We interview the trio Restless Road about their crazy year, touring with Kane Brown, their debut EP and more. The interview is available now in full on the podcast.
Hey guys, how are you?
Garrett: Good thanks how are you!
I know Nashville has started opening up a bit now. I’ve seen that drive-thru concerts are becoming a thing.
Garrett: Yeah it’s starting to open up and we’re starting to ease back into it.
How have you all been doing in quarantine then? You released the EP in February and then it pretty much all shut down not long after.
Zach: Yeah, everyone’s world has definitely been thrown upside down. We’re really thankful that we at least got to put the EP out and get a taste of performing on the road, so that was good. It’s good to hold onto that. At these moments, we remember what it was like.
I think also it’s the sound that everyone needs for right now. It’s not complete despondency, it sits in the right space for right now.
Zach: We try and write as much as we can. We usually try and write music that makes people feel good, and have a good time, so that’s what we’re trying to accomplish most of the time, but with that one sad song – everyone wants to cry some of the time.
Going back to the start of your story, you’ve had quite a turbulent time to where you are now, so can you talk a bit about how you came together as a band?
Zach: So yeah, Colton and I auditioned for X Factor back in 2013, we got through a few rounds on X Factor and next thing we knew, Simon Cowell was asking us if we wanted to join a band and compete on the show. We had just met each other, we were super excited and said ‘yeah, let’s do it.’ We ended up getting fourth place and that kickstarted everything for us. We actually met Kane on the show, he was also a contestant and he ended up deciding to go and do his own thing. I remember we sat down and talked to each other that day and me and Kane had sang the same song for our audition, we just had all these things in common and we were about the same age. It was kind of wild to think that a couple of years later, he became this headlining massive artist. We stayed together as a band and we tried to make things happen in Nashville and basically last year, he was ready to start signing his own artists. He had seen a video Colton had put up on Instagram and he reached out and we got all the boys back together, the rest is history.
Do you feel like your songwriting has changed a lot since being in Nashville?
Garrett: I think the big difference is that moving to Nashville is a big change in your life, a new chapter. Your writing naturally changes once you start living a little more. The time that we all moved here was our first big push into adulthood and I think as we’ve lived a little more life, it’s definitely helped us write more genuine stuff to how we feel. Living always helps.
Was it very organic when you guys first got together as a band, in terms of the evolution of your songwriting and sound?
Zach: Really, in the beginning, I would say that we didn’t write very many songs. We were recording a lot of music, with a lot of different producers but it was just songs that we liked that we’d heard and people had pitched for us. Really until we moved here in around 2016, that’s when songwriting turned into our full time job. Up until that point, I think we had just waited to be inspired and every once in a while, if creativity struck we’d write a song. Something that’s really cool that I’ve thought more about is even though it’s creative like that, it’s also a balance of it being a practise, you have to show up and write everyday. Every day you’re not going to write an amazing song, it’s impossible.
It sounds like the EP happened at the right time then, you’ve found yourselves as songwriters and artists and storytellers and found out where you want your music to sit?
Garrett: I think we definitely landed on something really special, that was definitely just years of build-up and all these ideas of what we wanted to sound like and who we wanted to be as artists. I think the EP that we put out definitely portrays that in a really good light of who we are in this moment and what we want to say.
Colton: Even on that, to play off Garrett, these songs were songs – minus Take Me Home, as we didn’t write that – that Zach and Garrett had had in their stockpile for about two to four years. It’s cool to see how people have taken those songs. I remember when I wasn’t in the group and all of this was still going on, Zach would send me songs that he would write and I was just like ‘oh my gosh dude, these songs are hits’ and it’s just really cool to flash forward and be the people that are recording them and see the reaction that we’ve got from people. It’s really neat because where this did all happen so fast, we started writing in September of last year and then we were in the studio in November, so we didn’t have a massive stockpile of songs that we had just written for this. I think it will be really neat to see how people react, because we’ve been able to write a ton since then and throughout this quarantine. I think as we’re working toward this full-length album, it will be really interesting to see the stuff that we’re actually writing and going through in this moment. I think we’ve probably written the best songs that we’ve ever written during this time.
Zach: It really has been the silver lining of this whole thing, being able to dive into the songwriting.
Going back to what Colton mentioned about how quickly everything has happened in the last year, how important has it been to have someone like Kane in your camp?
