WEBVTT - "Charles Kelley: New Moons, New Beginnings" 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:01.080 Taking a Walk. 0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:04.160 I'm buzz night and welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast. 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.200 This is the podcast where we talk to artists and 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.879 get their stories, their songs, their journeys. 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:11.360 That shape them. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.880 Today, we take a walk with a voice that's become 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:18.280 a staple of country and pop music over the past. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:18.960 Couple of decades. 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:24.279 Charles Kelly a Grammy winning singer songwriter founding member of 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.000 the chart topping trio Lady A. From his early days 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.760 growing up in Augusta, Georgia, to forming a band with 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.080 his brothers that caught the attention of James Brown, Charles 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:38.240 has always followed the music wherever it led him. He's 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.879 written songs for some of the biggest names in country, 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:45.760 released acclaimed solo work, and opened up about his personal journey, 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.519 including his path to sobriety and the lessons he's learned 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:50.280 along the way. 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:52.280 With a brand new solo. 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:54.480 Album, Songs for a New Moon out now, and a 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.200 growing family at home, Charles is embracing a new chapter, 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:04.480 one filled with optimism, fresh perspective, and as always, unforgettable songs. 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:07.760 Before we listen to the Taken a Walk Podcast episode 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.440 with Charles Kelly of Lady A, fame. Let's take a 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.600 look at the great career of this Grammy winning artist, 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.200 and for that we go to our correspondent in Nashville, 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:19.520 Sarah Harrelson. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:24.680 Thanks, buzz. I am really looking forward to this interview 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:29.959 because I grew up, of course listening to Lady A 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:34.560 and hearing Charles Kelly's voice. But when he released his 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:40.559 first solo country album, The Driver in twenty sixteen, I 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:42.880 just fell in love with that album. It's always been 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:47.480 one of my favorites, so I'm really excited to finish listening. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.120 I've already listened to a little bit of songs for 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:56.120 a New Moon, his new soft rock album, and it's 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.920 filled with a lot of eighty since and of course 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:06.360 his vocals are always amazing, but I am so curious 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:11.200 to hear why he took this sort of direction with 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:15.799 his music. And I also got to meet him when 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:20.440 I was working in Nashville backstage at the CMT Awards, 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:26.120 probably around twenty fifteen, and got to escort him backstage, 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.000 and he was such a great guy, so I can 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:33.520 only imagine that's how the interview went as well. Once again, 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:39.000 I'm Sarah Harrelson, based right here in Nashville, Tennessee. And 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:40.560 back to you buzz. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.560 Thanks so much, Sarah. Now Charles Kelly, Taking. 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:49.919 A Walk, Charles Kelly, welcome to Taking a Walk, my friend. Hey, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.280 we do oh doing great, doing great, Thank you for 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:57.000 being here. So, since we call this podcast taking a Walk, 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:02.080 if you could take a walk with someone dead, doesn't 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:04.960 have to be musical, but it could be someone involved 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:05.400 with music. 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.320 Who would you take a walk with? And where would 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:08.880 you take that? Saunter? 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:15.680 Oh gosh, Paul McCartney for sure. Yeah, there he is 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.640 right there. Yeah, this is a kind. 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:19.880 Of a wall. 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.200 I've got a bunch of different influences up here, and 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:30.239 all kinds of different genres of artists, but hugely influenced by. 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.960 Just everything but Beatles. I think. I think Paul McCartney 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:32.920 and you know. 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:35.840 One of the best songwriters of all time, and he's 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.280 just one of those guys I still haven't you know, 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:40.640 haven't gotten to meet. I've been lucky enough to meet 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:44.280 Bruce Springsteen. We got to do a show opening up 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.520 for Bruce in London actually at Hyde Park a long 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.960 time ago. That was pretty cool, funny story about that. 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:55.360 We we had, like you know, any time in between songs. 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.040 You know, these are diehard Bruce Springsteen fans, and you 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.680 know they're like Bruce between I remember Hillary Goes, were 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:05.880 they booing us and it was like, no, they're saying Bruce, like, 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:09.000 don't take it like they're diehard fans, like they're they're 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.240 ready for us to saying need you now and get 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:12.880 off the stage so Bruce can come up here? 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.000 Where would you go with Paul for that walk do 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:16.240 you know? 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.760 Oh, my gosh, somewhere you know. 