Photo by Cliff Ritchey
Corey Cox has his cowboy boots on, ready to give an interview for IndyConcerts. His smile is genuine, his heart is proud, and his words are subtle yet certain. Shortly after beginning his run as a country music artist, his career is about to take off. But the small-town Hoosier from Pendleton is not overly confident just yet, believing his patience to have taken him far already and hoping to continue on this path so long as his passion for it prevails. In the midst of his summer tour, Cox sat down with us to discuss the Indy music scene, Nashville dreams, and among other things– the life of a country artist.
How did you get your start? What are you working on this summer?
I started playing guitar in high school, probably when I was 16. I was an athlete so I didn’t really look too much into the whole singing thing, it was just kind of a hobby. I went and played a year of college baseball up at Anderson University, and then after that I finished up my second year of school there. I was playing a lot with my college band, just playing bars and stuff. At that point it was pretty much all covers—country, classic rock, a little bit of everything. I met my manager Gary Sallee two years ago, he’s still with me, and doors started opening from there. Ever since we started working together some doors started opening up. He had this big plan and just said, “Be patient, be patient. We’ll get there.” We went through a few band transformations—new guys in and out, got to play bigger and better clubs. Up until this year we got hooked up with a booking agency out of Nashville, they’re going to pretty much put us on the road and we’ll probably do 120-130 dates.
With different artists or one artist in particular?
A lot of them will just be me and my band, and a lot of them will be bars. Then next summer we’ll be looking for a lot of fairs and festivals, but some of them will be multiple artists. We’ll open for nationals and stuff like that which is pretty cool.
You said that you’re working on other projects, how does that correlate to your home base in Indiana?
I’ll eventually move to Nashville. I love it and I’ve always wanted to live down there. Right now I’m going down on an every-other week basis, I’ll stay up here for a week then I’ll travel down there and live for a week—going back and forth. But eventually Nashville is where I’d like to be.
Having gotten your start in Indiana, how do you think that has affected you as an artist?
I’ll tell you what, country is pretty strong here. I grew up listening to classic rock—I’m still a huge classic rock junkie, I love Tom Petty. I grew up listening to a lot of that stuff so I had that influence and then I also had the country influence. But I think just in the area we live in around here there seems to be a lot of opportunities, more so here than there may be up in Michigan or up north, or anywhere else. Obviously it’s not quite the opportunistic state as Tennessee or Kentucky—‘cuz they’re straight up country, you can’t find anything else, but that’s definitely had a large role. Plus it’s so close to Nashville. Doing work there has been easy, whereas if I was from Colorado it might not be quite as easy just to drive down there for the day and come back like I’ve done before.
Do you find the Indy music scene has been welcoming? Or, do you think that being a country artist in Indiana has been difficult at times?
I think it’s very welcoming. As far as venues, there aren’t too many. There’s one main country venue in Indy, which is 8 Second Saloon. But as far as just straight up venues, there’s not that many. I think that’s starting to change a little bit because country as a genre has become so wide. I mean, you can hear anyone as classic as Johnny Cash on the same station as you hear Rascal Flatts or Keith Urban or somebody like that. You’re starting to see that too where Jewel and Darius Rucker cross over to the country charts. I’m a huge fan of ’90s music too and even the Train song, “Soul Sister,” is on the country charts now. I looked on the Billboard Charts and was like, “What! So weird!” That’s my point though—it’s become such a wide variety as far as the one genre and it’s so successful right now. Plus radio is still huge in country, whereas maybe it’s not in hip-hop or some other genre. But as far as playing around here, everyone is starting understand that country isn’t what it used to be. I think that’s helped the Indy music scene, especially if you just go see cover bands—a lot more bands are starting to play some Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban, stuff like that, whereas nobody did that a while ago.
Do you think that “making it” into the Indy music scene was difficult?
You know, I was very fortunate because I met my manager. A lot of guys will do the cover band thing for years and years and years, I just got lucky enough to meet my manager who helped me go in the right direction. He didn’t jump—like I said, it’s all about patience. He taught me patience. If you would have asked me two years ago if I wanted to go to Nashville–“Yeah, let’s go!” but I wasn’t ready. I’m just now starting to feel comfortable going down there and writing with all these guys who have had songs on the radio at number one.
Is that what makes you feel comfortable, more experience?
Yeah, definitely. Everybody down there is just so great. I’ve written with guys who have songs on the radio right now and you feel like you’d walk in and be all nervous and they’re just like, “Hey! How’s it goin’?” And I’m like, “I haven’t really done this a whole lot…” No, but everybody down there is just really cool about it and that’s what I think has helped me become better. Even my dad has noticed– my dad is really involved, my whole family is—they’ve all noticed just in the songs that I’ve been writing recently that it’s so different, just by going (to Nashville) and having a couple sessions, because you see how it really works down there.
What is your process like as a writer?
I always just go off ideas and I never just sit down to say, “Okay, let’s write a song. What can I write about?” I always have an idea, so if I’m driving in my car I’ll get my phone out and sing a melody into it and then I’ll come back to it later on. I think that having an idea or a purpose is going to get you the best song. I’ve had sessions down there where we sit down and nobody has an idea, we’ll sit there for a half hour and strum the guitar and then we’ll start talking about, “Hey did you see that show last night?” and then all of the sudden an hour later we haven’t written a thing. But, if you come in and have an idea it’s always more productive.
Do you think it’s easier working in a collaborative form or do you think it’s easier working individually?
I think there are ups and downs to both. I think right now I’m just now getting used to the whole collaborative thing. Those guys down there have been doing it for years so it’s like you sit in a room and they’re just spitting out ideas right and left. My publisher sat in on a couple of sessions and said not to get discouraged, that it’s hard for everyone in the beginning.
Are you nervous at all about being in Nashville?
No… because my situation is different than a lot of people that make the move. A lot of people who move down there, they pack up their bags and you hear the whole cliché story of them telling the family goodbye then going. It’s a little bit different for me because it’s close—I’ve driven there and back in a day—so it’s not that big of a deal. But, just because I’ve got a great team up here, my mom is the biggest fan, my dad is kind of the business manager, he takes care of that stuff, and then my sister does all the merch stuff… then obviously my manager Gary and I’ve got a PR guy that does stuff—Chris Taylor at Ball State—so it’s like I’ve got such an awesome team to where we’ve been turning heads in Nashville and not even being there. Which is kind of different than a lot of people, they’ll just move down there with absolutely nothing then go play on a street corner. So, that’s why I’m not quite as nervous. I’m in great hands going down there and, like I said, I’ve been given a hard time a little bit from those guys down there because they came down and did the whole bar thing and played for tips and they’re like, “How’d you get to do this already?”
What’s the Nashville music scene like?
Everybody plays. Everybody sings. If you’re out at a bar somewhere you don’t have to question, “Oh, do you play?” Everybody plays. And to a certain extent if you’re on the tour starting at bars, obviously not everybody, but pretty much everybody you meet is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer, somebody, so it’s just really cool. Obviously I love music so it’s cool for me and it’s cool for me to see the diversity down there. The Christian scene is really big down there as well as, obviously, country. It’s definitely different from up here but I think I’ll like it. And as far as the publishing and the recording side of it, there’s nowhere in the world you need to be other than there.
How has your summer tour been going?
Good, good. We’re starting to kind of get out, we haven’t really traveled a whole lot. We hit West Virginia, that was interesting. It was so fun. But yeah, we’ve done a lot of Indiana shows, and then just now in the next couple months we’ll be starting to get out. We’ve been to Minnesota, and then we’ll play down in Southern Indiana and then we go over to Iowa and Minnesota, again, and then we’ll play down in Augusta, Georgia, and then we’re going over to Carolina, and I’m sure a lot more dates will start coming in.
Any memorable shows?
There’s good and bad. There’ll be nights where you go and play for 50 people or five people or just the bartenders, and then the next night you’re going and playing in front of 5,000 people. The perfect example was West Virginia, there was maybe 40 people there at the festival and then the next night we went and played at the 4th of July show at Hoosier Park and there were 6,000 people. But I think that’s the cool part because we’re still at that level where you might have that the one night and this the next night. A quote I always say is “the best onstage show is built offstage”… just hanging out with the band and going and doing those shows that may seem like they’re worthless but at the same time you may get a song out of it or you may get a good laugh out of it. It’s super important to me to do every date we can.
What, for you, makes a good show?
I like people. I mean, obviously everyone does, but it seems like it’s really easy to gel when the crowd’s just digging it and into it. Obviously anyone can go play for a great crowd, but then at the same time it’s a true test to go and play for 20 people… I always try to put on the same show whether there’s 20 or 2,000.
Does the location play into that?
Yeah. Oh yeah. Anywhere around here, it’s always great. I always get people to come out. That’s where it’s going to be a true test for us, for myself as an artist and my band, if we go out and play in Georgia for the first time where nobody knows who I am and to go down there and put on the same show if there’s five people or 5000, it’s going to be a true test but I’ve tried to build myself and my team has as well. Something Gary always says is, “It’s not all glory.” That’s what a lot of people think it is. I thought it might have been too until I got into it. It was like, “Oookay, sometimes this isn’t quite as fun as I wanted it to be!” But at the same time I have such a passion for it and I love it so much, the good and the bad, that’s what makes it what it is.
What are some of the perks of being a country artist?
It’s popular right now. Really, really popular. That’s where it’s been changing a little bit, a lot of people are wanting to book country now. Even locally when they have traditional fairs or festivals where they’ve done rock concerts in the past they want to do country now. It’s really cool because it’s so current and popular nationwide. I can’t tell you how many people have come to my show saying, “I didn’t think I liked country but I like you!” People are starting to realize that it’s a little bit different. But, you still have your traditionalists who say, “That ain’t country!”
What do you say to the people who say they hate country?
I say, “Well, have you listened to the Top 40 in the past couple years? Because it’s different now.” You can almost always get someone to say, “Oh, wow.” It’s way different, which I think is cool because it does a lot for the genre itself. It gets more fans of the genre than there used to be, which is beneficial. Like I said, you still have your traditionalists and that’s fine. But at the same time I don’t think this genre would do what it’s doing if we didn’t have that diversity, as far as the pop and the rock. And anymore it’s not just country, it’s either “classic country,” “traditional country,” “rock country,” “pop country,” there’s like 5 different sub-categories. People say, “Where do you fall?” and I say, “I don’t really know.” Some people say I’m pop country. But I’m still in the process of really finding out who I am as an artist and as a writer because I grew up listening to so many different kinds of music. I’m kind of trying to really hone in on exactly where I want to go. Obviously I’ve become me and I’ve become who I am but I really want to hone in on the style, what’s going to make me different and still be me. So, I’ve been trying to really dive into a lot of the stuff I grew up listening to as far as the older rock stuff, even the older country stuff, the 90’s country stuff, the ‘90’s rock stuff, and really throw those all together to try and create a new style.
What are some of your inspirations?
Artist-wise, growing up, I listened to Bob Seger, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, all of those bands. Lynyrd Skynyrd, obviously, everyone listens to Lynyrd Skynyrd growing up. As far as modern-day stuff, I’ve always been a big Keith Urban fan since he came up because he’s kind of a prime example of someone who changed country, making it open to other ideas and other styles. He’s an incredible guitarist, which I’m not, so I envy that. But what’s cool about him is he’s learned how to put on a high-energy show without necessarily having all rock and in-your-face songs. He’ll have one of those songs then he’ll break it down to just him and an acoustic guitar and you’re just like, “Holy…crap. Holy cow.” So, that’s why I really admire him and what he can do with a show.
As far as other inspirations, you know, I think it’s just been the home support. When I first started this I didn’t know if I was any good. Just having friends and family, it’s like, “Oh yeah, you’re really good!” Everybody thinks their kids are good, everybody thinks their friends are good. But to really get out and hear people who know music and really want to support and give up their time and effort to really want to do something, it’s like, okay, these people really believe in me so I need to believe in myself as much as they do. I think that’s really, really helped too, especially because I didn’t grow up in music. I never did choir, band, or anything like that. I was an athlete in high school. That was never me, so I think having that home base support of family and friends who helped get me going has definitely helped and it’s still my biggest inspiration. I want to be able to tell all these people– however many people around here support me– I want to be able to still keep coming back with exciting news saying, “Hey I’m doing this now.” I don’t want to be that guy in three years that people say, “What happened? What happened to him?” So that’s what has kept me going. I mean, other than myself. I’m my own artist and my own biggest supporter. But as far as external support the home base has really helped.
Do you see another album coming out soon?
