David Ball, the lanky 6'1"singer with the friendly blue-green eyes, has his roots steeped in the country two-steppin'', good-time western dance-hall. From the cowboy hat perched on top of his fiery red hair to his big cowboy boots, he's got that let's have fun, aw shucks kind of appeal.
The son of a baptist minister, David saw his first performer in concert when his parents took him to see Fred Kirby in Charlotte, NC. Just five years old, he still remembers Kirby's cowboy suit and the song he sang "big rock Candy Mountain." The lasting impression of performing in concert was the shape of things to come.
A few years later, after his family moved to Spartanburg, SC, David got a ukulele for Christmas, and by his birthday in July, a Stella guitar. He began playing with the many other musicians in town.
By the 7th grade he wrote his first song and played it in the school talent show with "The Strangers", the band he'd formed. Ball went on to play bass and while in high school traveled to different folk festivals.
After graduation, he and his trio "Uncle Walt's Band", moved to Austin, TX. Ball fell in love with "Texas dance-hall music" and the Bob Willis sound, incorporating it into his repertoire.
In the late 80's he moved to Nashville and made a contract with producer Blake Chancey. One day the A&R director at Warner Bros.. was asked to listen to Ball play, and the rest is history. His first Warner Bros. album "Thinkin' Problem" has gotten him a Gold Record and a #1video. Chancey has nicknamed Ball 'the human jukebox'. Just give him a guitar and he'll keep singing. "I love playing music and I think it shows.Give me a guitar, a band-and a dance-hall full of people, and we're gonna have a great time!"
David, his wife and daughter live in Nashville. When he's not makin' music he's fishing, gardening or looking for Native American relics...and trying to get organized!
QUICK FACTS:
Nominated for the CMA’s Horizon Award and Song of the Year ("Thinkin’ Problem.")
He received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance, "Thinkin’ Problem."
1995 Academy of Country Music Top New Male Vocalist Nominee.
Thinkin’ Problem, his debut album, is certified platinum, signifying sales of more than 1,000,000 copies.
His debut single, "Thinkin’ Problem," was one of the largest-selling country singles of 1994, according to SoundScan.
Selected as one of two Best New Artists in the Radio & Records magazine 1994 Reader’s Poll.
USA Today picked Thinkin’ Problem as the country debut album of the year.
Thinkin’ Problem was one of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s 10 Best Country Albums.
He has been featured in Country Weekly, Music City News, USA Today, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, and Rolling Stone.
|
