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Lee Ann Womack
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Date of birth: 19 August 1966,
Birth Place: Jacksonville, Texas, USA
Born August 19, 1966, in the small town of Jacksonville, Texas, she immersed herself in country music from her earliest years onward. Her father was a part-time disc jockey who frequently took her to the studio and let her pick out records for him to play. (Bob Wills, Ray Price and Glen Campbell were her favorites.) At home, young Lee Ann would lie between the stereo speakers and when the weather conditions were right-absorb the music beaming in from the Grand Ole Opry. Instead of taking her senior trip with the rest of her class, she bargained with her parents for a visit to Nashville, where she toured Music Row.
Initially, Womack studied music at South Plains Junior College, in Levelland, Texas, one of the first schools to offer a degree in bluegrass and country music. She quickly became a member of the school band, Country Caravan, and toured with it throughout the Southwest and Southern California. Subsequently, she enrolled in Belmont University's Music Business program in Nashville, which enabled her to intern in the A&R department at MCA Records. In 1990, she moved to Nashville permanently.
During her stay at Belmont, Womack got married, became a mother and stayed home for a couple of years. Then she began doing showcases around town and singing demos for other songwriters. She also began to concentrate more on her own songwriting. "At one showcase," she says, "somebody from Tree [Publishing] came out to hear me. He asked for a tape of my songs that I'd demoed. Then, he gave the demo to [producer and songwriter Don Cook, who actually signed me to Tree."
As a staff writer for Tree since 1995, Womack has co-written with such heavyweights as Bill Anderson, Sam Hogin, Ed Hill and her producer, Mark Wright. Anderson has recorded one of their joint-compositions for his new Warner Brothers album, and Ricky Skaggs is including a Womack cut on his upcoming Atlantic Records project. Best of all, one of Womack's songs earned a spot on her own debut album.
In early 1996, Womack signed as an artist with
Decca Records, the legendary label of Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, Webb Pierce,
Loretta Lynn and many other of her musical heroes.
With the signing came her first big career problem: What to do about her
name? At just about the time Womack joined Decca, LeAnn Rimes was making
her media breakthrough. Naturally, there was the question of whether two
country singers with identical sounding first names might needlessly confuse
fans. Womack was philosophical about the whole matter. "I was not
opposed to changing my name," she says. "I suggested we go with
Lu, since that had always been my nickname. But [the label] didn't want
Lu because they thought it sounded too masculine. So we stayed with Lee
Ann. The one who actually decided that I should keep my name was my manager,
Erv Woolsey. He said that when he started managing George Strait there
had been some pressure for George to take a different name-on account
of George Jones. Erv said, 'George Strait kept his name, and it worked.
You should too."'
After the release of Lee Ann's second album on
Decca, "Some Things I Know," Decca shut its doors, and Lee Ann
moved to MCA-Nashville, the record company of such greats as Reba McEntire
and George Strait. Her first release on MCA-Nashville has proven to be
a big one.
With "I Hope You Dance," many critics believe Lee Ann will finally be boosted to the top rung of country music. The title track (and first single) is a preliminary song of the year favorite, which has already skyrocketed up the charts and spent two weeks at number one. The album itself also debuted at number one.
But don't let this fool you; once you hear Lee
Ann Womack, you'll never be confused again about who she is or what she
is. She's pure country.
Tom Sawyer (2000) (V) (voice) .... Becky Thatcher
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