Monty Curtis Byrom is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, blues and country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. He fronted bands Billy Satellite

Billy Satellite

Billy Satellite was an American rock band based in Oakland, California. Formed in 1983, the band consisted of Monty Byrom , Danny Chauncey , Ira Walker , and Tom "Fee" Falletti...

, New Frontier, and the Academy of Country Music

Academy of Country Music

The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...

 nominated Big House

Big House (band)

Big House is an American country music band based in Bakersfield, California. Grounded in the Bakersfield Sound, originally, the band consisted of Monty Byrom , David Neuhauser , Chuck Seaton , Tanner Byrom , Sonny California , and Ron Mitchell...

. Earlier in his career Byrom co-produced and co-wrote hit songs for Eddie Money

Eddie Money

Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...

 while a member of Money's band. Money had earlier covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 Byrom's Billy Satellite song, "I Wanna Go Back

I Wanna Go Back

"I Wanna Go Back" is a 1984 song by American rock band Billy Satellite, written by band members Monty Byrom, Danny Chauncey, and Ira Walker, that achieved major popularity when recorded by Eddie Money in 1986...

." Later while leading the "soul country" band Big House, Byrom made a signicant contribution to the new Bakersfield Sound

Bakersfield sound

The Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...

, with a nod to his Bakersfield roots.

In early 2007 Byrom was invited to join Buck Owens

Buck Owens

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...

' band The Buckaroos

The Buckaroos

The Buckaroos were a Grammy-winning band led by Buck Owens in the 1960s and early '70s, who were heavily involved in the development and presentation of the "Bakersfield Sound." Their peak of success was from 1965-1970. In 2005, CMT named the Buckaroos No...

 at The Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California, fronting the band one weekend a month. Byrom was born in Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and raised in Bakersfield

Bakersfield, California

Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. In addition to Eddie Money, Byrom worked with a number of other performers including Buck Owens

Buck Owens

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...

, Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...

, David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....

, Rita Coolidge

Rita Coolidge

Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...

, Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, Brad Gillis

Brad Gillis

Brad Gillis is a guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. He has also played for Ozzy Osbourne and Fiona, and has released solo albums....

, Don Felder

Don Felder

Donald William "Don" Felder is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as lead guitarist for the Eagles from 1974 to 1980 and again from 1994 to 2001.-Early life and influences:...

, Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...

, and Johnny Van Zant

Johnny Van Zant

John Roy "Johnny" Van Zant is an American musician and the current lead vocalist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder and former lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and .38 Special founder Donnie Van Zant.Van Zant performed during the 1970s with...

. He has also worked on many television and movie soundtracks.

External links

• Monty Byrom's Music