Exclusive 2024 Interview with Wade Bowen

Hey guys, it's Gail with Everything Nash here

with the fantabulous Wade Bowen. How are you, my friend? I'm good, good, good

How are you? I'm good. We have a lot of things to talk about. Your 10th studio album

I read that and I was like, that can't be right, but your 10th studio album is coming out

Talk about it. I know, I couldn't believe it either. I was trying to count it and I was like

and then I went through on Spotify the other day and I was like, okay, I know there's more than 10 records overall

because we have the Hold My Beer stuff and live records and stuff

And I think I counted 16 records plus EPs and singles and all this stuff

I'm like, man, I'm pretty proud of that. That's been, that's a lot of hard work. I didn't realize I've been doing all that my entire career

So I'm pretty proud of that. So I just finished listening to it

right before we hopped on actually. It feels very Wade Bowen, but there's a little, there's some differences here

Can you talk about what inspired this? And cause I feel like you're constantly

reinventing yourself just a little bit. Thank you for saying that because I try just a little bit to change up

I just, I really have a hard time making the same record over and over

And I hope that's a good thing. I hope people hear that

And I'm glad to hear you say that. Cause I try with every record to, you know

I know there is a style and a sound that is probably always going to be Wade Bowen

but I still feel like every record has a different personality and it should be

And I try really hard to do that. And, you know, the last record I produced on my own

And so, you know, there was something to, it was a little easier to do that, I guess, create a sound there

And with this one, having a little more knowledge, I guess, with that producing a second record on my own

I kind of had a little more grasp of that. And so I definitely wanted to create

a little bit different sound. The only thing I can think of to explain this record

versus everything I've ever done is, you know, an artist and a songwriter, we always say, you know

the last song we wrote is always our favorite and the last album we always made

is always our favorite album, right? That's what we always say. And I hear it in every interview of all my friends

and they always think, oh, this is the best thing I've ever done. So I won't bore you with that

But I do think that there is an energy to this record

that I've never had. I think there's something special in that regard

that fans of ours or new people that listen to us that become fans of us through this record

I think they're gonna hear this energy that I am very proud that we captured somehow

within this project. And whether we meant to or not, I feel like we meant to

but there's something about this, there's kind of a live aspect or something how we carried over what I do live

and brought it into the studio or what it is, but there's something, there's an energy

there's a feel good aspect to this project that just kind of flies off of the page

And I love that. I love it too. That's a good way to put it, feel good energy

Mary Jane, give me the story behind that song. What a great song. Mary Jane is a great song

I don't cut a whole lot of outside songs and I got a couple of songs pitched to me

which I always get songs pitched to me every record. I usually just don't cut a whole lot of outside songs

because the reason I make records is because of the songs I've been writing, right? So I've been lucky to become buddies with Chase Bryant

and John Randall through the years and two fantastically talented people. And they both wrote this song and Chase sent it to me

And the moment I heard it, I was like, oh my gosh, like that song is simple and catchy

And the moment I heard it, I was like, I could hear our crowds singing that

for the rest of my life. It's so sweet. I can't imagine a young woman hearing this song

and not just going, oh, that is so amazing. Not wanting to hear it over and over again

because I think it's just what every woman would want a man to say, I would hope

I don't want what the other boys want. I wanna treat you nice and take care of you

And there's such a melody behind it that's just beautiful and singable and anthemic

And I really hope it catches on, like I'm thinking it will

Well, you must've read my notes because my next question was, talk about cutting outside songs

because you're such a fantastic songwriter, but some of the outside songs on this album are phenomenal

So talk about that process a little bit. Well, I think, I cut outside songs

for probably for two reasons, I guess. Either it's because it's a song that blows me away

that a song that I wish I would have written or because it's a song that I would

nowhere near would I write that, like no way would I write that

And I think there's elements of both of those on here. The Friday Night and Mary Jane are songs

that I feel like I definitely would write and wished I would have been in the room with Chase

when he wrote them because I think they're fantastic songs. Friday Night is actually

we already talked about Mary Jane while I cut that. Friday Night is actually a song I heard

when I was just picking my son up from high school football practice

And I was like, oh my gosh, this is like reading my thoughts right now

And it took me back to my high school football days and just thinking, man, this is exactly

what so many people feel like and think about their town and then getting Troy Aikman involved and all that

