Latest / Takin’ A Walk Nashville / Kevin Jonas Sr. Discusses Nashville’s Evolving Music Landscape, Jonas Brothers Legacy and His Passion for Developing Emerging Artists

Transcript

Kevin Jonas Sr. Discusses Nashville’s Evolving Music Landscape, Jonas Brothers Legacy and His Passion for Developing Emerging Artists · Takin’ A Walk Nashville

0:01
Speaker 1: Taking a Walk Nashville. Hi everyone, it's Sarah Harrelson, your
0:05
Speaker 1: host of Taken a Walk Nashville, and today I have
0:08
Speaker 1: a very special guest with me. It's Kevin Jonas Senior,
0:13
Speaker 1: also known as Papa Jonas and the father of the
0:15
Speaker 1: Jonas Brothers. Kevin is a music executive, entrepreneur and songwriter
0:21
Speaker 1: that came from humble beginnings in Belmont, North Carolina, and
0:25
Speaker 1: he is now the visionary behind Worldwide Superstars. His new single,
0:31
Speaker 1: Key of You was released on March thirteenth, and he
0:35
Speaker 1: is here today with me on Taking a Walk Nashville.
0:42
Speaker 1: Welcome to Taking a Walk Nashville with your hosts singer
0:46
Speaker 1: songwriter Sarah Harrelson. Kevin, thank you so much for being
0:49
Speaker 1: on Taking a Walk Nashville today. So you grew up
0:54
Speaker 1: in a small textile mill town near Charlotte, North Carolina,
0:59
Speaker 1: and you grew up with a passion for music, and
1:02
Speaker 1: you recognize this talent in your own sons at a
1:05
Speaker 1: young age, and you say that you would drive them
1:08
Speaker 1: to their shows in a red van. Were a lot
1:11
Speaker 1: of these trips taken to Nashville when you were in
1:15
Speaker 1: North Carolina orre was La. Kind of the starting point there.
1:19
Speaker 2: Well, actually I started in North Carolina, and you know,
1:24
Speaker 2: mostly in church circles. I sang around church and my
1:28
Speaker 2: mom would take me to churches play for me, and
1:31
Speaker 2: I would sing or minister in those churches, and then
1:38
Speaker 2: I ended up getting involved in like worship ministry in churches,
1:44
Speaker 2: so my kids really grew up seeing me singing. And
1:51
Speaker 2: then we took an opportunity in New Jersey, right across
1:56
Speaker 2: from New York, and the boys started working on Broadway.
2:00
Speaker 2: Both Joe and Nick had Broadway shows and off Broadway shows.
2:05
Speaker 2: I think Nick by the time he was ten had
2:07
Speaker 2: like four Broadway shows, so we were definitely sewing into
2:10
Speaker 2: their talent writing songs with them. Then Nick at eleven
2:16
Speaker 2: signed a solo deal that became the Jonas Brothers, and
2:19
Speaker 2: the rest kind of was history. So the Tide to
2:23
Speaker 2: Nashville really points back to when I was pursuing my
2:27
Speaker 2: music early in my life eighteen to twenty five, and
2:31
Speaker 2: I would go up and down music row and knock
2:33
Speaker 2: on every door. Some doors open, not many, and there
2:39
Speaker 2: were some really kind people who took this kid in
2:42
Speaker 2: and some tried to get me to write better songs,
2:45
Speaker 2: and some inspired me, and some gave me great business advice.
2:50
Speaker 2: Can't can't thank them enough for all that they gave
2:56
Speaker 2: me and inspired me with. And actually I started in
3:00
Speaker 2: North Carolina in church music, but also in country music.
3:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you talk about how you started in church
3:06
Speaker 1: music and Christian music, and you also co wrote I
3:09
Speaker 1: Still Have the Dream with Michael W. Smith and you
3:13
Speaker 1: pen the global worship anthem to be Glory, which has
3:16
Speaker 1: a mass more than half a billion streams worldwide. So
3:20
Speaker 1: at this point in your career, were you trying to
3:23
Speaker 1: make it as an artist yourself or were you finding
3:26
Speaker 1: joy and writing music for others and developing other artists.
