Blaine Larsen

All Music Guide:

The state of Washington doesn't produce that many country singers, but after his 2004 single "How Do You Get That Lonely" made him the youngest (at 18 years old) traditional country singer to hit the Billboard charts, you can add Blaine Larsen to the list. Born in 1986 in Tacoma, WA, Larsen spent his early childhood in California. His parents divorced when he was five and he moved with his mother and sister back to Washington, settling in Buckley. It was there that his new stepfather introduced Larsen to country music, and by the time he was ten, Larsen was singing along to country karaoke tapes. He started to learn the guitar at 13, and by his first year in high school he was regularly singing at school events. Before his junior year Larsen and his family traveled to Nashville, where the teenager recorded a demo CD of mostly cover songs and an original composition he had written with one of his teachers, "Keep It Country." Larsen sold the CD at shows, and a copy found its way to Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson, who had just started a new record label, Giantslayer Records, in Nashville. Impressed with his baritone vocals, the pair flew the then 15-year-old Larsen back from Washington for a proper recording session, resulting in the In My High School album, which came out in 2004. The title song received some scattered but strategic airplay, particularly in Seattle, and led to Larsen signing with BNA Records, which released a reconstituted version of In My High School called Off to Join the World early in 2005. Rockin' You Tonight, also from BNA, followed in 2006.

Wikipedia:

Blaine Larsen (born February 2, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington) is an American country music artist. He was raised in Buckley, Washington. At age fifteen, he recorded his debut album In My High School on Giantslayer Records, an independent record label. The album was re-issued in 2005 as Off to Join the World by BNA Records. Blaine's second album, Rockin' You Tonight, was issued in June 2006, also on BNA. Larsen's two albums for that label have produced five chart singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, of which the highest-peaking was "How Do You Get That Lonely" at number 18. Larsen left BNA in 2009, in favor of Treehouse Records and consequently with Stroudavarious Records, but is presently unsigned.

Career [edit]

Blaine Larsen was introduced to music very early. By age 10, Larsen had begun singing along to country karaoke tapes, and by age 13 he learned to play guitar as well. When Larsen was a junior in high school, he and his family made a trip to Nashville, Tennessee where Larsen recorded a demo CD composed mainly of cover songs. This CD also included a song that he had co-written with his school teacher. Nashville songwriters Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson discovered Larsen's demo CD. They then flew him back Nashville again to hold a recording session with him, and by 2004, his debut album In My High School was released on Feek and Johnson's label, Giantslayer Records. The album's lead-off single, which was the title track, received some airplay particularly in Seattle also reaching 60 on the country charts that year.

After "In My High School" began receiving airplay, Sandy Conklin, an employee at BMG in Seattle sent a note to Joe Galante, head of the BMG labels in Nashville, recommending Larsen. Galante auditioned him and agreed to sign him at the end of 2004. Larsen was signed to BMG-affiliated BNA Records label. BNA then added a bonus track to In My High School, re-releasing the album in early 2005 under the title Off to Join the World. Larsen had co-written six of the ten songs on the album. BNA also released two more singles from the album: "How Do You Get That Lonely", which peaked at number 18. It was followed by "The Best Man" at number 36.

In 2006, Larsen released his second studio album, also a joint effort between BNA and Giantslayer. Entitled Rockin' You Tonight, this album produced two more chart singles for Larsen: the 24 "I Don't Know What She Said" and the 42 "Spoken Like a Man". The former was co-written by Warner Bros. Records artist Lane Turner. Rockin' You Tonight also included covers of Mac Davis "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" and Mark Chesnutt's "I'm in Love with a Married Woman", as well as a duet with Gretchen Wilson entitled "Lips of a Bottle". He also recorded separately a cover of "I Wish That I Could Fall in Love Today" on a tribute album to Barbara Mandrell. He also toured with renowned artists opening for their shows, including Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney. He charted with a cover of "Away in a Manger", and also co-wrote the track "I Gotta Get to You" on George Strait's album Twang.

Larsen exited BNA in 2008, and signed to Treehouse Records, a label founded by his management company, in June 2009. He was the first artist to sign for the label. After one year of operations, Treehouse Records merged in Stroudavarious Records. Larsen's next album Not Too Bad was tipped to be under the new label. A lead-off single from the prospective album, entitled "It Did," made its chart debut in August 2009. It was followed by "Chillin'" (a minor Top 40 hit) and "Leavin'," but the album was eventually shelved after Stroudavarious folded into J&R Records without signing Larsen.

Personal life [edit]

Blaine Larsen was born February 2, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington. When he was five years old, his parents divorced; he, his mother Jenny, and his sister Lindsey then moved to Buckley, Washington. His father often promised to visit or call, but he never did. A family friend named Woody who worked side jobs as a contractor took Blaine Larsen with him on weekend jobs. One of those jobs, converting Larsen's grandmother's garage into a living space, led to romance between Woody and Blaine's mother Jenny. They later married, and Woody legally adopted Larsen just before he turned 18. Larsen wrote the autobiographical song "The Best Man" about his own family.

Flying has been one of Blaine Larsen's biggest passions and he is a pilot. He never took any singing lessons, but his step father encouraged him to sing and learn to play the guitar.

Blaine Larsen married Sammie in December 2005. They had their first daughter Zoe in April 2007. They had their second child, a son they named Noble in April 2011.

Larsen became an ambassador for Compassion International and in 2010 went to a one week trip with the organization to Colombia, also sponsoring one of the Colombian kids he met during his mission.