Diamond Rio
Encyclopedia
Diamond Rio is an American
Country music
/Christian music
band formed in 1984 in Nashville, Tennessee
. Since its foundation, the group has comprised the same six members: Gene Johnson (mandolin
, guitar
, fiddle
, tenor
vocals), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar
, Dobro
, Danelectro
, banjo
), Brian Prout (drums
), Marty Roe (lead vocals), Dan Truman (keyboards
, organ, synthesizer
), and Dana Williams (bass guitar
, baritone
vocals).
Diamond Rio was signed to Arista Records
in 1988. Due to a series of health issues affecting three of its members, however, the band did not make its debut until 1991, with the release of the single "Meet in the Middle
". It reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs
) charts, making Diamond Rio the first country music group in history to reach Number One with a debut single. "Meet in the Middle" was followed by thirty-two more chart singles throughout the band's career, including four more Number Ones: "How Your Love Makes Me Feel
" (1997), "One More Day
" (2001), "Beautiful Mess
" (2002), and "I Believe
" (2003).
Diamond Rio has recorded seven studio albums, two Greatest Hits compilations, and an album of Christmas music. Three of the band's albums have achieved RIAA platinum certification in the United States. In addition, Diamond Rio has received four Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association
, two Top Vocal Group awards from the Academy of Country Music
, and thirteen Grammy Award
nominations.
, began singing country music at the age of three, Gene Johnson had previously played with David Bromberg
, Jimmy Olander was a former backing member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
, and Dana Williams was a nephew of the Osborne Brothers
.
In 1984, Truman (who had just received a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University
) and Roe met for the first time at Opryland USA
, a theme park in Nashville, Tennessee
. The two soon formed a bluegrass group, which was first named the Grizzly River Boys, and later changed to the Tennessee River Boys. Olander and Johnson, who previously worked with Keith Whitley
, joined a year later, followed by Prout and Williams. The band's name was finally changed to Diamond Rio, because others had thought that the previous name made the group sound like a gospel music
band. The name Diamond Rio came from the names of two truck manufacturers, Diamond T
and REO
(the latter of which became misspelled in the band's name).
After assuming their new name of Diamond Rio, the band was discovered by Tim DuBois (a record executive at Arista Records
) in May 1989. DuBois, who had just opened the label's Nashville division, signed Diamond Rio to a record deal that same month. Shortly after the band received its record deal, however, three members came down with health problems: Olander had discovered that he had a tumor
, Williams was seriously injured while boating
, and Johnson was injured in a carpentry
accident.
", was released early that year; peaking at Number One on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks
chart, the song made Diamond Rio the first country music band in history to reach Number One with its debut single. The song served as the lead-off to their debut album, also titled Diamond Rio
. In addition to "Meet in the Middle", it produced the Top 10 hits "Mirror, Mirror", "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me", "Norma Jean Riley" and "Nowhere Bound". Also included on the album was a bluegrass instrumental track entitled "Poultry Promenade", which earned the band its first Grammy nomination. Diamond Rio was later certified platinum by the RIAA for selling more than one million copies in the United States.
Close to the Edge
, the group's second album, was released in 1992. Although the album was certified gold for U.S. sales of 500,000 copies, only two of its four singles — "In a Week or Two" and "Oh Me, Oh My Sweet Baby" — reached the Top 10, followed by the #13 "This Romeo Ain't Got Julie Yet" and #21 "Sawmill Road". According to Marty Roe, Close to the Edge was a weaker album than its predecessor because the band only had one month to pick the songs for it; in a 1994 interview with New Country magazine, he stated: "There aren't ten great songs out there for everybody, certainly not that you could find in a 30-day period of time." Also in 1992, lead singer Marty Roe recorded a duet with Pam Tillis
entitled "Love Is Only Human" on her album Homeward Looking Angel
.
In 1993, Diamond Rio also contributed to Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
, a tribute album to the Eagles, on which various country music acts performed covers of the Eagles' songs. They performed a cover of "Lyin' Eyes
" on this compilation. Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles went on to earn a 3× Multi-Platinum certification for shipments of three million copies.
, Diamond Rio's third album, was released in 1994. The album was recorded on a more relaxed schedule than the previous album; as a result, they did not have a single on the charts for three months after "Sawmill Road" (the last single from Close to the Edge) fell off the charts. The title track to Love a Little Stronger, co-written by Billy Crittenden of 4 Runner
, reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard country singles charts; it was followed by the #9 hit "Night Is Fallin' in My Heart" and the Top 20 hits "Bubba Hyde" and "Finish What We Started". Because the band had taken a longer period of time to choose songs for Love a Little Stronger, it was considered by critics to be a superior album to its predecessor. This album also earned the band its second platinum certification.
