Skip Ewing

An accomplished songwriter who has supplied material for some of country's biggest names, Skip Ewing is also a successful recording artist who scored major hits in the 1980s and '90s. A born storyteller, Ewing has a talent for drawing recognizable characters dealing with the emotions of everyday lives, telling stories in songs like "The Gospel According to Luke," "Your Memory Wins Again," and "The Coast of Colorado" that were matched to crisp, emotionally powerful melodies. Those songs were among his hits cut for MCA that appeared on 1988's The Coast of Colorado and 1989's The Will to Love. He began exploring his faith on 1997's Until I Found You, recorded for the established Christian label Word Records, and after establishing his own Write! Records imprint, he approached personal projects like 2020's Wyoming. Born Donald Ralph Ewing in Redlands, California, Ewing grew up in a military family and moved around often as a child. He discovered country music through Merle Haggard and Lefty Frizzell, and took up guitar at a young age; he began writing songs as a teenager, and also learned the banjo, which he played at bluegrass festivals. He took a job performing in a country show at the Busch Gardens theme park in Virginia, and from there moved to Nashville at age 19 to take a similar job at the Opryland theme park. He also branched out into demo and commercial singing, and worked at his songwriting enough to land a staff job with the famed Acuff-Rose music-publishing house. Some of his early compositions were recorded by the likes of George Jones, George Strait, and Charley Pride, among others. In 1987, he landed a deal of his own with MCA, and recorded his breakthrough album, The Coast of Colorado, the following year. It gave him two Top Ten hits in "I Don't Have Far to Fall" and the number three "Burnin' a Hole in My Heart," and two smaller hits in "Your Memory Wins Again" and the title track. 1989's The Will to Love produced another Top Five hit in "It's You Again" and a Top Ten in "The Gospel According to Luke." 1990 brought two albums from Ewing – a set of fresh originals, A Healin' Fire, and his first Christmas LP, Following Yonder Star. A Healin' Fire didn't live up to MCA's sales expectations, and 1991's Naturally was his first project under a new contract with Capitol Nashville. (That same year, MCA released a Greatest Hits set.) He was moved to the affiliated Liberty imprint for 1993's Homegrown Love, which was followed by several years away from the studio. Ewing returned to songwriting as his primary career, where he enjoyed considerable success. By the close of the '90s, his compositions had been recorded by stars like Clint Black, Randy Travis, Collin Raye, Lorrie Morgan, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Suzy Bogguss, Diamond Rio, and many others, and he also occasionally worked as a session guitarist. Ewing ended his recording hiatus with his first spiritual release, Until I Found You, released by Word Records. Songwriting once again became Ewing's priority until 2008, when he launched his own label, Write! Records, allowing him to record at his own pace without corporate interference. That year, Write! issued two albums, a children's album titled Indian Elephant Tea (recorded with the Big Kidz Band and released in tandem with Rounder Records), and The Hits, Vol. 1, featuring new recordings of some of his best known tunes. He brought out a set of new compositions in 2020, Wyoming, and a seven-song holiday EP, Christmas, was his gift to fans in 2021. Ewing also hosts an annual songwriting retreat in Dubois, Wyoming for tunesmiths looking to improve their craft. In 2023, Apple Music debuted Ewing's demo of "I Would If I Could" (which he co-wrote with Dean Dillon) as part of their Lost & Found Radio series, devoted to the work of some of the best songwriters in country music.
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