3:31
Speaker 2: That's a great question. I was pursuing life as an artist.
3:37
Speaker 2: That movie Mister Hollins Opus where he stops at a
3:40
Speaker 2: high school on his way to his dream. I feel
3:42
Speaker 2: like I have had a lot of that in my life,
3:45
Speaker 2: and then I look back in those are the great moments.
3:48
Speaker 2: I loved developing talent, and I was always doing it.
3:52
Speaker 2: So if I were in churches or traveling the world
3:55
Speaker 2: with worship music, it led me to people that in
4:00
Speaker 2: inspired me more than I inspired them. And some of
4:03
Speaker 2: my students went on to do incredible things. And the
4:05
Speaker 2: reason that song to him, be Glory really took off.
4:08
Speaker 2: Was a student of mine translated it into Portuguese and
4:13
Speaker 2: she and a protege of hers both recorded and it
4:16
Speaker 2: just blew up. And so again, Lifefe has been very,
4:22
Speaker 2: very good to us. But I get probably my greatest
4:28
Speaker 2: joy out of seeing people leave their dream And that
4:32
Speaker 2: might sound cliche, but it's so true. I love watching
4:36
Speaker 2: the artists you've worked with standing on a stage and
4:41
Speaker 2: doing it something they've dreamed of their entire life. I
4:46
Speaker 2: get incredible satisfaction out of that. And when my sons
4:49
Speaker 2: are on stage, I just turn around in circles and
4:53
Speaker 2: I'm just watching them, and I'm watching the crowd and
4:55
Speaker 2: watching them, and I'm watching the crowd, usually with tears
4:59
Speaker 2: rolling down my just so thankful for that connection that
5:02
Speaker 2: happens when an artist and their followers and fans and
5:07
Speaker 2: fan family are really tied to them passionately. So so
5:14
Speaker 2: many things to be grateful for, but probably living that
5:17
Speaker 2: with a good number of artists is my highlight.
5:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's beautiful. And you've written a lot of songs
5:24
Speaker 1: with your sons and for your sons, and you're getting
5:27
Speaker 1: back into your own artistry as well. You just released
5:30
Speaker 1: a new single, Key of You. It's a beautiful love
5:34
Speaker 1: song to your wife Denise, written by Marcus Hammon. I
5:38
Speaker 1: loved listening to this. There's no question that singing runs
5:42
Speaker 1: in your family. Loved listening to your vocals on this song.
5:46
Speaker 1: What does it mean for you to be able to
5:48
Speaker 1: put this music out as an artist?
5:52
Speaker 2: Well, I would venture to say I really don't have
5:57
Speaker 2: a desire. I'm not pursued doing life as an artist.
6:02
Speaker 2: As I said, I have plenty to do with the
6:05
Speaker 2: Jonas Group and the various things that I have on
6:09
Speaker 2: my plate. But music is breathing to me. It was
6:14
Speaker 2: my entire life and is my entire life, whether I'm
6:17
Speaker 2: singing it, writing it, or helping other people do things
6:21
Speaker 2: and perform it. So I don't feel like I'm doing
6:25
Speaker 2: it because like I released a Christmas album, but my
6:29
Speaker 2: wife had asked me to do that thirty five years ago,
6:32
Speaker 2: so it was somewhat for that. And it is our
6:34
Speaker 2: fortieth anniversary, and I'm just very thankful for her and
6:41
Speaker 2: all that we've gone through through the years. And the
6:44
Speaker 2: song just paints a wonderful picture of I think love
6:49
Speaker 2: in general. But there's so many moments in the song
6:52
Speaker 2: that are very uniquely things that I hold dear, like
6:57
Speaker 2: you know, watching my wife just even when she sleeps,
7:00
Speaker 2: she's beautiful and peaceful.
7:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's precious and such a wonderful anniversary gift. So
7:08
Speaker 1: in addition to being a songwriter and an artist, you're
7:11
Speaker 1: an entrepreneur. You found a Jonas Group Entertainment in two
7:15
Speaker 1: thousand and five and established headquarters here in Nashville in
7:19
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three along with Red Van Records, referencing that
7:24
Speaker 1: Red Van used to drive your sons around into gigs.
7:28
Speaker 1: Why did you want to plant your roots in Nashville specifically,
7:32
Speaker 1: and do you think currently it's important for artists to
7:37
Speaker 1: be in Nashville who want to make a career in music.
7:42
Speaker 2: I do you know? My kids were in pop music.
7:46
Speaker 2: I raised them on a ton of country in Christian music.
7:50
Speaker 2: The reason I chose Nashville is that two of the
7:55
Speaker 2: main music styles and genres that I loved and was
7:59
Speaker 2: raised and Christian and country both really have their headquarters there.
8:05
Speaker 2: And it was a place that I learned to love
8:07
Speaker 2: songwriting and was inspired by real songwriters and the songwriting
8:12
Speaker 2: community and the songwriter rounds, and it just felt like
8:17
Speaker 2: the right home, lived a lot of life in New York,
8:20
Speaker 2: a lot of life in LA, and done a lot
8:23
Speaker 2: of things with artists and our entertainment company. But the
8:25
Speaker 2: reality is the spirit that I sense in Nashville really
8:30
Speaker 2: is the reason I love it so much.
8:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's great. You know, you see a
8:35
Speaker 1: lot of artists and entertainers moving from LA to Nashville
8:39
Speaker 1: now to pursue music. But also Nashville is just so
8:44
Speaker 1: great for community, I think, not only in country music
8:47
Speaker 1: but in music in general.
8:49
Speaker 2: Absolutely, No, it's it was very specifically Christian and country
8:55
Speaker 2: when I first started going. Yeah, now it's all music,
8:59
Speaker 2: and they're there's such a variety. There's such a great
9:03
Speaker 2: cross section of pop and pop, rock and R and
9:07
Speaker 2: B and legacy, And I think it has become a
9:13
Speaker 2: better music center than even New York in LA because
9:18
Speaker 2: it really does provide a nurturing ground for a lot
9:22
Speaker 2: of talent and has embraced things beyond the earlier I
9:27
Speaker 2: won't say limitations, but limited genre. So I'm very thankful
9:32
Speaker 2: in our group. Yes, we have a ton of country
9:35
Speaker 2: and country writers, but we have a rock producer, we
9:39
Speaker 2: have a pop rock band, we have a Joni Mitchell
9:44
Speaker 2: esque artist. I mean you could just go through. We
9:47
Speaker 2: have an Americana artist and in my son Franklin that
9:51
Speaker 2: we're connected with, you know, and we're releasing songs in
9:55
Speaker 2: week after week. It's Luke Bryan, or it's Earnest, or
9:59
Speaker 2: it's but Then pop or pop rock. So that variety
10:04
Speaker 2: inspires me. I don't fit into walls very well.
10:09
Speaker 1: Yeah. I love that. You definitely have your hands and
10:11
Speaker 1: all genres, and you've played a pivotal role in guiding
10:15
Speaker 1: and developing artists, pop artists such as Demi Lovado, Jordan Sparks,
10:22
Speaker 1: K Pop Sensation, the Wonder Girls. So being in the
10:26
Speaker 1: music industry and young Disney Channel star, especially at a
10:31
Speaker 1: young age for a teen, can be so hard to handle.
10:34
Speaker 1: So what has been your approach when working with and
10:38
Speaker 1: developing young artists. What is the advice you give them
10:43
Speaker 1: when they face so much pressure in the spotlight at
10:47
Speaker 1: a young age.
10:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel really bad for a lot of the
10:55
Speaker 2: young talent coming up, and no one can prepare you
11:00
Speaker 2: for what happens, Like when Disney meets the right artist
11:05
Speaker 2: and the right content, what that can be is unbelievable.
