90's country artist has a new album and new management The reinvention of Billy Dean

March 8, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

"We are under new management, and the first thing we’re doing is relicensing, relaunching and reminding the people to the body of work we’ve had over the years,” said Dean, calling from his Nashville home. “There are a lot of albums that I’m excited about that are going to be back in recirculation. Actually, that’s all of them, and that hasn’t been that way for 10 years. So we’re energizing our old catalog and putting it back out into the digital world.”

Dean has quite the r sum , with 13 top-10 hits, including “Only Here For A Little While,” “Somewhere In My Broken Heart,” “Billy The Kid” and “Let Them Be Little,” as well as four certified-gold studio albums. Dean also sang harmony, along with Alison Krauss, on Kenny Rogers’ No. 1 hit “Buy Me A Rose.”

Fans who feel as though Dean already attempted a comeback of sorts are correct. The singer’s 2005 album “Let Them Be Little” tested the waters a bit, but the climate in the Music City just wasn’t ready. So here he is, back again.

“You have to reinvent yourself,” Dean said. “This industry, you’re damn lucky to have a 10-year run, and we had a really strong 10-year run. The icing on the cake was to resurface in 2005 with a new album. Then the digital world took over, and our industry sort of imploded, and you have to let all of the pieces land. What we found in my career was my strength is up-close-and-personal acoustic performances. My art form is, give me a small crowd. That’s the way I’d like to record, too.”

That’s exactly what Dean has planned for his next studio effort. Gone is the sterile studio environment, and in its place will be a live format allowing the vocalist to feed off the audience’s energy.

In fact, Dean plans on recording his upcoming 50th-birthday party show at his 100-acre Dean Acres farm. Think Dean-stock or Dean-aroo, and that’s the idea planned for the big 5-0 celebration. Fans can come out to the show and see the homeowner show off his talents. Special guests for the April 2 concert are Rhonda Vincent, Ty Herndon and Collin Raye.

For those readers who can’t make the road trip to Tennessee, Dean has booked a Friday show at Powers Auditorium where he may sing his latest track, “Laura Nadine.”

“What I want to do is make new music for my age group,” Dean said. “There’s a lot of country-music fans that are older, 45-plus. And I want to sing songs about subject matters that appeal to them.”

Being something different is what Dean said he was early on in his career and what he has planned for the future.

“I fought against trying to be a commodity, just another pretty face in the ’90s or just a run of the mill, cookie-cutter country artist,” Dean said. “Hopefully, people will accept me now as a true country artist. The artist part means a lot to me because that’s what matters.”