Later in 1994, Diamond Rio teamed up with country guitarists Lee Roy Parnell
and Steve Wariner
. Crediting themselves as Jed Zeppelin, the eight musicians recorded a cover of Merle Haggard
's "Workin' Man's Blues
" for a tribute album entitled Mama's Hungry Eyes, which featured other country artists' renditions of Haggard's songs. In addition to peaking at #48 on the Billboard country charts, Jed Zeppelin's rendition of "Workin' Man's Blues" was made into a music video
, which aired on the television networks CMT
and TNN (now Spike TV
).
, Diamond Rio's gold-certified fourth album was released in 1996. It produced four singles in "Walkin' Away", "That's What I Get for Lovin' You", "It's All in Your Head", and "Holdin'", all of which except "It's All in Your Head" (which was co-written by Van Stephenson
of Blackhawk
) were Top Ten hits. The music video for "It's All in Your Head" featured Martin Sheen
and Ramon Estevez
, the former playing the part of a snake-handling preacher.
In 1997, Diamond Rio contributed a recording of the gospel standard "Walkin' in Jerusalem" to a compilation entitled Peace in the Valley: A Country Music Journey Through Gospel Music. That same year, they released their first Greatest Hits
package, which included two new songs as well as the greatest hits from their first four albums. One of these new songs, "How Your Love Makes Me Feel
", was released as a single in 1997. It went on to become not only the band's second Billboard Number One, but also the biggest chart hit for any country group that year. "Imagine That", a Bryan White
co-write also included on the Greatest Hits package, was a Top 5 hit in early 1998. Greatest Hits became the band's third platinum album.
Unbelievable
was the title of the band's fifth studio album. Released in 1998 and certified gold, the album produced consecutive Top Five country hits in the ballad "You're Gone" and the title track. An up-tempo song co-written by Jeffrey Steele
and former NRBQ
guitarist Al Anderson
, "Unbelievable
" peaked at #2 on the country charts and crossed over to Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100
, giving Diamond Rio its first appearance on that chart. However, its followup ("I Know How the River Feels") peaked at #33 on the country charts. This song was originally recorded by Ty Herndon
and would later be released as a single by McAlyster
as well.
By the end of 1998, Diamond Rio was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry
, becoming the first band in fourteen years to be inducted. In 1999, TNN also filmed a television special about the band, entitled The Life and Times of Diamond Rio. Kenny Chesney
charted in 2000 with the Top 10 single "I Lost It
", which band member Jimmy Olander co-wrote with Neil Thrasher
. Olander also co-wrote Marshall Dyllon
's 2001 single "You".
, Diamond Rio's sixth studio album, was released in 2001. Although "Stuff", its first single, barely made Top 40, the album's title track went on to become a Number One single. "One More Day" first went into rotation in February 2001, shortly after the death of NASCAR
driver Dale Earnhardt
. A radio station in New York
began playing the song as a tribute, and other stations soon followed suit. "One More Day" also gained heavy rotation after 9/11 as a tribute song to the victims of the attacks. Overall, the song also peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to reaching Top Ten on the Adult Contemporary charts (the band's first appearance on that chart). The song's success helped boost One More Day to gold certification, making it the band's fourth album to achieve that certification. The third and fourth singles from One More Day, were less successful, however. "Sweet Summer" made Top 20, while "That's Just That" failed to make Top 40.
In 2002, the band released its studio album, entitled Completely, and later that same year, Brian Prout married singer-songwriter Stephanie Bentley
, a one-time solo singer who co-wrote Faith Hill
's 1999 crossover single "Breathe
" and charted four singles of her own between 1996 and 1997. (Prout had previously been married to Nancy Given Prout, drummer for Wild Rose
, an all-female country band from the late 1980s-early 1990s.) Completely, which was certified gold as well, produced two consecutive Number One singles in "Beautiful Mess
" and the Skip Ewing
co-write "I Believe
", the latter being the band's final Number One. As with its predecessor, however, Completely produced less successful hits in its third and fourth singles (the Top 20 hit "Wrinkles" and "We All Fall Down", which peaked outside Top 40.)
, was released in 2006. Like their first Greatest Hits album, this compilation included several new songs as well as the band's greatest hits; one of these new songs, "God Only Cries", was released as a single, peaking at #30. Shortly after the album's release, Diamond Rio parted ways with Arista Nashville, marking the end of a fifteen-year relation with that label. Roe and Williams, along with bluegrass
musician Ralph Stanley
, were also featured on Josh Turner
's 2006 single "Me and God" (from Turner's Your Man
album).
, a Christian music
label based in Nashville. Their first album for Word was a Christmas album entitled A Diamond Rio Christmas: The Star Still Shines
.
