Tony Ramey by Tony Ramey

” It makes sense then that he finished graduate school at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia with a degree in Literature--a seemingly impractical curriculum for the "real world", but one that he said prepared him for so many of life's challenges, and that supports him during the “lean” years.

Tony's first musical experiences were as so many other artists', with high school garage bands that played everything from Leonard Skynard to Bon Jovi. He developed an ecclectic taste for music early on, and his vocal styling varied according to the tastes of audiences across the span of Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. He would soon begin working in his original material as his name became more recognizable in the regions and his “audiences began to trust him.”

“I wrote poems and songs long before I got with bands in high school. That 's where my heart was, and still is. So I really used the cover gigs to promote my own material whenever I could. They were awful songs, but people love anything in a honky-tonk after happy hour.”

Indeed, the response Tony got from the communities caught on like wild fire. He won the True-Value/Jimmy Dean Showdown while he was in college and radio stations around the Huntington area adopted him as their native son . They began playing his original music during regular drive time and Tony became the new local sensation in music.

His move to Nashville, though, came after much consideration. He said it was a difficult choice for him to make after he had spent so much time in graduate school: “I'm a realist to a fault. I wasn't your average wide-eyed, disillusioned, country boy who rides into town thinkin' everybody's gonna fall in love with me and my music. I dream big, but I try not to be rudely awakened with hard times and rejection.”

Tony has had his share of rejection, but he says he takes it in stride now—realizing that no one is going to believe in him as much as he believes in himself. His blue-collar style approach to writing songs and playing music has afforded him a living in an industry that is becoming more and more difficult to break into nowadays. He sings his own material now almost exclusively when he plays live. He has appeared on national and international independent charts with his latest albums, and his songs have been recorded by artists such as John Michael Montgomery, Trisha Yearwood, Doug Stone, Trent Tomlinson, Cole Degges, Kevin Denney, The Steven Sisters, Clay Walker, and Craig Morgan. He has several cuts with independent artists in Texas (where he also plays) and has had songs chart on major/independent artists in Canada.

Along with performing, he currently writes for George Strait's publishing company, Muy Bueno Music, teaches college Literature classes from time to time and hosts seminars and panels on songwriting and the major music market. )

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