Artie Rodriguez is a native of the beautiful panhandle of Florida. Staying true to his country roots, Artie
loves to perform and entertain audiences by performing traditional country music.
Artie began his musical career back in 1990 when he joined the country music group from Opp, Alabama
called "Young Country". Artie was the lead vocalist, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the band till 1995.
While with the group, Artiet able to perform with several country entertainers and open concerts for artists
such as Sammy Kershaw, Texas,John Anderson,McBride and the Ride and Neal McCoy. Between 1995
and 1999, after leaving Young Country, Artie continued songwriting and had one of his songs titled
“Layin’ Out” published with Porter Wagoner.
In March of 2000, while traveling back and forth from Crestview, FL to Nashville, TN, Artie got another
musical break. He wrote a song titled “ Forget His Memories” in honor of his father Arthur Rodriguez who
was a former POW from the Korean WarPresident Clinton’s support staff heard the song and chose Artie
out of 1800 people to perform for 10,000 veterans at the 50th Anniversary Korean War Commemorative
Ceremony held in Washington DC in June 2000.
After performing in Washington Artie was then asked to perform in Branson, MO at the Dutton Theater for a
Veteran’s Day concert.
In April 2001, Artie got to go on tour with country artist Ty Herndon. After six months with Ty, Artie then
left and followed the road manager to tour with Clay Walker for the next few months to close out his tour.
In 2003 Artie was the Northwest Florida regional winner of the Colgate Country Showdown and traveled to
the Mississippi State Finals. In 2004 Artie was also a finalist in the North East Florida Region of the
Nashville Star competition.
When Artie is not performing or songwriting, he is making a living as a deputy sheriff where he is often
referred to as the "singing deputy”. Artie is a member of the Nashville Songwriter’s Association and now
calls the Panhandle Opry his home where he plays rhythm guitar, fiddle and performs lead vocals.
