Early life

Hummon was born in Washington, D.C.^[1] His father worked for the United States Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development and he spent much of his childhood in Africa, Italy,^[1] Tanzania, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia.^[2] He sang in church as a child and his first performance as a musician was playing African drums on Nigerian TV.^[2] He moved back to the Washington metropolitan area as a junior in high school, living in Potomac, Maryland and Bethesda, Maryland.^[2][3] His parents were musicians and theatre buffs and exposed him to the arts, regularly attending performances.^[3] As a teen, he played in a group with his three sisters.^[4] He attended Bullis School, where he played running back and graduated in 1980.^[2] He graduated from Williams College in 1984.^[5]

Career

Following college, in 1984, he moved to Los Angeles to seek a recording contract but was unsuccessful.^[4] In 1986, Hummon moved to Nashville.^[3] He played at the Bluebird Café and other clubs.^[4][6] He was eventually signed to a songwriting contract and then a recording contract with Columbia Records. Hummon met Joe Henry, who collaborated with John Denver, and offered to help him write songs.^[7] The first notable song that he wrote was "Pilgrims on the Way", recorded by Michael Martin Murphey in 1988.^[6]

His debut album All in Good Time (1995) included the song "God's Country", which reached number 73 on the Hot Country Songs record charts.^[8] It also included "Bless the Broken Road", with backing vocals by co-writer Jeff Hanna and Matraca Berg and "One of These Days". The songs and title of the album reference his Christian faith.^[9] From 1999 to 2001, Hummon was a member of the alternative country band The Raphaels along with former Big Country lyricist and guitarist Stuart Adamson. The Raphaels' only release was Supernatural in 1998 on Track Records.^[10] In 1997, Hummon formed his own label, Velvet Armadillo, on which he released several studio albums.^[11]

In 1998, "Bless the Broken Road" was recorded by Melodie Crittenden; this version charted on the Hot Country Songs record chart. In 2006, "Bless the Broken Road" was recorded by Rascal Flatts; this version won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song. Also in 2006, Selah recorded the song and it charted on the Hot Christian Songs chart.

In 2009, Hummon's first book, Anytime, Anywhere: A Little Boy’s Prayer, a children's book, was published by Simon & Schuster.^[12][11]

Hummon wrote Surrender Road, an opera staged by The Nashville Opera Company in 2005. Another opera, Favorite Son, produced with Nashville Opera in February 2022, was nominated for a Regional Emmy for musical composition.^[13]

Hummon also wrote six musicals, three of which were featured as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2005, 2006 and 2011.^[1] His musical American Prophet, about the life of Frederick Douglass, co-written with Charles Randolph-Wright, premiered at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in August 2022 and won the Edgerton Award that year.^[13][14]

In 2012 and 2014, Hummon performed at the Greenbelt Festival.^[12]

In August 2014, he signed a publishing deal with CTM Writers INK.^[15]

Hummon has scored two films: Lost Boy Home and The Last Songwriter, a documentary that he co-produced featuring Garth Brooks and Jason Isbell, which won the Audience Award at the Nashville Film Festival in 2017.^[1][13]

In 2019, Hummon was inducted to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[1]

In March 2020, he signed a publishing deal with LBK Entertainment.^[16][17]

Albums

Singles

Music videos