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Speaker 1: Taking a Walk Nashville. Hi everyone, it's Sarah Harrelson, your

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Speaker 1: host of Taken a Walk Nashville, and today I have

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Speaker 1: a very special guest with me. It's Kevin Jonas Senior,

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Speaker 1: also known as Papa Jonas and the father of the

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Speaker 1: Jonas Brothers. Kevin is a music executive, entrepreneur and songwriter

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Speaker 1: that came from humble beginnings in Belmont, North Carolina, and

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Speaker 1: he is now the visionary behind Worldwide Superstars. His new single,

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Speaker 1: Key of You was released on March thirteenth, and he

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Speaker 1: is here today with me on Taking a Walk Nashville.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Taking a Walk Nashville with your hosts singer

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Speaker 1: songwriter Sarah Harrelson. Kevin, thank you so much for being

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Speaker 1: on Taking a Walk Nashville today. So you grew up

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Speaker 1: in a small textile mill town near Charlotte, North Carolina,

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Speaker 1: and you grew up with a passion for music, and

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Speaker 1: you recognize this talent in your own sons at a

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Speaker 1: young age, and you say that you would drive them

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Speaker 1: to their shows in a red van. Were a lot

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Speaker 1: of these trips taken to Nashville when you were in

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Speaker 1: North Carolina orre was La. Kind of the starting point there.

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Speaker 2: Well, actually I started in North Carolina, and you know,

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Speaker 2: mostly in church circles. I sang around church and my

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Speaker 2: mom would take me to churches play for me, and

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Speaker 2: I would sing or minister in those churches, and then

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Speaker 2: I ended up getting involved in like worship ministry in churches,

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Speaker 2: so my kids really grew up seeing me singing. And

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Speaker 2: then we took an opportunity in New Jersey, right across

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Speaker 2: from New York, and the boys started working on Broadway.

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Speaker 2: Both Joe and Nick had Broadway shows and off Broadway shows.

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Speaker 2: I think Nick by the time he was ten had

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Speaker 2: like four Broadway shows, so we were definitely sewing into

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Speaker 2: their talent writing songs with them. Then Nick at eleven

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Speaker 2: signed a solo deal that became the Jonas Brothers, and

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Speaker 2: the rest kind of was history. So the Tide to

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Speaker 2: Nashville really points back to when I was pursuing my

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Speaker 2: music early in my life eighteen to twenty five, and

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Speaker 2: I would go up and down music row and knock

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Speaker 2: on every door. Some doors open, not many, and there

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Speaker 2: were some really kind people who took this kid in

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Speaker 2: and some tried to get me to write better songs,

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Speaker 2: and some inspired me, and some gave me great business advice.

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Speaker 2: Can't can't thank them enough for all that they gave

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Speaker 2: me and inspired me with. And actually I started in

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Speaker 2: North Carolina in church music, but also in country music.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you talk about how you started in church

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Speaker 1: music and Christian music, and you also co wrote I

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Speaker 1: Still Have the Dream with Michael W. Smith and you

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Speaker 1: pen the global worship anthem to be Glory, which has

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Speaker 1: a mass more than half a billion streams worldwide. So

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Speaker 1: at this point in your career, were you trying to

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Speaker 1: make it as an artist yourself or were you finding

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Speaker 1: joy and writing music for others and developing other artists.

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Speaker 2: That's a great question. I was pursuing life as an artist.

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Speaker 2: That movie Mister Hollins Opus where he stops at a

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Speaker 2: high school on his way to his dream. I feel

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Speaker 2: like I have had a lot of that in my life,

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Speaker 2: and then I look back in those are the great moments.

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Speaker 2: I loved developing talent, and I was always doing it.

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Speaker 2: So if I were in churches or traveling the world

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Speaker 2: with worship music, it led me to people that in

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Speaker 2: inspired me more than I inspired them. And some of

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Speaker 2: my students went on to do incredible things. And the

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Speaker 2: reason that song to him, be Glory really took off.

