Little Rebellion Music

While he is working on his sophomore project, Craig Campbell will release the Outta My Head EP next month as a little taster of what is to come. Once again produced by Keith Stegall, the songs are modern country in a neo-traditional jacket, exploring familiar themes of love lost and found, family, and everyday life. The first single, the catchy ‘Outta My Head,’ has entered the Mediabase Top 50 and the songs for the upcoming full project are coming together.

Building on his debut album, the material on the EP is solid, and Campbell, now comfortably settled in at Bigger Picture, sounds relaxed. With his warm baritone he also sounds effortlessly authentic, reminding me of ’90s and 00’s Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw. As a music fan, and as a reviewer, I look for quality, while the reality for those making a living on Music Row is that they also need to think about hit quality. The sometimes necessary (and in this case slight) surrender of substance to style in song choices can make for interesting conversation, as during our recent chat at the Bigger Picture office.

UCN: How is making a second album a different experience for you?
Craig Campbell: For me, this current project, I guess we’ve recorded half of it so far, it’s a little more relaxed for me. My first album, I’d never worked with Keith [Stegall] before, I’d never made a master album before, so it was all ‘how does this all work, what do we do?’ This time around it’s more relaxed. I’ve got to know Keith and we have a different relationship. I feel like I can speak more freely about some musical stuff. I’m enjoying it so far!

UCN: There’s a lot of variation on the EP. Are you continuing that or going for a general feel with the CD?
CC: I’m trying to cover all the bases. I don’t have a certain theme, it’s just about good songs. The subject matter of girls and heartbreak and long-lost love is something I didn’t cover on my first album, so we’ve touched on that with the new stuff. Country music covers real life. We go from singing about a front porch to a song with a little bit of humor in it called ‘My Baby’s Daddy.’  We just try to touch as many bases as we can.

UCN: You co-wrote two of the tracks on the EP. Did you feel you were approaching the writing differently this time?
CC: It was the same thing really. But I will say that after the third single off my first album kind of topped out at #38, I was like ‘Man, what did we do wrong? Why didn’t this song really do good?’ So I started looking at the chart, looking at what songs do well, and there was a common denominator. I have to admit I started writing songs that kind of fell into that, but at the end of the day, I still want to maintain who I am as an artist.

UCN: So it’s finding the balance between that common denominator and what you want to write?
CC: Yes, it’s finding a way to make my songs, and those songs that I love and will be singing for the rest of my life, and tailoring them to be able to keep up and stay in the fast lane with the other songs.

UCN: You picked a few outside songs and I’m interested in that process. How did you guys narrow it down from the thousands of songs out there?
CC: It’s a collaborative effort between me, my producer Keith, and co-producer Matt Rovey. We were all separately listening to songs and we had several meetings. I would bring in my ten favorites, Matt would have his, and Keith would have songs that he loved. After those meetings you start weeding out the songs that were good songs, but just weren’t for this album. And we eventually came down to these songs that we all agreed on.

UCN: Was there any overlap? Did anyone of you show up with the same song?
CC: No. ‘Keep Them Kisses Coming’ was a song me and Matt both listened to at the same time and we both said: “That’s a hit.” But we really all brought our own songs to the table.

UCN: You’ll obviously search for hits, but the songs you brought as your favorites, why else did they make the list? Hook? Melody? Lyrics?
CC: The hook has a lot to do with it. The melody, is it something that people are going to want to sing with you right away? Or is it something people might hear and then forget about? And then there’s just gut feeling. I’ve got a song I’m hoping to put on this album called ‘God and the Ground,’ I have had it for years and I didn’t write it. It just keeps showing up and keeps coming back. I believe in certain things and I believe there’s a reason why that songs just keeps coming back.

UCN: Let’s talk about the songs on the EP themselves. ‘When She Grows Up,’ was that written on piano?
CC: No, we wrote that on acoustic.

UCN: And now it’s got a beautiful piano arrangement.
CC: That’s because when I started doing it live, I was at my piano and I came up with that melody at the top of the song.

UCN: I noticed you wrote that with Arlos Smith, who I remember you talking about last time and you wrote with him before.
CC: Yes, we wrote ‘Fish’ together…which is sort of ironic.

UCN: Yes, kind of, because I was just thinking that it was interesting that the song that had someone on it you’ve mentioned before was a personal song, and I was wondering if that’s because if you’re going to write a personal song, if that’s easier with someone you also personally know.
CC: Well, honestly, he and Alex Dooley had that song already started. He called me and said they were writing this song, and he told me the idea, but that they stopped because they thought it might be the perfect song for me seeing as I have two little girls. So I met up with them and we wrote it, and I’m so glad they waited. It’s my song.

UCN: Yes, it is. Most people got to know you through ‘Family Man,’ and when I heard it I thought ‘this is the next chapter in that story.’ I love it.
CC: Yes, it’s part two.

