Shooter Jennings Biography

Shooter Jennings Biography

Shooter Jennings is an American country music singer. The only child of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, Jennings signed to his first recording contract, with Universal South Records, in 2005, releasing his debut album Put the "O" Back in Country that year. This album produced his only entry on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in its lead-off single "Fourth of July", which peaked at #26. Jennings has since followed Put the "O" Back in Country with three more albums: Electric Rodeo, Live at Irving Plaza 4.18.06 (both 2006), and The Wolf (2007)

Shooter Jennings lived his first few years in a crib on his parents' tour bus. By age five, he was playing drums. Between tours, he took piano lessons. He started playing guitar at fourteen and sometimes played in his father's band. He and his father recorded a few things together when they happened to have some microphones set up and the tape recorder plugged in. At age sixteen, Jennings discovered rock 'n' roll.

As an adult, Jennings left Nashville, Tennessee to seek his fortunes in Los Angeles. He assembled and performed with Stargunn, a southern rock band whose sound he described as Lynyrd Skynyrd mutating into Guns N' Roses. Stargunn performed at local clubs for six years, built an avid following, and earned praise from the local music press. But the Hollywood party scene eventually began to bother him. He says, "I was posing as a rocker—a country guy trying to be something he wasn't." On March 30, 2003, Jennings dissolved Stargunn and moved to New York City to spend time with his girlfriend and sort out what he wanted to do next. An unexpected gig at the House of Blues a few weeks later revived his creativity. He returned to Los Angeles to form another band, the 357s. The 357's, presently, consist of Ted Russell Kamp on bass, Coley Read on guitar (replacing original lead guitarist Leroy Powell, who left in mid 2007 to pursue a solo career), Gordon "Gordo" Hartin on pedal steel, and Bryan Keeling on drums. After six weeks in the studio, he completed his first solo album, "Put the "O" Back in Country". Universal South released the album in early 2005. Jennings portrayed his father in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line. He is the host of Shooter Jennings' Electric Rodeo, a two-hour weekly music show on Sirius Satellite Radio's Outlaw Country channel.

Shooter's second solo album "Electric Rodeo" was released on April 4, 2006. Shooter released "The Wolf", his third solo album, on October 23, 2007. He is dating Drea de Matteo, with whom he had a baby girl, Alabama Gypsy Rose, on November 29, 2007. On January 4, 2008 Shooter appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, and performed 'This 'Ol Wheel'.In April 2008, Shooter Jennings played the single "Slow Train" (from The Wolf) on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.