James Wesley Prosser (born March 9, 1970) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer. In 1999, Prosser released the album ''Life Goes On'' through

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Ten years later, he signed to

Broken Bow Records BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. Craig Morgan ...

under the name James Wesley. Wesley released five singles for this label, including the top 30 hits "

Real Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

" and " Didn't I". He recorded a second studio album, ''Real'', for the label, but it went unreleased.

Early life and career

Wesley was born in Mound Valley, Kansas.

''Life Goes On''

James Wesley Prosser was born in Mound Valley, Kansas. He played music at several venues in college before meeting songwriter

Rodney Clawson Rodney Dale Clawson (born in Gruver, Texas, United States) is an American country music songwriter. Clawson has written singles recorded by Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill, George Strait and Luke Bryan, among others. Biography Clawson w ...

, who has co-written singles by Jason Aldean and George Strait. Prosser signed to a recording deal with

and recorded his debut album, ''Life Goes On'', in 1999. The album produced two singles which charted on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album three stars, saying that Prosser's "singing and writing … are truly unique." After the release of this album, Prosser worked various

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and power ...

jobs. He returned to Nashville in 2006.

Second album

Wesley signed to Broken Bow in 2009 and released his first single for the label, "Jackson Hole," on December 7, 2009. This song debuted at number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts dated for January 16, 2010. Later in 2010, Wesley charted again with the song "

", written by

Neal Coty Neal Lee Angleberger (born May 13, 1964), known professionally as Neal Coty, is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released two albums for Mercury Records Nashville, and has written several singles for other artists. Biograp ...

and Jimmy Melton. "Real" was made into a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

in September 2010, directed by Chris Hicky. Wesley's third single for Broken Bow, " Didn't I," was released in April 2011. It was followed by "Walking Contradiction", co-written by

Kip Moore Kipling Christian Moore (born April 2, 1980) is an American country music singer and songwriter signed to MCA Nashville. He has released a total of four studio albums for the label: '' Up All Night'', '' Wild Ones'', '' Slowheart'', and '' Wi ...

, which did not make Top 40. His next single was "Thank a Farmer", written by Steve Bogard, Josh Thompson, and

Dustin Lynch Dustin Charles Lynch (born May 14, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Broken Bow Records. Lynch has released four albums and one EP for the label: a self-titled album in 2012, '' Where It's At'' in 2014, '' Curren ...

, and inspired by a 2013

Dodge Ram The Ram pickup (marketed as the Dodge Ram until 2010) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Group LLC and FCA US LLC) and marketed from 2010 onwards under the Ram Trucks brand. The current fi ...

commercial incorporating

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous '' The Rest ...

's "

So God Made a Farmer "So God Made a Farmer" was a speech given by radio broadcaster Paul Harvey at the 1978 Future Farmers of America convention. The speech was first published in 1986 in Harvey's syndicated column. The speech borrowed a few phrases from a 1975 art ...

" speech. This song was released during Super Bowl XLVII. On March 22, 2015 Wesley released to iTunes a single called, "Hooked Up" which a portion of the proceeds go to the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament Charities and the ASA's Keep America Fishing Foundation. A music video has been completed and premiered on August 31, 2015 on CMT television.

Discography

Singles

As James Prosser

As James Wesley

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, James American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters BBR Music Group artists Living people Warner Records artists People from Labette County, Kansas Date of birth unknown Country musicians from Kansas 1970 births Singer-songwriters from Kansas