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Speaker 2: Was a student of mine translated it into Portuguese and

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Speaker 2: she and a protege of hers both recorded and it

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Speaker 2: just blew up. And so again, Lifefe has been very,

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Speaker 2: very good to us. But I get probably my greatest

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Speaker 2: joy out of seeing people leave their dream And that

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Speaker 2: might sound cliche, but it's so true. I love watching

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Speaker 2: the artists you've worked with standing on a stage and

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Speaker 2: doing it something they've dreamed of their entire life. I

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Speaker 2: get incredible satisfaction out of that. And when my sons

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Speaker 2: are on stage, I just turn around in circles and

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Speaker 2: I'm just watching them, and I'm watching the crowd and

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Speaker 2: watching them, and I'm watching the crowd, usually with tears

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Speaker 2: rolling down my just so thankful for that connection that

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Speaker 2: happens when an artist and their followers and fans and

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Speaker 2: fan family are really tied to them passionately. So so

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Speaker 2: many things to be grateful for, but probably living that

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Speaker 2: with a good number of artists is my highlight.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's beautiful. And you've written a lot of songs

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Speaker 1: with your sons and for your sons, and you're getting

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Speaker 1: back into your own artistry as well. You just released

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Speaker 1: a new single, Key of You. It's a beautiful love

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Speaker 1: song to your wife Denise, written by Marcus Hammon. I

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Speaker 1: loved listening to this. There's no question that singing runs

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Speaker 1: in your family. Loved listening to your vocals on this song.

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Speaker 1: What does it mean for you to be able to

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Speaker 1: put this music out as an artist?

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Speaker 2: Well, I would venture to say I really don't have

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Speaker 2: a desire. I'm not pursued doing life as an artist.

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Speaker 2: As I said, I have plenty to do with the

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Speaker 2: Jonas Group and the various things that I have on

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Speaker 2: my plate. But music is breathing to me. It was

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Speaker 2: my entire life and is my entire life, whether I'm

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Speaker 2: singing it, writing it, or helping other people do things

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Speaker 2: and perform it. So I don't feel like I'm doing

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Speaker 2: it because like I released a Christmas album, but my

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Speaker 2: wife had asked me to do that thirty five years ago,

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Speaker 2: so it was somewhat for that. And it is our

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Speaker 2: fortieth anniversary, and I'm just very thankful for her and

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Speaker 2: all that we've gone through through the years. And the

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Speaker 2: song just paints a wonderful picture of I think love

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Speaker 2: in general. But there's so many moments in the song

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Speaker 2: that are very uniquely things that I hold dear, like

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Speaker 2: you know, watching my wife just even when she sleeps,

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Speaker 2: she's beautiful and peaceful.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's precious and such a wonderful anniversary gift. So

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Speaker 1: in addition to being a songwriter and an artist, you're

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Speaker 1: an entrepreneur. You found a Jonas Group Entertainment in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and five and established headquarters here in Nashville in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three along with Red Van Records, referencing that

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Speaker 1: Red Van used to drive your sons around into gigs.

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Speaker 1: Why did you want to plant your roots in Nashville specifically,

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Speaker 1: and do you think currently it's important for artists to

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Speaker 1: be in Nashville who want to make a career in music.

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Speaker 2: I do you know? My kids were in pop music.

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Speaker 2: I raised them on a ton of country in Christian music.

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Speaker 2: The reason I chose Nashville is that two of the

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Speaker 2: main music styles and genres that I loved and was

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Speaker 2: raised and Christian and country both really have their headquarters there.

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Speaker 2: And it was a place that I learned to love

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Speaker 2: songwriting and was inspired by real songwriters and the songwriting

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Speaker 2: community and the songwriter rounds, and it just felt like

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Speaker 2: the right home, lived a lot of life in New York,

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Speaker 2: a lot of life in LA, and done a lot

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Speaker 2: of things with artists and our entertainment company. But the

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Speaker 2: reality is the spirit that I sense in Nashville really

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Speaker 2: is the reason I love it so much.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's great. You know, you see a

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Speaker 1: lot of artists and entertainers moving from LA to Nashville

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Speaker 1: now to pursue music. But also Nashville is just so

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Speaker 1: great for community, I think, not only in country music

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Speaker 1: but in music in general.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, No, it's it was very specifically Christian and country

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Speaker 2: when I first started going. Yeah, now it's all music,

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Speaker 2: and they're there's such a variety. There's such a great

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Speaker 2: cross section of pop and pop, rock and R and

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Speaker 2: B and legacy, And I think it has become a

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Speaker 2: better music center than even New York in LA because

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Speaker 2: it really does provide a nurturing ground for a lot

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Speaker 2: of talent and has embraced things beyond the earlier I

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Speaker 2: won't say limitations, but limited genre. So I'm very thankful

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Speaker 2: in our group. Yes, we have a ton of country

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Speaker 2: and country writers, but we have a rock producer, we

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Speaker 2: have a pop rock band, we have a Joni Mitchell

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Speaker 2: esque artist. I mean you could just go through. We

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Speaker 2: have an Americana artist and in my son Franklin that

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Speaker 2: we're connected with, you know, and we're releasing songs in

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Speaker 2: week after week. It's Luke Bryan, or it's Earnest, or

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Speaker 2: it's but Then pop or pop rock. So that variety

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Speaker 2: inspires me. I don't fit into walls very well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I love that. You definitely have your hands and

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Speaker 1: all genres, and you've played a pivotal role in guiding

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Speaker 1: and developing artists, pop artists such as Demi Lovado, Jordan Sparks,

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Speaker 1: K Pop Sensation, the Wonder Girls. So being in the

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Speaker 1: music industry and young Disney Channel star, especially at a

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Speaker 1: young age for a teen, can be so hard to handle.

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Speaker 1: So what has been your approach when working with and

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Speaker 1: developing young artists. What is the advice you give them

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Speaker 1: when they face so much pressure in the spotlight at

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Speaker 1: a young age.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel really bad for a lot of the

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Speaker 2: young talent coming up, and no one can prepare you

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Speaker 2: for what happens, Like when Disney meets the right artist

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Speaker 2: and the right content, what that can be is unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: And you know, my sons came in. It was a

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Speaker 2: high school musical introduced Tanna Montana, who introduced the Jonas Brothers,

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Speaker 2: who introduced Demi Lovato, and it just it was wave

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Speaker 2: after wave after wave, and those children, and they many

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Speaker 2: of them were or teens, were thrust into a national

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Speaker 2: spotlight and everybody they dated was the cover of People magazine.

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Speaker 2: And so my yearbook was a small town. There's all

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Speaker 2: over the world, there's a lot of pressure. And I

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Speaker 2: had a motto that I learned from my grandfather that

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Speaker 2: I gave to my children. Live like you're at the bottom,

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Speaker 2: even if you're at the top. Just stay a good person.

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Speaker 2: Surround yourself with good people because there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: people that will take advantage of you in the world

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Speaker 2: like that and moments like that. And really appreciate your fans.

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Speaker 2: They sacrifice a lot to love you and to follow

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Speaker 2: you and to buy your product. But I think it's isolating.

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Speaker 2: So it's also very important that you maintain your mental health,

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Speaker 2: myself included. You know, to really work to make sure

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Speaker 2: that you're staying centered, because it can be just so

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Speaker 2: confusing and at times enticing, and if you're not careful,

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Speaker 2: can affect your attitude Probably the best thing I hear

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Speaker 2: is when people tell me that my sons, our sons

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Speaker 2: are really great young men. And I know that that's

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Speaker 2: a ton of choices and a lot of really good luck,

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Speaker 2: but I tried with all of those to be a

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Speaker 2: good example. I tell you this past summer, when Demi

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Speaker 2: joined the Boys back on stage after all that time, uh,

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Speaker 2: standing backstage greeting her, seeing her healthy, watching that explosion

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Speaker 2: of love for all of them, just unbelievable, unbelievable. One

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Speaker 2: of the highlights of my professional life was just being

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Speaker 2: able to be there for that historic moment and in

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Speaker 2: the world that they lived in. If you grew up

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Speaker 2: where camp Rock was in your world, that that was

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Speaker 2: a moment.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that was definitely part of my world growing up.

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Speaker 1: You know, watching Disney Channel Gambrock and you know your

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Speaker 1: son's on Disney Channel. But you know, speaking to that point,

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Speaker 1: you know, like you said, you would see them on

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Speaker 1: the covers of People magazine. But now it's different for

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Speaker 1: teens in the music industry because they have to face

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Speaker 1: social media. They have the pressure second by second right

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Speaker 1: in front of them. So it's a whole different game now.

