‘Catch of the Day’ – Lonestar – “Never Enders” [AUDIO]

Our focus today is on a group that has proven that yes, in fact, you can go home again. A group that hit the top of the country chart 9 times from 1996 to 2004, then seemed to lose the "magic."

In 1992, five musicians working at the Opreyland theme park in Nashville came together to form a band, calling themselves Texassee. The name came from the fact that all five of their members, Richie McDonald, Michael Britt, Keech Rainwater, Dean Samms and John Rich hailed from Texas, but came together in Nashville; by the end of '92 they changed the name to Lonestar. By 1993 they were playing regularly around Nashville and by the end of 1994, the group signed with BNA Records.

Lonestar first release was a January 1995, a live EP recorded at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, called appropriately enough Lonestar Live. Their first single "Tequila Talking", climbed to #8 on the Billboard Country chart and they were off and running. The group's self titled debut album, released in October of that year, featured not only a studio version of the single, but 4 more singles, including the band's first #1, "No News". The singles included the final single from the album, "Heartbroken Every Day", which would be the group's only single to feature John Rich on lead vocals; it peaked at #18 on the country chart.

In 1997, Lonestar released its second album, Crazy Nights. The album featured four singles, including their second #1, "Come Cryin' To Me"; all of which featured Richie McDonald on lead vocal. Rich was not happy with the distribution of the singles, and after the the album's final single, "Everything's Changed", he was abruptly fired by the group. The began toured with an "unplugged" show, which featured the remaining 4 originals and 3 session musicians.

For their next album, Lonely Grill, released in 1999, Lonestar used a team of session bass players to cover Rich's absence. When the album's first single, "Saturday Night" failed to crack the top-40, a lot of country music insiders questioned the Rich firing. But the second single answered that question, resoundingly. "Amazed" topped the country music charts for 8 consecutive weeks, simultaneously becoming the first country single to hit #1 on the Top-40 Hot 100 chart since 1983. The album would go on to feature 3 more #1 singles, "Smile", "What About Now" and "Tell Her".

From 2001 to 2005, the group would release two more studio albums (2001's I'm Already There and 2005's Let's Be Us Again) and a Greatest Hits compilation (From Here To There in 2003); each would contain a #1 hit ("I'm Already There", "My Front Porch Looking In" and "Mr. Mom"). Their 2007 album Mountains would be their last trip to the top-10 with the title track. Soon after the album's release, Richie McDonald announced he was leaving the group. He was replaced by Cody Collins. No longer on the BNA label, Lonestar's first release with Collins was the 2007 Holiday album My Christmas List, which could only find distribution by Cracker Barrel Restaurants.

In 2008, the group released its only album with Collins on lead vocals, Party Heard Round The World. The album featured one single, "Let Me Love You"; when both the album and the single failed to crack the top-40, Collins left the group and was replaced by...

Richie McDonald.

The reunited group released the 2011 single "The Countdown" on the independent label 4 Star Records. It was the lead single for their 2013 album Life As We Know It. The album featured four singles, none of which cracked the top-50. Mixed in with a nonstop touring schedule the past three years, Lonestar has been back in the studio, working on a follow up to Life As We Know It. That album, Never Enders is scheduled to be released April 15th, and we have the lead single in our spotlight today. Lonestar with the title track from that forthcoming album is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you're going to want to hear it again.