STEVE AZAR

Songwriter of “I Don't Have To Be Me ('Til Monday)," "Sunshine," "Waitin' on Joe," and "Coldwater"

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Music and Culture Ambassador of Mississippi, Steve Azar is a modern-day Renaissance man, hit songwriter, recording artist, music producer, golfer and philanthropist. Azar likes to call his own breed of music “Delta Soul,” a mixture of country, rock and blues.  His debut album, “Waitin’ On Joe” was released in 2001. The title track went to number one on CMT, and featured Academy award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. From the same album the hit single “I Don’t Have to Be Me, ‘til Monday” received three BMI Million-Air awards for more than three million in air plays and is one of the top five most played songs of the past decade on country radio. Turn on the radio today, and you’ll likely hear it.

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In the fall of 2019, Azar will receive his own Country Music Trail Marker in his hometown of Greenville, Mississippi, along with other recipients Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Marty Gamblin and Jimmy Rodgers. Taylor Swift told People Magazine in 2010 that her favorite song of the year was Steve Azar’s “Sunshine.” “Slide On Over Here,” featuring the hit single “Sunshine,” was spotlighted in Oprah’s O Magazine in her Oprah’s Favorite Things edition in 2011. “Sunshine” was also featured in US Weekly Magazine in June 2012 as one of the most popular celebrity wedding songs.

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Azar has written, and recorded songs for film, and has been the music supervisor for a number of movies. “Doin’ It Right” (Delta Mix) off of the latest release Delta Soul Volume One, was the feature track for Sony Pictures 2013 movie Here Comes The Boom starring Kevin James and Salma Hayek. As a songwriter, Reba McEntire among many others has cut his songs. In 2007, Azar was personally chosen by Bob Seger to perform 46 shows on what has been rated the number one tour in America by Pollstar Magazine.

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In February of 2019, he co-founded and hosted his first Mockingbird Music Series. A bi-monthly musical dinner series featuring intimate performances with some of Nashville’s best and prolific award-winning songwriters, telling the stories behind their hits and performing them as originally written.

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He was named to the 2019 class of Mississippi Top 50 in the Business, Media and Culture category.

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For more information visit: www.steveazar.com & www.steveazarandthekingsmen.com

Mississippi Top 50 is an annual list of the people who are judged to be the most influential leaders in the state. This bipartisan selection of leaders comes from the ranks of elected and appointed officials.