11:10
Speaker 2: And you know, my sons came in. It was a
11:13
Speaker 2: high school musical introduced Tanna Montana, who introduced the Jonas Brothers,
11:17
Speaker 2: who introduced Demi Lovato, and it just it was wave
11:21
Speaker 2: after wave after wave, and those children, and they many
11:24
Speaker 2: of them were or teens, were thrust into a national
11:28
Speaker 2: spotlight and everybody they dated was the cover of People magazine.
11:35
Speaker 2: And so my yearbook was a small town. There's all
11:40
Speaker 2: over the world, there's a lot of pressure. And I
11:44
Speaker 2: had a motto that I learned from my grandfather that
11:47
Speaker 2: I gave to my children. Live like you're at the bottom,
11:50
Speaker 2: even if you're at the top. Just stay a good person.
11:54
Speaker 2: Surround yourself with good people because there's a lot of
11:58
Speaker 2: people that will take advantage of you in the world
12:00
Speaker 2: like that and moments like that. And really appreciate your fans.
12:06
Speaker 2: They sacrifice a lot to love you and to follow
12:10
Speaker 2: you and to buy your product. But I think it's isolating.
12:16
Speaker 2: So it's also very important that you maintain your mental health,
12:20
Speaker 2: myself included. You know, to really work to make sure
12:25
Speaker 2: that you're staying centered, because it can be just so
12:29
Speaker 2: confusing and at times enticing, and if you're not careful,
12:36
Speaker 2: can affect your attitude Probably the best thing I hear
12:40
Speaker 2: is when people tell me that my sons, our sons
12:43
Speaker 2: are really great young men. And I know that that's
12:46
Speaker 2: a ton of choices and a lot of really good luck,
12:50
Speaker 2: but I tried with all of those to be a
12:54
Speaker 2: good example. I tell you this past summer, when Demi
12:59
Speaker 2: joined the Boys back on stage after all that time, uh,
13:02
Speaker 2: standing backstage greeting her, seeing her healthy, watching that explosion
13:10
Speaker 2: of love for all of them, just unbelievable, unbelievable. One
13:15
Speaker 2: of the highlights of my professional life was just being
13:18
Speaker 2: able to be there for that historic moment and in
13:22
Speaker 2: the world that they lived in. If you grew up
13:26
Speaker 2: where camp Rock was in your world, that that was
13:29
Speaker 2: a moment.
13:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was definitely part of my world growing up.
13:34
Speaker 1: You know, watching Disney Channel Gambrock and you know your
13:39
Speaker 1: son's on Disney Channel. But you know, speaking to that point,
13:43
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, you would see them on
13:45
Speaker 1: the covers of People magazine. But now it's different for
13:49
Speaker 1: teens in the music industry because they have to face
13:52
Speaker 1: social media. They have the pressure second by second right
13:56
Speaker 1: in front of them. So it's a whole different game now.
14:00
Speaker 2: The whole world or paparazzi and any comment, whether true
14:05
Speaker 2: or not, can run quickly, and your private life is
14:09
Speaker 2: not private. It's tough, you know. I think my kids
14:13
Speaker 2: grew up in it because MySpace was already active, but
14:18
Speaker 2: it's just evolved and become so difficult and for some
14:23
Speaker 2: artists in particular, really difficult to maintain your sanity, maintain
14:27
Speaker 2: your emotional and mental health, knowing that anything you put
14:31
Speaker 2: out people can criticize, and they will, and that somebody
14:34
Speaker 2: sitting in their basement can start a fire that has
14:39
Speaker 2: nothing to do with you or your conduct and mess
14:42
Speaker 2: with your life. Those are tough things. And they're not
14:46
Speaker 2: just tough for kids, they're tough for everybody.
14:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's so important. I think it's so important
14:53
Speaker 1: to stay true to who you are as an artist
14:56
Speaker 1: and push all of that, all of that noise aside.
