Happy Birthday, Jim Collins! One of Country’s Singer-Songwriters

Jim Collins could have been one of those great artists living their lives, singing their whole career in and out of Texas. People in Texas perhaps would have loved to keep him down there as their tiny secret. However, Jim put it slightly differently. This was not the case like many country artists, who try their own sound in Music City. As he said,

“I got tired of being judged by how many beers I sold that night as opposed to whether I sang good or put on a good show.”

The Start of Everything

Collins’ remarkable career started before he left the safety of high school. He started playing the Texas club circuit presenting many of the tried and true artists at that end of the business he was there to learn a lot. He wanted to show people he could execute with self-confidence in front of those rowdy Texas viewers. Jim also has the unique skill to learn any instrument fast with little or no previous practice with the instrument.

Jim worked as a session musician during the day and played in Houston clubs at night. He has released six different records, all funded with his own money. Each release appeared improved than the previous one. Thanks to the successes, he had of Lone Star watchers in front. These achievements led one of the decision makers at Arista Nashville to sign Jim to a record deal. However, with the singing victories, Jim has had in the past, Arista is gambling on a sure thing when it comes to Jim’s future success.

“The Next Step”, Songwriting, Huge Success

Jim Collins’ debut recording album entitled “The Next Step” shows more than one diverse musical inspirations from Jim. Jim confesses that the greats in country, like Merle Haggard inspired his writing style. In addition, he also discloses that the musical styles of pop acts like Grand Funk Railroad gives his music a little altered flavor. All of these influences are shown in the songs on this recording.

Also, as a songwriter, Collins has had more than one-hundred fifty of his songs cut, including singles by Kenny Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy“ and “Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven”, Chad Brock’s “Yes!”, and Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor”.

One of his famous songs is “I Wanna Be A Cowboy ‘Til I Die”. In this song, he described how he wishes to die a cowboy. He wonderfully defines how everything you need turns right when you die a cowboy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgHCLrwkqeg