Born and raised outside of Columbus, Georgia, Ricky Gunn grew up like many southern boys, spending his time fishing, hunting, chasing girls and speeding down dirt roads. During visits to his grandfather's house, he also discovered a love of country music, especially the old-school songwriting of Hank Williams, Conway Twitty and Waylon Jennings. Those artists told stories. They cast moods. They packed a punch. Later, when his grandfather gave him an acoustic guitar and taught him three basic chords, the teenaged Gunn transformed himself into a songwriter virtually overnight, finishing his first tune by the end of the week. Go to any Ricky Gunn show, though, and you won't see the songwriter standing still. Before he began opening shows for country stars like Travis Tritt, Tyler Farr, Trace Adkins and Gary Allan, Gunn earned a reputation as one of the hardest-working showmen in Georgia, performing nightly bar gigs that lasted as long as five hours. "It's all about hard work, dedication and never quitting," says Gunn, who turned down an offer to join the Georgia fire department in order to pursue a career in music. "Every song on there goes back to a memory that I've had or an experience that I've gone through. I wanted it to sound real, because if you've been living the life you're supposed to be living, the real stuff is gonna be the good stuff."