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Not too long ago, Jimmy Wayne reached a turning point. His record label had gone under, suddenly throwing his future into doubt. "I was about to go nuts," he admits. "I wanted to be out there doing my music." The Kings Mountain, N.C., native stepped back and took a long, hard look at his situation.

What did he have on his side? For a start, a musical track record that already included a Top 10 self-titled album and the hits "Stay Gone," "I Love You This Much," "Paper Angels" and "You Are"—all co-written by Wayne himself. He had one of music's finest and most powerful voices, one steeped in country history but injected with a rich undercurrent of classic soul. He had the devotion of fans all over the country, who stuck by him doggedly as they waited for more music. "They're extremely dedicated and diehard," he marvels. "It's a very tight family." He had his own indomitable spirit, the same spirit that helped him survive a notoriously hardscrabble childhood to rise through the Nashville ranks to reach the top of the charts. And, as it turns out, he had the belief of Music Row giant Scott Borchetta, the exec who had signed Wayne to the now-defunct DreamWorks Nashville and released his successful 2003 debut. Borchetta reunited this winning team by signing Wayne to his red-hot upstart Big Machine label in 2006.