The sound of Right About Now is the sound of
triumph.
This comeback collection by Ty Herndon is a ringing
reaffirmation of his status as
one of country music’s most powerful vocal
interpreters. From the silvery falsetto notes in the
CD’s title tune to the soaring, fiery and muscular
vocals on tracks like “Someday Soon,” “You Still Own
Me” and “We Are,” these are performances that
electrify the senses.
“Love Revival” and “Mercy Line” are tinged with
blue-eyed soul. Herndon simmers with conviction on
the uptempo “If I Could Only Have Her Love Back” and
“Love Revival,” while “Hide” and “In the Arms of
Someone Who Loves Me” showcase his ability to get
inside lyrics of substance. The collection concludes
with his slow, tremulous, intense rendition of the
gospel-infused “There Will Be a Better Day.”
“My greatest ability is my ability to interpret a
song, put it on tape and make it believable,” says
Ty Herndon softly. “That’s why I love to do this.
“I can do that to a crowd. I can make them believe
me. I’ve done it so many times. And I want to do it
on a different level this time, a more honest level,
a level that I truly believe in.
Ty Herndon isn’t boasting. He says all of this with
sincere humility. But it is a fact that this man has
proved time and again how charismatic a vocalist he
is. Hits such as “What Mattered Most,” “Hands of a
Working Man,” “Living in a Moment,” “Loved Too
Much,” “It Must Be Love,” “A Man Holdin’ On (To a
Woman Lettin’ Go)” and “I Want My Goodbye Back” made
him one of country music’s most consistent radio
favorites of the 1990s.
In addition to being a country chart-topper, Ty
Herndon has also been a national television
star, an ad-jingle vocalist, a model, a
talk-show host, an actor and a theme-park
entertainer. Right About Now returns him to what
he has always done best, singing.
He has been doing that since age six, when he
began singing in churches and at talent contests
around his hometown of Butler, Alabama. He
attended high school in Decatur, Alabama. At age
17, he auditioned and was hired at OPRYLAND USA
as a cast member of “Today’s Country Roads”
showcasing hits on the top county chart.
Representatives
of TV’s “Star Search,” the “American Idol” of
its day, spotted him at the park. He became a
male-vocalist winner on the series, which led to
singing on a number of cable variety shows,
including specials starring such greats as
Johnny Cash and Porter Wagoner. Herndon landed a
job as the host of “Countryline,” a home video
featuring his interviews with Ronnie Milsap,
Earl Thomas Conley and other music-video stars.
By the time he turned 21, he had already acted
on such programs as “I-40 Paradise” (TNN) and in
the Jerry Reed TV movie “Diamonds, Gold and
Platinum” (TBS)
In 1986-87, Herndon became a cast member of the
nationally syndicated television series “You
Write the Songs.” He toured internationally for
the USO.
He sang song “demos” for the big publishing companies in Nashville.
Despite these accomplishments, Ty Herndon was a
frustrated young man. No one on Music Row would
give him a recording contract. One executive
even told him. “Son, you go back to Alabama, get
on your little red tractor and stay there.” His
father died while Herndon was chasing Nashville
stardom. Shady show-business hustlers took the
green kid for a ride. As a result, his mother
lost her home in Nashville.
“I was getting beat up. I was fed up, angry and
bitter. I had no direction. So I went to Texas
and started my honky-tonk education. I thought,
‘If you are not gonna get a record deal, at
least there you’ll be able to make music’” and
the money to pay his mother back. For the next
six years, he learned to become a real vocalist
and entertainer by toiling nightly in Dallas
nightspots.
In 1993, the same year he was named Texas
Entertainer of the Year. That honor led to
interest from Music Row at last. He recorded his
debut album in 1994, and in early 1995 its first
single, “What Mattered Most,” rocketed to Number
One. It won Song of the Year at the annual Music
Row magazine awards. He was named Best New
Artist at the 1995 Country Radio Music Awards.
The barrage of hits that ensued, led to a 1997
American Music Award Nomination and a
Contemporary Achievement honor from the Alabama
Music Hall of Fame. His What Mattered Most and
Living in a Moment albums were both Gold
Records. During the late 1990s he sold more than
four million discs. His blazing live-performance
style made him one of country music’s finest
concert attractions. Herndon returned to the
stage with a Music City nightclub showcase in
the summer of 2004.
