CountryLine Songwriter Series

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Wade Bowen started his musical career in the band West 84 with longtime friend Matt Miller. In 2002 Bowen decided to head out on his own, self-releasing his debut album “Try Not to Listen”, and playing up to 250 gigs a year. The hard work eventually paid off as the title track climbed into the Top Ten on the Texas music chart, and the rising star began planning his follow-up. “Live at the Blue Light”, and “Lost Hotel”, arrived in 2006; both earned him an audience outside of Texas. “If We Ever Make It Home”, was released in 2008 -- it wound up peaking at number 239 on Billboard's Country albums charts. Before he delivered “Live at Billy Bob's Texas”, in 2010.

Bowen signed to the Sony-distributed BNA Records for 2012's “The Given”, which went to number nine on the country album charts; its single "Saturday Night", topped out at 39. Not long after its release, though, BNA restructured and Bowen was once again independent. He released an eponymous album in 2014, and commercially it performed just as well as its major-supported predecessor. One year later, he had his greatest success with “Hold My Beer, Vol. 1”, a duet album with Randy Rogers; it went all the way to number four. The next year, he released the country gospel-themed “Then Sings My Soul: Songs for My Mother”, on his Bowen Sounds label. Another collaboration with Rogers, “Watch This”, arrived months later.

In early 2018, Bowen issued the well-received “Solid Ground,” which climbed to 27 on the Billboard country charts, and in 2020 he and Randy Rogers released a sequel to their acclaimed duet LP, appropriately titled “Hold My Beer, Vol.2”, Bowen returned in 2021 with the EP “Where Phones Don't Work”, then for the first time took on the role of sole producer for his 2022 album “Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth.” He continued during this prolific period with his tenth studio set, “Flyin”, which arrived in May 2024 and upon its release he spoke with CountryLine’s Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·    Live shows from the biggest names in country

·    Interviews with our favourite artists

·    News and gossip direct from music city itself

·    Movies; TV shows

·    Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Michael Ray is a native of Eustis, Florida, who was first introduced to music by his grandfather. Initially inspired by such classic country artists as Porter Wagoner, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings, by his teens Ray was expanding his taste, listening to more modern artists like Garth Brooks, as well as the eclectic influence of modern radio sounds from rock to hip-hop. By the time Ray graduated high school in 2006, he had decided to pursue his passion for country music.

Forgoing a move to Nashville, Ray instead formed a band and began playing a constant grind of shows all around Southern Florida. He slowly built a loyal following, a fan base that widened considerably after a Lakeland DJ for WPCV-97 Country put his music into regular rotation. Soon Ray was headlining the Orlando House of Blues and selling out shows all over Florida. In 2010, his independently released debut caught the ear of veteran music industry manager Tony Conway, who began helping Ray take his career to a national audience. In 2012, he appeared on the CW talent competition The Next, where he was mentored by Big & Rich's John Rich. Ray was an audience favourite on the show and ultimately took home the top prize. After the show, he signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell, and in 2014 released the hit single "Kiss You in the Morning”.

His full-length self-titled major-label debut, followed in 2015 on Warner Music Nashville. Well-received, the set made it to number four on the Country Albums chart and spawned two more singles with "Real Men Love Jesus" and "Think a Little Less”. Over the next several years, Ray toured extensively before returning to the studio alongside producer Scott Hendricks (Blake Shelton, Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins). In 2018, he delivered his sophomore album, “Amos”, which included the Top 20 country single "Get to You”, “Amos”, debuted at five on Billboard's Country Albums charts upon its June release. Shortly afterward, "One That Got Away" became his second Country Airplay Top Ten hit, reaching number three. "Her World or Mine" closed out the album’s' chart run in 2019, reaching 22 on Country Airplay.

