Ron Saltmarsh is an American composer, producer, guitarist and performer. He has written many TV and movie scores, and also written many country music songs.
Country music, also known as country and western, and hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s. It takes its roots from genres such as American folk music and blues.
Saltmarsh was born in Portland, OR in 1962 and grew up on a ranch in Beavercreek, OR. He moved to Provo, UT in 1980 to attend college at Brigham Young University.
Brigham Young University is a private, non-profit research university in Provo, Utah, United States owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and run under the auspices of its Church Educational System. The university is classified among "Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity" with "more selective, lower transfer-in" admissions. The university's primary emphasis is on undergraduate education in 179 majors, but it also has 62 master's and 26 doctoral degree programs. The university also administers two satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem and one in Salt Lake City, while its parent organization, the Church Educational System (CES), sponsors sister schools in Hawaii and Idaho.
Saltmarsh served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the LDS Church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Mormon missionaries may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment, and are organized geographically into missions. The mission assignment could be to any one of the 407 missions organized worldwide.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often informally called by the slang terms LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 16 million members and 65,000 full-time volunteer missionaries. In 2012, the National Council of Churches ranked the church as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States, with over 6.5 million members there as of January 2018. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
Saltmarsh has a bachelor's degree in music from Brigham Young University (BYU) as well as an MBA from the Marriott School of Management. Among those he studied under at BYU was K. Newell Dayley and mentored by Sam Cardon. Saltmarsh was part of the Young Ambassadors and the jazz ensemble Synthesis while at BYU.
K. Newell Dayley is a prominent Latter Day Saint composer, hymnwriter and musician. He was a professor of music at Brigham Young University (BYU) and later served as the associate academic vice president for undergraduate studies at that institution. He retired from BYU in September 2007.
Sam Cardon is a composer whose credits include 15 large-format films: Titans Of The Ice Age, Mummies, Mystic India, Texas, The Big Picture, Forces Of Nature, Lewis and Clark, The Legendary Journeys, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, Mysteries of Egypt, Olympic Glory, Whales, Building the Dream at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California; Treasure of the Gods at Zion National Park, Utah and The Secret of San Francisco at Pier 39.
The Young Ambassadors are a song and dance performing group from Brigham Young University (BYU). Consisting of 20 performers, 10 male and 10 female, they were founded by Janie Thompson in 1969. Since their first international performance at the 1970 World Fair in Osaka, Japan, they have performed in over 68 countries.
In 1993 Saltmarsh became a vice president of Flashpoint productions and while there composed music for many SEGA and PC platform games.
In 1995 he moved to Nashville, TN where he worked for 615 Music Productions as a freelance composer and producer. He was one of the lead composer for the music of A&E's Biography Series. He also was the composer for the thriller movie SIGMA . He has also done arranging for the band Diamond Rio as well as many other music groups. He has performed with Marie Osmond, The Nashville Tribute Band, and many other cover and specialty types of groups. He regularly plays with the country group Joshua Creek. He has released two contemporary jazz CD's with his friend, fellow BYU graduate and keyboardist for Diamond Rio, Dan Truman
Diamond Rio is an American country and Christian country music band. The band was founded in 1982 as an attraction for the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee, and was originally known as the Grizzly River Boys, then the Tennessee River Boys. It was founded by Matt Davenport, Danny Gregg, and Ty Herndon, the last of whom became a solo artist in the mid-1990s. After undergoing several membership changes in its initial years, the band has consisted of the same six members since 1989: Marty Roe, Gene Johnson, Jimmy Olander, Brian Prout (drums), Dan Truman (keyboards), and Dana Williams.
Since 2011, he has been an associate teaching professor of music at BYU over the Commercial Music Degree.
Saltmarsh was a bishop of an LDS Church ward in Nashville for several years.
Saltmarsh married Calene Cox in 1987 and they have 4 children.
Music has had a long history in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from the days in Kirtland, Nauvoo, and the settlement of the West, to the present day. In the early days of the Church, stripped-down Latter-Day Saint folk music, which could be sung without accompaniment due to the lack of instruments in Utah, was popular. In the 19th century, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was created and began touring, while musicians began writing devotional and praise music with a Latter-Day Saint influence, paralleling the success of Christian Contemporary Music. Several organizations have existed and do exist to promote these artists, such as Deseret Book and the now-defunct Faith-centered Music Association. Starting in the late 20th century and to the present day, Latter-Day Saints have been increasingly involved in modern popular music in America and elsewhere in the World.