"Songwriter Darrell Brown asked me to come to
the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville two Christmases
ago. He said he had a song that he and Michael
Peterson had written that he thought I could
sing really well. And that's 'Right About Now.'
The crowd just came to their feet when I sang
it. And I can honestly tell you with all of my
heart, it was at that moment that I thought, 'I
want to make music again.' After I sang that
song, that night, I started to think I wanted to
do a new record. I had a real vision."
Brown has co-written such #1 hits as Keith
Urban’s “Raining on Sunday” and 2005 Grammy Song
of The Year “You’ll Think of Me.” He has also
produced records for such artists as Russ Taff
and Radney Foster. When he volunteered to work
with Herndon, the singer eagerly accepted,
co-producing four of the tunes that Brown
brought to the project. Top session musician and
ACM Violinist of the Year Jonathan Yudkin was
eager to make the transition into record
production. Herndon enlisted his aid for five
more of the album’s tracks. Herndon co-produced
“Mighty, Mighty Love” with multi-platinum writer
Dennis Matkosky, one of its co-writers.
Recording artists Kim Richey, Robert Bailey,
Emily West, Lisa Bevil, Perry Coleman, Marcus
Hummon and Joanna Cotton provided background
vocals to the richly textured collection.
“The people who believed in me and my talent
made me even more serious about this. There were
so many songs that fit where I am at emotionally
right now, and I wanted to sing about that.
Three years ago, I couldn’t sing the way I used
to. I can sing these songs now. My throat is
clearer than it has ever been before, and that
feeling is just awesome. Isn’t this a miracle? I
have a light in my eyes. And this is a happy
place to be.
“To tell you the truth, I had a lot of spiritual
experiences making this record. I am very, very
proud of it.”
1995 WHAT MATTERED MOST Gold Record
“What Mattered Most” #1
“I Want My Goodbye Back” #7
“Heart Half Empty” #21
(with Stephanie Bentley) 1996
“In Your Face” #63 LIVING IN A MOMENT Gold Record
“Living in a Moment” #1
“She Wants to Be Wanted Again” #21 1997
“Loved Too Much” #2
“I Have to Surrender” #17 1998 BIG HOPES
“A Man Holdin’ On” #5
“It Must Be Love” #1
“Hands of a Working Man” #5 1999 STEAM
“Steam” #18 2000
“You Can Leave Your Hat On” #72
“No Mercy” #26
“A Love Like That” #58 2001
“Heather’s Wall” #37 2002 THIS IS TY HERNDON; GREATEST HITS
“A Few Short Years” #55 2003 NOT SO SILENT NIGHT 2006 RIGHT ABOUT NOW
“Right About Now”
Note: Ty Herndon is the first country artist
signed by Titan-Pyramid Records. The label’s
roster includes The Band, Eric Carmen, The
Doobie Brothers, Dave Edmunds, Asia, The Stray
Cats, Joe Walsh, Edgar Winter, the late Robert
Palmer, Nik Kershaw, Stephen Stills, Snoop Dogg,
Sha Na Na and Earth, Wind & Fire. Its CDs are
distributed through the Universal Music Group
(UMG).
one of country music’s most powerful vocal
interpreters. From the silvery falsetto notes in the
CD’s title tune to the soaring, fiery and muscular
vocals on tracks like “Someday Soon,” “You Still Own
Me” and “We Are,” these are performances that
electrify the senses.
Representatives
of TV’s “Star Search,” the “American Idol” of
its day, spotted him at the park. He became a
male-vocalist winner on the series, which led to
singing on a number of cable variety shows,
including specials starring such greats as
Johnny Cash and Porter Wagoner. Herndon landed a
job as the host of “Countryline,” a home video
featuring his interviews with Ronnie Milsap,
Earl Thomas Conley and other music-video stars.
By the time he turned 21, he had already acted
on such programs as “I-40 Paradise” (TNN) and in
the Jerry Reed TV movie “Diamonds, Gold and
Platinum” (TBS)