Colton: We’ve known him back since 2013, when we were on the X Factor. Honestly, I think that’s been the really cool part, we knew him before all of this and to see how he blew up and the level that he’s on. I think he’s one of the very few people in country music, who has unlocked something so different and his fans are just so loyal to him, but he’s very much an artist that wants to include his fans in everything, every piece that he does. He’s been able to give us advice with social media, he’s the first person I can think of that unlocked that as a platform for his music. It’s good to have a friend that you’ve known for a long time – then to see them blow up and then for them to turn back around and to want to pull us into it and be a part of it.
Diving a bit more into the EP itself, it’s such a wonderful project and introduction to you guys. ‘Take Me Home’ was the first track I heard, with the sampling of John Denver. How important was it to have his family’s support of you guys on that track?
Zach: It was incredible. Garrett actually got a phone call from one of the original songwriters on ‘Country Roads’.
Garrett: It was crazy.
Zach: We were hoping to meet her in Florida, she had the coolest stories to tell Garrett. It was such an honour to be able to put the song out and be a part of it. Huge thanks to them for letting us do it, I remember I was eight years old and probably the first country singer I ever heard was John Denver.
It probably felt like a very full circle moment then?
Zach: Oh yeah, when I heard it, the first thing I thought was ‘my mom is going to freak out.’ If we feel like our mom’s are going to like it, it’s a good thing – she’s the ultimate judge. Then Colton is from West Virginia, so the song really hits home and has an amazing moment with the harmonies. Kane was the one who sent it to us, we were looking for a different sound and moment on the EP and he sent it to us and we freaked out. We thought that it would be so perfect if he could hop on the song and sing it with us. He did and it’s been such a special thing to be able to perform it with him.
The other of my favourite tracks on the EP was ‘It Ain’t Easy,’ can you talk a bit about that song and the story behind it?
Garrett: Well that one was really cool because we actually did one of our first writing retreats in the mountains of Georgia, we got invited to go and we were so excited. We rented this cabin in the woods and went out there with a bunch of our co-writers and friends. We made a weekend out of it. It was Zach’s idea, because we were looking at a bunch of workout videos from this guy we follow, he was saying that fitness is one of those things that sounds simple but it isn’t easy. You know how to get fit, you know how to do a lot of things in life, but it’s easier said than done. So Zach brought it up to one of our co-writers, Steve Bogart and we hopped on it. I think we all cried when we first heard it because it was so true. I think it’s very universal and relatable.
You produced the EP with the legend that is Dan Huff, was he a very obvious choice or did you talk to different producers?
Colton: That was really weird how that all came about. When we sat down and started talking about the EP and producers, we had this dream list of people. Dan has had so much success, he’s just the top. He was obviously the person that everybody would love to have but as brand new artists we thought there would be no way.
Zach: Kane was just like ‘what about Dan Huff, do y’all want to work with him?’ Next thing we knew we were there.
Garrett: One thing I will say about him is knowing how successful he’s been and how much great stuff he’s had over the years, he was the most humble and coolest guy, he really made us feel amazing. The second we walked in he said ‘this is your record, I want all of y’all to speak up and have your opinions. I’m here to facilitate what y’all want to do.’ It was special to have him do that because it wasn’t this scary thing, that was super comforting.
I know you’ve talked about the fact that you’re now working on the full-length record, do you know at all what that’s going to look like?
Colton: I think the plan is to put out a full-length, as far as when we have an idea, but at the same time we have no clue, because of all this and what’s going on. Some people can’t even get in the studio right now, so obviously it pushes dates back every time. Just know, it will probably be in 2021, (laughs) when? We have no clue.
Final Few
If a biopic was made about Restless Road, what would be the opening track?
Zach: It Ain’t Easy.
Garrett: That’s it!
Would you rather give up songwriting or performing?
Garrett: Personally, I’d like to perform. I think that’s your big reward for all the songs that you write – your ultimate goal. I think I enjoy that the most because not only is it super fun, it’s the physical manifestation of your music.
Zach: Well I always think of family holidays, my grandma would always have a puzzle on the table. I feel like songwriting is a puzzle for your ears. I feel like at this point, I’ve done more songwriting and I feel really comfortable with it, the cool thing about it is if you do it right, you have a present at the end that lasts forever. It’s hard to compare it though, because the shows we did with Kane…
Complete the sentence…
Music is…
Garrett: For me, growing up, it was that thing that I really found myself in. It’s the thing that’s always been there for me that I could find a lot of peace in.
Colton: Memories. I feel like there’s always been a song, or a soundtrack in every portion of my life, something that I can relate to.
Restless Road are…
Garrett: We’re three different pals, who grew up in three different places in three different lives but all still do have a love for country music and songwriting. We’re three super normal dudes.
