John Corbett - Cocaine And Communion

From his " Leaving Nothin' Behind " 2013. Funbone Records
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. Growing up in the shadow of Wheeling, W.Va. s famed Capitol Music Hall, just a few miles from where Brad Paisley was raised, music was always Corbett s first love. Leaving Nothin Behind is an album that could easily hold its own among those from top Americana artists in Nashville, Austin or even Los Angeles, where Corbett headed after high school when his father offered to help him land a better steel mill job than he could get in West Virginia. 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.