Originally from White Bluff, Tennessee, Larry Fleet got his start in music at the age of just six years old, when he joined his great-grandfather and great-uncle’s bluegrass band.
However, after years of playing at bars and weddings, he was discovered by country superstar Jake Owen in 2017 who booked him as his opening act. He released his debut single, ‘Where I Find God’, in 2019 and has since put out three full-length albums – most recently ‘Earned It’ which was released earlier this year.
Whilst he was over here opening for Morgan Wallen at London’s O2 Arena, I sat down with Larry to chat about his UK debut, the response to his latest album, how he approaches his songwriting, his plans for 2024 and more.
Welcome to London!
Thank you!
How have you been finding it so far?
It’s been good. We’ve seen Big Ben, and I rode the train which was called the tube, and so we’ve seen a few things. We’ve seen London Bridge. Played the O2, you know, just been kind of going around. I’ve had pie and mash twice now, fish and chips. I really feel like I’m being a tourist.
Speaking of playing the O2 – how was that for a UK debut?!
Yeah, that’s a pretty good start! Yeah, I’ve got some buddies over here and they’re playing places like a 400 cap room, and my first time coming it’s 17,000 people, something like that. So that’s the way I would like to start it. I think it worked out good. Seem to have gotten a lot of support last night, a lot of people liked me, a lot of people that had no clue who I was and then by the end of the night they were fans. So it was very different. It was cool because it was respectable. And so while I was playing it was quiet, so I could tell stories and the crowd was actually listening. So that’s nice. You get that sometimes in the States, but a lot of times it’s more drinking and partying and rowdy. But here it was very respectable and I appreciated that. And then listened and then when I got done they clapped and they wanted to hear what I had to say, and I thought that was really cool.
Are there any songs you’re particularly enjoying playing live lately?
Yeah, I mean I got a few. There’s different ones for different moods, but of course ‘Where I Find God’ is the big song for me and goes over really well. That one and ‘Working Man’, those are relatable songs for a lot of people. And then a new one is ‘Things I Take For Granted’, which is another one that people relate to, and they cheer and they sing along after the first verse and chorus. By the end of the first chorus everybody cheers. It’s like you’re catching three green lights in a row, like just simple things you take for granted every single day and people get it and they relate to it. That one has been going over really well. And ’25-8′, people love that one because it’s another relatable one, like “hey, if we had another day and another hour, what could we do with it?” So those are some ones that are really starting to take off that are doing pretty good.
You released your latest album ‘Earned It’ back in September. How have you found the response to that record has been so far?
Oh, well, it’s been cool like in the industry, back in Nashville and just in country music.So many artists and songwriters have been coming up to me and saying, “I’ve been listening to this since it came out, it’s one of my favourite records”. So from my peers, I got a lot of comments and just respect out of it. And that’s nice, it makes me feel good. But the general population, they’ve been eating it up too. It’s really doing good. Like ‘Things I Take For Granted’ is the first time I’ve had a song go above ‘Where I Find God’ and that is one that is doing pretty good.
But the whole record, for 21 songs, every song is a little bit different, so whatever you’re feeling that day I’ve got something for you on that record. I think it’s doing great. And it’s one of my favourite things I’ve done. I’ve enjoyed playing it. Another live song is ‘Earned It’. They sing loud on that. So it seems to be working good and I’m proud of it, so win win for me.
You’ve talked about getting that blend of moods and I know it’s a fairly even split of songs you wrote yourself and outside cuts. Was finding that balance quite important to you?
Yeah, I mean, as people we have a lot of emotions going on every single day. And one day you can go through a whirlwind of things. So nobody wants to just ride and listen to a sad song all day long, or even a happy song or a beer drinking song or whatever. So I like to give people a whole lot of different things. But also I build my records and write songs for live shows. So when I put together a record I’m gonna build it like I would put together a setlist for a live show. And so you wanna take people on a ride. And so that’s my goal with it. And that’s kind of what I did.
But you know, I wrote, I don’t know, over half the songs or half the songs or whatever on this new project. The other half though, I’ve never really cut outside songs, mostly because I was young and people didn’t really know me. I hadn’t really had a whole lot going on so I didn’t really get pitched good songs. I was just writing better songs than all the stuff I was getting pitched. So this one gave me an opportunity to use Nashville for what it’s good for and that is producing great songwriters. So they would send me these great songs and I loved ’em, and that’s why I cut ’em. So it was exciting to hear other people’s great songs and just put my voice on it.
Was there anything you learned making this album that you’ll take into other projects in the future?
