Influenced by Bruno Mars, Old Dominion, Train and Billy Currington, Jacob Rice started his journey into his musical career by moving to Nashville, TN in 2020 during the middle of a worldwide pandemic. He put out his first song "Whatever Floats Your Boat" followed by a song he wrote for his wife called "Forever I Do." In this episode, Jacob talks about those songs along with how he did the donkey ride of shame and left his wife at the top of a mountain. Listen to hear the whole story and more about this incredible new artist! We highlighted Jacob as an Unsigned Artists of the Month in July of 2022 and it's been fun to watch how things have grown for him since then. Just last week he was in Key West performing for the Key West Songwriters Festival and he released his last single, "Picture This," on May 5. He's releasing his next single on May 12 called "Hurt People" followed by his five song sophomore EP "Open Tabs at Empty Bars" that comes out May 19. Go follow Jacob and we hope you become a fan just like we are!

Show/Liner Notes:

Jacob's Instagram - @JacobRiceMusic

Jacob's TikTok - @Jacob_RiceMusic

Jacob's Website - JacobRiceMusic.com

And follow up - Stories Behind The Songs - here:

Instagram - @SBTSongs

TikTok - @SBTSongs

Chris Blair's Instagram - @ChrisBlairMusic

Chris Blair's Website - ChrisBlair.com

Also a big thank you to our sponsors for everything they do. Sennheiser Microphones, we wouldn't sound so great without you! Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics, thank you for the support! And The Listening Room - it all starts and ends with the best place to hear live music in town where people are connected to the stories behind the songs.

If Tomorrow Never Comes, Ain't Going Down and more for Garth Brooks. Getting You Home (The Black Dress Song) for Chris Young. These are just a couple songs that the amazing Kent Blazy has written, as well as singles for Gary Morris, Diamond Rio, Patty Loveless and others. He's had a total of 7 #1 hits so far and they're just going to keep on coming. I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing Kent and calling him a friend for about 17 years now. He's as humble and kind as he is talented and I absolutely loved sitting down with him on this episode. Hear more about the hits he's written, how he met Garth in the first place and the stories behind his songs! Let us know what you think, and PLEASE share, like and follow!

Show Notes/Links:

Kent's Instagram⁠ - @KentBlazy

Kent's Website - https://www.kentblazy.com/

SBTSongs Instagram⁠ - @SBTSongs⁠

SBTSongs TikTok - @SBTSongs⁠

SBTSongs YouTube Video⁠⁠ - @SBTSongs

Chris Blair Instagram⁠ - @ChrisBlairMusic⁠⁠

Chris Blair Website⁠ - ChrisBlair.com

Thanks for listening and supporting Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will hit subscribe, follow, like and rate us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, Stitcher, Castbox, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC

And thanks to our sponsors: Sennheiser and Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics

I was in the room when he got his first #1 award and I'll never forget it. In this episode I have the privilege of sharing the story behind the songs written by Phil Barton. Phil came to Nashville from Australia where he already has some major success with a children's band called "Glower Pot Gang" that has sold over 400,000 records. He's done almost 90 kids records including some huge success for things like Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. Once he moved to Nashville Phil was known to write two songs pretty much every day and I don't know that I ever saw anyone work harder for it than he did. He'd write a couple songs a day and then go play shows at night - pretty much every night. His first #1 was a song called "A Woman Like You" that he wrote with Jon Stone and Johnny Bulford for Lee Brice. It was all of their first #1's together and that day at the ceremony was a blast. He's going to talk about that song along with everything else he's had happen after that. I have known Phil for years and he's just a great writer, hard worker and genuinely a great guy.

