April 17, 2025 • 22 mins
Join @thebuzzknight as he speaks with BBR Music singer, songwriter Kolby Cooper as he shares stories from his journey as a rising star in Country Music. From the highs of sold out shows to the lows of heartbreak, Kolby opens up about the inspirations behind his hit songs and the lessons he's learned along the way. He has a brand new album out called "Love You, Goodnight" which is his fiercely passionate collection of amazing storytelling and soaring melodies.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's definitely tough. I mean, you know, I got three babies.
I got the two girls six and four and the
boy's two. They grow up a lot. Went on the road,
like I'll be gone for a week and get back,
and you know, the younger the worst it is, really
because then I'll be gone and I'll get back a
week later. And my boys like talking really well, you know,
(00:24):
and when I left, he was still just saying, you know, gibberish. Whatever.
That's that's part of it.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome to taking a walk where we explore the paths
that have led artists to where they are today. Joining
Buzz Night is BMG Nashville artist Colby Cooper, a rising
star in country music known for his heartfelt storytelling and
electrifying performances. Colby's journey is marked by a blend of
outlawed country and Southern rock influences, shaped by his upbringing
(00:55):
on a ranch and the loss of his father at
a young age. With hit It's Like Every Single Kiss
and his critically acclaimed album Boy From Anderson County to
the Moon, Colby has captivated audiences with his unique sound.
He has new music out called Love You Good Night.
Colby Cooper joins buzz Night on taking a walk right now, Colby,
(01:20):
thanks for being on taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Hey, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So, since the podcast is called taking a Walk, I
have to corner you with this question. If you could
take a walk with someone living or dead, who would
you take a walk with.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I would love to another to take a walk with
either Whaling Jings or Kurt Cobain.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Be a good walk, nice, diverse group of people.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
There, Oh, my dad, yeah, or my dad and we
go to.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Any particular place you'd like to take that walk?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Uh, And it'd been nice to be I think in
the mountain in Colorado or Utah, somewhere nice, somewhere it
feels real good, nice.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, congrats on the new music, Love you good night.
We'll talk about that for sure, But I want you
to take our audience to Bradford, Texas, which is where
you are right at this moment, And what rule did
your hometown play and does it continue to play in
(02:31):
your musical identity?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah? I think it's a very small town. Bradford is
a trafficking impalas and Athens and if you blink you
will miss it is very small. You look at the population.
It's like thirty four thirty five, I think. And I've
got five in my family here, so we make up
a significant part of the population here. And I grew up.
(02:57):
I grew up here my grandpa as Farmers is where
we live, and it's it's where I grew up. And
it's really like Bradford is really like my grandfather's farm
and a couple of spots right outside of it. Uh
and all the history is is really cool too. But
I think just the isolation and the and the loneliness
(03:18):
out here and the it's such a small town. You
know everybody's story, you know everything that's going on. The
growing up, I heard all the stories about who was
cheating and who was you knowing this and that and whatnot,
and uh, it gave some inspirations from my writing. And
it was, you know, it was Liver a wild wild
(03:40):
man by any means. I married with three kids, I'm
twenty five, got married to my high school sweetheart. So, uh,
I reget I love songs and I'll be missing missing
your people's songs about my my family. But you know,
I don't write the breakup songs, and the few songs
are all about just you know, relationships that I've witnessed,
(04:04):
or stories people have told me or whatever, you know,
things like that. So I think that definitely played a
big part of now I learned to write.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
You know, you bear a resemblance to a young John Prime.
Has anybody told you that?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
No, No, I love John Friday. There you go, and your.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Musical interest based on your answer to the taking a
walk question, obviously it goes to many different directions. Do
you want to take us down a ride of musical
influences and certainly don't be afraid to take dramatic left
turns or right turns? Absolutely, I think.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
You know, growing up, my dad Joff Katrick, and he
was a real cowboy and he worked on ranches and stuff.
So I was listening to a bunch of old country.
It was mainly like Whalen, William Jennings and Chrys LaDue
or two of my big big inspirations and still in
two of my you know, two of my parents, I
think they both of my top five listened to this
(05:11):
fast year and then I found rock after that with
like Ozzie. I was born of guns n' roses and
all the hair metal and Texas country. You know, uh,
Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen and Charlie Robinson. Uh, there's
so many greats. And I remember as a in fourth
(05:32):
grade my dad brought home the CD in two thousand
and eight, two thousand nine ers. Uh it was this
man called Whiskey Myers. And I was like, oh, who's
this And he said this is CD I got from
Cavendiers or something. It's called Road Alive. And I was like, oh, well,
who are these guys? And he said, there are some
dudes that are from right down the road. The lead
singer group fifteen minutes from here. The rest of them
(05:52):
all grew up whatever, all within you know, an hour.
