Alabama lead singer Randy Owen cast a vote for independence on Election Day this year, as the day marked the release of his very first solo album, along with his autobiography.

Owen's inspirational memoir, 'Born Country,' takes its name from an Alabama single that was released in 1991. He chose it for the title of the book as a way of reflecting one of the goals he hopes to achieve by telling his own personal story.

"I want to hopefully emphasize something for me that's so important," Owen told Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. "It's OK to be from a farm family. It's OK to be brought up in the country, it's cool to raise vegetables, it's cool to raise cattle, and it's cool to drive a pickup truck. Those are all things you can do and still grow up to do whatever you want to do. You can still get a college education and at the same time be a country boy or a country girl and be proud of who you are. You don't have to be rich to be proud."

Owens' new album, 'One on One,' was produced by John Rich, and includes a duet, 'Holding Everything,' with fellow Broken Bow Records artist Megan Mullins. Listen to the album, track-by-track here.

Owen's upcoming personal appearances will celebrate the release of both the CD and the book. He's set to do a book signing on Thursday, November 6 in Huntsville, Ala., a Grand Ole Opry appearance the following day and a book signing on Monday, November 10 in Nashville.

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