Craig Gerdes began playing country music at the age of 10 in the band of his father with the songs of Jones, Haggard, and Cash providing the musical foundation. By age 12, he was a capable songwriter and musician, and by 16, he'd wandered from the narrow path. "In the same summer," he recalls, "I totaled my car, broke my best friend's neck, dropped out of high school, got arrested and got married."
A few years later, Gerdes wound up living on Music Row and while he was able to gain traction with a publishing company and do some co-writing, his traditional songs just didn't fit in. After years of commuting back and forth, he left Nashville behind and returned full-time to Illinois. During this point, (read more)