starling received the award.[3]
In 1995, he was signed to RCA Records Nashville as a solo artist, releasing his debut album What You Don't Know that year. Due to a restructuring at the label, however, the album received little publicity, and its only chart single ("This Heart") peaked at #74 on the country charts.[4]
After the release of What You Don't Know, Randall set to work on a second album for RCA, entitled Great Day to Be Alive. During the recording session for this album, Randall met and eventually married country singer Lorrie Morgan, with whom he would perform the duet "By My Side" for both his own album and for her 1996 album Greater Need.[4] "By My Side" was released as a single in 1996, becoming Randall's only Top 40 hit on the country music charts and won a Music City News Award for Vocal Collaboration. Great Day to Be Alive was never released. However, its Darrell Scott-penned title track "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" would be recorded in 2002 by Travis Tritt for his album Down the Road I Go, from which it was released as a single.[4]
By 1998, Randall had moved to Asylum Records to record his third studio album. Entitled Cold Coffee Morning, this album produced singles in its title track and the song "She Don't Believe in Fairy Tales", the former of which reached #71 on the country charts. Shortly after this album's release, Randall and Morgan would divorce.[1] A more Americana-oriented album, entitled Willin′, was issued in 1999 on the independent Eminent label. [edit] 2000s
In 1998, Randall and country singer Bill Anderson co-wrote "Whiskey Lullaby". This song was inspired by Randall's manager who, upon noticing the singer's troubled life at the time, told Randall, "Every now and then, you've got to put a bottle to your head and pull the trigger."[4] Brad Paisley then selected the song for his 2003 album Mud on the Tires, recording "Whiskey Lullaby" as a duet with singer Alison Krauss. Released in 2004, Paisley and Krauss's rendition of "Whiskey Lullaby" was a #2 hit on the country charts, earning its writers a Country Music Association award for Song of the Year.
Randall signed to his fourth recording contract in 2005, this time with Epic Records. His first album for Epic, Walking Among the Living, was issued that year. Included among its songs were the singles "Baby Won't You Come Home" and "I Shouldn't Do This", as well as Randall's own rendition of "Whiskey Lullaby".[4] In 2006, he married singer-songwriter Jessi Alexander.
In 2008, Gary Allan released the single "She's So California", which Randall and Allan co-wrote with Jaime Hanna of Hanna-McEuen. Randall also co-wrote The Lost Trailers' 2009 single "All This Love." In addition, he produced Dierks Bentley's 2010 album Up on the Ridge and co-wrote several tracks on it. [edit] Discography [edit] AlbumsYear Album details 1995 What You Don't Know Released: June 27, 1995 Label: RCA Nashville 1998 Cold Coffee Morning Released: September 22, 1998 Label: Asylum Records 1999 Willin' Released: September 21, 1999 Label: Eminent 2005 Walking Among the Living Released: September 20, 2005 Label: Epic Records
[edit] SinglesYear Single Chart Positions Album US Country 1994 "I Came Straight to You" — What You Don't Know "This Heart" 74 1998 "She Don't Believe in Fairy Tales" — Cold Coffee Morning 1999 "Cold Coffee Morning" 71 2005 "Baby Won't You Come Home" — Walking Among the Living "I Shouldn't Do This" —
[edit] Guest singlesYear Single Artist Chart Positions Album US Country US CAN Country 1996 "By My Side" Lorrie Morgan 18 110 21 Greater Need
[edit] Music videosYear Video Director 1994 "I Came Straight to You" "This Heart" Joanne Gardner 1998 "She Don't Believe in Fairy Tales" Trey Fanjoy 2005 "Baby Won't You Come Home"