Traditional Country with an edge to it, PLAN B will make you want to laugh, cry, and tap your feet as you listen to the best singer/songwriter you've heard from in a long time.

9 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Rock, COUNTRY: Modern Country



Details:
Five-year old Tracy Stephens would sit, anxiously, awaiting the call. When his older brother Tony, current tour manager for Alan Jackson, would say to the Sunday afternoon crowd at a club in Fort Benning, Georgia, "I'd like to get my little brother up here now to sing a song," Tracy would grow a smile from ear to ear. Tracy loved to sing and perform in front of a crowd. Influenced by his mother, who played piano at their church, his step-dad, the lead singer in a popular local gospel group, and his brother Tony, who could play anything with strings on it, Tracy was destined to become a successful musician.

During his high school days, Tracy was the lead singer in a country band, but shortly after graduation, he went on to play drums with a southern gospel group. The group traveled around to many "good ole gospel singings" as they are called in Alabama. After a year of playing gospel, Tracy got back into country music, landing a job with a popular local country band, The Georgia Gents. It's ironic that the same man, who drafted Tracy as a little League slugger, now was hiring him to hit something besides a baseball. This band, used to playing a lot of older country songs, broadened their set list with many of the popular tunes of the 80's, featuring Tracy on vocals. The crowd's reaction to Tracy as a drummer and vocalist were overwhelming wherever they played. His animated stage presence behind the drums let the folks know that he was into his work. Tracy thoroughly enjoyed what he was doing, but his need to do something on his own drove him down to one of the local music stores where he purchased his own P.A. equipment. Within a week of that purchase, Tracy formed his own band, Southwind. A month later they were performing country and southern rock in a club in Columbus, Georgia.

Then, Tracy was offered a drumming gig at the largest nightclub in Columbus. The Club featured the area's best musicians. With his offering as a great lead vocal accompanied by his solid groove, Tracy surely fit the part well. He played six nights a week for three years while continuing to work a day job as a machinist. During this period, Tracy's interest in the song itself grew more and more and he began to write his own songs. "Some of my first ones were pretty stupid," Tracy says, "but you have to start somewhere. I would write a ton of songs, and only have one that I was happy with."

With some direction from his brother Tony, Tracy began to polish his skills as a writer, and moved to Nashville for a while. He took a job as a numerical control programmer for a manufacturer of automotive machine parts, while playing drums around town, singing demos for other songwriters free of charge, and honing his songwriting skills even more.

The years of practice paid off for Tracy when he went into the studio to cut his first album. He teamed up with friend and Curb Recording Artist, Tony Toliver, who produced the project that would later be titled Plan B. A month after cutting the songs, while driving back to Nashville, Tracy got word that George Jones wanted to put "I Live To Tell It All" on hold for his upcoming album. Unfortunately, as often happens in the music business, it was cut from the final production.

In the latter part of 2001, Tracy again felt the need to do something more with his music career. It was time for him to move to the front of the stage to promote his album. He hired an established country band to back him up on weekends at a club back in his hometown, Phenix City, Alabama. For six months, Tracy performed as the featured act, polishing up on his stage presence. The reaction to Tracy and his songs was overwhelmingly positive! During this time, a local radio personality, Brian Thomas, with WKCN in Columbus, Ga. had heard about Tracy through some of his listeners, and asked him to be the guest on a new music show that he hosted on Sunday nights. Again, the listeners welcomed Tracy's songs and often requested the first single, "I Used To." This brought on some good local publicity and recognition for Tracy and his music!

Soon after the September 11th tragedy, Tracy was inspired to write the song "9-11." He debuted the song when he opened for David Allen Coe. The crowd went wild! By the time the song was through, the whole place was singing along. Within the week, Tracy was back in the studio in Nashville, with Tony Stephens and Craig Stahl producing, as he cut "9-11" and some other songs he'd written. "9-11" has been given radio airplay nationally and Tracy has been interviewed by radio stations across the U.S.A. about the song.

In 2002, as Tracy's love for songwriting and performing continues, he spends weekends singing in the Southeast. He's gathering fans along the way, as he opens for well-known artists and performs in clubs, festivals, and large venues. During Fan Fair 2002, he spent the week in Nashville meeting new fans and performing in numerous clubs. The response to Tracy's music, his style, and his friendly attitude again convinced him that he should return to Nashville and record his latest songwriting efforts. These are all featured in Tracy's latest release, The Road I'm On.