Трагический успех: История альбома "Sticks and Stones" и восхождение Лоуренса

American musician

After signing to Atlantic Nashville, Lawrence began recording his debut album Sticks and Stones. On May 31, 1991, after he had completed the album's vocal tracks, He was confronted by three men who intended to rape Wilkerson and rob both of them. Sticks and Stones, upon its late 1991 release, accounted for four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. First was the album's title track, which reached the number one position on that chart in January 1992. Contributing songwriters to the album included John Scott Sherrill, Mark D. Sanders, Tim Menzies, Bob DiPiero, Lawrence himself, and Kenny Beard, who would go on to write many of Lawrence's other singles as well. Another cut from the album, "Paris, Tennessee", was also recorded by co writer Dennis Robbins on his 1992 album Man with a Plan, and by Kenny Chesney on his 1995 album All I Need to Know. Musicians on the album included Bruce Bouton, Mark Casstevens, and Milton Sledge of Garth Brooks' studio band The G Men, along with session musicians Brent Rowan and Glenn Worf. James Stroud produced the album, and played drums on the track "Between Us". Sticks and Stones was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies. The album received an "A−" from Entertainment Weekly, whose writer Alanna Nash said that he "pairs a poised and confident baritone with witty and well crafted songs that shed soft light in the dark corners of the human condition." In 1992, Billboard magazine named him Top New Male Vocalist. Lawrence told the blog Taste of Country in 2018 that he "fought" with Atlantic executives over recording "Can't Break It to My Heart", because the label wanted him to record more ballads akin to those of then labelmate John Michael Montgomery instead. A review of Alibis in Cash Box magazine praised the title track, "I Threw the Rest Away", and "It Only Takes One Bar (To Make a Prison)" as the strongest cuts, while noting the "conviction and authenticity" in Lawrence's voice. Nash was less positive, writing in Entertainment Weekly that Lawrence "settles for clichéd themes and mawkish delivery". Lawrence promoted the album through a tour with George Jones, and signed a deal with the Stetson hat company to advertise a new line of hats. Also in 1993, he was awarded as Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music.

Lawrence's 1994 album I See It Now had its title track serve as the lead single. Co written by Larry Boone, Paul Nelson, and Woody Lee (who also recorded for Atlantic Nashville at the time), it peaked at number two on the country charts and 84 on the Hot 100. previously found on Anderson's 1994 album Country 'til I Die, and the song "I Got a Feelin'", co written by Joe Diffie and later recorded by him on his 1997 album Twice Upon a Time. I See It Now had seven of its tracks produced by Stroud, while three others accounted for Lawrence's first co production credits: Lawrence promoted I See It Now throughout 1995 with a tour consisting of over 200 shows. Nash found I See It Now superior to its predecessor, stating that Lawrence "returns to the honky tonk sound of his debut, balancing melodic ballads of regret with kick butt rhythms and lively wordplay." Allmusic rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, with an uncredited review praising the album's honky tonk sound, along with the "cute lyrical twists for which country music is famous". An also uncredited review in People praised the title track and closing track "I’d Give Anything to Be Your Everything Again" as "lovely, bittersweet accounts of romance lost", but criticized the lyrics of "If the World Had a Front Porch". I See It Now received RIAA platinum certification. Lawrence compiled the album from 40 different live shows from the six months prior to the disc's release, and once again produced with Flip Anderson. The album was originally to have been titled Tracy Lawrence Live and Unplugged, but it was retitled due to MTV claiming a copyright on the term "unplugged".

Time Marches On, his fourth album, was released in January 1996. Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time noted that the tracks produced by Lawrence and Anderson were more traditional country in their sound than the tracks Cook produced, highlighting "Is That a Tear" and "Somewhere Between the Moon and You" as the strongest and most country sounding cuts. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that the album was "another crowd pleasing set of contemporary country. Like his previous albums, the song selection is a hit or miss affair, with about half of the songs failing to make much of an impression. The remainder, however, proves why Lawrence is one of the most popular singers in Nashville." In 1996, Billboard ranked Lawrence as the tenth most played radio artist in any genre that year.

