Country singer and songwriter Randy Montana started off with a pretty good pedigree. Born September 25, 1985 in Albany, New York, Montana is the son of singer and songwriter Billy Montana, who penned number one singles for the likes of Garth Brooks, Sara Evans, and Jo Dee Messina. Montana moved to Nashville in 1988 when Billy signed a record deal with Warner Bros., and he grew up around the music scene there, attending his father’s gigs and learning how the business worked. The younger Montana started playing guitar when he was 10, began writing songs at the age of 16, and first performed publicly at one of his father’s writers’ nights at the age of 17. A high school athlete, Montana earned a college football scholarship, but opted to play soccer instead when he attended Nashville’s Trevecca Nazarene University. He eventually transferred his studies to Middle Tennessee State University. He played in a band called "Homestead" during his college years, gigging at local fraternity parties and bars; eventually music won out, and he left college, working odd jobs while he wrote songs and looked for a publishing deal. He found that deal in 2008 when he signed with Sony Music Publishing, where his song catalog caught the attention of Universal Music Group Nashville's Joe Fisher. Montana soon signed a recording deal with Mercury Nashville, a division of Universal Music Group Nashville, who released an impressive first single, “Ain’t Much Left of Lovin’ You,” in advance of his debut album, the self-titled Randy Montana, which finally appeared in 2011. ~ Steve Leggett