The non-LP single "Whiskey and Rain" followed in 2020. It would wind up anchoring “Higher Education”, the EP Ray released in August 2021. Two more EPs, “The Warehouse Sessions” and “The Bootlegger Sessions”, appeared in 2022, offering alternate versions of previously recorded songs. Ray returned with a new single, 2023's dark-toned "Get Her Back”, and its accompanying EP, “Dive Bars & Broken Hearts”, which also featured a duet with Meghan Patrick on "Spirits and Demons”.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Colbie Caillat's childhood was spent in Malibu and Ventura County with her father, Ken, who famously produced the landmark Fleetwood Mac albums Rumours and Tusk. She took piano lessons as a child but lacked significant inspiration until she turned 11 and became enthralled with Lauryn Hill's performance in Sister Act 2. Immediately realizing that she wanted to be a singer, she started taking vocal lessons and soon met Mikal Blue, a producer who had previously worked with Five for Fighting and Carrie Underwood.

As the collaboration thickened, Jason Reeves entered the picture and lent his artistic know-how to the songwriter's developing skills. She posted several of her finished songs on MySpace, although little response was generated until Caillat uploaded a breezy, hook-laden track named "Bubbly”. As word of mouth spread, Rolling Stone highlighted her as one of the top female artists on the networking site. For four months, Caillat was MySpace's number one unsigned artist, garnering over 14 million plays in the process. With such an appealing statistic on her résumé, record labels began courting her, and she signed to Universal Republic.

In July 2007, Caillat made her major-label debut with “Coco”, a summertime record suitable for both the coffeehouse and the beach. "Bubbly", topped the singles charts in several formats, transforming the singer from an Internet sensation to a mainstream presence. Caillat celebrated her star success by duetting with Jason Mraz, touring with John Mayer, and collaborating with Taylor Swift. Two years after “Coco's”, release, she returned with a second record, “Breakthrough”. The album went gold and was followed two years later by “All of You”, another summery collection of pop songs written with the likes of Ryan Tedder, Toby Gad, and "Bubbly" co-writer Jason Reeves.

Caillat began work on her next album in 2013, with the first fruit of her labour, "Hold On”, appearing in November 2013. An EP called “Gypsy Heart (Side A)”, showed up in June 2014 and, as that title suggests, it was the first half of a full-length album called “Gypsy Heart”, which was released in September 2014. Produced in part by Babyface, the album was a conscious shift to popular, radio-friendly material. The album debuted at 17 on Billboard's Top 200 and its biggest single, "Try," peaked at six on their adult contemporary chart.

Caillat parted ways with Republic Records after “Gypsy Heart”, and formed her own label, PlummyLou, with the intent of releasing “The Malibu Sessions”. Recorded prior to “Gypsy Heart”, but rejected by Republic, “The Malibu Sessions”, reconnected Caillat to her beachy sound, and saw release in October of 2016. Caillat started another label, Blue Jean Baby, for “Along the Way”, her 2023 album of contemporary country songs.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Scotty McCreery began singing as a child in Garner, North Carolina. School performances eventually gave way to local competitions, and McCreery won a singing contest in the nearby town of Clayton before trying out for American Idol as a 16-year-old. Auditioning with Josh Turner's "Your Man”, he made good use of his country twang and deep baritone vocals, prompting the judges to compare him to Randy Travis. McCreery passed the audition, became an audience favourite, and eventually won the competition in May 2011.

McCreery's coronation song was "I Love You This Big”, a country ballad that sold nearly 175,000 copies during its first week of release. The song also cracked the country charts at number 32, making it the highest-charting debut single in country music history, and helped stir up anticipation for his full-length album, which he recorded while preparing for American Idol’s summer tour. “Clear as Day”, appeared in the fall of 2011 from Mercury Nashville, debuting at number one on the Billboard Top 200 the week of its release. It went on to be one of the better-selling latter-day Idol-related records, earning a platinum certification and producing another hit single in "The Trouble with Girls”. The following year, McCreery released the seasonal “Christmas with Scotty McCreery”, in time for the 2012 holiday season.

In October 2013, he returned with his second official studio album, “See You Tonight”. Produced by Frank Rogers, the album moved McCreery into bright contemporary country-pop. It was a success, debuting at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart and earning McCreery's the Breakthrough Artist Award at the 2013 American Country Awards. In 2015 he issued a new single, "Southern Belle”, and toured with Rascal Flatts.

In 2017, McCreery signed with Triple Tigers, a new imprint distributed by Sony Nashville. “Seasons Change”, his first album for his new label, arrived in 2018 and gave him three number one hits on Billboard's Country Airplay chart: "Five More Minutes”, "This Is It”, and "In Between”. In 2020, he released "You Time”, which went to number one on Billboard Country Airplay, setting up the 2021 release of its parent album “Same Truck”.

