Speaker 1: Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2: I like to try and make a song for up
Speaker 2: a conversation as much as I can, because I want
Speaker 2: to feel like we're alive, and I think it's part
Speaker 2: of the relatability I guess, or at least what I've
Speaker 2: tried to.
Speaker 3: I'm Lynn Hoffman and welcome to the Music Save Me Podcast,
Speaker 3: the show where we go behind the scenes and explore
Speaker 3: musicians and their incredible bond with the transformative power of music.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 3: By the way, and while you're here, I'd like to
Speaker 3: let you know about another podcast produced and hosted by
Speaker 3: Buzz Knight, who is a dear friend of mine, and
Speaker 3: it's called Taking a Walk. So if you like this podcast,
Speaker 3: you're really gonna love his podcast too, So check it
Speaker 3: out wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: Today I am joined by rising BMG Nashville star Colby Cooper.
Speaker 3: He was born in Bradford. Can you tell him excited?
Speaker 3: He was born in Bradford, Texas. Colby's journey from small
Speaker 3: town roots to national acclaim is truly a dedication to
Speaker 3: his passion. With a unique blend of outline country in
Speaker 3: southern rock, Colby has certainly captivated audiences with his electrifying
Speaker 3: performances and truly his heartfelt storytelling. So let's delve into
Speaker 3: how music has been a source of strength and inspiration
Speaker 3: for Colby Cooper on Music Saved Me.
Speaker 1: Colby, Welcome to Music Saved Me.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: I get really almost too excited to even speak sometimes
Speaker 3: because you know just the energy you bring.
Speaker 1: Even though we're on zoom right now, you.
Speaker 3: Can just feel it the minute you popped on the
Speaker 3: screen and it's there, not just with you personally and
Speaker 3: we haven't even really spoken yet, but with your music.
Speaker 3: It is just so powerful, your voice like buttah, don't
Speaker 3: get me into it.
Speaker 1: I appreciate but thanks for being here today.
Speaker 3: I want to start, you know, at the beginning where
Speaker 3: you first got interested in music. Can you share with
Speaker 3: us that was there a defining moment or an experience
Speaker 3: that you realized that music was going to be your passion?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I think I think as a as a young kid,
Speaker 2: me and my dad really bonded over over music. He
Speaker 2: drove over a cow truck and I went with him
Speaker 2: so many times. It would be, you know, a few days,
Speaker 2: we're gone, just me and him in the trunk was
Speaker 2: It was the best of times. It went into like
Speaker 2: first grade even I was missing like the maximum of
Speaker 2: school you can miss to go riding the couch truck
Speaker 2: with that, and we would listen to uh to Waylon Jennings.
Speaker 2: It was he's like one of my heroes. He was
Speaker 2: one of my dad's heroes. Uh. You know, it's one
Speaker 2: of those things. So I would say, like being the
Speaker 2: couch truck is definitely like the first moment like this,
Speaker 2: how how we bonded over music really was like oh,
Speaker 2: like you know, this is cool, like and you know,
Speaker 2: my dad was like my hero, so like here we
Speaker 2: thought music was cool together and I was like, wow,
Speaker 2: maybe one day I could maybe I could do this
Speaker 2: one day. It just took me, you know, a few years.
Speaker 3: Just a couple of years, but you caught in the buck.
Speaker 3: You caught the bun absolutely well. Growing up in Bradford, Texas.
Speaker 3: How did your hometown influence the songwriting and your sound?
Speaker 3: Because you have a unique sound. You're not just rock
Speaker 3: and you're not just country or southern rock. You're just
Speaker 3: the whole blend of goodness.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that. Yeah, I just I'm just a music
Speaker 2: fan in general, I listened to so many things, but
Speaker 2: being out in Bradford, I mean it's you know, it's
Speaker 2: it's lonesome. You know, you look at the population, it's
Speaker 2: like thirty forty people whatever. I've got a family in five. Yeah, yes, man, man,
Speaker 2: I've got a family of five. So we've got to
Speaker 2: We've got a you know, and my family. We're probably
Speaker 2: out of the thirty twenty plus or family members there.
Speaker 2: It's half the town exactly exactly used to make me there.
Speaker 1: You should call it Cooper Texas.
Speaker 2: Hey, come on, but yeah, I think just growing up
Speaker 2: out here, it's it's very it's very country. And you know,
Speaker 2: my dad worked haulled cows and he was a cowboy.
