Tony Ramey

Tony Ramey grew up in West Virginia on Bluegrass and Bill Withers; found Willie, Waylon, Cash, and Kristofferson at eleven, who compelled him to write songs; then heard Steve Earle who made him move to Guitar Town to hone his craft; and he left for Texas when the road called him out again...

Somewhere in the middle of all that he acquired a Masters, taught at a university while working on his PhD, and garnered Gold and Platinum Records as a songwriter in Nashville. Currently he tours the US and Texas, where he has been named 2016's Independent Artist of the Year by the Texas Country Music Association.

With the latest release Soul Survivor, featuring a duet with the iconic Willie Nelson (also a new fan of his music), Ramey is still grabbing the attention of industry people, and growing his audience by leaps and bounds because of his undeniable prowess as a singer/songwriter, and his passion for playing live. There is no doubt he prefers the troubadour life-style, and the solace of his writer's getaway between shows where he says he can "be alone with nature, his thoughts, and the eternal spring of the Art Spirit." So until now, Ramey spent much of his music career flying below the radar, but his recent touring schedule and album releases are getting noticed.

Ramey’s first Gold Record came out of the frustrations of commercialism. “I Don’t Want this Song to End” was a response to his first publisher’s new “rules” about songwriting: No ballads, definitely no waltzes, and no songs over four minutes. Tom Collins, Country Music publisher and producer icon, was Tony’s first go ‘round with Nashville’s Music Row: “Tom was a great song man and an even better psychologist. He knew us writer’s well enough to know we wouldn’t be told what to do. I think he just wanted to ruffle our feathers so we would go in a room and write something great, and stop following the formula.” From the beginning of his career as a songwriter, Tony felt as though he lived on the fringes of Nashville’s Music Row. He aspired to follow in the footsteps of Guy Clarke, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and other outlaws who flew below the mass media radar. "It's easy to get consumed by the hype and sparkle and neon of that town, but I came from the mountains, where you learn that everything man creates is superficial, talk is cheap, and stars fall as regular as acorns off the tree. I took a lot of what Nashville had to offer with a grain of salt.”

Ramey admits that his latest project *Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean* is coming at a strange time. He says of contemporary music and the state of the industry, "We live in an age when the album is obsolete, the song is incidental to the artist's brand, and artists seem only as popular as their pockets are deep. But I still make music the way I want to make it. There are opportunities out there for Indie's these days, so all is not lost; we just have to work a little harder for a little less. Nobody told me this life would be easy, and I don't mind the sweat." With songs like "The Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean," “This Ain’t No Country,” ”Ramblers,” "Pocatalico," "Almost Had Me There," “Ain’t Gettin’ Anywhere," "Lonely Heart," and "Good Kinda Crazy," Tony's next album is chalk full of powerhouse songs that will continue to turn heads and wow audiences everywhere.