Rory Lee Feek
Encyclopedia
Rory Lee Feek is an American country music
singer and songwriter. In his career, he has written singles for Clay Walker
, Blake Shelton
, Tracy Byrd and other artists. He and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, comprise the duo Joey + Rory
, who placed third on the first season of the CMT
talent show Can You Duet
. He also established Giantslayer Records
for launching of new independent artists.
. Inspired by Don Williams
, Merle Haggard
and other artists, he began playing guitar at age fifteen. He later served two tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps
after high school, before moving to Dallas, Texas
, where he played in nightclubs. Feek moved to Nashville, Tennessee
in 1995, and signed to a publishing contract. One of his first single releases as a songwriter was Collin Raye
's "Someone You Used to Know", a Top Five country hit in 1999. A year later, Clay Walker
reached Top Five as well with "The Chain of Love
", another song that Feek co-wrote.
Feek continued to write for other artists in the 2000s, including album tracks for Mark Wills
, Kenny Chesney
, Terri Clark
, Randy Travis
, and Lorrie Morgan
, as well as Tracy Byrd's 2003 single "The Truth About Men
". In 2004, Feek achieved his first Number One as a songwriter when Blake Shelton
topped the country charts with "Some Beach
", which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet
. Also in 2004, Feek founded the Giantslayer Records
label, on which Blaine Larsen
recorded two studio albums in association with BNA Records
.
In 2008, Feek and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, founded a duo called Joey + Rory
. They came in third place on the CMT
talent show Can You Duet
, and later that year signed to a recording contract with Vanguard Records
. Joey + Rory released their debut single "Cheater, Cheater
" that year, and peaked at #30 on the country singles charts with it. That same year, Jimmy Wayne
charted on the country charts with "I Will
", another Feek co-write.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer and songwriter. In his career, he has written singles for Clay Walker
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
, Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
, Tracy Byrd and other artists. He and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, comprise the duo Joey + Rory
Joey + Rory
Joey+Rory is an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek, who are husband and wife. Joey is the duo's lead vocalist, while Rory sings background vocals and plays guitar. The duo was the third-place finalist on CMT's competition Can You Duet in 2008...
, who placed third on the first season of the CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
talent show Can You Duet
Can You Duet
Can You Duet is an American reality-competition show airing on CMT. The show is produced by FremantleMedia, the same company that produced American Idol.The show premiered on April 14, 2008 and the first season ended on June 13, 2008....
. He also established Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was established in 2004 by songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee.Songwriters included Rory Lee Feek born in Atchison, Kansas...
for launching of new independent artists.
Biography
Rory Lee Feek was born in Atchison, KansasAtchison, Kansas
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
. Inspired by Don Williams
Don Williams
Don Williams , is an American country singer, songwriter and a 2010 inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He grew up in Portland, Texas, and graduated in 1958 from Gregory-Portland High School. After seven years with the folk-pop group Pozo-Seco Singers, he began his solo career in 1971,...
, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
and other artists, he began playing guitar at age fifteen. He later served two tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
after high school, before moving to Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, where he played in nightclubs. Feek moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 1995, and signed to a publishing contract. One of his first single releases as a songwriter was Collin Raye
Collin Raye
Floyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray (born August 22, 1959 or 1960,Although multiple online sources all indicate Raye's date of birth as 1959, Raye's MySpace lists his date of birth as 1960. Furthermore, the 2004 Deseret News article cited in this article indicates the singer as...
's "Someone You Used to Know", a Top Five country hit in 1999. A year later, Clay Walker
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
reached Top Five as well with "The Chain of Love
The Chain of Love
"The Chain of Love" is the title of a song written by Rory Lee Feek and Jonnie Barnett, and recorded by country singer Clay Walker. It was released in January 2000 as the third single from his 1999 album Live, Laugh, Love, "The Chain of Love" reached a peak of #3 on the Billboard Hot Country...
", another song that Feek co-wrote.
Feek continued to write for other artists in the 2000s, including album tracks for Mark Wills
Mark Wills
Daryl Mark Williams is an American country music artist, best known professionally as Mark Wills. Signed to Mercury Records between 1996 and 2003, he released five studio albums for the label — Mark Wills, Wish You Were Here, Permanently, Loving Every Minute and And the Crowd Goes Wild — as well...
, Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...
, Terri Clark
Terri Clark
Terri Lynn Sauson , known professionally as Terri Clark, is a Canadian country music artist who has had success in both Canada and the United States. Signed to Mercury Records in 1995, she released her self-titled debut that year...
, Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
, and Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, as well as Tracy Byrd's 2003 single "The Truth About Men
The Truth About Men (song)
"The Truth About Men" is the title of a song written by Paul Overstreet, Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson, and recorded by American country music singer Tracy Byrd. It is the title track to, and first single from, his 2003 album The Truth About Men. The song peaked at number thirteen on the Hot...
". In 2004, Feek achieved his first Number One as a songwriter when Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton
Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
topped the country charts with "Some Beach
Some Beach
"Some Beach" is the title of a song written by Rory Lee Feek and Paul Overstreet, and recorded by American country music singer Blake Shelton. It was released in July 2004 as the second single from Shelton's 2004 album Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, and his third Number One hit...
", which he co-wrote with Paul Overstreet
Paul Overstreet
Paul Lester Overstreet is an American country music singer and songwriter. He recorded 10 studio albums between 1982 and 2005, and charted 16 singles on the Billboard country charts, including two #1 hits...
. Also in 2004, Feek founded the Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records
Giantslayer Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was established in 2004 by songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee.Songwriters included Rory Lee Feek born in Atchison, Kansas...
label, on which Blaine Larsen
Blaine Larsen
Blaine Larsen is an American country music artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World by BNA Records...
recorded two studio albums in association with BNA Records
BNA Records
BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster...