I like what And that was like the first time
that I realized you could you could be from Bradford,
you know, mad Alba Palastin and you can make music.
So I was like a light bulb, A light bulb
went off in my head. And uh, and the music's
great and it's like the southern rock, you know country.
(06:15):
That was a big inspiration. But then also, uh, when
I got in middle school, I found my rap and
and all old school rapp and this. I just love everything.
I'm a big music fan in general. And I tried
to or I just you know, not trying. I don't
try to take too much from anything, but I try
to tape from everything, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And you got into vinyl records early on in life, right,
Oh yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
I got most of my battles sitting right over here
to my left, I did, I do. I do love vinyls.
I uh, I just I don't know something about just
putting the record on and just enjoying it as an
I sal.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
How is being into vinyl? How is it sort of
you know, shaped your approach to creating and releasing music.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, I think with like with how the just the whole,
the whole thing works nowadays, it's kind of hard, uh,
as far as just the releasing, Like we released a
few singles fills record, but when it comes out. What
I really focused on we were making this record was like,
when it's all together and it's all in its final form,
(07:26):
I want it to be a complete record that you
can sit there and listen top to the bottom and
be like, oh yeah, this is a pleasant you know,
Like I want to be able to put it on
the vinyl and just sit back and then flip it
and sit back and not have to get up and
I'm gonna skip this or I'm want to you know
what I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So there are folks that don't appreciate that necessarily because
they weren't into vinyls. So I think appreciating vinyl in
the way albums were created back in the day and
then still bringing that forward in twenty twenty five as
a as an artist, that's that's pretty cool that you,
(08:04):
you know, put that painstaking detail to your work.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Absolutely, and that was like, that was part of why
this album took so under make. We started putting music
in twenty eighteen and this is this is the longest
we went without putting like a project out, like whether
it be an EP or an album. It's been about
two years and we put h we put a few
singles out, but we're I'm putting a full project out.
(08:29):
But that's you know, that's that's part of what part
of it is because I wanted I just wanted to
have a pile of songs that we wrote to pick from.
And we we got to that point final a little
back in like August, and uh, and it was like God,
it was like cutting tea the entire time I was like, man,
I want to put this out, like we have the
(08:50):
songs that are right here. They're good enough, like the
US the songs, these the songs, and then we finished,
like we wrote like three from the album back in August.
I was like, oh man, it please wouldn't have been
on the album been so sad, you know. So it
was it was tough to I guess, kind of sit
back and just get as creative as I could and
try to do it. But in the end, I'm so
(09:13):
happy with how it turned out.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So can you tell us how do you decide whether
to to draw inspiration from personal experiences when when writing,
or take other inspirations from you know, friends or other observances.
How do you sort of decide that.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it kind of depends how I'm feeling. If
I'm feeling in my head and I'm feeling down, and
I can easily pull from like just that place of
you know, depression and sadness and and write that like
what was me song, I guess kind of thing. But
if if I'm writing something that's like I don't know,
(09:55):
if if I have like just a title that I
really liked, it feels like like a breakup song or
like a like a f you song or something, and it's, uh,
it's more like I just think about, you know, my
friends and their relationships and and uh what what they've
gone through, what they've told me about and that kind
of thing. Just because I've been married to my wife
(10:16):
since we're eighteen, like, uh, you know, and I love her,
She's my best friend. We got three kids, so my family,
my family loft. It is great, and I'm so happy that,
uh you know, we got softball practice and softball games
and ballet and all the good stuff. Uh So whatever
I think about, you know, breaking out and how that feels,
(10:38):
it's more like how you know. I mean, I've been
broken up with when I was in middle school and
high school, but you know, it's a little different in
the real world. And I hear my friends talk about it,
and uh just fans too. I have fans come up
and be like, man, me and this girl we bonded
over your music and then she cheated on me and
left me and this whole thing, and it just, I
(11:00):
don't know, it gives me. It gives me an inspiration.
I need to write that kind of song.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
But folks don't really understand what the life work balance
is and the challenge of it for a musician such
as yourself. Oh yes, sir, it's it's a big challenge.
And we're full time touring musicians and that's how we started.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
We started independent grassroots here in Texas, playing you know,
one hundred and fifty shows a year the past six
years or so. And it's the past two years we've
been able to take a few more days off, which
has been nice to be able to, you know, be
home and don't you know, I don't I don't miss birthdays,
(11:45):
I don't miss you know, any extracurricular thing I can,
I can make it for. So it's been nice to
be a little less business. Last two years. We're still
I mean, you know, full time tour and we have
this is my longest stretch. I've at home all year
and it's a week and three days, I think, and
then I'm back to where I'm home like three days
a week, two days a week, one day, you know.
(12:08):
So it's it's definitely tough. I mean, you know, I
got three babies. I got two girls, six and four
and then a boy it's two, and you know, you see,
they grow up a lot when on the road, like
I'll be gone for a week and get back, and
it's you know, the younger they are the fat and
(12:28):
the worst. It is really because they just grow so
fast in these little little intervals. And I'll be gone
and I get back a week later, and my boys
like talking really well, you know, and when I left,
he was still just saying, you know, gibberish whatever. That's
that's part of it, you know. And I but I
(12:49):
feel blessed because as a kid and all grown up,
all lot I wanted was to play music and to
have a family. Always was like my two dreams was
to family and playing music for a living. And I
get to do that. I support my family playing music.
I'm a utiful family.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
You know, your debut album, Boy from Anderson County to
the Moon, it was a big breakout moment. Can you
talk about what that project means to you and how
you sort of reflect on it for your musical journey
so far?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Absolutely? Yeah, And that was right. It was the first
one that got to p out with with with the label,
and it was it was a cool process, just uh,
and I wanted to at that time. I was like,
I want to put as many songs as we can,
and I was so focused on trying to get it
out fast and we we kind of had it like
half done.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
But that's all the album though.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
It's like it's a it's a enfel to your Boyfriendson
County to the Moon, it's a but it was two
teas so his boyfriends and County Epe and the to
the Moon Eypee is why. But it's also like it
was kind of just like what describes me, Like, I'm
you know, boy Frienderson County. That's Adford's Anderson, Canada, Anderson
County lines half them all that way, yeah, uh and
(14:05):
to the mow. It is kind of how me and
and all our dudes and the crew were like a family. Uh,
we spend so much time together. It's you know, you
got to be like a family or you know be
I would be crazy, but that's kind of how we
approach everything. Is is like just give it everything you
got and uh, you know, be a good person. You
know sure love.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Take us inside to the creation of the new album,
Love You good Night. How long did that take? And
who were your co collaborators?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, so Love You good Night it took. It's it's
been about a two year process, and there there's a
there's a few riders on all right, if you heard them,
I have two dogs. They just jump off the couch
and run it around. UH. But the my producer, Andrew
Bayless is a writer on most of them, and UH
(14:58):
produced the whole thing Lack of Whitworth, Riley Thomas, Uh, Dan.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Peller and Uh.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Oh Man. I will miss a couple, but there's so many,
and they're all like some of my favorite riders are.
Feel so lucky to get to be in the room
with them. But in the creation process, like they all
they all understood what we wanted Josh Door to one
of my favorites. They all understood what we're trying to do,
and it was it was easy. It was a bunch
(15:27):
of my boys, just a bunch of the dudes I've
been riding with a bunch the past couple of years, UH,
and they kind of knew what we had for the
album and knew what we needed UH. So it was
it was a fun process to to get in there
and to uh. Just like I was saying, we're thinking
so much about how the total uh or or how
the outcome would be, and how the songs would fit
together and how you know, what kind of story would tell,
(15:50):
So that it was it was fun. It's it was
a really fun process. It was a long process, like
I said, two years and it's been it's the longest
we've ever went without putting out a project. So it
was it was a it was a stressful two years.
But now that we're nearing it, the fans are excited
about it and everybody's was really tall with how it
came out, and I'm just so happy.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
You know, what are some of your favorites off of
the album?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I know I would say it's so tough to changes
all the time, but right at the moment, my favorite
is probably empty Handed. One of my favorites is empty Handed,
and it's a It's it was a solo, right. I
wrote that one by myself. We just moved home from Tyler.
We lived in Tyler, Tyler, Texas the past four years.
(16:32):
It's about forty five minutes away from here. It's like
the big city growing up, like it was where you
go Christmas shop and and closed shopping. But I wrote
that one at the house. We had there up in
my office and it was the first time that I
was like making a track myself and trying to do
the whole like recording thing. And I set there for
two weeks doing it. Had the melody is all like
(16:53):
saying in there and I was just slowly right into
the melody and uh, and the way it came out
it was so cool, like it's it's an other one too.
That's like, it's not about me and my wife. It's
it's a it's a leading the person that's bad for
you song. It's the you know, the hook is Uh.
