After growing up in southern Indiana and Kentucky, Kerry Kurt Phillips moved to Nashville in 1988. Two weeks later he was signed as a staff writer for the Larry Gatlin-owned publishing company, Texas Wedge Music. His very first cut came two and a half years later when George Jones recorded the classic, "Where the Tall Grass Grows". The song was later recorded by Vern Gosdin, Ricky Van Shelton and Tom Wopat.
Since that time, Kerry Kurt's catalogue of over 1000 songs has garnered five #1 singles as surveyed by Billboard, and Radio & Records. He has been awarded 16 gold records and 20 platinum albums accounting for certified sales of over 30 million records. One of his biggest achievement was winning the TNN/Music City News "Song Of The Year Award" for Billy Ray Cyrus', "It's All The Same To Me." ASCAP (The American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers) has recognized 13 (12 country and 1 pop) of Kerry Kurt's works as being the most performed songs in the nation in each of their respective years.
In addition, his peers in the NSAI (Nashville Songwriter's Association International) have awarded three of his compositions with their certificate of achievement, as has the Songwriter's Guild of America. Kerry Kurt's songs have also been featured in the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA, on numerous network television shows and motion pictures and have been used in national ad campaigns by Ford Trucks, General Motors, Pepsi Corporation, Applebee’s the PGA and the NFL.
In the past Kerry Kurt has had songs nominated for both the CMA (Country Music Association), and the ACM (Academy of Country Music) awards, and the Grammy’s. Six of Phillips’ songs have received the prestigious Million-Air honor, which recognizes over one million airplays for a given song.
Kerry Kurt's biggest hits include the George Jones Smash, "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair", Joe Diffie's, "Is It Cold In Here", "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox", "In My Own Backyard" and "Pickup Man" which spent a record 5 weeks at number 1. Tim McGraw's "Down On the Farm" and "Maybe We Should Just Sleep On It", are both products of Kerry Kurt's pen.
Some of his most memorable hits include “That’s Just Jessie” sung by Kevin Denney, Tammy Cochran’s “Life Happened”, Craig Morgan’s “Almost Home” (winner of the 2003 Music Row Magazine Song Of The Year), Dusty Drake’s first two singles “One Last Time” and “Smaller Pieces”, theTracy Byrd smash “Drinkin’ Bone” and Tim McGraws’s, “Do You Want Fries With That”.
“This Aint Nothin’ ” is Craig Morgan’s new song which is currently climbing the charts and George Strait’s “She Let Herself Go” was KK’s latest number 1 song.
Other artists recording Kerry Kurt's compositions include Kenny Chesney, John Michael Montgomery, Ricochet, Doug Supernaw, Ray Benson (Asleep At The Wheel), John & Audrey Wiggins, Billy Yates, Aaron Tipin, Tanya Tucker, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Doug Stone, Eddie Raven, Michael Peterson, Phil Vasser, Joe Stampley, Ken Mellons, George Canyon, Mark Chestnut, Blaine Larsen and many more.
Before dedicating all his time to song writing, Phillips served double duty as tour manager and acoustic guitar player for Sony/Epic artist Joe Diffie. He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, in numerous music videos, and has been featured in several nationally syndicated television interviews on TNN and other networks. He has also been a featured guest on nationally syndicated radio shows, The Song Remembers When, and Country Songwriters Hit Showcase.
KKP occasionally performs as a featured guest at songwriter venues such as Douglas Corner, Puckett’s Grocery, The Swallow At The Hollow and the world-famous Blue Bird Cafe and often gives lectures and sits on panel discussions on the music industry. He is a featured pro writer at the annual Tin Pan South and songwriter’s symposium. KKP is a member of the CMA, the ACM and holds a seat on the finance and pro steering committees of the NSAI.
Phillips has his own production company, Kerry Kurt Productions and has produced projects on John Berry, Sonny Burgess, Jennifer Day, Burns & Poe, Joe Diffie and others. Kerry Kurt has song catalogues represented by Affiliated Publishers, Zomba Music, EMI, BMG, Universal and Dreamworks. He is the President of Stone Village Music, in Nashville, Tennessee.
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