On the Record with Corey Smith [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

In this exclusive interview with Music Times, Corey Smith sat down with Kim Jones to talk about music, his new project and being a celebrity.

Kim Jones - Let's talk about family. You've got kids. How old are they?

Corey Smith - Yep, two boys - they're 7 and 9.

Kim Jones - You're just getting to the fun!

Corey Smith - Oh yeah! They're a lot of fun.

Kim Jones - If they listen to your music nearly as much as my two girls do, you probably hear yourself more than your fans do! Speaking of music, let's talk about the new album. Do we have any news on it? A release date? A title or tracklist? Anything?

Corey Smith - It's finished. It's been finished for months now. Now I'm just figuring out if I'm going to release it myself or bring in another label partner. I hope that I have the right label, or that I can find the right label. But it's the record that I've always wanted to make. Definitely on different level than any of my other ones as far as the time and money that I spent on it and the way we went about it. It's the first record that I didn't produce and I guess we've been working on it for three years now. I wrote a ton of songs - probably 40 songs - since my last album. I went into the studio two different times and made a record, but both times, it felt like it just wasn't what I wanted. And that was me producing it. I felt like I had sort of hit a glass ceiling. I needed to learn from somebody who had made hit records so I went to Nashville and found the right producer, which was Keith Stegall. He had produced all of the Zac Brown Band records and Alan Jackson, Randy Travis; he worked with Merle Haggard and George Jones. You know - a ton of experience and I learned a lot from him. But he didn't change anything fundamentally about the way I go about the music. It's still all of the songs that I wrote every word of, still the live band that I use, which is the bedrock of all of the instrumentation. We used a few outside players for stuff like fiddle, mandolin and banjo, but I think it has the potential to reach the broadest audience out of all of my albums so far. I think that there are a few songs that really could have a good shot on radio with the way that the country format has changed. I'm hoping to find a label that believes that and can help it work at radio. If not, then that's fine too. We'll do it the old-fashion way.

Kim Jones - You've done really well the old-fashion way and you have not fallen into the stereotype. In fact, you've actively fought it. I was reading an interview you did back in January where you talked about the stereotypical "life in the south" where everybody rides around in pickup trucks and drinks moonshine while chasing girls. Having grown up in Georgia, I know that's just a dumbed down picture that makes us look like nothing more than a bunch of hicks.

Corey Smith - Yeah. I think that sadly, a lot of the songs that are big hits on the format don't necessarily shed a good light on people from the country. You know, everybody wants to tell you how country they are and what being country is, and I'm like, just write about something that means something to you. Let us have a look into your life. The country will come through if you just write. Sadly, it's almost reinforcing a negative stereotype.

Kim Jones - You hear the constant buzzword "Bro-Country" now. For some, it's an insult and others see it as a style within itself that is the pinnacle of country music. I can't personally relate to some of the songs because of that stereotype that I never played a part in (even if I like the tunes themselves because they're catchy). I love songs I can bond with and your music delivers that! The first song of yours that I ever heard was "F*ck the Po Po" and even though I used to be in law enforcement, I still loved it because I related to it. I knew a few who used the badge back then like it was a battering ram just because they could. It wasn't about being fair while they served and protected - it was about being kings in their own little kingdoms. Sadly, you see that in all types of industries. For some, making it in their particular field gives them a sense of entitlement and they act as though everyone else is beneath them. When I saw you in concert in Nashville, I hung around after the show and was struck by how normal you are. You weren't walking around like, "I'm King Corey because MY name is on the side of the buses."

Corey Smith - I didn't start doing this because I wanted to be a celebrity or be the center of attention. I never cared to be the guy that everybody recognized when he walked into the room. I think, frankly, that's why a lot of country artists get into the gig. They want to be famous; they want to be recognized. I've had some very popular ones essentially say that to me. I think that when you're doing things for a different reason - even though it's largely the same stuff, it's still going out and playing shows and making music - but when you're not doing it for the ego and the recognition, and you're doing it just because you love playing music and you feel privileged to do it, it changes the way everything is. It's easy to get caught up in it. I think, early on, I probably let it get to me a little bit just because I got used to it. What sort of cured that for me was just going back to the music. Being a celebrity a sort of side-effect and that's fine - I'll take it. But that's not why I started doing it.

Kim Jones - One of those "side-effects" that everyone knows is there but people don't like to talk about in "polite company" is groupies. We saw them in Nashville at your show and I watched one young woman try every trick in her arsenal to just get backstage. Being a happily married man and a dad, how do you deal with that without hurting anyone's feelings?

Corey Smith - I just try to keep myself out of situations that could be toxic.

Kim Jones - Smart man! It's a whole different world when you're a married guy versus being single and young. Speaking of young, I have to thank you for "Twenty One" and "Drinking Again" as they remind me of my younger days. "Keeping Up with the Joneses" is another (obvious) favorite. How can you top songs like that on the new release?

Corey Smith - In a lot of ways, the new record is more like some of my earlier records in that there is a lot of autobiography in it. It's all acoustic based but it's a lot different with more instrumentation. This is the first record I've been able to make with a band - the same band I've been touring with for two years now. We've got the chemistry and we're able to go in and get a fairly organic sounding record, which is something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted a record to capture really good, live performances. My first few records, I didn't even have a band. I'd go in there and sort of improvise, use session players and play a lot of the parts myself. The last record, Broken, I was still touring as a 3-piece, so I had a bass player and a drummer. A lot of the guitars had to be overdubbed and it still wasn't a complete unit. It was exciting to be able to do this record with a complete 5-piece band and then be able to build on it.

Kim Jones - Did y'all track everything together or did you record separate tracks?

Corey Smith - The bulk of the tracking we did in Memphis at Ardent Studios and we just started playing them just like we would if we were on stage. A few of the tracks, we cut in Nashville and we did all of the overdubbing in Nashville.

Kim Jones - I can't wait to hear it!

Corey Smith - Thank you! I'm excited about it and keeping my fingers crossed. It all boils down to whether or not a label hears an 'undeniable radio hit.' I'm not even sure what those are and I wouldn't be good at writing one if that is what I was trying to do. One of my favorite writers is a guy named Darrell Scott who wrote "Great Day to Be Alive" for Travis Tritt and "Long Time Gone" for the Dixie Chicks. He's written a ton of hit songs. I'm a big fan and early on, he gave me some great advice. He told me, 'Don't ever sit down and try to write a hit song. You just write a whole bunch of songs and occasionally, you might hit one out of the park.' I've kind of followed that advice and I've found that I simply can't sit down to do write 'a hit.' It locks me up.

Kim Jones - So we know you like Darrell Scott as a writer - who do you listen to as performers?

Corey Smith - It varies - widely. Lately, I've been listening to a bunch of music with my kids, letting them hear what my idea of country was when I was growing up. They listen to the stuff that's out there now and, to me, it doesn't sound like country. Now, when I hear the first two seconds of an Alan Jackson song or a Travis Tritt song, it sounds like country. You don't mistake it for anything else. It's been neat listening with them and hearing them sing along. I think they like that stuff better than what's out there now. I listen to a lot of what I consider classic rock with them. We listen to Allman Brothers, Bob Seger, Aerosmith - stuff like that.

Kim Jones - When my daughter heard you play "Sweet Emotion" in Nashville, she almost fell out.

Jordan Jones - Oh yeah! I told my mom that if you play it again tonight, I will probably cry.

Corey Smith - That's a fun song to play and for you, we'll probably play it again tonight!

Editors note: Cory did play "Sweet Emotion" and my daughter did cry tears of joy.