J. K. Coltrain
J. K. Coltrain was born in Columbus, Ohio. He spent his early childhood days between there and West Virginia
where his parents operated a small Mom & Pop grocery store. His Dad also was an excellent auto mechanic and in fact owned a
number of repair shops over the years and was a weekend stock car racer. One reason why J. K. is a Nascar fanatic to this day.
J.K. grew up surrounded by music & musicians. His cousin, Buddy Starcher was a professional recording artist on Columbia Records and was one of the founders of the Starday recording label and performed on the then
popular Midwestern & Louisiana Hayrides. He also introduced the late Keith Whitley who first appeared on Buddys weekly radio show in Charleston, West Virginia when he was 8 years old. J. K. made his own first appearance on radio at age 12 and first TV appearance at age 14.
One of Buddys Records His Uncle & Grandpa
performed together at churches throughout the South. That's where J. K. made his first appearance singing in church at the ripe old age of 11. His first professional job was
at age 14 when he began singing with The Pleasant Hill Quartet. A well-known gospel group at the time.
J.K. is second from left. Of course in his teens he had to
try his hand in high school dance bands like Fire n' Ice and The Four Aces but by age 20 he had
returned to his first love country music. At that time J. K. helped form a 7 piece country rock group called 'The Southern Express'. They garnered a great deal of regional success and opened for many popular groups at that time such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Poco & The Marshall Tucker Band.He first cracked the country music charts in 1987 with a self-penned song, West Virginia You're Still My Home. Since then he has made
many appearances on numerous radio & TV shows including The Nashville Showcase, The Midnight Jamboree & Stars of Tomorrow. J. K. has toured throughout the US & Canada and worked with some of the greatest names in
country music. Jerry Reed, Loretta Lynn, The Bellamy Brothers, Conway Twitty, Buck Owens, George Jones, Tammy Wynette & Jerry Lee Lewis to name just a few.
J. K's future plans include to continue heading up Colt Records along with a touring with The Traditional Country Opry and makin' lots of new friends. Watch for them in your area to catch a superb country
show.