The group released their very first contemporary Christian album, The Reason
, on September 22, 2009. The first single released from the album is "God Is There".
More recently, the band performed a corporate event for pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica at the House of Blues
in Orlando, Florida
on February 3, 2010.
's award for Top Vocal Group in 1991 and 1992. In 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1997, they also received the Country Music Association
's award for Vocal Group of the Year (an award for which they received fifteen total nominations, more than any other country music group). In addition, Diamond Rio has received thirteen Grammy Award
nominations. In 2010 they received 3 nominations for the GMA Dove Awards, and on April 22 won the award for Country Album of the Year. In 2011 they received their first Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
category for The Reason.
record producer
s hire mostly session musician
s to record tracks for an album for solo artists. And contrary to popular belief, the same frequently applies even to self-contained country bands, as opposed to rock
bands who record their own instrumental and vocal tracks on their albums. Diamond Rio has been one of few self-contained country bands to have followed the "rock band" route, each member playing their own instruments and singing their own vocals on all their albums themselves without any additional input from outside musicians; starting with the One More Day album, however, some of their songs have occasionally featured accompaniment from a string section
, but the actual band members still perform their own parts nonetheless.
Their early music blended neotraditionalist country with occasional traces of country rock
, primarily in the song's rhythm sections. A bluegrass
influence has also been shown, primarily in the three-part harmonies among lead vocalist Marty Roe, baritone vocalist Dana Williams and tenor vocalist Gene Johnson. Bluegrass influences are also shown in the band's prominent use of the mandolin
, as well as in the bluegrass instrumentals featured on many of their albums. The band's later material has tended towards pop-oriented ballads, such as "I Believe" and "One More Day" — songs which received critical acclaim for their often religious-themed messages, but were considered departures from the more traditional material of their first four albums.
Another trademark of Diamond Rio's sound is the custom-built B-Bender
guitar played by Olander. He refers to this instrument as the Taxicaster because of its yellow body and black-and-white checkered pickguard, which give it the coloration of a taxicab
.
, a bluegrass group which is a member of the Grand Ole Opry
; Williams also played in a bluegrass band, and served as a backing musician for Cal Smith
, Vassar Clements
and Jimmy C. Newman
. Dan Truman is a classically-trained pianist who had previously toured with Brigham Young University
's Young Ambassadors musical troupe. Gene Johnson, the oldest member of the group, plays mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, had previously worked with David Bromberg
, Keith Whitley
and J. D. Crowe
before joining Diamond Rio in 1985. Drummer Brian Prout was previously a member of the Hot Walker Band, before joining Heartbreak Mountain, a band whose lineup also included Marty Raybon
(who would later become the lead singer of the band Shenandoah
). Jimmy Olander had previously been a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
/Christian music
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
band formed in 1984 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...
. Since its foundation, the group has comprised the same six members: Gene Johnson (mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
vocals), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, Dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, Danelectro
Danelectro
Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
), Brian Prout (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
), Marty Roe (lead vocals), Dan Truman (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, organ, synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
), and Dana Williams (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
vocals).
Diamond Rio was signed to Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in 1988. Due to a series of health issues affecting three of its members, however, the band did not make its debut until 1991, with the release of the single "Meet in the Middle
Meet in the Middle
"Meet in the Middle" is the debut single of the American country music band Diamond Rio. Released in 1991, the single reached Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, making Diamond Rio the first country music band in history to have its debut single reach Number One...
". It reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now 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, making Diamond Rio the first country music group in history to reach Number One with a debut single. "Meet in the Middle" was followed by thirty-two more chart singles throughout the band's career, including four more Number Ones: "How Your Love Makes Me Feel
How Your Love Makes Me Feel
"How Your Love Makes Me Feel" is a song written by Trey Bruce and Max T. Barnes, and recorded by American country music group Diamond Rio that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was released in May 1997 as the first single from their Greatest Hits album...
" (1997), "One More Day
One More Day (Diamond Rio song)
"One More Day" is a song written by Bobby Tomberlin and Steven Dale Jones, and recorded by American country music group Diamond Rio. It was released in October 2000 as the second single from their 2001 album, also titled One More Day, in addition to gaining popularity after the death of NASCAR...
" (2001), "Beautiful Mess
Beautiful Mess
"Beautiful Mess" is the title of a song recorded by the American country music band Diamond Rio. It was co-written by Shane Minor, Clay Mills, and former Exile member Sonny LeMaire, and was the first single from Diamond Rio's 2002 studio album Completely...
" (2002), and "I Believe
I Believe (Diamond Rio song)
"I Believe" is the title of a country music song written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees. It was recorded by the band Diamond Rio on their 2002 album Completely, from which it was released as that album's second single...
" (2003).