In 2022 Scotty McCreery performed at the C2C Festival and chatted with CountryLine’s Stuart Banford in Dublin.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Born in Wisconsin, Ashley Cooke split her time between California and Florida as a child, eventually settling in the Parkland, Florida area. She started writing original songs from a young age and found herself drawn to country as a high schooler, particularly artists like Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, and Rascal Flatts. Upon her high school graduation, she decided to pursue a music career, enrolling in Nashville's Belmont University. There, she won the school's Country Showcase -- previous winners included Brad Paisley and Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line --which helped catapult her into Nashville's country music industry after her 2019 college graduation.

Cooke first began building an audience through her social media in 2020, concentrating on her online following during the COVID-19 quarantine. Part of her efforts were focused on building the 615 House collective, but she also concentrated on her own recorded work. That year, she self-released the digital singles "Strangers" -- which was a duet with Daniel Ethridge -- and "Chasin' You”. Cooke then teamed with Back Blocks Music, which put out "Jealous of the Sky" in 2020, before releasing "Sunday Morning Kinda Saturday Night”, the Roman Alexander duet "Between You & Me”, "Under”, and "Already Drank That Beer”, all leading up to the August 2021 release of the Jimmy Robbins-produced “Already Drank That Beer Side A”.

All this activity, along with the Jimmie Allen duet "Good Goodbye”, earned the attention of Big Loud, which signed Ashley Cooke to a record contract and publishing deal in April 2022; both were co-ventures with Back Blocks Music. 

In June of 2022 Ashley chatted with CountryLine's Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Kane Brown was born in 1993 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to a white mother and Black father. Initially attracted to R&B, Brown decided to focus on country after winning an 11th grade talent contest with his rendition of Chris Young's "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)”. Brown then began posting videos online of covers of songs by Brantley Gilbert, Alan Jackson, and others. He quickly developed a loyal following, a fan base that helped his own single, "Don't Go City On Me”, go viral upon its release in 2014. In 2015, Brown released his debut EP, “Closer”, which reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Country Albums chart. Following “Closer”, he also released the stand-alone single "Used to Love You Sober”.

In early 2016, Brown signed a recording contract with RCA/Sony Music Nashville. That December, he returned with his full-length self-titled debut, featuring the singles "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" and "Thunder in the Rain”. The album debuted at number one on the country charts and peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200. Two more singles, "What Ifs”, featuring Lauren Alaina, and "Heaven" appeared in 2017.

"Lose It”, the first single from Kane Brown's second album, appeared in June 2018. It climbed to number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart prior to “Experiment's”, release in November. “Experiment”, debuted at number one on Billboard's Top 200 and spawned two more number one Country Airplay singles with "Good as You" and "Homesick" arriving in January and August of 2019, respectively. Also in 2019, he joined DJ Marshmello for the single "One Right Thing" and cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard Country chart with his song "For My Daughter”.

As “Experiment”, wound down its album cycle in 2020, Brown released “Mixtape, Vol. 1”, in August of that year. The EP was highlighted by the hit single "Cool Again”. Following the Chris Young collaboration "Famous Friends”, Brown teamed up with Blackbear for 2021's "Memory”. The number one Billboard Country Airplay solo single "One Mississippi" arrived later that year, opening a series of singles released in advance of his 2022 album “Different Man”. Prior to the September appearance of “Different Man”, "Like I Love Country Music" topped the Billboard Country Airplay Charts, with the promo singles "Whiskey Sour" and "Leave You Alone" helping build anticipation for the record's release. Largely produced by Dann Huff, “Different Man”, was an exercise in genre-fluid country, finding Brown attempting everything from R&B to stripped-down balladeering. He co-wrote all but one of the album's 17 songs. It hit number two on the country chart and five on the Billboard 200.

In February of 2023 Kane chatted with CountryLine's Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

A native of Rogers, Arkansas, Joe Nichols grew up watching his father play bass in a local country band. He himself played in a rock band during his teenage years but soon came back to country, and after high school took a night job as a DJ while supporting himself as a mechanic by day. He met producer Randy Edwards at the latter job, and under Edwards' guidance, he performed regularly and worked on his songwriting.