15:00
Speaker 1: But in addition to music, you own the restaurant Nelly's
15:04
Speaker 1: Southern Kitchen located in Belmont, North Carolina and Las Vegas.
15:08
Speaker 1: Will we see a location in Nashville for this restaurant
15:12
Speaker 1: in the future.
15:13
Speaker 2: You know, We've looked at some property all over Nashville,
15:20
Speaker 2: and if we find the right thing, I think that
15:22
Speaker 2: is in the cards. I think it ironically, there's not
15:27
Speaker 2: a ton of Southern, like straight ahead Southern food. And
15:31
Speaker 2: my grandmother, as you said it, worked in a textile
15:34
Speaker 2: meal and grew up really in a North Carolina mill village.
15:39
Speaker 2: And I tell people all the time, if you've seen
15:41
Speaker 2: Hunger Games in District twelve, where the lead came from
15:45
Speaker 2: and the poverty there it was filmed, that set is
15:49
Speaker 2: a North Carolina cotton mill village. Oh wow, So not
15:54
Speaker 2: far from where I grew up. And the kind of
15:56
Speaker 2: environment my grandmother was a part of, and she worked
15:59
Speaker 2: so hard and then we come home and make the
16:01
Speaker 2: most amazing food. So Nellie's really is a tribute to
16:05
Speaker 2: her and taking me in when I needed it, And
16:10
Speaker 2: no matter where in the world I would go, I
16:13
Speaker 2: would come home to her banana pudding and her chicken
16:16
Speaker 2: and dumplings, and that made my life. When I think
16:21
Speaker 2: of home, that's what I think of.
16:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely great comfort food. If listeners are in those areas,
16:29
Speaker 1: definitely check out Nellie's Southern Kitchen. So, Kevin, what are
16:33
Speaker 1: you most looking forward to this year with the artist
16:37
Speaker 1: you're working with at Join Us Group Entertainment.
16:40
Speaker 2: Well, we work with Ray Lynn love her and that
16:44
Speaker 2: girl is just a spitfire. She has our heart and
16:50
Speaker 2: I think this could be a really great year for her.
16:54
Speaker 2: Very exciting things coming. We have some We have a
16:58
Speaker 2: young rock band, pop rock that I really feel like
17:02
Speaker 2: could go. It always takes a lot of different factors.
17:08
Speaker 2: I'm very excited for my youngest son, Franklin. The music
17:11
Speaker 2: that he's working on right now is from his heart.
17:14
Speaker 2: It's legit for him and it's that modern Americana and
17:19
Speaker 2: it is lyrically amazing, painful at times, but really amazing.
17:24
Speaker 2: And we have a young girl that is Kenny Loggins
17:29
Speaker 2: if you know that name, famous in the seventies, eighties, Footloose,
17:36
Speaker 2: all those theme songs, Caddyshack theme songs, but beyond a
17:40
Speaker 2: danger zone. Kenny's stepdaughter Hunter Hawkins. It seems every room
17:47
Speaker 2: we go in it's just like, Wow, this is special.
17:52
Speaker 2: And really there's no music out yet of the new
17:55
Speaker 2: group of songs that really do identify our amazing guitar player,
17:59
Speaker 2: amazing vocalist, amazing songwriter. So I think we have a lot.
18:06
Speaker 2: And then on the songwriting side, every week is just
18:08
Speaker 2: a new release from our publishing company. Today is Luke
18:11
Speaker 2: Bryan A couple of weeks ago was Pitbull and songs
18:16
Speaker 2: that were written with our team pit Bull and Fillmore
18:21
Speaker 2: and then Earnest and Snoop Dogg, And like, it's just
18:26
Speaker 2: watching these songs that are being written in our basement
18:29
Speaker 2: and the writing rooms and with the writers that we've
18:32
Speaker 2: signed just lights me up as a guy that really
18:36
Speaker 2: loves great songs. So fun to see what's happening there.
