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BILLY RAY CYRUS
Shot Full Of Love

He has introduced a veterans anthem, created a dance club phenomenon, saluted his bluegrass background, sung for the American farmer and given us a cluster of hits that brought an entirely new sound to Nashville. But up to now Billy Ray Cyrus hasn't really explored the rich resources of Music City's song writing community or the depth of its talent pool of musicians. So this year the superstar paused to do just that. Billy Ray's new Shot Full Of Love album aims squarely at country music's commercial center and hits a bulls eye.

The album is his first collection of deliberately radio-ready tunes, the result of his first full-fledged sessions with the finest musicians on Music Row. Shot Full Of Love is accompanied by a shift in the multi-million-selling star's image and outlook. During the first six months of this year, Billy Ray Cyrus withdrew completely from the public eye. He marked his "new beginning" in June when he reemerged to collective trophies at the nationally telecast TNN/Music City News Country Awards ceremony.

"I adjusted my music, my attitude and my appearance," says the widely-loved entertainer. "I let go of the past. I just felt that it was time to come back to earth. I decided, I'm going to make a completely different album that I've ever made."

Shot Full Of Love includes straightforward country songs like "Touchy Subject," "His Shoes" and "How's My World Treatin' You." Billy Ray's fun-loving spirit infuses such peppy boppers as "Under The Hood" and "Rock This Planet." The album's title tune harks back to his days as a club act, while the richly melodic "Missing You" and "Time For Letting Go" look to the future with his confidently evocative vocals and state-of-the-art productions by Keith Stegall and John Kelton.

As always, Billy Ray Cyrus sings lyrics that seem to spring directly from everyday people's lives. "Busy Man" is addressed to fathers everywhere who neglect their families in pursuit of financial success. "Give My Heart To You" is the story of a hard-working man with little to show for his life except a loving soul. "The American Dream," Cyrus first recording with a string section, is an anthem for the nation, a plea that we never stop striving for peace and prosperity.

"I tried to record songs that everybody seemed to like and that were true to life, too," he comments. "I wanted to make sure they were songs that I could relate to. The fans are passionate about the music. They have kept me in this ball game, so I wanted to be sure I was singing for them."

Billy Ray Cyrus' connection to his audience is deep and profound. Few artists in any musical genre have given of themselves so consistently and so unselfishly. His devotion to the public is legendary, even by country music standards; and the amount of charity work he does is simply staggering.

Because his early hits were so catchy, he became an instant favorite with children, in particular. As a result, Billy Ray has held scores of dying, crippled and infirm tots in his arms. His big heart has ached more times than he can count.

"I try to put on a real strong face for the kids. The hardest part is when they turn to leave and they go one way and I go another. It is emotionally draining; you just feel weak and sad. But I've tried to make sure that I live up to my end of the deal with God. My dream was to be a successful singer, songwriter and entertainer. I prayed that my music would be heard around the world and that God would give me the vision to use my music to do good things. So I am going to see as many of these children as I can.

"The day before we began recording this album I was going through some mail ad came across a letter from a little girl who had cancer, and it was her wish to meet me. So I made some calls. The night of that first recording session I had just sung "Give My Heart To You." I came out of the vocal booth and she was there, in a wheelchair. We sat together. We did pictures and autographs and it became one of those special moments.
"Her name was Jenny. She added sincerity to the session, because that moment brought me and all the musicians closer together. So we put a dedication to that little girl on the album and there's a picture of us sitting there that night. Her coming to the first recording session made me think there was a good spirit about this record.

"In the spring I got a letter from her Granny telling me that Jenny had passed away. At her funeral, the kids at her school gathered and said a prayer. Then they played 'Achy Breaky Heart' and danced and let butterflies go. It was exactly like Jenny wanted."
"Achy Breaky Heart" is, of course, the record that turned the leader of a Kentucky bar band into an international idol. Billy Ray's first four albums for Mercury Nashville put his sales in excess of 13 million units to date. Some Gave All, his debut for the label, is one of the 10 biggest selling albums of the '90s, regardless of genre. Accolades have poured in from the Country Music Association, the American Music Awards, Billboard, the Recording Industry Association of America, TNN/Music City News and numerous other organizations.

Born in Flatwoods, KY, Billy Ray Cyrus was singing with his father's gospel quartet and his mother's bluegrass group before he reached school age. As a boy, he formed a country duet with his brother. When he was 19 he began playing guitar and performing locally with Sly Dog, a band named after his one-eyed pet bulldog. The band took up residence in an Ironton, Ohio bar called Changes. Audiences there particularly like Billy Ray's version of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hit "Shot Full of Love."
When Changes burned to the ground in 1984, so did the band's equipment. Billy Ray took it as a sign that he should try his fortunes elsewhere. But a two-year stint in L.A. resulted in a dead-end job selling cars, instead of stardom. He returned to Kentucky, re-formed Sly Dog, landed a job as the "house band" at The Ragtime Lounge in Huntington, WV and began making weekly trips to Nashville to knock on doors.

Billy Ray Cyrus was a seasoned show-business pro when he was discovered by Mercury talent scouts while opening a Reba McEntire concert in Louisville in 1990. Two years later he set the music world aflame with "Achy Breaky Heart" and Some Gave All. Its follow-up album was the million-selling It Won't Be the Last.
But by the time of 1994's Storm In the Heartland Cyrus' image was tarnished. Radio stations began closing their ears to his distinctive sound. He responded by stripping his style down to the earthy, rootsy sound of Trail Of Tears. That 1996 album earned him widespread critical respect and a Single of the Year award from the TNN/Music City News Country Awards voters.

"That was the beginning," he recalls. "That was the first time that people really looked at me as an artist. That was the foundation of where I'm at now."

He assembled a greatest-hits collection called Cover To Cover and included "It's All The Same To Me" as one of its new tracks. The performance returned him to the country hit parade in 1997 and paved the way for Shot Full Of Love.

Videos are already "in the can" to promote the new album's "Under The Hood" and "Time For Letting Go." Elsewhere on the TV front, "The America Dream" is on tap as the theme song of a TBS documentary about the comeback of the American bald eagle. Billy Ray will be featured in that program; and thanks to his new association with the powerful APA agency he spent part of September auditioning for Hollywood feature-film directors in Los Angeles.

Radio programmers are already enthusiastic about "Busy Man," "Give My Heart To You" and "Missing You." Billy Ray's summer statuettes as the fans' choice as Male Vocalist, Album, Single, Song and Video of the Year at the TNN/Music City News Country Awards injected new vigor into his concert tour. The star sees all these things as signs that "chapter two" of his career is about to begin.

"I'm more comfortable now than I've ever been," says Billy Ray Cyrus. "I have so much more peace of mind. I understand who I am and what I do. I'm enjoying my career now more than I ever have.

"And Shot Full Of Love is the easiest album I've ever done. The whole experience just had this incredible vibe."

In retrospect, Cyrus himself is very much like his debut CD, Some Gave All. That album topped the Billboard pop and country charts for an unprecedented 17 weeks, a record even the blockbuster "Titanic" soundtrack failed to topple. Billy Ray Cyrus, unlike the Titanic, is unsinkable.

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