It took me about two minutes to purchase tickets to the Old Town Theatre on April 21 once I saw Jimmy Fortune would be in town.  For those who do not know, Fortune was the tenor for The Statler Brothers and, along with them, has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, as well as the Virginia Musical Hall of Fame as a solo artist.  Jimmy began his journey with the Statlers, already a favorite of mine, when I was a senior in high school.  In spite of my initial resistance to a change in my favorite group, it took me about two minutes to recognize the special smoothness of this unique tenor.  Coming from a family of singers who love harmony, Jimmy Fortune quickly became (for me) the standard by which other tenors were gauged.  When I got on the phone with Jimmy for an interview, it took about two minutes to decide he had to be one of the nicest people I had ever spoken with.  Add to that his love of family, country, and God, and you will find a voice and music that touches you where you live.

What was life in the music world like for you prior to the Statler Brothers?

I was playing hotel clubs in Virginia six days a week, four hours a night, and I had a daytime job as a service writer at a car dealership.  Working myself in the ground, pretty much.  Cover music, top 40 stuff, everything from rock to country to bluegrass to gospel…disco, you name it.

How old were you when you joined the Statler Brothers?

I was 26, going on 12 (laughs).  Thanksgiving 1981, I had a night off and was asked by some friends to come to a local ski resort and jam with them.  To this day, I can’t figure out why I went to play music on my night off.  Statler tenor Lew DeWitt was there and heard me, and we got to sing together a little bit.  I didn’t think anything would come of it, but when he had surgery around Christmas, he recommended me to the group as a fill-in. It turned full-time when he had to leave the group for health reasons. I see so many God things in my life, where He put me in the right places at the right time for the right things.  I don’t know how he steered a young, rambunctious guy like me, except for my Momma’s prayers. 

In 21 years with the Statler Brothers and your career since, you have performed all over the U.S, internationally, at the White House, for Elizabeth Taylor…what was the most memorable performance experience for you?

Whoa…there are so many!  The first time on stage with the Statler Brothers was great, January 28, 1982, in Savannah, Georgia.  I was standing there with my heroes.

We started the DARE program with President and Mrs. Reagan to keep kids off drugs, and we did some things with them at the White House.

Also, there were some performances at galas in Los Angeles, with so many actors and actresses.

We had a thing we did in Stanton, Virginia every year on the Fourth of July called “Happy Birthday, USA” that grew to over 110,000 people in our little town.  Those were so memorable because our families also got to be there to celebrate our country, our independence, and our veterans.

You wrote the #1 hit Elizabeth.  Was it planned as a Statler Brothers song?

I had never written a song before.  I had always been so busy working I never had time to write.  After I had been in the group awhile, I asked whether they would record a song if I wrote it.  Harold Reid gave me a really honest answer.  He said, “Well, little buddy, if it’s good enough…yeah, we’ll record it.”

I had a melody in my head, but I was looking for some words.  We were leaving for a performance in Oklahoma.  I stopped at the Kroger to get some things for the bus.  While I was there, I heard a mother fussing at a little girl for taking items off the shelves.  She was saying, “Elizabeth!  Why did you do that?”  Then on the trip, the Statlers (being big movie buffs), asked me if I had ever seen the movie Giant, with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean.  I hadn’t, so they pulled it out and we watched it on the bus.  During the concert in Oklahoma, this young lady comes up to the stage and grabs my hand.  She kept saying, “I’m Elizabeth.  I’m Elizabeth.”  It just hit me that I had to put that name in this song.  It was another God thing.  That night in the hotel room, I started putting words down and played the song into my little recorder.  The next day, I played it for the guys on the bus, and they loved it.  We recorded it, and it went #1.  I won songwriter of the year, and it won song of the year for 1985.

Any other personal favorite songs you have?

All my patriotic songs…More Than a Name on a Wall.  That’s one of my favorites, because I get to say thank you to some very important people.  Then I’ve written some…In God We Trust, and a song called Meet Me at Arlington.  These pay tribute to our veterans and are stories of people searching for comfort.  Also, some gospel songs like I Believe, which are pretty much given to me by the Good Lord up above.  One more recent special song is called I Love You More; it was inspired by my granddaughter.  When I tell her I love her, she says, “I love you more!”  That’s the way God is.  He loves us more than any mistake we’ve ever made and is always there for us.  That’s what that song is about.

How did you connect with the Gaithers?

We have always been fans, and Harold, Phil, Don, and Lew were good friends with Bill Gaither.  When the Statlers retired and I was on my own, I didn’t have a record label.  I did a few projects here and there, then Bill Carter, an attorney for so many big acts—like Reba McIntyre, The Rolling Stones, and the Gaithers—contacted me.  He had heard something I did and asked me to come to Arkansas to open for Dailey and Vincent and Jason Crabb.  After that performance, he contacted Bill Gaither and told him he needed to do some projects with me.

How did the group Brothers of the Heart develop?

Mike Rogers was playing downtown doing some clubs, and Ben Isaacs and I would go down there and sit in with him from time to time.  Eventually, Bradley Walker came and sat in.  We got to listening to the blend, and the Gaither group suggested we do a project.  We thought “Okay, we’ll see.”  We all have our own careers going, Mike is with Ricky Skaggs, Ben is with The Isaacs, and Brad and I each have our own thing.  Our first studio project was called Brotherly Love.  We recorded another project at the Grand Ole Opry.  Don Reid of the Statlers came down and did the video interview portion, and he said, “You guys really are brothers.  You’re brothers of the heart.” We are now called “Brothers of the Heart.” We just released the first half of that project, called Listen to the Music.  The other half, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, will probably come out in the fall.  We do about 5-10 live shows together a year, which makes it kind of a special event.

You work closely with your wife Nina.  What are the pros and cons of working together?

It takes its toll on a husband and wife.  I write songs, play my guitar, and sing…Nina does the rest.  She’s very overworked and underpaid!  If it wasn’t for her, none of this would be possible.  It’s hard to find people to hire with strong work ethic and who won’t drop the ball.  She steps in and gets it done.  We are trying to take mini-vacations now to not let work rule our lives.

What do you want to be remembered for?

I want people to see a grateful person who has let the Lord lead him and has let them know they are loved—someone the Lord used through music to bring joy and laughter, comfort and healing…because we’re all in this together.

Jimmy Fortune will be performing in Huntsville at the Old Town Theatre April 21, 2023.  Visit oldtowntheatre.org for ticket information.  For more information about Jimmy, his schedule, and his music, visit jimmyfortune.com.