Traditional Country is Still the Fare for Singer and Survivor, Sammy Sadler

Along with Ken Mellons and Jeff Carson, Sadler is ‘Taking the Country Back’

Sammy Sadler 2015Singer Sammy Sadler is still best known in country music circles as the survivor of the 1989 shooting on Music Row that took the life of his friend, Cash Box chart manager Kevin Hughes. The stalwart performer, however, has never wavered in his devotion to sharing the music that he loves. Now, he’s returned to radio, and a straight up country tour with some well-known friends.

The New Music Weekly Country Chart shows the tune, “No Place to Land” at No. 37 this week up from No. 42 last week and is continuing to gain spins nationwide.
“No Place to Land” is the latest Country radio release from singer and survivor, Sammy Sadler. The song is from Sammy’s latest album Heart Shaped Like Texas.

 

Sadler also released “Thinking About Mexico,” another song that appears on his latest album, Heart Shaped Like Texas. Music journalist Robert K. Oermann calls the tune “solid” and “listenable” and says that it “features the strongest singing of [Sadler’s] career to date.” With the characteristic “Texas sound” that Sadler loves, “Thinking About Mexico” includes pedal steel and mariachi horns in a lilting melody. Sadler has plans to release another single to radio this Fall.

Ken Mellons

Sammy hasn’t restricted his music endeavors to the studio. Along with some gifted pals, he’s launched the Takin’ The Country Back Tour, feeding the public’s fervor for a taste of more traditional country music. The tour features music from Salder’s Everything’s Gonna Be Alright and Heart Shaped Like Texas albums. Sammy is joined by Ken Mellons, who shares his own fan favorites, including “Jukebox Junkie,” “Rub-A-Dubbin” and “Working for the Weekend.” The team has begun touring at festivals, fairs and venues across North America, and is accepting bookings for 2016.

 

Jeff CarsonNew to the tour is Jeff Carson, whom fans will remember for his hit single “Not On Your Love” which shot to #1 in the mid-90’s and was followed by the Top 10 hit, “The Car.” Carson stepped away from music in recent years, and joined the police force in Franklin, Tennessee, where he still works. He’ll join Mellons and Sadler on upcoming Takin’ The Country Back Tour dates.

 

Early in his career, Sadler was signed to Evergreen Records and reached the country charts in January 1989. Sammy was enjoying a burgeoning career when, around the time of his 6th nationally charting record, ”Tell It Like It Is,” he was involved in a life-changing tragedy. The singer was seriously wounded when he and his friend, Kevin Hughes, were approached and shot on Nashville’s Music Row. Hughes had been the target, as the result of his uncovering a chart-fixing scheme, and being unwilling to accept money to move undeserving songs up the chart. Sadler was just a bystander, but the incident nearly derailed his career and his life. It took Sadler more than 10 years to reestablish his career, but he was determined. Sammy released Hard on a Heart in 2004, and has continued to perform and record. His most recent album is Heart Shaped Like Texas.

 

Now living in Texas, Sadler is also writing his autobiography, planned for release in 2016.

 

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