Liner Notes/Links:

Phil's Instagram⁠ - @PhilBarton222

Phil's Website 

And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:⁠

SBTSongs Instagram⁠ - @SBTSongs⁠

SBTSongs TikTok - @SBTSongs

⁠SBTSongs YouTube Video⁠⁠ - @SBTSongs

Chris Blair Instagram⁠ - @ChrisBlairMusic⁠

⁠Chris Blair Website⁠ - ChrisBlair.com

Thanks for listening and supporting Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will hit subscribe, follow, like and rate us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC

There was some mastermind thought that went into how the Lost Saints became a trio! In this episode, we meet this new up-and-coming artists/trio and hear how each of them made their way to Nashville, how they met and how one of the members somewhat kidnapped the others to trick them into seeing how they all sounded together - and that was a good move! Their harmonies blend so well and I have loved Chris, Afton and Derek since I first heard them in 2019 in St. Augustine, Florida. You're going to hear the story behind their song "Hook Up," how their hard work has paid off and just more about what's coming up. As we release this episode, they have a brand new single coming out that you can go pre-save "Catching Fire" or by the time you listen to this, it's probably already out so go check it out!

Liner Notes/Links:

Lost Saints Instagram⁠ - @LostSaintsMusic

Lost Saints TikTok⁠ - @LostSaintsMusic

Lost Saints Website - LostSaintsMusic.com

And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:⁠

SBTSongs Instagram⁠ - @SBTSongs⁠

SBTSongs TikTok - @SBTSongs

⁠SBTSongs YouTube Video⁠⁠ - @SBTSongs

Chris Blair Instagram⁠ - @ChrisBlairMusic⁠

⁠Chris Blair Website⁠ - ChrisBlair.com

Thanks for listening and supporting Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will hit subscribe, follow, like and rate us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC

Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will listen, follow, like and rate us here on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!
In this episode I sit down with hit songwriter and #1 book author J.T. Harding! You may not know the name, but you know the songs. J.T. has written so many hit songs for artists like Uncle Kracker, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, The Jonas Brothers, Blake Shelton and many more. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, he moved to LA to become a rock star himself but eventually started coming to Nashville to write songs and it just stuck. This has to be the funniest episode I have put out to date! J.T. is just always full of energy and his humor will make you laugh out loud while you're going through the episode.

In the episode he talks about how Lincoln Park helped him get a songwriting deal. He'll talk about the stories behind songs he wrote like "Somewhere With You" for Kenny Chesney, "Smile" for Uncle Kracker, "Alone With You" for Jake Owen, meeting Keith Urban in a bathroom at an awards show and how that led to "Somewhere In My Car," along with other stories behind his songs, great advice for new songwriters and more.

Liner Notes/Links:
J.T.'s Instagram - @JTXRockstar
J.T's TikTok - @JTXRockstar
And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:
SBTSongs Instagram - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair Instagram - @ChrisBlairMusic
SBTSongs YouTube Video - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair Website - ChrisBlair.com
We hope you you'll share this podcast with your friends, give us 5 stars, follow - all the things! We appreciate the support and can't wait to keep bringing great guests and stories to you every week. Thanks for listening! And also a HUGE thank you to our sponsors of this episode:
Sennheiser - https://en-us.sennheiser.com/
Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics - http://brittskinbeauty.com/
Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC

Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will listen, follow, like and rate us here on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode I sit down with incredible new trio, The Woods. We talk about how these three came together to create The Woods during the pandemic. They talk about the story behind their first song "Worlds On Fire," the release of "If You Really Love Me," how social media effects the music industry so much and just an intro into this new group. When I first heard them singing together I just loved their harmonies and how well they blended together. They are very unique and fresh in a great way. I felt this way so much that I named them one of my Unsigned Artists of the Month in 2022. I hope you enjoy the episode and getting to know them a bit and more importantly I hope you'll go follow them, buy their music and support them!

Liner Notes/Links:
The Woods Instagram - @WhoAreTheWoods
The Woods TikTok - @WhoAreTheWoods

And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:
SBTSongs Instagram - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair Instagram - @ChrisBlairMusic
SBTSongs YouTube Video - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair Website - ChrisBlair.com

We hope you you'll share this podcast with your friends, give us 5 stars, follow - all the things! We appreciate the support and can't wait to keep bringing great guests and stories to you every week. Thanks for listening! And also a HUGE thank you to our sponsors of this episode:
Sennheiser - https://en-us.sennheiser.com/
Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics - http://brittskinbeauty.com/
Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC

Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair! We hope you enjoy this podcast and will listen, follow, like and rate us here on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

But aside from her incredible acting accolades, she is also an amazing singer-songwriter and now a #1 NYTimes best selling author! In this episode you're going to hear the story about how she learned to carry a crown before she could wear one, about her journey on how she became Kate Pearson in that hit show "This Is Us," her musical journey as a singer/songwriter and what she has coming up soon along with great life lessons.

Her brand new book that's only been out for about a month or so now is incredible! I got the opportunity to attend one of her book-signings and it was literally a line through the bookstore to meet her and her co-author Bradley Collins who has also been a great friend of mine for years. Go buy their book "When I Talk To God, I Talk About You" anywhere you buy books. Or, here's an easy link to purchase it now on Amazon!

Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair!  We hope you enjoy this podcast and will listen, follow, like and rate us here on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode I sit down with friend, Filmore.  (Tyler) Filmore moved to Nashville after attending Mizzou in Columbia, MO.  I first met him shortly after moving to town when we were introduced by Doug Howard who used to head up A&R at Lyric Street Records and then went on to become the Dean for the College of Music at Belmont University.  Filmore signed a major label deal in 2020 and released "State I'm In" and prior to that was also the first independent artist to ever be featured on Spotify's Hot Country cover.  He is an incredible singer-songwriter and has opened up for other amazing artists like Sam Hunt, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Dan+Shay, Pitbull and more.  He's also been a featured artist for major festivals such as Country Thunder, Stagecoach, CMA Fest and Watershed.  He just released his second LP "Mean Something" on January 13 right after we recorded this podcast.  I got a chance to listen to this and it's an incredible LP of 11 songs that you need to check out.

In this episode we talk about the steps he went through to build the Filmore brand, how one of his co-writers filed a police report for a guitar that was in a closet, signing a major label deal with Curb Records, leaving a major label deal, touring with Pitbull and how he got his favorite pizza, Imo's pizza, delivered to Pitbull and the crew on tour.

Liner Notes/Links:

Filmore's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/filmoremusic/?hl=en

Filmore's TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@filmoremusic?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:

SBTSongs Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sbtsongs/

Chris Blair Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chrisblairmusic/

SBTSongs YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5TknHB-10bk4VKktiO8Lw

Chris Blair Website - https://www.chrisblair.com/

We hope you you'll share this podcast with your friends, give us 5 stars, follow - all the things!  We appreciate the support and can't wait to keep bringing great guests and stories to you every week.  Thanks for listening!  And also a HUGE thank you to our sponsors of this episode:

Sennheiser - https://en-us.sennheiser.com/

Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics - http://brittskinbeauty.com/

Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC  - EmergeNashville.com

Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs with Chris Blair!  We hope you enjoy this podcast and will listen, follow, like and rate us here on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, iHeart, YouTube or anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode I sit down with the incredible Elise Hayes. Elise was one of my picks for unsigned artist of the month in 2022 and I have been blessed to call her a friend for over 10 years now.  In this episode we talk about how she went from concerts on her porch to her neighbors to the Nashville singer/songwriter pop artist that she is today, what she experienced and learned at Berkley College of Music, how it was being on the road with Carly Pearce, the story behind her song "Human Heart", stories behind her film and tv success with songs she has had on Grey's Anatomy, Good Trouble, Charmed, MTV reality shows, Beauty & the Beast and more.  She's an incredibly talented musician and friend and I really hope you love this episode and find yourself a new fan of Elise Hayes.

Liner Notes/Links:

Elise's Website - https://www.elisehayes.com/

Elise's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/elisehayes/

Elise's TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@elisehayesmusic

And follow us - Stories Behind the Songs - here:

SBTSongs Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sbtsongs/

Chris Blair Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chrisblairmusic/

SBTSongs YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5TknHB-10bk4VKktiO8Lw

Chris Blair Website - https://www.chrisblair.com/

We hope you you'll share this podcast with your friends, give us 5 stars, follow - all the things!  We appreciate the support and can't wait to keep bringing great guests and stories to you every week.  Thanks for listening!  And also a HUGE thank you to our sponsors of this episode:

Sennheiser - https://en-us.sennheiser.com/

Britt Skin Beauty Aesthetics - http://brittskinbeauty.com/

Copyright and Produced by Emerge Nashville, LLC  - EmergeNashville.com