KEITH ANDERSON

Keith Anderson - Biography

"I’ve been a songwriting junkie my whole life. The first thing I’ve always done when I’ve gotten a new CD was take

out the insert and find out who wrote what. I’ve dreamed my whole life of writing with my heroes and have been

blessed to be able to write with many of them."

Keith Anderson could be the poster child for the notion that good things happen to good people. He’s quickly

earned the reputation of being an adept writer of award nominated hits, not just for his own projects but for other

artists as well and his good guy persona is as widely known as his high energy, let’s-get-this-party-started live

shows.

The release of his sophomore album C’MON! finds Anderson, the Grammy-nominated songwriter, in fine form. He

co-wrote 10 of the disc’s 11 tracks, pairing with some of Nashville’s top tunesmiths including Rivers Rutherford, Tim

Nichols, Chuck Cannon, Vicky McGehee, Jeffrey Steele (also the disc’s producer) and Bob DiPiero. “I wrote by

myself for so long that it’s fun to co-write,” the Oklahoma native says. "I’m just such a social person that I love

people and working together with them. Different co-writers have different strengths and I think you tend to tuck

away certain ideas for certain co-writers."

The album’s current single, “I Still Miss You,” was written by Anderson, Tim Nichols and Jason Sellers and is one of

his fastest rising to date. “More than just writing a breakup song, we made it more a universal song of missing

someone no longer in your life,” Anderson says. “You always hope to write a song that touches people.”

While it’s said that you’ve got a lifetime to write your first album and less than a year to write your second, Anderson

was prepared for the challenge. “I moved to Nashville to get a record deal and while it didn’t happen as quickly as

I’d have liked, it was a blessing because I got to spend those years writing and developing a song catalog,” he says.

“And not just writing, but writing with people like Jeffrey Steele, Bob DiPiero, Craig Wiseman…guys like that. So

while I wrote a lot of things for this record that reflect where I currently am in my life, it was also nice to be able to

reach into that catalog.”

Anderson admits that he keeps his touring schedule and his writing schedule separate. “There’s not much down

time or quiet time on the bus and there are so many things going on every day,” he explains. But that doesn’t mean

that he can time those moments of inspiration. “I’m constantly grabbing my phone and leaving messages for myself

or using my laptop to make note of something while on the road.”

Although he’s co-written hits for other artists, most notably “Lost In This Moment,” -the No. 1 smash for Big & Rich

which also garnered him a CMA and ACM Song of the Year nomination – Anderson does not write with other artists

in mind. “I think I’ll always write about what I know and feel and typically with myself in mind. But if it ends up as

something I’m not going to cut, it does get pitched to other artists,” says the artist who co-wrote the

Grammy-nominated “Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)” for Garth Brooks and George Jones and “The

Bed” for Gretchen Wilson. Hot newcomer Jason Michael Carroll has just cut “Barn Burner,” a tune Anderson

co-wrote and also cut. “We cut it full steam but in the end, it didn’t make this new record,” he says. “Jason Michael

had been begging me to cut it since his first record so the minute I knew we would not be putting it on this record, I

gave him a call.”

Is it hard for Anderson to part with some of the things he’s written so that another artist can record it? “At times it’s

really hard because there are some songs you let go and in the back of your mind you’re still thinking, ‘Man, if that

becomes a big hit, it could’ve been for me!’” he admits. “You always worry that you’re going to let one get away but

at the same time you want to make a career as a singer/songwriter which means letting others cut your songs.”

Anderson grew up in Miami, OK, near the Arkansas border, surrounded by a loving family that includes his