18:39
Speaker 2: And we're about to have our first top ten and
18:43
Speaker 2: you know that's we're new. So this is getting pretty
18:46
Speaker 2: exciting because Nick my son wrote a song and Rascal
18:51
Speaker 2: Flats and the Jonas Brothers sing it together called I
18:54
Speaker 2: Dare You, and I believe it's about to make its
18:57
Speaker 2: run to the top of the chart.
18:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's on Rascal Flats new revamped albums from their
19:04
Speaker 1: previous previous Hits album. So I really love that collaboration.
19:09
Speaker 1: And you have so much music coming out this year
19:12
Speaker 1: from Jonas group. Looking forward to that new music from
19:16
Speaker 1: Franklin as well. Kevin, this is a question I always
19:22
Speaker 1: like to ask my listeners on taking a walk in Nashville,
19:25
Speaker 1: and you kind of mentioned it when you talked about
19:28
Speaker 1: walking down Music Row back in the day. But do
19:31
Speaker 1: you have a favorite place you like to take a
19:34
Speaker 1: walk in Nashville.
19:35
Speaker 2: Oh, there are two spots in the Nashville area. I
19:41
Speaker 2: love I pace when I talk on the phone, So
19:46
Speaker 2: I have done loops around Music Row for so many
19:49
Speaker 2: years that that's like my walking path, and I'll go
19:53
Speaker 2: with traffic. I rarely use the alleys and I just
19:57
Speaker 2: talk on the phone and walk around. See the songwriters,
20:01
Speaker 2: see the tourists, see all the music inspiration all around you.
20:06
Speaker 2: I love, love, love that. And the other area I
20:09
Speaker 2: really love is downtown Franklin. I just that that whole
20:13
Speaker 2: area there. I don't know, there's something really We've stayed
20:18
Speaker 2: there often and kind of fell in love with Franklin
20:22
Speaker 2: as well. Yeah, it's a beauty, beautiful town. In the
20:25
Speaker 2: downtown area is the one we've looked at as a
20:29
Speaker 2: possible outlet for Nellie's, but I think we want to
20:32
Speaker 2: be closer.
20:33
Speaker 1: To the action. Yeah, definitely on Main Street. I could
20:36
Speaker 1: see Nellie's being there in Franklin.
20:39
Speaker 2: Nellie's would be a perfect fit for downtown Franklin.
20:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I hope to see it there. Yeah. Those
20:45
Speaker 1: are definitely popular answers for taking a walk, and I
20:49
Speaker 1: can only imagine when you walk on Music Row now
20:52
Speaker 1: how much change is around you, because that's something we
20:56
Speaker 1: talk about all the time on this podcast, is how
20:58
Speaker 1: much Music Row has changed.
21:01
Speaker 2: Well, my first trip to Nashville was thirty five, thirty
21:06
Speaker 2: seven years ago, and it has completely changed, but and
21:11
Speaker 2: it still has its identity. The music companies are still there.
21:14
Speaker 2: But it was a publishing company and it was a
21:18
Speaker 2: record company, and it was you know, an artist and
21:22
Speaker 2: their efforts, and it was the home of a great songwriter.
21:26
Speaker 2: Like it was just so eclectic and from one side
21:30
Speaker 2: of the street to the other it would just bounce
21:32
Speaker 2: with with the different elements of the music business all
21:36
Speaker 2: condensed into this really tiny section of town, and I
21:40
Speaker 2: just thought it was just heaven on earth.
21:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, definitely a lot of change since then, but
21:47
Speaker 1: there's also been a lot of good change. And we're
21:49
Speaker 1: looking forward to upcoming releases from your artists this year
21:54
Speaker 1: and listening to your new beautiful single, Key of You. Kevin.
21:58
Speaker 1: Thank you so much again for on taking a Walk
22:00
Speaker 1: Nashville today.
22:02
Speaker 2: Thank you honored to be with you. Thank you so much.
22:06
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah
22:09
Speaker 1: Harrelson Please check out our other shows produced by Buzznight
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Speaker 1: Media Productions, Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me hosted
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