I'm so happy I landed empty handed. Uh, you know,
like that kind of thing where too, you know, felt
like it was going to be bad, but I ended
(17:15):
up happy. But I've just you know, I've seen relationships
like that not work out where it's like, oh wow,
I thought that was gonna be the end of me.
It turned out I'm much happier without them. Wow. And
I love that one production wise and melody wise. It's uh,
it's one of my favorites. Apartment two of eight, it's
another one of my favorites. It's a uh, it's the
(17:37):
The course is one of my favorite courses whoever written.
And the verses I had to rewrite the verses. Uh,
and when I rewrote the verses, I was finding in
Nashville on Father's Day and I was it was a
couple of years ago. It's pretty sad because I wanted
to come home on Father's Day, but I had to
go for some meetings and all that stuff that week.
And and I'm like a big drink crowd drink every
(17:58):
once in a while. But on the play, and I
was sitting there and this this old man was sitting
next to me, and he it was like eight am
coming back from Denver, so we had to go from
Denver to DFW to BNA in Nashville and uh on
the flat from Denver, he like, I was sitting there,
just kind of thinking I was going to sleep, and
he was like, hey, gave me to take a drake.
I take a cocaine jack and coke. I was like,
(18:21):
dang early, it's like okay, got do it to I said,
give it to me. And we drank like five or
six of them on that flat and we got we
got to feeling pretty good, and I got to where
she was just giving me the bottle and let me
shoot the bottle and then had the doctor pepper as
a chaser, and uh, and I got pretty toasted on
that first fight, and uh, I stumbled my way around
(18:42):
to my next fight. Lo and behold there's another another
old man that was having a good time wanted to
drink too, and it's like all right. So I got
to Nashville and I was I was pretty wasted, and
I got to me Uh, got to the airb and
D called my wife, called my babies and hey, how
are you all? And I was still holding it together.
And I got off the phone and I was like, man,
(19:03):
that's the other curts. I got up, I got to
the bathroom, started stripping my clothes off. I pewed for
about an hour. But whenever I whenever I get so
drunk that I throw up, I always take my phone
and I have this old country playlist. I turn on
the old country playlist and I throw up to it
gives me, gives me like a piece, like a piece
you show and uh and uh. And I laid there
(19:25):
and I woke up and realized that i'd ordered some
McDonald's like a couple hours ago, been sitting outside my door.
So I woke up and ate some McDonald's and and uh,
once I kind of came to a little bit. I
had that song and I wrote those two verses kind
of just about getting too drunk in the in the
airbnb and throwing up and having a bad time. So
(19:48):
that was that was a fun story for it. But
uh that that one is is another one of my favorites,
and love getting out. The title track is one that
I wrote about my missing my wife and my babies
and and being gone and I've been gone for a
couple of weeks and I go my dog scared when
I came back again. I had been gone for a
couple of weeks playing shows, and I had to fly
(20:09):
up to Des Moines, and all I wanted to do
is go home and hug on my babies and sit
with them and just hang out and play and you know,
I hang out with my wife. But I had to
after thirty forty five minutes of being a home I
had to unpack and repack my bag and go to
the airport and reply to to Moin. And we got
to the hotel in Des Moin and me and my
(20:30):
guitar player Bo and he was like, hey man, you
want some coffee? And I was like, nah, I'm good.
I'm just gonna stay up here. And hang out. He
walks out of the room and left his guitar and
I'm dead and I picked it up and I put
my phone down and a hit record and it was
just like a free stole off the top of my head,
just for two minutes, just how I was feeling, and
(20:51):
wrote the first verse, chorus and second versus the song,
and there's hit pause and I was like, all right,
I kind of forgot about it. And then a month
app later, two months later, my producers out on the
Red with us, and uh, Ben Burgess was opening the
shows and he'd been writing you all week, but that
third show he was late to and were already set up,
and he was like, was there anything you want to finish?
(21:12):
And I was like, I actually have this song. Uh
it's it's called uh uh it's called I Miss You,
I Miss you or something like that. And he's like, okay, cool,
and uh. We sit there and kind of got it
all worked up and wrote the bridge, and then we
ended up calling Lovely good Night because of the end
(21:34):
of it, and it's just it's cool because the end
of the record is is lovely good Night. It's the title,
but the very last words on the record is Lendy
good night, and I thought it was so cool just
to end the record, uh in the record, like that's
part of what I was saying, Like with the you know,
then you'll know that the violence about start skipping. It says,
oh you good night, so you know you can get
you a little warning. Cool.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Vye Cooper, congratulations on the new music and on the
current state of affairs which is only going to continue
to get brighter for your musical career. It's an honor
having you on. I hope we can do it again sometime.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I appreciate you having me man, It means a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
It's definitely tough. I mean, you know, I got three babies.
