Credit: Riley Mays
If there’s one person the UK we’ve been begging as country fans to see more of, its Drew Baldridge – the man who has shown that passion, drive and a whole lotta love for your own craft can do to your career, Lauren Page caught up with Drew ahead of his sold out Glasgow show earlier this month to find out how Europe has treated him.
Drew, it’s so good to have you back here in the UK, as it only feels like a minute ago you were here in March for C2C! In that time, you’ve released Rebel, become a Hallmark Movie star and joined a Macy’s Parade, and let’s not forget a huge congratulations for your new arrival coming next year!
Oh man, thank you so much, it’s been a whirlwind for us this year! In that time, we’ve been on tour with Bailey Zimmerman, we just got back from Australia with Jelly Roll – we were over there for about 20 days with him. I don’t know what time zone I’m in most of the time these days, but it’s just been such a blessed year, and I just can’t believe it’s happening, and now we’re here on our first headline show – and a sold-out one in Scotland – I just feel so blessed.
It’s been a long time coming that you do have a headline show here, I must say, out of all the country artists that I’ve come across and spoken to, you are the one I give the most credit to and idolise. You believe in yourself so much, and you know what the fans want, and that’s just nothing short of admirable – thank you.
Friggin right! You know, it’s so hard to sometimes believe in yourself, but if you don’t believe in yourself, who should believe in you? That’s what I always told myself, and you know, I had a record deal, and I lost that record deal.
I just about gave up, but instead I decided to create my own record label and send ” Somebody’s Daughter” to the radio by myself. I hired my own team, and a lot of people told me I was crazy and told me to give up on this song, and I just kept saying I believe in this song, and I know that it is reacting with people.
They need this message about treating women right and knowing their worth, and somehow, by the grace of God, we had a number one, and it was the first time in the history of Country music that an independent artist has done that self-funded, a radio single. I think it really changed the game for all of country music and now there’s a bunch of artist friends that are getting playing on the radio as an independent arts and it was really fun to be an artist that kind of broke down that door, and now I’ve been able to talk about it and guide other artists in their careers – help them get the start they need which is really cool.
I just think – you’ve gotta believe in yourself, no matter if it’s music, no matter if you’re an entrepreneur, or even starting your own business, no matter what it is, just don’t give up. Even if someone is telling you it’s a bad idea, or you’re struggling for a little bit, cause someday you’re going to look back at the struggle and be like, I’m glad I struggled because now I know how rewarding that is.
We need a motivational podcast from Drew Baldridge. I would listen every week!
But even before the RIAA certification, before the awards, the song, obviously, the big moment, was the Wedding Version of one of the most beautiful songs. But definitely, the power of social media was a huge play in this, and that’s something we see quite a lot in country music at the moment. Seeing the success and reach through social media, has that changed the game for you?
Yeah, absolutely, that’s everything right now. I saw something the other day that said almost every song – around 80-90% of the Billboard Hot 100 last year was a viral song on TikTok, and if that doesn’t tell you that social media is everything right now, they’re the ones breaking the artists, making songs hits. As sad as it is, it’s no longer the radio. The radio plays hits, but they’ve gotta break through somewhere, and social media is where it’s at. Whenever artists ask me what more I can do, where should I play, I’m always telling them – no, you need to build your content and your talent on social media, because people are getting discovered through TikTok, through reels, and it wasn’t as simple as that when I started.
A song like Somebody’s Daughter got over a billion plays on social media, and the radio couldn’t understand why this song was testing so much for them. I had to shout about the fact it was big on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram – so you can have hits through the radio, but there’s nothing like a social media viral moment that changes the game for every artist out there.
Absolutely! Was there anybody in particular that you went back to when the song took off in the charts to be like.. “HA – I TOLD YOU!”
Haha, there was never a ‘told ya so’ moment. I’m a big believer in letting your work do the talking and letting everyone see where you end up, and I’m proud of that, but I don’t think I could ever go back, get a middle finger truck and drive it down Music Row or something.
That just stays in your head?
Haha absolutely there’s a little bit of that in the back of your mind thinking of all the people who told me no, and I know the people who said they didn’t#They wanted to work with me and they called it a ‘sappy song’ but.. I’ll keep that to myself and see where the future goes, I hold no grudges.
I had four failed singles in a row. Why would anyone think that this song could have worked? I know that in the back of my head and deep down in my heart, but I was just glad it did – people have rooted for me and wanted to see me in, they just didn’t know if it was going to happen, but I don’t hold any grudges towards them.
There’s one song of yours I wanted to talk about, Rebel. I love it and am very surprised it wasn’t on my Spotify wrap, even though it has only just come out!
This song feels very apparent in current climates, and puts your own views forward. How did it feel putting this out when it’s a little bit of a turn to the regular Drew Baldridge sound?
It’s funny because I’ve been playing this song live for a good while now, and afterwards I saw people coming up to me like “when can we have that?! We need that song!”. If you listen to the song, that’s how I kind of always felt, I’ve always felt a bit different.
When I moved to Nashville, I wasn’t much of a party boy or going out guy, and I’venever really drunk that much. And I always felt like that made me less than. I had other artist friends who would want me to jump on the bus and drink or do something, and I’d always go hand in hand, but they’d treat me differently if I didn’t take part, and I look back on that now and think I was a rebel in that moment. I was different, I stood up for what I believed in, and I think that’s ok for everyone and anyone out there, it’s time to stand up and be proud of what you believe in – be a role model for your kids, walk away from temptation, be a good husband.
We glorify the wrong things and wrong actions by people in society, which is so wrong. We should be lifting other people and loving them – not fighting with them online. Maybe love is just walking away, no one wants to fight, and I could talk and talk and talk about this because it’s something I’m really passionate about, and that’s how the hook came into the song and kind of says it all.
You know, “if the whole wide world wants to dance with the devil, I guess you could call me, the rebel” I think there are a lot of people out there who feel the same.
Something I have asked every person this year, and I feel you are the perfect person to also ask, given your penchant for sourcing good talent and lifting others up in the industry, who is someone on your radar that you think we should be listening out for or someone that deserves a shoutout that maybe doesn’t have the exposure they deserve?
I mean, you probably already know her name, but we just put out a song together – Emily Ann Roberts. I genuinely think she’s the next superstar of our genre. I love her music, her social media, the way she gets out there – we’re very similar. We have been lucky enough to work together over the last year on Get Me Gone, which has been amazing. The other night, I was eating dinner with Lainey Wilson right before the Macy’s Day Parade, and she asked me the exact same question you have – “Who is next?” and I said, “I think it’s Emily Ann Roberts, and she loves Emily Anne too.
We’re going to see a lot of big things for her, and there are so many other names as well – a kid I saw on social media called Kenny Whitmire, who is bringing the country back, kind of similar to how Zach Zop is.
Interview by Lauren Page
