Joe Russ's Page

Joe Russ is a musician, singer and songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. In 1988 he moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a songwriter and musician. He says it took 3 years of rejections before he got his first song published by a Nashville publishing company. Those first three years he says was like attending “Songwriting University”, and having great songwriters as your professors. Upon “graduation”, he went on to place songs with Charlie Pride’s Pride Music and Loretta Lynn’s King Cole Music among others. He says his biggest thrill was when Country Superstar George Jones put one of his songs “on hold”. Even though Jones didn't record it, this gave Joe tremendous confidence to know he could write a song that was good enough for a major artist.

As a musician, he has worked with hit makers Percy Sledge (When A Man Loves A Woman), The Impressions (It’s Alright, People Get Ready), Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose (Treat Her Like A Lady, It’s Too Late To Turn Back Now) and Dennis Yost of Classics Four fame (Stormy, Spooky, Everyday With You Girl). In 1989 he worked with Patsy Lynn, daughter of Country Superstar Loretta Lynn, and was a featured performer at Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch. He also shared the stage doing shows with Molly Hatchet, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Sawyer Brown and with Ray Stevens on the Grand Old Opry stage in Nashville. He says he still writes everyday and performs with his wife, Diane, at venues in the Outer Banks of North Carolina where they have lived since 2004. He says there is nothing like being able to write on the beach as the sun is going down. They travel back to Nashville often to pitch new songs and perform at writer’s nights and plan to move back permanently later this year.