Biography
Blessed with vocal power, striking appearance, and songwriting skill, Dean Alexander watched his profile climb in Nashville once “Live a Little” entered the country charts during summer 2014. Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, he grew up mainly in Tuppers Plains, Ohio. At age ten he encountered Dwight Yoakam’s album This Time, an experience he described by saying he “freaked out over it,” after which country music became a lasting passion. He also names Chris Isaak, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis among his favorites and maintains a fondness for vintage surf instrumentals, above all the Ventures. By twelve he was playing guitar and composing his earliest songs. In 2006 he relocated to Nashville carrying only $100, taking daytime odd jobs while performing in honky-tonks after dark. His breakthrough arrived while employed at a landscaping company; a client remarked that his cowboy boots and white jeans seemed out of place on a seasoned gardener. When Alexander revealed his musical ambitions, he discovered he was working at the residence of Barbara Orbison, widow and business manager of Roy Orbison, who promptly offered him his first publishing contract. Several years afterward, after securing a songwriting arrangement with Stage Three Music, he met producer Scott Hendricks. Recognizing his ability, Hendricks helped him obtain a recording agreement with Elektra Nashville. Early releases included the 2012 single “Dangerous,” featured on the brief series GCB, and “Sunshine on my Rain,” issued in spring 2013. Alexander’s persistence paid off when “Live a Little,” a country track carrying a reggae undercurrent, entered the Billboard country charts in late July 2014.
Singles
