Country music superstar Kenny Chesney is climbing the charts right now with a song written by bluegrass favorite Ronnie Bowman.
Never Wanted Nothing More was written during a marathon writing session that took place between Ronnie Bowman and proven country writer Chris Stapleton. The two wrote a number of songs together during one extended informal writing session. The thing is, it was the first time the two had ever worked together. Ronnie remembers it this way.
Chris came over to the house and we started writing. A day later we had a handful of good songs, but this one just really stood out. We went right in and recorded a demo!
Ronnie tells me the demo was just the basics, the two songwriters with their guitars, that’s it. No frills, no fancy arrangement, just the song.
Ronnie writes for Sony Music Publishing and they took the song and started pitching it. It was just a short time later that Ronnie discovered Chesney was interested in the song. Then Chesney’s producer, Buddy Cannon, called and asked if Ronnie would like to stop by the studio and hear the track as they worked on it.
After I got off the phone, I just asked myself “Am I dreaming or is Kenny Chesney recording my song today?” As soon as I came back to my senses, I headed right over to the studio to check it out.
Once he got in the studio, Ronnie was in for another surprise. Cannon asked him who the guitar player was on the demo. Ronnie told him the demo was just him and Chris and their guitars. And then Cannon asked Ronnie if he’d be willing to play on Chesney’s cut. Ronnie was happy to oblige, of course, and ended up playing the acoustic guitar and taking the acoustic solo you hear on Chesney’s cut of the song.
Getting to play on the cut was just an added bonus, but one that fits well in Ronnie’s philosophy.
Coming from bluegrass, I’m concerned with musicianship and how things are played. I want to be proud of what my songs sound like when they’re cut.
Never Wanted Nothing More debuted on the Billboard Country charts at #37 and climbed to #17 the second week out.
Ronnie seems to be making the most of his opportunities in Nashville, and enjoying every minute of it.
I love writing, and I love being with Sony, those guys are just great. There is a whole chain of people that made this thing happen and I couldn’t have done it without all of them. What I’m doing now is just an extension of what I’ve always wanted to do, which is write good music. I’ve found a good balance of songwriting and then getting play bluegrass with my band.
And he is still honing his bluegrass craft. Ronnie tells me he’s currently writing songs and making arrangements to start recording a new bluegrass record this fall, with a spring 2008 release planned. Can’t wait to hear it Ronnie!
