MARTY RAYBON

Marty Raybon has been blessed with a voice that taps deeply into the emotions that define us all. Whether celebrating the peaceful simplicity of a "Sunday in the South" as he did when leading Shenandoah's successful chart run or tenderly exploring the powerful bond between parent and child as he does on his most recent solo effort "Daddy Phone," Raybon has always had a gift for touching audiences with music that matters.

The Grammy award-winning artist hits the mark again on his latest album, "At His Best," a collection of songs that cover a wide range of emotional territory from the "Big Pain" of lost love to the longing of "I Just Want to Touch You" to the fatherly pride of "Still My Little Man (Matty's Song)." "Daddy Phone" has been causing a buzz among Raybon's fans, who have been drawn to the potent lyric and timely message. Raybon had the same reaction. In fact, the song, which was written by GrandVista owner David Mastran, is one of the reasons Raybon opted to sign with the label. Mastran wrote the compelling tune from personal experience and shared it with Raybon. The two bonded over a great song and it gave rise to a new friendship and Raybon's new label home.

The songs on "At His Best" reflect real life—the joys and challenges that populate daily existence—and Raybon filters them through his own seasoned perspective. Released on GrandVista Records, the result is a musical journey narrated by one of the industry's most musically adventurous souls. A look at Raybon's tour schedule reveals a busy itinerary that includes every kind of date from bluegrass festivals to church revivals to country concerts. Raybon has sung it all and over the course of his career has earned respect from both peers and fans in multiple genres.

In recording "At His Best," Raybon knew exactly the musical direction he wanted to take. "I wanted to try to do a cross between a male Alison Krauss and a Dixie Chicks record with dobro, mandolin and some banjo to create a sound that was a little bit more airy," he says. Both the songs he's written and the vocal performances he delivers on "At His Best" find Raybon melding a lifetime's worth of experience in country, bluegrass and gospel into a warm, rich musical stew that adds a new chapter to an already impressive career. Raybon knew what he wanted to do from the moment he performed on his third grade variety show in Jacksonville, Fla. "I knew singing that song up there on that stage this is what I want to do the rest of my life. Of course it tickled my daddy," he remembers with a smile. "My dad was all for us playing music–myself and I had two brothers Rick and Tim."

His parents encouraged his love of music and he began playing bluegrass with his family during his youth, but soon set his sights on Nashville. He moved to Music City in 1984 and signed a publishing deal, but his first big break came after he'd relocated to Muscle Shoals, Ala. and joined up with a talented group of musicians that would become Shenandoah. During his 11-year tenure as lead vocalist, the group placed 22 singles on the Billboard charts including such No. 1 hits as "The Church on Cumberland Road," "Sunday in the South," "Next to You, Next to Me," "Two Dozen Roses" and "If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)." "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart," which featured Alison Krauss, won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1995 and a Country Music Association award for Vocal Event of the Year.

Raybon released his first solo album, a gospel collection on Sparrow Records in 1995. After exiting Shenandoah a year later, Marty and his brother, Tim, formed The Raybon Brothers. They landed a CMA nomination in the vocal duo category and scored a hit with the poignant ballad "Butterfly Kisses." When the duo parted ways, Marty embarked on a successful solo career, but admits there was a learning curve. "To tell you the truth I really had to grow and learn myself. It was quite different when you start doing things on your own as opposed to when you are doing it in a group," he says. "You realize right then that the decision you make is going to be either just enough rope to hang you or it's going to be enough rope so you can get some more so you can run with it."
Fortunately his instincts served him well and he began earning glowing reviews for his 2000 self-titled collection, which was followed by 2003's "Full Circle," 2004's "The Gospel in Black & White," and 2006's "When the Sands Run Out." In 2007, he contributed the track "All for Love" to Time Life Music's acclaimed "Songs4Worship: Country" collection. In 2009, he released "This, That & The Other," another well-rounded set of tunes that further demonstrated why Rascal Flatts' lead vocalist Gary LeVox calls Raybon "the greatest singer on this planet to this day!"

Executives with GrandVista Records asked Raybon to come in and perform Mastran's "Daddy Phone" and upon hearing him, they immediately signed him as a new artist. Marty began collecting songs from some of his favorite writers, among them, Neil Thrasher and Wendell Mobley, and he began writing himself. He wanted the album to have the feel of attending a great concert. "I wanted variety so when people listened to it, there would literally be something on there for everybody, like a stage show. When we do a show, I never make out a set list because everywhere you go, there's a different crowd. Of course, you've got to do your hits, but instead of getting up there on automatic pilot, I like to lead an audience–to be able to pick people up and energize them with something and then all of a sudden sing something that brings them down and allows them to think for a minute and gives them a chance to catch a breath. I like to change tempos and directions. Have you ever noticed everybody coming out of a James Taylor concert is smiling and warm-hearted and happy? I know that music moves people that way."

Raybon says the first single, "Daddy Phone," about the tragedy of divorce and a father's desire to remain close to his son, has struck a chord with fans. "You just wouldn't believe how many people come up and say 'Lord, that song tells my story! I'm a divorced parent' or 'I come from a divorced home,'" he says. "Hopefully this song will open up some dialogue between mammas and daddies so children can have access to both parents and not have such a confined relationship."

On the other end of the emotional spectrum, "The Heat is On" talks about a couple whose passion is still burning bright and the beautiful "You get Me" is a celebration of true intimacy. "Still My Little Man (Matty's Song)" is especially personal to Raybon. "I wrote that about my boy," he says of his son who is serving in Iraq. "I remember when Matty told me he was going to join the service, honestly I was mad at him. I really was. I was mad and the reason why is that fear as a parent. I've always sheltered my children as much as I could because I love them. I thought 'Lord he'll get over there in some third world country and I can't help him.' Then all of a sudden, I realized I was thinking of him as a child and the way he was when he was little but now he's made a man's decision."

"The Change" is another introspective song that Raybon wrote to address a different kind of coming of age in a man's life. "It's really a song that just talks about the day when you realize that maybe most of the life that you wanted to live and some of the dreams that you had are behind you actually," says Raybon. "Have you ever noticed it seems like when a man gets a little older, they'll start wearing their hair different or wearing tight jeans and a different type of shirt or maybe grow a gotee where they never had facial hair? It must be the change, in other words the middle-age crisis for the man. There are times when you start questioning your future. You just always want to know, 'Man, do I really still have it?'"

With one listen to "At His Best," it's obvious Marty Raybon still has it. His award-winning voice has been richly seasoned by time and his perspective on life deepened by the gift of experience. "What I admire in a person is their transparency," he says. "I think when you're able to feel comfortable enough about yourself that you are willing to share things about yourself with other people, then you've got a pretty good understanding in your skin of who you are. That's what everybody wants."