I got the two girls six and four and the
boy's two. They grow up a lot. Went on the road,
like I'll be gone for a week and get back,
and you know, the younger the worst it is, really
because then I'll be gone and I'll get back a
week later. And my boys like talking really well, you know,
(00:24):
and when I left, he was still just saying, you know, gibberish. Whatever.
That's that's part of it.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome to taking a walk where we explore the paths
that have led artists to where they are today. Joining
Buzz Night is BMG Nashville artist Colby Cooper, a rising
star in country music known for his heartfelt storytelling and
electrifying performances. Colby's journey is marked by a blend of
outlawed country and Southern rock influences, shaped by his upbringing
(00:55):
on a ranch and the loss of his father at
a young age. With hit It's Like Every Single Kiss
and his critically acclaimed album Boy From Anderson County to
the Moon, Colby has captivated audiences with his unique sound.
He has new music out called Love You Good Night.
Colby Cooper joins buzz Night on taking a walk right now, Colby,
(01:20):
thanks for being on taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Hey, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So, since the podcast is called taking a Walk, I
have to corner you with this question. If you could
take a walk with someone living or dead, who would
you take a walk with.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I would love to another to take a walk with
either Whaling Jings or Kurt Cobain.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Be a good walk, nice, diverse group of people.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
There, Oh, my dad, yeah, or my dad and we
go to.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Any particular place you'd like to take that walk?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Uh, And it'd been nice to be I think in
the mountain in Colorado or Utah, somewhere nice, somewhere it
feels real good, nice.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, congrats on the new music, Love you good night.
We'll talk about that for sure, But I want you
to take our audience to Bradford, Texas, which is where
you are right at this moment, And what rule did
your hometown play and does it continue to play in
(02:31):
your musical identity?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah? I think it's a very small town. Bradford is
a trafficking impalas and Athens and if you blink you
will miss it is very small. You look at the population.
It's like thirty four thirty five, I think. And I've
got five in my family here, so we make up
a significant part of the population here. And I grew up.
(02:57):
I grew up here my grandpa as Farmers is where
we live, and it's it's where I grew up. And
it's really like Bradford is really like my grandfather's farm
and a couple of spots right outside of it. Uh
and all the history is is really cool too. But
I think just the isolation and the and the loneliness
(03:18):
out here and the it's such a small town. You
know everybody's story, you know everything that's going on. The
growing up, I heard all the stories about who was
cheating and who was you knowing this and that and whatnot,
and uh, it gave some inspirations from my writing. And
it was, you know, it was Liver a wild wild
(03:40):
man by any means. I married with three kids, I'm
twenty five, got married to my high school sweetheart. So, uh,
I reget I love songs and I'll be missing missing
your people's songs about my my family. But you know,
I don't write the breakup songs, and the few songs
are all about just you know, relationships that I've witnessed,
(04:04):
or stories people have told me or whatever, you know,
things like that. So I think that definitely played a
big part of now I learned to write.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
You know, you bear a resemblance to a young John Prime.
Has anybody told you that?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
No, No, I love John Friday. There you go, and your.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Musical interest based on your answer to the taking a
walk question, obviously it goes to many different directions. Do
you want to take us down a ride of musical
influences and certainly don't be afraid to take dramatic left
turns or right turns? Absolutely, I think.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
You know, growing up, my dad Joff Katrick, and he
was a real cowboy and he worked on ranches and stuff.
So I was listening to a bunch of old country.
It was mainly like Whalen, William Jennings and Chrys LaDue
or two of my big big inspirations and still in
two of my you know, two of my parents, I
think they both of my top five listened to this
(05:11):
fast year and then I found rock after that with
like Ozzie. I was born of guns n' roses and
all the hair metal and Texas country. You know, uh,
Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen and Charlie Robinson. Uh, there's
so many greats. And I remember as a in fourth
(05:32):
grade my dad brought home the CD in two thousand
and eight, two thousand nine ers. Uh it was this
man called Whiskey Myers. And I was like, oh, who's
this And he said this is CD I got from
Cavendiers or something. It's called Road Alive. And I was like, oh, well,
who are these guys? And he said, there are some
dudes that are from right down the road. The lead
singer group fifteen minutes from here. The rest of them
(05:52):
all grew up whatever, all within you know, an hour.
I like what And that was like the first time
that I realized you could you could be from Bradford,
you know, mad Alba Palastin and you can make music.
So I was like a light bulb, A light bulb
went off in my head. And uh, and the music's
great and it's like the southern rock, you know country.
(06:15):
That was a big inspiration. But then also, uh, when
I got in middle school, I found my rap and
and all old school rapp and this. I just love everything.
I'm a big music fan in general. And I tried
to or I just you know, not trying. I don't
try to take too much from anything, but I try
to tape from everything, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (06:33):
And you got into vinyl records early on in life, right,
Oh yeah, I got.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
I got most of my battles sitting right over here
to my left, I did, I do. I do love vinyls.
I uh, I just I don't know something about just
putting the record on and just enjoying it as an
I sal.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
How is being into vinyl? How is it sort of
you know, shaped your approach to creating and releasing music.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, I think with like with how the just the whole,
the whole thing works nowadays, it's kind of hard, uh,
as far as just the releasing, Like we released a
few singles fills record, but when it comes out. What
I really focused on we were making this record was like,
when it's all together and it's all in its final form,
(07:26):
I want it to be a complete record that you
can sit there and listen top to the bottom and
be like, oh yeah, this is a pleasant you know,
Like I want to be able to put it on
the vinyl and just sit back and then flip it
and sit back and not have to get up and
I'm gonna skip this or I'm want to you know
what I mean.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So there are folks that don't appreciate that necessarily because
they weren't into vinyls. So I think appreciating vinyl in
the way albums were created back in the day and
then still bringing that forward in twenty twenty five as
a as an artist, that's that's pretty cool that you,
(08:04):
you know, put that painstaking detail to your work.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Absolutely, and that was like, that was part of why
this album took so under make. We started putting music
in twenty eighteen and this is this is the longest
we went without putting like a project out, like whether
it be an EP or an album. It's been about
two years and we put h we put a few
singles out, but we're I'm putting a full project out.
(08:29):
But that's you know, that's that's part of what part
of it is because I wanted I just wanted to
have a pile of songs that we wrote to pick from.
And we we got to that point final a little
back in like August, and uh, and it was like God,
it was like cutting tea the entire time I was like, man,
I want to put this out, like we have the
(08:50):
songs that are right here. They're good enough, like the
US the songs, these the songs, and then we finished,
like we wrote like three from the album back in August.
I was like, oh man, it please wouldn't have been
on the album been so sad, you know. So it
was it was tough to I guess, kind of sit
back and just get as creative as I could and
try to do it. But in the end, I'm so
(09:13):
happy with how it turned out.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
So can you tell us how do you decide whether
to to draw inspiration from personal experiences when when writing,
or take other inspirations from you know, friends or other observances.
How do you sort of decide that.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it kind of depends how I'm feeling. If
I'm feeling in my head and I'm feeling down, and
I can easily pull from like just that place of
you know, depression and sadness and and write that like
what was me song, I guess kind of thing. But
if if I'm writing something that's like I don't know,
(09:55):
if if I have like just a title that I
really liked, it feels like like a breakup song or
like a like a f you song or something, and it's, uh,
it's more like I just think about, you know, my
friends and their relationships and and uh what what they've
gone through, what they've told me about and that kind
of thing. Just because I've been married to my wife
(10:16):
since we're eighteen, like, uh, you know, and I love her,
She's my best friend. We got three kids, so my family,
my family loft. It is great, and I'm so happy that,
uh you know, we got softball practice and softball games
and ballet and all the good stuff. Uh So whatever
I think about, you know, breaking out and how that feels,
(10:38):
it's more like how you know. I mean, I've been
broken up with when I was in middle school and
high school, but you know, it's a little different in
the real world. And I hear my friends talk about it,
and uh just fans too. I have fans come up
and be like, man, me and this girl we bonded
over your music and then she cheated on me and
left me and this whole thing, and it just, I
(11:00):
don't know, it gives me. It gives me an inspiration.
I need to write that kind of song.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
But folks don't really understand what the life work balance
is and the challenge of it for a musician such
as yourself. Oh yes, sir, it's it's a big challenge.
And we're full time touring musicians and that's how we started.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
We started independent grassroots here in Texas, playing you know,
one hundred and fifty shows a year the past six
years or so. And it's the past two years we've
been able to take a few more days off, which
has been nice to be able to, you know, be
home and don't you know, I don't I don't miss birthdays,
(11:45):
I don't miss you know, any extracurricular thing I can,
I can make it for. So it's been nice to
be a little less business. Last two years. We're still
I mean, you know, full time tour and we have
this is my longest stretch. I've at home all year
and it's a week and three days, I think, and
then I'm back to where I'm home like three days
a week, two days a week, one day, you know.