UCN: You already brought up the humor in ‘My Baby’s Daddy,’ and when I first heard it I remember wondering ‘so…where is this going?’ *smiles* It’s one of those songs, it makes you listen because you want to know the story. What were your thoughts when you first heard it?
CC: My thought when I first heard it was ‘I’ve never heard that idea before.’ And that is a struggle – probably the biggest struggle for songwriters – to write a song about something that’s never been written about. So when I was played this song, I said “Dude, that’s fresh!” and on top of that it’s so well-written. I played it for Keith and by the time of the first chorus he’s going “Do we have this song on hold?,” and I say “Yes!,” and he goes “Good!” *laughs*

UCN: It really is great, and it’s got so much rhythm, even in the verses, because of the way it’s written.
CC: It’s kind of got that little Carribean feel to it, yes. But the idea of the song being written from a groom-to-be’s point of view is pretty cool. How many people are out there thinking about getting married who don’t want to ask the father for permission? I just think it’s a great song.

UCN: And you’re right, it’s pretty unique. The closest I can think of is a song like Dierks Bentley‘s ‘What Was I Thinking,’ where he talks about the girl’s dad, but it’s still not this idea.
CC: And it’s such a pop culture term now with ‘baby daddy’ turned into ‘my baby’s daddy.’

UCN: You already mentioned ‘That’s Why God Made a Front Porch.’  Lee Thomas Miller. Love his work!
CC: Oh man, he’s great!

UCN: Do you remember the write?
CC: I can’t remember how we got started, we wrote that one a long time ago. It was just the mood we were in, saying that there’s nothing better than having a quiet place to go, like a front porch. I can’t even remember whose idea it was, mine or his. It is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. There’s a line in the song that he actually e-mailed me later on – ‘the wind chimes jingle in the evening breeze.’ We were trying to come up with a different line and then later we were like ‘why didn’t we think of wind chimes?! For a front porch!’ It was right there in front of us.

UCN: Literally. *smiles*
CC: Yes! *smiles* It’s a song I’m proud of, it’s one of my favorites.

UCN: It’s wonderful, and when I first heard it I thought ‘this is the kind of song that got me into country music in the first place.’
CC: I’m the same way! You can close your eyes and listen to this song, and you can see this guy walking up the front steps, getting down on his knee and asking this girl to marry him. And then there’s this other line. I didn’t have a front porch growing up, but my grandmother did. She had this old labrador dog that would sleep right in front of the screen door. You had to tap the screen door for him to get up so you could go outside. So that brought the line about ‘stepping over my old dog.’

UCN: There have been a lot of songs with the same old phrases lately, mentioning dirt roads and cat fish, and stuff –  the kind of songs you guys wrote ‘You Probably Ain’t’ about…
CC: Exactly… *smiles*

UCN: There seems to be a reaction from some people that any song which now mentions these things gets dismissed. But I think this song shows the right way to do it. You’re still talking about those real country signposts, still using the recognizable imagery, but you’re doing it in, for me, the “correct” way, where you’re still actually saying something.
CC: Yes, I felt like we were able to do that in a different way. I’m not sure what the word is, I don’t mean cooler, but sort of more vivid.

UCN: Yes, and it’s very visual. After listening to songs I also just read the lyrics, and with this one you definitely see the story. You see the dog and you see the kid in the first line, waiting.
CC: *sings* ‘A boy needs a place to sit and wait, ’cause she ain’t ever ready for that date.’

UCN: It made me smile as I thought ‘Yeah, that’s pretty much true…’ *smiles*
CC: And her daddy needs a quiet spot! *smiles*

UCN: I think for a lot of people this is going to be that song where they go ‘yep, I agree with this’ and ‘yes, I remember that.’
CC: Hopefully, yes.

UCN: The last song you already mentioned too is ‘Keep Them Kisses Coming.’ And this might be where I get asked to leave the Bigger Picture offices…I’m not sold on it.
CC: Well, that’s ok.

UCN: Don’t get me wrong, I do think it has hit quality, and I really love the fiddle-filled arrangement, but it felt, I don’t know, a little more distant. It doesn’t feel like a personal story is being told here, if that makes sense.
CC: Yes, that does make sense.

UCN: I kept listening to it and thinking ‘I really love how this sounds,’ but there wasn’t that connection, so it’s probably the lyrics I’m not feeling.
CC: It’s one where, when we were sitting down to listen, the demo sounded great, and we just tried to put my spin on it. There’s some songs we all love for different reasons, and then some people don’t. For example, I loved ‘When I Get It.’

UCN: So did I.
CC: But then we found out that among the country music audience, it was 50/50.

UCN: It’s a mysterious thing, and I think you’re right about people being attracted to different songs for different reasons. How many more songs are you adding for the full CD?
CC: If it’s up to me, I’d like to do 7 to 9 more songs so we have about 12 to 14 tracks.

UCN: Well, if they’re gonna sound like this EP, I’m in! Thank you so much for your time.
CC: No, thank you!

For more information, tour dates and news about Craig Campbell, please visit craigcampbell.tv

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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.

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