NASHVILLE, TN (GAC Official Website) - When Great American Country network's Lorianne Crook asked
Cowboy Troy to share the most poignant memory of his budding career, the country singer didn't hesitate. A young fan approached him a few years back to say that she was thinking about dropping out of high school.
Cowboy Troy encouraged the girl to reconsider and to stay in school.
'Last year, I saw her again and she reminded me of that story and showed me her first semester college grades, framed,' he says. 'Now that was cool!'
The close relationship between artist and fan provides a recurring theme for 'CMA Celebrity Close Up' airing Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ET on GAC. Hosted by Crook, the one-hour program goes in depth with Cowboy Troy, singer/songwriter Phil Vassar, singers Jamie O'Neal and Josh Gracin and popular country music group Diamond Rio.
Vassar tells GAC's Crook of his early years as a struggling songwriter who faced repeated rejection from executives at several record labels, one of whom said Vassar's compositions -as he recalls- 'stunk.' Only after other artists began recording his songs and turning them into hits did the labels recognize his talent.
'They came back to me and started saying, well, yeah, we knew you were good,' Vassar says with a twinkle in his eye.
Vassar penned chart-topping songs for Jo Dee Messina ('Bye Bye'), Tim McGraw ('My Next Thirty Years') and Alan Jackson ('Right on the Money'). As a singer, Vassar has had two No 1 hits on the country charts ('Just Another Day in Paradise' and 'In a Real Love').
O'Neal says she, too, faced the sting of rejection before striking it big with two consecutive No 1 hits in 2001. She tells Crook that perseverance is a trait that turns a music wannabe into a successful artist.
'It only takes one �yes,' one person to believe in you,' O'Neal says.
Each artist thanked legions of loyal fans for sticking with them through ups and downs and career swings.
'This gets at the essence of the success of country music and the annual CMA Music Festival,' says Sarah Trahern, GAC's senior vice president of programming. 'These artists have great stories about their lives and careers and about the fans that continue to support them so strongly. GAC viewers can really see what makes these stars tick.'
While country artists enjoy that close interaction with fans, there are times things can get out of hand…or leg in one case. Asked about the most unusual item he was ever called upon to autograph for a fan, Diamond Rio guitarist Jimmy Olander remembers one gentleman who hobbled up to the autograph table and tossed upon it his wooden leg to be signed. As he began to write, Olander noticed the rough surface of the artificial limb was tearing his Sharpie pen to shreds.
'So I say, hey, what's going on here, guy, and he tells me, �well, that's where I staple up my socks,' Olander says.
GAC is the presenting sponsor for 'CMA Celebrity Close Up.' The show was recorded before a live audience at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium during the 2006 CMA Music Festival.
