Nashville, Tenn. (TOP40 Charts/ Aristo Media) -- Ty Herndon's Country music career has seen its share of ups and downs, a fact the No. 1 hit singer and songwriter discusses frankly in the current issue (Aug. 16) of Country Weekly magazine, on stands now. With a new album titled
Journey On released in June, Herndon reveals to Country Weekly that the subject matter on his latest project touches on some very personal issues in the singer's past and in his present life.
Journey On also marks Herndon's debut as a songwriter, with the revitalized Country star co-writing all eleven tracks on the new album.
I needed to talk about the last 10 years of my life, says Herndon. I needed to write this record.
In an exclusive Country Weekly interview with Deborah Evans Price, Herndon discloses in detail how drug addiction almost killed him and his career in the process.
I've really never told this before, but when I recorded the majority of What Mattered Most, I was not sober, Herndon says of his 1995 debut album, which included his first No. 1 hit single. That should have been the most bright and shining time in my life, but everything I'd worked my whole life for was crumbling all around me.
After a four-year addiction to methamphetamine, Herndon says he hit rock bottom living in Los Angeles in 2004. He relates a scene in which he found himself face down on his kitchen floor, crying and praying for direction in his life and career.
I just had a little talk with God, laying there on my face because I didn't even feel worthy to talk to God at that point. I felt the hand of God touch my head and gave me just enough strength to know that I needed to get on that plane [back to Nashville], says Herndon.
Journey On, co-produced with Wayne Haun, blends Herndon's contemporary Country and Christian influences with lyrics that reveal a singer reinvigorated with his faith and spirituality. Herndon, Haun and Dove Award-winning songwriter Joel Lindsey collaborated on the song When We Fly, a duet with Lizzy Long that earned Herndon a 2010 Dove Award earlier this year in the Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year category.
Journey On marks a transitional point for Herndon and his 15-year career, which has produced sales of more than 4 million albums and multiple No. 1s on the Country charts, including What Mattered Most, Living in a Moment and It Must Be Love. Herndon's new single and title track, Journey On, is receiving airplay at Christian and Country radio and carries the positive kind of message that the singer and newly discovered songwriter hopes will connect with his listeners.
There was so much I wanted to say to fit where I find myself spiritually and emotionally, and I wanted to sing about that, he says. When I was singing songs that someone else had written, I found that I wasn't in my strongest voice. I am very, very proud of this record.
In February 2010, Herndon became the flagship artist for Nashville-based label, FUNL Music. The label plans to release a new Ty Herndon Country album later this year.
For more information about Ty Herndon, visit his official website at www.TyHerndon.com.
