The album generated four hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including Pickin' Wildflowers, and was certified gold by the RIAA. Anderson co-wrote Big & Rich's single Lost in This Moment, which reached number one on the country music charts in mid-2007.
Anderson signed with Columbia in 2007, and his second studio album, C'mon!, was released on August 5, 2008. I Still Miss You, the album's second single, became his first Top 5 country hit. He played sports in middle and high school while growing up in Miami, Oklahoma, and began his music career by playing in a church band.
He attended Oklahoma State University after graduating from high school and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He earned a degree in engineering during his college years. During his college years, he also played baseball and was approached by the Kansas City Royals. Anderson tried bodybuilding after a shoulder injury ended his professional baseball career.
He finished second in the Mr. Oklahoma competition. He accepted a position with an engineering firm in Dallas, Texas, after graduating. He resigned a year and a half later to pursue a career in music. He started going to clubs at night, writing songs, and learning guitar from his brother, Brian.
In Dallas, he auditioned for Grapevine Opry, a show that had previously produced other country stars. He appeared on the show for three years before moving on to perform at the Texas State Fair and Six Fleas. Due to financial constraints, he was forced to take on additional work as a landscaper and personal trainer.
He also enrolled in the University of Texas's physical therapy programme. He decided to put his education on hold one month before starting and began producing his first CD, he said. 'Wait a minute,' I thought a month before I started. This is going to take a lot of dedication.
If I ever want to do music, I need to give it my all. NOW. Physical therapy will always be available, as will my engineering degree.'He began marketing his CD to radio stations after recording it in Nashville. He formed a band in the year 2000.
Anderson had his first hit as a songwriter in 2001, when Garth Brooks and George Jones recorded Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In? ), which he co-wrote with several other writers, including George Ducas. In 2002, he opened for Montgomery Gentry and performed at numerous events, earning him a recording contract with Arista Nashville.
He has since written songs for Gretchen Wilson as well as Big & Rich's Number One single Lost in This Moment. He is also Della Rose's mentor (group) Anderson signed with Arista Nashville in 2005.
Pickin' Wildflowers, XXL (with cameos from Tommy Lee and Eddie George), Every Time I Hear Your Name, and Podunk were all chart singles from his debut album, Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll. In addition, the album was certified gold in the United States.
Originally, the title track of the album was supposed to be released as the fourth single (following Every Time I Hear Your Name). The song was even remixed for radio, with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler singing backup vocals on the radio edit.
However, before it could chart, the radio edit of Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll was withdrawn and replaced with Podunk. In early 2007, Anderson released a song called Sunday Morning in America as the lead-off single to Arista's second album. Nevertheless, this song peaked at, and the album was postponed.
Anderson switched from Arista Nashville to Columbia Records Nashville later that year. I Still Miss You, his 1st single for the title, was published in 2008 and went on to become his 3rd Top 10 hit.
Sunday Morning in America was included on his second album C'mon!, which was released in August 2008, as well as his own cover version of Lost in This Moment and a cover of Foster & Lloyd's Crazy over You. Dr. Safavi holds both a medical and a law degree, with an M.D.
from Loyola University School of Medicine and a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. He completed his residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center and is board-certified in internal medicine and paediatrics. Dr. Safavi and his two daughters live in the Chicago area.
