Kostas (songwriter)

Kostas
Birth name Kostas Lazarides[1]
Born (1949-04-14) April 14, 1949[2]
Origin Billings, Montana, U.S.A.
Genres Country
Occupation(s) Songwriter
Years active 1989-mid 2000s
Labels Liberty
Associated acts Patty Loveless
The Mavericks
Dixie Chicks
Dwight Yoakam
Raul Malo
George Strait

Kostas Lazarides (Greek: Κώστας Λαζαρίδης; born April 14, 1949) is a Greek-born American country music songwriter, known professionally as Kostas. He has written for several country music artists, including Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, George Strait, and Travis Tritt, and has won eleven awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).[3] In addition, he recorded one album, entitled XS in Moderation, on Liberty Records in 1994.

Biography

Kostas Lazarides was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. While he was seven years old, he and his family moved to the United States, taking up residence in Billings, Montana.[4] Lazarides eventually began identifying himself by the singular name Kostas.[4]

Personal life

Kostas was divorced from his wife Hope Evangeline in 2001. They have a daughter named Sofia, who was aged 8 at the time of the divorce. Custody of Sofia was awarded to Kostas. Sofia disappeared on August 25, 2003, while visiting her mother in Nashville, prompting an FBI hunt for her that lasted 6 years. Hope was arrested by FBI agents in Dallas, Texas, on February 24, 2009.[5] She was returned to Tennessee where she was charged with custodial interference and appeared before General Sessions Judge Gale Robinson on March 11, 2009.

Kostas currently lives in Belgrade, Montana.

Musical career

He continued to perform in Montana as a singer and songwriter throughout the 1980s. Eventually, he was discovered by record producer Tony Brown, who was searching for new material for country singer Patty Loveless. Kostas's first cut as a songwriter, "Timber, I'm Falling in Love", was recorded by Loveless; released as a single in 1989, it went to Number One on the Billboard country charts, becoming Loveless's first Number One hit.[3] She would also release three more of his songs as singles: "The Lonely Side of Love" (1989), "On Down the Line" (1990), and "Blame It On Your Heart" (1994). "Blame It on Your Heart" also earned BMI's Robert J. Burton award for being the most performed single of 1994.[6]

Dwight Yoakam also recorded several songs written by Kostas, including "Nothing's Changed Here", "Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose", and "Send a Message to My Heart" (a duet with Loveless), all of which were released as singles from Yoakam's 1990 album If There Was a Way.[4] Yoakam's 1993 album, This Time, included another song co-written by Kostas: the single "Ain't That Lonely Yet", which earned Yoakam a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male in 1994.[4] During the early 1990s, Kostas also wrote singles for McBride & the Ride, Travis Tritt, Holly Dunn, Martina McBride, and The Mavericks.[3][4]

CCMA and Juno Award-winning Canadian country music group Prairie Oyster recorded songs written by Kostas on two of their most popular albums. As a result, Kostas developed a sizable following in Canada, which has enabled him to tour and perform in several provinces.

In 1980, Kostas released a self-titled album on First American Records.

In 1994, Kostas signed to Liberty Records as a recording artist.XS in Moderation, was released that year.[4] The album, which included his own renditions of the singles that he had written, was part of a special songwriters' series by Liberty.[1]

Partial list of Songs written by Kostas

The following singles were written or co-written by Kostas:

References

  1. 1 2 Davis, John T. (1994-10-06). "Not theirs for a song: Songwriters find Nashville, let alone Austin, tough turf to ply their trade". The Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  2. ↑ Kingsbury, Paul (1998). The encyclopedia of country music: the ultimate guide to the music.
  3. 1 2 3 The Songs of Kostas
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Simons, David (May 1994). "Made in Montana: Kostas Is A Hitmaking Machine From Way Up North". New Country. 1 (3): 20–21. ISSN 1074-536X.
  5. ↑ Nashville, Tennessee Fugitive Arrested by Dallas FBI; Juvenile Recovered
  6. ↑ BMI.com | Country Songwriter Kostas Performs for Montana Broadcasters

External links

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