Billy Ray Cyrus Back To Tennessee Audio CD

Product Description Back To Tennessee is much more than just another album in one man's remarkable and enduring career. This is an extremely meaningful homecoming in that man's singular journey back to the musical roots that have long sustained him. "This album is everything I am at this second," says Cyrus. "It's everything that I've been through and every step along the way to this point -- Ironically, sometimes looking back, in my case BACK TO TENNESEE, is the best way to move forward." Sitting in the slightly cluttered but welcoming music room that is his refuge of his Los Angeles home, with his trusty dog Tex by his side, Cyrus explains that the initial spark for Back To Tennessee was struck when Cyrus recorded "Real Gone" with Mark Bright, the Grammy-winning Nashville producer perhaps best known for his work with Rascal Flatts. Right from the start, it was clear that working with Bright brought out the very best in Cyrus. True to the song's title, "Real Gone" (written by Sheryl Crow and John Shanks) captured Cyrus at his most rocking and most real. About the Artist Even after experiencing the circus of celebrity for more than a decade and a half, Cyrus is ultimately a man who prizes nothing more than being authentic and true to where he comes from and who he is. "I'm the first guy to admit I'm not the best singer in the business," says Cyrus. "I don't write the best songs. But for better and worse, I am true to myself and my own instincts -- sometimes to a fault. Whatever else I may be, at least I'm real." For all that has changed around him, Cyrus remains, "As Country As Country Can Be," to borrow the title of another of Back To Tennessee's many highlights that he wrote with songwriters Casey Beathard and Mick Adkins. "I love country music," Cyrus explains. "I love all styles of music. I just love music period. But when you grow up in Eastern Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, there's a lot of Southern gospel, a lot of blues and a lot of rock & roll, and it's still as country as country can be. Growing up I listened to Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. There's a lot of that influence in my music. But I also grew up with Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers. Those were my influences too." Cyrus paid his dues along the way. "It was the 12 years of persistence and dedication and being told no, the trials and errors and failures, everything I learned along that journey to making that first album, Some Gave All," Cyrus explains. "That was all built on a foundation of something very real." The success of that debut, including hits like "Could've Been Me," "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" "She's Not Cryin' Anymore," the title track and, of course, "Achy Breaky Heart" was massive and overwhelming. Yet here too Cyrus depended on his roots to keep him grounded. "You can see my dad's picture sitting there in front of us today," Cyrus says. "My dad passed away a couple of years ago -- he had a gospel quartet, and that's where I got my start as a little boy. There's a misperception that I was an overnight success. When I started Some Gave All, I was living in my car. I'd gotten thrown out of my house and sat writing some of those songs sitting on the curb. "Wher'm I Gonna Live,' "She's Not Crying Anymore" and "Some Gave All" I wrote all in one week. Everything that led up to that moment was very real. Yet as Cyrus recalls, "Fortunately, I had that man in the picture, my father, tell me" Don't worry son, just do what Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton did, branch out." Like Carl Perkins said, "Whatever you do, don't change a thing. Stay real and it will come around." When I was down because I felt like Nashville had thrown me out, Waylon Jennings said, "Son, take it as a compliment. You know the definition of "outlaw," don't you? It's someone who's been outlawed. Just be who you are - you're an original." Taking the advice of those he respected the most, Cyrus pushed forward, continuing t

Billy Ray Cyrus - Back To Tennessee (CD NEW) Label: Lyric Street Format: CD Release Date: 07 Apr 2009 No. of Discs: 1 UPC: 050087125820 Album Tracks 1. Back To Tennessee 2. Thrillbilly 3. He's Mine 4. Somebody Said A Prayer 5. A Good Day 6. I Could Be The One 7. Like Nothing Else 8. Country As Country Can Be 9. Love Is The Lesson 10. Give It To Somebody 11. Real GoneBonus Track: Butterfly Fly Away feat Miley Cyrus 12. Butterfly Fly Away