- Born in Fort Monroe, Virginia; grew up in the San Antonio, Texas area.
- 1974, moved to Nashville to write songs.
- Mid-80’s, recorded for Epic Records, scored several hit records, including “Guitar Town (1986),” and “Goodbye’s All We Got Left” (1987).
- He has won three Grammies and has had songs recorded by Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, many others.
- 1988-1994, went rock and recorded several albums which were generally ignored by country radio. He became something of a cult figure. He has had several run-ins with the law, including a drug charge.
- 1998, recorded a bluegrass album called Mountain and toured with the Del McCoury Band. This was his only foray into bluegrass music.