Blaine Larsen
Encyclopedia
Blaine Larsen is an American country music
artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington
. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records
, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World
by BNA Records
. Blaine's second album, Rockin' You Tonight
, was issued in June 2006, also on BNA. Larsen's two albums for that label have produced five chart singles on the Hot Country Songs
charts, of which the highest-peaking was "How Do You Get That Lonely" at #18. Larsen parted ways with BNA in 2009, in favor of Treehouse Records and consequently with Stroudavarious Records
, but is presently unsigned.
, he and his family made a trip to Nashville, Tennessee
where Larsen recorded a demo CD composed mainly of cover songs. This CD also included a song that he had co-written with his school teacher. Nashville songwriters Rory Lee Feek
and Tim Johnson discovered Larsen's demo CD. They then flew him back Nashville again to hold a recording session with him, and by 2004, his debut album In My High School was released on Feek and Johnson's label, Giantslayer Records
. The album's lead-off single, which was the title track, received some airplay particularly in Seattle also reaching #60 on the country charts that year.
After "In My High School" began receiving airplay, Sandy Conklin, an employee at BMG in Seattle sent a note to Joe Galante, head of the BMG labels in Nashville, recommending Larsen. Galante auditioned him and agreed to sign him at the end of 2004. Larsen was signed to BMG-affiliated BNA Records
label. BNA then added a bonus track to In My High School, re-releasing the album in early 2005 under the title Off to Join the World
. Larsen had co-written six of the ten songs on the album. BNA also released two more singles from the album: "How Do You Get That Lonely", which peaked at #18, that proved to be the most successful of his singles, followed by "The Best Man", which Larsen wrote about his stepfather, that reached #36.
In 2006, Larsen released his second studio album, also a joint effort between BNA and Giantslayer. Entitled Rockin' You Tonight
, this album produced two more chart singles for Larsen: the #24 "I Don't Know What She Said" and the #42 "Spoken Like a Man". The former was co-written by Warner Bros. Records
artist Lane Turner
. Rockin' You Tonight also included cover
s of Mac Davis
"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me
" and Mark Chesnutt
's "I'm in Love with a Married Woman", as well as a duet with Gretchen Wilson
entitled "Lips of a Bottle". He also recorded separately a cover of "I Wish That I Could Fall in Love Today" on a tribute album to Barbara Mandrell
. He also toured with renowned artists opening for their shows, including Brad Paisley
, Rascal Flatts
and Kenny Chesney
. He charted with a cover of "Away in a Manger
", and also co-wrote the track "I Gotta Get to You
" on George Strait
's album Twang
.
Larsen exited BNA in 2008, and signed to Treehouse Records, a label founded by his management company, in June 2009. He was the first artist to sign for the label. After one year of operations, Treehouse Records merged in Stroudavarious Records
. Larsen's next album Not Too Bad was tipped to be under the new label. A lead-off single from the prospective album, entitled "It Did," made its chart debut in August 2009. It was followed by "Chillin'" (a minor Top 40 hit) and "Leavin'," but the album was eventually shelved after Stroudavarious folded into J&R Records without signing Larsen.
. When he was five years old, his parents divorced; he, his mother Jenny, and his sister Lindsey then moved to Buckley, Washington
. His father often promised to visit or call, but he never did. A family friend named Woody who worked side jobs as a contractor took Blaine Larsen with him on weekend jobs. One of those jobs, converting Larsen's grandmother's garage into a living space, led to romance between Woody and Blaine's mother Jenny. They later married, and Woody legally adopted Larsen just before he turned 18. Larsen wrote the autobiographical song "The Best Man" about his own family.
Flying has been one of Blaine Larsen's biggest passions and he is a pilot. He never took any singing lessons, but his step father encouraged him to sing and learn to play the guitar.
Blaine Larsen married Sammie in December 2005. They had their first daughter Zoe in April 2007. They had their second child, a son they named Noble in April 2011.
Larsen became an ambassador for Compassion International
and in 2010 went to a one week trip with the organization to Colombia
, also sponsoring one of the Colombian kids he met during his mission.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington
Buckley, Washington
Buckley is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,354 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Buckley is located at near the communities of Enumclaw, Bonney Lake, and Wilkeson....
. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was established in 2004 by songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee.Songwriters included Rory Lee Feek born in Atchison, Kansas...
, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World
Off to Join the World
-Album:-Singles:...
by BNA Records
BNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster...
. Blaine's second album, Rockin' You Tonight
Rockin' You Tonight
-Album:-Singles:...
, was issued in June 2006, also on BNA. Larsen's two albums for that label have produced five chart singles on the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts, of which the highest-peaking was "How Do You Get That Lonely" at #18. Larsen parted ways with BNA in 2009, in favor of Treehouse Records and consequently with Stroudavarious Records
Stroudavarious Records
R&J Records is an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in May 2011 by James Stroud and Rick Carter. Stroud is a record producer and former president of Giant Records and DreamWorks Records. In 2008, Stroud had launched Stroudavarious Records and signed...
, but is presently unsigned.
Career
Blaine Larsen was introduced to music very early. By age 10, Larsen had begun singing along to country karaoke tapes, and by age 13 he learned to play guitar as well. When Larsen was a junior in high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, he and his family made a trip to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
where Larsen recorded a demo CD composed mainly of cover songs. This CD also included a song that he had co-written with his school teacher. Nashville songwriters Rory Lee Feek
Rory Lee Feek
Rory Lee Feek is an American country music singer and songwriter. In his career, he has written singles for Clay Walker, Blake Shelton, Tracy Byrd and other artists. He and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, comprise the duo Joey + Rory, who placed third on the first season of the CMT talent show Can You...
and Tim Johnson discovered Larsen's demo CD. They then flew him back Nashville again to hold a recording session with him, and by 2004, his debut album In My High School was released on Feek and Johnson's label, Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was established in 2004 by songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee.Songwriters included Rory Lee Feek born in Atchison, Kansas...
. The album's lead-off single, which was the title track, received some airplay particularly in Seattle also reaching #60 on the country charts that year.
After "In My High School" began receiving airplay, Sandy Conklin, an employee at BMG in Seattle sent a note to Joe Galante, head of the BMG labels in Nashville, recommending Larsen. Galante auditioned him and agreed to sign him at the end of 2004. Larsen was signed to BMG-affiliated BNA Records
BNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster...
label. BNA then added a bonus track to In My High School, re-releasing the album in early 2005 under the title Off to Join the World
Off to Join the World
-Album:-Singles:...
. Larsen had co-written six of the ten songs on the album. BNA also released two more singles from the album: "How Do You Get That Lonely", which peaked at #18, that proved to be the most successful of his singles, followed by "The Best Man", which Larsen wrote about his stepfather, that reached #36.
In 2006, Larsen released his second studio album, also a joint effort between BNA and Giantslayer. Entitled Rockin' You Tonight
Rockin' You Tonight
-Album:-Singles:...
, this album produced two more chart singles for Larsen: the #24 "I Don't Know What She Said" and the #42 "Spoken Like a Man". The former was co-written by Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
artist Lane Turner
Lane Turner
Michael Lane Turner is an American singer-songwriter. Signed to Warner Bros. Records since 2004, he released two singles for the label, including "Always Wanting More ", which reached #56 on the Hot Country Songs charts in 2004...
. Rockin' You Tonight also included cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of Mac Davis
Mac Davis
Mac Davis is a country music singer, songwriter, and actor originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much crossover success...
"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me
Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me
"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" is a hit song by country and pop singer-songwriter Mac Davis. From his breakthrough album of the same name, the song reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in September 1972, spending three weeks atop each chart...
" and Mark Chesnutt
Mark Chesnutt
Mark Nelson Chesnutt is an American country music singer. Chesnutt recorded and released his first album, Doing My Country Thing, in the late-1980s on private independent record label, Axbar Records, with the vinyl album version now a collector's item...
's "I'm in Love with a Married Woman", as well as a duet with Gretchen Wilson
Gretchen Wilson
Gretchen Frances Wilson is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman," a number-one hit on the Billboard country charts. The song served as the lead-off single of her debut album, Here for the Party...
entitled "Lips of a Bottle". He also recorded separately a cover of "I Wish That I Could Fall in Love Today" on a tribute album to Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...
. He also toured with renowned artists opening for their shows, including Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
, Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American country music band that originated in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America. Since its inception, Rascal Flatts has been composed of three members: Gary LeVox , Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney...
and Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...
