Jake Owen Biography

Jake Owen Biography

Jake Owen is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to RCA Records Nashville in 2005, Owen released his debut album Startin' with Me that year. Certified gold in the United States, the album has produced three singles: "Yee Haw", "Startin' with Me" and "Something About a Woman", all of which have entered Top 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. In addition, Owen has toured as an opening act for several country acts, including Brad Paisley, Little Big Town and Sugarland.
Josh Owen, along with his fraternal twin brother Jarrod, were born in Vero Beach, Florida.  Both brothers regularly participated in a variety of sports. Josh eventually took up golf, and began pursuing a career as a professional golfer, winning his first golf tournament at age fifteen. After graduating high school, both Owen brothers attended Florida State University, and Josh served as a walk-on member of the university's golf team; however, a waterskiing accident which resulted in reconstructive surgery left him unable to continue playing the sport.

While recovering from his injuries, he borrowed a neighbor's guitar and began to teach himself how to play it. After seeing a guitarist performing at a campus bar, Owen asked the bar's owner if he could play a gig there. Eventually, Owen became a regular at the bar, and soon took up writing his own material as well. He then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, making his first stop at a bank to open a savings account there; after telling the bank teller that he was a singer and songwriter, the teller then asked if he had any recordings available. Owen gave her a CD of his songs, which she sent to the Warner/Chappell Music publishing company.

Although Warner/Chappell did not sign him to a contract, Owen eventually met record producer and songwriter Jimmy Ritchey; they, along with songwriter Chuck Jones, wrote a song entitled "Ghost", which they had intended for Kenny Chesney to record. Chesney, ultimately, did not record "Ghost", although the song drew the attention of Sony BMG Nashville executives, who signed him to their RCA Records label in 2005.[3] Per their suggestion, Owen also changed his first name to Jake, so as to avoid confusion with other country singers named Josh (i.e. Josh Turner and Josh Gracin).

In early 2006, Owen released his debut single, entitled "Yee Haw". Owen describes the song (an up-tempo party anthem in which the narrator expresses his enjoyment with a cry of "yee haw") as being written "to make people have a good time."[4] The song, which peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, served as the lead-off single to his debut album, Startin' with Me.
Released on July 25, 2006, the album featured eleven tracks, all co-written by Owen and his producer. Among these were Owen's own recording of "Ghosts", as well as a duet with Randy Owen (formerly lead singer of the band Alabama) entitled "You Can Thank Dixie". (Jake Owen and Randy Owen are not related.) After the album's release, Owen was signed as an opening act for acts such as Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood on their tours; by September of 2007, Startin' with Me had earned RIAA gold certification.
The album's title track, a ballad in which the narrator expresses his desires to change everything in his life (starting with himself), was released as Owen's second single. Spending more than thirty-five weeks on the Billboard country charts, "Startin' with Me" became Owen's first Top ten hit, reaching a peak of #6. Also in 2007, he went on tour with Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn.
"Something About a Woman" was released in late 2007 as the third single from Owen's album; as of April 2008, the song has entered Top 20 on the country charts. In September 2007, he and country quartet Little Big Town joined country duo Sugarland's tour. During this tour, the three acts began performing "Life in a Northern Town" (a cover of British pop group The Dream Academy's hit single from 1984) together. A music video of their live performance was aired on the network CMT; in April 2008, a recording of this performance entered the Billboard country charts based on unsolicited airplay. Jake will release "Don't Think I Can't Love You" as the first single off of his upcoming sophomore album in the very near future.