July 8: Country singer-songwriter Drew Womack- Sons of the Desert -is 43-years-old today.

 

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Drew Womack was born in Brownwood, Texas on July 8, 1970. After studying classical voice in college, he formed the Alt country band, Sons Of The Desert - named after a Laurel and Hardy film- at the age of nineteen.

“The Sons” signed with Sony Epic Nashville in 1995 and released the critically acclaimed debut single, “Whatever Comes First” in 1996, which climbed into the Billboard top 10 and stayed there for several weeks. “Whatever Comes First” topped various European charts, as well.

The Sons self-titled CD yielded a couple more minor hits before the band moved to MCA Universal Records where they went on to record two projects. Over the next three years they produced a couple more hit videos and several Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music nominations.

They ended with what became The Sons Final top ten single, “What I Did Right” at the same time, collaborating with long time friend, Lee Ann Womack (no relation) on “I Hope You Dance” The Song Of The Year for both, the CMA’s and the ACM’s.

Sons Of The Desert parted ways after a long dispute with MCA consequently settling out of court. Sons of the Desert began working on its second album. One of the tunes that Womack was especially excited about recording was “Goodbye Earl,” a comedic song about the murder of an abusive husband. The band had been performing the song in concert and it had become a fan favorite.

After recording the song, a conflict with the record label arose. Label mates, the Dixie Chicks, also wanted to record the song for their upcoming album. Despite a friendly agreement between the members of Sons and the Chicks to both record the song, a label executive only allowed the release of the Chicks version. “Goodbye Earl,” became one of the Dixie Chicks’ biggest hits.

During the time that he was performing and recording with Sons, Womack was also writing, and collaborating with several of Nashville’s top hit makers. Womack had written nine, top-10 hit songs including Kenny Chesney’s first #1 smash, “She’s Got It All” (co-written with Craig Wiseman).

He also had collaborations with Peter Frampton, Jack Blades (Night Ranger, Damn Yankees) and Tim McGraw. As a songwriter, Womack earned five ASCAP awards and two BMI awards. Drew went on to cut and co-produce (w/ friend and collaborator, Mark Capps) his self-titled debut record in 2003.

He started in Nashville with the help of members of Sons Of The Desert, Tim Womack (Drew’s older brother), Scott Saunders, Dave Ristrim, and finishing up in Austin Texas where he relocated to and now resides. The project yielded two top five singles before Drew was forced to come off the road due to a back injury. 

After surgery and total reconstruction of a lower vertebrae, Drew kept writing, producing and collaborating with various Texas and Nashville artists. In mid-2012, Womack released a new album, Sunshine To Rain, on Blue Lightning Records; a label that he co-owns. The album marks a new musical approach; a retro-modern sound Womack jokingly refers to as “Gangsta Folk.”

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For more about Drew, visit his Website at –

http://thedrewwomack.com/about/

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