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The Man Behind the Music: Josh Kear

You know a good song when you hear one. It’ll perk up your ears, get your spine loosened up, may even bring up some goosebumps. For Sulphur Springs, Tenn., native songwriter Josh Kear, though, a good song is a bit more complicated.

It’s his bread and butter. And going from nothing to hit recording is his specialty.

Kear has been working in Nashville since 1996, doing what he loves best—putting together a great song. His recording industry minor from Middle Tennessee State University and proximity to the Music City USA helped propel him from graduation to a position with Big Yellow Dog Music. He’s had his songs recorded by the likes of Jimmy Buffett (“‘Bama Breeze”), Hank Jr. (“How They Do It In Dixie”), Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and Tim McGraw. “I don’t usually write for anyone in particular, though,” says Kear. “The idea is to find the best idea you can and write it as well as you can.”While Kear, 33, nabbed a Grammy this past February for Best Country Song (“Before He Cheats”), he’s been in love with music for far longer, cranking out songs even as a youngster. According to his father, Gary Kear, Josh made a pretty accurate—and ambitious—prediction as a 13-year-old: “I’ll have my first Grammy by the time I’m 30.”

So, give or take a couple years, young Kear had it right; that doesn’t mean, however, that he’s slowing down or letting it go to his head. “Personally, it’s very rewarding as a justification for a lot of hard work getting there…it’s nice to ring the bell, “ says Kear of his new Grammy. “Now the trick is ringing it again.” The ultimate goal, he says, is to be able to write songs for a living as long as he feels like doing it. “That means always recreating yourself,” Kear states. “Not getting caught up in past successes.”

He credits his wife, country singer Carly Goodwin, and the grounded approach to life his parents instilled in him as helping him continue to thrive in his career. His father, Gary Kear, confirms that success “has not changed him one bit.”

Kear’s parents still live in Sulphur Springs and look on Josh’s career with pride. “He knew what he wanted to do, set his sights on songwriting,” Gary Kear recalls. “We told him, ‘Go for it!’ And music has been very, very good to him.”

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