UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Jared Ashley: “What people care about is the songs.”

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Jared Ashley: “What people care about is the songs.”

Jared Ashley came into the public consciousness as a contestant on the 2006 season of the TV show ‘Nashville Star’ and he’s been at it ever since! Over the last couple years, Ashley’s done quite a bit, but the one thing that he’s always come back to is the craft of songwriting.

 

UCN: First of all, I wanted to ask you about the Nashville Star thing. Has that helped at all with your radio presence?
Jared Ashley: Well, I was on Nashville Star in 2006, so some people still remember that, but radio…people come and they go, so I don’t think a whole lot of people remember me from that. There are some, and of course I have a fanbase from that, but it was so long ago, I just don’t think most people are making the connection. Which is fine with me, I’ve grown a lot since then and it’s nice to talk about who I am today and not who I was in 2006, you know, because fortunately this business allows you time to grow and this is a good town to grow in as a musician.

UCN: Your sound is a little more traditional than some of the stuff that’s on country radio these days. Has that impacted your ability to get adds at all, or do you find that some places a lot more willing to add your music because there are a lot of fans that are hungering for that?
JA:  As far as being traditional, I grew up listening to Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings and all that stuff but that’s not who my influences were. My influences were more like Clint Black, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson…that’s where I come from. Naturally because that was such an early part of my life, that was the seed that spawned into who I am today. I think people just love good music, they love good songs regardless of being traditional. There are some country bands that have double kick drums and flying V guitars, which is all great if the songs are good. If the songs are good the fans in country music are so gracious to let us be who we are and we’re very fortunate in that aspect.

UCN: Tell me about your new single. You co-wrote it with Nick Sturms. I actually know Nick.
JA: You’re one of the only ones. [laughs]

UCN: He plays in a band with another buddy of mine and I ended up seeing them playing at Throwdown on 2nd Avenue. He had the flu, but he sounded amazing.
JA: Nick’s always got the flu. [laughs] I’m joking! Nick and I go way back. I was friends with Nick when he first moved to town and he was probably 18 years old from Texas. He was touring with a Texas artist. When I went to write this album I picked a couple songwriters who I like to hang with, and who are very talented but who I know. Nick’s a phenomenal guitar player and he’s a phenomenal songwriter, and I wrote the single with Nick and Jeremy McComb, and Jeremy’s a very talented songwriter and artist as well. We just got together to write some fun songs, not for a record deal, not for radio, we just wanted to cut an album. A good album, with songs that we can play every night and enjoy playing them. Nick wrote probably 90% of the album with me. I actually hired him to play in my band for a year so we could finish the album up, so I could write with him whenever I needed him. So I used him and abused him for years! [laughs]

UCN: I think that’s a great approach. I’m an artist and a writer myself and I feel like writing is sort of like dating where you have some people that you jive with and others that you’d say, ‘never again!’
JA: The thing about this town, and it’s okay, I get it, but I had to learn this…the big songwriters who’ve had huge success as songwriters and big hits, they won’t write with an artist like me who doesn’t have a record deal, I don’t have a publishing deal. At the time I didn’t have anything. I just wanted to cut a good record. I finally just came to the conclusion that I needed to focus on writing the songs, because that’s what I moved to Nashville for, to be a songwriter. I got caught up in all the playing and hoopla of playing and paying my bills, and I lost track of what I originally came to Nashville for. So I was able to go back and find that, which ended up being the ticket for me. Everything I was working for, I was spinning my wheels basically by doing this other thing that no one cared about. What they care about is the songs.

UCN: I think that’s a trap a lot of people fall into. I end up doing some of that myself, playing these gigs that kind of suck, but it’s like, you gotta pay the rent.
JA: Bills come first of the month.

UCN: They do, every month. And unfortunately you can’t pay your bills with applause.
JA: [laughs]

UCN: So give me either a quote that inspires you or a cool road story.
JA: Cool road story…that’s a tough one. It’s too early for this [laughs] I could tell a Nick Sturms story! When Nick was playing with me, Nick had the flu. [laughs]

UCN: Really, no…not Nick! [laughs] JA: [Laughs] He had the flu. And I absolutely refused to let him cancel and hire a new guitar player. So we were playing this club in La Grange, GA, and the backstage area…you could run down these stairs and there was a back door to the back of the club. Nick was in the middle of playing, we were in the middle of the show, and he looks at me and says, “I’m gonna be sick, you’re going to have to take over.” So he runs offstage, goes out that back door and commences to getting sick. Well when he went out that back door, he didn’t put anything in the door and it shut! So he had to walk around the club, and this is a big club, to the front door. And so he went to the front door and the security guy was like, “I.D.?” And he was like, “I’m in the band” and the guys says, “Uhh, the band’s playing.” And so he had to talk himself in the front door. So we watched him walk across the club to get back onstage. It was hilarious! [laughs]

UCN: Those Georgia clubs are pretty big, I’ve played a few of them.
JA: We do pretty well in Georgia, I’m from there.

UCN: Have you ever played Kerrigan’s? [author’s note: a club in Georgia infamous for being a bad gig] JA: Never, and I never will! [laughs]

UCN: It’s an experience!
JA: I can hear one story about a club, and I’m good with it, but when you hear countless stories about a club, it’s best just to stay away. [laughs]

UCN: It’s one of those clubs that, for me, after playing there, everything else is a step up.
JA: I’ve heard some crazy stories about that place, and they’re all hearsay so I won’t repeat any of them. There are some clubs in Georgia that I’ve never played, but I’ve heard about them. The Country Club in Augusta, is one of our favorite places to play, we do very well there. The state of Georgia is a great music state, for all genres of music.

UCN: Yes it is! Man, thank you very much! It’s been a pleasure!
JA: No, thank you!

 

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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