Chad Brock

“If you’re gonna do anything in this business, you have to learn it all because this business will last five, 10, 15 years and then there’s something else you need to do,” Brock said of his music-biz strategy. “I want to be involved with producing. I want to be involved with promotions. I wanna do some other aspect because I know that my performing days are numbered.”

His plan includes differentiating himself from other artists. To that end, he listed his work ethic as a standout point. “I like every part of this business and I try to learn every part of it. I enjoy radio,” said the former DJ. “I thoroughly enjoy the promotional part of what I have to do.”

Besides gaining business smarts, the singer/songwriter puts himself in a different division when he uses his 6-foot, 230-pound physique to smackdown behemoths like World Championship Wrestling’s The Giant. The Ocala, Fla., native enrolled in a WCW school in Atlanta in 1994, toured with the organization in 1995 and wrestled with top stars in 19 TV appearances. He stopped in 1996, after tearing his inner thigh muscle from his pelvic bone.

However, the healed hulk is in talks with the WCW. If he resumes his career in the ring, he’ll keep it separate from his career onstage.

In the meantime, the 36-year-old has music tours and several releases under his belt. He was one of five acts chosen to open for Alan Jackson’s 1998 High Mileage Road Show, designed to give new country acts exposure.

“I thought it was a good thing,” Brock said, “but three songs wasn’t enough for me. You get out there and just get warmed up and have to go. … I’m the kind of guy who likes to get out there and do a bigger show.”

He listed shows with Joe Diffy, Montgomery Gentry, Lee Ann Womack, and Clay Walker as his favorites. “That was a great experience,” he said of Walker’s shows. “Sometimes we got to do 30 (songs). He was just a wonderful guy to work with. Anything we needed, he was there for us.”

In addition to appearing at established venues, Brock and his band play fairs, festivals and honky-tonks. “You name it, we’ve done it,” he said.

It was the building process of 1998’s three releases that propelled the former car salesman into the limelight. “Evangeline,” his first single, went to radio in July. His second single, “Ordinary Life,” and his self-titled album were released in October. Despite heavy promo for “Evangeline,” the record failed.

“It was at that point in time where radio was very hesitant to play new artists,” Brock said. “It helped me open the door for ‘Ordinary Life.’ … It was a different time for radio back then and now, they’re a little more open to new artists.”

The setback was temporary and “Ordinary Life” shot to No. 1 in Gavin, No. 2 in R&R and No. 3 in Billboard. Hank Williams Jr. and George Jones joined Brock to record his latest offering, “Country Boy Can Survive,” released last month. In its second week out, it climbed to No. 30 on R&R.

Brock credited radio for much of his success and downplayed music videos in marketing. “I don’t believe you should have to put one out every time. I truly believe that money can be spent elsewhere in more promotion than going out and spending it on video. … Like ‘Country Boy Can Survive,’ … there’s no video for it.

“I’ve looked at CMT and Great American Country. If you take radio and you put it against CMT and Great American Country, radio goes in a lot more households and cars.”

Many of his biggest influences – Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and The Lonesome River Band – reigned before video reared its head. However, it was high school chorus teacher Florence Gabriel Reese who influenced him to pursue singing.

Heeding her advice, he moved to Nashville in 1992 and the Nashville Entertainment Association subsequently named him one of the top 10 unsigned country acts. In 1994, Warner Bros. Nashville signed him and in 1995, he secured a writer’s deal with McSpadden Smith Music. He co-wrote three of the 10 tracks on his CD and dedicated it to Reese, who succumbed to cancer.

“I think radio and the public accepting ‘Ordinary Life’ was my big break,” he said. The song speaks of routine life and a husband/father who leaves his family for greener pastures only to discover he was color-blind and he misses his ordinary life.

Future plans for the ex-wedding singer include a three-month radio tour beginning in January and dates in between. He also expects his second CD, tentatively titled Yes!, to hit stores around April.

As Brock works his plan, he eyes his long-term goal. “I want to do what my parents have done,” he said of the schoolteacher and railroad worker. “They’re retired. They travel. … I wanna enjoy my older years. I don’t know that I wanna get out here and beat myself up on the road because it’s tough. … This is the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Honest words from a man who can sing a heartfelt song one minute and head butt his opponent the next.