(12:08):
So it's it's definitely tough. I mean, you know, I
got three babies. I got two girls, six and four
and then a boy it's two, and you know, you see,
they grow up a lot when on the road, like
I'll be gone for a week and get back, and
it's you know, the younger they are the fat and
(12:28):
the worst. It is really because they just grow so
fast in these little little intervals. And I'll be gone
and I get back a week later, and my boys
like talking really well, you know, and when I left,
he was still just saying, you know, gibberish whatever. That's
that's part of it, you know. And I but I
(12:49):
feel blessed because as a kid and all grown up,
all lot I wanted was to play music and to
have a family. Always was like my two dreams was
to family and playing music for a living. And I
get to do that. I support my family playing music.
I'm a utiful family.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
You know, your debut album, Boy from Anderson County to
the Moon, it was a big breakout moment. Can you
talk about what that project means to you and how
you sort of reflect on it for your musical journey
so far?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Absolutely? Yeah, And that was right. It was the first
one that got to p out with with with the label,
and it was it was a cool process, just uh,
and I wanted to at that time. I was like,
I want to put as many songs as we can,
and I was so focused on trying to get it
out fast and we we kind of had it like
half done.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
But that's all the album though.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
It's like it's a it's a enfel to your Boyfriendson
County to the Moon, it's a but it was two
teas so his boyfriends and County Epe and the to
the Moon Eypee is why. But it's also like it
was kind of just like what describes me, Like, I'm
you know, boy Frienderson County. That's Adford's Anderson, Canada, Anderson
County lines half them all that way, yeah, uh and
(14:05):
to the mow. It is kind of how me and
and all our dudes and the crew were like a family. Uh,
we spend so much time together. It's you know, you
got to be like a family or you know be
I would be crazy, but that's kind of how we
approach everything. Is is like just give it everything you
got and uh, you know, be a good person. You
know sure love.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Take us inside to the creation of the new album,
Love You good Night. How long did that take? And
who were your co collaborators?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Yeah, so Love You good Night it took. It's it's
been about a two year process, and there there's a
there's a few riders on all right, if you heard them,
I have two dogs. They just jump off the couch
and run it around. UH. But the my producer, Andrew
Bayless is a writer on most of them, and UH
(14:58):
produced the whole thing Lack of Whitworth, Riley Thomas, Uh, Dan.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Peller and Uh.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Oh Man. I will miss a couple, but there's so many,
and they're all like some of my favorite riders are.
Feel so lucky to get to be in the room
with them. But in the creation process, like they all
they all understood what we wanted Josh Door to one
of my favorites. They all understood what we're trying to do,
and it was it was easy. It was a bunch
(15:27):
of my boys, just a bunch of the dudes I've
been riding with a bunch the past couple of years, UH,
and they kind of knew what we had for the
album and knew what we needed UH. So it was
it was a fun process to to get in there
and to uh. Just like I was saying, we're thinking
so much about how the total uh or or how
the outcome would be, and how the songs would fit
together and how you know, what kind of story would tell,
(15:50):
So that it was it was fun. It's it was
a really fun process. It was a long process, like
I said, two years and it's been it's the longest
we've ever went without putting out a project. So it
was it was a it was a stressful two years.
But now that we're nearing it, the fans are excited
about it and everybody's was really tall with how it
came out, and I'm just so happy.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
You know, what are some of your favorites off of
the album?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I know I would say it's so tough to changes
all the time, but right at the moment, my favorite
is probably empty Handed. One of my favorites is empty Handed,
and it's a It's it was a solo, right. I
wrote that one by myself. We just moved home from Tyler.
We lived in Tyler, Tyler, Texas the past four years.
(16:32):
It's about forty five minutes away from here. It's like
the big city growing up, like it was where you
go Christmas shop and and closed shopping. But I wrote
that one at the house. We had there up in
my office and it was the first time that I
was like making a track myself and trying to do
the whole like recording thing. And I set there for
two weeks doing it. Had the melody is all like
(16:53):
saying in there and I was just slowly right into
the melody and uh, and the way it came out
it was so cool, like it's it's an other one too.
That's like, it's not about me and my wife. It's
it's a it's a leading the person that's bad for
you song. It's the you know, the hook is Uh.
I'm so happy I landed empty handed. Uh, you know,
like that kind of thing where too, you know, felt
like it was going to be bad, but I ended
(17:15):
up happy. But I've just you know, I've seen relationships
like that not work out where it's like, oh wow,
I thought that was gonna be the end of me.
