In October, Shy Carter released one of our favourite tracks of 2021 – The Rest of Us – here we interview Shy about the track, his forthcoming performance at C2C Festival and what’s next for him this year.
Hi, Shy. How are you?
I’m doing good.
It’s crazy to see how quickly C2C is coming around the corner now.
That’s right, man. I’m so glad it’s going to happen.
Obviously last year, ‘The Rest of Us’ came out and that song was probably one of my favourite songs of 2021. I know you wrote that with Josh Kerr and Bryan Simpson, can you talk a bit about that track? I feel like it’s one of those things that everyone’s felt at some point, but no one’s quite put it in that way that you did?
Oh, thank you so much that means a lot to me. I write with Bryan a lot and he’s always got these deep concepts, you know? We started talking about that and Josh Kerr is just the man. He’s crazy with the music and the guitars and putting the tracks together and stuff. So it was just one of those songs that just came that day. It was a while ago and it stuck around for a while, different artists were recording it. I always felt like that’s all it was for me and I’m just glad I got a chance to put it out. It’s always been really special to me and everybody that’s been involved.
You mention there that weird dichotomy because the song means so much to me and it would be amazing if it gets cut by other people, but also you kind of want to keep it for yourself. How many times has that happened for you where you almost wish you’d kept a song for yourself?
Well, you know, I used to feel like that more. I used to really want to hear my songs the way I want to sing them, but I started realising that I can still sing the songs even if I let somebody else record them. I can always put out my version or sing my version live. They can be recorded in different ways at different times.
Songs have nine lives. I want to go back a minute because you’ve had a really interesting journey in the music industry, you spent time in LA before ending up in Nashville. What have you learned through all those experiences and how did you land in country music? I feel like your music is so effortlessly, organically so many things, so you could have gone any direction.
Sure, that’s so nice – I appreciate you. I just always loved music and I love soul music. I love something that you can just feel in your heart. I love fun songs and I like the groove to sound good, that’s not cheesy. You’ve just got to feel it. I feel that I’m just able to do whatever genre whatever song, because whether it’s up tempo or slow, I’m just trying to find that really heartfelt part of it that’ll connect with everybody.
It’s funny that we still talk about genres, because you look at what’s happening in country right now. I feel that in Nashville there’s so many different things happening and it’s strange that we still have those labels.
Yeah, I think it’s strange, it’d be probably pretty nice when they’re all gone. As a writer, as an artist, I still have to conform in certain ways for radio or whatever you try to get the music on. Somebody is quick to say this isn’t for this format and this isn’t for that. It would be nice to be more true to the song.
Obviously, you started off as a songwriter, when did you decide that you wanted to step out and shine the spotlight on yourself as an artist?
Definitely, I always wanted to be an artist. The first time, I signed with Nelly a long, long time ago, and he signed me as a producer, because he already had artists he was working with, and he’s an artist. From that point, I just kept trying. I was just so grateful to do music for a living. I just kept taking steps forward and I would try to get featured on a song, like on Megan Trainor, Charlie Puth and Keith Urban. I just tried to pop my head out here and there, wherever people would allow me to. I had a lot of record deal offers and I took some and didn’t take some because by the time they actually started offering them to me, I didn’t feel like they knew what to do with me. I didn’t feel like it was gonna work. I just had to be patient until I found a really good situation. It was actually pretty frustrating, but I tried to stay patient until I found a beautiful situation with Warner Music Nashville. It feels like a home, they care and Missy – my manager here in Nashville – she really pushed me to focus on Nashville.
I feel like a lot of artists pursue that record deal straightaway and that’s the goal – which obviously is for everyone – but sometimes that is before you know who you are as an artist. It’s like you’ve done the work and the sound you want to create. You’ve had those songs cut by other artists so it almost feels like now with Warner you’re creating the product that is truly you.
Yeah, absolutely, just being able to put songs like ‘The Rest of Us.’ I got some other crazy stuff coming – some fun songs and stuff. I’m gonna just start branching out and filling the music.
Finally, I wanted to talk about the EP and what you wanted people to take away from the project?
What I wanted them to take away is a good time and put a smile on their face. It came together just organically over time. I just picked some that I felt went together and was a good idea of who I was as an artist.
Speaking of new music, what is the plan for this year? Obviously you’re coming to the UK soon, but what else is in the pipeline for this year that we should get excited about?
I think there’s a little documentary coming out that’s gonna be that’s gonna be pretty awesome about what’s going on in Tennessee. I got some more shows…
Well, we’re super excited to see you in the UK when you come over and excited for new music. Congratulations again and thank you so much for taking the time to chat today.