Speaker 2: I mean here it wasn't all in was working on ranches.
Speaker 2: So you're listening to to chrys to do as well.
Speaker 2: I grew up on a bunch of just old just
Speaker 2: some of the best country music really in my opinion.
Speaker 2: And then as a you know, young man, my dad
Speaker 2: got me an Assie Osborne CD for my birthday, the
Speaker 2: Yeah No More Tears record, and that was like my
Speaker 2: introduction to rock. And like then it was guns and
Speaker 2: Roses and def Lever and all that and then I
Speaker 2: found grinds and punk and all that, but it was,
Speaker 2: you know, there lonesomeness out here in Bradford. Just the
Speaker 2: Also it's such a small town, so it's easy to
Speaker 2: get inspiration, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Well you mentioned earlier about Waylon Jennings and
Speaker 3: driving with your dad. The song Rose in Paradise, I
Speaker 3: believe I read somewhere you said was a sort of
Speaker 3: a big inspiration for you. What was it about that
Speaker 3: song that resonated with you, especially as a young songwriter.
Speaker 2: I think just the storytelling and just like the the
Speaker 2: one thing got that I think as cool as like
Speaker 2: the open ended list on the end of it is
Speaker 2: you know, did he did he run away with their
Speaker 2: needy killer and leab her buryed in the garden? That
Speaker 2: was so cool. But not only that, but so that
Speaker 2: was like the storytelling songwriting aspect, and also the melody
Speaker 2: and just you know, his voice is just so just
Speaker 2: ai It's smooth, it's perfect. But the the production and
Speaker 2: the guitar, like that intro lick is so I mean,
Speaker 2: it's it's one of the most it's probably the most
Speaker 2: underrated guitar of all time. Just throughout the lead thought
Speaker 2: the whole song is so tasty. It's it's nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, tasty.
Speaker 3: I like that word for I've never heard anyone describe
Speaker 3: a song as tasty or even a guitar lick.
Speaker 2: That's fair.
Speaker 3: I want to talk a little bit about your songwriting process.
Speaker 3: I Love You good Night, which I was just perusing
Speaker 3: through some of the tracks. Your songs often draw from,
Speaker 3: you know, personal experiences you've said, also from friends and
Speaker 3: people in the neighborhood. Yes, how how do you balance well,
Speaker 3: First of all, when you when you look at all
Speaker 3: of the even just the titles of your songs, you know,
Speaker 3: things jump out that are completely relatable, you know, to
Speaker 3: me just the title of the.
Speaker 1: Song, much less the song itself.
Speaker 3: So how are you able to sort of balance your
Speaker 3: storytelling telling other stories with a relatability? And are you
Speaker 3: ever surprised at how relatable your songs are?
Speaker 2: Uh? For sure, there's some that are. Like a song
Speaker 2: from our first album called Curse Artober is by losing
Speaker 2: my Dad, And that was one that was really personal.
Speaker 2: It was a song that I tried to write for
Speaker 2: a few years and I guess I finished through I
Speaker 2: was like twenty or so, and uh, when I finished
Speaker 2: and that was where I was went there and showed
Speaker 2: my life and you know, cried about and I was
Speaker 2: like that's awesome, cool, and that was it. And I
Speaker 2: didn't plan on release it, and she was like, hey
Speaker 2: make me She released that song, and you know, I
Speaker 2: showed it to my people that like, oh this is
Speaker 2: incredibly she released it is all right, I guess, so
Speaker 2: you know, I was realimbarous about it, but then I
Speaker 2: released it add hundreds of people message be like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, this you know I just lost my dad
Speaker 2: or just lost a brother or a friend or something. Uh,
Speaker 2: this one means the world. So it's yeah, it's it's
Speaker 2: I think since I've learned, you know, everybody's story is
Speaker 2: very very similar, or you're gonna have similarities. I guess
Speaker 2: everybody's got that brokenness about them and you know, shit's
Speaker 2: happened to really uh you know, it's far a live uh.
Speaker 2: But then also like I think whenever putting like putting
Speaker 2: an album together, like if I was just totally right
Speaker 2: thing about my life, it would be uh, you know,
Speaker 2: there wouldn't be uh, there wouldn't be any you know,
Speaker 2: breakup songs or any of the the fun like uh,
Speaker 2: the fun ones to jam too or whatever. I just
Speaker 2: you know, I've got a beautiful life and three babing.
Speaker 2: I'm so super lucky. But you know, so when we
Speaker 2: put an album together that I wanted to, I want
Speaker 2: there to be my story, but then I want there
Speaker 2: to be an overall theme, kind of an overall like
Speaker 2: a relatability, I think. And uh so that's like part
Speaker 2: of the process is like here's my story and then
Speaker 2: here's like stories of the world and probably your story,
Speaker 2: Like you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's got to be scary letting your songs go.
Speaker 3: But when you just described to me, you said that
Speaker 3: after you were finished, it made you cry.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely, that's.
Speaker 1: How you knew.
Speaker 3: But you actually even said that sort of sideways, almost
Speaker 3: like you're not allowed to admit that. But I thank
Speaker 3: you for saying that because I think I think a
Speaker 3: lot of young men need to hear that it's okay
Speaker 3: and that yeah, oh my god, that happened to you
Speaker 3: and it happened to me, and wow, if you can
Speaker 3: do this with your life, what what are the options
Speaker 3: for me?
Speaker 1: So it's about the big deal.
Speaker 2: So I always tell everybody anyone that comes up to ask,
Speaker 2: like you know, Oh God, what should I do? You know,
Speaker 2: I want, I want to make music or I want
Speaker 2: I did, so you just got to do it. Just
Speaker 2: go do it, and you know, chase your dreams you rather.
Speaker 2: I feel like you'd probably rather chase it and it
Speaker 2: not work out and not chase it and thinking about it.
Speaker 2: You know, Wow, what if I'd done that back when
Speaker 2: I was out of your email?
Speaker 1: So true? So true?
Speaker 3: And could you walk us through a bit of that
Speaker 3: process of creating a song. I think some of your
Speaker 3: favorite tracks you had said were are We on Fire, which,
Speaker 3: by the way, if you haven't seen the music video, brilliant.
Speaker 3: I love the story, or Storms Coming? Can you how
Speaker 3: did you make that all come about?
Speaker 2: Yeah? All We're on the Fire? That was I read
Speaker 2: it with Jordan Walker, and I remember well year we
Speaker 2: were from the rear. I mean we'd been throwing ideas
Speaker 2: around for thirty minutes or so, an hour or so,
Speaker 2: and it was been I've been there for a long week.
Speaker 2: I was like, man, I wonder if we're out to
Speaker 2: get anything today?
Speaker 4: And then the smoke alarm went off downstairs and the
Speaker 4: lights kept flickering and just like laughing and did it again,
Speaker 4: like damn it, and we're on fire, and we just
Speaker 4: kind of chuckled and be like that that's cool.
Speaker 2: We should write that we wrote it, and just I think,
Speaker 2: you know, I like to try and make a song,
Speaker 2: throw up a conversation as much as I can, because
Speaker 2: I wanted to feel like real life. And I think
Speaker 2: it's part of the relatability I guess, or at least
Speaker 2: what I try to it.
Speaker 1: Is it truly is?
Speaker 3: I mean it's like you're talking telling the story, talking
Speaker 3: about yourself or talking about Actually, after I saw are
Speaker 3: we on fire? I thought, oh, he must have gone
Speaker 3: through really bad breakup and then I read no, he's
Speaker 3: happily married with three kids to his high school sweetheart.
Speaker 1: Am I correct?
Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1: I mean the three kids, and you're only what twenty five? Maybe?
Speaker 2: Is sure? I have twenty Clive, I turned twenty six
Speaker 2: in May. All right, I've got a few more months,
Speaker 2: you know, insurance and whatnot.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you figured out some secret sauce obviously, so
Speaker 3: maybe that'll be some few sure songs that you'll write
Speaker 3: about how how to make it work.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, we'll see that.
Speaker 1: We need that, we need that.
Speaker 3: What what's a lyric or title that you've written that
Speaker 3: holds like a special place in your heart that stands
Speaker 3: out to you.
