Brett Eldredge - Country Music Artist

Nashville, TN - (October 1st, 2010) - Atlantic Records newcomer Brett Eldredge - with his distinctive country sound and powerhouse vocals - has already started quite a buzz with his debut single, "Raymond," out this week. CMT deems Eldredge as their "Next Big Thing" - an extension of CMT's "Big New Music Weekend" which will air his emotional and powerful video for "Raymond" worldwide on Friday, October 1st. In addition, Eldredge will perform at "For the Love of George," a benefit for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America hosted tonight from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM at Sambuca in Nashville, Tenn.

"Raymond," written by Brett Eldredge and Brad Crisler, follows the story of a relationship between a young man and an elderly patient at a nursing home who has Alzheimer's Disease. The woman mistakes the man as her son, affectionately calling him Raymond. The lyrics are an extremely personal journey for Eldredge, as he wrote the song after speaking with his grandmother who suffers from dementia.

"On my way to my writing session that day, I was really bummed out. All I could think about was the conversation I had with my dad the night before. He told me how my grandmother had progressively gotten worse and she had begun to forget who some of our family members were," Eldredge recalls. "I was not feeling up to writing and had nothing prepared to write about. I'm not usually one to talk about personal family life the first time I write with someone, but for some reason it just started pouring out. I learned that Brad led hymns in nursing homes, just as I did growing up. We had a real connection and the song just flowed out like never before. I guess we wrote this song as a way to find comfort with the whole situation."

Remainder of the Press Release at Brett's Official Site Brett Eldredge Official Site

"Some life-changing moments are only apparent in retrospect. Brett Eldredge recognized his as it was happening.

The Paris, IL, native was visiting Nashville for the first time early in his sophomore year at Chicago's Elmhurst College. He was at the Station Inn, an historic bluegrass/country venue where many of the greats of both worlds have played..."

to read the rest of the bio visit Brett Eldredge at Atlantic Records

Photo Credit to Michelle Smith at Facebook

I work down at Ashberry Hills
Minimum wage, but it pays the bills
Cleaning floors and leading hymns on Sunday

Katherine Davis, room 303
Sweetest soul you ever could meet
I bring her morning coffee everyday

Chorus:
She calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
before your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
how she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond, and that's all right by me

She talks about clothes on the line in the summer air
Christmas morning and Thanksgiving prayer
Stories of a family that I never had
Sometimes I find myself wishing I'd been there

Chorus:
When she calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
before your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
how she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond, and that's all right by me

There's a small white cross in Arlington
Reads Raymond Davis '71
Until she can see his face again
I'm gonna fill in the best I can

Chorus:
When she calls me Raymond
She thinks I'm her son
Tells me get washed up for supper
before your daddy gets home
She goes on about the weather
how she can't believe it's already 1943
She calls me Raymond, and that's all right by me
She calls me Raymond, and that's all right by me

When Brett was in high school, he often sang around town at different events like fundraisers, weddings, talent shows, and corporate parties. His dad worked at a local bank that held their annual Christmas party at my venue.

Brett was the favorite entertainment for this local bank. The bank employees and officers were/are some of his biggest fans. One year at the Christmas party, my crew and myself had just finished clearing the food and dishes from the buffet (located in the middle of the room, off to one side) when Brett started the show. All 4 of us stopped, leaned on the built-in buffet and enjoyed the performance.

One of Brett's biggest fans at the bank made a request for a certain Frank Sinatra song (one of his specialties). Brett is a performer, loves to mix and mingle with the crowd and that was apparent that night. As he sang, he walked around the room engaging the audience. When he got to the fan that had requested the song, Brett grabbed a chair and placed it in the middle of the room. He then grabbed her hand, lead her to the chair and finished singing the song to her, personally. She swooned and played along.

My staff and I really enjoyed this interaction. When the song was over, the fan went back to her table, leaving the empty chair in the middle of the long rectangle shaped room. Brett was at one end of the room as he broke into another Sinatra favorite to the crowds' delight. The girls and I looked at each other, nodded and without a word, ran for the chair in the middle of the room, grabbing 3 more chairs. We each took a seat and waited for Brett.

He didn't notice us at first but our flurry of activity brought out some hoots of laughter from the audience as they realized WE wanted to be next in line to be sung too!

The laughter brought Brett's attention to us. He kept singing as walked towards us with that million dollar smile of his. When he reached us, he shrugged and then proceeded to lay across our laps and finish the song. We swooned too!

That is one of my favorite Brett Eldredge stories!

"Raymond," was written by Brett Eldredge and Brad Crisler. The songs story is of a relationship between a young man and an elderly nursing home patient that has Alzheimer's Disease. The woman thinks the man as her son and affectionately calls him Raymond. The lyrics were written after Eldredge spoke with his grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease.

Brett's video is on YouTube. It is restricted so I can't place it here but here is the link Raymond Video by Brett Eldredge

I hope you have enjoyed this short journey about the new country music artist -- Brett Eldredge.