Lawrence's fifth studio album, The Coast Is Clear, was issued in March 1997 and achieved an RIAA gold certification two months later. This album's first two singles "Better Man, Better Off" and "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye" both made top five on Hot Country Songs, but the followups were less successful: the title track became his first single to miss the top 10 when it peaked at number 26, and "While You Sleep" fell outside the top 40. Sarah Rodman of Country Standard Time shared a similar opinion of the production, calling "While You Sleep" the "most emotive and touching song" while also referring to "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye" as "lively". Atlantic issued a greatest hits package, The Best of Tracy Lawrence, in 1998. This disc included thirteen previous singles and the new song "Her Old Stompin' Ground". Three years after its release, this compilation received RIAA gold certification. The song reached number three on the country charts in 2000, and accounted for his highest Hot 100 peak of number 40. Erlewine wrote of the album in Allmusic that it is "certainly pleasant, yet it tends to fade into the background". Jeffrey B. Remz of Country Standard Time thought that the album maintained a constantly country sound, and had well witten songs. In late 2000, Atlantic Records closed its Nashville division and moved all artists, including Lawrence, to the Nashville branch of parent company Warner Bros. Records. Both Country Standard Time and Allmusic praised the album for having a more consistent and traditional sound than its predecessors, with the former's Scott Homewood calling it "quite possibly his best album", and the latter's Liana Jonas complimenting the lyrics of both singles along with the "scaled down" production. Allmusic biographer Steve Huey wrote of the album that "Despite some good reviews, it failed to halt his downward commercial momentum." and signed a deal with them in October 2003. Lawrence's version overtook Mellons's in terms of airplay, reaching number four on Hot Country Songs and number 42 on the Hot 100 in early 2004. Peter Cooper of The Tennessean thought that the album had better written songs than its predecessors, highlighting "Paint Me a Birmingham" and "Sawdust on Her Halo" in particular, but criticizing the application of Auto Tune to Lawrence's singing voice. Robert Woolridge of Country Standard Time thought that Lawrence's singing was stronger on the ballads such as "Paint Me a Birmingham" as opposed to the more upbeat material, but criticized the "mainstream production".

Following the closure of DreamWorks Nashville in 2005, Lawrence transferred to Mercury Nashville that same year. Two new tracks were included as well, both of which were released as singles: a cover of Mark Nesler's 1998 single "Used to the Pain", and "If I Don't Make It Back", which was co witten by Bobby Pinson.

In 2006, Lawrence started his own record label, Rocky Comfort Records, in partnership with his brother Laney. The first act signed to the label besides Lawrence himself was Chad Brock. Lawrence's first single for the label was "Find Out Who Your Friends Are", which was released in August 2006 from the studio album For the Love. The song initially lingered below the Top 40 of the Hot Country Songs charts, but following the album's release, it gained in radio interest due to the album containing as a bonus track an alternate version with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney on guest vocals. Thanks to the success of the alternate version, "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" became a number one single on that chart in 2007. The song reached that position in its 41st week on the chart, setting a new record at the time for the slowest ascent to the top of the country charts, and the second slowest on any Billboard chart. The re recorded version received Musical Event of the Year honors at the 2007 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, Lawrence's first award from that association, along with the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Vocal Event of the Year award. Later in 2007, Lawrence issued a Christmas album entitled All Wrapped Up in Christmas, the title track of which peaked at number 57 based on Christmas season airplay. Jones released the album Prove Me Right through the label in 2009.

Lawrence made his last Hot Country Songs chart appearance with the single "Up to Him" in early 2009. Allmusic reviewer Todd Sterling thought that Lawrence "sounds as comfortable singing songs about the Lord as he does singing straight country", calling it "a positive collection that will appeal to people of all faiths." Country Standard Time reviewer Jessica Phillips also thought that the lyrics of the album were "positive" and "uplifting", comparing the disc favorably to Randy Travis's gospel albums. The album got a 2009 Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. Due to financial difficulties, Lawrence closed the Rocky Comfort label after The Rock and established a second personal label, Lawrence Music Group, in 2011. His first release for this label was The Singer that same year. It was initially available solely from his website and digital music distributors, a decision that Lawrence made to test the viability of online distribution instead of physical sales. Of the album, Lawrence said that he included more songs that he had written himself, because he felt that he had become more confident in his own songwriting skills. He also said that the album was "different" due to the increased presence of songs that he had written and the acoustic sound.

