WEBVTT - Chris Lane 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:04.760 Hello everyone, and welcome to the first episode of Inside 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:08.479 the Studio of Happy New Year. Everyone. My name is 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.639 Jordan run Tug, but enough about me. My guest today 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:13.800 is one of the brightest lights on the country scene. 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:16.639 He scaled the charts with Take Back Home Girl and 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.360 I Don't Know About You, and the platinum seller he 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.560 wrote for his wife Lauren Bushnell, Big Big Plans, has 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:25.720 served as the soundtrack to Love Struck Couples across the globe. 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.360 He had a huge summer with the success of Filled 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.480 Them Boots, and he's shipping up to have an even 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.440 bigger winner with his new track Stopped Coming Over and 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.400 a new tour on the horizon too. It kicks off 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.879 on January the House of Blues in my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:43.720 I'm so happy to welcome Mr Chris Lane. I hope 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.800 you enjoy our conversation. So many things I want to 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:50.000 talk to you about, but I want to start with 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.040 your brand new song Stop Coming Over, which I love 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.160 because when I first heard the title, I thought, oh man, 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:57.600 here's a breakup song if I've ever heard one. And 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.000 then I listened to the words and I was very 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.000 are we wrong? Tell me the story about that song. 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.759 Is it based on a true story for you? Yeah? Well, um, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:10.039 long story short, Um. Some writers at Big Loud, my 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.240 record label, wrote this song and pitched it to me, 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:16.759 and that was the first thing. My My initial thought was, Oh, 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.840 it's a breakup song and uh. When I listened to 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:22.080 it the first time and heard the hook of it 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.920 when it said stop coming over and start coming home, 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.080 I was like, I have to record that song. It's it. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:30.880 I feel like for me, it's uh in a way 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.360 I don't know about you. To point out, it has 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:37.800 a very similar, very similar sound and style of vocal 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:39.720 on it. Um that I was able to throw on it. 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.839 So yeah, I loved everything about the song. I feel 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.760 like it was very uh catchy and clever songwriting. Oh 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:47.520 it's such a great track. I gotta say I love 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.480 the guitars on it too. It sounds like an old 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:51.840 Royal Orbison track or something. I love what what you 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:54.640 guys did with that. Yeah. Yeah. Joey Moore and my 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.520 producer always knows how to find a way to take 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.280 a song at the next level. And I really do 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.160 love those guitars as well. I can't wait to play 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.600 that song live. Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.360 so many great new songs to you know, to bring 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.200 to folks. Me had a huge song over the summer, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.120 fill Them Boots. It's interesting to me that you had 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:15.600 that song kicking around for quite some time, like I 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:17.720 think over two years. Can you tell me a little 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.480 bit about how that song came to be? Yeah, So, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.560 fill Them Boots was a song that I wrote out 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:26.720 on the road. Now, I have not had a ton 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.840 of writers out on the road with me, um up 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:31.919 until that point. It may have been the first weekend 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:33.880 I had ever had writers out on the road. So 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:38.480 three of my favorite guys here in town, Ernest Josh Miller, 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.160 Mark trussell Um came out rode the bus with me, 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.600 and we ended up writing this song late night one 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:50.360 night after a show I believe in Michigan, and um, 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.880 just a just a song title that I've had my 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:56.200 phone for quite some time, and uh we kind of 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.799 started freestyling around a little bit and and that was 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.800 stuck in the room and uh yeah, we wrote it 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:04.600 that night, and I sat on it for two years 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:06.680 and never got tired of the demos, So I figured 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.520 it was probably time to record that thing. Do you 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:12.680 get inspired on the road. Like, I know that's there's 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:14.280 probably a lot of you tuck a lot of artists 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.000 and they say that going on tour, there's a lot 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.239 of hurry up and wait. Do you like got a 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.359 lot of ideas for songs and you know, humming things 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:23.600 in your voice, notes on your phone and stuff like 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.000 that a lot. Is it an inspiring time for you? Yeah, 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.480 for sure. I think. I think for me, what I've 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.360 liked about the process of writing out on the road 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:36.880 is I tend to work well after the show. I 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.840 don't know why that is, but you come off stage 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.520 and uh, you're just super pumped up because the crowd 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.280 was incredible. They were singing along to your songs, and 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.360 I think it's, uh, it gives you that desire to 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:51.240 want to sit down and try to write the next 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.560 one that they'll sing along too. And and so maybe 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.640 it's just an inspiring moment walking off the stage and 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.520 and uh and writing in that moment even though you're 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:02.520 kind of exhausted, you're out of breath. All that kind 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:04.800 of stuff I've had a good time doing. And I 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.960 feel like I've had some luck doing that. That's so interesting. 