Born in 1958 in the Acadiana town of Kaplan, located in South Louisiana, Sammy Kershaw indulged himself in music at an early age. He received his first electric guitar from his grandfather when he was only eleven years old. Sadly, his father passed away that same year, and Kershaw had no choice but to be the family’s main breadwinner.
At the age of 12, Kershaw had to work different day jobs to make ends meet. During the night, the young musician would take his guitar to perform gigs at various honky-tonks and beer joints – where the biggest opportunity of his life came one night.
An Unexpected Meeting Became A Turning Point For Sammy Kershaw
While performing in a roadhouse, then 14-year-old Sammy Kershaw met his lifelong idol, George Jones, who helped him establish the foundation of his career.
A few months after that unexpected meeting, Kershaw was already opening for country legends like Ray Price, Merle Haggard, and the possum himself.
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While it was a dream come true for the young teen, it inevitably came with the kind of pressures Kershaw would struggle to deal with. Kershaw battled severe drug and alcohol problems that he decided to take a break from the world of music and worked as Wal-Mart’s remodeling supervisor.
But Kershaw’s heart belongs to country music! So, in 1991, he went back to his first love and released his debut album, Don’t Go Near the Water – which produced some of the best Sammy Kershaw songs. Soon enough, Kershaw became the country star we know today. More than twenty of his singles went all the way to the Top 40 on the charts.
Indeed, Kershaw reached a level of fame and prominence others only dream of.
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