He landed a record deal with Intersound and released his self-titled debut in 1996, naturally with Edwards producing. The single "Six of One, Half a Dozen (Of the Other)" was a minor hit, but the album didn't sell particularly well. It did manage to earn Nichols a shot with Warner Bros., but several label mergers left him out in the cold, and he worked a series of day jobs around Nashville while looking for a new deal. In 2000, he struck up a songwriting partnership with session guitarist Brent Rowan, and two years later he signed with Universal. His label debut, “Man with a Memory”, was released in 2002, and its lead single, the ballad "The Impossible”, went to number three on the country charts, also crossing over to the pop Top 30. In the wake of its success, his first album was reissued under the title “Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other”.

Another single from “Man with a Memory”, "Brokenheartsville," became his first number one country hit in early 2003, and it helped send the album into the country Top Ten. His second album for Universal South, “Revelation”, and a holiday album, “Traditional Christmas”, were released in 2004, followed by the Top Ten hit album “III”, in 2005.  His next record, “Real Things”, hit the shelves in 2007 and focused primarily on tender country ballads with a smattering of uptempo jams. “Old Things New”, followed two years later in 2009. It proved to be another solid hit for Nichols thanks to the singles "Believers" and "Gimmie That Girl”, and Nichols followed it up in 2011 with the album “It's All Good”. “It's All Good”, performed respectably -- it debuted at 19 on the Billboard country charts -- but it didn't generate a big hit single. After its release, Nichols parted ways with Universal and signed with Red Bow in October 2012. A year later, he returned with the sunny, pop-oriented “Crickets”.

“Crickets”, generated two major country hits -- "Sunny and 75" and "Yeah" -- which kept the album on the charts through 2014. In 2015, Nichols released "Freaks Like Me”, the single that was intended to be the first taste from his eighth solo album, but it didn't generate much attention, nor did its 2016 sequel, "Undone”. Following these two singles, Nichols reworked the eighth album, which was released as “Never Gets Old”, in July 2017.

In 2019 he spoke about his life and career with Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Billy Currington was raised in Rincon, Georgia. Following high school, he made a couple attempts at relocating to Nashville in the hopes of getting a career in music off the ground, finally landing a job at a concrete company while still finding time to play at clubs on the side and work on song demos. When singer Mark Wills put a hold on one of his songs, Currington met and began writing with Wills' producer, Carson Chamberlain, which eventually led to a recording contract with Mercury Records. His first single, "Walk a Little Straighter”, was released in 2003, and drew heavily on Currington's experiences with an alcoholic father.

A self-titled debut album was released on Mercury Records in 2003. A second album, “Doin' Somethin' Right”, followed in 2005 on Mercury Nashville. Three years later, Currington delivered the eclectic, R&B-inflected “Little Bit of Everything”, also on Mercury Nashville. In 2010 he returned with his album, “Enjoy Yourself”, featuring the Troy Jones co-written single "Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer”. That song went to number one, as did "Let Me Down Easy”, "Love Done Gone", and "Like My Dog", also reached the country Top 40.

Currington returned to action in 2013, releasing the single "Hey Girl", in March and delivering the full-length “We Are Tonight”, that September. The album debuted at five on the Billboard Country charts, and spawned the number one hits "Hey Girl", and the title track "We Are Tonight”. In 2015, Currington returned with “Summer Forever”, an album preceded by the single "Don't It" -- a song that reached number four on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart. It was followed by two number one hits in 2016: "It Don't Hurt Like It Used To", and "Do I Make You Wanna”.

Currington's seventh studio album, “Intuition”, was released in 2021 which is when he chatted with Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

A native of Nashville, Mitchell Tenpenny grew up in a city and home surrounded by music. His grandmother was Donna Hilley, a president of Sony/ATV Publishing, and through her, he had brushes with such Music City heavyweights as Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman. Inspired by their writing, he decided to pursue country music as a vocation. Picking up the guitar at the age of 13, Tenpenny learned how to play and write. After graduating with a music business degree from Middle Tennessee State University, he set out on his professional career. In April 2015, his debut, “Black Crow”, was released and featured cameos from the SteelDrivers, Ace Frehley and Brian "Head" Welch.