That’s in the works. We put out the one, that was just a collective project over the past three years of writing with different artists, different producers, everything like that. But we’ve got some really, really cool things going on right now so we’re just basically sitting back and waiting to see what happens. We’re hoping some big things are going to happen within the next year or two. I’m just going to sit back and keep writing, keep writing, keep writing, and then hopefully something happens to where I don’t have to go out and do my own record, it’s going to be a record label or somebody like that who says, “Alright, let’s put this out.” But at the same time, I’m still going to keep writing new songs, and I’m going to keep playing new songs. As far as recording and releasing goes, I don’t have an exact date or time frame. But as far as writing, I’ll never stop. I just played a new song that I wrote two weeks ago at our show last week. That’s something I’ve grown into too because before I didn’t feel comfortable playing new songs. But I wrote a song and I sent the rough track to my band and said put parts on it, let’s go play it, and we did. So that’s something different for me too because I never used to do that either.
When you first started, did you see this being your career?
Not at all. Even when I went to college—I finished two years of school before I stopped—even before that, my sole college decision was on baseball. I wasn’t really die-hard into anything education-wise. I did radio in high school so that was what I was going to major in. But my first two years of college I started to take off a little bit and that’s when it really started to click like, “Okay, this may be something I could really do,” and I haven’t really looked back since. But, definitely not in high school. Going into college it was, “Where can I go play baseball?” It’s funny how things change dramatically, because I stressed out my whole senior year trying to make a decision on where I was going to go play, and then now I don’t play anymore. It’s kind of funny how things change that quickly.
Looking back, what would you say to someone who was just starting this path?
Just place yourself around the right people. I get those messages on Facebook all the time that are like, “Hey, I play guitar and I kind of write songs…” and I’ll never, ever, ever, not try to help someone to my fullest ability. I get messages quite a bit, and I’ll always answer people because I was that person a couple years ago. I’m still that person who wants to go talk to Keith Urban and say, “Hey how’d you do it?” But the biggest thing is, place yourself around the right people. And, like I said, I count my blessings everyday on how fortunate I am to have an awesome family who’s been awesome support, and a great manager and great team. That’s been the biggest thing that I’ve looked back on and said, “Okay, I’m glad I did that.” And that’s what I’ve been told by numerous people that I’ve met in the industry, it’s like, “Well, you’ve got the greatest family support.” That means a ton. That’s what I would tell anyone, just to make sure you have great support. I know some people aren’t as fortunate as I am but just try to place yourself around the right people and do it for you, don’t do it for anyone else. As much as everyone wants to be famous, I always say I just do it because I love it.
The best advice I’ve ever been given was when I opened for Tracy Lawrence up in Fort Wayne about three or four months ago. We were sitting on his bus–he’s had five/six number one hits—and he said, “The best advice I can give you is that when it’s not fun anymore, don’t do it.” He said, “Look at me, I’m 60-something years old. I don’t need to be doing it anymore but I still am.” He’s playing in bars now, and it’s just because he loves it. He said the best advice is, do it for you and when it’s not fun anymore, don’t do it—don’t do it for anyone else. And that’s why I’m really glad I’m a songwriter too. You write for you, or you write because it’s what you feel, and it’s not just like you’re going out and singing the songs that you picked up. Now, would I ever be opposed to picking up a song that somebody else had written? No, it’s all about the song to me. I’ll write, I’ll write as much as I can. But it may so happen that my first song when I get on the radio, hoping that I do, I might not even have written. But if I can have a song that I wrote that goes on someone else’s record and gets on the radio, I’d be just as happy. It’s about the song, and I’ll never pick a song that I don’t love. I’m not just going to pick a song because I say, “That would be fun to play live!” Or, “I think people would like that!” You have to take that all into consideration but at the same time I have to love it as well.
Where do you see yourself in twenty years?
Hopefully in the Country Music Hall of Fame!
Five years?
On the road. Definitely on a national tour whether it be headlining or just one of the bands on the bill. As far as the major tours go now, you can pretty much count on two hands, or one hand, all the national tours who come to Verizon and stuff like that. But then you look at the acts on the front of that and there are tons. So, just on one of those tours, not necessarily headlining but having some success. And I would like to have a couple songs out, at least a couple Top 20s… that would be awesome. People always ask goals and stuff like that, but I haven’t really set any timeline goals. I’ve just promised myself to be patient and not do anything that doesn’t feel right. Obviously being patient worked to get you here, so you need to be patient to get to the next level. I want to be in this for the long run, I don’t want to be in it just to have a couple songs out and say, “Oh hey, I was the guy from Indiana.” I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder, I want to make this my career for life.
For more information on Corey Cox check out his website at www.coreycoxmusic.com!
