Latest / Takin’ A Walk Nashville / Phillip Phillips on His Journey: Balancing Music, Fatherhood, and Authenticity in Nashville’s Music Scene

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Phillip Phillips on His Journey: Balancing Music, Fatherhood, and Authenticity in Nashville’s Music Scene · Takin’ A Walk Nashville

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Takin' a Walk Nashville.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: With his soulful vocals and ruggedly warm sensibilities, the Georgia-bred
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: 32-year-old saw his first full-length effort, The World from the
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  Speaker 2: Side of the Moon, go platinum after debuting at No.
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  Speaker 3: 4 on the Billboard Top 200.
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  Speaker 2: In 2014, his second album, Behind the Light, offered up
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  Speaker 2: the lead anthemic folk rock radio hit Raging Fire. Phillips
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  Speaker 2: released Miles in the summer of 2017 as he toured
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  Speaker 2: North America with the Goo Goo Dolls as a precursor
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  Speaker 2: to his third full-length collateral album. After exiting 19 Interscope,
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  Speaker 2: Philip returned to making music that was most authentic to
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  Speaker 2: him and released Love Like That in 2022. In 2023,
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  Speaker 2: Phillips released his first album as an independent artist, Drift Back,
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  Speaker 2: with top 15 AC hits Dancing With Your Shadows and
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  Speaker 2: Love Like That. Now fully independent and creatively recalibrated, Phillips
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  Speaker 2: has stepped into his most rootsy Americana-leaning era yet. Introduced
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  Speaker 2: by Homesick and Let's Go Far singles. He will continue
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  Speaker 2: that momentum with Remember.
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  Speaker 3: Me ahead of the new.
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  Speaker 2: EP Let's Go Far Volume 1.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome to Takin' a Walk Nashville with your host, singer-songwriter
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  Speaker 3: Sarah Harrelson.
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  Speaker 2: Phillip, thank you so much for being here today on Takin'
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  Speaker 2: a Walk Nashville.
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  Speaker 3: How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing all right. Your voice is very soothing. I
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: could have taken a nap. You get in those situations
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  Speaker 1: and someone has that voice that's really relaxing. I was like,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: oh man, this would be a perfect nap situation here.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: You could read stories or whatever. No, that was great.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the introduction. Yeah, thanks for having me out here.
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so good to see you.
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  Speaker 2: We're at City Limit Studios here today in Nashville. As
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  Speaker 2: I mentioned, your new EP, it's called Let's Go Far,
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  Speaker 2: Volume 1. It's described as rootsy, Americana-leaning chapter. It reflects
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  Speaker 2: on how far you've come, the strength to keep moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: Tell me about the making and inspiration behind this EP.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I should just let send you everything. So you have,
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  Speaker 1: you're really describing everything perfectly. Um, um, you know, these songs, uh,
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  Speaker 1: really wrote most of them back at home and then
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  Speaker 1: finish them up here in Nashville. So yeah, I lived,
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  Speaker 1: I still live down in South Georgia and, uh, you know,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: ever since having my son, um, I just, I want
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  Speaker 1: to be home all the time. And so that these
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  Speaker 1: songs kind of represent that and kind of the struggles
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  Speaker 1: of like still wanting to, um, still want to go
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  Speaker 1: after the dream that I've, you know, fell in love
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  Speaker 1: with when I was 14 years old. And, and, uh,
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  Speaker 1: so there's that kind of struggle of still wanting to
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  Speaker 1: do that, but also wanting to show my, you know,
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  Speaker 1: now have a little girl as well. And I want
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  Speaker 1: to show both of them that, you know, you need
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  Speaker 1: to go out, you know, continue to go after your
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  Speaker 1: dreams and that it's, it's okay to do that. And, and, and, uh,
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  Speaker 1: even if that means you have to, you know, move
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  Speaker 1: on and, you know, get away from where you're from. So, um, that's,
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  Speaker 1: it's really in a small, uh, small form of saying
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  Speaker 1: that that's kind of what it's about and without too
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  Speaker 1: much detail, but really loving these songs. And it's kind
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  Speaker 1: of going back to that first album of how all
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  Speaker 1: of those songs have kind of shaped who I was
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  Speaker 1: like that first album. Most of the songs are except
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: for like two, maybe, uh, I had written before I
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  Speaker 1: was even on the show. And, and so a lot
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  Speaker 1: of those songs were, you know, songs that were, you know,
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  Speaker 1: when I was just living with my parents and stayed
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  Speaker 1: in my room, just writing what was feeling right. So, um,
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  Speaker 1: I've kind of had that feeling again, writing these new
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  Speaker 1: songs and, and there was no pressure. There was no
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  Speaker 1: like time limit. Um, and there's this excitement of, of, uh,
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  Speaker 1: just writing music again. So I really love them and
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  Speaker 1: I'm hoping everybody else is going to like them too.