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:24.080 I would love to like just you know, walk through 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.960 like I don't know, maybe maybe Abbey Road, the studios, 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.200 you know, or something like that, and just hear some 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.719 of those stories. But I don't know anywhere really, I 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.279 mean it just just to be able to just have 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.919 a moment with him would be would be pretty amazing, 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:43.599 you know. But that was my first tattoo. Was was 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.920 a lyric from Blackbird. All your life, you were only 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:47.240 waiting for this moment to arise. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.320 Yeah, you were reading my questions. 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.400 I was going to ask you about that and why 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.600 do those words resonate with you to this day. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.440 I basically got this this tattoo. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.440 To me, it means it was around the time that 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.120 I felt like my whole life was leading up to 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:08.240 this band and leading up to this chase, you know, 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.800 of being a musician, and you know, I felt like 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.279 all my life I was only waiting for this moment 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.200 to like have a chance to like follow my dream, 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:19.840 you know. And so that's that was my first tattoo. 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.840 And then I had another one about a year later, 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:24.680 and then I didn't get another one for like five 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:26.279 or six years, and then all of a sudden, I 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.960 kind of went crazy, which is all over me now. 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:34.240 Expression exactly the artistic expression. We're going to talk about 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:38.520 songs for a New Moon. Congratulations on your new solo album. 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:43.040 But I want to go back to Augusta, Georgia. As 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:50.080 the youngest of three brothers, well musically inclined, what was 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.200 it like being in the Kelly household? 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:53.919 Was it was? 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:58.240 It always filled with music? It was chaos, Yeah, it was. 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:03.320 I had so I have two my oldest siblings, my 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.719 sister Christy and John were ten years older than me, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.760 and then Josh and I, you know, were ten years younger, 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:13.160 about the same age, and so we always had like 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.400 so many different styles of music coming in and out. 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.360 My mom loved R and B. My dad loved country, 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:22.159 and then you know, my oldest siblings would bring home 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:24.359 whatever was happening, you know, So it could have been 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.760 Dave Matthew's band, it could have been Nirvana, it could 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.640 have been just anything, you know. I mean it was 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.080 like I got. I remember my oldest brother was obsessed 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.600 with like led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. So I like 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.760 I had this mix of like, you know, listening to 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.279 Delilah and Richard Mars in the car with my mom, 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:45.240 to Garth Brooks with my dad, to you know, Ozzy 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.840 Osbourne with my oldest brother, and so it was like 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.920 this weird kind of like I just gravitated to whatever 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.719 I felt great, you know, and felt right. 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:59.359 And so I do remember though in my room, so 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:02.280 like when my oldest siblings moved out, you. 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.200 Know, I ended up getting like you know, we had 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.640 like the whole upstairs to ourselves. And I remember my 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.040 brother and I dragging out this old record player. It's 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.160 a piece of furniture, you know that you would that 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:14.679 you lift up the top and there's the record player 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.640 in there. And being I was highly intrigued by it, 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:19.560 and so I dug around found all these records. I 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.280 remember lo and behold, I found the Fleetwood Mac Rumors record, 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.720 and so we've got Stevie back there. But that was 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.720 the first actual like vinyl. I think I was probably 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:30.679 nine or ten years old, and I remember just sitting 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:35.000 in my room like playing it over and over again. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:37.520 I mean, it had such an effect, Like no one 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:38.360 told me to play it. 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:39.720 I just was like, out of. 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:41.720 All these records, I was like, this is the one. 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:43.880 This is the one that's like blowing my mind. So, 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.560 you know, there's a lot of those Fleetwood Mac influences 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.960 in the band, and even on this record, there's a 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.600 song called kiss this Thing Goodbye that is so reminiscent 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.840 of a Fleetwood Mac you know, kind of base. 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.000 Of music down there. You know a lot of those. 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.400 Just great wholt saving bass crews and stuff, you know 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:03.480 that they were so known for. 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:08.880 And I think musical diversity really is an amazing part 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.600 of the creative process for you. It really it feels 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:13.040 that way. 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.640 It just feels, you know, the rich experiences really play 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:17.480 out in your music. 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:19.280 It always has been. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.720 I mean, I think with the band and especially you know, 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.120 as a solo artist, I mean I think I. 