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Speaker 2: The whole world or paparazzi and any comment, whether true

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Speaker 2: or not, can run quickly, and your private life is

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Speaker 2: not private. It's tough, you know. I think my kids

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Speaker 2: grew up in it because MySpace was already active, but

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Speaker 2: it's just evolved and become so difficult and for some

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Speaker 2: artists in particular, really difficult to maintain your sanity, maintain

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Speaker 2: your emotional and mental health, knowing that anything you put

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Speaker 2: out people can criticize, and they will, and that somebody

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Speaker 2: sitting in their basement can start a fire that has

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Speaker 2: nothing to do with you or your conduct and mess

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Speaker 2: with your life. Those are tough things. And they're not

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Speaker 2: just tough for kids, they're tough for everybody.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's so important. I think it's so important

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Speaker 1: to stay true to who you are as an artist

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Speaker 1: and push all of that, all of that noise aside.

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Speaker 1: But in addition to music, you own the restaurant Nelly's

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Speaker 1: Southern Kitchen located in Belmont, North Carolina and Las Vegas.

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Speaker 1: Will we see a location in Nashville for this restaurant

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Speaker 1: in the future.

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Speaker 2: You know, We've looked at some property all over Nashville,

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Speaker 2: and if we find the right thing, I think that

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Speaker 2: is in the cards. I think it ironically, there's not

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Speaker 2: a ton of Southern, like straight ahead Southern food. And

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Speaker 2: my grandmother, as you said it, worked in a textile

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Speaker 2: meal and grew up really in a North Carolina mill village.

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Speaker 2: And I tell people all the time, if you've seen

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Speaker 2: Hunger Games in District twelve, where the lead came from

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Speaker 2: and the poverty there it was filmed, that set is

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Speaker 2: a North Carolina cotton mill village. Oh wow, So not

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Speaker 2: far from where I grew up. And the kind of

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Speaker 2: environment my grandmother was a part of, and she worked

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Speaker 2: so hard and then we come home and make the

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Speaker 2: most amazing food. So Nellie's really is a tribute to

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Speaker 2: her and taking me in when I needed it, And

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Speaker 2: no matter where in the world I would go, I

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Speaker 2: would come home to her banana pudding and her chicken

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Speaker 2: and dumplings, and that made my life. When I think

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Speaker 2: of home, that's what I think of.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely great comfort food. If listeners are in those areas,

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Speaker 1: definitely check out Nellie's Southern Kitchen. So, Kevin, what are

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Speaker 1: you most looking forward to this year with the artist

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Speaker 1: you're working with at Join Us Group Entertainment.

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Speaker 2: Well, we work with Ray Lynn love her and that

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Speaker 2: girl is just a spitfire. She has our heart and

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Speaker 2: I think this could be a really great year for her.

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Speaker 2: Very exciting things coming. We have some We have a

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Speaker 2: young rock band, pop rock that I really feel like

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Speaker 2: could go. It always takes a lot of different factors.

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Speaker 2: I'm very excited for my youngest son, Franklin. The music

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Speaker 2: that he's working on right now is from his heart.

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Speaker 2: It's legit for him and it's that modern Americana and

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Speaker 2: it is lyrically amazing, painful at times, but really amazing.

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Speaker 2: And we have a young girl that is Kenny Loggins

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Speaker 2: if you know that name, famous in the seventies, eighties, Footloose,

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Speaker 2: all those theme songs, Caddyshack theme songs, but beyond a

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Speaker 2: danger zone. Kenny's stepdaughter Hunter Hawkins. It seems every room

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Speaker 2: we go in it's just like, Wow, this is special.

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Speaker 2: And really there's no music out yet of the new

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Speaker 2: group of songs that really do identify our amazing guitar player,

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Speaker 2: amazing vocalist, amazing songwriter. So I think we have a lot.