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  Speaker 2: And listening to the new EP, I think it does
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  Speaker 2: pay homage a bit to that first album and the
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  Speaker 2: production and style. And I love the title track, Let's
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  Speaker 2: Go Far. Definitely inspirational. I love all the fun stops
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  Speaker 2: and the chorus, too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's a track everyone will love. That one's
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  Speaker 2: already out. And this is Let's Go Far, Volume 1.
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  Speaker 2: So will we expect a Volume 2 as well?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Uh, yeah, uh, for sure. Uh, I'm
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  Speaker 1: actually up. That's one of the reasons I'm up here,
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  Speaker 1: finishing up some more music and trying to, uh, navigate,
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  Speaker 1: navigate my way through those. And, and, uh, um, uh, everything,
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  Speaker 1: I just, everything sounded really good. Like, you know, how,
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  Speaker 1: how I want it. Like I said, there's just no
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  Speaker 1: pressure of, it needs to be done right here, right now. And, and, uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, cause when you're on a major label, there's
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  Speaker 1: pressure to, you know, outperform what you did last time,
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  Speaker 1: which you want to do, but, sometimes there's a time
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  Speaker 1: limit on it and that's, you know, sometimes that's not
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  Speaker 1: always the best, but, uh, um, you know, there is
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  Speaker 1: definitely going to be a volume two and, uh, you know,
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  Speaker 1: there's the song called remember me coming out and this week,
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  Speaker 1: and then there'll be another song called boys and dads
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  Speaker 1: on there that I really love. And, um, and, uh,
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  Speaker 1: another one called my dark places. So, uh, I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: I really love these songs. I'll be curious what people
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  Speaker 1: think about them. And, uh, And if they hate them,
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  Speaker 1: they can just tell me. But if they love them,
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  Speaker 1: they can also tell me that.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's a great collection of songs. So did
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  Speaker 3: you record these songs in Nashville?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. So I used to do a lot of
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  Speaker 1: work up in L.A. and New York. And it was
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  Speaker 1: great for that time. But, you know, I'm just a
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  Speaker 1: boy from South Georgia. I don't like, you know, whenever
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  Speaker 1: things start to move around too quickly, I get a
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  Speaker 1: little overwhelmed. So, you know, once I started working up
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  Speaker 1: here in Nashville, I don't know, eight, 10 years ago
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  Speaker 1: or something. Um, you know, I fell in love with it.
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  Speaker 1: It has still has that small town kind of feel, but, um,
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  Speaker 1: but the big city, you know, things that you need, but, uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's, I can ride at home and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: finish songs at home if I, if, you know, as
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  Speaker 1: long as I, my kids are having quiet time, but, uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's, it's a lot easier when I can
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  Speaker 1: come up here and really focus and get, you know,
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  Speaker 1: get a lot done, you know?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I'm excited for everyone to hear this collection of songs
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  Speaker 2: that comes out on September 4th. You mentioned one of
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  Speaker 2: the tracks on the EP, My Dark Places. It really
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  Speaker 2: focuses on, you know, a dark mental headspace a lot
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  Speaker 2: of us go through.