Lawrence released the single "Stop, Drop & Roll" to country radio in October 2012. It was the first single from the album Headlights, Taillights and Radios, released on August 20, 2013. Lawrence funded the album through Kickstarter. Contributing songwriters included Kurt Allison (of Jason Aldean's road band and the production team New Voice Entertainment) and Kip Moore. Erlewine noted that the album was more country pop than Lawrence's existing body of work, but stated that "he sounds comfortable, assured, and quite charming on this enjoyable record." Michael Rampa of Country Standard Time also thought that the album was more country pop, but praised the lyrics and Lawrence's singing, saying of the content that "Lawrence is both looking back at his two decades plus career in country music while also taking a significant step toward the future." In 2017, Lawrence released Good Ole Days, a compilation album which features nine of his hit singles re recorded as duets with other country singers, including Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, and Luke Combs. It also features two original songs: the title track, which features both Brad Arnold and Big & Rich, and the Craig Morgan duet "Finally Home", whose proceeds were donated to Operation Finally Home, an organization that assists in housing for injured soldiers. A second Christmas album, Frozen in Time, was released in October 2018. The album includes a mix of original compositions and covers of Christmas standards. In May 2019, he announced the August 2019 release of a new studio album titled Made in America, whose title track is also the lead single. He called the album "possibly the most personal album I have ever released." Lawrence co wrote most of the album, with other songwriters including Chris Stapleton, Mark Nesler, and Carson Chamberlain. Lawrence's next project is a three disc album called Hindsight 2020. In February 2021, he confirmed that each of the three discs would be released throughout 2021, starting with Volume 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell on April 23. Its first single is the title track, which Lawrence co wrote with Craig Wiseman. When completed, the three albums will include a mix of original songs and re recordings of existing songs. The second disc in this project, Volume 2: Price of Fame, was released in August. Included on it were re recordings of "I See It Now", "Somebody Paints the Wall", and "If the World Had a Front Porch", and duets with Montgomery Gentry member Eddie Montgomery and Tracy Byrd. The third installment, Volume 3: Angelina, was released in January 2022. The title track of the project was released as a single that same month; in addition, Lawrence stated that he would be touring in 2022 with Clay Walker, Randall King, and Alexandra Kay.

Lawrence has contributed to multiple collaborative works in his career. The first was George Jones' 1992 single "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair", which featured him as one of several artists performing on the song's final chorus, and received the Country Music Association Vocal Event of the Year for all artists involved. In 1994, Lawrence recorded "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues" for the soundtrack of the film Maverick. Later in the same year, he covered Keith Whitley's late 1989 single "I'm Over You" on Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. In May 1996, Lawrence was one of many artists featured on the charity single "Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure", whose proceeds were donated to the T. J. Martell foundation for cancer research. The song made an appearance on Hot Country Songs, and received a Grammy Award nomination that year for all artists involved in the category of Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Lawrence also began working as a producer for other artists in 1997, including Rich McCready's 1997 album That Just About Covers It and the soundtrack to the musical The Civil War.

Many of Lawrence's singles featured music videos that received rotation on CMT and the defunct TNN (The Nashville Network). In 1996, his videos were aired on CMT more than those of any other artist. The concept started with the video for "If the Good Die Young", and continued for those of "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues", "I See It Now", "As Any Fool Can See", "Texas Tornado", "If the World Had a Front Porch", "Is That a Tear", "One Step Ahead of the Storm" (an album cut from The Coast Is Clear), and "Life Don't Have to Be So Hard".

Steve Huey wrote of Lawrence's musical style that he was "[o]ne of a number of rock tinged honky tonk singers who rose to fame in the early '90s" and "gained a loyal audience for his mix of modern and traditional country sounds". Although he was put on probation for a year, the charges were later cleared. In October 1997, Lawrence underwent investigation after allegations that he had abused Drew following a concert at Buffalo Bill's hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada. This incident occurred one month after the couple had filed for divorce. Lawrence was convicted of a misdemeanor for battery, and was ordered by Las Vegas courts to donate $500 to a Nevada based women's shelter. Billboard also reported that Atlantic Nashville's president had suspended Lawrence from recording any new material until he agreed to undergo counseling, He married his third wife, Becca, in a secret wedding ceremony just after Christmas 2000. The couple had a child named Skylar the following June. Two years later, they had a second daughter, Mary Keagan.