As the sixth child in a family of nine, Vern Gosdin began singing in a church in Woodland, Ala., where his mother played piano. In 1961, he moved to California, where he joined the West Coast Country music movement, first as a member of the Golden State Boys, then the Hillmen before forming The Gosdin Brothers with brother Rex. The duo hit the charts in the late '60s with "Hangin' On" on the Bakersfield International label, then with "Till The End" on Capitol Records. He moved to Atlanta during the '70s, retired from performing and operated a glass company, but before the end of the decade he was back in the studio recording with Emmylou Harris and Janie Frickie. He signed with Compleat Records in the early '80s, and in 1984 released "There Is A Season," picked by the Los Angeles Times as best country album of the year. He made the top 10 consistently in the early '80s, really hitting his stride when he teamed with Max D. Barnes as a songwriting collaborator. The pair specialized in songs of cheating and barroom romance, often delivering an over-the-top emotionalism that got Gosdin compared to the ultimate legend of honky tonk vocals -- George Jones. In 1983, Gosdin had two top 5 hits — "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)" and "Way Down Deep." The following year, he had his first No. 1 single with "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)" and had two additional top 10 hits. After Compleat Records went bankrupt, Gosdin signed with Columbia in 1987. He had success right off the bat with "Do You Believe Me Now." He hit No. 1 once again with the perennially popular Ernest Tubb tribute "Set 'Em Up Joe." Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone," co-written with Barnes, won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year award in 1989. His 1989 album Alone was a concept album in a traditional country style. It chronicled the dissolution of Gosdin's marriage. From 1989-1991, he released a number of songs and three more made the Billboard top 10: "Right in the Wrong Direction," "That Just About Does It" and "Is It Raining at Your House." Recently, "Is It Raining at Your House" was covered by Brad Paisley. In 2008, Gosdin released "40 Years of the Voice," a four-CD career retrospective. The boxed set on VGM Records features 101 songs, including 14 previously unreleased tracks recorded 35 years ago. The collection also offers 11 newly recorded songs, as well as hits such as "Chiseled in Stone," "Set 'Em Up Joe," "Today My World Slipped Away" and "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance."