Mark Nesler (born January 5, 1961 in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston ( ...

) 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, o ...

artist. Signed to

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

as a recording artist in 1998, Nesler charted three singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' country charts. In addition, he has written several singles for other country music artists, including

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albu ...

's " Just to See You Smile", a song which ''Billboard'' ranked as the number one country single of 1998.

Biography

Nesler played guitar at an early age. Inspired by the

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...

his father listened to, he soon learned to play

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

as well. After graduating high school, he played in a band called the Two Dollar Pistols. allmusic ((( Mark Nesler > Biography )))/ref> In 1994, he was signed to a songwriting deal with

MCA Publishing MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film ind ...

, and soon joined

Tracy Byrd Tracy Lynn Byrd (born December 17, 1966) is an American country music artist. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 1992, Byrd broke through on the country music scene that year with his 1993 single "Holdin' Heaven", which reached Number One on '' ...

's touring band. Byrd also recorded and released "

Heaven in My Woman's Eyes "Heaven in My Woman's Eyes" is a song written by Mark Nesler, and recorded by American country music artist Tracy Byrd. It was released in January 1996 as the third single from his album '' Love Lessons''. The song reached number 14 on the ''Billb ...

", which Nesler wrote, as a single in 1996. In 1998, Nesler scored his first number one as a songwriter, when

spent six weeks at Number One on the ''Billboard'' country music charts with " Just to See You Smile".Tim McGraw Discography at About.com
/ref> The same year, Nesler's first album was released on

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asyl ...

. Its leadoff single, "Used to the Pain", peaked at No. 47 on the country charts. The album also produced his highest-charting single in "Slow Down" at No. 46, followed by "Baby Ain't Rockin' Me Right" at No. 62. He also co-wrote Aaron Tippin's late-1998 single " For You I Will". Although he exited Elektra in 1999, Nesler continued to write for Byrd, who released "Take Me with You When You Go" and "

Just Let Me Be in Love "Just Let Me Be in Love" is a song written by Tom Shapiro, Tony Martin and Mark Nesler, and recorded by American country music artist Tracy Byrd. It was released in August 2001 as the second single from his album '' Ten Rounds''. It peaked at n ...

" in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited fo ...

recorded two of his songs: "

Go On Go On may refer to: * ''Go On'' (TV series), a TV series starring Matthew Perry * '' Go On...'', the third album by American pop band Mr. Mister * "Go On" (George Strait song), a country music song recorded by George Strait * "Go On" (Uverworld ...

"; and " Living and Living Well" which was a No. 1 single. In 2005,

Tracy Lawrence Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in ...

reached No. 35 on the country charts with a cover of "Used to the Pain". Nesler co-wrote

Bucky Covington William Joel "Bucky" Covington III (born November 8, 1977) is an American country music singer. He placed eighth on the 5th season of the Fox Network's talent competition series ''American Idol''. In December 2006, he signed a recording contract ...

's 2007 debut single " A Different World", while Nesler's other credits included "

Why, Why, Why "Why, Why, Why" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Billy Currington. It was released in February 2006 as the second single from his 2005 album ''Doin' Somethin' Right''. The song peaked at number 13 on the U.S. ''B ...

" and “Let Me Down Easy” by

Billy Currington William Matthew Currington (born November 19, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Mercury Records Nashville in 2003, he has released seven studio albums for the label: his self-titled debut (2003), '' Doin' Somet ...

and another number one with

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Awa ...

's 2008 single "

You Look Good in My Shirt "You Look Good in My Shirt" is a song, written by Mark Nesler, Tom Shapiro, and Tony Martin and recorded by Australian country music artist Keith Urban for his 2002 album '' Golden Road''. The original version charted at number 60 on the country c ...

", along with Josh Turner’s “Time Is Love”, Billboard’s 2012 most played song of the year.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nesler, Mark 1961 births American country singer-songwriters Living people People from Beaumont, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas Elektra Records artists American male singer-songwriters 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Texas 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers