Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1990 to begin his country music career.

His most commercially successful albums are Alibis (1993) and Time Marches On (1996), both certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

[2] He attended Southern Arkansas University in 1986 to study mass communications, where he also became a brother of Sigma Pi, but dropped out two years later to sing for a band based out of Louisiana.

On May 31, 1991, after he had completed the album's vocal tracks,[6] Lawrence was injured when walking a high school friend named Sonja Wilkerson to the door of her hotel room at a Quality Inn in downtown Nashville.

Two of the wounds were major and necessitated surgery at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center,[7] and one bullet remained embedded in his hip.

[1][13] The album received an "A−" from Entertainment Weekly, whose writer Alanna Nash said that he "pairs a poised and confident baritone with witty and well-crafted songs that shed soft light in the dark corners of the human condition.

Lawrence himself co-wrote "Can't Break It to My Heart" with "Sticks and Stones" co-writer Elbert West, and "My Second Home" with Beard.

[16] A review of Alibis in Cash Box magazine praised the title track, "I Threw the Rest Away", and "It Only Takes One Bar (To Make a Prison)" as the strongest cuts, while noting the "conviction and authenticity" in Lawrence's voice.

Co-written by Larry Boone, Paul Nelson, and Woody Lee (who also recorded for Atlantic Nashville at the time), it peaked at number two on the country charts and 84 on the Hot 100.

[26] Nash found I See It Now superior to its predecessor, stating that Lawrence "returns to the honky-tonk sound of his debut, balancing melodic ballads of regret with kick-butt rhythms and lively wordplay.

[37] Sarah Rodman of Country Standard Time shared a similar opinion of the production, calling "While You Sleep" the "most emotive and touching song" while also referring to "How a Cowgirl Says Goodbye" as "lively".

[3] Tom Roland gave Lessons Learned three out of five stars in a review for The Tennessean, noting that Lawrence "repeatedly sings of flaws and errors and the challenges in overcoming them.

[2] Lawrence and Anderson produced the album and wrote several songs on it, with other contributing writers including Michael White, Casey Beathard, Billy Yates, and frequent collaborator Larry Boone.

[47] Allmusic biographer Steve Huey wrote of the album that "Despite some good reviews, it failed to halt his downward commercial momentum.

[44] Erlewine wrote in Allmusic that Strong "ranks among his smoothest albums, a record dominated by ballads and where up-tempo songs are as polished as the slow ones.

"[49] Peter Cooper of The Tennessean thought that the album had better-written songs than its predecessors, highlighting "Paint Me a Birmingham" and "Sawdust on Her Halo" in particular, but criticizing the application of Auto-Tune to Lawrence's singing voice.

[50] Robert Woolridge of Country Standard Time thought that Lawrence's singing was stronger on the ballads such as "Paint Me a Birmingham" as opposed to the more upbeat material, but criticized the "mainstream production".

It received 3.5 out of 5 from Country Weekly magazine, whose review noted that it "emphasizes at all turns the shared imperfections that we all strive to overcome in order to be good people".

It was initially available solely from his website and digital music distributors, a decision that Lawrence made to test the viability of online distribution instead of physical sales.

Contributing songwriters included Kurt Allison (of Jason Aldean's road band and the production team New Voice Entertainment) and Kip Moore.

[73] Erlewine noted that the album was more country pop than Lawrence's existing body of work, but stated that "he sounds comfortable, assured, and quite charming on this enjoyable record.

"[73] Lawrence promoted the album through a tour of the same name, which consisted of 28 shows throughout the year 2014, beginning with a concert at the Holmes Theater in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

The title track of the project was released as a single that same month; in addition, Lawrence stated that he would be touring in 2022 with Clay Walker, Randall King, and Alexandra Kay.

[86] In May 1996, Lawrence was one of many artists featured on the charity single "Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure", whose proceeds were donated to the T.J. Martell foundation for cancer research.

[88][89] Lawrence also began working as a producer for other artists in 1997, including Rich McCready's 1997 album That Just About Covers It and the soundtrack to the musical The Civil War.

[91] The concept started with the video for "If the Good Die Young", and continued for those of "Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues", "I See It Now", "As Any Fool Can See", "Texas Tornado", "If the World Had a Front Porch", "Is That a Tear", "One Step Ahead of the Storm" (an album cut from The Coast Is Clear), and "Life Don't Have to Be So Hard".

[92] Steve Huey wrote of Lawrence's musical style that he was "[o]ne of a number of rock-tinged honky-tonk singers who rose to fame in the early '90s" and "gained a loyal audience for his mix of modern and traditional country sounds".

[5] In April 1994, Lawrence was charged with reckless endangerment and possession of an unlicensed firearm after confronting and following home two teenagers on a highway in Wilson County, Tennessee.

[94] In October 1997, Lawrence underwent investigation after allegations that he had abused Drew following a concert at Buffalo Bill's hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada.

[97] Billboard also reported that Atlantic Nashville's president had suspended Lawrence from recording any new material until he agreed to undergo counseling,[97] but he later denied these claims.