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  Speaker 3: Can you tell us about the process of writing that song?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it kind of, you know, it opens
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  Speaker 1: up with the line, you know, I've been thinking about
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  Speaker 1: dying and without it, you know, getting too dark and
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  Speaker 1: no pun intended. But, you know, you think about as
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  Speaker 1: you get older and you have kids and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: will they be OK if I'm not around, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and in the struggles, you know, I go with, you know,
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  Speaker 1: go on with myself in my own head, you know,
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  Speaker 1: every day, you know, you have good days, you have
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  Speaker 1: harder days. And, you know, it's about you know, taking day,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the day, day by day and, um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: asking for help when you need it. You know, I
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  Speaker 1: have an amazing wife. Uh, luckily she's a mental health therapist, so, uh,
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  Speaker 1: she can always therapize me, uh, whenever I need it. And, uh,
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  Speaker 1: but she's also just my best friend. And, um, and
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  Speaker 1: I think having those relationships, uh, like I said, with
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  Speaker 1: my wife or even having, you know, close friends you
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  Speaker 1: can talk to and, and, um, it's very critical, um,
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  Speaker 1: because if you try to do a lot on your own,
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  Speaker 1: it's kind of impossible. And, uh, that, I feel like
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  Speaker 1: that can get things in a worse place for you. So, um,
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  Speaker 1: you know, so that song, I really love that song.
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  Speaker 1: It's just kind of captures of those mental struggles of, of, uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, what I, you know, for me personally, what
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  Speaker 1: I go through with, with music and being a good
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  Speaker 1: dad or being a good husband or friend or son, or,
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  Speaker 1: you know, all of those things. So, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And it's so important to have a support system, like
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  Speaker 2: you mentioned, especially now that you're, you know, doing some
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  Speaker 2: of these releases independently. Do you lean on these people
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  Speaker 2: a lot now that you're kind of taking the reins
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  Speaker 2: with your own music?
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yeah. Like I said, my wife's my best friend,
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  Speaker 1: so she's the number one for sure. We always have
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  Speaker 1: these discussions of what might be best for the career,
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  Speaker 1: for my career and, you know, I kind of consider
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  Speaker 1: it her, you know, as her career too, cause she's
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  Speaker 1: been with me since the beginning. But, um, what that
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  Speaker 1: looks like best for now that we have a family,
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  Speaker 1: what's the best for the family, what's best for my career,
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  Speaker 1: how long should I be gone away? And, um, and
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  Speaker 1: also having those discussion with friends and, and, uh, you know, and,
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  Speaker 1: and having a good core group of, of, of business
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  Speaker 1: relationships too. That's very important. Uh, um, having a good manager, uh,
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  Speaker 1: good business manager, agent, all of those things, and having
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  Speaker 1: honest discussions, even if it might be uncomfortable. So very
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  Speaker 1: critical to surround yourself with people you trust and that
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  Speaker 1: also want what's best for you.
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  Speaker 3: That's very important.
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  Speaker 2: And you've released a lot of music in the trajectory
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  Speaker 2: of your career. People got to know you in 2012
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: when you won the 11th season of American Idol.
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  Speaker 3: You made history.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: When your debut single, Home, went five times platinum. It's
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  Speaker 2: the most successful winter song in American Idol history, which
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  Speaker 2: is incredible. How did the success of that specific song
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  Speaker 2: shape your perspective on your future records?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it had a huge impact. Um, it
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: kind of goes back to that thing of, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you have such huge, huge success from this first album
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  Speaker 1: that had two or three really big songs on it.
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  Speaker 1: So then the next album is like, all right, we
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: got to ride the high off that. And that's, it's
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of pressure and, and you just want to
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: try and write, you want to be a songwriter first,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: you know, and focus on the music and the songs,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: make it make sense and make it, you know, you, um,
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  Speaker 1: but you also have all these other you know, mouths
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  Speaker 1: just breathing down your neck of like, give me something
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  Speaker 1: we can keep going. So there's a lot of pressure and, and, uh, um, and,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: you know, pressure's not always a bad thing. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I talk about it with my son, you know, he, he's,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: he loves sports and it's like, you know, you know,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: I try to explain to him, you know, he gets
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  Speaker 1: nervous or whatever. It's like, pressure's good, man. That means
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: you care. And, uh, but let's, you know, slow it down. And, and, um, Um,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: so that's, you know, that, that song had a huge
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  Speaker 1: impact on my life. My career steered still does. I
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: still get DMS or people come up to me at
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: shows and, you know, that tell me how they relate
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: to it and, and what it means to them. And
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  Speaker 1: I love hearing all that. And cause I, you know, my,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: especially as an independent artist now, I, you know, um,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: my fans are, you know, what keeps me going. So
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I'm very thankful to them. And, and, uh, You know,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: always down to have a discussion. You know, it might
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: be hard when I have a burger in my mouth. But,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: you know, other than that, I'm always pretty easygoing.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and you won that show and went on that
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: show at such a young age.
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  Speaker 3: So....
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I'm sure it was a lot of nerves while you
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: were going through that competition, but, uh, did that kind
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: of define your artistry going through that process?
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah. I was like 20 when I was, so
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I never really watched the show, but my parents were like,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: just go try out. We'll give you some gas money,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: your sister and brother-in-law are going to go to. And
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: so we kind of made it a trip and, um,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and then kind of, I kept making it through. And
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  Speaker 1: by that point, whenever got to the finale, uh, I
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: was 21 and, So definitely young, but I'd been playing
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: shows since I was 18, you know, playing gigs that
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: were three, four hours long, getting paid a hundred bucks
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: or getting paid through food, you know, by food or
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: not getting paid at all, you know, just for tips.
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  Speaker 1: So I think all of those shows were so critical
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  Speaker 1: and leading up to that moment because, you know, it's a,
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  Speaker 1: it's a, to go through a situation where no one
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: wants to listen to you is very important, you know,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: and how you deal with that. And, um, you know,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: I see that with a lot of, you know, younger
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: artists right now, like they'll ask me, what do you,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: what do you, what do you do? And when the
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: crowd's not really into it, it's like, you know, you just,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: you try to grasp them with the music and then
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: you also, you know, maybe talk with them. I'm, I'm,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: I get nervous. I'm nervous now talking, but it's, you know,
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: you just try to, you know, communicate and, you know,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: make them laugh or tell them, you know, something about
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  Speaker 1: the song that you're playing and, uh, and just have
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: fun with it. But all of those gigs that I
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: would do when nobody would listen, you know, that's when
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: you practice and that's when you mess up and it's
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: okay to mess up even at a, you know, the
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: highest level. Um, you know, that that's, uh, I think
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  Speaker 1: that's something very important to know is that it's okay
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: to fail, you know, makes you better.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's critical for artists to have some of
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: those gigs starting out where they're more background noise, setting
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: up their own sound. And then, you know, it makes
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: you appreciate it when you get the next level.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: A hundred percent. I say the same thing. And, uh,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: you know, now we have phones that we can, kind
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: of just get the right take on. And, and, uh,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: and even that for me, it's like, if I, if
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I mess up, it's like, ah, I just messed it up.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Just as opposed to do it. So, uh, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's, I think it's kind of important for
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: people to see that, that nothing is important. Nothing is perfect.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, absolutely.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: And your new EP, it's an independent release. After exiting
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: a record label, how has your approach to releasing music
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: changed as the music industry landscape has shifted over the years?
