b. 23 September 1953, Chester, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. One of nine children, Webb heard country music thanks to his parents’ record collection. They were originally from Kentucky and the music they played mingled with his siblings’ choice (he was the youngest), which was largely 60s and early 70s pop and rock ‘n’ roll. The family were churchgoers and he was also influenced by gospel music. He wrote poetry before he entered his teens and then heard Bob Dylan. The latter’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ urged Webb into taking his poetry writing to a different level and he was soon conducting public readings at Philadelphia clubs. He gained success and was invited to attend national gatherings, including the Walt Whitman International Poetry Center in Camden, New Jersey. In 1990, and now turning his talent to writing song lyrics, Webb moved to Nashville and he soon had a success with ‘Angels Don’t Fly’, which was recorded by George Jones and James Prosser. He also collaborated with Matthew Ryan on ‘Disappointed’, which Ryan recorded on his 1997 debut May Day. Soon, Webb decided to perform his own songs and this led to the release of his 2003 debut, Name Of The Train. His eye for lyrical detail was evident on tracks such as ‘Ridin’ On The Devil’s Train’, ‘Ballad Of A Diamond Street Vendor’, ‘War Zone’ and ‘Pastures Of Plenty (Chapter II)’. Some of Webb’s songs from the follow-up Room To Room appeared in the Euro-Americana Charts in 2005.