Blaine Larsen

The state of Washington doesn't produce that many country singers, but after his 2004 single "How Do You Get That Lonely" made him the youngest (at 18 years old) traditional country singer to hit the Billboard charts, you can add Blaine Larsen to the list. Born in 1986 in Tacoma, WA, Larsen spent his early childhood in California. His parents divorced when he was five and he moved with his mother and sister back to Washington, settling in Buckley. It was there that his new stepfather introduced Larsen to country music, and by the time he was ten, Larsen was singing along to country karaoke tapes. He started to learn the guitar at 13, and by his first year in high school he was regularly singing at school events. Before his junior year Larsen and his family traveled to Nashville, where the teenager recorded a demo CD of mostly cover songs and an original composition he had written with one of his teachers, "Keep It Country." Larsen sold the CD at shows, and a copy found its way to Rory Lee Feek and Tim Johnson, who had just started a new record label, Giantslayer Records, in Nashville. Impressed with his baritone vocals, the pair flew the then 15-year-old Larsen back from Washington for a proper recording session, resulting in the In My High School album, which came out in 2004. The title song received some scattered but strategic airplay, particularly in Seattle, and led to Larsen signing with BNA Records, which released a reconstituted version of In My High School called Off to Join the World early in 2005. Rockin' You Tonight, also from BNA, followed in 2006. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi