With hopes set on becoming a professional baseball player, Curtis Grimes gave up swinging for singing after finding a love for the guitar his freshmen year of college. “I kind of skipped the beginners’ phase. I just looked online where to put your fingers and (went) for it,” he commented.
In 2006, the Texas native eventually pieced together a band of musicians, moving to the hub of the southern country music scene, St. Marcos, Texas. Three months after playing countless open-mic nights, the team decided to submit a past performance video to a local radio contest, winning the opportunity to open for Kenny Chesney‘s tour.
“It was so early. I had to get a couple of fill-in band guys because (mine) weren’t old enough. It was sponsored by Corona so we weren’t even old enough to be on that stage,” Grimes said.
The unique experience propelled the artist and made the idea of becoming a full time musician tangible. “After that Kenny Chesney show, it was kind of a point of do you pursue this music thing and see what happens or do you just keep doing it for fun. (I decided) I was going to at least try and see what happens. It never really stopped from there,” he said.
Eventually, Grimes gave up performing locally for the ability to compete on the first season of NBC’s The Voice in 2011.
Grimes explained, “(The Voice) kind of kickstarted the national side of things. I got into the publishing and co-writing world. That was my first introduction into Nashville and the bigger business aspect of the music industry.”
The early years of his journey through the Texan country music scene, he explained, was taking place before the genre was even played on the radio. Grimes expanded, “The only way to really access that music was to get a burnt CD from somebody. To me that was really cool. It was like an underground music scene and people didn’t have big major label deals or get played on national radio. They were playing their own music and doing their thing.”
His initial hesitations about pursuing music stemmed from the fear that he couldn’t get back to what he had in the moment. Grimes commented, “When I was on the stage at Kenny Chesney’s (tour), the only thing I could think was if I did music, then I would spend my entire career trying to get back to this point. It was a challenge in a lot of ways but I am hard headed so I like a good challenge.”
His first released album was in the form of a Gospel album called, “Faith Based Country Volume 1“. Getting the funds to produce the array of music was an added layer to the challenge but after setting up a GoFundMe account and playing numerous shows, the artist had enough support to cover the album’s costs. With the money remaining after the album was cut, Grimes began a ministry. “I didn’t want to use (the album) as a profiting endeavor. I wanted to give to people and share the Gospel,” he explained.
With a stack of Bibles on his merchandise table, Grimes continued to share his generous heart by distributing over 6,000 Bibles at his concerts and through his ministry. “That’s a pretty good start,” Grimes laughed.
With multiple Texas Country Music Awards such as “Male Vocalist of the Year” and “Entertainer of the Year” under his belt, the artist continues to leave his mark on the country scene down south.
His newest single, “Still a Little Country Left” was ironically pitched to him several years ago. After hearing the tune be recorded by one of Grimes influences Daryle Singletary, Grimes interest was sparked. Tributing the song to Singletary, Grimes recently cut and recorded “Still a Little Country Left” for country radio.
Grimes explained, “We recorded four songs and it was my favorite one of the four. It was a no brainer to release it as a radio single.”
The singer believes the single is to be released at a perfect time as its meaning is relative to “everything going on in the country right now,” Grimes added.
“Still a Little Country Left” is expected to release September 18th. View Curtis Grime’s other singles here.