Mark Collie

Mark Collie has been cruising the highways of country music through the '90s, but with the release of Tennessee Plates, he puts the pedal to the metal and pulls into the fast lane. Collie has crafted a whole new sound and attitude for his Giant Records debut. In the process, he's made the finest album of his career. "I think I've finally hit my stride as a record maker," drawls the Tennessee native. "It's like being born again. I've had hit records, but I feel better now about making music than I ever have."

Tennessee Plates is the album critics and fans have long expected from the rockin' honky-tonker with the extraordinary songwriting gift. In the past, Mark's songs have been sung by such stars as Randy Travis, Aaron Tippin, Deborah Allen, Marty Stuart, Martina McBride, Billy Ray Cyrus and Collin Raye. This time, he saved his best for himself.

Mark was born within earshot of America's songwriting capital. As a boy in Waynesboro, Tennessee, southwest of Music City, he heard country music on every area radio station. When he was 12, some local pickers brought him to Nashville so that he could see The Grand Ole Opry up close....and backstage.

"It was like magic," Mark recalls. "It was at the old Ryman Auditorium downtown, and it seemed like a fantasy land. Marty Robbins, Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton were there, all of 'em bigger than life. You could just feel the electricity."

Captivated, he began writing songs while only in junior high. By age 16, he was playing in rural Tennessee honky-tonks and seedy beer joints along the Alabama state line where folks wanted their country hard and pure. A stint in the road houses around Memphis added a rockabilly edge to his style. By 1982, he felt he was ready.

Mark and his wife made the big move to Nashville. She got a job as a photo retouch artist; he worked in recording studios as a janitor or carpenter, while trying out his tunes in Music City's clubs. Opry star Ray Pillow and teen singer Kippi Brannon recorded some of his early composing efforts; progress was slow but Mark never gave up on his dream. For the next three years, he built a strong reputation as a nightclub attraction. Word of his performances and his fan following finally reached the ears of Music Row in 1988. Signed by MCA Records, he issued his Hardin County Line collection in 1990. But with his non-traditional looks and rockabilly attitude, Mark faced an uphill fight. His 1990s contemporaries were, and are, carefully groomed cowboys in pressed jeans and Stetsons. He stands for something else.

"I think the most important thing in music is honesty," says Mark. "Sometimes we forget that. I may not wear a hat but I am a hillbilly singer. I am proud of the records we made. We've made some original music."

While continuing his recording success, in 1994 Mark expanded his accomplishments to include spearheading his own charity fund raiser, The Mark Collie Celebrity Race for Diabetes Cure. The event incorporated NASCAR racing, country music and diabetes, which Mark was diagnosed with in 1977. Because of his personal charisma, more than 30 major country music stars and 15 NASCAR legends participated in the first race. The race continues each year to draw more celebrities while bringing awareness of diabetes to the forefront, in addition to raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Around this time, James Stroud, producer/president of Giant Records Nashville, began making overtures to lure Mark to the Giant Records' stable. Mark didn't hesitate. "You are either moving forward, standing still or moving backward. And I want to always move forward. Getting a fresh start like this makes you think about that kinda stuff," Mark says of his move to Giant.

Moving forward for Mark also meant exercising his talents as a producer. Credited as co-producer on his Giant debut, Mark also drew from songwriting greats such as John Hiatt, Tony Joe White, Trey Bruce and Glen Burtnick. Seven of the tunes are from Mark's own pen, and represent some of his strongest writing to date.

"I've learned a lot about recording, about making records, about myself," Mark says. The big lesson is to never give up on a dream. Mark Collie has learned that one by heart.

Mark Collie can be available for your next special event. Contact us today to get started.

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