Just seeing, immediately all these things ran through my head when I heard the song and I was like, okay

well that's gotta go on the record. That sounds like a smash hit. And then When I Wanna Be Wanted

is a song I would never write. I mean, my wife would kill me if I wrote this song

But it's a song that I feel like goes back to the 60s or so when country back in the 50s or 60s or 70s

when people wrote songs in the middle of the night because they're hammered

and they're just rattling off their feelings of what's going on in their life at the time

And then they wake up the next morning and cut it in the studio because it's felt right

You know, that's, it's like a moment in their life that happened and they don't care

whether they get in trouble or not. It's just this amazing grasp of country music

that happened that I got to hear. And I was like, that needs to be heard by the world

and it needs to be a duet and it needs to be sung by Hilary Lindsey

She needs to come in and sing it with me. And it's just this, there's moments that happen like that

from outside songs that I love and they become very special moments

in my career throughout the years. I was glad that you said that about Hilary Lindsey

because I'm in awe of her. And I think she doesn't get enough credit for her singing as she should

She does not. She does not get enough credit as a singer. And thank God she gets enough as a writer

but she really, she really, I mean, I guess they make up for it as a writer

because she gets plenty of credit there, but she definitely needs more credit as a singer

And hopefully, I don't know if this will help on that side, but I'll do my little part to help her

get more credit as a singer. She's, it was amazing to hear her voice on this track

It made me tear up from the moment I heard it. I was just like the perfect storm for this record

Rain It On Me, give me the story behind that song too because that's your single right now, right

Rain It On Me is the single. And I needed one of these songs

I'm pretty proud of this one because I've needed this style of a song for the record at the very end

And you put that pressure on yourself, like, oh no, I don't have this, I need it

And I wrote it with Randy Montana right at the very end. And you think, oh, thank God

I was close, you know? And I love those little moments that happen

right at the end, right? You know, the procrastination or whatever you call it that slide in there right as you're trying

to finish the record. And this one to me, when we produced it

and just the production overall just felt like going back to my Eagles influence

I used to sit around when I was first learning guitar and playing for my mom was my first person

I ever played for that I ever had the courage to do anything musically when I was in high school

And I'd find myself late at night, you know, trying to figure out a G chord and a D chord

and trying to learn to play guitar. And she was so patient listening to me

and we would go through Eagle songs together and various other songs

but the Eagles were a huge part of that. We listened to a lot of Eagles together. So I kind of took a lot of that influence

into the production of this song to me. And I think you hear that in the track and this one's just fun

It's fun to hear. And I think it's really so much fun to play live. It just flies off the stage

It feels good. So playing live, you're also touring with Miranda opening some shows for Miranda in Texas next month

How exciting. You guys have been friends for a long time, right? Like, I feel like you have to be

Yeah, we've been friends a long time. She, when I, you know, I was playing music in Texas a lot

and started, I was past kind of starting out. I was getting going and having

starting a pretty good career. And she started, she is younger than me

I hate to admit it. She's younger than me, but she started coming along with her dad

and playing shows with me and opening up shows. And we always just got along

We always just hit it off. She always just was like, I remember she once said

you're so good to me. Whenever I get big, I'm going to have you come open up for me

And I remember thinking, that's an arrogant thing to say, you know, but she stuck true to it, you know

This is a girl who's opening up for me and she's telling me this, but she just knew from the get go

you could just see her eyes. She knew what she was going to do and how she was going to do it

And she's always been that way. Still is that way. She's, whether it's writing songs or what she does

she just, you know, she's a great friend and has a great grasp of who she is and what she wants to do

And I love that this far along in our friendship and our careers

that we're closer now as friends than we've ever been. And that feels good to say this far down the line

We have a lot of fun together and I'm glad to say that

Yeah, she's a good person and so are you. And I have to let you go now, but it's always a pleasure to talk to you

So let's not go so long next time. Hey, you just say when

I'll be happy to chat with you any day, anytime. You let me know

Thank you. Thank you, Wade. Always so good to see you. We'll talk soon. You too

Thank you for your time. Bye, honey