IN THE COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT

 

IN THE COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT:

Article in the IMN newsletter May 2010

www.independentmusicnetwork.com

“Layce Whitworth”

 

Layce Whitworth was born to be a cowboy —and he was born to sing. His single, “She Drives A Truck,” hit # 1 on on the Independent Music Network’s Country Chart and there is more to come from this talented cowboy. Find out more about the man behind the music. Read on…..

Q: Is it true you were just six years old when you did your first rodeo?

LAYCE: It’s true that I started rodeoing at age six, My father, Steven, entered me in the calf riding event at the Power County Rodeo. I remember riding to the whistle with a score of 68 but I didn’t win the event. I rode calves, then steers until I was 14 when I got on my first full grown bull. I continued riding bulls in the various rodeo associations I belonged to. I am from a long line of cowboys, on my father’s side. I have been around horses since the day I was born. This all was and still is a huge factor in my country music career and my cowboy life style goes hand in hand with it.

Q: Who were your music influences growing up?

LAYCE: Marty Robbins was my first big influence growing up, and then Moe Bandy, George Strait, Waylon Jennings, Johny Cash, and many other greats.

Q: Is there a story behind your hit single, “She Drives A Truck”?

LAYCE: Yes, there is. My wife Debbie is the one who inspired this song. One day we were driving around in her car which is just falling apart and I said to her, “We need to get you a new car!” Right away she said, “I don’t want a car I want a truck!” She loves to drive my truck because it’s pretty nice and being the cowgirl that she is and the ranching rodeo lifestyle that we live, Debbie naturally drives a truck. So that’s story of “She Drives A Truck.” I also want to send out a very special thanks to my co-writers Stan Saxon and Lisa Saxon for helping me with the song as well.

Q: When you have some free time, how do you like to spend the day?

LAYCE: When I have free time, I love to take my wife, saddle the horses ( we have two) and ride in different areas where we live. We attend all the rodeos we can. I have a lot of ranch work to do on our 7 1/2 acres. We love to go camping and fishing. I love to spend time listening for new songs from great Nashville writers because I am always looking for great songs that fit me.

Q: If you could do a duet with anybody in the world, who would it be?

LAYCE: If I could duet with anybody, I would love the chance to do a song with George Strait before it’s too late, because he’s been around for so many years and is such a legend and I have always looked up to him like a brother. George and I are cut from the same cloth and have a lot in common with our life styles and music. I want to do one with him before he retires. What an experience that would be! Also, I would like to team rope with him.

Q: Where do you want to be in five years?

LAYCE: I hope I don’t have to wait another five years to reach the goals that I’ve been trying to reach for many years already. So I guess I would say that in five years I want to have many hits out on major radio and will have sold millions of records and still be doing this for a living, doing live concerts, and still be recording hits. The big thing for me is that I want to be able to provide a great living for my wife, where we no longer have struggle by making it happen with my music.

Q: In your life, who has inspired you to be the man you are today?

LAYCE: My inspiration has always come from inside me to be who and what I am. My father, Steven, was my very first inspiration to be a cowboy from the day I was born.. He had me on a horse before I could even walk. He taught me to love the outdoors. Unfortunately my father passed away suddenly when I was just ten years old. I have always had a strong desire for the cowboy way of life and I know I started singing when I was four years old, so really all that I am today, I was born with and I have carried it with me my whole life.

Q: Of all your songs, which has a special meaning?

LAYCE: I have a lot of great songs but “She Drives A Truck” has just recently became the most meaningful one to me for the simple fact that I don’t usually write songs and I don’t claim to be a song writer at all but I did write this one and I love the music that we produced in it. Everything that it ended up being is just amazing to me, I never really expected it to be what it is now and what really amazes me is that people like it and it’s climbing a chart.

Q: What message would you like to send your fans?

LAYCE: The message to my fans is this: without Jesus and my fans I am nothing! YOU are the rock in my foundation. I am so grateful to all of you. You are the most important part of my career and I thank you so much for your love and support and I just hope that you will stick with me through it all. God bless.

For more on Layce Whitworth, visit him at www.myspace.com/laycewhitworth or at www.laycewhitworth.com