Nashville Spotlight on Billy Yates

Yates is not "just a songwriter". In 1997, he had his own hit video and song, "Flowers," on the now defunct Almo label. The song can still hold it's own more than ten years later as it was recently recorded by country legend Gene Watson. Yates later scored a major label deal with Sony Music Nashville, which had a lot of people talking upon the release of the first single, "What Do You Want From Me Now." Sometime during the process, Yates was expected to compromise his musical integrity. He declined and left the guys at Sony shaking their heads. Something like that would send most singers back to the life of bars and tip jars.

The minor setback just fueled Yates to create his own label and the release of music that he could feel good to have his name on. The birth of M.O.D. Records was official. "If I Could Go Back" and "Country" both received radio airplay. And now his third, and most recent, release is "Anywhere But Here" and includes 16-cuts all of which were co-written by Yates along with notables such as Dean Miller, Shannon Lawson, Byron Hill and others. Yates will always guarantee that his albums will contain pure country!

Make sure you take a look at Yates' website http://www.billyyates.com. Venture into the music section and check out his impressive writing credits and even take a sample listen to his own CD's. While you're there, you can also join his free online fan club.

Article Written & Submitted by Michelle Durham