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Speaker 2: And then on the songwriting side, every week is just

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Speaker 2: a new release from our publishing company. Today is Luke

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Speaker 2: Bryan A couple of weeks ago was Pitbull and songs

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Speaker 2: that were written with our team pit Bull and Fillmore

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Speaker 2: and then Earnest and Snoop Dogg, And like, it's just

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Speaker 2: watching these songs that are being written in our basement

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Speaker 2: and the writing rooms and with the writers that we've

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Speaker 2: signed just lights me up as a guy that really

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Speaker 2: loves great songs. So fun to see what's happening there.

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Speaker 2: And we're about to have our first top ten and

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Speaker 2: you know that's we're new. So this is getting pretty

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Speaker 2: exciting because Nick my son wrote a song and Rascal

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Speaker 2: Flats and the Jonas Brothers sing it together called I

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Speaker 2: Dare You, and I believe it's about to make its

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Speaker 2: run to the top of the chart.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's on Rascal Flats new revamped albums from their

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Speaker 1: previous previous Hits album. So I really love that collaboration.

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Speaker 1: And you have so much music coming out this year

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Speaker 1: from Jonas group. Looking forward to that new music from

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Speaker 1: Franklin as well. Kevin, this is a question I always

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Speaker 1: like to ask my listeners on taking a walk in Nashville,

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Speaker 1: and you kind of mentioned it when you talked about

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Speaker 1: walking down Music Row back in the day. But do

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Speaker 1: you have a favorite place you like to take a

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Speaker 1: walk in Nashville.

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Speaker 2: Oh, there are two spots in the Nashville area. I

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Speaker 2: love I pace when I talk on the phone, So

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Speaker 2: I have done loops around Music Row for so many

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Speaker 2: years that that's like my walking path, and I'll go

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Speaker 2: with traffic. I rarely use the alleys and I just

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Speaker 2: talk on the phone and walk around. See the songwriters,

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Speaker 2: see the tourists, see all the music inspiration all around you.

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Speaker 2: I love, love, love that. And the other area I

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Speaker 2: really love is downtown Franklin. I just that that whole

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Speaker 2: area there. I don't know, there's something really We've stayed

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Speaker 2: there often and kind of fell in love with Franklin

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Speaker 2: as well. Yeah, it's a beauty, beautiful town. In the

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Speaker 2: downtown area is the one we've looked at as a

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Speaker 2: possible outlet for Nellie's, but I think we want to

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Speaker 2: be closer.

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Speaker 1: To the action. Yeah, definitely on Main Street. I could

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Speaker 1: see Nellie's being there in Franklin.

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Speaker 2: Nellie's would be a perfect fit for downtown Franklin.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I hope to see it there. Yeah. Those

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Speaker 1: are definitely popular answers for taking a walk, and I

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Speaker 1: can only imagine when you walk on Music Row now

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Speaker 1: how much change is around you, because that's something we

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Speaker 1: talk about all the time on this podcast, is how

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Speaker 1: much Music Row has changed.

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Speaker 2: Well, my first trip to Nashville was thirty five, thirty

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Speaker 2: seven years ago, and it has completely changed, but and

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Speaker 2: it still has its identity. The music companies are still there.

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Speaker 2: But it was a publishing company and it was a

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Speaker 2: record company, and it was you know, an artist and

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Speaker 2: their efforts, and it was the home of a great songwriter.

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Speaker 2: Like it was just so eclectic and from one side

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Speaker 2: of the street to the other it would just bounce

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Speaker 2: with with the different elements of the music business all

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Speaker 2: condensed into this really tiny section of town, and I

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Speaker 2: just thought it was just heaven on earth.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, definitely a lot of change since then, but

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Speaker 1: there's also been a lot of good change. And we're

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Speaker 1: looking forward to upcoming releases from your artists this year

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Speaker 1: and listening to your new beautiful single, Key of You. Kevin.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much again for on taking a Walk

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Speaker 1: Nashville today.

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Speaker 2: Thank you honored to be with you. Thank you so much.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah

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Speaker 1: Harrelson Please check out our other shows produced by Buzznight

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Speaker 1: Media Productions, Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me hosted

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Speaker 1: by Lynn Hoffman, and Taking a Walk hosted by Yours

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Speaker 1: Truly Buzznight. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify

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Speaker 1: and are part of the iHeart podcast network