Elvis, The Imperials, Restless Heart, Earth Wind and Fire, Ronnie Milsap, Huey Lewis and the News, Steven Curtis Chapman, The Eagles, B.J. Thomas, Glen Campbell, The Ranch, Stevie Wonder,
“Don’t quit;” an all too familiar phrase that is, often, easier said than done. From the tender age of 5, Andrew Carlton was participating in T-Ball and hearing it from his father; “Don’t quit.” He recalls dropping out of college at The University of Tennessee to pursue music, “The words kept ringing in my head so I knew I had to finish.” He returned the following semester and 2 years later, as irony would have it, Andrew Carlton, robed in black, sat in the audience of a new class of graduates at UT as Jim Haslam of Pilot Oil Corporation emphatically stated “Don’t quit.”
Andrew Carlton was tested by those words again recently, when in 2006, he was ready to lay it all down. “I’d been signed to two labels. Both bankrupted themselves and I was weary.” So Andrew hit the studio, in his mind, for one last time, to record a project he’d always wanted to finish; I Know Better featuring Jesus Hold Me. The single hit radio in spring of ’07 and in a matter of only weeks, Jesus Hold Me broke the R&R AC Top 20 and went on to become the highest charting single by an indie artist in 2007. (Data according to Radio and Records/Billboard Magazine Top 100 of 2007) Andrew says, “Clearly God was telling me, ‘Don’t Quit”.
Now, with a renewed fervor, Andrew Carlton is back with his 4th studio album The Start. As he delved into the project, Andrew again set himself apart from the flock in, not only writing and performing, but producing the album as well. “It’s much scarier being in charge of a song’s destiny, but I love that, in a way, it’s the truest form of expressing yourself,” states Andrew.
The album is a collection of new and old experiences alike for Andrew. From I’ll Be The Start, an up-tempo song about love and starting with it, to the reflective Perfect Life (co-written with Collin Stoddard of 33Miles), a question of why life went by so fast, The Start will leave audiences wanting for more. Many audiences will have the opportunity for just that as Andrew Carlton can be seen on tour dates this year with 33 Miles and Brandon Heath, among others. For more info go to www.andrewcarlton.com or www.myspace.com/andrewcarlton.
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I'm enjoying listening to your music :o) I'll be moving to the Nashville area at the end of Jan '10, or beginning of Feb to get my music career started. I'd love to hear how you started and all of the challenges that came with it :o) God bless!
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