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.119 I've never heard anyone say that, But that makes total sense. 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.600 You got the adrenaline going and you want to recapture 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:15.960 that desire to connect with people like you just had. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.800 That's amazing. Yep. You mentioned that Joey moy earlier. I mean, 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:25.400 he has an amazing track record working with folks like Florida, Georgia, Line, Nickelback, 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.719 so many people. What does he bring to the table. 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.880 What's your working relationship like with him? Working relationship. We've 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:37.039 been working together for probably six years now. UM, he's 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.359 the only producer I've ever had, UM my first producer 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:44.560 here in town. And UH that was honestly a big 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.560 reason that I signed here at Big Louder early on, 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:52.440 and just with the production, UH management and and UH 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.440 a publishing deal I signed all at the same time. 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.040 But he was a big part of that UH. And 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.440 he had just had massive six as with Florida, Georgia Line. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.119 I really loved what he had done with UH with them, 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.560 and I thought, Man, if I have the opportunity to 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:10.760 work with him, I absolutely have to take that and 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.520 and and so I did, and I feel like it's 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.280 been the best decision I could have ever made for 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:19.159 my career. You know, now he's got a whole slew 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.760 of artists under and Morgan Wallin Hardy, you know all 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.599 these guys who are who are really popping off right now. So, 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.560 uh yeah, I feel lucky to have him as my producer. 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.760 I feel like he always knows how to take songs 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:35.120 to the next level, and we worked really well together. 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.680 He knows how to push me to get to get 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.600 the best, uh, to get the best out of it. 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.960 I love what you guys do together. I love the 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.599 song from I think it was from earlier this summer, 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.880 the summer job money, Uh that song, I mean just 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.960 the message, bhy the story, and it really takes me back. 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.599 Tell me about a little bit about that song. Yeah, 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.240 I think you you nailed it there. It does the 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.239 same exact thing for me. It takes back to uh 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.919 to high school. I mean for me, I actually worked 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.400 uh as a landscaper for my summer job, and you 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.120 did it so you could take your girlfriend out on 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.760 the date or whoever it may be. And um, yeah, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.119 it feels nostalgic. I've been a huge fan of Kenny 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.120 Chesney for so long and I feel like he is 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.919 the king of these style songs. And I heard that 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.680 song for the first time, and I had to report 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.320 it because it did a very similar thing that Kenny 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.039 Chesney songs do for me. It kind of takes you 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.480 to a certain point in your life and and some 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.240 great memories that you've had, and and hopefully it's done 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.280 that for others as well. Oh totally. You know, it 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.040 reminds me of that old rock and roll song Summertime 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.440 Blues by Eddie Cochrane about a guy working all summers 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.039 trying to earn some money. Yeah, it's got that as 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.320 a great old track. I thought this was a really cool, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.240 like kind of update of it in a way. Yeah, 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.600 tasting back to my landscaping days. Man, I don't necessarily 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:01.880 miss him though. Yeah, I was gonna say the video 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.000 has that too, you step out of the truck with 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.320 with Lane long Care on it. I mean, it's it's 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:09.120 it's so cool that I love that you had that 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.840 personal touch in the in the video there. Yeah, I 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.400 felt like I had to have been a missed opportunity 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.760 not to do that. And and my dad's still running 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.280 Land and Sons Landscaping there in Kurd of this little 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:23.720 North Carolina. No way, I didn't realize that still running it. Man. 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.240 I feel like I feel like I've got to get 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.360 back there one day and just run out there and 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:33.160 help them strike some yards up. Oh man, I mean, 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.200 it's it's crazy to think of being about all all 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.400 the different paths your life could have taken me. We're 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.080 working at you know, your your your folks long care company. 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.360 I know you were an athlete in college on the 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.680 baseball team at u NC Charlotte. At what point did 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.360 you know that that music was gonna be the you know, 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.680 the direction in your life? Man? I would say I 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:56.400 discovered it super late in my uh, super late in 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.240 my life. I wish I had learned how to play 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.920 the guitar as a kid in and stuck with it 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:02.800 all that kind of stuff, but that just was not 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.119 the case for me. I didn't really sing my entire life, 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:10.160 none of that. I played sports, football, baseball, basketball, um, 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.040 every day of my life. I feel like, as a 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.040 kid all the way through high school and college and 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.720 and then play baseball there in college. And you know, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:19.920 I think my real dream at the time was to 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.760 go play professional baseball. That's what I had worked for, 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.120 you know, ever since I was a kid, and that's 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:30.520 what I wanted. Um. But then it ended up not happening. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.120 I have an identical twin brother that also played with me, 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.000 and and you know, he had the opportunity to move 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.200 on and play decided not to do so, but I 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:42.559 did not have the opportunity. So, uh, my last semester 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.120 of college, I had to go back for a half 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.240 semester to finish right after my four years of baseball, 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.560 And that's when I started learning how to play the guitar, 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.600 just for fun. And when I got good enough at 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:55.839 playing the guitar, I started trying to sing. And I'd 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.280 sit there and play all those Jason Aldean at church, 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.880 Kenny Chesney, I mean, you name it, I would. I 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:03.800 would learn it and play it. And then I would 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.080 go up to this place called board Wall Billy's there 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.640 in Charlotte, North Carolina, just right up behind you and 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:13.880 see Charlotte, and they do a college a college night 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:17.240 there and it would be an open mic and I 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.560 would jump up there and play two or three songs, 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.760 and people always encourage me. They would be like, man, 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:24.920 I really like what you do. Uh, I feel like 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.360 you're really good. All that kind of stuff, and so 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.000 it encouraged me to keep trying really hard. And I 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.480 developed a passion for music, UM that I never had 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.160 with baseball, and and and again baseball was my dream. 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.600 So I worked really hard at the music. UH started 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:45.600 a cover band in North Carolina after I graduated. UM 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.440 my twin brothers started learning how to play the drums 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:51.520 just for fun. And UH, it's crazy here we are, 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.840 all these years later, UH still getting to play music together. 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:58.920 And and now we're out on the road. UM, you know, 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.200 touring with some of my favorite artists of all time. 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.200 It's been it's been quite the ride so far. But yeah, 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.199 a couple of years into being a cover band, two 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:10.000 or three years, I decided, you know what, I was 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.360 able to start selling out all these big clubs that 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:18.240 national acts from Nashville come down, and sometimes they would 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.080 not sell my hometown club out. So UH, I started 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.440 branching out into Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, as well as 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:29.480 UH playing a lot in North Carolina Steel And that's 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.319 how I ended up getting discovered, and people from Nashville 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:37.000 record labels UH started flying out to watch me play 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.240 and and I ended up with the record deal on 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.880 the table. And here I am now with my sixth 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:46.320 song on the radio. Is pretty crazy. Oh man. At 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.400 what point did you move from from primarily doing you know, 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.600 cover songs and other people's songs to uh, to write 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:54.559 in your own I mean that's that's a big jump 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.120 for any artist. Yeah, for sure. Um. I would say 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:03.360 probably two years into being a cover band. UM, I 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.439 started trying to write my own music. Now, I didn't 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.240 know where to begin. I'd never tried writing a song before, 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.880 didn't even know how to write a song. But uh, 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:16.280 I just thought, Okay, what would Kenny Chesney say that, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.240 you know, as my one of my favorite artists, or 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.440 what would Keith Urban say, or how would they I 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.360 would listen to one of their songs and and and 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.720 just try to put the pieces together on how to 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.400 write my own song. And that's what I did. Early on. 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:30.839 I'd sit there and right by myself. I put out 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:35.320 a little self made record that was really terrible back 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:37.400 in the day. It was under Chris Lane band that 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.800 was my name back then. Um. I didn't put much 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.559 thought into that, as I had no idea one day 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:45.560 down the road I would end up with the record deal. 