49 Facts About Steve Wariner

Steven Noel Wariner was born on December 25,1954 and is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Steve Wariner has released eighteen studio albums and over fifty singles for several different record labels.

Steve Wariner holds several writing credits for both himself and other artists, and has collaborated with Nicolette Larson, Glen Campbell, Diamond Rio, Brad Paisley, Asleep at the Wheel, and Mark O'Connor among others.

Steve Wariner has won four Grammy Awards: one for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, and three for Best Country Instrumental.

Steven Noel Wariner was born on December 25,1954, in Noblesville, Indiana, but grew up in Russell Springs, Kentucky.

Steve Wariner performed locally in his father Roy Steve Wariner's band, drawing influence from musical acts his father listened to such as George Jones and Chet Atkins.

When Steve Wariner was 17, country singer Dottie West heard him performing at the Nashville Country Club in Indianapolis and recruited him to play bass guitar in her road band.

Steve Wariner completed his education through a correspondence course with his local high school, and went on to play in West's band for three years; he played on her 1973 single "Country Sunshine".

Steve Wariner began writing songs at this point, and West attempted to secure him a record label contract by submitting demos of his work, but was unsuccessful.

Steve Wariner then left West's road band to put a greater focus on songwriting, and began touring with Bob Luman after he cut some of Wariner's songs.

Steve Wariner said that he chose to switch producers as a means of introducing more uptempo material, and both Wilson and Brown were working for RCA at the time.

When Steve Wariner's contract ended in 1984, he chose to follow Brown to MCA Nashville.

The Academy of Country Music nominated "Some Fools Never Learn" for Song of the Year in 1985, and Steve Wariner later remarked that he considered it his favorite single.

Steve Wariner co-wrote five songs on the album including "You Can Dream of Me", which he wrote with John Hall, then of the band Orleans.

In 1988, Steve Wariner issued I Should Be with You, his fourth release for MCA.

Steve Wariner noted that the album contained a more country rock influence than its predecessors, particularly in the selection of session musicians such as Leland Sklar and Russ Kunkel, as well as Little Feat cofounder Bill Payne.

Steve Wariner wrote nine out of ten songs on the album, with collaborators such as McAnally, Roger Murrah, Mike Reid, and husband-and-wife duo Bill LaBounty and Beckie Foster.

At the time of the album's release, Steve Wariner noted that the chart success and positive fan reception of "I Should Be with You" inspired a continual growth in his songwriting.

Steve Wariner observed that, while he had not received strong record sales or industry awards, radio performance of his singles inspired him to "make the best records".

Steve Wariner released two albums in 1990, the first of which was Laredo.

LaBounty and Foster wrote "The Domino Theory", while Steve Wariner co-wrote "Precious Thing" with McAnally.

Steve Wariner co-wrote, sang, and played guitar on "Now It Belongs to You", another cut from the album which made the country charts.

Steve Wariner left MCA amicably in 1991 and signed with Arista Nashville later that same year.

Steve Wariner's version, featuring a backing vocal from Vince Gill, was the album's most successful single.

Steve Wariner told Cash Box magazine that he intended for the album to be representative of the energy present in his live shows.

Steve Wariner wanted it to be more upbeat than I Am Ready, which he felt contained too many ballads.

Steve Wariner promoted the album throughout 1993 with a tour comprising the United States and Canada, sponsored by General Motors Canada.

Steve Wariner told Guitar Player magazine that he had wanted to record an instrumental album for much of his career, but had considerable difficulty in getting permission from his labels: MCA executives would only allow him to do one instrumental song on an album, while he had to "beg and plead" Arista to allow him a full album.

Steve Wariner began writing songs for other artists in the late 1990s per the suggestion of his wife, Caryn, who ran his publishing company and fan club.

Steve Wariner had suggested doing so following the diminishing success of his previous albums.

In January 1998, Steve Wariner underwent negotiations with multiple labels including Giant Records and Asylum Records before choosing Capitol Records Nashville, to which Brooks was signed at the time.

Steve Wariner wrote or co-wrote and produced every song on the album except for "What If I Said", which was included as a bonus track due to its earlier success.

In 2003, Steve Wariner founded his own record label called SelecTone Records.

Steve Wariner recorded the album at a studio he had built behind his own house.

Steve Wariner promoted the album with a concert at the 2003 Indiana State Fair; he made appearances at Walmart stores around Indianapolis to promote the chain's childhood literacy program Words Are Your Wheels.

Steve Wariner made an appearance at an 80th-anniversary celebration of the Grand Ole Opry in 2005, which included him and various other Opry members as part of a two-day concert.

Steve Wariner performed with The Grascals at the 2006 International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

In 2008, Steve Wariner played guitar on two tracks from Brad Paisley's instrumental album Play: The Guitar Album: the multi-artist collaboration "Cluster Pluck", which won that year's Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental, and "More Than Just This Song", which Steve Wariner and Paisley co-wrote.

One year later, Steve Wariner released the instrumental album My Tribute to Chet Atkins.

Steve Wariner promoted the album through special concerts in Nashville, whose proceeds were donated to the Chet Atkins Music Education Fund.

Contributors on the album included David Hungate, Aubrey Haynie, and Paul Yandell, along with Steve Wariner's touring drummer Ron Gannaway and son Ross.

In 2019, Steve Wariner was one of many artists inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Steve Wariner's guitar playing style includes fingerstyle guitar and classical guitar, both of which he claims were inspirations from the work of Jerry Reed.

Steve Wariner has an angelic voice, some solid songs and a staggering facility on the guitar.

Steve Wariner fathered his first son, Ryan, with Caryn Severs in 1984.

Steve Wariner has one stepdaughter, Holly, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

Steve Wariner has one sister, Barbara, and three brothers: Kenny, Dave, and Terry, the last of whom was a longtime member of his road band.

For much of the 1980s, Steve Wariner developed an interest in stage magic, and would often include magic acts as part of his concerts.

Steve Wariner took up watercolor painting, and named his song "Like a River to the Sea" after one such painting.