Sawyer Brown

Sawyer Brown is an American country music band founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by five members of country pop singer Don King's road band: Bobby Randall (guitar) and Jim Scholten (bass guitar), both from Midland, Michigan; Joe Smyth (drums), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards), and Mark Miller (lead vocals). After King retired in 1981, the five members decided to form a band, first choosing the name Savanna before switching to Sawyer Brown, also the name of a road near where they practiced.

Sawyer Brown first gained national attention in 1983 when they participated on Star Search, a former television talent show on which they won the grand prize of 0,000 and a recording contract with Capitol Records (in association with Curb Records). Their first album, also titled Sawyer Brown, was issued in 1985. It included their first Number One single on the Billboard country music charts, titled "Step That Step". The band continued to chart regularly throughout the 1980s, although many of their late-1980s singles failed to enter Top 40.

Originally, Sawyer Brown was known for a primarily country pop sound dominated by novelty tunes; by 1992, however, the band began to show a more serious side to its music, adding ballads to its repertoire. That year, the band also dropped its affiliation with Capitol, and Curb Records took over promotion and distribution of all subsequent albums and singles (except for 2003, when Sawyer Brown temporarily switched to Lyric Street Records). Bobby Randall also left the band in 1991, and was replaced by Duncan Cameron. Cameron subsequently departed in 2004, with Shayne Hill assuming the role of lead guitarist.

To date, Sawyer Brown has released twenty studio albums, of which three have been certified gold in the United States for sales of 500,000 copies. More than fifty of their singles have entered the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including three Number One singles. Sawyer Brown also received a Horizon Award from the Country Music Association in 1985, as well as a Vocal Group of the Year award in 1997 from the Academy of Country Music and 5 Vocal Band Of The Year Awards from the TNN Music City News Country Awards

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