SHANE WYATT
MIXING TRADITIONAL COUNTRY WITH
A CONTEMPORARY ROCKIN’ EDGE, THE
OKIE-BORN SINGER-SONGWRITER IS NOT
“THE LAST COWBOY”—JUST THE LATEST TO
OPEN FOR HIS IDOL RANDY TRAVIS,
THE BELLAMY BROTHERS AND ERIC CHURCH
The Multi-Talented Performer And Fiddle Player, Who
Recorded His Debut In Nashville With Some Of Music
City’s Top Session Players, Got Airplay On Over
200 Country Stations With His Second
Single “Whole Lotta Love” And Scored A
Sponsorship Deal With Farm Boy & Farm Girl
Clothing Brands
Proud of his Oklahoma upbringing and excited to be following in the footsteps of fellow Okies who became country legends like Garth Brooks, Vince Gill and Toby Keith, multi-talented Oklahoma born and bred singer-songwriter Shane Wyatt is enjoying his status as The Last Cowboy, sharing concert and club stages with country music stars throughout the South and Midwest with the release of his popular indie debut.
The album’s second single “Whole Lotta Love,” a high spirited throwback to classic country music, received airplay this past spring and summer on over 200 stations across the U.S., with its most powerful showings on outlets throughout the South and Midwest. The track also caught steam across the Pond, hitting the Top Ten on the European Country Association chart via airplay in Germany, Italy and England. His latest single, the ballad “She Could Do Better,” has quickly scored similar airplay stats.
While dividing his time in recent months between weekday visits and live in studio performances at radio stations across the map to a whirlwind of gigs across his adopted home region of the Upper Midwest, Wyatt—who was named one of the Hot 100 Unsigned Bands & Artists of 2008 by Music Connection Magazine–has also opened for an exciting roster of country icons: his hero Randy Travis (at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, where Buddy Holly did his last performance), The Bellamy Brothers and Eric Church.
In late June, the charismatic performer also kicked things off on the big stage at Country Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin, a several day event whose roster this year included Chuck Wicks, Joe Nichols, Kellie Pickler, Montgomery Gentry and George Strait.
Another testament to Wyatt’s growing popularity among country music peers and fans is his recent entry into a sponsorship with Farm Boy & Farm Girl brands, fresh clothing and accessories capturing the heartfelt pride of the farming lifestyle. The partnership is a perfect fit for many reasons, given Wyatt’s rural upbringing and down-home musical style.
Farm Boy & Farm Girl brands is an ongoing supporter of Wyatt’s radio tour promoting The Last Cowboy, which has included stops in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Texas, Oklahoma and Minnesota. Farm Boy & Farm Girl brands is promoting Wyatt via its digital marketing, including its consumer website, Facebook and email blasts and is exploring cards for fans to receive a free music download from Wyatt. Additionally, Farm Boy & Farm Girl brands is providing clothing and accessories for listener giveaways and other special events.
Wyatt’s breakthroughs to this point should inspire a lot of other indie artists who wonder if simple persistence—backed of course by relentless, can’t be denied talent—is enough to take their careers to the next level. A huge fan of Aldean’s 2007 hit album Relentless, the singer boldly contacted its producer Michael Knox, who in turn hooked him up with Mike Noble, the studio coordinator for the Aldean project and a major player in Music City whose songs have been recorded by everyone from George Jones and Kenny Rogers to Brooks & Dunn and Restless Heart.
Beyond the Oklahoma pedigree, Wyatt shares a key musical influence with Garth Brooks—an appreciation for the late great Grammy nominated singer-songwriter Chris LeDoux, a former rodeo champion who recorded 36 albums (many self-released) and sold over six million units over the course of 30 years. He shot to national prominence when Brooks mentioned him in his song “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old”), and years later Brooks offered to donate part of his liver to LeDoux when the singer needed a transplant.
“The most exciting part of my career so far is that The Last Cowboy has received a lot of recognition just from some basic grass roots promotion,” Wyatt says. “I love it all, from introducing my fans to LeDoux songs they may never have heard before to touching people with my songs and hearing their personal stories about how they connect with them. When you’ve written a new song and see people out there singing along, there’s nothing like it. I love when they get the same feeling that I had the minute I started writing it.”