Tony Ramey is an

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

and

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer and songwriter. During his career, he has recorded eleven albums and EPs and had dozens of songs recorded by other country music artists. His repertoire of songs reaches over 3,400 in number and his songwriting career spans twenty-four years as a professional. Ramey wrote and performed the title song for the movie, ''The Last Ride'' a fact-based drama about the final days of troubled country-music legend

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

. His music can also be heard on the soundtrack for Pure Country 2: The Gift. He has performed a duet with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

on his ''Soul Survivor'' album, which brought some acclaim to his status as a troubadour. His songs have appeared in television as well on daytime drama series “

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

” and on outdoor television shows such as “Canada in the Rough”.

Early life

(Tony) Anthony Ramey was born on April 17, 1974, in Kenova,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. He grew up in Kenova where his father was a journeyman for

Owens-Illinois Glass Company O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is the largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe (after acquiring BSN Glasspack in 2004). Company ...

and his mother was a law department assistant. Tony has one older brother, Aca Ramey, a federal park ranger in

Huntington, WV Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Guyandotte rivers in the state's southwestern region. With a population o ...

for the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

. Tony began earning

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

from his songs when he was only seventeen years old—garnering song credits on Nashville independent artists and acts working out of Branson Missouri. After graduating from Ceredo-Kenova High School, Tony earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

. While in college, Tony formed the Dixie Flyer Band, a country music

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

who also played Tony's original songs he had begun writing at the age of 11. After winning the True-Value Country Showdown, Dixie Flyer toured extensively throughout

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and

, performing at fairs, festivals, and other music venues. Tony moved to

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 ...

and later worked on a PhD in English Literature with Concentrations in

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, Romanticism, and American Literature. His scholarship and work in

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

garnered
Wolfe Award
from MTSU's graduate school for excellence in critical writing and research.

Music career

Ramey's frequent performances included opening for

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

Dan Seals Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009), also known as England Dan, was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music and bluegrass singer and songwriter. During his career, he released only two albums, but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and seven more af ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

, and other

artists. Ramey was offered a deal on Polydor Polygram/

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, but shortly thereafter the Polygram division was bought by A&M of California and the Nashville office was closed. Ramey began working with

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

, a producer and publisher on Nashville's

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as ...

. Ramey's first gold record as a songwriter, "I Don't Want This Song to End, was recorded by

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Active from 1992 to 2025, he has had more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts. This total includes seven number-one singles ...

. Several years later, Tony and Tom Collins amicably parted ways. Not long after, Ramey was invited to do a songwriting round at the

Bluebird Café The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat cafe and music venue in Green Hills, Nashville, Tennessee. The cafe features acoustic music performances and receives over 70,000 visitors annually. History Amy Kurland, a former waitress, opened the Bluebird Caf ...

. While performing at Bluebird, Ramey was seen by the creative director of Muy Bueno Music, owned by country music artist

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

. While at Muy Bueno, Ramey amassed a catalog of more than 900 songs and several country Top Forty, international Top Forty, and

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

hits. In 2007, Tony left Muy Bueno to sign with Cherry Lane Music of New York, which began by publishing songs from the iconic

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

. Ramey's songs were performed on television and in film, and by Canadian, Australian, and European musicians. While at Cherry Lane, Ramey produced and released his self-titled fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. When BMG Germany acquired Cherry Lane in 2010, Ramey joined Davis Music Group in Nashville as creative director/songwriter for the company's publishing division. His stint there would only last a year and the road would call him out again to begin touring as a troubadour. In the spring of 2011, Tony moved to

Greenville, Texas Greenville ( ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, located in Northeast Texas approximately northeast of Dallas, Texas, Dallas and northwest of Canton, Texas, Canton. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

, where he is continuing to write music, and has undertaken a concert tour throughout the US. After moving to Texas, he recorded CDs ''Throwback'', ''Soul Survivor'' (which features Willie Nelson), and ''The'' ''Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean''. He is the recipient of th
Country Music Association of Texas
Independent Artist of the Year Award in 2016. In 2015, Country Music icon

Ray Price Noble Ray Price (January 12, 1926 – December 16, 2013) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone is regarded as among the best male voices of country music, and his innovations, such as prope ...

recorded a song Tony co-wrote calle
"No More Songs to Sing"
for his ''Beauty Is: The Last Sessions'' Album. Most recently (2015-16),

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

recorded Tony Ramey's song "Oughta Miss Me By Now" and Marcus Lindsey of The Marcus Lindsey Band recorded "Too Much Ain't Enough" in 2015 for his self-titled debut album ''Marcus Lindsey''. His song credits on current releases include the 2018 Spotify and Texas Country Radio hit "Any Night in Texas," the title song from

Jon Wolfe Jon David Wolfe (born January 7, 1976) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Rising to prominence in the early 2000s, he's revered for his energetic performances and authentic style. His albums, including "It All Happened in a Honk ...

's 2018 album release, and "A Country Boy's Life Well Lived from the same collection."

Career and awards

Gold records *I Don’t Want This Song To End by

(Album: Leave A Mark) *Second Chance by

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

(Album: Inside Out) *Hot Grease and Zydeco by

(Album: Twang) *Something To Write Home About by

Craig Morgan Craig Morgan Greer (born July 17, 1964) is an American country music artist. Morgan began his musical career in 2000 on Atlantic Records, releasing his self-titled debut album for that label before the closure of its Nashville division in 20 ...

(Album: Craig Morgan) Awards *“American Idol Underground” - Winner, Country music genre (March 2006) *"Country Music Association of Texas" - Winner, Independent Artist of the Year Award (2016) *"Broadcast Music Incorporated" - Winner, BMI Award for "Make Up in Love" as one of the most played songs of 2000.

Songwriter's credits

Discography

*Tony Ramey and the Dixie Flyer Band (Copper Creek Records, 1994) *True Calling (Copper’s Creek Records, 1997) *Places (Music Mill/Copper Creek Records, 2004) *Tony Ramey (Airastar/Copper Creek Records, 2006) *Is It Worth My Broken Heart (EverSong Records, 2008) *Once Again (Dig It Deep Records, 2010) *Throwback (Dig It Deep Records, 2012)CD Review: Tony Ramey, “Throwback” : Scene in Town
/ref> *Soul Survivor (Dig It Deep Records, 2014) *Spirit of Hank and the Heart of James Dean (Rhyme Heart Records, 2016) *I've Always Had a Song (Rhyme Heart Records, 2019) Re-mastered Releases * Places (Rhyme Heart Records 2018) * Soul Survivor (Rhyme Heart Records 2018) Singles * "Into the Sun (Rhyme Heart Records 2018)

References

Music Review: George Strait- Twang [MCA Nashville] , Twang Nation - The Best In Americana Music

News Archive , RoughStock

News Archive , RoughStock

Tony Ramey at Dallas Songwriters Association : Scene in Town

Texas Singer/Songwriter Tony Ramey On KTEN News Midday - Vancouver Star

External links

* * http://www.thelastridefile.com/ * http://www.countrymusicassociationoftexas.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramey, Tony 1970 births Living people American country singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters People from Kenova, West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia Singer-songwriters from West Virginia Marshall University alumni Ceredo-Kenova High School alumni