James Stroud is a legendary music man whose career crosses genres and decades with ease. His legacy includes 127 #1 records, 52 million albums sold, four Album of the Year and six Producer of the Year awards, and stretches from a Grammy nomination for his work on Dorothy Moore's 1976 Top 5 pop smash "Misty Blue" to two #1 singles and counting from the current album by rising country star Chris Young. He has also been one of music's most successful label executives, from his years at Capitol Records to his current role at the helm of one Nashville's most exciting creative hubs, his own Stroudavarious Records. Few people have contributed more to the shape and direction of music in recent decades, and few resumes have been so relevant for so long. Behind it all, though, is a simple mindset. It is a philosophy that has given him accomplishments matched by few in the industry, producing a record of achievement that is an ever-growing testament to his wide-ranging talents, his eclectic interests, and his steady work ethic. He has worked as a musician with B. B. King, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Gladys Knight and Joe Cocker, among many others. As a publisher, he founded and ran one of the most successful independent companies in country music-The Writer's Group, a Grammy-winning and hit-producing powerhouse. Its writers turned out many of Randy Travis's hits, including "On The Other Hand," "Diggin' Up Bones," and "Forever And Ever Amen," In 1987, he sold the company and became co-owner of Hamstein Cumberland Music Group, which went on to win 31 BMI and 16 ASCAP awards.

As a producer, Stroud's highlights include Toby Keith's career-rejuvenating albums How Do You Like Me Now and Pull My Chain; the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill smash "It's Your Love," which spent six weeks at #1 in Billboard and was 1997's CMA and ACM Single of the Year; McGraw's "Just To See You Smile," which spent 42 consecutive weeks on the Billboard chart, including six at #1; and Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, the triple-platinum 1994 CMA Album of the Year. He produced or co-produced several other McGraw projects, as well as efforts by Clay Walker, whom he discovered, multi-platinum albums by Clint Black and Tracy Lawrence, gold and platinum projects by Lorrie Morgan, John Anderson, Little Texas, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Doug Stone, and projects by Wynonna, Randy Travis, Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Collin Raye and Alabama. All told, he has produced 212 singles that have hit the Top 20. He produced Clint Black's Killin' Time, a critical and commercial smash that reached #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and went platinum. "A Better Man" topped the singles chart, and Black swept the CMA Awards that year and had the #1 and #2 singles on the year-end country singles chart. Stroud was named the ACM's Producer of the Year. A year later, he was Billboard's Top Country Producer, an award he would win back-to-back in 1994 and 1995 while at Giant. It is a mark of his broad knowledge of the industry, though, that many of his key accomplishments have come as a label executive. In 1992, after a stint at Capitol, he headed the start-up of Giant Records' Nashville office, which was three years ahead of its original sales projections by 1994, spurred by the Eagles tribute and Clay Walker albums. He was then tapped to head up Dreamworks Records, the Nashville music arm of the entertainment giant founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen as a multi-media company. For the first half of the '00s, the label, with a roster that included Keith, Randy Travis, Tracy Lawrence, Darryl Worley and others, had one of the genre's most impressive runs. After a stint at Universal, Stroud has undertaken the venture that bears his name and his creative stamp, bringing his lifetime of achievement, vision and creativity to bear on Stroudavarious Records.

One of his first signings was Darryl Worley, who anchors one of three labels within the company's umbrella. Bamajam has some pretty aggressive new artists like Matt Kennon and Blackberry Smoke. Stroudavarious has our more mainstream artists, something that encompasses several types of artists, and Country Crossings signs legendary artists, who still have huge careers outside mainstream radio. The breadth of his musical knowledge and his rapport with musicians are exemplified by the TV specials he has overseen, particularly as musical director of Willie Nelson & Friends: Alive & Kickin', in honor of Nelson's 70th birthday. The show featured a wide range of performers including Shania Twain, ZZ Top, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Ray Price, Steven Tyler and Norah Jones, among many others. The back-to-back #1's of 2009 speak to the fact that the magic is still happening, and Stroud has never been more active--or more enthusiastic-about the music he is making.
The next Producer's Chair is scheduled for Thursday, September 23. Complete details @ www.theproducerschair.com