As he worked on establishing himself as a performer, Tenpenny gained attention as a songwriter in 2016. He co-wrote Granger Smith's Billboard Country Airplay Top Ten hit "If the Boot Fits", along with Jon Langston's single "All Eyes on Us”.

Tenpenny signed with Riser House Entertainment in 2017, releasing "Alcohol You Later", in April before the EP "Linden Ave", arrived in July. Both the single and EP showed him following a more soulful direction, one that was reminiscent of the country-R&B of Sam Hunt and Thomas Rhett. His 2018 single "Drunk Me”, then wound peaking at two on the Country Airplay chart -- and set up the December release of Tenpenny's album, “Telling All My Secrets”, which debuted at number five on the Top Country Albums chart and even cracked the Billboard 200.

He issued the seasonal EP "Neon Christmas", in 2020. "Bucket List", then appeared in early 2021, the first single pulled from "Midtown Diaries", a mini-LP that arrived in September. Just a month later, he released his third album and first full-length Christmas set, “Naughty List”. Tenpenny then got harder and louder on “This Is the Heavy”, an album delivered in September 2022.

In March of 2023 he performed at the C2C festival and chatted with Stuart Banford in Dublin.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The CountryLine Songwriter Series', is where you'll hear from some of the most successful artists and songwriters working in Nashville today. Country music is all about storytelling and this is where you'll discover the stories from the people themselves of how they managed to find their way into such a competitive industry and rise to the top. What motivates and inspires them and what they've learnt along the way.

Eric Church grew up in Granite Falls, North Carolina, and began singing as a child. At 13, he started writing songs, later teaching himself to play guitar. After graduating with a degree in marketing, he moved to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. It took him a year to get a publishing deal with Sony/ATV, after which he started having his songs recorded by other artists, an example being Terri Clark's version of "The World Needs a Drink”, Church met producer Jay Joyce, who took an interest in him as a recording artist, and they began making demos. That led to his being signed by Capitol Records Nashville.

Church's debut single, "How 'Bout You”, was released in early 2006, and it had reached the country Top 20 by the time Capitol issued his first album, “Sinners Like Me”, in July 2006. The record was both a critical and commercial success, and he followed it up with “Carolina”, in 2009, which swung for the contemporary country fences and hit them, scoring two Top Ten singles on the country charts with "Love Your Love the Most", (certified gold) and "Hell on the Heart”, In 2010, Church scored another gold single with "Smoke a Little Smoke”, and he won Top New Solo Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards for that calendar year.

“Chief”, was Church's major breakout album: upon its July 2011 release, it debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart. Soon afterward, "Drink in My Hand", climbed to the top of the country charts, becoming Church's first number one single. Its popularity was eclipsed in the summer of 2012 by "Springsteen”, a ballad that also reached number one on the country charts but additionally crossed over to the pop Top 20. Two other singles were pulled from “Chief”, -- "Creepin'", and "Like Jesus Does", -- and the LP won Album of the Year at the 2012 CMA Awards. Chief also earned him his first Grammy nominations, for Best Country Album as well as Best Country Song and Solo Performance for "Springsteen”.

The Outsiders arrived after considerable anticipation and acclaim in February 2014 and became his second album to hit number one on both the country and overall charts. The Outsiders racked up five hit singles -- the biggest were the ballads "Give Me Back My Hometown", and "Talladega”, both of which reached number one on Billboard's U.S. Country Airplay chart -- and while "Like a Wrecking Ball”, remained on the charts, Church released a brand-new full-length album, “Mr. Misunderstood”, as a surprise in the first week of November 2015. “Mr. Misunderstood”, debuted at number two on Billboard's Top 200 and country charts, eventually earning a gold certification and winning CMA's Album of the Year in 2016. It was around this time he chatted with Stuart Banford.

CountryLine brings country music to the world through our radio stations, a TV show that reaches 90 million homes, countless interviews with massive stars and great live sessions. Download the CountryLine app to experience all this in one place:

·     Live shows from the biggest names in country

·     Interviews with our favourite artists

·     News and gossip direct from music city itself

·     Movies; TV shows

·     Access to country music’s legends and the stars of tomorrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.