Diamond Rio has recorded seven studio albums, two Greatest Hits compilations, and an album of Christmas music. Three of the band's albums have achieved RIAA platinum certification in the United States. In addition, Diamond Rio has received four Group of the Year awards from the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
, two Top Vocal Group awards from the Academy of Country Music
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
, and thirteen Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations.
Beginnings
Most of the members of Diamond Rio had previous experience in music. Marty Roe, who was named for country music artist Marty RobbinsMarty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
, began singing country music at the age of three, Gene Johnson had previously played with David Bromberg
David Bromberg
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
, Jimmy Olander was a former backing member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
, and Dana Williams was a nephew of the Osborne Brothers
Osborne Brothers
The Osborne Brothers, Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne , were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s...
.
In 1984, Truman (who had just received a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
) and Roe met for the first time at Opryland USA
Opryland USA
Opryland USA was an amusement park located in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally from 1972 until 1997...
, a theme park 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...
. The two soon formed a bluegrass group, which was first named the Grizzly River Boys, and later changed to the Tennessee River Boys. Olander and Johnson, who previously worked with Keith Whitley
Keith Whitley
Jackie Keith Whitley , known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters...
, joined a year later, followed by Prout and Williams. The band's name was finally changed to Diamond Rio, because others had thought that the previous name made the group sound like a gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
band. The name Diamond Rio came from the names of two truck manufacturers, Diamond T
Diamond T
The Diamond T was an American automobile manufactured in Chicago from 1905 until 1911 by the Diamond T Motor Car Company. It was a powerful touring car . The company later became known for its trucks...
and REO
REO Motor Car Company
The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...
(the latter of which became misspelled in the band's name).
After assuming their new name of Diamond Rio, the band was discovered by Tim DuBois (a record executive at Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
) in May 1989. DuBois, who had just opened the label's Nashville division, signed Diamond Rio to a record deal that same month. Shortly after the band received its record deal, however, three members came down with health problems: Olander had discovered that he had a tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
, Williams was seriously injured while boating
Boating
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or water skiing...
, and Johnson was injured in a carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
accident.
First two albums
In 1991, after Olander, Williams, and Johnson had recovered, the six musicians set to work on their first album. Its first single, "Meet in the MiddleMeet in the Middle
"Meet in the Middle" is the debut single of the American country music band Diamond Rio. Released in 1991, the single reached Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, making Diamond Rio the first country music band in history to have its debut single reach Number One...
", was released early that year; peaking at Number One on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks
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...
chart, the song made Diamond Rio the first country music band in history to reach Number One with its debut single. The song served as the lead-off to their debut album, also titled Diamond Rio
Diamond Rio (album)
Diamond Rio is the eponymous first album of the country music band Diamond Rio. Released in 1991 on Arista Records, it produced five chart singles on the Billboard country music charts: the Number One hit "Meet in the Middle", as well as the Top Ten hits "Mirror, Mirror", "Mama Don't Forget to Pray...
. In addition to "Meet in the Middle", it produced the Top 10 hits "Mirror, Mirror", "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me", "Norma Jean Riley" and "Nowhere Bound". Also included on the album was a bluegrass instrumental track entitled "Poultry Promenade", which earned the band its first Grammy nomination. Diamond Rio was later certified platinum by the RIAA for selling more than one million copies in the United States.
Close to the Edge
Close to the Edge (Diamond Rio album)
Close to the Edge is the second album from the country music group Diamond Rio. Released in 1992 on Arista Records, it produced the singles "In a Week or Two", "Oh Me, Oh My, Sweet Baby", "This Romeo Ain't Got Julie Yet", and "Sawmill Road"...
, the group's second album, was released in 1992. Although the album was certified gold for U.S. sales of 500,000 copies, only two of its four singles — "In a Week or Two" and "Oh Me, Oh My Sweet Baby" — reached the Top 10, followed by the #13 "This Romeo Ain't Got Julie Yet" and #21 "Sawmill Road". According to Marty Roe, Close to the Edge was a weaker album than its predecessor because the band only had one month to pick the songs for it; in a 1994 interview with New Country magazine, he stated: "There aren't ten great songs out there for everybody, certainly not that you could find in a 30-day period of time." Also in 1992, lead singer Marty Roe recorded a duet with Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis
Pamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
entitled "Love Is Only Human" on her album Homeward Looking Angel
Homeward Looking Angel
Homeward Looking Angel is the third album from American country music artist Pam Tillis. The album was a #23 album on the Billboard charts. This album produced four singles for Tillis on the Hot Country Songs charts: the Top Five hits "Shake the Sugar Tree" and "Let That Pony Run" , as well as the...
.
