Stars over Wimberley presents Chuck Cannon and Jessee Lee July 24

Nashville’s Chuck Cannon headlines the newest Stars Over Wimberley concert July 24 at the Wimberley Playhouse. Opening for Cannon is Jessee Lee, the talented, uniquely-voiced singer songwriter from New Braunfels. The talented up-and-coming singer songwriter is the daughter of Grammy- nominated songwriter David Lee.

In a recent interview on KWVH’s Rootin’ Around Radio show, host Mike August interviewed Chuck Cannon, asking him to talk about five of his favorite songs. In talking about his hit song “I love how you Love Me,” cowritten with Victoria Shaw that became a first single for Chuck Cannon and John Michael Montgomery in 1993, he revealed how songwriting and not necessarily performing became the focus of his talent.

“Like a lot of other songwriters I came to town [Nashville] to be a singer. I’d spent a lot of years and a lot of effort being a pro songwriter and I loved that job and I loved that living and I loved writing hit songs, but I decided that I wanted to make a record [of my own.] “The interesting thing,” he continued, “is that it happened kind of ‘bass-ackwards.’ One of my buddies who is a record exec whose name is Mark Wright, said I want you to record four love songs for me. At the end of the day when we finished recording those, we still had about 30 minutes on the union card, so I got the guys to play the song called, “If I was Jesus.” The next day when I. . . listened to the song, I thought, well, here’s something I can get behind, here’s something I enjoy doing, this is an interesting song. I decided to record an album of these kinds of songs.” Cannon went on to write every song on the album which he named “God-Shaped Hole.” In all, he self-released two albums, “God Shaped Hole” in 2006 and “Love and Money” in 2008.

From there, the trajectory of Cannon’s talent veered towards songwriting. He began working primarily for country music performer Toby Keith, writing hit songs, “Me Too,” “Dream Walkin’,” “We Were in Love,” “Getcha Some,” “If a Man Answers” and “When Love Fades” in the late 1990s, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” in 2000, and “American Soldier” in 2003.

While career-wise, Cannon considers himself a songwriter, Jim Simpson, a writer with the magazine, “No Depression, The Journal of Roots Music,” called him “A masterful guitarist. His style ranged from bluesy to classical to Irish/folk, all completely compelling …” in a 2021 article.

“Throughout the night, either singing or storytelling, Cannon often had the audience in the palm of his hand — the man is an extremely gifted artist,” Simpson wrote.

Cannon was married to singer and actor Lari White until her death in 2018 at the age of 54. Fans of the 2000 film, “Castaway,” directed by Robert Zemeckis that starred Tom Hanks, might recall the film’s final scene in which Hanks waits at a crossroads near Mobeetie, Texas wondering what to do with his life. A red-headed woman in a vintage truck with angel wings painted on its side, passes and the driver exchanges a few words with him. That actor was Lari White.

Cannon finished his interview with Mike August with, “I love Wimberley, I can’t wait.”

Opening the show is Jessee Lee who was reviewed in a March 2023 Wimberley View column, has one of the most unusual voices out there. She’s a little Dolly, a little Billie, a little Janis with a good dollop of Amy Winehouse thrown in. While she’s undeniably country, she has a unique sound all of her own. You might have heard her song, “Dive Bar Superstar.” The concert promises to be another “Stars Over Wimberly” home run presented by WimberleyArts.org Tickets are $45 for the 7:30 p.m. concert in the air conditioned, 109-seat Wimberley Playhouse at 450 Old Kyle Road, and are available at starsoverwimberley. org.

Future Stars Over Wimberley concerts are The Peterson Brothers, September 25, and “Home for the Holidays” featuring Marcia Ball, Carolyn Wonderland and Shelley King on December 4.

The Stars Over Wimberley Benefit Concert Series is a collaboration between the WimberleyArts. org previously known as the Wimberley Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance and The Wimberley Players. Proceeds benefit the Robert Moreman Memorial Scholarships for Wimberley graduating high school seniors.