Born in the small southern Ohio town of Chillicothe, he signed with Performing Rights Organization SESAC at eighteen years old. Writing and singing in Nashville since 1982, he has written multiple hits in Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Music and may well be the most successful songwriter to have earned equal recognition from all three genres of music - not to mention his recent activity of songs/awards recorded by some of the best/current artists in the "Americana" music genre.

His country hits include the Reba McEntire smash "I'm Gonna Take That Mountain", "Breakin' New Ground" (Wild Rose/Universal Records), "I Fell In The Water" (John Anderson/BNA Records), "How Do You Sleep At Night" (Wade Hayes/DCK/Columbia Records), and four other Billboard chart records. His has written Three #1 Gospel hits, several #2 Gospel hits and over a dozen other top ten/top twenty gospel songs. In addition to songs recorded by the previously mentioned artists, he has had songs recorded by Patty Loveless, Joe Nichols, Darryl Worley, Travis Tritt, Tracy Lawrence, Neal McCoy, Mark Chesnutt, Cece Winans, The Whites, and many others. He is a six-time Dove Award nominee, having won a prestigious Dove for the 1990 Inspirational Song of the Year "His Strength Is Perfect", recorded by and co-written with Steven Curtis Chapman.

Internationally he has penned no less than seven (7) #1 Country hits in Australia just since 2001. To date Jerry's songs have sold in excess of fourteen (14) million records worldwide.

As an artist, Jerry has performed on numerous stage shows, including the honor of performing as a soloist many times on the world famous GRAND OLE OPRY. His television appearances include LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, REGIS AND KATHY LEE, NBC'S TODAY SHOW and several different TNN (THE NASHVILLE NETWORK) shows.

In addition to his Dove recognition from the Gospel Music Association, Jerry has received numerous awards from different associations for his songwriting accomplishments (IBMA, NSAI, SESAC, GOSPEL VOICE MAGAZINE, etc.). In 2006, Jerry received his second IBMA Award for his contribution (as an artist) to the 2006 IBMA "Album of the Year" - "Celebration of Life" (Skaggs Family Records).

Along with friends Carl Jackson and larry Cordle, the trio (Cordle, Jackson & Salley) recorded the song "You're Running Wild" on the Louvin Brothers Tribute on Universal South Records, which features numerous country music stars singing songs made famous by the legendary duo. Entitled "Livin', Lovin', Losin' - Songs Of the Louvin Brothers", this project won the 2003 Grammy for Country Album Of The Year.

In 2007, Jerry released his first solo project, "New Songs, Old Friends" on the Mountain Home Records Label. A Bluegrass CD which includes all new songs written by Jerry and performed by him along with some of his favorite singers - all of whom have recorded his songs. Guests like The Oak Ridge Boys, Rhonda Vincent, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White, Darryl Worley, Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Sonya Isaacs, Alecia Nugent, Jamie Johnson, Lisa Shaffer and buddies Carl Jackson and Larry Cordle. The project was one of the final nominees for the 2007 IBMA "Recorded Event of the Year".

From the liner notes of "New Songs, Old Friends":
"Jerry is not only a friend, in the truest sense of the word, he is also a songwriter's songwriter... an artist that completely understands the idea of "painting a picture" using the marriage of lyric and rhyme; someone that fully grasps the art of crafting a song, rather than throwing words against the page. His paintbrush is a pen, his canvas a legal pad and his goal always another masterpiece.".... Carl Jackson (long time friend).

Partial Discography
REBA McENTIRE (“I’M GONNA TAKE THAT
MOUNTAIN” & “CLOSE TO CRAZY”)

ELTON JOHN & CATHERINE BRITT (“WHERE WE BOTH SAY GOOD-BYE”)

MARK CHESNUTT (“A HARD SECRET TO KEEP”) TOBY KEITH (“I KNOW A WALL WHEN I SEE ONE”)

JOE NICHOLS (“YOU CAN’T BREAK THE FALL”) BRAD PAISLEY (“THE BEST THING THAT I HAD GOIN’”)

DARRYL WORLEY (“IS IT JUST US”/“I BUILT THIS WALL”/IF I COULD TELL THE TRUTH”/”JUST AROUND THE CORNER”)

TRAVIS TRITT (“SMALL DOSES”)

PATTY LOVELESS (“LOVE BUILDS THE BRIDGES”)
THE WHITES (“IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW BUT IT’S WHO YOU KNOW”)

THE OAK RIDGE BOYS (“YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO HOME”/”SAVING GRACE”/”HAY BABY”)

NEAL McCOY (“THAT’S NOT HER”) LORETTA LYNN (“HONKY-TONK LEAVE HIM ALONE” and “DON’T OPEN THAT DOOR”) TRACY LAWRENCE (“IT’S GOT YOU ALL OVER IT”)

CECE WINANS (“HIS STRENGTH IS PERFECT”)

RHONDA VINCENT (“TROUBLE FREE” & “AN OLD MEMORY FOUND ITS WAY BACK HOME”)

THE OSBORNE BROTHERS (“YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO HOME”)

ALECIA NUGENT (“PAPER AND PEN”/”YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO HOME”/“SOMEWHERE ELSE TO FALL”/“YOU’VE STILL GOT IT”/“BREAKING NEW GROUND”/DYING TO HOLD HER AGAIN)

DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER (THERE’S A TREASURE IN HEAVEN”/“SAVING GRACE”/”THE CROSS ROAD”/”HE SATISFIES”) THE DEL McCOURY BAND (“I NEVER KNEW LIFE”/”AIN’T NOTHING GONNA COME UP TODAY”)

Numerous other nationally known country, gospel and bluegrass artists have also recorded Jerry’s songs, including:
IIIRD TIME OUT, THE SELDOM SCENE, MOUNTAINHEART, LONESOME RIVER BAND, DALE ANN BRADLEY, JEFF & SHERI EASTER, THE ISAACS, BRADLEY WALKER, NEWFOUND ROAD, WILDFIRE, TERRI GIBBS, KYLE PETTY, BARBARA FAIRCHILD, THE KINGSMEN, THE FLORIDA BOYS, THE MARTINS, DON RIGSBY, ROCK COUNTY, DAVID PETERSON & 1946, JAKE HESS, LORDSONG, THE RUPPES,THE OLD TIME GOSPEL HOUR QUARTET, THE HOPPERS, BRENT LAMB, WOODY LEE, GINA JEFFRIES, KAREN PECK, BRUCE CARROLL, MID-SOUTH, KELLY NELON-THOMPSON, THE NELONS, ADAM HARVEY, BECCY COLE, MARSHA THORNTON, MELBA MONTGOMERY, THE BISHOPS, THE WILBURNS, REBECCA LYNN HOWARD, WILCOX AND PARDOE, WENDY BAGWELL & THE SUNLITERS, MARGO SMITH, THE FOX BROTHERS, SUSI LUCHSINGER, VERN JACKSON, GARY STEWART, SHENANDOAH, “THE WALTONS FAMILY CHRISTMAS ALBUM”, and many others.