In 1993, Diamond Rio also contributed to Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
Common Thread: The Songs of The Eagles
- "Take It Easy" :During the music video shoot for his rendition of "Take It Easy", Travis Tritt requested that the 1980 lineup of the Eagles - "Take It Easy" :During the music video shoot for his rendition of "Take It Easy", Travis Tritt requested that the 1980 lineup of the Eagles - "Take It...
, a tribute album to the Eagles, on which various country music acts performed covers of the Eagles' songs. They performed a cover of "Lyin' Eyes
Lyin' Eyes
"Lyin' Eyes" is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded in 1975 by the American rock band Eagles, with Frey singing lead vocals. It was the second single from their One of These Nights album, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #8 on the US Country chart...
" on this compilation. Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles went on to earn a 3× Multi-Platinum certification for shipments of three million copies.
Love a Little Stronger and Jed Zeppelin
Love a Little StrongerLove a Little Stronger
Love a Little Stronger is the third studio album by American country music band Diamond Rio. Released in 1994 on Arista Records, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies in the U.S. Four singles were released from the album: the title track, followed by "Night Is...
, Diamond Rio's third album, was released in 1994. The album was recorded on a more relaxed schedule than the previous album; as a result, they did not have a single on the charts for three months after "Sawmill Road" (the last single from Close to the Edge) fell off the charts. The title track to Love a Little Stronger, co-written by Billy Crittenden of 4 Runner
4 Runner
4 Runner was an American country music vocal group founded in the late 1980s by lead singer Craig Morris, baritone Billy Crittenden, tenor Lee Hilliard, and bass Jim Chapman...
, reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard country singles charts; it was followed by the #9 hit "Night Is Fallin' in My Heart" and the Top 20 hits "Bubba Hyde" and "Finish What We Started". Because the band had taken a longer period of time to choose songs for Love a Little Stronger, it was considered by critics to be a superior album to its predecessor. This album also earned the band its second platinum certification.
Later in 1994, Diamond Rio teamed up with country guitarists Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell is an American country music artist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
and Steve Wariner
Steve Wariner
Steven Noel "Steve" Wariner is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released eighteen studio albums, including six on MCA Records, and three each on RCA Records, Arista Records and Capitol Records...
. Crediting themselves as Jed Zeppelin, the eight musicians recorded a cover of Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
's "Workin' Man's Blues
Workin' Man's Blues
"Workin' Man Blues" is an American country music song performed by its writer, Merle Haggard. Released in 1969, the song was released during his early peak and became one of several signature songs during his career.-Background:...
" for a tribute album entitled Mama's Hungry Eyes, which featured other country artists' renditions of Haggard's songs. In addition to peaking at #48 on the Billboard country charts, Jed Zeppelin's rendition of "Workin' Man's Blues" was made into a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, which aired on the television networks CMT
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
and TNN (now Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
).
IV, Greatest Hits, and Unbelievable
Titled IVIV (Diamond Rio album)
IV is the fourth studio album released by American country music band Diamond Rio. It produced the Top 5 singles "Walkin' Away", "That's What I Get for Lovin' You" and "Holdin'", as well as the #15 "It's All in Your Head". "She Misses Him on Sunday the Most" was released as a single in Germany only...
, Diamond Rio's gold-certified fourth album was released in 1996. It produced four singles in "Walkin' Away", "That's What I Get for Lovin' You", "It's All in Your Head", and "Holdin'", all of which except "It's All in Your Head" (which was co-written by Van Stephenson
Van Stephenson
Van Wesley Stephenson was an American singer-songwriter. He scored two US Billboard Hot 100 hits in the 1980s as a solo artist, and later became tenor vocalist in the country music band BlackHawk in the 1990s. In addition, Van co-wrote several singles for other artists, such as Restless Heart...
of Blackhawk
Blackhawk (band)
Blackhawk is an American country music group founded in 1992 by Henry Paul , Van Stephenson , and Dave Robbins...
) were Top Ten hits. The music video for "It's All in Your Head" featured Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
and Ramon Estevez
Ramón Estévez
Ramon Luis "Ray" Estevez , sometimes billed as Ramon Sheen, is an American actor, director and runs Estevez Sheen Productions.- Early life :...
, the former playing the part of a snake-handling preacher.
In 1997, Diamond Rio contributed a recording of the gospel standard "Walkin' in Jerusalem" to a compilation entitled Peace in the Valley: A Country Music Journey Through Gospel Music. That same year, they released their first Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Diamond Rio album)
Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits compilation released by American country music band Diamond Rio. The tracks "How Your Love Makes Me Feel" and "Imagine That" are new to this compilation, and both were released as singles. All of the other tracks from this album are reprised from the band's...
package, which included two new songs as well as the greatest hits from their first four albums. One of these new songs, "How Your Love Makes Me Feel
How Your Love Makes Me Feel
"How Your Love Makes Me Feel" is a song written by Trey Bruce and Max T. Barnes, and recorded by American country music group Diamond Rio that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. It was released in May 1997 as the first single from their Greatest Hits album...