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah. You know, obviously it costs more money from my pocket,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: which is, you know, can be hard, but, you know,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: you have to be more strategic and And, uh, because
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: it's hard to compete with major labels. I mean, they
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: have all the money in the world and they have
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: long arms that can stretch, you know, very wide, which
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: is a great thing. And to be on the, you know,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: a smaller fish, it's, uh, you just, I think I'm
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: still something I'm still learning, but I think, uh, communicating
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: with the fan base that you have and trying to
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: grow that, uh, through social media. And I'm terrible at
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: social media and I'm trying to get better at it. And, uh,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: but you have to communicate and you have to post and, and, uh,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: you know, make them feel, you know, I think everyone
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: feel a part of, you know, your own career, you know,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: because they are a part of, they're, they're the ones
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: that have made you in my, in my case, my,
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  Speaker 1: you know, made me successful. So, um, and showing them that,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: that you're, you're very thankful, you know, sending them whatever,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: you know, and, and invite them to shows or whatever
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  Speaker 1: that is. And, uh, um, you know, that's, that's something
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: I'm still trying to learn. Um, And like I said,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: it kind of goes back to having a really good
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: team around you too, because I don't know everything. And, uh,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: but I think when you get a lot of, you know,
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: smart minds together, you can figure out a lot.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And there's so many other benefits, like you mentioned, you
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: get to record and release your music on your own schedule, um,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: kind of make your touring schedule as big or small
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: as you want as well.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. So like having kids now, I want to
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: be home as much as I can, but also I,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: you know, the and, uh, reality is I have to
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: make a living, you know, do this for a living.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I have to make money to provide for my family
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: as well. So, um, you know, I don't get the
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: streams like a lot of, you know, these major, uh,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: you know, label artists get, but there's also, I think
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: a really amazing thing happening to that. There are a
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: lot of independent artists that are getting the recognition that
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: they deserve as well, because they're really good at social
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: media and they're getting the song out there. They know
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: what they're doing. And, and, uh, So I'm trying to
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: learn from them. And, um, and for me, that's like,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: you know, I came from a point in my career
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: that that wasn't as important then. And now it's really
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: important now. So it's like, I'm in this part of
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: where I'm trying to adjust my mind to it, you know,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: because when I'm home, I try to be a good
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: dad and be very present with my kids and my
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: wife and, and, uh, you know, and then I get,
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: you know, a text that says I need to film
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: some things for, uh, social media. And I'm like, Oh yeah,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I do do that. So I'll try to carve out
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: like an hour to go do something. And, and, uh,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: it's just, you know, it's just something I'm learning, you know,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: and to, to get better at and to communicate more with,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: with the fans and, and, uh, just to, uh, yeah, it's, it's,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: it's a different, you know, different stage in your life
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: that I think is a, an exciting one. It's a,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: it's a, it's a high class problems that my wife says,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: you know, when you're, you know, doing something that you love,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: it's kind of like a high class problem. So, um,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: you know, I can't, I can't sit here and complain
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: about it because, you know, I just had somebody text
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: me the other day, like, wanting to come out to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: their place to play a game of pickleball. I was like,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: oh man, I got to go film some stuff. And
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: they said, oh, you want to come lift, like do
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: some really hard labor? And I was like, he said, yeah,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: you go film your stuff for that. And I was like, yeah.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: So it kind of puts things into perspective of like, man,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: this is so easy compared to what, you know, other
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: people are having to do.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: So it's definitely shifted though.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: You know, artists have to evolve.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. So trying to embrace that, embrace that in
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: my life.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, absolutely.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Well, you're a South Georgia native. Do you find yourself
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: coming up here to Nashville a lot? I know you
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: do for recording. Do you come up here for writing
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: sessions too?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is kind of like a second home for me.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: I kind of have a good core group that I
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: like to work with and, you know, I'll, I'll kind
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: of venture off and work with someone new occasionally. And, uh, but, um,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: you know, this is, this is where I come up.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: You know, I try to get up here once a
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: month whenever I'm not doing as many shows. Um, but
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: when I have a lot of, you know, shows going on,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: it's usually about every month and a half to two
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: months and for like a week at a time. So
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: I love Nashville. Like I said, I've been coming up
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: here recording and writing for the past, like eight or
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: 10 years. And, and it's kind of, kind of like,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: been a second home to me. I've got a lot
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: of friendships here, good people. And, um, that's the thing
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: I loved, I loved about coming here to Nashville is
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: like the people, when you have a good group, like those,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: those people want you to be successful, you know, and
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: you don't feel like this and it's everywhere. I know
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: it's in Nashville too, but it's, you don't feel it
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: as bad. Like if, you know, there's this competitive thing
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: of like, no, I don't want this. I want this or,
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: you know, whatever there's, you know, my experience has been like,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: When you work with someone, they really want you to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: be successful and you feel that. And so that's one
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: thing I've loved about it here. And, you know, like
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I said, I'm from a small town. you kind of
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: get that feeling when you're around those people in this
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: industry that you don't get in other places, in my opinion.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great community of musicians, and you'll be
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: back here in Nashville soon because you're about to hit
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: the road with your upcoming Let's Go Far tour. It
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: runs September through November with a stop in Nashville, November
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: 19th at Exit Inn. I'll definitely have to stop by
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: that show. What are you most looking forward to this tour?