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:25.360 Think you can't help but. 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:30.440 Be influences, influenced by everything, especially you know, as we 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.560 keep moving on in music, I feel like, you know, 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:36.360 the genre border is is wide open. And I think 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.280 that's because, you know, it's not like we grow up 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.360 with one station in our town that we listen to. 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.800 You know, we kind of grew up with everything, and 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.319 especially just generation now. I mean, they're they're just putting 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.480 together a little playlist, you know, they're they're listening to 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.120 Drake and then turn around listening to Morgan Wallend and 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:54.880 turn around listening to Taylor Swift. 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:56.720 You know. So it's everything, and I think. 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.120 That's what's so cool about where we are, and I 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.319 hope it pushes, you know, the sound of music because too, 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.559 I mean, you know, there's there's only so many chords, 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.760 and so you know, we're all trying to find something 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.720 that feels fresh. And for me, you know, with this project, 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:15.840 I wanted it to feel very throwback and nostalgic, but 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.319 still have a fresh, you. 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:19.800 Know, current energy to it. 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:22.840 And so it was fun kind of you know, kind 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.360 of towing that line about about how much, you know, 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.080 because I never wanted the music to feel like a 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.120 character of the eighties, you know, I didn't want it 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.440 to be like, Okay, he's just throwing together these you know, 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:37.040 this wild you know, throwback poking fun. 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:38.840 At thing, you know, and it's it's. 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.800 Not it really truly is a celebration in a nod 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:44.079 at all my heroes. 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.320 You know, you and your your bros. 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:51.280 You formed the Inside Blue as as teens, and you 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:56.240 caught the attention of the one and only James Brown. 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.120 Yeah, well at least his manager. Yeah, it it was 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:03.920 pretty cool, uh that time. I remember our parents kind 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.080 of we're a little hesitant of us signing any deals 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.400 that early, but but it was cool to even have 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:15.080 that opportunity. It's funny you did your research. My it's 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.360 so funny that whole time when by so fast. I 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:21.240 barely remember it because we had a band, you know, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.679 all through like middle school and high school and and 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:25.840 you know, we had a little little tiny bit of 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.000 buzz going, but you know, nothing really ended up coming 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:31.960 of it. And I put music down all through college 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.160 and everything. And and my brother Josh got a record 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:39.199 deal out of college and eventually moved to Nashville. 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.360 And he's the reason I gave this a shot. I 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:42.280 moved to Nashville. 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.040 You know, with with a ton of encouragement from him, 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.080 and and you know, it was lucky enough to run 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.200 into Hillary and and you know, taught my buddy David 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:52.800 to move in town. 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:53.840 We started this band. 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.079 But but yeah, those early years it was pretty cool. 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.040 I mean, we had this little five song EP and 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.079 and you know it was Inside Blue because we did 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.520 a little little bit of blues. We also, you know, 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.040 it was very much you know, rock and roll stuff too, 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.160 and so it was it was just it's funny that 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.320 anybody was interesting, because if you go back and listen 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.160 to those songs, they were they were pretty weak. 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:15.800 They must have seen something in us. 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:21.040 I guarantee they did. And look, everything starts as a 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:24.280 as a germ, and then of an idea, and then 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.600 it evolves and the passion flows. 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:31.760 So give yourself more credit back for Inside Blue for sure. 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:32.360 Now. 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.120 I have a friend that does this other podcast called 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:37.840 Celebrity jobb Or, and he asked the question, if you 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.800 weren't going to be a musician, what would you have been. 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.120 Did you have a Plan B or were you a 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:44.280 no Plan B? Guy? 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.160 No, I did. I mean I went to the University 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:51.040 of Georgia. I to me, music was was just going 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.240 to be something in my life and maybe a party trick. 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:53.400 You know. 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.840 I always kind of assumed I would have some you know, 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.240 like cover band on the weekends I would play with. 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.480 But I studied finance at Georgia and David and I 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.200 did too, Dave as well, and yeah, you know, I 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:06.439 was going to try to move. 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:09.520 To Atlanta, get a job, you know, do that whole thing. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.680 And then you know, maybe if I went went to 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:13.520 a wedding on the weekend, i'd hop up with a 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:15.680 band and say, hey, guys, you know a little uh 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.880 line of Ritchie, you know, something like that, and that 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.920 would be kind of my party trick. But but so, yeah, 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.360 something in the business world, hopefully. But I will say 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.400 when I had graduated, I worked with my oldest brother 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.880 and and we were he was he like flipped houses 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.040 and did somewherecial real estate. So I had this degree 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.400 and I remember like literally a week after I graduate, 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.800 I go into work and and you know, he's like, well, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.560 one of our workers didn't come in today, so you 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:44.880 gotta you gotta hop into the dump truck and. 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.800 Take this take this stuff to the to the dump. 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.360 And I just remember going like this is not what 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:51.560 I thought it was going to be. 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.440 Somehow you knew it triggered you exactly was that and 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.200 it was a motivating trigger. 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:01.520 It was, it was. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:05.160 I mean, I think I could have found happiness in anything. 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.480 I mean, to me, I love I love putting in 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:09.960 a hard day's work. I mean, that's just I really do. 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.040 I mean, even to this day, there's something I just 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.960 love about, you know, about working hard. 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.559 I learned that from my dad. But to be able to. 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.800 Find something though that you actually, you know, wake up 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.480 and just feel like so lucky that you get to do. 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.960 And you know, a lot of times, especially being you know, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:31.240 on stage and writing songs, it doesn't feel like work. 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.240 The work comes in when with the travel. 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:36.040 I feel like that's where that's where we earn the word, 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.360 you know, we work for a living. But the rest 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.480 of it, that's just all that's all fun. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:40.640 All right. 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.000 So I do want to dig into the process for 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:49.559 songs for a New Moon and the work behind that process. 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.280 And I guess the first thing when I think of 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:57.640 writing sessions is that the type of thing when you're 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:03.640 in that process that you're nervous. Enthusiasm in a good 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.760 way keeps you up at night, because you know the 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:08.000 next morning you're waking up and you're going into a 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:09.880 session exactly. 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:11.760 I mean, I call it a lot of you know, 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.880 I had a lot of cautious optimism. I've been doing 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.679 this for you know, close to two decades now, and 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.480 I know it's just you know, you get so you 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:24.120 get so caught up and Okay, I want to make 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.440 something special that sometimes you have to just step back 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.920 and just do it. I feel like it's just literally 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.400 go in and if it's moving you, there's a good 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.680 chance that can move other people. I think any time 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:36.280 in the past when I've tried to go in there 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:37.680 and be like, all right, we got to write a 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.160 hit like this or whatever. And so I really try 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.280 to get out of my own way, honestly, and I 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.480 think to be able to start writing music under a 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.280 different betup music brought out something different in me. And 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.040 it was the most fun I've ever had. I mean, 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.320 I was writing with you know, guys like Josh here, 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:56.080 who wrote Needs You Now with. I mean, he's one 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.760 of the best songwriters in talent and he you know, 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:00.240 when you got a guy like that say and when 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:02.040 are we doing this again? This is so fresh because 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.640 I think everybody needed to be pulled out of their 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.080 box a little bit, you know, and this project allowed 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.080 them to kind of show how versatile they all are. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.760 And and for me too, it brought out just this 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.600 new sense of like, Okay, there's no rules, you know, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:19.600 I don't. 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:20.760 Have to make a country record. 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.000 I can go out here and try to do something 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:23.960 different and fresh. 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.800 Because, like you said, I am influenced by. 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.840 So many different styles, but I think the common thread 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.040 needed to be I needed to still sound authentically myself, 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.760 you know. I didn't try to put on some you know, 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.760 eighties voice that didn't sound like me or you know, 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:41.680 whatever whatever that might be. 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.840 You know, it still is my voice to the core. 