Not long after moving to Nashville from the mountains of Northeast Georgia, Kip Raines learned that his high school jazz band would be making an album with Johnny Cash. “The first recording studio I ever walked into was RCA Studio B. Everyone kept whispering that Elvis recorded ‘It’s Now or Never’ in that room. It was a magical thing for a kid…I guess I was hooked.”
Kip credits his early drumming experiences with his love for songwriting. “I was always fortunate to play with great singers who were singing great songs. Wynonna was a great influence. What a singer! If you’re really listening, you can’t help but learn.” He would go on to play drums on Blackhawk’s self-titled multi-platinum album (including the hits “Every Once in a While”and “Sure Can Smell the Rain”), and sing on gold albums by Steven Curtis Chapman (The Great Adventure) and Keith Anderson (Three Chord Country and American Rock n’ Roll), as well as numerous others.
While writing for Warner/Chappell, his first single, “One of These Days (I’m Gonna Love Me),” became a #1 for Tim McGraw. In 2003, he signed with Windswept Pacific Music and over the next four years, penned songs for Clay Walker, American Idol artist Bucky Covington, and the brother duo from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Zant. “Help Somebody If You Can,” won a BMI Award as one of the 50 most-played songs of 2006.
In 2007 Kip took a break from the music business to write two books: a fiction novel called The Ink Stain and a non-fiction book The Message in the Mirror based on his own life experiences. He returned to songwriting full time in 2010.