George Ducas (singer)

American musician

George Ducas is an American country music singer and songwriter, and musician, known for his pioneering neo traditional blend of modern day and roots country music. He has released four studio albums: 1994's George Ducas, 1997's Where I Stand, 2013's 4340 When he was 5, his parents He then moved back to Houston, Texas to live with his father and stepmother to attend middle school and high school. Ducas attended Lamar High School in Houston and afterward attended Vanderbilt University, Ducas told the Times Leader of Wilkes Barre, PA in 1997.

Upon his move to Music City, Ducas performed in Nashville area clubs by night and honed his songwriting skills by day. 1994 saw Ducas score both his first hit as a songwriter as well as his own record deal. As a songwriter, Radney Foster took "Just Call Me Lonesome", a song Ducas co wrote, into the Top Ten on the country charts. A review of "Just Call Me Lonesome" in Cash Box was positive, stating "Described as a classic shuffle in the tradition of Ray Price or Buck Owens, 'Just Call Me Lonesome' is also reminiscent of Dwight Yoakam's 'Guitars, Cadillacs'. Good Bakersfield sound." Later that year, Ducas signed a record deal with Liberty Records.

Ducas' debut single "Teardrops" became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. "Lipstick Promises" followed in early 1995 reaching all the way to #9 leading the way to the release of his eponymous self titled debut album. George Ducas also produced the No. 52 "Hello Cruel World" and the No. 72 "Kisses Don't Lie".

Due to a restructuring of Liberty Records, Ducas was transferred to Capitol Records Nashville. Prior to his sophomore album's release, Ducas spent time in Bakersfield, CA with one of his songwriting & musical heroes, Buck Owens, where the country music legend took keen interest in Ducas and his music. Buck would continue to reach out and stay in touch even after Ducas returned to Nashville. Initially Ducas' sophomore album Where I Stand was slated for release in 1996, however some record label shuffling pushed the release into the following year kicking off with the lead single "Every Time She Passes By” followed by “Long Trail Of Tears”. Ducas enlisted Vince Gill to feature his accompanying background vocals on the album. Ducas continued to perform live headlining his own shows and opening for such acts as Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Diamond Rio, The Mavericks and Faith Hill. He also made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

While Ducas continued to tour incessantly, he began notching numerous hits as a songwriter for artists such as Garth Brooks, Sara Evans, Eli Young Band, Randy Rogers Band, Gary Allan, The Chicks, Trisha Yearwood and more. One of his songs "Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In? )", a Top 30 duet for Garth Brooks and George Jones earned a Grammy nomination in the process. In 2005, Ducas and Radney Foster co wrote the No. 1 hit "A Real Fine Place to Start" for Sara Evans which led to Ducas spending the latter half of 2007 opening shows for her. Other singles that Ducas has co written include fellow Texas Music artists Randy Rogers Band's 2007 single "Kiss Me in the Dark" and the Eli Young Band's 2008 single "Always the Love Songs," the latter of which he co wrote with David Lee Murphy. He also co wrote Josh Thompson's "Won't Be Lonely Long".

In October 2013, Ducas released 4340 through the newly created independent label Loud Ranch. Supporting the album with a tour that centered around Texas and Oklahoma but reached as far as Japan, Ducas experienced major radio airplay in Texas with four singles from the album in “Breakin’ Stuff,” “CowTown,” and the Top 40 Music Row chart hits “LoveStruck” and “All Kinds Of Crazy”. In 2016, Ducas released the single "Party with Your Boots On" which was licensed to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as their first official artist theme song on a limited term usage agreement.

Following digital releases of select songs throughout 2019, Ducas’ fourth studio album Yellow Rose Motel was released in January 2020. In addition to writing and recording the album in several Nashville recording sessions throughout 2017 and 2018, Ducas also co produced the album. Yellow Rose Motel was released to resounding critical acclaim including high praise in both the UK and Australia. The song “Eastwood”, the first of three music videos from the album, became Ducas’ second #1 CMT video and remained in the top spot for three weeks. Like much of the entertainment world, the COVID 19 pandemic affected Ducas, which included the cancellation of tours and tabling promotion of Yellow Rose Motel.

In 2020, as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of his biggest hit, Ducas went back into the studio and recorded a new version of "Lipstick Promises." American Songwriter Magazine called the new version 'a fun re work' as " the new version now features a little more energy as George kicked the tempo up a couple of notches. It hasn’t changed per se, it just sounds a little more like he plays it when he’s live onstage." In 2020, Ducas began the process of recording a new album.

Year Video Director 1994 "Teardrops" Piers Plowden 1995 "Lipstick Promises" "Hello Cruel World" Roger Pistole "Kisses Don't Lie" D. J. Webster 1996 "Every Time She Passes By" 2015 "Party with Your Boots On" Liz Chapman 2019 "Eastwood" Cody Villalobos 2019 "Unlove You" Cody Villalobos 2020 "Lipstick Promises (Reboot)" Ben Boutwell