Today we turn the focus to an artist who knew from an early age that he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and be a country singer. He left high school after his sophomore year, choosing to perform with his father in clubs across southwest Texas.

17th Annual Country Thunder USA - Day 2
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images
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Born and raised in Beaumont, TX, Mark Chesnutt knew early on he wanted to make music. His father, Bob Chesnutt was a singer and record collector, giving his son a great education in country music. The younger Chesnutt decided to leave high school and pursue his dreams after his sophomore year, performing in clubs across the Lone Star state. After a year of fine tuning his son's talent, Bob Chesnutt decided to take then 17-year old Mark to Nashville.

For the next 10 years, Mark would record on small, regional labels while performing as part of house bands around Nashville. He would release 8 singles over that stretch of time, which would later be brought together in 1988 for his debut album, Doing My Country Thing, which was released by Axbar Records. The album drew the attention of MCA Records, who signed Chesnutt in 1990.

17th Annual Country Thunder USA - Day 2
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images
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Chesnutt would records three albums with MCA, 1990's Too Cold At Home, 1992's Longnecks & Short Stories and 1993's Almost Goodbye. All three albums would be certified platinum and would yield 12 top-10 hits, 5 of which hit number 1. But in 1994, MCA Records would merge with two other labels: PolyGram Records and Decca Records as part of the Universal Music Group. Chesnutt would be shifted to Decca Records, where he would record his next 4 albums.

With the shift, Chesnutt would see his record sales begin to decline, though his first album with Decca Records, 1994's What A Way to Live would be certified gold. After four studio albums and a greatest hits compilation (which would be certified platinum), the MCA label was revived as MCA Nashville in 2000, and Chesnutt would be shifted back to MCA, where he would release just one more album for the label, 2000's Lost in the Feeling, which contained two singles, "Fallin' Never Felt So Good" and the title track; both singles failed to crack the top-50.

Country Thunder USA In Florence, Arizona - Day 3
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Country Thunder USA
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In 2002, Chesnutt signed with Columbia Records and released a self-titled album, his only with the label. The album featured the top-10 single "She Was" as well as two more singles that failed to crack the top-40. "She Was" was the last time Mark would crack the top-10. He has since released 4 studio albums, 2 on the Vivatron! Records label, and one each with Lofton Creek Records and Saguaro Road Records. In 2010, Chesnutt began his own independent label, Nada Dinero Records and has released a live albums on the label, 2011's Live From The Big D. The album was re-released in a delux edition in 2016.

Chesnutt has been back in the studio, working on what will be his first studio album in 6 years, Tradition Lives, to be released July 8th, and today the spotlight shines on the first single from the album. Mark Chesnutt and "Oughta Miss Me By Now" is our Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you'll want to hear it again.

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