UCN Interview – Sean Patrick McGraw – “I was raised without prejudice”

14 years ago Liv Carter 4

At the recent Jagermeister Tour stop at the Val Air Ballroom, UCB contributor June sat down with Sean Patrick McGraw to talk history, songwriting and his future. Sean was very generous with his time and we will definitely keep following his career. (And no, we’re not just saying that because he called our blog ‘awesome’)

For all info and Sean and upcoming tour dates, head over to his new website. 

UCB: Was this your first time performing at the Val Air Ballroom?
SPM: First time here, yes. It’s not my first time in Iowa, we played in Iowa a few times but definitely my first time in this venue.

UCB: What’d you think?
SPM: Nice venue, very nice venue.

UCB: Was the crowd good?
SPM: The crowd was awesome! You know, there’s a lot of really awesome venues in the Midwest, this is kind of reminiscent of some other places that I’ve played in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota. These old dance halls are just awesome.

UCB: Have you ever performed at the Surf Ballroom at Clear Lake?
SPM: I’ve never even heard of it.

UCB: That’s the day the music died.
SPM: Is that where Buddy Holly was?

UCB: Yes, that’s a great venue.
SPM: That’s like an arcane rock ‘n’ roll reference that most young people probably wouldn’t really know, so am I showing my age? Buddy Holly, that’s like my parents’ time, before my parents’ time, but I remember rock ‘n’ roll history.

UCB: I’m from around there so that’s why I had to mention it.
SPM: Ok, well I’m kind of a history geek.

UCB: So how did you get your start in music, do you come from a musical family, have a musical background?
SPM: Not at all. My dad was an athlete and when I was a kid I kept getting recruited to be a football player even though I weighed like a 120lbs when I graduated from high school. I started playing in a school band when I was 9 and it was just really good. I was like 9 years old and I picked up a trombone out of the case and I could play ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ right away, by ear, I just knew how to do it.

UCB: That’s impressive. So should I believe that or not?
SPM: *laughs* It’s true!

UCB: So who were some of your earliest musical influences, who did you listen to growing up?
SPM: Oh God…

UCB: A variety?
SPM: Not like you’d think. I mean, definitely not necessarily country though my mom always listened to Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers. But then you know, Burt Bacharach and stuff like that and my sister was really into Queen when I was a little kid and Van Halen and stuff like that. I was raised without musical prejudice. I was raised without prejudice at all. My mom made sure I had friends of all colors and that I liked music of all colors.

UCB: So you’re from Buffalo, NY?
SPM: Yeah, well you tell people you’re from New York, they think New York City, they think big city. I grew up in a town of 10,000 people nowhere near Buffalo, well, 50 miles from Buffalo, between Buffalo and Eerie. It used to be a mill town but by the time I was a teenagers, almost all those mills were closed. So it’s gone from being a mill town to being a farming town and whatever else they can do to support themselves.

UCB: Now, you write most of your own material…
SPM: I write all of it.

UCB: What’s your process like in that, do you set aside time to do it?
SPM: I set aside time and occasionally I can write a song that I can live with. If I make myself an appointment to say ‘I’m gonna write tomorrow at 10’ and I don’t have an idea… The last single I had, ‘Dollar Ain’t Worth a Dime’, I didn’t have an idea walking into that writing appointment, none. I wrote that with somebody from Iowa, by the way.

UCB: Oh really?
SPM: Yeah, a guy named David Kroll. I say I’m either inspired or creative. Fortunately I think those are traits I inherited from my dad, who was both. My dad was a very creative person and also had a lot of creative genius and I think I know how to run with the ball when it falls in my lap. Then again, I’ve not written a big, huge hit song yet but I do think that I can be, what’s the word, not unashamedly, but fearless creatively. That’s important because it’s hard, but as a songwriter you have to do that.

UCB: The Jagermeister tour has a great line-up…
SPM: Yes, it does. Including me. *laughs*

UCB: If you could put together your own dream tour, who would be on that?
SPM: It would be Dierks Bentley, me, and my friend Deric Ruttan. Deric has written a bunch of Dierks’ big songs. He’s actually written a bunch of Eric [Church]’s big songs so it could be Eric, Deric, Dierks, Sean! We’ve all written together. I have not written with Eric and Dierks, but Deric and I write all the time and he’s kind of like the conduit a between all of us and I think that all of us are kind of in the same flavour. If you like what Dierks does, if you like what Eric does, if you like what Deric does, you’ll like what I do.

UCB: I wish I’d seen your set because I’ve seen Dierks.
SPM: I wish you had, too! It was a really good night. A lot of times I’ve walked off stage going ‘man, I wish I had done this’, now I walked off stage going ‘yeah, I pretty much nailed that’. *laughs*

UCB: You did what you wanted to get done.
SPM: Which is a rare feeling to be honest. I mean, because I am very self-critical but I was just going ‘yeah, I hit that one pretty good’.

UCB: Along that line, what’s your definition of success? What do you need to achieve for you to say ‘I’ve made it’?
SPM: Being able to pay your bills and do what you like to do, simple as that. And be happy, more than anything, you know. If you’re doing that and you’re miserable, then what’s the point? At this point I am doing what I love to do, I’m not quite paying my bills but I am happy! So I’ve got most of those things.

UCB: Finally, what does the future hold? Are you going to do more writing, a new album on the way?
SPM: Well, I’m always writing and I’m still trying to release a record that I’ve had basically completed for a year. I’m always writing my next record. And I think we’re going out with Toby [Keith] again this year, pretty sure, but I don’t know how many dates. Last year I had bar dates and nothing else booked and I end up doing Stagecoach, Jimmy Kimmel, touring with Toby, playing at Country Wee
kly… The world opened for me last year. I think this year is going to beat last year.

UCB: When were you on Jimmy Kimmel?
SPM: July 17th of last year.

UCB: That’s good to know.
SPM: Do you know why I know that? Because they keep paying me for it again and again and it’s the most awesome thing in the world. *laughs* I just got another royalty check for it yesterday!

UCB: Thanks, I appreciate your time.
SPM: It was very nice to meet you. Where will this go up?

UCB: Urban Country Blog.
SPM: Oh cool, I’ve read it before. Awesome!

____________________________________________________________________
Keep up with UCB: follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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

Latest posts by Liv Carter (see all)