Biography

No one has to tell John Corbett that Hollywood stars moonlighting as musicians don’t always get taken seriously. He’s already faced crowds full of skeptics wearing expectant looks that silently challenge, “All right, actor boy, show us what you’ve got.”

But Corbett’s never had a problem doing just that, onstage with his band or on radio airwaves. His self-titled debut album, released in 2006, climbed to No. 42 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, surprising even the guy who rose to fame as Cicely, Alaska’s resident radio deejay on the “Northern Exposure” TV series (and made women swoon in “Sex and the City” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”).

With his new album, Leaving Nothin’ Behind, on his own Funbone Records label, Corbett confirms what fans of John Corbett quickly recognized: He was never just moonlighting in the first place.

Teaming up with longtime Guy Clark collaborator, Jon Randall Stewart, and producer Gary Paczosa, alongside talents including Jessi Alexander, John Cowan, Brian Sutton, Dan Dugmore, Michael Rhodes, Steve Gorman, Audley Freed results in an album that could easily hold its own among those from top Americana artists around the world.

Corbett does a masterful job of owning each song…The ability to inhabit someone else’s songs and make them your own is what separates wannabes from the real deal—which, come to think of it, is the same trait actors need. It’s all about interpretation, for which Corbett’s fans and friends give him high marks.