Speaker 2: Probably so many then there are, but for the new
Speaker 2: album let Me Goodnye, I would say that that's the
Speaker 2: title track, and I would say that that song specifically,
Speaker 2: there's just uh and they're very just like casual phrases
Speaker 2: and stuff, but it's what I wrote it. I've been
Speaker 2: on the road for two weeks and then I got
Speaker 2: home on a Sunday for about an hour and said
Speaker 2: hey to my babies and my wife, and then I
Speaker 2: had to unpack my bag and repack it and go
Speaker 2: to the airport and fly to Moine And I got
Speaker 2: there with my guitar player bo to the hotel and
Speaker 2: I was just I was bumming. I was really sad.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be back home. My babies were sad.
Speaker 2: And he was like, I'm gonna get some coffee you
Speaker 2: and go like I just gonna stay from the room
Speaker 2: and just beat a sad boy or whatever. And he's
Speaker 2: a car man. Let me know if anything scar. He
Speaker 2: left his guitar sitting on my bed. Uh, So I
Speaker 2: picked it up and I put my phone down. I
Speaker 2: started recording and had like a two minute voice memo
Speaker 2: and just sang like the first thing on my head
Speaker 2: and like wrote the first verse and chorus and uh
Speaker 2: second verse of the song and I was like, I
Speaker 2: need to put that down and digg an apple whatever.
Speaker 2: And a couple months later I finished it with my
Speaker 2: producer Andrew Bayless, and just that song, the it feels
Speaker 2: like it's kind of described describes like our whole situation.
Speaker 2: Uh it's the push and to pull pull the whole deal, uh,
Speaker 2: trying to find who's fake and what's real. And you're
Speaker 2: the only one that I feel, uh just because it's
Speaker 2: you know, it's a song about b M my road
Speaker 2: and uh, missing my wife and missing my babies and
Speaker 2: you know, feeling like, wow, am I doing the right thing?
Speaker 2: Being gone so much? And that whole idea. Uh that one,
Speaker 2: that one's along with my favorites.
Speaker 3: And that's the title track, I Love You good Night, Yes, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 3: It sounded like a you know, a bedtime song. And
Speaker 3: I have to say, even though this podcast is about music,
Speaker 3: I would love to know what one one tip from
Speaker 3: you that makes your family stay so complete, especially with
Speaker 3: what you do for a living, because that's not easy
Speaker 3: to share a relationship with someone. When you're a musician,
Speaker 3: you perform for thousands of people.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I think that uh unfortunately, honestly, the biggest
Speaker 2: thing is my wife is just a rock star. She is.
Speaker 2: He's she's like we've known each listen to her in
Speaker 2: fourth grade or third grade, and we've been best friends
Speaker 2: since fourth grade. And I mean I started playing music
Speaker 2: back in middle school. Uh so, like she's she's known
Speaker 2: for a long time that I wanted to play music.
Speaker 2: And uh when we got together, seniors like her and
Speaker 2: my mom brother two that even pushed me to just
Speaker 2: like to not go to nursing school after I've finished
Speaker 2: the year, my last year of basics, and they're like,
Speaker 2: you should try, you know, music. We put some music on.
Speaker 2: It was decent, and uh so I think, really it's
Speaker 2: just I'm super blessed and super lucky. My wife was. Uh,
Speaker 2: she's awesome. He's awesome. But also face timing, I mean,
Speaker 2: you know, I facetimed as much as that can on
Speaker 2: the road. But you know we're not far from family too.
Speaker 2: That that helps a bunch. But you know, other than that,
Speaker 2: it's just my life is awesome.
Speaker 3: Oh that's the right thing. To say, by the way,
Speaker 3: it's all your way.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3: So now you said to me just in that just
Speaker 3: earlier you were going to go into nursing. Isn't it
Speaker 3: interesting how healing music can be and almost in a
Speaker 3: sense you wanted to be in a profession that gave
Speaker 3: back immediately originally.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely absolutely. I think it feels really good to
Speaker 2: you or are to have people just you know, come up.
Speaker 2: And I love hearing people's stories about what my songs
Speaker 2: mean to them. If they mean thing to it, I
Speaker 2: mean enough for you to have. You know, there's core
Speaker 2: memory that stuck with it. You know, it means enough
Speaker 2: for me to hear it, and it's like that's part
Speaker 2: of it. That's like the whole, the whole thing. And
Speaker 2: also found out that I hate blood, so that was
Speaker 2: like the rich doctor that just saw patience or something,
Speaker 2: but not patience with anything nasty.
Speaker 1: No, that's so funny.
Speaker 3: Do you how has music helped you navigate some personal challenges?
