Craig Carothers
Encyclopedia
Craig Carothers is an American
singer-songwriter
. He is originally from Portland, Oregon
, but now lives in Nashville, Tennessee
. Carothers's "Little Hercules" was recorded for Trisha Yearwood
's 1996 album Everybody Knows
. The song went Gold.
. His parents, both music teachers, introduced him to a wide range of music including jazz
, classical, and blues. Carothers also cites a number of Motown, pop
, and folk
influences.
During the early stages of his career (some 20 years) he toured little playing primarily in his hometown of Portland, Oregon
. He shared the stage with a range of notable acts.
In 1995, country music
singer Trisha Yearwood
recorded his song, "Little Hercules", leading to a Gold record. It was at that time that Carothers began traveling first to Nashville
and then to gigs in other southern cities, Birmingham
, Atlanta
, Houston
, and Little Rock
. During this stage of his career some of his performances at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe
were featured on the Nashville Public Radio
program Players and Poets.
In 2000, Carothers moved to Nashville
and has continued to tour more widely ever since. Since that time a number of other artists have recorded songs written or cowritten by Carothers, including: Kathy Mattea
, Lorrie Morgan
, Sons Of The Desert
, Kate Markowitz
, Andrea Zonn
, Steve Seskin
, Berkley Hart, and Peter, Paul and Mary
.
Carothers has also continued to gain wider acclaim as a songwriter. In 2001, Carothers served on the faculty of the Song Camp directed by the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The camp is oriented toward aspiring songwriters. Carothers also wrote several songs for the soundtrack of the 2005 movie, The Californians
, including the title track. In 2006, Carothers was one of the top five writer/performers recognized from some 2500 entries to the Newsong Contest at the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
. The song, "She Needs Me" (cowritten by Carothers & Tony Haselden) won as part the festival's first three-way tie for Best Song.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. He is originally from Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, but now lives in 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...
. Carothers's "Little Hercules" was recorded for Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...
's 1996 album Everybody Knows
Everybody Knows (Trisha Yearwood album)
Everybody Knows is the sixth studio album by country music artist, Trisha Yearwood.Everybody Knows is an album containing country pop-styled ballads. It was given 3 out of 5 stars by Allmusic....
. The song went Gold.
Biography
Carothers grew up in the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. His parents, both music teachers, introduced him to a wide range of music including jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical, and blues. Carothers also cites a number of Motown, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
influences.
During the early stages of his career (some 20 years) he toured little playing primarily in his hometown of Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. He shared the stage with a range of notable acts.
In 1995, country music
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...
singer Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...
recorded his song, "Little Hercules", leading to a Gold record. It was at that time that Carothers began traveling first to Nashville
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...
and then to gigs in other southern cities, Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, and Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. During this stage of his career some of his performances at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe
Bluebird cafe
The Bluebird Cafe is a music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club is famous for intimate, acoustic music performed by its composers...
were featured on the Nashville Public Radio
WPLN-FM
WPLN-FM , is a National Public Radio-affiliated station in Nashville, Tennessee. Since June 2011, the station has employed exclusively a news and talk format; up until then, the station carried at least some classical music...
program Players and Poets.
In 2000, Carothers moved to Nashville
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...
and has continued to tour more widely ever since. Since that time a number of other artists have recorded songs written or cowritten by Carothers, including: Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
, Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, Sons Of The Desert
Sons of the Desert
Sons of the Desert is a 1933 American film starring Laurel and Hardy, and directed by William A. Seiter. It was first released in the United States on December 29, 1933 and is regarded as one of Laurel and Hardy's greatest films...
, Kate Markowitz
Kate Markowitz
Kate Markowitz is an American singer-songwriter. Markowitz is perhaps best known as a back-up vocalist who has recorded and performed with a number of singers, most notably James Taylor but also Willy DeVille, Shawn Colvin, Mylène Farmer, Don Henley, Billy Joel, k.d. lang, Lyle Lovett, Graham...
, Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn is a singer fiddle player who grew up in Champaign, Illinois. She grew up in an environment surrounded by music. She sings, and plays classical violin, and is fluent in numerous other musical genres. Zonn first met Alison Krauss at a fiddle contest at the Champaign County Fair when she...
, Steve Seskin
Steve Seskin
Steve Seskin is an American songwriter whose compositions have been recorded by Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Brian McComas, Neal McCoy, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Colin Raye, Tebey and Mark Wills...
, Berkley Hart, and Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
.
Carothers has also continued to gain wider acclaim as a songwriter. In 2001, Carothers served on the faculty of the Song Camp directed by the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The camp is oriented toward aspiring songwriters. Carothers also wrote several songs for the soundtrack of the 2005 movie, The Californians
The Californians
The Californians is a 2005 independent drama film from Hart Sharp Films starring Noah Wyle.-Cast:*Noah Wyle as Gavin Ransom*Illeana Douglas as Olive Ransom*Kate Mara as Zoe Tripp*Cloris Leachman as Eileen Boatwright*Joanne Whalley as Luna...
, including the title track. In 2006, Carothers was one of the top five writer/performers recognized from some 2500 entries to the Newsong Contest at the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located along the Potomac River. It is the oldest town in the state, having been chartered in 1762 by Colonial Virginia's General Assembly. Since 1863, Shepherdstown has been in West Virginia, and is the oldest town in...
. The song, "She Needs Me" (cowritten by Carothers & Tony Haselden) won as part the festival's first three-way tie for Best Song.
Discography
- Greenhouse FX (1990, Silent)
- Home Remedy (1994, Silent)
- Craig Carothers Trio (1995, Silent)
- Air Mail Blue (1996, Silent)
- Acoustic Set [live] (1998, Dwight Rabbit)
- The Card (2002, Dwight Rabbit)
- One Revolution (2003, Dwight Rabbit)
- Solo (2006, Dwight Rabbit)
Songs
A number of songs written or cowritten by Carothers have been recorded by other artists. A few examples are:- "Little Hercules" (Craig Carothers) - recorded by Trisha YearwoodTrisha YearwoodPatricia Lynn Yearwood, professionally known as Trisha Yearwood , is an American country music artist. She is best known for her ballads about vulnerable young women from a female perspective that have been described by some music critics as "strong" and "confident."Trisha Yearwood signed with MCA...
for Everybody KnowsEverybody Knows (Trisha Yearwood album)Everybody Knows is the sixth studio album by country music artist, Trisha Yearwood.Everybody Knows is an album containing country pop-styled ballads. It was given 3 out of 5 stars by Allmusic....
(1996) - "I Can Count on You" (Craig Carothers, Angela Kaset) - recorded by Lorrie MorganLorrie MorganIn 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
for Show Me HowShow Me HowShow Me How is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Lorrie Morgan. It was released by Image Entertainment on January 20, 2004. Its first single, "Do You Still Want to Buy Me That Drink ," peaked at #50 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
(2004) - "Invisible People" (Craig Carothers, Gene NelsonGene NelsonGene Nelson was an American dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director.-Biography:Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he moved to Seattle when he was one year old. He was inspired to become a dancer by watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films when he was a child...
) - recorded by Peter, Paul and MaryPeter, Paul and MaryPeter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
for In These Times (2003) - "Whoop-De-Do" (Craig Carothers, Angela Kaset) - recorded by Lorrie Morgan for To Get to You: Greatest Hits CollectionTo Get to You: Greatest Hits CollectionTo Get to You: Greatest Hits Collection is a compilation album by American country music artist Lorrie Morgan. It was released by BNA Records in February 2000. Its only single, "To Get to You," peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart...
(2000) - "BFD" - recorded by several artists: Kathy MatteaKathy MatteaKathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
, Berkley Hart, Don HenryDon HenryDonald Hugh Henry is the Executive Director of the Australian Conservation Foundation . Henry has led the ACF since 1998, helping it to become a strong advocate for the environment by promoting solutions through research, consultation, education and partnerships. In 2008, Henry won the Equity... - "Father's Day" and "Everyday Heroes" - recorded by Steve SeskinSteve SeskinSteve Seskin is an American songwriter whose compositions have been recorded by Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Peter Frampton, Waylon Jennings, Brian McComas, Neal McCoy, Tim McGraw, John Michael Montgomery, Colin Raye, Tebey and Mark Wills...
for An Original (2002)
External links
- Craig Carothers, official web site
- Craig Carothers page on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....