Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Billy Montana’s talent for tapping into powerful emotions in the songs that he writes has led to a string of hits and awards for some of country music’s biggest stars.
Montana’s "Number 1" credits include Garth Brooks’ record-breaking single, “More Than A Memory”, Sara Evans’ smash “Suds in the Bucket”, and the Grammy-nominated “Bring On the Rain”, recorded by Jo Dee Messina.
Once an agriculture major at Cornell University who dreamed of owning and operating an apple farm in upstate New York, Montana elected to sow seeds of a different sort in the songs he writes and records. A diverse group of artists have recorded Montana's songs, including Garth Brooks, Sara Evans, Jo Dee Messina, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Sister Hazel, BlackHawk, Kenny Rogers, Lee Ann Womack, and Pat Green.
As a recording artist, Montana's album No Yesterday was recognized by USA Today, which characterized him as "a wonderful songwriter." Country Weekly described his music as "a common man's wisdom voiced in an uncommon manner." Montana draws heavily from his rural background for inspiration, resulting in music that is refreshingly eloquent, simple and honest. “You can’t just wait for inspiration…my job is to say things that have been said a million times in a way that they’ve never been said before,” says Montana.
Montana also wrote "Friends for Life" for the animated MGM movie release of the Mark Twain classic Tom Sawyer. Montana’s own records have achieved special distinctions including the single "A Clean Mind and Dirty Hands," which was awarded “Song of the Year” in 1996 by Farm Journal as the song best depicting genuine farm life.
After graduating from Cornell University, Montana supported his wife and three kids by working on a vegetable farm. Although life wasn’t easy, he didn’t give up his dream of songwriting. “When you’re sitting up there on top of the tractor knockin’ down corn stalks, your mind wanders…I got a lot of great song ideas out there on that farm!” says Montana. After seven years of farm work, Montana finally landed a deal with Warner Brothers Publishing, which “opened the doors to Nashville” for him. Montana moved his family to Nashville in 1988 to pursue the songwriting dream full-time.
Montana caught the attention of five-time Grammy winner and renowned producer Brent Maher and Moraine Music and was signed to a songwriting deal in 1994. In 2000, several years after the song was actually written, Montana finally got his big break when Jo Dee Messina cut his song “Bring On The Rain”. The song started out with very little chart success. When the song was re-released on September 10, 2001, the timing couldn’t have been better. After the events of September 11, 2001, the song immediately jumped onto the charts. “I think 9/11 made everyone in the mass media become more sensitive to what was actually being played on the airwaves…the first time I heard it on the radio was a few days after the tragedy. I was pulling into my driveway under our big American flag and I just broke down…it was so powerful,” says Montana.
The Grammy-nominated "Bring on the Rain", recorded by Jo Dee Messina and Tim McGraw, was both a country and AC hit. Jo Dee Messina says, “It’s one of my favorite songs…with hope hidden under layers of trouble…these guys [Montana and Darling] put their guts on a piece of paper and it just hit home for so many people."
Montana scored another hit when he and Jenai wrote Sara Evans’ smash “Suds in the Bucket”, the most performed song by a female artist in 2005. “We were looking to write an up-tempo story song…with country language…I felt like that title sort of fell out of the sky,” says Montana.
Most recently, Montana showcased his writing skills in Garth Brooks’ record breaking single “More Than a Memory”, which entered the Billboard and R&R charts at Number One. “I don’t think in my lifetime, I will ever be part of something like that again. Everything just had to work perfectly for something like that to happen,” says Montana. Scott Borchetta, President of Big Machine Records said, “This is a song they’ll be playing for the next 20 years.”
