J. Marc Bailey

“Although I love good solid Rock N Roll, Country has always been at the heart of things for me.”
— J. Marc Bailey

J. Marc Bailey first got the attention of the Country music world back in 2005 with the release of his album “Just to Hang Around.” The success of the album’s Country/Rock title track breaking into the top 40 led to high profile gigs with some of the great names in Country and Rock music including: Chris LeDoux, Blake Shelton, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Joe Diffie, Gary Allan, Restless Heart, 38 Special, Diamond Rio, Sawyer Brown, Asleep At The Wheel, and many more.

After riding that high, J. Marc decided to step back from the limelight for a while to devote some time to other pursuits and spend time with his family. However, he stayed active in the Country music world. He has been involved in producing, arranging, writing, engineering, promoting and even booking other acts. But his heart eventually drew him back to his guitar, and to the fans.

J. Marc launched his comeback in 2019 with the release of the single “Midnight Here In Carolina.” Since then he has produced a steady stream of work. 2021 was a particularly productive year in which the singer released a dozen new tracks, including the breakout single “Once a Cowboy”, written by Jeffrey Steele and Recorded at Hilltop Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, the song has seen heavy rotation across the real and virtual worlds.

"I Can't Stop You" was released to Radio toward the end of 2021 and moved quickly up the terrestrial radio charts. It broke top 10 on the New Music Weekly charts and broke into the top 100 on the Music Row Charts jumping over 140 spots in the first 9 weeks. It saw close to 300k streams across all the major digital channels.

J. was quoted as saying, "nothing can compare to the feeling of performing live and connecting with friends who feel the way you do about things. One of the biggest thrills I have ever experienced was the first time I looked down and saw a grinning face singing along with every word of a song that I had written and was performing, I lost my place and totally forgot my lyrics - WHAT A RUSH!"

2022 saw J. Marc release two full length studio albums, "Hang On A Little Longer" and "I Can't Stop You". Both albums were produced by Buddy Hyatt with some of Nashville's elite including Brent Mason on guitars , Austin Crum (Currently with Shenandoah) on electric guitar, Lonnie Wilson on drums (currently with George Strait), Dan Tyminski (Alison Krauss as well as the "O' Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack) on acoustic and mandolin, Duncan Mullins on bass and Scottie Hinson on pedal steele just to name a few. Both albums have already seen some of the tunes released to radio, satellite and the major streaming channels with huge response from fans... and there is more.

March 1, 2023 - Almost 20 years after the first attempt at the song, “Unbroken” I’m releasing a full length album with this title.

...choices, life is full of them. We are faced everyday with challenges and the choices that come along with them and so many times we forget that making the right choice opens us up to continue making further choices and having freedom. Making the wrong choices severely limits our ability to be free and continue doing what we love. Unbroken for me represents a lot of looking back over choices, ones that I made and some that others made that affected me.

I have made more than my fair share of bad decisions which have led to many regrets, I own these wholeheartedly. My poor life choices had a huge impact on my happiness and my ability to pursue the things that I love with music being close to the top of the list for me. One thing I have learned through this is that it's important not to let those choices define who we are. How we work through things and deal with the hard times will be what defines us.

The song “Unbroken” took me a very long time to work through and feel alright with releasing. Over a year and a half ago when I first put out the single, I was on the phone with a close friend who helped with the first acoustic cut and he was telling me I was crazy to even second guess putting it out and, “I need to get my ass out of my own way”. I was very unsure about how I finally felt letting it go because I don’t think I ever believed it would see the light of day. I think the early versions were more for my own therapy. It was originally part of an unreleased project that I recorded immediately after the "Just To Hang Around" album in 2005.

Back then I was so angry at so many things. I was going through a lot and the overall feeling was basically let hell rage and everything and everyone pile on… with a big middle finger, “I WILL STAND UNBROKEN!” (even got the tattoo to prove my point lol)

Man how time has tempered and tamed that feeling and helped put things in a better, more clear perspective. For me the final version of the song has become more about how we all stray from the correct path, but recognizing that in the end it's about redemption and fighting our way back, loving without limits, trying hard to do what's right, asking for forgiveness and offering it without hesitation, standing strong and coming out the other side... “UNBROKEN".

My hope with this album is that it represents the best of what I have to offer musically from all I’ve done throughout the years. The songs on here range from polished to raw, early stuff to the most recent recordings. Each one on here has had some significant meaning or impact for me somewhere along the journey 🙂

I love music, I love writing, covering, producing and recording it but there really is nothing like playing it live with family and friends. “... I won’t say it’s been easy, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

I love you.

God Bless,

J.