Matt Bjorke: Your very first major label album was released nearly 8 years ago. How would you describe your journey from there to here?
Josh Kelley: Yeah, it’s funny because in 2001 I actually came to Nashville and tried to get a country deal and got turned down by a couple of labels and next thing you know, because of Napster – I had made that first record, it all came out of nowhere and here we are 8 years later and I’ve made the best album of my life.
Matt: So you were – perhaps – one of the first ‘digital age’ artists then because you distributed your first album (pre-Hollywood Records) through Napster?
Josh Kelley: Yeah, well I didn’t really distribute it through napster but I had four or five songs and did everything I could to plug Napster through these songs and I really kinda spam-mailed people by saying “Oh, you like so and so,” you should try Josh Kelley. The only other thing that was around that time was MP3.com…
Matt: That’s pretty cool. It also shows you the positive that came from a service like Napster, a flip-side of sorts to the negative aspects of it…
Josh: Yeah and it definitely helped out aspiring artists who were trying to figure out how to get further, be it a record deal or fan support.
Matt: It was a sort of early social media too, wasn’t it?
Josh: Yeah, it was and I don’t think they intended it to be more than a file-sharing site but I stumbled upon it, honestly, accidentially by right-clicking user names and then eventually was sending messages at about 100 per day. So it was pretty insane…
Matt: And now here you are…
Josh: Yeah, man.
Matt: What is it about country music and the country music writing community that drew you to the genre?
Josh: It is the three and a half minute relatable movie. I’m just obsessed with writing songs that are relatable and stories and I like three and a half minute relatable stories and you can do that in country music. I can turn on any other radio station besides country and I can’t understand anything anyone’s saying anymore. I feel like an old man saying that, but it’s true ( both laugh). I’m also able to sing songs in a richer voice with a richer tone within a key that suits me a little better.
Matt: How have the longtime fans of your music adjusted to your ‘new’ musical direction?
Josh: Oh man, they love it. The thing is that I was independent for my last four albums and was already pulling in much of the same fan base already. A lot of my songs were already country songs anyway and that’s honestly what made the transition a lot easier. I was independent for so long and the fans were gravitating towards my music early on, so the transition was super easy. I didn’t have to change anything outside of a few things production wise…
Matt: Yeah, well I actually wrote a review of the “Backwoods” album back when it came out and it just seemed to fit what country fans were looking at and two of those songs actually made the Georgia Clay record…
Josh: Yeah, “Two Cups of Coffee” and “A Real Good Try” and it just goes to show you what relatable songs can do, it’s all about great lyrics. Look at the old Lionel Ritchie songs, they’re all country songs.
Matt: What made the timing right to ‘transition’ from independent singer/songwriter to MCA Nashville?
Josh: Honestly, I came back here to start writing to try and get some cuts. I wrote a song called “Gone Like That” with Clint Lagerberg and when we finished the demo, I sent it to my publishers and they said, “Josh, we don’t want to pitch this to anybody, you gotta go make a record.” And that was all I needed to start writing everyday in Nashville. I think it took us about two years to make, from start to finish. It took a long time to make it right. We knew how important it was for my career and how big of a chance it was for me. Clint Lagerberg is just an awesome producer.
Matt: How would you compare working with him to other producers you’ve worked with?
Josh: Honestly, because I was independent for so long I haven’t worked with but a few. So I basically from wearing 10 hats to really only having to wear one and that freed me up from to make better decisions and better input, because when you’re the guy controlling the pro-tools rig and you’re the artist you start using too many tentacles, so to speak…
Matt: Your debut country single “Georgia Clay” is currently climbing the charts, what made the song the right one to introduce you to this new audience?
Josh: It’s hard to say, I left that up to the label. I don’t pretend to know what should go on the radio. I’m honestly the worst person to make those decisions. I think they chose the right song because it lets everyone know I’m from Georgia, so it lets people know I’m a southern boy and it also has a great message to it. There’s a nostalgic feel to it that people love and it just feels like a great introduction to me.
