The song somehow came to the attention of John Rich, impressed him, and he invited Gaskin to appear on his Get Rich talent show. Gaskin appeared on the show and ended up winning the competition. Rich then brought Gaskin to the attention of Columbia Nashville, who signed the singer to a record deal. Gaskin had grown up loving traditional country, and after he took his place in the family drywall company, he often spent his lunch breaks penning song lyrics. He made several forays to Nashville to try getting his foot in the door of the music business there, but to no avail -- then “Mr. Bartender,” MySpace, and John Rich came calling. Columbia rush-released “Mr. Bartender” as a single in the spring of 2011. ~ Steve Leggett