Once, Twice, Three Times Jeffrey Steele

BMI Icon Willie Nelson (l) pauses for a photo with BMI Songwriter of the Year (and one of GAC's Hitmen of Music Row) Jeffrey Steele (r) at the November 6, 2007 BMI Country Awards. Photo courtesy of BMI.

Nov. 18, 2008 — After years of collecting hits as a songwriter and producer in Nashville, Jeffrey Steele started building his public persona with the GAC series Hit Men Of Music Row and with his appearance this year as a judge on "Nashville Star."

Now he’s capitalizing on that recognition by releasing three albums at once on Tuesday through Best Buy. Hell On Wheels features a number of his songs that are unknown to the general public. Gold, Platinum, No Chrome, More Steele: Greatest Hits Vol. II presents his version of hits he wrote for other people, including "What Hurts The Most" and "Me And My Gang" (made famous by Rascal Flatts), "Brand New Girlfriend" (Steve Holy) and "Hell Yeah" (Montgomery Gentry). Then there’s Countrypolitan, in which Jeffrey covers Willie Nelson’s "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground," Charlie Rich’s "Behind Closed Doors" and Merle Haggard’s "Going Where The Lonely Go."

"If you’ve seen my show, you know I have a lot of music," Jeffrey observes. "I’m havin’ a lot of trouble gettin’ it all out there, so I’m throwin’ it all out at once."

The albums were put together over the last year and a half, which made for a hectic schedule. He produced the Keith Anderson album C’mon during that period, then got caught up in wall-to-wall work on "Nashville Star." Fortunately, most of the recording was completed when the season debuted in June, so he spent most of the remaining time getting the albums mixed and ready to go. And he’s got no complaints about "Nashville Star" chewing up his schedule.

"That’s what’s got the records comin’ out is that very [show]," he says. "People got to know me, got to see me, said, ‘Who is this guy? He’s written all these songs. What does he do?’ It’s a great chance to be there."

Born in Burbank, Jeffrey returns to Southern California with a show Tuesday night at the Viper Room. That club is the one in which Johnny Cash debuted his new sound after he began working with producer Rick Rubin. Curiously, it’s also just around the corner from an apartment building where the Judds lived before they were discovered.