10 Questions with…Brett Eldredge

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on 10 Questions with…Brett Eldredge

There are several artists who were expecting to release debut albums last year before plans changed. One of those is Brett Eldredge. He didn’t let the delay of the album slow him down in the slightest, hit the road and promoted a new single, ‘Don’t Ya.’ The good people at allaccess.com caught up with him recently and presented him with a short Q&A.

 

1) Hey Brett! Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I know you just released your upbeat new single, ‘Don’t Ya.’ What reactions have you gotten about this song?
Hey! I’m happy to do it. Thank you! One of the main things I get is that the song is really infectious and it’s a song that you hear and it’s stuck in your head. I wrote it about how girls are really good at playing tricks on our minds and are so clever about it. Even if they don’t agree with it up front, girls a lot of times say to me, “Yeah I’ll admit it, I am good at that.” Guys always seem to say “I agree, girls totally do that to us.” So it seems like people have really related to it.

2) How much has your life changed over the last two or three years?
It’s crazy! After I moved to Nashville, I started writing songs all the time and signing a record deal and it just happened really fast. I went from being in Nashville every single day to not being in Nashville at all. I’m also going places I never thought I’d go. I’ve been everywhere in the whole Country and it’s been awesome meeting people from anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes I’ll be on the road for two months at a time but at this point in my life, it’s where I want to be. It’s also definitely a weird feeling that people are starting to recognize me because of a song they know of mine. People will come up to me and say “I love that song” or whatever and it’s definitely a cool feeling and keeps me going. It makes me want to get on the next plane and play the next show and continue doing what I’m doing.

3) What are some of your passions besides music?
Main passion is fitness. I have a Nike Fuel band that I’m addicted to. I keep it on me to try to set goals and keep track of how much I’m moving around each day. The great thing is that I am always moving around on stage so it keeps me active. Even if it’s 10 degrees outside, I walk off stage sweating.

4) How would your family and friends describe you?
They’d say I’m somewhere between not serious at all and semi-serious. I just like to have a good time and laugh a lot. They would say I’m always laughing and moving, really random, have a big imagination and am family oriented. Everyone knows I love spending time with my family and do it every chance that I get.

5) When was the point at which you knew you wanted writing and performing music to be your career?
Well I moved to Nashville several years back to be a singer, but it wasn’t until I moved when I realized there’s a whole world of songwriting too, so that was a new experience for me. My earliest memory of wanting to be a singer was when I sang the national anthem for my family when I was 4 years old. I would be so nervous that I’d sing it in the other room where no one could actually look at me. I had this big voice that would make my body shake. Eventually I grew to love being in front of crowds and I realized that the crowd’s energy is what I feed off of.

6) In what ways are Nashville and your hometown of Paris, Ill different?
Well my hometown of Paris has around 8,838 people so you have the small town community feeling, and Nashville has that same hometown feeling. People from Paris have been behind me since day one as a singer and many of them have traveled pretty far to watch me play. A hundred or so people drove 5-hours to come see me at the Grand Ole Opry, which was really cool. Nashville is obviously much bigger but still has a community feeling too it, which feels similar. All my singer and songwriter friends in Nashville support each other and it feels like a community here.

7) Who have been some of your musical influences?
I got to give it to Frank Sinatra. He’s my idol. Growing up I always thought he was so cool and there was something about him. Even as a 13 or 14 year old kid, I could relate to him and looked up to him. I’d sing his songs and wear a top hat like him trying to be like him. His songs also tell a story and he tells it in a way like he’s speaking to you. I’ve also always been a big fan of Brooks & Dunn. My whole family has always been a huge fan of them. One summer we played their Greatest Hits album in our boat so many times that we ended up having to buy three of the same CD because we kept wearing it out.

8) Which bar in Nashville can we find you in when you’re not on the road?
I usually go to Roberts downtown. I was actually there last night! It feels original and has the Country music that this town started on! It sounds like what it would have sounded like 50 years ago, which makes it fun to sit back and listen to. My friends make fun of me because it’s one of the more touristy bars, but I can’t help that it’s one of my favorites.

9) You just played matchmaker on The Warner Sound’s dating show Take Me Home Tonight. Tell me about this experience.
Several of my fans entered this contest where I could set them up on a date. I picked out a couple of my music fans and put them together on a date. We went to Arlington Vineyard winery and they were tasting the wine and stuff. I came up and surprised them there and told them I wanted them to come backstage and to the sound check of my show that night. Then I told them they’d have to do pole dancing lessons together beforehand, which was hilarious. I don’t think they deeply fell in love or anything, but it was a fun experience. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time.

10) What can we expect out of you in the next several months?
I am all about ‘Don’t Ya’ right now. I’ve been given a lot of opportunities to play my song and as long as people are there to listen to me, I’ll keep playing it.

Bonus Questions
1) If you weren’t a singer/songwriter, what would be your ideal profession?
I’d definitely be a professional fisherman. Singing songs for a living is pretty ideal but after that, fishing would be a lot of fun. Sitting around and trying to catch fish everyday sounds like a good time. I’m not very good at fishing, though, so I guess I’ll stick with music for now.

2) What’s a guilty- pleasure TV show of yours?
I’m mostly just guilty of getting home or done with a show and plopping down in front of my TV and watching hours of DVR. I do seem to like gangster shows though, like Boardwalk Empire. Most recently, I got sucked into Walking Dead. I promised myself I wouldn’t watch a show about zombies, but now I’m addicted. I’ll sit there and be like “Why am I watching this?” and next thing you know I’ve watched six in a row.

3) What’s your favorite non-Country song right now?
Right now, I’m stuck on Bruno Mars’ song ‘Locked Out Of Heaven.’ I also am a big fan of Matt Kearney’s latest album, especially the song ‘Ships In The Night.’

 

 

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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