Country artist Jimmy Wayne is going to make second chance count

Nothing in Jimmy Wayne's life has come easy.

He grew up moving from foster home to foster home until he was 16, often sleeping in the streets after his father abandoned him.

He moved to Nashville 10 years ago to pursue his dream of a career in country music.

He signed with DreamWorks Nashville and released a self-titled album that reached number seven on the Billboard Country Albums Chart in 2003. He co-wrote the four singles released from the album, which were all top 20 hits: "Stay Gone" (#3); "I Love You This Much" (#6); Paper Angels" and "You Are" (both #18).

Then he got caught up in a record label change and his career was put on hold.

Wayne was left without a label, but not without a pen or a voice. He spent a lot of the last three years writing and performing for various charities.

"I was busy all the time during my radio success. Over the last three years I looked up charities and told them, "Now's the chance if you want to do something'."

During his charity shows that often benefit disadvantage youths, he tells kids his story of how he got to where he is and how they can get to where they want to be.

"Kids need encouragement from the community," Wayne said. "Kids can't do it on their own, they need us."

Wayne understands how far encouragement and support can go in a child's life. When he was 16, he was taken in by Russell and Beatrice Costner, a couple in their 70's.

"They really opened my eyes to a lot of things, the way they cared about people and how compassionate they were to their customers (the couple owned a woodshop)," Wayne said.

"They were in their 70s when they took me in, that said a lot, a lot of people wouldn't have."

To stay with the family, he had to cut his hair and attend church.

Church may have seemed like an unusual place for someone who once doubted if there was a God while sleeping outside as a child, but Wayne, who compares his own struggles to Jacob's story, now believes he had to go though things for a reason.

He admits his career path is unusual but thinks he's in a good place now. He said people in Nashville believe in him and are helping him out quite a bit.

Perhaps no one in Nashville believes in him as much as his record exec Scott Borchetta. Borchetta signed Wayne to DreamWorks in 2001 then signed him to his new label, The Valory Music Co., earlier this year.

Wayne released "Do you believe me now?" to radio in March. He is currently on tour to promote the single and said he works harder now than he ever has before.

He works hard because he feels he's been given the ultimate second chance and wants to make the most out of it.

"When you take a bite out of life and choke on reality, you see a different perspective," Wayne said. "I'm going to make every single second count this time."

His desire to keep chasing his dream is embedded in him.

"It's just something I need to get out," he said.

Wayne travels with a band and by himself. He said his live shows are rocking.

"I mean rocking," he said.

Wayne will perform tonight at the Grizzly Rose in Boise by himself. He will play some of his old songs as well as his new ones and will share the story behind his music.

For more information on Wayne, visit his Web site (his name) or his Myspace page. Wayne said he reads all of his messages and tries to reply to as many as he can.

In the meantime, he works hard and rocks even harder.

"This is the ultimate second chance. I'm going to make it count."