Well, I don’t know. One thing I’m trying to stay true to what I’m doing is making relatable songs for everyday people. I’m not trying to get fancy with it. I tried to experiment – like ‘Lucky Dog’ on there is a little more rock kind of thing, which is fun, and we all love it. My fan base seems to like it. They don’t know if they love it yet. So I learned that you just gotta stick to what you know and what people expect of you, but you can still open up a different sound, but it’s still your sound. A lot of people go, “I’m gonna completely change” and then go to the rap side or something, but then you lose the people that are your loyal fan base and love you for what you are. So I just kind of stay true to what I am and that seems to be working, and so I learned that. And I learned that also I can do a little rock kind of thing or I can do a little more poppy thing. Like ‘Tennessee On You’, that’s way more poppy than what I’m into. So I learned to try new things.
I also wanted to ask about some of the videos you’ve made for this record – things like going back to your hometown for ‘Earned It’ and ‘Daddy Don’t Drink’. Was that personal touch something you wanted to capture with the record and the videos as well?
Yeah, I mean, everything I’m writing and putting out there is stuff that I’m living, so what better way to do it than what I do, which is hang around my family. And my kids, Waylon and Stella, they love being in those videos, because they can go back and watch them and be like, “ah, look at that!” [laughs] So it’s fun to do that and it makes me comfortable. I don’t like the pictures and videos. Even in interviews, I don’t like talking about myself all the time. And so that helps me feel more comfortable having them in it.
But I’ve seen it work too. Every time I go and spend a ton of money on some big production for a video, not that it doesn’t do good but it never blows up. And then the lower the budget and the more authentic it is, the better it does. So that’s kind of my thing – I’m just gonna keep it more natural. That seems to work for me, that’s what the fans seem to really like, because they can relate to it because they got a family and stuff too.
We’ve touched a bit on your songwriting already but do you have a typical way you approach your writing? And has that evolved over time at all?
Well I’ve always been a title guy. So if you go through my phone it’s like, you scroll and there’s nothing but titles. So I usually start with a title, or I’ll start dabbling around on the guitar or something and I’ll catch a melody or a vibe musically and I’ll be like, “this feels like ‘Earned It'” or whatever. So I usually start with just messing around, getting a vibe going and saying “well this feels like that kind of title” and then I’ll write that song. That’s how I usually do it. Sometimes we’ll start with music and come up with melodies or whatever but for me most of the time it starts with a title and then I build a song around it that I feel that I want for that day, or it’s a hooky little thing or a play on words or something. So usually it starts with a title for me.
It’s almost Christmas – so do you have any particular favourite Christmas traditions?
Well, I’m a big holiday guy. So when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, for me it’s friends and family, everybody getting together. We eat and it’s just a happy time of year for me. And then my grandparents’ was where everybody went and hung out in the family, and they both are gone now so I’m trying to start that up and be the leader of that almost. It makes me happy and it makes everybody else happy. So we like to be together, eat good food and watch football. We used to have an annual hunting trip where all the guys would go hunting and stuff. I’m trying to build my own tradition right now ’cause my grandparents are gone and we’re having to start over. I’m building it right now.
And with my band and everybody I’ve got working with me now, a lot of those people are not from Nashville so they don’t have family and stuff around, so I’m kind of that for them. And they’re that for me. So we just have a huge melting pot of everybody coming in and they bring their own little thing. So we’re kind of starting our own tradition and our own little thing. It’s not just family and it’s also our friends and co-workers too.
Looking ahead to the future, what’s still on the bucket list for you in terms of people you’d like to work with, places you’d want to perform and so on?
Well to be honest I’ve got a few people that I wanna play with. And that would be like… probably George Strait, I think that would be kind of fun. And [Chris] Stapleton, I’m a big fan of him. And I think that would be a lot of fun. Like, Amos Lee. I’m into a lot of Americana stuff. So those people, and songwriter guys and stuff, I’m really into them. I would like to play with some of those guys. I would like to do a song with Norah Jones one day. I think that would be pretty fun, and I think it’d go over well.
And honestly I wanna come over here and I wanna build this. This is my first time ever leaving the United States – I’ve never been out of the country. And so I wanna come here and I’ve met a lot of nice people and I’ve met a lot of people that like what I’m doing, so I wanna really invest over here. And I want to try and build my career. I’ve been out with Willie Nelson a lot and I look up to him and I try to model after him a little bit. I wanna be 90 years old and go play around the world and play music. So that’s kind of my goal. So I wanna invest in wherever I get to. That’s my plan for next year, is come here and play at least six, eight, 10 shows, whatever it is, I’m gonna come back and play here. I’ll play a couple of different countries and try to build myself. And then just keep writing music and putting stuff out that helps people and give them what they need to hear.
I was going to ask what your plans for next year were but I think you’ve already answered that…
There you go, you got it! [laughs]
Larry Fleet’s latest album, ‘Earned It’, is out now on Big Loud Records.