Speaker 3: You mentioned you lost your dad when you were fourteen,
Speaker 3: and when you lose your dad at such a young age,
Speaker 3: it changes you and you really could go in two paths.
Speaker 3: My husband lost his father at fifteen, a friend of
Speaker 3: mine also lost their father, and it's it really changes you,
Speaker 3: especially if you had a really good relationship. So was
Speaker 3: music ever obviously it started with him. Was that something
Speaker 3: that helped you get through losing him?
Speaker 2: Sure? And I just like he got diagnosed with brain
Speaker 2: cancer when I was thirteen, and uh, I just started
Speaker 2: like really playing guitar and singing within those past year
Speaker 2: and a half. So he got just on. He got
Speaker 2: to see me kind of start and it was really
Speaker 2: pushing me to keep going. So that was a big
Speaker 2: inspiration in the end. But uh, yeah, after you passed away,
Speaker 2: I mean I was definitely I mean dove deep off
Speaker 2: in music and you know, I know every Whalen song
Speaker 2: and uh on the cloud Cross Canadian Ragweed was one
Speaker 2: of his funeral songs and Cross Kane Ragweed is an
Speaker 2: arclehole band, that's one of it was one of our
Speaker 2: favorites when we were growing up. It was another one
Speaker 2: like Whalen that we just listened to and I'm still
Speaker 2: one of my favorites. Uh. So like that, you know,
Speaker 2: I definitely dog deep off in music and uh lost
Speaker 2: myself but I started writing at lunch and making music too,
Speaker 2: and uh, trying to get better, you know. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: it was definitely big inspiration the.
Speaker 3: Fact that he was supportive of you and that you
Speaker 3: have that connection with Whalen geez.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I just can't help but to think that when that happens,
Speaker 3: you really could go in two directions in life, and
Speaker 3: and you pulled yourself out of it and created a
Speaker 3: career for yourself and married someone and had children. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's a really good story and it's a beautiful story.
Speaker 2: My brother too. I have a brother of two years younger.
Speaker 2: I mean he so you know, he was I was
Speaker 2: fourg and he was twelve, and he manages me. Now.
Speaker 2: So it's it's all the fan, Yes, it is. It's
Speaker 2: really awesome. I feel very lucky.
Speaker 3: Do you feel that there's a specific song that resonates
Speaker 3: deeply with your fans and brings them, you know, comfort
Speaker 3: or strength or to rephrase, what song of yours would
Speaker 3: you prescribe to comfort or inspire someone who really needed it?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think we got a few different a few
Speaker 2: different realities, you know, if you just need like a
Speaker 2: big to hell with that. Uh, we got a couple.
Speaker 2: We got one called hate You Too, which is uh,
Speaker 2: it's it's one of my favorites and stuff if I'm
Speaker 2: live and the other cub two words, the whole the
Speaker 2: whole hook is just f you. Uh and it's very fun. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know if you're if you're in love and you
Speaker 2: know you're you're loving somebody that got a few of those.
Speaker 2: A Fall is one of our our bigger songs. Uh.
Speaker 2: And I've had selly people come up and say like
Speaker 2: this was our first dance song. Like me, you know,
Speaker 2: we were one you do concerts and my boyfriend asked
Speaker 2: my friend asked me to be his boyfriend during you
Speaker 2: know whatever blah blah blah girlfriend. Uh, you know, so
Speaker 2: we had so many of those. Uh. One of my
Speaker 2: theorites is a song called coming Home, and it was
Speaker 2: me and my wife's wedding song. Actually it was just
Speaker 2: about me being gone and coming home. But off the
Speaker 2: new record, there's uh this one called One Big, Happy,
Speaker 2: Sad Family. If you're going through it and your family's
Speaker 2: driving you crazy and you just want reassuring, say not alone,
Speaker 2: that everybody's family is a little lackey. There you go.
Speaker 3: Like I said, when you read the titles of the song,
Speaker 3: it's almost like you're going what do I need today
Speaker 3: from Colby to make my day? It's so perfect. Colby Cooper.
Speaker 3: I wish you nothing but continued incredible success. You're with
Speaker 3: an amazing group. BMG. Hello and thank you for sharing
Speaker 3: your story with us on music Save Me and I
Speaker 3: hope that you do come back when you release the
Speaker 3: next EP.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you for having me.