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, man. I'm just, excited to see, you know,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: see everyone coming out and, you know, play these new
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: songs and, you know, hopefully they have some sort of
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: connection and fill me in. Maybe they'll make some posters. Uh,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: you know, sometimes people bring snacks. I like snacks. Uh, uh,
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: but I think it's going to be a great time playing,
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: you know, even the old songs as well. And, and,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: you know, feeling how they've evolved, you know, gone, gone,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: gone is, you know, with new Spider-Man movie out, it's
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: been like blowing up and people have been reconnecting with
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: that song because it was in the amazing Spider-Man two. And, um,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: so it's just, it's pretty cool to see all of these,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: you know, These songs from my past that are kind
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: of circling back around that people, younger, new generation are
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: kind of finding. And I just love that. So maybe
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I'll see. I've always had like a wide range of
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: fans at my shows, like all the way from like
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: little kids to people in their 90s, which I've always loved.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: And so I'm hoping that's still the case for this year.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: That's great. And where can people get tickets to the shows?
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I think they can get it on my website, philipphillips.com,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: under tour. And you can get them there, I'm sure
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: at your box office or something right there at the venue.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: So check the dates. Let me know if you're coming
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: to a show. If you're not coming, just tell me
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: that as well. But just tell me that you love me,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: and that'll make me feel good.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Amazing.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: And as I mentioned, your Nashville stop, November 19th at
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Exit Inn.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to that.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm excited for that. It's going to be fun.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: It's always a good Nashville. I used to get nervous
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: performing in Nashville because I didn't know if it was
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: going to be kind of like performing in L.A. or not. Yeah,
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: it's not. Everybody here is usually pretty cool and it's
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: always been great, great vibes here. So I'm excited to
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: play at the Exit Inn. Yeah.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: Do you have Georgia stops in your hometown?
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: That's the last stop. And that's usually my least favorite.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Because everybody wants to come to that show. And then
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: I get super stressed out. And then it's like you're
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: looking out in the crowd and you're knowing the majority
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: of the people there. And you're like, oh, man, I
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: could just be doing this at home. But it's going
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: to be fun to see all the people that I
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: don't know. Right.
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: That'll be fun. My last question for you today, Phillip.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: We're on Taking a Walk Nashville. I want to know
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: if you could sit down in a writing room in Nashville,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: co-write a song with anyone, who would it be?
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. That's a good question. Maybe Alison Krauss.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: Oh, I like that.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: I love her voice. I've always loved her voice, and
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: she's so talented. I would just let her... I would
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: just be in the room and only chime in whenever
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I feel like I needed to. I would just let
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: her write the song, and I would sing as little
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: or as much as she wanted to. I would just
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: mostly just want to hear her sing.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that would be a great collaboration. Have you ever
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: met her?
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: I have not. I get nervous. I don't meet too many...
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: of heroes or anything like that. And, uh, I've met
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: just a handful of them and, uh, they've all been
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: actually really kind to me, but I haven't met her yet. Uh,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: I get nervous meeting, you know, I don't do well
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: with situations. I get just too nervous and, uh, I
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: don't want to get let down or anything. So I
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: like my imagination of, of some of my heroes, you know? Yeah.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: I imagine you wouldn't be let down.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: No, I've only heard great things. So, uh, yeah.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that's a great answer.
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: That would be a great collaboration.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: As I mentioned, your new EP, Let's Go Far, followed
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: by your Let's Go Far tour. Phillip Phillips, thank you
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: for joining me on Taking a Walk Nashville today.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: Thanks for listening to Taking a Walk Nashville with Sarah Harrelson.
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: Please check out our other shows produced by Buzz Night
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: Media Productions, Comedy Save Me and Music Save Me, hosted
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: by Lynn Hoffman and Taking a Walk hosted by yours truly,
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: Buzz Knight.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and are
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: part of the iHeart Podcast Network.