If there is anyone in country music qualified to be in the business – it is newcomer Jimmy Wayne.

Wayne has dealt with issues like sleeping outside, working to earn money while his mother was in jail, not having a permanent home during his childhood, and being raised by a foster family, and a surrogate “Aunt Bea.”

Growing up in North Carolina, Wayne said he was inspired to sing not really by anybody, but just by the fact that it was in him.

“They’re from personal experiences,” Wayne said. “I’m inspired to write things I know about. It’s hard to write something I don’t know about.”

Several songs that he has co-written and sang himself, “Stay Gone,” and his second single “I Love You This Much,” have been inspirational to a lot of people, and instrumental in getting Wayne a strong fan base.

“You get letters and stuff, and it really lets you know you’re doing what you’re supposed to do,” he said. His current single “You Are,” which he describes as a love song, or a wedding type song, is currently making its way up the charts; however, Wayne pays little attention to charts.

“I don’t keep up with the charts cause it makes you go crazy,” he said with a laugh. Wayne has been on the road touring with Winstock alumni Lonestar, and has been writing songs for his second album. He is set to begin recording this month.

When Wayne moved to Nashville, he took an unconventional approach to getting himself a record deal.

“I tried to sit back and look at it like a military strategy,” Wayne said about his move to Nashville. “You go in and set up your operation and do your observation. You get your supplies, plan your attack, so to speak, and you execute it and make sure it works. The way you do that is you make sure every link is equally strong, because your chain is as strong as your weakest link.

“If your guitar playin’ doesn’t compliment your singing, which doesn’t compliment your writing, which doesn’t compliment your image, which doesn’t compliment your timing . . . it’s all gotta be there, and I felt very comfortable when I went into the office and played for producer Scott Borchetta. When I did, I played one song, just me and the guitar, and he offered me a record deal,” he said. “Golly, it was almost like the next day, everyone was wanting to come see him. They heard that I had gotten a record deal.”

Now, on the heels of his first album, and songs in the works for the second, Wayne is making waves in the music industry, and showing that dreams can come true.

“To all the dreamers, man, it comes true, just keep on doing it,” he said. “You don’t have to do it the same way that everybody else did it.”

With his recent success has also come several appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, which is a great achievement for a new country artist.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Wayne said about playing the Opry. “The analogy I give is that I graduated high school, I graduated college, and now I played the Opry.

“It’s like the third graduation, so to speak. It’s an awesome experience to be able to play where you know other people have been.”

Wayne is excited about more tour dates leading into the summer, and is ready to follow his career where it takes him.

“I’m looking forward to coming to Winsted,” he said.