It’s not too many people who will give up a superstar gig that includes million dollar record deals, chauffeur-driven stretch limos and all the groupies one man can handle, but that’s what singer/guitarist Anthony Lockett did when he left the funk band Cameo in 1983 to devote himself to a new spiritual calling. Back in the day, Lockett was with Cameo during the group’s heyday with hits such as “Sparkle” (which he wrote and led vocals on), “I Just Want to Be” and “Keep It Hot.” After he left pop music, he collaborated on a number of gospel projects with Candi Staton, Babbie Mason and Dottie Rambo among others. Now, Lockett is making a new turn in his career-----country music. “I’ve always liked the music,” he says. “My father would sometimes listen to country music. He taught me how to play guitar and whenever he tried to sing, it came across as country. When I started in R&B that was what was happening. But things change and now country is where it’s at. I was watching Country Music Television (CMT) one day and began to notice how country music has evolved. I said to myself, ‘I can really do this. ‘So, I thought, ‘I’m going to write some songs and see what they sound like. ‘I was tired of the R&B thing. I was looking for something new because, at the end of the day, I’m an entertainer first.” Lockett shows his latitude as an entertainer on his forthcoming debut country CD. He wrote all the songs, ending with the closing track, “In My Dreams,” which revolves around his life-long dream of singing country music. In it, he sings: In my dreams I’m singing and playing, me and my guitar on a country stage. No matter what they say, nothing’s gonna stand in my way. Lockett says, “The songs are all about the heart and about relationships in my past.” There are bouncy, honky tonk tracks such as “Sweet Thang,” “You Stole My Heart” and “Love Struck.” There’s a rock and country pop edge on “All Work and No Play,” “You’re my Lady” and “Such a Lover.” However, Lockett also found time to create heart-felt ballads such as “That’s the Way It Is,” “You Make Me Breathe” and “Follow the Signs.” He says, “It’s a touch of the old and a touch of the new, but it’s got a bit more rhythm.” An Atlanta native, rhythm came to Lockett early on. He was a teenager when he joined Cameo in 1978 as a vocalist and guitarist. Cameo founder Larry Blackmon began collaborating with him on songs that would eventually earn the group their first of four gold records. Although Cameo was known as a hard-driving funk band, many of the fifteen songs Lockett wrote for the group were beautiful love ballads such as “Sparkle,” which was a Top 10 R&B smash that sold over 400,000 copies as a single and propelled the band’s 1979 album, “Secret Omen” to gold status. Cameo’s songs have been sampled by scores of vocalist and rappers over the years. Lockett and the band appeared on all the major television programs of the day, such as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Soul Train and The Dinah Shore Show and more recently, The Fox Network (Hit Me Baby One More Time) and the cable station TV One for The Tom Joiner Show. The group’s unique sound laid the foundation for today’s urban music. Many R&B artists cite Cameo as a major influence. Before leaving the group, Lockett branched out into producing R&B groups for RCA Records and Polygram Records. He had also played on recordings by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Peabo Bryson. Four gold records later, Lockett answered a higher calling and transformed all his studio skills into collaborating on gospel projects and working with various church ministries. Since then he has rejoined Cameo and now he’s doing the music he grew up on and loves best-----country.