Shawn Camp

Country singer/songwriter Shawn Camp spent his early years on a farm outside of Perryville, AR. His father was an ironworker and his mother a beautician. Both sang and played guitar, infusing their child with a love of music; he began playing guitar himself at five. At the age of 20 in January 1987, he moved to Nashville to become a professional musician. He first found a berth as a fiddle player for <a href="spotify:artist:6gM87haEMrst4Eqdobf98c">the Osborne Brothers</a>, and subsequently moved on to the backing bands for <a href="spotify:artist:3kvy8do7n0qVqvlNFS4yOF">Jerry Reed</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4mxWe1mtYIYfP040G38yvS">Alan Jackson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:13YoXxZt6SLg96dQE1vkHy">Suzy Bogguss</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3xx17YXYvPl9PBx6Jzalk4">Shelby Lynne</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3XlIhgydjvC4EniPFZT20j">Trisha Yearwood</a>. In 1991, he left <a href="spotify:artist:3XlIhgydjvC4EniPFZT20j">Yearwood</a> to become a solo performer. He was signed to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a> division of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Bros.+Records%22">Warner Bros. Records</a>, which released his debut single, "Fallin' Never Felt So Good," in 1993. It entered the country charts that July and peaked in the Top 40 in October. That month, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a> released <a href="spotify:artist:5ND1l6L0UQD7KoAnMupeYY">Camp</a>'s first album, Shawn Camp, which spent several weeks in the country charts. A second single, "Confessin' My Love," peaked in the country Top 40 in January 1994.

<a href="spotify:artist:5ND1l6L0UQD7KoAnMupeYY">Camp</a> recorded a second album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>, but the label rejected it and dropped him. He turned to working as a session musician, appearing on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:0nJUwPwC9Ti4vvuJ0q3MfT">John Prine</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4BclNkZtAUq1YrYNzye3N7">Garth Brooks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5CAiy5rDr3LaSoGtJOq6A0">Nanci Griffith</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0Ekfvspc0hlcxdfJJVjcnq">Guy Clark</a>, among others, over the rest of the decade. At the same time, he co-wrote songs that were covered by many artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:0svyIX7Xu3DVMkrOtB88i6">Diamond Rio</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0xxJO75NeIAF5jYruLYIDT">Tracy Byrd</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3grHWM9bx2E9vwJCdlRv9O">Kenny Chesney</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3U7k7hBsHF9dy4ELW53Wrv">John Anderson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1pTuR132U5b4Rizal2Pr7m">Randy Travis</a>. "Two Pina Coladas," which he co-wrote for <a href="spotify:artist:4BclNkZtAUq1YrYNzye3N7">Garth Brooks</a>, appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:0XKOBt59crntr7HQXXO8Yz">Brooks</a>' Sevens album and hit number one on the country charts in May 1998, and "How Long Gone," which he co-wrote for <a href="spotify:artist:0XKOBt59crntr7HQXXO8Yz">Brooks & Dunn</a>, hit number one on the country charts in September 1998. <a href="spotify:artist:5ND1l6L0UQD7KoAnMupeYY">Camp</a> self-released his second album, Lucky Silver Dollar, in July 2001. This set was followed by Live at the Station Inn in 2004, Fireball in 2006, and The Bluegrass Elvises, Vol. 1 with <a href="spotify:artist:596pF0tYoKyJCgI4WLTLs4">Billy Burnette</a> in 2007. In 2009, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner+Music+Nashville%22">Warner Music Nashville</a> President/CEO <a href="spotify:artist:7ocQDoB9lW1EByfaiNwiGD">John Esposito</a> caught <a href="spotify:artist:5ND1l6L0UQD7KoAnMupeYY">Camp</a> at a guitar pull during a music conference and was knocked out. Discovering that <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warner%22">Warner</a> had <a href="spotify:artist:5ND1l6L0UQD7KoAnMupeYY">Camp</a>'s unreleased second album in its vaults, he had the label release the album in 2010 (now entitled 1994), to coincide with a reissue of his 1993 debut for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reprise%22">Reprise</a>. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi