Thomas James Schuyler (born June 10, 1952) is an American songwriter. Schuyler wrote songs recorded by more than 200 various artists including "16th Avenue" for Lacy J. Dalton, "Love Will Turn You Around" for

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

, and "A Long Line of Love" for

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

Early life

Schuyler was born June 10, 1952, in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

. He attended and graduated from Liberty High School, a large public school in Bethlehem.

Career

In 1983, Schuyler was signed by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. The same year, he released the album '' Brave Heart''. Its title track was a No. 43 single on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts. He founded the trio

S-K-O S-K-O, originally known as Schuyler, Knobloch and Overstreet, was an American country music vocal group consisting of Thom Schuyler, J. Fred Knobloch, and Paul Overstreet. The original line-up recorded one album for MTM Records and charted thre ...

, originally known as Schuyler, Knobloch & Overstreet, with

J. Fred Knobloch James Frederick Knobloch (born April 28, 1953, in Jackson, Mississippi, United States), known as J. Fred Knobloch or Fred Knoblock, is an American country singer-songwriter. Career Prior to his solo career, Knobloch had been a member of Let's E ...

and

Paul Overstreet Paul Lester Overstreet (born March 17, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He began his singing career in 1982 with a self-titled album on RCA Records Nashville. From 1986 to 1987, he was a vocalist in the trio S-K-O (Schuy ...

. S-K-O charted seven singles in the mid-1980s, including the Number One hit "Baby's Got a New Baby". When Overstreet later pursued a solo career, the trio was renamed S-K-B, and Craig Bickhardt replaced him. After S-K-B disbanded, Schuyler continued writing songs and was named chairman of the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

. From 1992 to 1995, he headed

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

division, where he signed

Kenny Chesney Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country singer. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, he released his debut, '' In My Wildest Dreams'', in 1994, and has since released 19 follow-ups. His albums spawned 27 singles tha ...

, the band

Lonestar Lonestar (formerly known as Texassee) is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (key ...

, and also played role in launching the career of

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

and

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboar ...

. Schuyler continued to write songs for Almo-Irving Music, administered several music catalogs, and recorded a few independent albums. In 2011, he was inducted into the

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that i ...

. Schuyler is currently the Young Adult Minister at a church in

and an adjunct instructor at

Belmont University Belmont University is a Private university, private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporate ...

in Nashville.

Songs written by Thom Schuyler

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuyler, Thom 1952 births Living people American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Pennsylvania Country musicians from Tennessee Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) alumni People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania S-K-O members