", was released as a single in 1997. It went on to become not only the band's second Billboard Number One, but also the biggest chart hit for any country group that year. "Imagine That", a Bryan White
Bryan White
Bryan White is an American country music artist. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's Between Now and Forever, were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and 1997's The...
co-write also included on the Greatest Hits package, was a Top 5 hit in early 1998. Greatest Hits became the band's third platinum album.
Unbelievable
Unbelievable (Diamond Rio album)
Unbelievable is the fifth studio album released by country music group Diamond Rio. Its title track and "You're Gone" were both Top 5 hits on the country charts in 1998-1999, while "I Know How the River Feels" was a minor Top 40, and was later a #69 for the group McAlyster in 2000.-Track...
was the title of the band's fifth studio album. Released in 1998 and certified gold, the album produced consecutive Top Five country hits in the ballad "You're Gone" and the title track. An up-tempo song co-written by Jeffrey Steele
Jeffrey Steele
Jeffrey LeVasseur is an American country music singer and songwriter, more commonly known by the name Jeffrey Steele...
and former NRBQ
NRBQ
NRBQ is an American rock band founded in 1967. It is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock, pop, jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley styles. Its best known line-up is the 1974–1994 quartet of pianist Terry Adams, bassist Joey Spampinato,...
guitarist Al Anderson
Al Anderson (NRBQ)
Alan Gordon "Al" Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwiter. Between 1971 and the early 1990s, he was the lead guitarist in the rock band NRBQ, also releasing several solo albums. He also played electric guitar on Jonathan Edwards' 1973 album Have a Good Time for Me...
, "Unbelievable
Unbelievable (Diamond Rio song)
"Unbelievable" is the title of a single, released in late 1998, by American country music band Diamond Rio. It was the second single from their fifth studio album, also titled Unbelievable....
" peaked at #2 on the country charts and crossed over to Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100
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...
, giving Diamond Rio its first appearance on that chart. However, its followup ("I Know How the River Feels") peaked at #33 on the country charts. This song was originally recorded by Ty Herndon
Ty Herndon
Boyd Tyrone "Ty" Herndon is an American country music and Christian singer. Signed to Epic Records in 1995, Herndon made his debut that year with the Number One single "What Mattered Most", followed by the release of his first album, also entitled What Mattered Most...
and would later be released as a single by McAlyster
McAlyster
McAlyster was an American country music group founded in Pensacola, Florida. Its members comprised Cody Collins, Josh Walther, Leigh Usilton and Valerie Gills. They were signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2000...
as well.
By the end of 1998, Diamond Rio was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
, becoming the first band in fourteen years to be inducted. In 1999, TNN also filmed a television special about the band, entitled The Life and Times of Diamond Rio. 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...
charted in 2000 with the Top 10 single "I Lost It
I Lost It
"I Lost It" is the first single released from Kenny Chesney's Greatest Hits album. It peaked at #3 in late-2000. It was co-written by Neil Thrasher and Jimmy Olander, lead guitarist of the band Diamond Rio. Pam Tillis provides background vocals for the song....
", which band member Jimmy Olander co-wrote with Neil Thrasher
Neil Thrasher
Joe Neil Thrasher, Jr. is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1995 and 1997, he and Kelly Shiver comprised the duo Thrasher Shiver, which recorded a studio album for Asylum Records in 1996 and charted two singles on the Billboard country charts in early 1997...
. Olander also co-wrote Marshall Dyllon
Marshall Dyllon
Marshall Dyllon was an American country music group formed in 2000, comprising vocalists Daniel Cahoon, Jesse Littleton, Michael Martin, Paul Martin, and Todd Michael Sansom...
's 2001 single "You".
One More Day and Completely
One More DayOne More Day (album)
One More Day is the sixth studio album produced by American country band Diamond Rio. The album was released in 2001. Although its lead-off single "Stuff" peaked at #36 on the Hot Country Songs charts, the title track became popular on radio after the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr., and eventually...
, Diamond Rio's sixth studio album, was released in 2001. Although "Stuff", its first single, barely made Top 40, the album's title track went on to become a Number One single. "One More Day" first went into rotation in February 2001, shortly after the death of NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
. A radio station in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
began playing the song as a tribute, and other stations soon followed suit. "One More Day" also gained heavy rotation after 9/11 as a tribute song to the victims of the attacks. Overall, the song also peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to reaching Top Ten on the Adult Contemporary charts (the band's first appearance on that chart). The song's success helped boost One More Day to gold certification, making it the band's fourth album to achieve that certification. The third and fourth singles from One More Day, were less successful, however. "Sweet Summer" made Top 20, while "That's Just That" failed to make Top 40.
In 2002, the band released its studio album, entitled Completely, and later that same year, Brian Prout married singer-songwriter Stephanie Bentley
Stephanie Bentley
Stephanie Kay Bentley is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 1996 as a duet partner on Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
, a one-time solo singer who co-wrote Faith Hill
Faith Hill
Faith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...
's 1999 crossover single "Breathe
Breathe (Faith Hill song)
"Breathe" is a country song by American recording artist Faith Hill, released as the first single from her 1999 album of the same name. The song was written by Stephanie Bentley and Holly Lamar. "Breathe" became Hill's 7th number one on the country music charts in the US. The song spent four weeks...
" and charted four singles of her own between 1996 and 1997. (Prout had previously been married to Nancy Given Prout, drummer for Wild Rose
Wild Rose (band)
Wild Rose was an American country music band founded in 1988 by five women: Pamela Gadd , Kathy Mac , Pam Perry , Nancy Given Prout , and Wanda Vick...
, an all-female country band from the late 1980s-early 1990s.) Completely, which was certified gold as well, produced two consecutive Number One singles in "Beautiful Mess
Beautiful Mess
"Beautiful Mess" is the title of a song recorded by the American country music band Diamond Rio. It was co-written by Shane Minor, Clay Mills, and former Exile member Sonny LeMaire, and was the first single from Diamond Rio's 2002 studio album Completely...
" and the Skip Ewing
Skip Ewing
Donald Ralph "Skip" Ewing is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since 1988, Ewing has recorded nine studio albums, and has charted fifteen singles on the Billboard country charts.-Career:...
co-write "I Believe
I Believe (Diamond Rio song)
"I Believe" is the title of a country music song written by Skip Ewing and Donny Kees. It was recorded by the band Diamond Rio on their 2002 album Completely, from which it was released as that album's second single...
", the latter being the band's final Number One. As with its predecessor, however, Completely produced less successful hits in its third and fourth singles (the Top 20 hit "Wrinkles" and "We All Fall Down", which peaked outside Top 40.)
2005-2007: Can't You Tell and Greatest Hits, Volume 2
A seventh album, tentatively titled Can't You Tell, was recorded in 2003. However, it was cancelled after its first two singles — the title track and "One Believer" — both failed to make Top 40. Diamond Rio's second Greatest Hits package, Greatest Hits, Volume 2Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (Diamond Rio album)
Greatest Hits, Volume 2 is the second greatest-hits package released by country music group Diamond Rio. The tracks "God Only Cries", "Redneck Love Gone Bad", "Over You" and "In God We Still Trust" were newly recorded for the album...
, was released in 2006. Like their first Greatest Hits album, this compilation included several new songs as well as the band's greatest hits; one of these new songs, "God Only Cries", was released as a single, peaking at #30. Shortly after the album's release, Diamond Rio parted ways with Arista Nashville, marking the end of a fifteen-year relation with that label. Roe and Williams, along with bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
musician Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
, were also featured on Josh Turner
Josh Turner
Joshua Otis "Josh" Turner is a country music singer and actor signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Turner has released four studio albums for the label. The first of these was 2003's Long Black Train, whose title track was his breakthrough single release...
's 2006 single "Me and God" (from Turner's Your Man
Your Man
Your Man is the second studio album by British country music artist Josh Turner. It released on January 24, 2006 and debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, and debuted at No...
album).
2007-present: New record label and The Reason
On August 31, 2007, Diamond Rio signed with Word RecordsWord Records
Word Records is a Christian record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a division of Word Entertainment , which, itself is co-owned by Warner Music Group and Curb Records...
, a Christian music
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
label based in Nashville. Their first album for Word was a Christmas album entitled A Diamond Rio Christmas: The Star Still Shines
A Diamond Rio Christmas: The Star Still Shines
A Diamond Rio Christmas: The Star Still Shines is the ninth album from noted country artists Diamond Rio. The album was the band's first release on their new label, Word Records...
.
The group released their very first contemporary Christian album, The Reason
The Reason (Diamond Rio album)
The Reason is an album from Country band Diamond Rio. The album was released on September 22, 2009 through Word Records.-Track listing:# "The Reason" - 3:08# "This Is My Life" - 3:52...
, on September 22, 2009. The first single released from the album is "God Is There".
More recently, the band performed a corporate event for pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica at the House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
on February 3, 2010.
