A singer, songwriter, guitar and bass player whose latest single came out in September, marking the latest release in his solo work after having become known for touring globally and recording as a member of the alt-rock band 3 Doors Down. Their 2016 song “Us And The Night” peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Rock Chart and was the first major release he both wrote and played on in-studio. In 2018 he made his terrestrial radio debut. He also talks here about having been featured on Paramount Network's reality series "Ink Master" and some acting that he has done (two movies).
"Kind of all my influences growing up kind of show in some way or another in my songs, I think, and it's something I try to kind of strive for with the songs I write and the songs that I release. It speaks to kind of where I came from and what I want to write about."
"At 2:30 in the morning after you've been playing heavy rock and roll all night and you're driving to the next place, you want to listen to something a little calmer and a little easier on the ears sometimes, and something that's telling a story."
"Being able to do social media and marketing stuff around a single every six weeks or something instead of one record every year, you get a lot more exposure and you can kind of stay in people's minds."
"It's... a lot easier to knock songs out these days... You can put some bones together pretty quick and work on it in a pretty short period of time and get a good sounding song out of stuff with the technology that's available for recording."
"I grew up in North Carolina... I started coming to Nashville almost every weekend working and writing... so I was just here all the time... Since I was here all the time (3 Doors Down) would invite me to stuff; record releases and any kind of thing that was going on, charity events, all that kind of stuff."
"It is just kind of a thing they always say in Nashville... you gotta be seen, you gotta be out, doing stuff, make friends, making it known that you're serious about it."
"What I tend to tell folks whenever they ask me advice about stuff, I'm like, 'Take opportunities, ya' know, don't just say, like, I'm this one thing. Don't just be like, I only play guitar. Don't ask me for anything else.' 'Cause you never know what kind of opportunity will come up... Take those opportunities, especially early on. Jump on all that stuff. Get out and play. Get used to being in front of people. You just never know where stuff might lead."
"It's awesome to have the big dreams and aspirations, of course, like everybody wants to be the next Luke Combs or Keith Urban and they're filling up stadiums on your name. But that's one in a million. And there's a million other aspects of the music industry that you can have a really successful career at."
"The number one thing is, do you love your art and your passion for performing and writing music, or do you love the idea of getting famous? Which thing is driving you? ... At the end of the day it's gotta be because you absolutely love what you're doing."
"Wild Mustangs"
"Heartache Rodeo"