Matt: A catchy melody certainly didn’t hurt either…
Josh: Yeah, absolutely, that’s probably a big part of it too…(laughing)
Matt: You recently adopted your daughter from Korea and she inspired one of the highlights – to me – of Georgia Clay. What can you tell me about the song?
Josh: I feel like that’s probably the most personal and one of the best songs on the record. We adopted her in 2009, in September, and she was about nine months old and from that first moment I got to hol her, she let me know, without words, that I was her dad and she accepted me. It was a phenomenal moment and probably the most selfless I’ve ever felt. She makes me a better man. So Clint and I got together in Atlanta, when Katie was making “Life as We Know It” and Clint and I wrote the song in the director’s trailer. Actually, Clint had just had a baby boy then so we both connected with the message of the song. It was magical and when we were done we were like, how did that happen?
Matt: So that’s one of those songs that just were like an ‘out of body experience?’
Josh: Yeah, and once we found the structure, it wrote itself because it was so fresh and real to us.
Matt: And I’m sure that people will notice that right away when they hear it…
Josh: I think so too and it wasn’t ever intended to be a single but now it may just become one.
Matt: I can totally see that happening at some point.
Matt: How has being Naleigh’s father changed or redefined your outlook on life, and your music, if at all?
Josh: Well, you stop forcing things, which is good. I went from being a pretty selfish, self-absorbed dude to being as selfless as I’m capable of being because they remind you of that and then you start living for other people. I lightened up a little when I got married and when Naleigh came along, it became a family. It changed for the better.
Matt: I’m sure it has helped your music as well…
Josh: Oh, absolutely. I’m usually better at writing what I know, what’s going on in my life. It’s not always easy to write about stuff you don’t know, although people do it all the time. For me, the lyrics come faster when it’s something from my life.
Matt: Yeah, and the fans know and grab onto it more when it comes from your life. I’m sure “Two Cups of Coffee” came from an experience like that…
Josh: Yeah, and that song came to me when I was in Florida. I was sitting on a balcony in this nice hotel room and ordered up some breakfast they brought two place settings. So when I ate my breakfast I looked at this empty place-setting and chair next to me and I remember coming up with the lyric of “I’ve Got too much of me and not enough of you.” I then left the breakfast there to get cold and wrote the song. And it’s really true when you’re away from your loved ones on the road. You start to feel that void.
Matt: How do you and your wife manage your hectic schedules, with you being a touring musician and her often on film locations?
Josh: You just do. We make sure we send each other our little iPhone calendars and just make time for it. When she’s filming her movies, me and Naleigh set up shop there where she’s filming and when I’m out on tour, they’ll come out on tour and ride the tour bus with me for a few dates or a weekend. It keeps the family tight and we love going to places together
Matt: Are there any plans to tour this year, either solo or as part of a multi-artist tour package?
Josh: Yeah, we’ll be on the Miranda Lambert tour again and it’s a real blessing. It was amazing to be on that tour last fall along with Eric Church. Its one thing that’s different about country tours, it’s so family style. Whereas before other bans would quarantine themselves and never wanna hang out whereas on this tour, Miranda and Eric and I would hang out every night, sharing cocktails, listening to music, writing and just having a good time. It feels good to be in that world again, southern hospitality.
Matt: Yeah, and while other genres treat artists like ‘competition,’ country seems to really be more about colleagues, not another team…
Josh: I always try to say that music is not a sport.
Matt: Yeah but other genres really try to make it into that…
Matt: How has social media helped you keep in contact with your fans?
Josh: It’s huge. If you’re not gonna do it, you’re gonna be behind. And I’ve been running it from the beginning. Twitter is huge but I try to keep it more about info and contests. I try to write a blog a week and think it’d be overkill to write a daily blog. It’s all about keeping up with it.
Matt: What would you like to say to fans that may be learning about Josh Kelley for the first time either through your new music or this interview?
Josh: What strikes me the most is: this is my best work yet. I don’t think people are gonna have to cherry pick songs from the album because start to finish I think it’s a journey.
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