COUNTRY STAR OF THE MONTH: ELVIE SHANE

Elvie Shane is pretty new to Country Music only in exposure and album releases. However, he has been singing since 2012 when he dropped out of school at Western Kentucky University. It was 4 years later that Shane found himself on American Idol trying to get his name out the re and looking for his big break. On AI he admitted that he had climbed out of the hole of drug abuse and bad decisions. The person most responsible for him turning things around personally was his future wife, Mandy when he realized she wouldn’t want a guy like that. Especially around her 5 year old son. Elvie wanted him to have a positive family experience and he treated Mandy’s son as his own. In his audition for AI Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick Jr. were blown away by his soulful rendition of House Of The Rising Sun and that got him a chance to head to Hollywood.

Unfortunately for Elvie he was eliminated in the first round. That didn’t stop him from recording and keeping his name out there. His recent hit song “My Boy” he released online along with “Country Roads”. “My Boy” is the song of his life where he met his wife and her son and how he formed a bond with him regardless of them being blood relations or not. The song has obviously touched listeners – especially men who are in that same situation of raising a child that isn’t biologically theirs and how that really doesn’t matter. It has steadily and quickly risen up the charts. Elvie and Mandy recently added to their family as they welcomed a new baby girl, Zaelyn Journey Payton this August.

It would not surprise me if “Country Roads” also gets a release to radio. It has a driving guitar and is a song about traveling down those country roads we all know and love and the lessons learned as kids. It speaks to a lot of people and I think could be another hit for Shane. His bluesy sound and southern Kentucky twang make him stand out as he’s not as hard as say Brantley Gilbert, but not as soft as Keith Urban. He has a balance that most will find soothing on gentle songs and have edge on the songs that may have you wanting to drive a touch faster. Currently he is opening some shows for Miranda Lambert and Brooks and Dunn.