After I played Jerry's debut CD, "I Should Know By
Now" I went to his site to learn more about Jerry, the man. Jerry's childhood was not
an ordinary or what we would consider normal one. Born in a small town in Kentucky, on the
border of the Ohio River, Jerry grew up with his parents and 7 siblings. They were poor,
but he didn't think much about it as everyone around them basically lived the same. They
went to church regularly where he first found his love for singing in the Church Choir and
to this day, he holds a special love for Gospel Music. Jerry said, "Growing up was no
great experience, like other families in that area we didn't have much in the way of
money, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity to pursue musical interest, or any other
hobbies one might have. We were more focused on the essentials in life, i.e. a roof over
our head and food on the table. Looking back now I can see those struggles were not in
vain, for today they provide me with the ability to look at all situations in a different
light. You can get by with less!
Jerry was only 11 years old when tragedy struck his
family. His mother passed away from cancer and his father was unable to care for eight
children and work at the same time so they had to be placed in a Children's Home. Jerry
takes this part of his life with more grace and appreciation than one would think.
"The years spent in the Home's were enjoyable and provided the necessary comforts and
essentials that growing kids needed."
Throughout Jerry's life, music was a constant
companion. He says he listened to every radio station he could find, day and night,
because it was free. He listened to every kind of music out there.. pop, country, rock and
gospel. He says his tastes have "mellowed" since his youth and you'll plainly
hear that in his singing.
So what about Jerry's singing talent? He's got it! If
you enjoy Anne Murray, whose albums are always a tonic for relaxation and quiet
entertainment, I can safely say you'll enjoy Jerry's voice paying tribute to her music.
His voice is soft yet solid and flows smoothly along with the music. Jerry's got the
heart, soul and sound that was custom made for ballads.
Jerry lives in Virginia with a job that is a wide
variety of computer and internet related technical duties. While he dreamed his whole life
about a singing career, he never ventured further than the fantasies, which ranged in
stardom to total failure. When he hit 40, he began to question what was lacking in his
life, thinking his job was not satisfying. After some soul searching and job changes, he
realized it wasn't what he was doing that was wrong in his life, it was what he wasn't
doing.. singing.
At that point, Jerry decided to go to Nashville, find a
good recording studio who would work well with an inexperienced artist and found "Midimagic Studio".
After talking with the producer, he decided he'd found the right place to work with to
have a quality recording and he was correct. Jerry's CD is not just loaded with 12
beautiful songs, it's very well produced and the background music is lovely... just enough
to compliment the songs while allowing Jerry's vocals to be the highlight.
I have to say... when Jerry first contacted me about
reviewing this album, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at all.. a guy singing Anne
Murray tunes... just didn't seem to fit. How could I write a nice review without being
hurtful. No problems there at all. I enjoyed the album thoroughly and I hope that Jerry
won't stop at this. I would like to hear him do some original new material... speaking of
which, there's an mp3 file on Jerry's site that is a song he wrote and gave to Anne
Murray. It's free for downloading so when you're done here, don't forget to visit Jerry's
site to hear him sing his self penned song.
