Country Classic Flashback to Feature Pam Tillis

Each Wednesday I join Cindy for the Country Classic Flashback.  We take a trip down memory lane to highlight a country legend.  This week we are featuring Pam Tillis.

Pam Tillis was born in Plant City, Florida on July 24, 1957.  She is the oldest child of country legend, Mel Tillis.  Pam often admitted that she had a love/hate relationship with her dad's career, loved what he did but resented the time touring demanded.

At age sixteen her face was injured in a severe car accident, forcing her to endure many years of surgical reconstruction.  When she recovered she enrolled at the university of Tennessee and formed her first band.  She moved to San Francisco, performing jazz and rock with her band, Free Light.

After about two years she returned to Nashville supporting herself as a session singer and songwriter. She wrote songs for Conway Twitty, Highway 101, Juice Newton and others.  In 1983 she changed her focus from pop to contemporary country.   In 1989, her album, Put Yourself in My Place, yielded her first top five country singles.

Pam Tillis has distinguished herself as a vocal stylist in the 1990's.  She became one of the few female country singers to write and produce her own albums.

Recently she's been on the Grits and Glamour tour with Lorrie Morgan. She became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2000. She has also done some acting.  She appeared as herself on ABC's hit drama, Nashville, this year.

Pam has won two major awards, a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1999 and in 1994 a Country Music Association award for Best Female Vocalist.  She is twice divorced with a grown son, Ben and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Tune in every Wednesday at 8 a.m. for the Country Classic Flashback.  It's brought to you by Midwest Machinery on East Highway 23 in Sauk Rapids with eight other locations around central MN.

For more of your country classic favorites tune into the Country Classic Show each Sunday from  9 a.m. to 1 p.m.