.
In 2008, Feek and his wife, Joey Martin Feek, founded a duo called Joey + Rory
Joey + Rory
Joey+Rory is an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek, who are husband and wife. Joey is the duo's lead vocalist, while Rory sings background vocals and plays guitar. The duo was the third-place finalist on CMT's competition Can You Duet in 2008...
. They came in third place on the CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
talent show Can You Duet
Can You Duet
Can You Duet is an American reality-competition show airing on CMT. The show is produced by FremantleMedia, the same company that produced American Idol.The show premiered on April 14, 2008 and the first season ended on June 13, 2008....
, and later that year signed to a recording contract with Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
. Joey + Rory released their debut single "Cheater, Cheater
Cheater, Cheater
"Cheater, Cheater" is the debut single from country music duo Joey + Rory, from their debut album, The Life of a Song. The song debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at #57 for the chart week of September 27, 2008...
" that year, and peaked at #30 on the country singles charts with it. That same year, Jimmy Wayne
Jimmy Wayne
Jimmy Wayne Barber is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts...
charted on the country charts with "I Will
I Will (Jimmy Wayne song)
"I Will" is a country music song written by Dave Pahanish and Rory Lee Feek, and recorded by Jimmy Wayne. It is the second single from Wayne's 2008 album Do You Believe Me Now, his sixth Top 40 country hit, and his eighth overall single release.-Content:...
", another Feek co-write.
Singles co-written by Rory Lee Feek
- Catherine BrittCatherine BrittCatherine Britt is a country music artist who has had success in both her native Australia and in the United States. She was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, United States in 2004...
– "The Upside of Being Down" - Tracy Byrd – "The Truth About Men"
- Easton CorbinEaston CorbinEaston Corbin is an American country music singer. He signed to Mercury Records Nashville in 2009 and released his self-titled debut album in March 2010, featuring the two Number One hits "A Little More Country Than That" and "Roll With It", as well as the top 15 hit "I Can't Love You...
– "A Little More Country Than ThatA Little More Country Than That"A Little More Country Than That" is the title of a song written by Joey + Rory's Rory Lee Feek, Wynn Varble, and Don Poythress, and recorded by American country artist Easton Corbin. It was released in August 2009 as Corbin's debut single and is included on his self-titled debut album...
" - Joey + RoryJoey + RoryJoey+Rory is an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek, who are husband and wife. Joey is the duo's lead vocalist, while Rory sings background vocals and plays guitar. The duo was the third-place finalist on CMT's competition Can You Duet in 2008...
– "Cheater, CheaterCheater, Cheater"Cheater, Cheater" is the debut single from country music duo Joey + Rory, from their debut album, The Life of a Song. The song debuted on the Hot Country Songs chart at #57 for the chart week of September 27, 2008...
", "Play the Song", "To Say GoodbyeTo Say Goodbye"To Say Goodbye" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country duo Joey + Rory. It was released in July 2009 as the third single from their debut album, The Life of a Song. Both members of Joey + Rory wrote the song along with Jamie Teachenor.-Content:"To Say Goodbye" is a piano...
", "This Song's for YouThis Song's for You"This Song's for You" is the title of a song written by Rory Lee Feek and Zac Brown and recorded by American country duo Joey + Rory. It was released to country radio in July 2010 and as a music download on July 20, 2010, and serves as the lead-off single to their second studio album, Album Number...
", "That's Important to Me" - Blaine LarsenBlaine LarsenBlaine Larsen is an American country music artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World by BNA Records...
- "How Do You Get That Lonely", "The Best Man" - The Oak Ridge BoysThe Oak Ridge BoysThe Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
– "It's Hard to Be Cool (In a Minivan)" - Collin RayeCollin RayeFloyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray Floyd Collin Wray (born August 22, 1959 or 1960,Although multiple online sources all indicate Raye's date of birth as 1959, Raye's MySpace lists his date of birth as 1960. Furthermore, the 2004 Deseret News article cited in this article indicates the singer as...
– "Someone You Used to Know" - Crystal ShawandaCrystal ShawandaCrystal Shawanda is a Canadian country music artist. CMT documented her rise to fame in the six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream, which aired in February 2008. Signed to RCA Records in 2007, she released her debut single, "You Can Let Go," in Canada in January 2008...
– "You Can Let GoYou Can Let Go"You Can Let Go" is the debut single by Canadian country music artist Crystal Shawanda. It was released in Canada in January 2008 and the U.S. in February 2008. Since its release, the song has become the fastest rising debut Canadian country single ever...
" - Blake SheltonBlake SheltonBlake Tollison Shelton is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts...
- "Some BeachSome Beach"Some Beach" is the title of a song written by Rory Lee Feek and Paul Overstreet, and recorded by American country music singer Blake Shelton. It was released in July 2004 as the second single from Shelton's 2004 album Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, and his third Number One hit...
" - Clay WalkerClay WalkerErnest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
– "The Chain of Love" - Jimmy WayneJimmy WayneJimmy Wayne Barber is an American country music singer and songwriter. He released his self-titled debut album in 2003 on the DreamWorks Records label. Four singles were released from it, including "Stay Gone" and "I Love You This Much", which both reached Top Ten on the Billboard country charts...
– "I WillI Will (Jimmy Wayne song)"I Will" is a country music song written by Dave Pahanish and Rory Lee Feek, and recorded by Jimmy Wayne. It is the second single from Wayne's 2008 album Do You Believe Me Now, his sixth Top 40 country hit, and his eighth overall single release.-Content:...
"