. He charted with a cover of "Away in a Manger
Away in a Manger
"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in 1885 in Philadelphia and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain it is one of the most popular carols, a 1996 Gallup Poll ranking it joint second.-History of the lyrics:...
", and also co-wrote the track "I Gotta Get to You
I Gotta Get to You
"I Gotta Get to You" is a country music song by artist George Strait. It was released in February 2010 as the 90th single of his career, as well as the third single from his 26th studio album, Twang...
" on George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
's album Twang
Twang (album)
-Personnel:*Eddie Bayers – drums*Eric Darken – percussion*Stuart Duncan – fiddle, mandolin*Tom Flora – background vocals*Paul Franklin – steel guitar*Steve Gibson – acoustic, electric, gut string guitars*Mike Haynes – trumpet...
.
Larsen exited BNA in 2008, and signed to Treehouse Records, a label founded by his management company, in June 2009. He was the first artist to sign for the label. After one year of operations, Treehouse Records merged in Stroudavarious Records
Stroudavarious Records
R&J Records is an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in May 2011 by James Stroud and Rick Carter. Stroud is a record producer and former president of Giant Records and DreamWorks Records. In 2008, Stroud had launched Stroudavarious Records and signed...
. Larsen's next album Not Too Bad was tipped to be under the new label. A lead-off single from the prospective album, entitled "It Did," made its chart debut in August 2009. It was followed by "Chillin'" (a minor Top 40 hit) and "Leavin'," but the album was eventually shelved after Stroudavarious folded into J&R Records without signing Larsen.
Personal life
Blaine Larsen was born February 2, 1986, in Tacoma, WashingtonTacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. When he was five years old, his parents divorced; he, his mother Jenny, and his sister Lindsey then moved to Buckley, Washington
Buckley, Washington
Buckley is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,354 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Buckley is located at near the communities of Enumclaw, Bonney Lake, and Wilkeson....
. His father often promised to visit or call, but he never did. A family friend named Woody who worked side jobs as a contractor took Blaine Larsen with him on weekend jobs. One of those jobs, converting Larsen's grandmother's garage into a living space, led to romance between Woody and Blaine's mother Jenny. They later married, and Woody legally adopted Larsen just before he turned 18. Larsen wrote the autobiographical song "The Best Man" about his own family.
Flying has been one of Blaine Larsen's biggest passions and he is a pilot. He never took any singing lessons, but his step father encouraged him to sing and learn to play the guitar.
Blaine Larsen married Sammie in December 2005. They had their first daughter Zoe in April 2007. They had their second child, a son they named Noble in April 2011.
Larsen became an ambassador for Compassion International
Compassion International
Compassion International is a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world. Compassion International, headquartered in Colorado Springs, functions in 26 countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Kenya, and...
and in 2010 went to a one week trip with the organization to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, also sponsoring one of the Colombian kids he met during his mission.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
||
| In My High School |
|
— | — |
| Off to Join the World Off to Join the World -Album:-Singles:... |
BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster... |
14 | 79 |
| Rockin' You Tonight Rockin' You Tonight -Album:-Singles:... |
|
23 | 93 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
|||
| 2004 | "In My High School" | 60 | — | In My High School |
| 2005 | "How Do You Get That Lonely" | 18 | 91 | Off to Join the World |
| "The Best Man" | 36 | — | ||
| 2006 | "I Don't Know What She Said" | 24 | — | Rockin' You Tonight |
| "Spoken Like a Man" | 42 | — | ||
| 2009 | "It Did" | 50 | — | Not Too Bad (unreleased) |
| 2010 | "Chillin'" | 38 | — | |
| "Leavin'" | 47 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Other charted songs
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
|||
| 2008 | "Away in a Manger Away in a Manger "Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in 1885 in Philadelphia and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain it is one of the most popular carols, a 1996 Gallup Poll ranking it joint second.-History of the lyrics:... " |
53 | Hear Something Country Christmas |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "In My High School" | |
| "How Do You Get That Lonely" (1st version) |
||
| 2005 | "How Do You Get That Lonely" (2nd version) |
Deaton-Flanigen Productions Deaton-Flanigen Productions Deaton-Flanigen Productions is a music video directing duo composed of Robert Deaton III and George Flanigen IV. The two have directed multiple music videos, primarily in the field of country music... |
| 2006 | "The Best Man" | |
| 2009 | "It Did" |