Sometimes it seems like country has forgotten its wild roots – or least outgrown them, changing as  it has to reflect an ever-evolving world. Then there’s a guy like Colby Acuff. 

A fourth generation Idaho native with a rugged spirit true to his mountain home, honest-to-a-fault  lyrics and a sound as raw as the remote wilderness, Acuff’s untamed brand of country stands  proudly apart in today’s format, pure and untouched by modern gimmicks. 

Self-taught and largely self-contained, he’s already used it to find success on his own terms – and  with new major-label backing from Sony Music Nashville, plans to do the same nationwide. … Just  don’t expect him to follow the pack. 

“If you wanna do something right, you’ve gotta do it yourself,” Acuff says, speaking with the  hardscrabble charm of an old-soul troubadour. 

Hailing from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, a Rocky Mountain oasis near the very top of the continental U.S.,  that proudly-independent attitude forms the heart of Acuff’s outgoing personality – and a creative  drive stretching all the way back. 

Growing up, Acuff was always busy with three things – fishing, duck hunting and making music – and it was music that captured his imagination. He learned piano at 5, drums at 9 and guitar at 11,  took the stage for the first time at 12 and was even writing songs by 15 – and even those early  efforts were unique, inspired by bold artistic outliers.  

Favorites included bluegrass trailblazers like Flatt & Scruggs, who broke away from the great Bill  Monroe to go their own way, plus country “outlaws” like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson – some  of the first to successfully buck the Nashville system. Even modern-day mavericks like Sturgill  Simpson and Tyler Childers have his admiration, although Acuff has always followed his own  winding path. So winding, in fact, he eventually wondered what else he could do … and with typical  go-your-own-way flair, went and found out.