We interview Craig Campbell at C2C 2019, to talk all about his EP ‘See You Try,’ and ‘Outskirts of Heaven.’
First Trip to the UK
So first UK trip ever, have you been before or is this a completely new experience?
Brand new, like never been here. When we flew to Amsterdam, but we landed here briefly and then straight to Amsterdam.
It must be pretty cool getting to experience a totally new fan base?
Yeah, the only thing I could compare it to was – I’ve been to Australia four times – and it’s kind of similar, just in the fact that when I first went to Australia, I didn’t know what to expect. They love country music and they’re really starving for [it].
I guess there’s the over-saturation element in Nashville…
Yeah, you go to Nashville and it’s not a big deal. So yeah so far this is amazing, and I love Australia too because they love country music, and that’s what I do, so now coming over here and finding out that the fans here are similar in that way, we’re going to have to start coming back.
So obviously last year was a pretty big year for you, releasing ‘See You Try,’ is the plan this year to continue pushing that out or do you plan to head back into the studio?
In the States, it had been five years since I released new music so we released the EP just to kind of get some new music out. So we released a small batch of songs just to get that new music out, so the plan was to finish up that album and release the full-length version this year and we’re still going to do that, but now it will be completely separate from that. It will be a completely new full-length album with brand new songs.
Was it very important to you to have that break from music?
It wasn’t planned, as an artist and as a creator of music, I don’t like going that long without putting out new songs but I just had to because of some situations I had been in.
This was the first project with Broken Bow, did it feel very different this time around releasing new music?
It did, it was way different from my previous two albums, but it was a completely different record label, everything was different, so I expected it to be that way. My creative process is the same no matter what. It’s starting to look forward to the new music that I’m about to record, it’s even more different but the same.
You recorded a few different versions of ‘Outskirts of Heaven’ on the EP, was it important to have those two different forms of that song?
Yeah, when I wrote that song it was very personal, just me and my guitar and when I play it live, like in London, it’s just me and my guitar. Although I love the version that was on the radio, there was some emotion that was kind of left behind with all the electric guitars and the drums, so I wanted to do a version of ‘Outskirts of Heaven’ that was more emotional.
There’s so many elements of faith in that song and the emotion, was it really important to have that as an integral part of your music?
Yeah, absolutely, I feel that when people listen to my music, there’s a lot of songs that if they have any questions about who I am and what I believe in and what I think’s important, you can listen to my music and get the answers to those questions.
Have you always written songs?
Honestly no, I never thought I was a great songwriter. Before I moved to Nashville, I would write stuff on the piano, just music, but I never was great with words as far as putting it all together. So, even when I moved to Nashville, I wasn’t writing songs all the time, but I had a conversation with a friend of mine and he told me I should be writing songs. He said ‘you need to be doing this,’ and I started doing it and it was one of those things where after I wrote my first real song, what I thought was a good song and I went out and played it in front of people, and people clapped, I thought ‘this is amazing.’ Even writing my song ‘Family Man,’ I wrote it from a personal point of view, when I found out I was going to be a father for the first time and then when that song hit the radio, I was pleasantly surprised at how that song touched so many people. I had no idea that was going to happen.
It must be incredible, when people relate to your songs on that level…
That’s one of the reasons I love what I do.
Do you think your songwriting did shift a bit when you became a father, in terms of what you wanted to write about?
Oh yeah, I had a whole new inspiration for writing songs, because before that I didn’t know what it was like to be a dad, I didn’t know what it was like to be married. Every day life changes, so the inspiration changes as well.
Do you know what we can expect then from your new music, when will it be ready?
We don’t even know that, I’m in the process of making it and putting it together and recording, but I will say that the next album will be the most ‘Craig Campbell’ music you’ve ever heard. I’m in a different mind-frame, my head space is different now that I had the opportunity to make the album I want to make, so it’ll be the most authentic album I’ve ever done.
Final Few
What’s the one record you couldn’t live without if you were stuck on a desert island? Travis Tritt – It’s All About To Change
What’s the record you’re playing on repeat at the moment? Going back to recording the new album, I’m listening to a lot of my own songs, one’s that haven’t been record yet.
Would you rather give up songwriting or performing? Each has it own thing… they’re both great.
Complete the sentence…
Music is… Life.
Country music is… A way of life.
Craig Campbell is… Awesome.
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