Sean Cunningham (born July 4, 1985) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and former lead singer of New Zealand rock band Atlas (2005–2008) formed with Ben Campbell, (formerly of Zed), and most known for its debut album, Reasons for Voyaging (2007). [1] [2]
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Cunningham attended Crosby Middle School and the Youth Performing Arts School (duPont Manual High School) where he was a Vocal Performance Major. [3] Later he attended Middle Tennessee State University He then moved to Los Angeles in early 2005, where he began work with producer Hank Linderman (The Beach Boys, Eagles).
In April, 2005, while living in Los Angeles, at age 19, he was introduced by Hollywood, producer Hank Linderman (The Beach Boys, Eagles) to musician-siblings Ben and Beth Campbell for songwriting collaboration, shortly thereafter they formed the band Atlas and moved to New Zealand. There the band spent the next few years as one of the country's top rock groups. Their song "Crawl" was their first (commercially available) single, released in 2007. It is one of the most successful New Zealand rock songs of the 21st century, staying atop the charts at #1 for nine weeks - it boasts winning the New Zealand music award for highest selling single. It, amongst other chart topping songs, was featured on their gold selling record "Reasons For Voyaging". After an MTV Australian Music Award nomination for "Best New Zealand Artist" and playing shows with such bands as Silverchair, Powderfinger and the Stereophonics, Atlas disbanded in late 2008.
Sean Cunningham, relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in early 2011, where he is currently working as a songwriter on several solo and group projects.
His current band, The Cunning, is gaining popularity in Nashville. They have released a self-titled EP, and are getting experience playing a variety of venues.
Glen Travis Campbell was an American country singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. He released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.
The story of Tennessee's contribution to American music is essentially the story of three cities: Nashville, Memphis, and Bristol. While Nashville is most famous for its status as the long-time capital of country music, Bristol is recognized as the "Birthplace of Country Music". Memphis musicians have had an enormous influence on blues, early rock and roll, R&B, and soul music, as well as an increasing presence in rap.
Alabama has played a central role in the development of both blues and country music. Appalachian folk music, fiddle music, gospel, spirituals, and polka have had local scenes in parts of Alabama. The Tuskegee Institute's School of Music, especially the Tuskegee Choir, is an internationally renowned institution. There are three major modern orchestras, the Mobile Symphony, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra; the last is the oldest continuously operating professional orchestra in the state, giving its first performance in 1955.
The Box Tops is an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1967. They are best known for the hits "The Letter", "Cry Like a Baby", "Choo Choo Train," and "Soul Deep" and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period. They performed a mixture of current soul music songs by artists such as James & Bobby Purify and Clifford Curry; pop tunes like "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum; and songs written by their producers, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, and Chips Moman. Vocalist Alex Chilton later fronted the power pop band Big Star and launched a career as a solo artist. During that time he occasionally performed songs he had sung with the Box Tops.
Steve Young was an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for his song "Seven Bridges Road". He was a pioneer of the country rock, Americana, and alternative country sounds, and he was also a vital force behind the outlaw movement.
Montana is the 41st state to enter the United States, and has a culturally-diverse population representing a broad spectrum of music genre, style, and instrumentation.
Jonathan Mark Foreman is an American musician who is the lead singer, guitarist, primary songwriter, and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He formed the band in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and his brother Tim Foreman on bass guitar. Keyboardist Jerome Fontamillas and guitarist Drew Shirley later joined the band. As a solo act, Foreman has released 14 extended plays and two studio albums.
Wyatt Merle Kilgore was an American singer, songwriter, and manager. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. At the time of his death, he was the personal manager of Hank Williams Jr.
Peter William Dawkins was a New Zealand record producer and musician, best known for his late-1960s to mid-1970s New Zealand hits and his 1970s productions for Australian-based pop artists, including Dragon, Australian Crawl and Air Supply. He won multiple production awards, including the Countdown Producer of the Year. In the late 1980s, he developed Parkinson's disease.
"The Boys of Summer" is a song by American musician Don Henley. The lyrics were written by Henley and the music was composed by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released on October 26, 1984, as the lead single from Henley's album Building the Perfect Beast. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, number one on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, and number 12 in the UK Singles Chart.
Sonny Curtis is an American singer and songwriter. Known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly, he was a member of the Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death. Curtis's best known compositions include "Walk Right Back", a major hit in 1961 for the Everly Brothers; "I Fought the Law", notably covered by the Bobby Fuller Four and the Clash; and "Love is All Around," the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
James Michael Peterik is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and guitarist in The Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem "Eye of the Tiger", the theme from the 1982 film Rocky III.
"Crawl" is the first commercially available single by New Zealand rock band Atlas, released in 2007 from their debut album, Reasons for Voyaging. It stayed atop New Zealand's RIANZ Singles Chart for seven weeks and was certified gold for selling over 5,000 copies in New Zealand. A music video directed by Olly Langridge was created for the song. In a 2009 interview with New Zealand news media site Stuff, vocalist Sean Cunningham said, "Believe it or not, when we were writing 'Crawl' we didn't know it was a catchy song."
Atlas were a New Zealand rock band which was formed in 2005 and disbanded in late 2008.
Ben Campbell is a musician and executive, who was the former bassist for New Zealand alternative rock band Atlas and pop-rock band Zed.
Reasons for Voyaging is the debut album by New Zealand-based rock band Atlas, released on 19 November 2007. The album was recorded with David Nicholas and produced by Hank Linderman at Neil Finn's Roundhead Studios in Auckland.
Christopher Alvin Stapleton is an American country singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in Kentucky, Stapleton moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1996 to study for an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University, but dropped out to pursue a career in music. Shortly after, he signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music.
Alfred V. De Lory was an American record producer, arranger, conductor and session musician. He was the producer and arranger of a series of worldwide hits by Glen Campbell in the 1960s, including John Hartford's "Gentle on My Mind", Jimmy Webb's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston". He was also a member of the 1960s Los Angeles session musicians known as The Wrecking Crew, and inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 2017.