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June Spotlight Artist: Mark Chesnutt

One of the biggest country stars of the early 1990s, and a leading exponent of the neotraditional sound, Mark Chesnutt was born in Beaumont, Texas (also home town of the great George Jones) in 1963. He dropped out of high school to play in country bands with his father in Texas, and honed his performance skills over the next decade. An independent album released in 1988 led to a deal with MCA. He was to remain on either MCA or its subsidiary Decca for the whole of the ’90s.

The single ‘Too Cold At Home’, ironically a song pitched to Jones and rejected by him, was his big breakthrough in 1990, and the following year he achieved his first #1 single with ‘Brother Jukebox’. He went on to enjoy over 30 top 10 hits on Billboard including eight #1s. Sales declined in the later part of the decade, leading to the release of the most controversial singles of his career in 1999, a cover of rock band Aerosmith’s hit ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’, recorded under protest at the behest of the label which was keen for Mark to score another big hit and restore flagging sales figures. While this was initially successful, giving Mark another country #1 and crossing over to give him his only pop hit, the move predictably alienated Mark’s core fan base without bringing in new fans, and the song was to be not only his last #1 hit but his last top 10 – and the label dropped him after one more album failed to deliver commercially.

A move to rival label Columbia in 2002 showed that the industry still had faith in Mark, but with the biggest hit from his self-titled album for the new label just missing the top 10, sales were disappointing. Mark’s subsequent move to the independent sector was accompanied by a resurgence in the quality of his music. No longer forced to compromise with major-label demands, Mark has released a string of excellent and pure country records over the past decade on a series of labels, and unlike many of his contemporaries, he still managed to score some minor hit singles. They may not have matched the sales figures of his first few albums, but recent releases are well worth tracking down.

His latest move is to the highly respected Saguaro Road, current label home of former MKOC Spotlight Artists Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker. The first project, Outlaw, produced by Pete Anderson, most famous for his work with Dwight Yoakam, is due out later this month and is a tribute to the sounds of the 1970s ‘Outlaw’ movement which, although Mark’s music fits in the straight country/honky tonk tradition rather than the outlaw genre, was clearly an inspiration to him growing up.

I’ve always been a big fan of Mark’s voice and music, and am delighted to announce that he is our Spotlight Artist for June. We’ll be sharing our thoughts on some of Mark’s best music with you over the next month.