Keith Urban has had a long career in the music industry. Urban has been hanging around Nashville since the early ’90s. Even before that he was busy in his native Australia honing his craft as a singer and guitar player. After a stint with his band The Ranch, Urban branched out into his solo career.

The rest is history as they say and Keith Urban is still a unique artist in country music. Since his first single It’s A Love Thing cracked the top 20 on the country charts in 1999, fans have been drawn to Urban’s unique breed of country music.

Not quite country, but not quite pop, Keith Urban was able to capitalize on the right timing for the country music cycle. Every ten years or so there is a transition in country music that sees a high influx of traditional sounding country artists come along while in the next ten years there seems to be a more pop or alternative country influx on the scene.

At the turn of the century there was a more pop-oriented feeling on country radio. Urban was part of that influx and he took advantage to the fullest. Country fans were open to the sounds of screaming electric guitar with the unique sounding voice of a foreigner. With a little help from a voice coach in the ’90s, Urban was able to make his voice just country enough to make a big splash on the music scene.

Ten plus years, millions of albums, and a score of hits later, Keith Urban is still finding success in country music. Recently, Keith took home the big award for Male Video of the Year at the 2010 CMT Music Awards. The award was awarded by the fans and came of a bit of a surprise to me. However, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise. In the past year it seems Urban has been releasing a steady stream of songs as he tours tirelessly to promote his recent album Defying Gravity.

It’s been an interesting path to the top for Keith Urban. Today, he’s married with a young daughter and he’s still making music that fans connect with and love. Urban’s music has recently followed his personal feelings. Defying Gravity clearly represents the happiness he currently has with his family.

The awards keep coming and the great music does too. There is no reason to expect anything else from one of the most unique stars in country music.

Not bad for the guy that played guitar in this 1993 Alan Jackson video…

Mercury Blues – Alan Jackson

Is that Keith Urban at 3:09?

Keith Urban in The Ranch

Photo courtesy of KeithUrban.net

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