Diamond Rio

 ( Official Website ) 

By 1985, the Tennessee River Boys had quit working at Opryland. According to Roe, while the band enjoyed playing at the park, they also felt that their status as a theme park attraction discredited them as "real musicians" to those in the Nashville community. For the next few years, they played at small venues, such as high school auditoriums, and usually worked no more than four concerts a month. They also competed on Star Search, but were eliminated in the first round. Frustrated by the sporadic touring schedules, Whiteside quit the group and was replaced by Brian Prout, who previously performed in Hot Walker Band and Heartbreak Mountain. Around 1986, Deal and Gregg both left the group, the latter due to health complications from a serious illness he had developed as a teenager. They initially chose to operate as a quintet, with Davenport as the sole lead vocalist and Roe and Prout singing harmony; when this arrangement proved unsuccessful, they found mandolinist Gene Johnson, a former member of the bluegrass group Eddie Adcock's IInd Generation, which Olander was a fan of as a child. Johnson debuted at a concert in Clewiston, Florida, in May 1987. Also at this point, the band members supplemented their incomes with outside jobs: Johnson continued to work in carpentry, Olander and Roe mowed lawns, and Prout drove tour buses.

In 1988, the band caught the attention of Keith Stegall, a singer-songwriter who would later become known primarily for his work as Alan Jackson's record producer. Stegall produced demos for the Tennessee River Boys, but noted that Davenport could not record the lead vocal and bass parts at the same time, as they would be difficult to separate in the control room. As a result, Stegall had Roe sing a "scratch" vocal track live with the other musicians, which would then be replaced by Davenport's voice in post-production. Upon hearing Roe sing the "scratch" track, Stegall successfully convinced the other members that Roe should be the lead vocalist instead. Due to his discomfort outside the lead role and his wife's dissatisfaction with his career, Davenport quit in late 1988, becoming the last founding member to leave. The group quickly had to find a replacement, as they were scheduled to appear on the talk show Nashville Now on January 23, 1989. Alan LeBeouf, who had just left Baillie & the Boys, expressed interest in replacing Davenport but ultimately declined due to other commitments. They finally chose Dana Williams, a nephew of the bluegrass group Osborne Brothers and former sideman for Jimmy C. Newman, who had been a fan of the Tennessee River Boys since Herndon was a member.

Shortly after the band received its record deal, the band underwent a series of misfortunes when Olander, Johnson, and Williams came down with health problems. On August 9, 1990, Johnson was injured in a carpentry accident in Arkansas a day before his 41st birthday, severely cutting his left thumb. Robert Bolin substituted for Johnson during the band's tour in Brazil with Kevin Welch and Jann Browne. On September 6, four weeks after Johnson's accident, Williams was water skiing with his family in Cookeville, Tennessee, as his boat came forward at high speed when his wife was picking him up. The propeller slashed Williams' legs, and he was rushed to a hospital for his injuries. Brian Helgos and Paul Gregg (Danny Gregg's brother, and a member of Restless Heart) substituted for Williams. Meanwhile, Olander discovered that he had a lemon-sized tumor that was pressing against his esophagus. The tumor was never successfully diagnosed, although it ultimately vanished.

Arista Nashville released Diamond Rio's debut single, "Meet in the Middle", on February 6, 1991. As the lead single to their self-titled debut album, "Meet in the Middle" went on to spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, making Diamond Rio the first country music group ever to send its debut single to the top of that chart. Following its release, the band performed its first official concert as Diamond Rio on May 4, 1991. They shared the bill with Wild Rose, whose membership included Prout's then-wife, Nancy Given Prout. Released three weeks later with DuBois and Powell as producers, Diamond Rio was met with positive critical reception from critics such as Allmusic, Chicago Tribune, and Entertainment Weekly, which praised the band's vocal harmonies, instrumentation, and song choices.

Four more singles were released from Diamond Rio, all reaching top 10 on the Billboard country singles charts: "Mirror, Mirror", "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me", "Norma Jean Riley" (which was previously the B-side of "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me"), and "Nowhere Bound", the latter two of which were co-written by Powell. Roe and Prout had found both "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me" and "Mirror, Mirror" by attending shows at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, a popular spot for performances by aspiring songwriters. Truman and an employee of Arista had found "Norma Jean Riley", which was originally titled "Pretty Little Lady" until DuBois remarked that the lady in the song should have a name: "It could be 'Norma Jean Riley', anything!" Johnson spoke positively about "Mama Don't Forget to Pray for Me", which was written and originally recorded by Larry Cordle, and the impact that it had on fans. He recalled a letter sent to him by a female fan who had run away from home and chose to return after hearing that song, and said that "We already didn't wanna do the drinkin' songs and stuff ... if you're gonna touch someone, touch them with something that's positive."

Diamond Rio was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping one million copies in the United States. In addition, the band won the Academy of Country Music's Top Vocal Group for 1992, an award they would receive again in 1993, 1994, and 1997. They were also nominated for Top New Vocal Duet or Group by the same association in 1992. A cut from the album, the instrumental "Poultry Promenade", gave the band its first Grammy Award nomination.