Sawyer Brown

Sawyer Brown is an American country music band founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by five members of country pop singer Don King’s road band: Bobby Randall (guitar), Jim Scholten (bass guitar), Joe Smyth (drums), Gregg “Hobie” Hubbard (keyboards), and Mark Miller (lead vocals). After King retired in 1981, the five members decided to form a band, first choosing the name Savanna before switching to Sawyer Brown, taken from the name of a road near where they practiced. Sawyer Brown first gained national attention in 1983 when they participated on Star Search, a former television talent show on which they won the grand prize of $100,000. They received many offers in Los Angeles, including a Monkees-like television show, but opted to return to Nashville. They quickly earned a recording contract with Capitol Records (in association with Curb Records). Their first album, also titled Sawyer Brown, was issued in 1985. It included their first Number One single on the Billboard country music charts, titled “Step That Step”. The band continued to chart regularly throughout the 1980s, although many of their late-1980s singles failed to enter Top 40.