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.480 But I think the encouraging part for me was to 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.120 see people showing up night after night and they would 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:56.480 sing those terrible songs that I would write, and uh, yeah, 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.720 it just it created a hunger in me man to 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.280 keep writing. And then, uh, when I got to Nashville, 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.880 I started getting into the room with guys who have 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.520 had tons of number ones, who actually know how to 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:12.600 write songs, and I really started learning from there on 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:16.240 how to really write a song. Um and and that 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.560 was huge for me from the beginning. So it really 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.439 took me getting to Nashville to kind of learn from 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.360 guys who had a clue what was going on and 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.120 who who knew how to do that for me to 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.599 actually learn. But you know, everybody starts from somewhere, and 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:31.240 I wouldn't trade those songs to the world, even though 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:33.640 I go back and listen to them now and track up. 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.560 How is the pandemic impacted you creatively? I mean, I 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.120 know that on one hand, that's you know a lot 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.920 of added stress, but also there's a lot of uh 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:57.600 time that you're able to you know, not be on 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.880 the road and and kind of be in one place. 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.120 And I know you said in some interviews that you've 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.400 actually written a lot more than you ever have. How 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.920 has that been for you? Yeah, you know, what it 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.720 did give me the opportunity to sit down and write 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.439 a ton of songs and a lot that I'm very 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:16.800 excited about, and and a lot that I probably would 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:19.559 never have written and had it not been for that. 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:21.960 So that's kind of been the silver lining of the 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:26.040 pandemic for me. You know, I've missed touring a lot. 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.520 I feel like I had a great momentum going before 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.160 COVID hit. Um, and you know, everybody's gonna work to 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.760 get that back. But um, you know, great songs will 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.480 help carry your career for until you want to stop 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.839 doing it at the end of the day. So very 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:43.920 excited about those songs that I was able to write, 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.480 and and um that I'll continue to write now. Now 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:48.839 I'm gonna bring writers out on the road a lot 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.640 when I start touring again, UM, because I feel like 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.360 I've I've, for whatever reason, I write a little bit 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.760 better out on the road. I'm a little more creative, 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.520 I think here here here in Nashville, I'll go in 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.600 and write. And even though I've got some really great songs, 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:06.679 you know, now that I have a little boy, I've 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.280 gotta I've gotta try to manage my time a little 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.600 bit better, and I've got to get home um as 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.280 quickly as I possibly can to help out out on 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.719 the road. You know, it's just right all day long 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.200 if you want, or you can take a break and 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.000 play the show and then come back on the bus 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.720 and write again at night. But I will say this, 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:28.400 early on in my career, UM, I did not write 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:30.720 a lot of my songs, and a lot of that 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.240 is my path was different than some of the guys 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:38.480 uh nowadays, where they start out as songwriters and become 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:43.200 successful at that and then their career pops off. Mine 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.800 actually happened. I guess when I got here to town, 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:50.280 recorded some songs, and then I got my first song 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:54.360 on the radio. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.680 have the opportunity to sit down and write tons of songs. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.360 So I read lied a lot on outside cuts on 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.640 my first two records because I wasn't able to sit 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.520 down and write as much. I was out on radio 0:15:06.600 --> 0:15:09.160 tour for twenty one straight week. But you literally just 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.200 can't write here your point blame because you're gone seven 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.320 days a week, every day of the week, and then 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:18.840 playing shows on the weekends. UM So now, like I 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.640 like the fact that I've been able to have some success. 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.120 You get a little bit more time off, you don't 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.120 have to go play as many shows, you're not out 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.160 there on radio tour. So it's given me a chance 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:32.040 to sit down and write uh tons of songs now 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.880 and and um, I'm feeling better than I ever have 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:39.480 with with the whole creative and writing process effects. And 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.800 this is a question coming from somebody who's never written 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:45.200 a song in his life, Not to get tu nitty gritty, 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.520 but how is that process for you? Do you hear 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.040 something in your head and then go to an instrument 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:51.560 and try to get it out of you or are 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:53.400 you just sit down with a guitar or piano or 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:55.920 whatever you're using and just kind of let your fingers 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.080 move until you hit something that you like and build 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.800 it up from there. Is it a combination. I think 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.520 it's a combination of both. But um, at the end 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.240 of the day, every song is different, and the way 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.200 you write it, every song, honestly it feels different. Um. 