Mack Wilberg is a composer, arranger, conductor, choral clinician and the current music director of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (Choir). He was the associate director of the choir and music director of the Temple Square Chorale for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from May 1999 until his appointment as the Tabernacle Choir's director on March 28, 2008.
Janice Kapp Perry is a composer, songwriter and author. She is most notable for her work related to her membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has written over 1,200 songs, which appear in the church's official hymnal, Children's Songbook, and many personal albums, songbooks and musicals. Perry has also composed albums in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Saturday's Warrior is a religious-themed musical written by Douglas Stewart and Lex de Azevedo about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The musical tells the story of a group of children that are born into a Latter-day Saint family after making various promises in the premortal life. Two of the children, Jimmy and Julie, encounter personal struggles that help them rediscover and fulfill their foreordained missions in life. Although no explicit time frame is given in the dialogue, certain contextual clues suggest that the story takes place in the then-current and then-recent period of the late 1960s or early '70s similar to other religious musicals such as Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Ralph Lanier Britsch was a history professor at Brigham Young University who specialized in the history of missionary work by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly in the Pacific Islands and Asia.
Andrew C. Skinner was a dean of religious education at Brigham Young University and the author of a wide variety of books and articles on historical and doctrinal topics. Skinner currently serves as the executive director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.
Kory Katseanes is the director of the School of Music at Brigham Young University (BYU) as well as its orchestra program, one of the largest collegiate orchestra programs in the United States. He has also been a guest conductor for multiple orchestras.
Erik Orton is a New York-based writer and theatre producer. His father was an Air Force officer and his mother a Finnish immigrant. He was raised primarily in West Germany and the suburbs of Washington D.C. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 1998 with a degree in Media Music. He and his wife, Emily Orton, have five children together.
Tony Martin is a country music songwriter who has had fifteen number-one hits as a songwriter. Among his compositions are "Third Rock from the Sun" by Joe Diffie, "Just to See You Smile" by Tim McGraw, "You Look Good in My Shirt" by Keith Urban, and "No Place That Far" by Sara Evans.
Jason Todd Deere is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He has written memorable songs for acts like Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson, Jim Brickman, SHeDAISY, Be Be Winans, Natalie Grant, Point of Grace, Wanessa Camargo, Leonardo, Luiza Possi, The Wreckers and he has a lengthy list of film, television and production credits.
The BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC) is one of nine colleges at Brigham Young University, a private university operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and located in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1925, the college has grown from a small college of the arts with minimal faculty and only 100 students to the second largest college on campus.
BYU has a broad array of bands and ensembles. Most of these are part of the programs of the School of Music in the BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications, primarily either in the Department of Bands or the Jazz Studies Department.
The Nashville Tribute Band is a Nashville-based Christian group founded by Jason Deere and Dan Truman, the pianist of the popular country group Diamond Rio.
Education in Zion is an exhibition space in the Joseph F. Smith Building at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, United States. The gallery and permanent exhibition documents the history and heritage of education in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Joseph Smith to the current Church Educational System (CES). Education in Zion includes stories, film, artwork, photographs, and letters. Temporary exhibits have shown student artwork, information about university services, the history of specific CES schools and colleges, and connections between academic subjects and scriptures. The gallery hosts a number of recurring events and lectures. Students viewing the exhibition have felt a renewed appreciation for their education.
Garth William Smith is a pianist/composer/musician accomplished in several styles of music including rock, country, classical and jazz. His current endeavor is creating spiritually uplifting piano arrangements of popular LDS Hymns. He resides in Oceanside, California and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there.
Truman Brothers is an American alternative/indie band from Provo, Utah. The 2-member band consists of brothers Ben and Chad Truman from Nashville, Tennessee. The band formed in 2005 while both were attending Brigham Young University. Taking advantage of the Provo music scene, the sons of Diamond Rio musician Dan Truman formed Truman Brothers and released their first album "Hold On To Love" June 12, 2009. The Truman Brothers was one of the first acts to ever perform at Velour Live Music Gallery.