Awards
Diamond Rio received the Academy of Country MusicAcademy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
's award for Top Vocal Group in 1991 and 1992. In 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1997, they also received the Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
's award for Vocal Group of the Year (an award for which they received fifteen total nominations, more than any other country music group). In addition, Diamond Rio has received thirteen Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations. In 2010 they received 3 nominations for the GMA Dove Awards, and on April 22 won the award for Country Album of the Year. In 2011 they received their first Grammy Award in the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album
The Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. Originally the award was for southern gospel only, but the criteria were expanded in 1994...
category for The Reason.
Musical stylings
In the country music industry, NashvilleNashville, 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...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s hire mostly session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s to record tracks for an album for solo artists. And contrary to popular belief, the same frequently applies even to self-contained country bands, as opposed to rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
bands who record their own instrumental and vocal tracks on their albums. Diamond Rio has been one of few self-contained country bands to have followed the "rock band" route, each member playing their own instruments and singing their own vocals on all their albums themselves without any additional input from outside musicians; starting with the One More Day album, however, some of their songs have occasionally featured accompaniment from a string section
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
, but the actual band members still perform their own parts nonetheless.
Their early music blended neotraditionalist country with occasional traces of country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
, primarily in the song's rhythm sections. A bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
influence has also been shown, primarily in the three-part harmonies among lead vocalist Marty Roe, baritone vocalist Dana Williams and tenor vocalist Gene Johnson. Bluegrass influences are also shown in the band's prominent use of the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, as well as in the bluegrass instrumentals featured on many of their albums. The band's later material has tended towards pop-oriented ballads, such as "I Believe" and "One More Day" — songs which received critical acclaim for their often religious-themed messages, but were considered departures from the more traditional material of their first four albums.
Another trademark of Diamond Rio's sound is the custom-built B-Bender
B-Bender
B-Bender is a guitar accessory that enables a player to mechanically bend the B-string up a whole tone to C-sharp. There are several different designs, but all use levers or pulleys inside or outside the guitar body that are activated by a pull or push of the guitar neck, body, or bridge...
guitar played by Olander. He refers to this instrument as the Taxicaster because of its yellow body and black-and-white checkered pickguard, which give it the coloration of a taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
.
Prior projects
Several of the members of Diamond Rio had experience in other bands before Diamond Rio's foundation. Lead vocalist Marty Roe was previously a member of a band called Windsong, which toured nationally in the early 1980s. Dana Williams, the band's bass guitarist, is a nephew of the Osborne BrothersOsborne Brothers
The Osborne Brothers, Sonny Osborne and Bobby Osborne , were an influential and popular bluegrass act during the 1960s and 1970s...
, a bluegrass group which is a member of the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
; Williams also played in a bluegrass band, and served as a backing musician for Cal Smith
Cal Smith
Calvin Grant Shofner , known professionally as Cal Smith, is an American country musician, most famous for his 1974 hit "Country Bumpkin."-Career:...
, Vassar Clements
Vassar Clements
Vassar Clements was a Grammy Award- winning American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and bluegrass along with roots also in country and other musical...
and Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy Yves Newman , better known as Jimmy C. Newman , is an American singer and a long time star of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:Newman was born near Big Mamou, Louisiana...
. Dan Truman is a classically-trained pianist who had previously toured with Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
's Young Ambassadors musical troupe. Gene Johnson, the oldest member of the group, plays mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, had previously worked with David Bromberg
David Bromberg
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Bromberg has an eclectic style, playing bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll equally well. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the...
, Keith Whitley
Keith Whitley
Jackie Keith Whitley , known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters...
and J. D. Crowe
J. D. Crowe
James Dee Crowe is an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s.-Biography:...
before joining Diamond Rio in 1985. Drummer Brian Prout was previously a member of the Hot Walker Band, before joining Heartbreak Mountain, a band whose lineup also included Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon
Marty Raybon Marty Raybon Marty Raybon (born December 8, 1959 is an Award Winning American country music artist. He is known primarily for his role as the lead singer of the band Shenandoah, a role which he held from 1985 to 1996. He recorded his first solo album, Marty Raybon, in 1995 on Sparrow...
(who would later become the lead singer of the band Shenandoah
Shenandoah (band)
Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon , Ralph Ezell , Stan Thorn , Jim Seales , and Mike McGuire...
). Jimmy Olander had previously been a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
.
Members
- Gene Johnson - (born August 10, 1949; mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, tenorTenorThe tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
vocals) - Jimmy Olander - (born August 26, 1961; lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, DobroDobroDobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
, DanelectroDanelectroDanelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
) - Brian Prout - (born December 4, 1955; drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) - Marty Roe - (born December 28, 1960; lead vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
) - Dan Truman - (born August 29, 1956; keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organ, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
) - Dana Williams - (born May 22, 1961; bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, baritoneBaritoneBaritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
vocals)