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.640 A lot of times I will have an idea in 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.600 my head and I'll go to my voice memo on 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.360 my phone and and whether it's a melody that I 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:19.840 record in there or whether it's an actual idea, and 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:22.600 I'll literally just sit there and talk out on my 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.360 phone and say, uh, this is the idea that I 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.520 want to portray and and this is the hook that 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.640 I want to come across. And then I'll start figuring 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:35.160 out how to get it there, and sometimes you can't. UM. 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.280 It takes up and getting into the room with other 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.440 people to say, hey, I have this idea, playat form 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.520 and then as a collective group, you figure out what 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.720 would be the best uh, what would be the best 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.160 look for UM. So I yes, I'll sit there and 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.720 write songs by myself, but it usually takes getting into 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:54.720 the room with at least one more person, if not 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.240 two people, to kind of uh nail it out. And 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.200 sometimes you don't even get it right in the room. 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.040 I mean my song Big Big Plans. We went back 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:07.160 in three separate times and finally finished that song. Um. 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:10.600 We didn't necessarily have direction on how to finish it, 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:14.040 and I said, you know, I do plan on proposing 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.760 in the next couple of months. Um, maybe we could 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:19.840 write a proposal into that third verse and I could 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:21.919 use it as that and and not knowing in the 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.679 moment that I'd end up having it as a single. 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:28.159 It was never even intended for that. But um, it's 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:30.880 crazy how songs spinne their way and and each song 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.760 is different. When you sit down to write it, I 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:35.760 think it's gonna be crazy for you. I mean, you know, 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:37.760 Big Big Plans is a great example. I mean, the 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.640 song that that came from that such a part of 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.560 your life, a big part of your life with with 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.560 your proposal, and then you you watch it take on 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.600 a life of its own and become you know, I'm 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.640 sure there's that song has played it so many weddings now, 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.359 and you know. I mean, have you ever had people 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.520 in the audience of some of your shows proposing in 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.159 the middle of your show? I mean, I wouldn't doubt it. 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.240 But I mean what that like for you to watch 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.680 that that kind of blossom like that. I think when 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.800 you sit down to write music, Uh, do you want 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.160 every single time that you sit down and write a song, 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.840 you want that song to connect in the way that 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.159 Big Big Plans did. I had no idea that it 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.159 would because it was such a personal song for me, 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:22.359 a personal moment for me. But um, I think the 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:24.639 big win is when you write a song that is 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.199 personal to you, and it connects to a lot of 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.400 people and they take it and turn it into their 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:34.040 own story. And that's what it really happened with that song. 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.159 I mean, I think when I was out on my 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.240 Big Big Plans tour, I had at least one proposal 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:43.880 every single night, and uh, I was able to bring 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:48.720 people on stage and really watch them go through what 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.280 I went through when I proposed. I mean I watched 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.720 Guy's blackout night after night when they get up on 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.600 stage forget what they want to say. I was the 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.320 same way, so I know that feeling. But um, I 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.200 think that was the coolest part of the whole add 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.080 On song was not only did I use it to 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.000 propose and I have that moment for the rest of 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:07.240 my life, but people are taking it and making it 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.040 their own. I feel like Kenny Chesney's the king of that, 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:14.760 like uh uh having those kind of songs that connect, 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:19.639 whether it's whether it's Don't Blink or or or many 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.360 of his other songs, you know, it connects an emotional 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.399 way and takes on a life of the song. You 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:37.639 turn it into your own story. I thought you did 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.880 a beautiful job for your song, for for your at 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.360 that point, I'm born son, ain't even met you yet, 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:46.840 which I thought was profoundly moving. I mean, I'm sure 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.040 that track's got to mean the world to you. Tell 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.760 me more about about that song. That's really an incredible track. 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:57.480 Thank you, man, I appreciate that. Um yeah, I think it. Uh. 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:02.719 It captures the the emotion that as a as a 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.200 about to be dad in a couple of months I wrote. 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.440 I wrote that song probably two or three months before 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.440 Dutton was born, but just the emotions that I was 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:12.640