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:50.160 And I don't know there was there was just I 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:54.360 don't know this like cool little hint of like, man, 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:57.400 I think we're onto something here, you know, and I 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.240 don't know where it'll go and what it'll be. And 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:02.320 there was a sense of wanting to make sure we 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.600 stayed precious with like staying there. And I think that's 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:08.200 one reason I wanted to release it myself and like 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:10.480 pay for it myself, because I was like, I know 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.120 exactly what's going to happen when I take this into 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.160 the label that you're gonna go. Okay, you've been known 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.600 as a country artist. We gotta throw some mandolin on this, 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.880 we gotta throw some steel guitar, and it just it 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.880 didn't feel like the music needed that. And so I 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.240 really have to give a lot of praise to to 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:28.480 Big Machine for allowing me to just do this on 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:30.480 my own as well, you know, I mean, I really 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.960 just felt like I wanted this to be, you know, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:39.880 a success or failure on my own terms, if that 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:40.560 makes sense. 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.200 You know, We'll be right back with more of the 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:51.080 Taking a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:51.960 Walk Podcast. 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.800 So take us through some of your favorite tracks or 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:57.320 all of your favorite tracks. 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:01.080 We got time. Charles, ah God, I think. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:02.880 I mean, the first song, Can't Lose You is what 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.680 really kicked off the project. I mean, there's something about 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.879 that song. I think it encompassed everything I wanted to 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.720 say as well. I you know, I'm getting close to it. 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.960 At the end of this month, I'll be three years sober. 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:19.520 And so there was just a lot of growth, you know, spiritually, 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.000 mentally and you know, with my relationship with my wife, 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.040 and I wanted to put that into the music, you know, 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.639 and I wanted to be it to be a joyful record, 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:32.240 you know, and feel really redemptive and positive. And so 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:36.560 I feel like that song encompassed kind of everything I 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:38.800 was going for. And then from there it was like 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.240 once I we had that song, the rest just kind 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.640 of really came out really easily. I mean, I think 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.359 my one of my favorites is a song called Can't 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.840 Be Alone Tonight. There's just something about it that it 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.239 reminds me of all those great eighties like ballads that 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.600 just feel great. There's also a song called never Let 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.960 You Go. He got the great Dan Huff, so he's 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.480 also a great producer. But he used to play electric 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:10.439 guitar on all those massive eighties and nineties hits that 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.080 you've almost anything you've ever heard him. He's played with 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:16.919 Michael Jackson, Journey, I mean, all these crazy bands you know, 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.600 in the studio, and to have him. If you listen 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.320 to that song, I think it's the tenth track off 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:27.280 the record, there's just this epic electric guitar tone and 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.159 solo section that he has that just I don't know, 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:32.800 there's something about it where I was like, that's what 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:34.800 I was going for. It has a key change, it 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:38.359 has the electric guitar sound that only Dan could do. 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.119 So there's a lot of those moments throughout the record, 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.800 but I will say it changes which you know, which 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:45.679 one is my favorite? 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.520 I would expect it would, right because for a while, 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.080 you're you're living with it for so long and in 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.960 your mind you're going through the hard work that led 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.640 up to the creation. So when you're in the studio 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.440 and working on this and then you leave for the day, 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.919 do you leave with tracks that you can listen to 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:10.000 as you're driving driving home to kind of like think 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:10.480 about it. 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.560 Dude, and that that makes it exciting, you know. That's 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.080 the great thing about you know, this whole record. I 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:20.000 worked with Lindsay Rheims and another guy named Sam Ellis 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.080 and you know, being able to actually you know, they 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.399 programmed most of this stuff. So what we would do 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.600 is we'd have pretty fully fleshed out, professional sounding demo 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:33.360 and then you know, we would go and harvest out. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:34.800 We had like a drum day where we went this 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:37.080 guy here in Stirling and then laid real drums on it, 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.920 or we go, you know, lay bass. If we didn't 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:42.040 like the way that that one of them played the bass. 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:44.800 You know, we had a saxophone player come in or 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:47.200 something like that. But we when we would leave each day, 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:52.320 we would have a pretty solid foundation and feel for 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:53.440 what we were going for. 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.320