For someone who has spent decades in the music business, Country entertainer Sammy Sadler is more active than most – and enjoying every aspect of his career. The Memphis-born singer is currently ramping up for the release of his newest CD, readying for a book launch, and touring with his pal, superstar Ken Mellons, as one half of the popular Takin’ The Country Back Tour. This is Sadler’s first album since his HEART SHAPED LIKE TEXAS was released five years ago. “All of my records have been important to me, but everything about this one has been special,” Sadler admits. Produced by veteran Greg Cole (Ray Price, Aaron Tippin, Daryle Singletary, Rhonda Vincent), the 10-track outing is filled with a mix of mid to up-tempos and the ballads for which Sammy is so well known. A disc highlight is “Takin’ The Country Back,” which features John Anderson, Ken Mellons and Jeff Carson. The only survivor of the infamous 1989 “Murder on Music Row,” Sadler has also spent the past nine months co-authoring his first book. For Sammy, writing the book was cathartic. “There’s a lot of information revealed in THE MURDER ON MUSIC ROW he says. “It tells my whole life story, and the shooting was a big part of that.” Sadler is hopeful that the publication of the book will put an end to the questions – and begin to bring closure to that chapter in his life. When the book hits the stands, Sammy will take an active role in its promotion, but he’ll be splitting his time between that and performing on the Takin’ The Country Back Tour. The national Tour kicked off at Nashville’s storied STATION INN this past March and was broadcast live on world-renowned 650 AM WSM’s Station Inn Sessions with Mike Terry. “The fans are loving it and we love carrying on the traditions of a great genre.” The Tour will continue to grow over the next few years: plans are to add more artists to the bill and expand performances to 100 shows annually. For an artist whose career began shortly after he left Texas and high school behind, Sadler has come a long way since he signed his first record deal with Nashville’s Evergreen Records. He landed in Music City with a great voice and a head full of dreams. Before long Sammy hit the top of the Country charts six times and was well on his way to the stardom he had envisioned as a young man. Then, on the evening of March 9, 1989 he and a friend, CashBox Magazine Chart Editor Kevin Hughes, were attacked by a masked gunman on Music Row. The vicious assault cost Hughes his life and left Sammy with a permanent partial disability in his right hand. “Kevin was a good man trying to the do the right thing,” Sadler recalls. “We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Sammy is grateful to God and his family for keeping him sane and giving him the support he needed during his recovery. Memories of the incident still haunt him to this day, but he has remained steadfast in his dedication to his career throughout. “It was hard for a while,” Sadler admits of his return to live performances. “But it’s like getting’ thrown off a horse; you just gotta get back on and ride. I like to think I’ve done it well,” says the laid-back entertainer. “It’s always been about the music for me,” Sammy recalls. “Everything happens in God’s good time and I believe that this is my time. I’m just thankful for the opportunity to let people know that I’m still pursuing that dream; I’m still singing, I’m still performing, and I’m still loving every dang minute of it.”