It turned out I'm much happier without them. Wow. And
I love that one production wise and melody wise. It's uh,
it's one of my favorites. Apartment two of eight, it's
another one of my favorites. It's a uh, it's the
(17:37):
The course is one of my favorite courses whoever written.
And the verses I had to rewrite the verses. Uh,
and when I rewrote the verses, I was finding in
Nashville on Father's Day and I was it was a
couple of years ago. It's pretty sad because I wanted
to come home on Father's Day, but I had to
go for some meetings and all that stuff that week.
And and I'm like a big drink crowd drink every
(17:58):
once in a while. But on the play, and I
was sitting there and this this old man was sitting
next to me, and he it was like eight am
coming back from Denver, so we had to go from
Denver to DFW to BNA in Nashville and uh on
the flat from Denver, he like, I was sitting there,
just kind of thinking I was going to sleep, and
he was like, hey, gave me to take a drake.
I take a cocaine jack and coke. I was like,
(18:21):
dang early, it's like okay, got do it to I said,
give it to me. And we drank like five or
six of them on that flat and we got we
got to feeling pretty good, and I got to where
she was just giving me the bottle and let me
shoot the bottle and then had the doctor pepper as
a chaser, and uh, and I got pretty toasted on
that first fight, and uh, I stumbled my way around
(18:42):
to my next fight. Lo and behold there's another another
old man that was having a good time wanted to
drink too, and it's like all right. So I got
to Nashville and I was I was pretty wasted, and
I got to me Uh, got to the airb and
D called my wife, called my babies and hey, how
are you all? And I was still holding it together.
And I got off the phone and I was like, man,
(19:03):
that's the other curts. I got up, I got to
the bathroom, started stripping my clothes off. I pewed for
about an hour. But whenever I whenever I get so
drunk that I throw up, I always take my phone
and I have this old country playlist. I turn on
the old country playlist and I throw up to it
gives me, gives me like a piece, like a piece
you show and uh and uh. And I laid there
(19:25):
and I woke up and realized that i'd ordered some
McDonald's like a couple hours ago, been sitting outside my door.
So I woke up and ate some McDonald's and and uh,
once I kind of came to a little bit. I
had that song and I wrote those two verses kind
of just about getting too drunk in the in the
airbnb and throwing up and having a bad time. So
(19:48):
that was that was a fun story for it. But
uh that that one is is another one of my favorites,
and love getting out. The title track is one that
I wrote about my missing my wife and my babies
and and being gone and I've been gone for a
couple of weeks and I go my dog scared when
I came back again. I had been gone for a
couple of weeks playing shows, and I had to fly
(20:09):
up to Des Moines, and all I wanted to do
is go home and hug on my babies and sit
with them and just hang out and play and you know,
I hang out with my wife. But I had to
after thirty forty five minutes of being a home I
had to unpack and repack my bag and go to
the airport and reply to to Moin. And we got
to the hotel in Des Moin and me and my
(20:30):
guitar player Bo and he was like, hey man, you
want some coffee? And I was like, nah, I'm good.
I'm just gonna stay up here. And hang out. He
walks out of the room and left his guitar and
I'm dead and I picked it up and I put
my phone down and a hit record and it was
just like a free stole off the top of my head,
just for two minutes, just how I was feeling, and
(20:51):
wrote the first verse, chorus and second versus the song,
and there's hit pause and I was like, all right,
I kind of forgot about it. And then a month
app later, two months later, my producers out on the
Red with us, and uh, Ben Burgess was opening the
shows and he'd been writing you all week, but that
third show he was late to and were already set up,
and he was like, was there anything you want to finish?
(21:12):
And I was like, I actually have this song. Uh
it's it's called uh uh it's called I Miss You,
I Miss you or something like that. And he's like, okay, cool,
and uh. We sit there and kind of got it
all worked up and wrote the bridge, and then we
ended up calling Lovely good Night because of the end
(21:34):
of it, and it's just it's cool because the end
of the record is is lovely good Night. It's the title,
but the very last words on the record is Lendy
good night, and I thought it was so cool just
to end the record, uh in the record, like that's
part of what I was saying, Like with the you know,
then you'll know that the violence about start skipping. It says,
oh you good night, so you know you can get
you a little warning. Cool.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Vye Cooper, congratulations on the new music and on the
current state of affairs which is only going to continue
to get brighter for your musical career. It's an honor
having you on. I hope we can do it again sometime.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
I appreciate you having me man, It means a lot.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Lynn Hoffman
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