Hal Michael Ketchum was born on Thursday 9th April 1953 in Greenwich, New York (located in the Adirondack Mountains near the Vermont border).

Hal has a younger sister Janie (who is also a singer/songwriter) and an older brother Franklin. Music played a big part in his upbringing. Hal's father Frank played with a high school band, and his grandfather was a concert violinist. His mother Janet could play the Hawaiian guitar. Hal said that his mother was his inspiration, she was a great singer and sang around the house every day. In 1963, Hal's mother was diagnosed with MS. She died of complications from the disease in 1986.

Hal got his first set of drums at the age of eight. As a teenager, Hal and his brother Frank played in a bluegrass band. Hal made it out of high school on an art scholarship because, as he says 'I was pretty useless as a student the last couple of years, so I just took four courses of art a day and drew a lot'.

At the age of 15, Hal began performing in clubs with a local rhythm and blues trio. He then moved to the west coast of Florida and started doing carpentry work when he was 17.

In 1981, Hal then moved to Austin, Texas, where he soon discovered he was living close to a dance hall called Gruene Hall, and fell in with a bunch of other singer-songwriters, such as Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

After moving to Nashville in 1986, Hal recorded an independent album entitled 'Threadbare Alibis' (which cost about $9,000 dollars to record, and the masters stayed under his bed for 2 years), and eventually signed a recording deal with Curb records. In 1988, Hal made a brief appearance in the film 'Heartbreak Hotel'.

His first CD with Curb 'Past the Point of Rescue', was released in 1991, and was produced by Allan Reynolds and Jim Rooney. The first single from the album was 'Small Town, Saturday Night', and it peaked at No. 2 in the Billboard charts. The next single 'I Know Where Love Lives' reached No 13, and following that, 'Past The Point of Rescue' reached No 2 in early 1992. The 4th single, 'Five O'Clock World' reached no 16, and Curb also released a compilation of Hal's first 4 videos entitled 'Past the Point of Rescue'.

Sure Love was the next album to be released (also produced by Reynolds and Rooney) and the title track got to No 3 in the charts, followed by 'Hearts Are Gonna Roll', which reached No 2 in 1993, and then 'Mama knows the Highway' which reached No. 8. 'Someplace Far Away' was the fourth single released from this album and reached no 21 on the Billboard charts.

Hal achieved one of his career highlights on January 22nd 1994, when he was inducted as the 71st Member of the Grand Ole Opry. Hal says "I didn't realise how powerful it is. The first time I played it I felt a real power - the power of heritage, of tradition, of the written word."
Hal was joined on stage that night by Ferlin Husky and the two of them sang 'Wings of a Dove' (a number one hit for Ferlin in 1960). That night was also a special moment for Hal because his father, (a big fan of the Opry) who was very ill at the time, got to see him inducted.
Hal also recited a poem he had written especially for the occasion, you can read it on his Official Site.

In May 1994, Hal made a brief appearance in the film 'Maverick' and sang 'Solitary Traveller' on the soundtrack.

Hal's 3rd album 'Every Little Word' (again produced by Reynolds and Rooney), was released in June 1994. The single releases were 'Tonight We Just Might Fall In Love Again', and 'Stay Forever'.

In May 1996, Curb released a compilation album called 'The Hits', which included 11 of Hal's previous recordings and 3 new songs; 'Wings of a Dove', 'Satisfied Mind' and 'Hang in There Superman'.

Hal's next CD, produced by Stephen Bruton, was meant to be entitled 'Hal Yes', but Curb persuaded Hal to return to the studio with Chuck Howard to record more 'radio friendly' songs. The CD was re-titled 'I Saw The Light', but Hal still preferred the original version, and it was eventually released as 'Awaiting Redemption'.

On Hal's 45th birthday, he was doing a show in Tampa, Florida, when he suddenly lost all feeling in his left arm. The next day, he was appearing at the 'House of Blues' in Orlando and couldn't play at all. He flew home to Austin and drove immediately to the emergency room, where they did a MRI and spinal tap. The neurologist said the symptoms were compatible with MS, (the same disease Hal's mother had suffered from). After 4 days, the tests showed that Hal actually had Acute Transverse Myelitis (ATM). Hal lost the use of the left side of his body for a while and even had to re-learn how to play the guitar.

Hal met his third wife Gina at the Ryman auditorium, on Ricky Skagg's show. Gina was a hair and make-up artist for Clint Black, Vince Gill and Ty Herndon. Hal proposed to Gina at the airport in Austin, Texas. He bought her a bunch of sunflowers with a purple iris in the centre, and put the engagement ring on the stem of the flower. They were married on Valentines Day 1998, at the Grace Methodist Church in Texas. Gina wore a vintage '30s dress, and Hal wore an Edwardian Tuxedo.

On their first real date, Hal had told Gina that he would like to adopt children (Hal has a son Graham and a daughter Sarah to his first wife Barbara), and in December 1999, they adopted Fana Rose from an orphanage in Bulgaria. On 22 January 2001, Gina gave birth to their second daughter Ruby Joy, and their third daughter, Sophia Grace was born on 17th June 2004.  Hal became a grandfather in June 2006.

Hal's CD 'Lucky Man' was released in September 2001. The first single entitled 'She Is' was written by Hal for Gina when they were living in Chicago. It was initially a poem, the music came later.

Hal still paints a lot, and has much of his own work hung on the walls of his home. Prints of some of his paintings can be purchased from Hal's official site. He still enjoys carpentry, and made the crib for his daughter Ruby Joy. He enjoys reading too, his favourite books are 'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry, and 'A Prayer For Owen Meany' by John Irving.

Hal also likes to go fly-fishing, and you can see a short video of him fishing in Missoula, Montana on the web site of country singer songwriter Thom Bresh.

A DVD of Hal's greatest videos was released in February 2002.

Hal's CD 'The King of Love' was released in the UK on 4th November 2002, and in the States in 2003. The first single from the CD was 'Every Time I Look in Your Eyes'.

Hal's latest album  'One More Midnight'  (produced by Allen Reynolds) is due for release in the UK on 12 February 2007 to coincide with his UK and Ireland tour, and it will be released in the US with a few different songs later in the year (the first single from this album called 'My Love Will Not Change'  was released in 2004, almost three years earlier).